Refrigerator

Abstract

To provide a refrigerator which can quickly cool down the object stored therein while preventing a falling of the object from a container.SOLUTION: A cooling device of the embodiment includes: a storage; a container provided in the storage; and a placed member which can be placed in the container. An air outlet for cooled air is provided in the storage. A back surface part is provided on the air outlet side of the container. A first region including a notch or a cavity in at least a part of the back surface part is formed. The placed member includes a second region that overlaps with the first region in a flow direction of the cooled air. The second region has a penetration part through while the cooled air flows.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] An embodiment of the present invention relates to a refrigerator. [Background technology]

[0002] A refrigerator with a drawer-type storage compartment is known that has an upper container that slides back and forth along a lower container that moves back and forth together with the door. In such a refrigerator, when the interior storage is divided into two levels for a drawer-door type freezer storage section and the upper level is a shelf that slides back and forth, in order to rapidly freeze the items stored on the upper shelf, the cold air outlet of the duct part at the rear of the interior is arranged at the rear of the shelf, and the rear side of the shelf is cut out to allow the cold air to flow into the upper shelf. For this reason, if the back of the upper shelf was cut out to allow the cold air to flow in, there was a possibility that the stored items would fall behind the upper shelf. It was possible to eliminate the cutout on the back and make the duct parts larger so that they could run up to the ceiling in order to allow the cold air to flow in from the top of the shelf, but in that case the shelf would be thinner and the storage volume would be smaller. It was also possible to blow the cold air upwards, but the cold air would flow along the ceiling surface toward the front, so sufficient cooling effect could not be obtained. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 11-63785 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] An object of the present invention is to provide a refrigerator capable of preventing stored items from falling out of a container and rapidly cooling the stored items. [Means for solving the problem]

[0005] A refrigerator according to an embodiment has a storage compartment, a container provided in the storage compartment, and a support member that can be placed on the container. The storage compartment has a cold air outlet, the container has a back part on the side of the outlet, and a first area including a notch or a cavity is formed in at least a part of the back part. The support member has a second area that overlaps with the first area in the flow direction of the cold air. The second area has a through part that passes the cold air. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0006] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a vertical cross-sectional view of a refrigerator according to a first embodiment. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the small freezer shown in FIG. 1. [Diagram 3] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the small freezer shown in FIG. 1 , with the tray omitted, seen obliquely from the front. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the small freezer shown in FIG. 1 as seen obliquely from the front. [Diagram 5] FIG. 4 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the small freezer shown in FIG. 3. [Figure 6] FIG. [Figure 7] FIG. 11 is a perspective view of the small freezer compartment of the second embodiment, seen diagonally from the front. [Figure 8] FIG. 8 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the tray shown in FIG. [Figure 9] FIG. 11 is a perspective view of the small freezer compartment of the third embodiment, seen diagonally from the front. [Figure 10] 10 is a partially cutaway perspective view of the rear wall portion of the tray shown in FIG. 9, seen obliquely from the front. [Figure 11] FIG. 13 is a perspective view of the small freezer compartment of the fourth embodiment, seen diagonally from the front. [Figure 12] FIG. 12 is a partial cross-sectional view of the small freezer compartment 11D shown in FIG. [Figure 13] 12 is a perspective view of the upper container shown in FIG. 11 , with the tray omitted, as viewed obliquely from the front. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0007] Hereinafter, a refrigerator according to an embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings. In the following description, components having the same or similar functions are denoted by the same reference numerals. In addition, duplicate descriptions of those components may be omitted.

[0008] 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. Additionally, the side closer to the user standing in front of the refrigerator is defined as the "front" and the side further away is defined as the "rear". In this specification, "width direction" means the left and right direction as defined above. In this specification, "front-rear direction" means the depth direction. In this specification, "width direction" means the left and right direction as defined above. In this specification, "up-down direction" means the height direction of the refrigerator. In the drawings, the front-rear direction is indicated by the symbol X, the front side by the symbol X1, the rear side by the symbol X2, and the left-right direction or width direction by the symbol Y.

[0009] (First embodiment) [Overall configuration of refrigerator] A refrigerator 1 according to a first embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 1. First, the 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.

[0010] 1 is a cross-sectional side view of a refrigerator 1. The refrigerator 1 includes, for example, a housing 10 and a plurality of doors 20.

[0011] The housing 10 has an upper wall 10a, a lower wall 10b, left and right side walls 10c and 10d, and a rear wall 10e. The upper wall 10a and the lower wall 10b extend in the horizontal direction. The left and right side walls 10c and 10d rise upward from the left and right ends of the lower wall 10b and are connected to the left and right ends of the upper wall 10a. The rear wall 10e rises upward from the rear end of the lower wall 10b and is connected to the rear end of the upper wall 10a. The housing 10 includes an inner box 10i that forms the inner surface of the housing 10, an outer box 10j that is located outside the inner box 10i and forms the outer surface of the housing 10, and a foam insulation material 10k such as foamed urethane that is provided between the inner box 10i and the outer box 10j, and has thermal insulation properties.

