Refrigerator door and refrigerator

Abstract

To provide a refrigerator door preventing leakage of light from an unexpected part even when assembly failure or long-term deterioration occurs.SOLUTION: A refrigerator door comprises a glass plate, a substrate unit and a substrate box. The refrigerator door is such that: the substrate unit has a display film arranged so as to face the rear face of the glass plate, and written with characters and symbols, a non-translucent shade arranged so as to face a part of the rear face of the display film, and having a plurality of openings, a translucent light guide plate arranged so as to face the other part of the rear face of the display film, a substrate arranged so as to face the rear face of the shade and the rear face of the light guide plate, and disposed with a light-emitting source in a position facing the openings, and an electrostatic sensor in a position facing the light guide plate, and a substrate holder for housing the shade, the light guide plate and the substrate; and the display film is adhered to the lateral face of the substrate holder as an inner face of a folded part made by folding the outer edge of the display film to a rear face side.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 8

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a refrigerator door having an illuminable touch operation unit on the front surface, and to a refrigerator. [Background technology]

[0002] Patent Document 1 is known as a document relating to a refrigerator door having a light-up touch operation unit on the front. For example, the abstract of this document states that the problem is to "suppress a reduction in thermal insulation while maintaining the visibility of a character representation unit having character cutouts," and as a solution, it states that "a refrigerator having a substrate, a character representation unit arranged in front of the substrate, and a reflective unit arranged in the rear of the substrate, wherein the substrate has a substrate window and an edge portion around the substrate window, a convex edge portion extending from the center of the longitudinal direction of the edge toward the lateral direction, and a light source having an end side of the convex edge portion, and wherein the character representation unit includes translucent character-shaped character cutouts."

[0003] Furthermore, paragraph 0002 of the same document states, "There is known a refrigerator equipped with a character display device that displays characters by irradiating light from behind a translucent character cutout portion to enhance the visibility of the character cutout portion." Paragraph 0012 states, "Figure 2 is an exploded perspective view of character display device 30 as viewed from the front. Character display device 30 is configured to include, in order from the front, a character expression portion 90, a dielectric plate 50, a light-shielding plate 80, a substrate 40 on which a light source 43 and a detection portion 42 are provided, and a substrate case 60 having a reflecting portion."

[0004] As described above, Patent Document 1 discloses a refrigerator in which light is irradiated from behind to illuminate the cut-out portions for characters, thereby improving the visibility of characters displayed on the front of the door. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Publication No. 2020-34168 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] However, Patent Document 1 does not mention the possibility that, in the event of improper assembly or deterioration over time of the character display device, light may leak from unexpected locations other than the character cutouts and become visible on the surface, thereby damaging the aesthetic appearance of the refrigerator door, and naturally does not disclose any specific structure for suppressing unexpected light leakage in the event of improper assembly or deterioration over time.

[0007] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a refrigerator door that does not allow light to leak from unexpected locations even if assembly defects or deterioration over time occur, and a refrigerator equipped with such a refrigerator door. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the refrigerator door of the present invention is a refrigerator door comprising a glass plate arranged on the front surface, a board unit arranged on the back side of the glass plate, and a board box accommodating the board unit, wherein the board unit comprises: a display film arranged opposite the back surface of the glass plate and having letters and symbols written thereon; a light-transmitting shade arranged opposite a part of the back surface of the display film and having a plurality of openings; a light-transmitting light guide plate arranged opposite another part of the back surface of the display film; a board arranged opposite the back surface of the shade and the back surface of the light guide plate, having a light-emitting source disposed opposite the opening and an electrostatic sensor disposed opposite the light guide plate; and a board holder accommodating the shade, the light guide plate, and the board; wherein the display film is adhered to a side surface of the board holder at an inner surface of a bent portion where an outer edge of the display film is bent toward the back surface.

[0009] Furthermore, the refrigerator door of the present invention is a refrigerator door comprising a glass plate arranged on the front surface, a substrate unit arranged on the back side of the glass plate, and a substrate box accommodating the substrate unit, wherein the substrate unit comprises: a display film arranged opposite the back surface of the glass plate and having letters and symbols written thereon; a non-transparent shade arranged opposite a part of the back surface of the display film and having a plurality of openings; a translucent light guide plate arranged opposite another part of the back surface of the display film; a substrate arranged opposite the back surface of the shade and the back surface of the light guide plate, having a light-emitting source positioned opposite the opening and an electrostatic sensor positioned opposite the light guide plate; and a substrate holder accommodating the shade, the light guide plate, and the substrate, wherein the inner surface of the substrate box is a reflection-suppressing color. [Effects of the Invention]

[0010] According to the refrigerator door of the present invention or a refrigerator equipped with the refrigerator door, even if an assembly defect or deterioration over time occurs, light does not leak from unexpected locations, and therefore the aesthetic appearance of the refrigerator door is not marred by unexpected light leakage. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0011] [Figure 1] Schematic diagram of a refrigerator. [Figure 2] Exploded view of the right refrigerator door in the X-axis direction. [Figure 3] Exploded view of the board unit in the X-axis direction. [Figure 4] FIG. 10 is a front view of the right refrigerator compartment door with the glass panel removed. [Figure 5] FIG. 5 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the right refrigerator compartment door at position AA in FIG. 4. [Figure 6] FIG. 5 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the right refrigerator compartment door at position BB in FIG. 4 . [Figure 7] FIG. [Figure 8] FIG. 8 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the right refrigerator compartment door at position CC in FIG. 7 . [Figure 9] FIG. 10 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the right refrigerator compartment door for explaining the position where the light-shielding tape is attached. [Figure 10] FIG. 10 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the right refrigerator compartment door for explaining the position where the light-shielding tape is attached. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0012] The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described below. These embodiments are merely illustrative, and the present invention can be embodied in various forms with various modifications and improvements based on the knowledge of those skilled in the art. Furthermore, in the drawings used in the following description, the same reference numerals are used to designate common devices and equipment, and descriptions of devices, equipment, and operations that have already been described may be omitted.

[0013] <Refrigerator Overview> 1 is a schematic diagram of a refrigerator 1 according to one embodiment of the present invention. Refrigerator 1 of this embodiment has storage compartments: a refrigerator compartment, an ice-making compartment, an upper freezer compartment, a lower freezer compartment, and a vegetable compartment, and has doors that open and close the openings of each storage compartment: refrigerator compartment doors D1 and D2, ice-making compartment door D3, upper freezer compartment door D4, lower freezer compartment door D5, and vegetable compartment door D6. In this embodiment, refrigerator compartment doors D1 and D2 are double-door doors, and the others are drawer-type doors.

[0014] A board unit 20 is inserted into the center of the refrigerator 1 (the negative Y-axis side of the refrigerator door D2) in the right-side refrigerator door D2. The board unit 20 is connected by a harness to a control device (not shown) that controls the operation of the refrigerator 1, and displays information to the user based on instructions from the control device, accepts operations from the user, and transmits the details of those operations to the control device. In the following, the positive X-axis side in the coordinate system shown in FIG. 1 is defined as the front side of the refrigerator door D2, and the negative X-axis side is defined as the back side of the refrigerator door D2, and the surface of each component of the refrigerator door D2 that is on the positive X-axis side is called the front surface, and the surface that is on the negative X-axis side is called the back surface.

[0015] FIG. 2 is an exploded view of refrigerator compartment door D2 in the X-axis direction. FIG. 3 is an exploded view of board unit 20 in the X-axis direction. As shown in FIG. 2, refrigerator compartment door D2 has a translucent glass plate 36 on the front side and a liner 37 on the back side. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, between the glass plate 36 and the liner 37 are arranged board unit 20, board box 31 that houses board unit 20, reinforcing metal fittings 32 that reinforce the back side of board unit 20, flexible insulating material 33 and vacuum insulating material 34 that insulate refrigerator compartment door D2, and door frame 35 that surrounds all four sides of these components. Note that FIG. 2 illustrates only board holder 26 as part of board unit 20. Also, FIG. 3 omits the glass plate 36 and liner 37.

[0016] <Details of the board unit 20> 3, the substrate unit 20 has a display film 21, a destruction prevention film 22, a light guide plate 23 (23a, 23b), a shade 24, a substrate 25, and a substrate holder 26, which are assembled in the X-axis direction. Since the light guide plate 23 and the shade 24 are arranged on the same plane, the surface of the substrate 25 is divided into a portion facing the light guide plate 23 and a portion facing the shade 24. Each of these will be described in detail below.