[0012] A plurality of storage compartments 11 are provided inside the housing 10. The plurality of storage compartments 11 include, for example, a refrigerator compartment 11A, a chilled compartment 11Aa, a vegetable compartment 11B, an ice making compartment (not shown), a small freezer compartment 11D, and a main freezer compartment 11E. The refrigerator compartment 11A is cooled to a chilled temperature range of, for example, about 2°C to 6°C. The chilled compartment 11Aa is cooled to a chilled temperature range of, for example, about -1°C to +1°C. The vegetable compartment 11B is cooled to a vegetable compartment temperature range of, for example, about 3°C ​​to 7°C. The ice making compartment, the small freezer compartment 11D, and the main freezer compartment 11E are cooled to a freezer temperature range of, for example, about -20°C to -18°C.

[0013] In this embodiment, the refrigerator compartment 11A is located at the top, the vegetable compartment 11B is located below the refrigerator compartment 11A, the ice making compartment and small freezer compartment 11D are located below the vegetable compartment 11B, and the main freezer compartment 11E is located below the ice making compartment and small freezer compartment 11D. However, the arrangement of the storage compartments 11 is not limited to the above example. The housing 10 has an opening on the front side of each storage compartment 11 that allows food to be put in and taken out of each storage compartment 11. The vegetable compartment 11B is an example of a storage compartment.

[0014] Chilled compartment 11Aa is provided in a section below refrigerator compartment 11A. Chilled compartment 11Aa is an example of a "special storage compartment." Chilled compartment 11Aa is a storage compartment with a lower temperature range than the refrigerator compartment and a higher temperature range than the freezer compartment.

[0015] The housing 10 has first and second partitions 15, 16. The first and second partitions 15, 16 are, for example, partition walls that are approximately horizontal. Each of the partitions 15, 16 divides the storage chamber 11 into an upper region and a lower region. The first partition 15 is located between the refrigerator chamber 11A and the chilled chamber 11Aa and the vegetable chamber 11B, and separates the refrigerator chamber 11A and the chilled chamber 11Aa from the vegetable chamber 11B. The first partition 15 has an air hole that guides the cold air that has passed through the refrigerator chamber 11A or the chilled chamber 11Aa to the vegetable chamber 11B. On the other hand, the second partition 16 is located between the vegetable chamber 11B and the ice making chamber and the small freezing chamber 11D, and separates the vegetable chamber 11B from the ice making chamber and the small freezing chamber 11D. The second partition portion 16 is provided, for example, integrally with the housing 10 and has thermal insulation properties.

[0016] The multiple storage compartments 11 are closed by multiple doors 20 so as to be openable and closable. The multiple doors 20 include, for example, left and right refrigerator compartment doors 20A that close the opening of the refrigerator compartment 11A, a vegetable compartment door 20B that closes the opening of the vegetable compartment 11B, an ice-making compartment door (not shown) that closes the opening of the ice-making compartment, a small freezer compartment door 20D that closes the opening of the small freezer compartment 11D, and a main freezer compartment door 20E that closes the opening of the main freezer compartment 11E. The left and right refrigerator compartment doors 20A form, for example, French doors (double doors). Each of the vegetable compartment door 20B, the ice-making compartment door, the small freezer compartment door 20D, and the main freezer compartment door 20E is a drawer door that can be pulled out to the front side of the refrigerator 1.

[0017] The refrigerator 1 includes, for example, a plurality of shelves 30, a plurality of containers 40, a flow path forming component 50, a cooling device 60, and a control device 17.

[0018] The multiple containers 40 include first and second chilled compartment containers 41, 42 housed in two upper and lower tiers in chilled compartment 11Aa, first and second vegetable compartment containers 43, 44 housed in vegetable compartment 11B, an ice making compartment container (not shown) housed in the ice making compartment, a small freezer container 7 housed in small freezer compartment 11D, and first and second main freezer containers 47, 48 housed in main freezer compartment 11E.

[0019] The flow path forming part 50 includes a refrigeration duct part 51 and a freezing duct part 52. The refrigeration duct part 51 is provided in the housing 10 and extends vertically along the rear wall 10e. The refrigeration duct part 51 forms a duct space D1 (D) that is a passage through which cold air (air) flows near the rear wall 10e of the housing 10. In this specification, the "duct part" is not limited to a cylindrical part, and may include a part that defines at least a part of the cold air passage by cooperating with another part (for example, the rear wall 10e of the housing 10). For example, the refrigeration duct part 51 of this embodiment is a cover that is attached to the rear wall 10e of the housing 10 and forms the duct space D1 between the rear wall 10e of the housing 10 and the cover.