[0017] The display film 21 is a PET film with translucent letters and symbols printed on a non-translucent base material, and the anti-shatter film 22 is a translucent PET film attached to the back surface of the display film 21 to prevent scratches and reinforce the display film 21. It is desirable that the anti-shatter film 22 be disposed on the back surface of the display film 21 to diffuse light from the light source and improve the visibility of the letters and symbols. The thickness of each film is, for example, 0.2 mm. As shown in FIG. 3 , the display film 21 and the anti-shatter film 22 are similar in shape, but the anti-shatter film 22 is slightly smaller than the display film 21. Therefore, a narrow region that is not reinforced by the anti-shatter film 22 is formed at the outer edge of the display film 21. Then, by attaching double-sided tape or applying adhesive to this narrow region, the display film 21 and the board holder 26 are bonded together, forming the housing of the board unit 20.

[0018] A plurality of touch sensors 25a and a plurality of light-emitting sources 25b are arranged on the surface of the substrate 25. The touch sensors 25a are, for example, electrostatic sensors, and the light-emitting sources 25b are, for example, LEDs.

[0019] The light guide plate 23 (23a, 23b) is a resin plate for guiding light that is disposed in front of the touch sensor 25a, and when light is emitted from the light source 25b disposed to the side of the light guide plate 23, the light is diffused and emitted in a planar form. This allows the characters and symbols in front of the light guide plate 23 to be turned on and off all at once, thereby improving the visibility of the desired characters and symbols.

[0020] The shade 24 is an opaque resin plate with an opening 24a disposed in front of the light source 25b, and when the light source 25b facing the opening 24a emits light, the area illuminated by the light is limited to the range of the opening 24a. This allows the letters and symbols in front of the opening 24a to be individually turned on and off, thereby improving the visibility of the desired letters and symbols.

[0021] The substrate holder 26 is a resin housing that houses the light guide plate 23, the shade 24, and the substrate 25 inside, and then the front surface of the substrate holder 26 is covered with the display film 21.

[0022] Next, the cross-sectional structure of the board unit 20 when attached to the refrigerator compartment door D2 will be described. Fig. 4 is a front view of the refrigerator compartment door D2 with the glass plate 36 removed. Below, the cross-sectional structure of the board unit 20 at positions AA and BB in the figure will be described.

[0023] Figure 5 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of refrigerator compartment door D2 at position AA in Figure 4. As shown here, at position AA in Figure 4, two light-emitting sources 25b are provided on substrate 25. Furthermore, translucent characters and symbols to be illuminated by light-emitting sources 25b are written on display film 21 in front of light-emitting sources 25b. Therefore, when light-emitting sources 25b in Figure 5 are turned on, light passes through the translucent characters and symbols in front of light-emitting sources 25b, and the characters and symbols are brightly displayed on the surface of translucent glass plate 36.

[0024] 6 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of refrigerator compartment door D2 at position BB in FIG. 4. As shown here, at position BB in FIG. 4, touch sensor 25a and light-emitting source 25b are provided on substrate 25. Furthermore, light-transmitting characters and symbols to be illuminated by light-emitting source 25b are written on display film 21 in front of touch sensor 25a and light-emitting source 25b. Therefore, when light-emitting source 25b in FIG. 6 is turned on, light passes through the light-transmitting characters and symbols in front of touch sensor 25a and light-emitting source 25b, and the characters and symbols are brightly displayed on the surface of light-transmitting glass plate 36.

[0025] <Measures to prevent light leakage when the board unit 20 deteriorates over time> The lower diagram in Figure 5 is an enlarged view of the vicinity of the right end of the substrate unit 20, and is a schematic diagram of the state before the display film 21 and the substrate holder 26 are bonded together. As shown in the figure, the substrate unit 20 of this embodiment is designed so that the upper surface of the shade 24 is higher than the upper surface of the substrate holder 26 by a height δ. Therefore, when the outer edge of the display film 21 is bonded to the upper surface of the substrate holder 26 using double-sided tape or adhesive, the outer edge of the display film 21 bends downward. Therefore, at the outer edge of the display film 21, a force that resists the adhesive force is continuously applied to the double-sided tape or adhesive due to the restoring force of the display film 21.

[0026] The adhesive strength of double-sided tape or adhesive tends to weaken with age, so if the adhesive strength becomes weaker than the restoring force due to age, there is a possibility that the light from the light source 25b will leak out to the side of the substrate unit 20 through the gap that is created when the display film 21 peels off from the substrate holder 26.