[0020] The refrigeration duct part 51 has cold air outlets 51a, 51b and cold air return ports 51c, 51d. The cold air outlet 51a opens into the refrigerator compartment 11A and supplies cold air cooled by the refrigerator cooler 62 to the refrigerator compartment 11A. The cold air outlet 51b opens into the chilled compartment 11Aa and supplies cold air cooled by the refrigerator cooler 62A described later to the chilled compartment 11Aa. The cold air return port 51c opens into the chilled compartment 11Aa and guides the cold air that has been warmed by passing through the chilled compartment 11Aa toward the duct space D1. The cold air return port 51d opens into the vegetable compartment 11B and guides the cold air that has been warmed by passing through the refrigerator compartment 11A, the vegetable compartment 11B, etc., to the duct space D1.

[0021] The refrigeration duct part 52 is provided in the housing 10 and extends vertically along the rear wall 10e. The refrigeration duct part 52 forms a duct space D2 (D) near the rear wall 10e of the housing 10, which is a passage through which cold air (air) flows. The refrigeration duct part 52 has a cold air outlet 52a and a cold air return port 52b. The cold air outlet 52a opens into the ice making compartment, the small freezing compartment 11D, or the main freezing compartment 11E, and supplies cold air cooled by the freezing cooler 62B to the ice making compartment, the small freezing compartment 11D, or the main freezing compartment 11E. The cold air return port 52b opens into the lower part of the main freezing compartment 11E, and guides the cold air that has been warmed by passing through one or more of the ice making compartment, the small freezing compartment 11D, and the main freezing compartment 11E to the duct space D2.

[0022] An insulating member (not shown) is provided inside the refrigeration duct part 51 and the freezing duct part 52. The insulating member is, for example, a foam insulating material such as expanded polystyrene foam (EPS) and has high insulating properties. The insulating member has better insulating properties per unit thickness than the duct parts 51 and 52.

[0023] As shown in FIG. 1, cooling device 60 (cold air supplying member) includes, for example, a compressor 61, a cooler 62 (refrigerating cooler 62A, freezing cooler 62B), and a blower fan 63 (refrigerating compartment fan 63A, freezing compartment fan 63B).

[0024] The refrigeration cooler 62A and the refrigeration room fan 63A are disposed in the duct space D1. The refrigeration cooler 62A is supplied with the refrigerant compressed by the compressor 61, and cools the cold air flowing through the duct space D1. When the refrigeration room fan 63A is driven, the cold air cooled by the refrigeration cooler 62A is supplied from the cold air outlets 51a, 51b to the refrigeration room 11A and the chilled room 11Aa. A part of the cold air that has passed through the refrigeration room 11A or the chilled room 11Aa flows into the vegetable room 11B. Then, the cold air that has been warmed in one or more of the refrigeration room 11A, the chilled room 11Aa, and the vegetable room 11B returns to the duct space D1 from the cold air return ports 51c, 51d.

[0025] The freezing cooler 62B and the freezing compartment fan 63B are disposed in the duct space D2. The freezing cooler 72B is supplied with the refrigerant compressed by the compressor 61, and cools the cold air flowing through the duct space D2. When the freezing compartment fan 63B is driven, the cold air cooled by the freezing cooler 62B is supplied from the cold air outlet 52a to the freezing compartments (ice-making compartment, small freezing compartment 11D, and main freezing compartment 11E), and the air heated in the freezing compartments returns to the duct space D2 from the cold air return port 52b.

[0026] The control device 17 has a circuit board and electronic components mounted on the circuit board. The control device 80 comprehensively controls the entire refrigerator 1. For example, the control device 17 controls the operations of the compressor 61 and the blower fan 63 described above.

[0027] [Small freezer configuration] Next, the specific structure of the small freezing compartment 11D will be described with reference to the drawings. As shown in Figures 2, 3 and 4, the small freezer compartment 11D has a drawer-type small freezer compartment door 20D. The small freezer compartment door 20D moves rearward and is positioned to block the opening 11a of the small freezer compartment 11D, thereby closing the small freezer compartment 11D. The small freezer compartment door 20D moves forward and is positioned away from the opening 11a, thereby opening the small freezer compartment 11D. Note that in some of the figures, the small freezer compartment door 20D is omitted for ease of viewing, if necessary.

[0028] Small freezer 11D has two tiers of containers 7, 8 for storing contents, stacked one on top of the other. The lower container of the two tiers of containers 7, 8 is referred to as the lower container 7, and the upper container is referred to as the upper container 8. The lower container 7 and upper container 8 correspond to the small freezer containers described above. A dish-shaped tray 9 (receiving member) is provided on the bottom wall 81 of the upper container 8 so that it can be placed thereon (details will be described later). The width dimension of the upper container 8 is the same as the width dimension of the lower container 7. The front-to-rear dimension of the upper container 8 is smaller than the front-to-rear dimension of the lower container 7. The up-to-down dimension of the lower container 7 is smaller than the up-to-down dimension of the upper container 8. The upper container 8 is slidable in the front-to-rear direction along the upper edge of the lower container 7. The upper edge of the lower container 7 is the upper edge 741 of the side wall 74 of the lower container 7 which will be described later.

[0029] As shown in FIG. 2, a small freezer door 20D is attached to the front side of the lower container 7. The lower container 7 is guided by guides 18 provided on the inside surface of the inner box and can move in the front-to-rear direction. That is, the lower container 7, upper container 8 and small freezer door 20D move together in the front-to-rear direction when the small freezer door 20D is pulled forward or pushed backward. When the drawer section combining the lower container 7, upper container 8 and small freezer door 20D is pulled out to the maximum forward position (fully open), the rear portion of the lower container 7 is located inside the small freezer 11D and the front portion of the lower container 7 is located in front of the small freezer 11D.

[0030] As positions of the upper container 8 relative to the lower container 7 when it moves in the front-rear direction along the upper edge of the lower container 7, a first position P1, a second position (not shown), and a third position (not shown) are set as follows. As shown in Figs. 3 and 4, the first position P1 is a position where the upper container 8 overlaps above the rear portion of the lower container 7, and the rear end 8b of the upper container 8 overlaps above the rear end 7b of the lower container 7. The front end 8a of the upper container 8 in the first position P1 is disposed above the middle portion of the lower container 7 in the front-rear direction. The second position is a position where the rear end 8b of the upper container 8 is disposed rearward of the rear end 7b of the lower container 7, and the middle portion of the upper container 8 in the front-rear direction overlaps above the rear end 7b of the lower container 7. In the second position, the rear portion of the upper container 8 is disposed rearward of the lower container 7, and the front portion overlaps above the rear portion of the lower container 7. The third position is a position where the upper container 8 overlaps above the front portion of the lower container 7, and the front end 8a of the upper container 8 overlaps above the front end 7a of the lower container 7. In the third position, the rear end 8b of the upper container 8 is disposed above the middle portion of the lower container 7 in the front-to-rear direction.

[0031] The upper container 8 is slidable in the front-rear direction between the third position and the second position along the upper edge of the lower container 7. The lower container 7 has a first restriction portion (first restriction surface 701) that restricts the upper container 8 from moving forward beyond the third position, and a second restriction portion (second restriction surface 702) that restricts the upper container 8 from moving backward beyond the second position.

[0032] When the drawer has moved rearward and is stored in the small freezer compartment 11D, the upper container 8 is positioned in either the first position P1, the third position, or a position between the first position P1 and the third position relative to the lower container 7. Figure 3 shows the state in which the drawer is stored in the small freezer compartment 11D and the upper container 8 is positioned in the first position P1 relative to the lower container 7. When the drawer is stored in the small freezer compartment 11D, the upper container 8 is disposed below the second partition 16 of the inner box as shown in Figure 2. The upper end 8c of the upper container 8 is disposed in contact with the second partition 16 or with a predetermined gap or less therebetween.

[0033] The upper container 8 is movable between a second position and a third position when the drawer moves forward and is pulled out from the small freezer compartment 11D. When the upper container 8 is located in the first position P1 with the drawer pulled out and the small freezer compartment door 20D fully open, the rear part of the upper container 8 is located inside the small freezer compartment 11D and the front part of the upper container 8 is located in front of the small freezer compartment 11D. The upper end 8c of the upper container 8 corresponds to the upper end of a first side wall portion 84 of the upper container 8 which will be described later.

[0034] As shown in Fig. 2, the lower container 7 is a deep-bottomed, roughly rectangular parallelepiped container that is open at the top. The lower container 7 has a bottom wall 71, a front wall 72, a rear wall 73, and a pair of side walls 74, 74. The bottom wall 71 forms the bottom surface of the lower container 7. In the following, the lower container 7 is assumed to be in a position in which the bottom surface is disposed horizontally. The lower container 7 has a shape that is symmetrical in the left-right direction. The bottom wall portion 71 is a flat plate whose plate surface is a horizontal plane and is substantially rectangular. The front wall portion 72 extends upward from the front edge of the bottom wall portion 71. The rear wall portion 73 extends upward from the rear edge of the bottom wall portion 71. One side wall portion 74 of the pair of side walls portion 74, 74 extends upward from the left side edge of the bottom wall portion 71, and the other side wall portion 74 extends upward from the right side edge of the bottom wall portion 71. The upper edge portion 741 of each of the pair of side walls portion 74, 74 extends horizontally over the entire front-rear direction.

[0035] 3, 4, and 5, a protrusion 75 that protrudes outward in the left-right direction is provided slightly below an upper edge 741 of each of the pair of side walls 74, 74. The protrusion 75 extends over the entire front-rear direction of the side wall 74. The upper container 8 slides in the front-rear direction along the upper edge 741 of each of the pair of side walls 74, 74 and the upper surfaces of the protrusions 75 provided on each of the pair of side walls 74, 74.

[0036] 4 and 5, upper container 8 is a generally rectangular parallelepiped container with an open top. Upper container 8 has a bottom wall 81, a front wall 82, a rear wall 83 (rear surface), and a pair of side walls 84, 84. Bottom wall 81 forms the bottom surface of upper container 8. In the following, upper container 8 is assumed to be in a position in which the bottom surface is arranged horizontally. The front wall 82 extends upward from the front edge of the bottom wall 81. The rear wall 83 extends upward from the rear edge of the bottom wall 81. The pair of side walls 84 extend upward from the left and right edges of the bottom wall 81, respectively. In this embodiment, the upper container 8 is provided with a detachable tray 9 (receiving member) shown in FIG. 3 on the bottom wall 81.