[0027] Therefore, in the refrigerator compartment door D2 of this embodiment, the following light leakage countermeasures are adopted to prevent light from being emitted from unexpected places and spoiling the aesthetic appearance of the refrigerator compartment door D2 even if light leaks to the side of the board unit 20. The following light leakage countermeasures may be adopted alone or in combination to further enhance the effect.

[0028] <<First Light Leakage Countermeasure>> First, a first light leakage countermeasure applied to the display film 21 will be described using Figures 7 and 8. Figure 7 is a perspective view of the board unit 20, and Figure 8 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the right refrigerator compartment door at position CC in Figure 7. As shown in Figure 8, the outer edge of the display film 21 of this embodiment (the narrow area not reinforced by the destruction prevention film 22) is formed with a bent portion 21a bent toward the back surface of the refrigerator compartment door D2. Then, the display film 21 and the board holder 26 are bonded together using double-sided tape or adhesive placed on the inner surface of the bent portion 21a.

[0029] If the display film 21 and the substrate holder 26 are bonded in this manner, even if a gap occurs at the bonded portion between them due to deterioration over time, the light leaking through the gap will be directed toward the rear of the refrigerator compartment door D2, and the leaking light will not be visible on the surface of the refrigerator compartment door D2.

[0030] 3, if the display film 21 is substantially rectangular, it is desirable to provide folding portions 21a on all four sides (top, bottom, left, and right) of the display film 21. Furthermore, since the resin board holder 26 is more susceptible to deformation due to molding and heat on the long sides than on the short sides, it may be provided on both the left and right sides or on one of the left and right sides of the display film 21. This prevents leaked light from appearing on the surface of the refrigerator compartment door D2 near any end of the board unit 20.

[0031] The bent portion 21a provided on the upper side of the display film 21 has the following special effect: Even if all adhesive strength between the bent portion 21a and the substrate holder 26 is lost, the bent portion 21a on the upper side remains caught on the upper side of the substrate holder 26, and the display film 21, which is integral with the bent portion 21a on the upper side, will not fall downward.

[0032] <<Second light leakage countermeasure>> Next, a second light leakage countermeasure applied to the board box 31 will be described with reference to Figure 9. As described above, when the double-sided tape or adhesive deteriorates over time, a gap occurs between the display film 21 and the board holder 26, which can cause light from the light source 25b to leak to the side of the board unit 20, and this leaked light can illuminate the inner surface of the board box 31. If the inner surface of the board box 31 is white, the light reflection from the inner surface of the board box 31 is large, and the reflected light will appear on the surface of the refrigerator compartment door D2.

[0033] Therefore, as a second light leakage countermeasure, the inner surface of the board box 31 is painted an anti-reflection color to suppress light reflection on the inner surface of the board box 31 and prevent leaked light from appearing on the surface of the refrigerator compartment door D2. The "anti-reflection color" referred to here is, for example, black, but any color other than black with a brightness of 6 or less in the Munsell color system, which has a brightness scale of 10, is acceptable.

[0034] To color the inner surface of the board box 31 in a reflection-suppressing color, the board box 31 may be formed from a resin in the reflection-suppressing color, or the inner surface of the board box 31 may be coated with paint in the reflection-suppressing color.

[0035] <<The third light leakage prevention measure>> Next, a third light leakage countermeasure applied to the glass plate 36 will be described with reference to Fig. 10. As described above, if the inner surface of the board box 31 is white, there is a possibility that the leaked light reflected on the inner surface of the board box 31 will pass through the translucent glass plate 36 and appear on the surface of the refrigerator compartment door D2.

[0036] Therefore, as a third light leakage countermeasure, a non-light-transmitting light-shielding tape 36a (for example, aluminum tape) is attached to the rear surface of the glass plate 36 in the range from the end of the substrate holder 26 to the end of the substrate box 31. This prevents leaked light that is reflected on the inner surface of the substrate box 31 and travels forward from appearing on the surface of the refrigerator compartment door D2.

[0037] 10, the light-shielding tape 36a is attached along the outer edge of the substrate holder 26, and therefore, if the outer edge of the substrate holder 26 is substantially rectangular, as illustrated in Fig. 3, it is desirable to prepare a similar integrated light-shielding tape 36a in advance and attach it to the back surface of the glass plate 36. This is to avoid the following problem that may arise when a plurality of linear light-shielding tapes 36a are used in combination. (1) In the overlapping portions of the light-shielding tapes 36a, the flatness of the glass plate 36 in front of the overlapping portions may be impaired, which may impair the aesthetic appearance of the refrigerator compartment door D2. (2) In the areas where the light-shielding tapes 36a are separated from each other, the light-shielding effect of the light-shielding tapes 36a is impaired, and light leakage may become apparent on the surface of the refrigerator compartment door D2.