[0037] 3 and 4, a plurality of sliding portions 841 are provided at the middle portion in the height direction of each of the pair of sidewall portions 84, 84. When the upper container 8 is placed in the first position above the lower container 7, the sliding portions 841 are placed on the upper edge portions 741 of the sidewall portions 74 of the lower container 7.

[0038] 2, 4 and 5, a notch 85 that opens upward is formed in the left-right middle portion on the upper side of the rear wall 83. The notch 85 is located in front of the cold air outlet 52a of the cooling device 60. When the upper container 8 is stored deep in the small freezer compartment 11D, the notch 85 is located at the tip of the cold air outlet 52a, and the cold air blown out from the cold air outlet 52a flows into the upper container 8. Here, the region of the upper container 8 where the notch 85 is located is defined as a first region R1.

[0039] The cutout portion 85 has a bottom edge portion 851 and a pair of side edges 852. The bottom edge portion 851 is located above the bottom wall portion 81 that forms the bottom surface of the upper container 8, and extends horizontally. The pair of side edges 852 extend obliquely outward in the left-right direction from the left and right ends of the bottom edge portion 851, respectively. When viewed from the front, the entire cool air outlet 52a is located inside the cutout portion 85. When viewed from above, a portion (predetermined member) of the cooling device 60 that includes the cool air outlet 52a overlaps with the bottom edge portion 851 of the cutout portion 85. When viewed from the side, a portion (predetermined member) of the cooling device 60 that includes the cool air outlet 52a overlaps with the side edges 852 of the cutout portion 85. That is, the portion (predetermined member) of the cooling device 60 that includes the cool air outlet 52a overlaps with the first region R1 in the thickness direction of the rear wall portion 83. As a result, the cool air blown out from the cool air outlet 52a is blown into the upper container 8 through the cutout 85 without hitting the rear wall 83 of the upper container 8 disposed in the first position P1 described above.

[0040] As shown in Figures 2, 3 and 5, the tray 9 can be placed on the bottom surface of the bottom wall 81 of the upper container 8. As shown in Figure 6, the tray 9 has a bottom wall 91, a front edge 92, a rear wall 93 and a pair of side walls 94, 94. The bottom wall 91 constitutes the bottom surface of the tray 9. In the following, the tray 9 is assumed to be in a position in which the bottom surface is horizontally disposed. The front edge 92 protrudes upward from the front edge of the bottom wall 91. The pair of side walls 94 protrude upward from the left and right edges of the bottom wall 91, respectively.

[0041] The rear wall 93 extends upward from the rear edge of the bottom wall 91. The rear wall 93 extends upward higher than the front edge 92 and the pair of side walls 94, and overlaps with the rear wall 83 of the upper container 8 in the front-rear direction. The rear wall 93 corresponds to the rising portion of the present invention. When the tray 9 is placed on the bottom wall 81 of the upper container 8, an upper end 93a of the rear wall 93 (an upper end of a non-penetrating portion 932 described later) is set to be lower than an upper end 83a of the rear wall 83 of the upper container 8 (see FIG. 5).

[0042] The tray 9 has a second region R2 that overlaps with the first region R1 in the flow direction of the cool air blown out from the cool air outlet 52a. That is, the cool air outlet 52a faces the second region R2 via the first region R1. The second region R2 is a part of the rear wall 93. The rear wall 93 has a plurality of through holes 931 (through portions) that allow the cool air to pass through, and non-through portions 932 that block the cool air. The second region R2 also includes the through holes 931 and the non-through portions 932.

[0043] The through holes 931 are horizontally long rectangular in plan view, and are arranged in three rows in the left-right direction and three rows in the up-down direction at intervals. The non-penetrating portion 932 is a portion of the rear wall portion 93 that is not the through hole 931, and the peripheral portion of the through hole 931 becomes the non-penetrating portion 932. The through hole 931 in the second region R2 overlaps with the notch portion 85 (first region R1) in the flow direction of the cool air (front-rear direction here). The non-penetrating portion 932 in the second region R2 overlaps with the notch portion 85 (first region R1) in the flow direction of the cool air (front-rear direction). Therefore, the cool air blown out from the cool air outlet 52a is blown into the upper container 8 through the notch portion 85 in the first region R1 and the through hole 931 in the second region R2.

[0044] The tray 9 is made of an aluminum material having high thermal conductivity, which is higher than that of the upper container 8.

[0045] Next, the effects of the refrigerator 1 will be described. The refrigerator 1 according to this embodiment has a storage compartment 11, a lower container 7 provided in the storage compartment 11, an upper container 8 placed on the lower container 7, and a tray 9 that can be placed on the upper container 8. A cold air outlet 52a is provided in the storage compartment 11, a rear wall 83 is provided on the cold air outlet 52a side of the upper container 8, and a first region R1 including a notch 85 is formed in at least a part of the rear wall 83. The tray 9 has a second region R2 that overlaps with the first region R1 in the flow direction of the cold air. The second region R2 has a through hole 931 that passes the cold air and a non-through portion 932 that blocks the cold air. As a result, a first region R1 including a notch 85 is formed in the rear wall 83 located on the cold air outlet 52a side of the upper container 8, and a second region R2 including a through hole 931 of the tray 9 is arranged to overlap the first region R1 in the cold air flow direction, so that the cold air blown out from the cold air outlet 52a is blown into the upper container 8 through the notch 85 of the first region R1 and the through hole 931 of the second region R2. It is then possible to provide the notch 85 of the first region R1 with an opening larger than the cold air outlet 52a, for example. This allows the cold air to directly hit the stored items placed on the tray 9 inside the upper container 8, thereby efficiently and rapidly cooling them. Furthermore, in this embodiment, since the second region R2 is configured to include a through hole 931 and a non-through portion 932, even if a cutout portion 85 is provided in the rear wall portion 83 of the upper container 8, part of the opening can be blocked by the non-through portion 932 of the tray 9, thereby preventing items placed on the tray 9 from falling from the cutout portion 85 of the upper container 8 to the rear side toward the cold air outlet 52a.

[0046] In the refrigerator 1 according to this embodiment, the container is an upper container 8 placed on a lower container 7 provided in the storage compartment 11. At least a part (non-penetrating portion 932) of the periphery of the through hole 931 overlaps with the first region R1 in the flow direction of cool air. Therefore, the non-penetrating portion 932 that overlaps with the first region R1 in the flow direction of cool air is provided at the periphery of the through hole 931 of the tray 9, so that it is possible to prevent stored items from falling from the first region R1.

[0047] In the refrigerator 1 according to this embodiment, at least a part of the cooling device 60 (a specified member) provided in the storage compartment 11 overlaps with the first region R1 in the thickness direction of the rear wall 83. In this case, by providing a peripheral portion (non-penetrating portion 932) of the through hole 931 in the tray 9, the stored items in the upper container 8 do not fall from the first region R1 but remain on the first region R1, and it is possible to prevent the stored items from colliding with a part of the cooling device 60 (a portion of the cool air outlet 52a), which is the specified member, and thus causing damage to the stored items or part of the cooling device 60.

[0048] In the refrigerator 1 according to this embodiment, the above-mentioned specific member is the cooling device 60 (cold air supply member) that includes the cold air outlet 52a and can supply cold air to the upper container 8. This allows the cold air outlet 52a to be closer to the space (internal space of the upper container 8) in which the stored items are placed, improving the cooling effect. Furthermore, since there is a peripheral portion (non-penetrating portion 932) of the through hole 931, the stored items that have overflowed from the upper container 8 do not accumulate in the first area R1, and the cooling device 60 can be prevented from being blocked by the stored items that have overflowed into the first area R1.

[0049] In the refrigerator 1 according to this embodiment, the tray 9 has a higher thermal conductivity than the upper container 8, so the tray 9 can be made of metal. This allows the cool air blown out from the cool air outlet 52a to directly hit the metallic tray 9, facilitating cooling of the tray 9 and allowing the items placed on the tray 9 to be cooled more efficiently.

[0050] In the refrigerator 1 according to this embodiment, the cool air outlet 52a faces the second area R2 through the first area R1. Therefore, the second area R2 of the tray 9 faces the cool air outlet 52a, and the cool air is blown directly onto the tray 9, thereby facilitating cooling of the tray 9.

[0051] In the refrigerator 1 according to this embodiment, the upper end 93a of the non-penetrating portion 932 is lower than the upper end 83a of the rear wall portion 83 of the upper container 8. This makes the height of the tray 9 lower than the height of the upper container 8, and allows the non-penetrating portion 932 of the tray 9 to cover the notch 85 of the upper container 8.

[0052] In the refrigerator 1 according to this embodiment, the tray 9 has a bottom wall 91 placed on the bottom surface of the upper container 8, and a rear wall 93 (fall-off prevention portion) that extends upward from the rear edge of the bottom wall 91 and has a second region R2. As a result, a through hole 931 and a non-through portion 932 can be arranged in the second region R2 of the rear wall 93 that overlaps with the first region R1 in the flow direction of the cool air, and the cool air blown out from the cool air outlet 52a can be applied to the bottom wall 91 of the tray 9 to efficiently cool the stored items placed on the bottom wall 91.

[0053] According to at least one of the embodiments described above, it is possible to provide a refrigerator that can prevent stored items from falling out of upper container 8 and can rapidly cool the stored items.

[0054] Second embodiment Next, a refrigerator 1A according to a second embodiment will be described. Fig. 7 is a perspective view showing the configuration of a small freezer compartment 11D according to the second embodiment. Fig. 8 is a vertical cross-sectional view of a tray 9A shown in Fig. 7. As shown in Fig. 7 and Fig. 8, the tray 9A (receiving member) of the small freezer compartment 11D of the second embodiment is provided with a louver-shaped guide portion 933A that guides the cool air that has passed through the through hole 931 (through portion) of the first embodiment described above to the bottom side of the bottom wall portion 81 of the upper container 8. The guide portion 933 of the tray 9A has an inclined surface 933a that is inclined obliquely downward from the upper edge portion of the through hole 931 on the front surface 93b of the rear wall portion 93. A blow-out opening 934 that communicates with the through hole 931 is formed between the lower end portion 933b of the first guide portion 933A and the front surface 93b of the rear wall portion 93. The blow-out opening 934 faces the bottom wall portion 91 side.

[0055] Thus, in the second embodiment, the inclined surface 933a is blown with cold air from the cold air outlet 52a, which passes through the through-hole 931 and is blown out toward the inside of the upper container 8. The cold air that passes from the through-hole 931 toward the inside of the upper container 8 and hits the inclined surface 933a of the first guide portion 933A changes direction of flow obliquely downward and is blown from the outlet opening 934 toward the bottom side of the upper container 8 (the bottom wall portion 91 side of the tray 9A). That is, the cold air can be blown toward the stored items placed on the tray 9A.

[0056] Third embodiment Next, a refrigerator 1B according to a third embodiment will be described. Fig. 9 is a perspective view showing the configuration of a small freezer compartment 11D according to the third embodiment. Fig. 10 is a partially broken perspective view of the rear wall portion 93 of the tray 9B shown in Fig. 9, seen obliquely from the front. As shown in Figs. 9 and 10, the second guide portion 933B of the tray 9B (receiving member) of the small freezer compartment 11D of the third embodiment is provided with a reinforcing rib 935 (deformation suppressing portion) for preventing deformation of the inclined surface 933a similar to the inclined surface 933a of the first guide portion 933A of the second embodiment described above.

[0057] 10, the reinforcing rib 935 is a rib-shaped support structure that connects a lower end 933b of the second guide portion 933B and a lower edge 931b of the through-hole 931 in the front surface 93b of the rear wall portion 93. The reinforcing rib 935 is arranged so as to divide the blow-out opening 934 of the second guide portion 933B in the left-right direction. In the third embodiment, the second guide portion 933B has side end surfaces 933c that close both the left and right sides of the inclined surface 933a.

[0058] In this way, in the third embodiment, by providing the second guide portion 933B with the reinforcing ribs 935, it is possible to prevent the inclined surface 933a of the second guide portion 933B from deforming toward the back surface (rear side) of the upper container 8. Therefore, compared to the louver-shaped first guide portion 933A (see FIG. 8) of the second embodiment described above, it is possible to prevent a decrease in the cooling effect on the stored items, such as a narrowing of the flow path for guiding cool air due to deformation of the first guide portion 933A due to contact with the stored items stored inside the upper container 8.

[0059] (Fourth embodiment) Next, a refrigerator 1C according to a fourth embodiment will be described. Fig. 11 is a perspective view showing the configuration of a small freezing compartment 11D according to the fourth embodiment. Fig. 12 is a partial cross-sectional view of the small freezing compartment 11D shown in Fig. 11. Fig. 13 is a perspective view showing the configuration of the upper container 8, with the tray 9C omitted from Fig. 11. As shown in Figs. 11 and 12, the small freezing compartment 11D of the fourth embodiment has a different shape of the first region R1 of the rear wall portion 83 of the upper container 8 and a different shape of the rear wall portion 93 of the tray 9C.

[0060] As shown in Figs. 11, 12 and 13, a plurality of slit-shaped hollow portions 86 extending vertically are arranged in the left-right direction in the rear wall portion 83 of the upper container 8 in the left-right middle portion. The hollow portions 86 are arranged in front of the cold air outlet 52a of the cooling device 60. When the upper container 8 is stored deep in the small freezer compartment 11D, the plurality of hollow portions 86 are arranged at the tip position of the cold air outlet 52a, and the cold air blown out from the cold air outlet 52a flows into the upper container 8. Here, the region in the upper container 8 where all of the plurality of hollow portions 86 are arranged is defined as the first region R1. The cold air blown out from the cold air outlet 52a is blown into the upper container 8 through the plurality of hollow portions 86 arranged at the first position P1.

[0061] As shown in FIG. 11 and FIG. 12, the height of the rear wall 93A of the tray 9C (receiving member) is set low, and the upper end 93a of the rear wall 93A is located in the center of the rear wall 83 of the upper container 8 in the up-down direction. The tray 9C has a second region R2 that overlaps with the first region R1 in the flow direction of the cold air blown out from the cold air outlet 52a. That is, the cold air outlet 52a faces the second region R2 through the first region R1. The second region R2 is a part of the rear wall 93A. The rear wall 93A has a plurality of through holes 931 (through portions) that pass the cold air, a non-through portion 932 that blocks the cold air, and a guide portion 933 similar to the second embodiment described above. The second region R2 also includes the through holes 931 and the non-through portion 932.

[0062] In the fourth embodiment, part of the cool air blown out from the cool air outlet 52a passes through the hollow portion 86 of the first region R1 and is blown directly into the inside of the upper container 8. Another part of the cool air passes through the hollow portion 86 and the through-hole 931, is guided by the guide portion 933, and is blown out toward the bottom wall portion 91 of the tray 9C. Therefore, in the fourth embodiment, the height of the rear wall portion 83 of the tray 9C can be reduced while rapidly cooling the contents in the upper container 8, and since the rear wall portion 83 is disposed in the first region R1 of the upper container 8, the contents in the upper container 8 can be prevented from falling to the rear.

[0063] Although an embodiment of the refrigerator according to the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment and can be modified as appropriate without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. For example, in the above embodiment, the lower container 7, upper container 8 and tray 9 are provided in the small freezer compartment 11D, but they may be provided in a freezer compartment other than the small freezer compartment 11D, a refrigerator compartment, a vegetable compartment, etc. Also, when multiple containers are stacked vertically and each container moves back and forth relative to the lower container, the configuration of the lower container 7 and upper container 8 of this embodiment may be adopted for the top two containers in the vertical direction.

[0064] In the above embodiment, the tray 9 (receiving member) has a higher thermal conductivity than the upper container 8, but the present invention is not limited to this.

[0065] Furthermore, in this embodiment, it is sufficient that the rear portion (rear wall portion 83) of the upper container 8 is configured to be provided on the cold air outlet 52a side, and the cold air outlet 52a is not limited to a configuration in which it faces the second area R2 via the first area R1.

[0066] Furthermore, the upper end of the non-penetrating portion 932 of the tray 9 is not limited to being lower than the upper end 83a of the rear wall portion 83 of the upper container 8.

[0067] A portion (predetermined member) of cooling device 60 including cold air outlet 52a overlaps with bottom edge 851 and side edge 852 of cutout 85, but may overlap with either bottom edge 851 or side edge 852. In addition, when cutout 85 does not include bottom edge 851 and side edge 852, a portion of cooling device 60 including cold air outlet 52a may extend toward the inner surface of rear wall 83 beyond the position shown in FIG. 5 and overlap with cutout 85.

[0068] Furthermore, the configurations of the size, shape, quantity, etc. of the notches and cavities formed in the rear wall portion 83 of the upper container 8, the through holes (through portions) of the tray 9, the non-through portions, the guide portions, and the deformation suppression portions are not limited to the above-described embodiments, and can be set as appropriate. [Explanation of symbols]

[0069] 1...refrigerator, 7...lower container, 8...upper container (container), 9, 9A, 9B, 9C...tray (receiving member), 11D...small freezer, 52a...cold air outlet, 60...cooling device (cold air supplying member), 81...bottom wall, 83...rear wall (rear portion), 83a...upper end, 85...notched portion, 86...hollow portion, 91...bottom wall, 93...rear wall (receiving member, raised portion), 931...through hole (through portion), 932...non-through portion, 933A, 933B...guide portion, 935...reinforcing rib, R1...first region, R2...second region.

Claims

1. The storage device includes a storage chamber, a container provided in the storage chamber, and a mounting member that can be mounted on the container, A cold air outlet is provided in the storage chamber, A rear portion is provided on the air outlet side of the container, A first region including a notch or a cavity is formed in at least a portion of the rear surface, the support member has a second region that overlaps with the first region in the flow direction of the cool air, The second area has a through-hole through which the cold air passes.

2. the container is an upper container placed on a lower container provided in the storage chamber, The refrigerator according to claim 1 , wherein at least a portion of a peripheral edge of the penetration portion overlaps with the first region in the flow direction of the cool air.

3. The storage chamber further includes a predetermined member provided therein, The refrigerator according to claim 2 , wherein at least a portion of the predetermined member overlaps with the first region in a thickness direction of the rear portion.

4. The refrigerator according to claim 3 , wherein the predetermined member is a cold air supply member that includes the air outlet and is capable of supplying cold air to the upper container.

5. The refrigerator according to claim 1 , wherein the thermal conductivity of the support member is higher than the thermal conductivity of the container.

6. The refrigerator according to claim 1 , wherein the air outlet faces the second area via the first area.

7. The refrigerator according to claim 2 , wherein an upper end of the support member is lower than an upper end of the rear portion of the upper container.

8. The refrigerator according to claim 2 , wherein the support member further includes a guide portion that guides the cool air that has passed through the through portion toward a bottom side of the upper container.

9. The refrigerator according to claim 8 , wherein the placement member further includes a deformation suppressing portion capable of suppressing deformation of the guide portion toward the rear surface side of the upper container.

10. The mounting member is A bottom wall portion placed on a bottom surface of the upper container; a raised portion extending upward from a rear edge of the bottom wall portion and having the second region; The refrigerator according to claim 2 .

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