[0038] <<The fourth light leakage prevention measure>> Next, we will explain a fourth light leakage countermeasure related to the type of double-sided tape used to bond the display film 21 and the board holder 26. As explained using the lower diagram in Figure 5, the board unit 20 of this embodiment is designed so that the top surface of the shade 24 is higher than the top surface of the board holder 26 by a height δ, and therefore, when the display film 21 and the board holder 26 are bonded with double-sided tape, the display film 21 will bend significantly.

[0039] Therefore, as a fourth light leakage countermeasure, the double-sided tape that bonds the display film 21 and the substrate holder 26 is made to be at least twice as thick as the display film 21. For example, if the thickness of the display film 21 is 0.2 mm, the thickness of the double-sided tape should be 0.4 mm or more. This suppresses bending of the outer edge of the display film 21 and weakens the restoring force of the display film 21. As a result, even if the adhesive strength of the double-sided tape gradually weakens due to aging, the period during which the adhesive strength exceeds the restoring force of the outer edge of the display film 21 becomes longer, and the timing of light leakage to the sides of the substrate unit 20, which starts when the display film 21 is peeled off from the substrate holder 26, can be delayed.

[0040] <Effects of this Example> As described above, according to the refrigerator door of the present embodiment or a refrigerator equipped with the refrigerator door, even if deterioration occurs over time, light emitted from the light source does not leak from unexpected locations, so the aesthetic appearance of the refrigerator door is not marred by unexpected light leakage. [Explanation of symbols]

[0041] 1 refrigerator D1, D2 refrigerator compartment doors D3 Ice maker door D4 Upper freezer door D5 Lower freezer door D6 Vegetable compartment door 20 Circuit Board Unit 21 Display film 21a Bend part 22 Anti-vandal film 23, 23a, 23b light guide plate 24 Shades 24a aperture 25 boards 25a Touch sensor 25b Light source 26 PCB holder 31 PCB box 32 Reinforcement metal fittings 33 Flexible insulation 34 Vacuum insulation material 35 Door Frame 36 Glass Plate 36a Light-blocking tape 37 Liner

Claims

1. A refrigerator door including a glass plate disposed on a front surface, a board unit disposed on the back side of the glass plate, and a board box accommodating the board unit, The substrate unit includes: a display film on which letters or symbols are written, the display film being disposed so as to face the rear surface of the glass plate; an opaque shade having a plurality of openings and disposed so as to face a portion of the rear surface of the display film; a light-transmitting light guide plate disposed opposite to the other part of the rear surface of the display film; a substrate disposed opposite the rear surface of the shade and the rear surface of the light guide plate, the substrate having a light source disposed opposite the opening and an electrostatic sensor disposed opposite the light guide plate; a substrate holder that accommodates the shade, the light guide plate, and the substrate; It has The refrigerator door is characterized in that the display film is adhered to the side of the substrate holder at an inner surface of a bent portion formed by folding an outer edge of the display film to the rear side.

2. The refrigerator door according to claim 1, The refrigerator door is characterized in that the folding portion of the display film is provided at least in a position that will be on the upper side when the refrigerator door is attached to the refrigerator.

3. A refrigerator door including a glass plate disposed on a front surface, a board unit disposed on the back side of the glass plate, and a board box accommodating the board unit, The substrate unit includes: a display film on which letters or symbols are written, the display film being disposed so as to face the rear surface of the glass plate; an opaque shade having a plurality of openings and disposed so as to face a portion of the rear surface of the display film; a light-transmitting light guide plate disposed opposite to the other part of the rear surface of the display film; a substrate disposed opposite the rear surface of the shade and the rear surface of the light guide plate, the substrate having a light source disposed opposite the opening and an electrostatic sensor disposed opposite the light guide plate; a substrate holder that accommodates the shade, the light guide plate, and the substrate; It has The refrigerator door is characterized in that the inner surface of the substrate box is a reflection-reducing color.

4. The refrigerator door according to claim 3, The reflection-suppressing color is a color having a brightness of 6 or less in the Munsell color system, where brightness is divided into 10 levels.

5. The refrigerator door according to claim 1 or 3, A refrigerator door characterized in that a light-shielding tape is attached to the back side of the glass plate in a form facing the gap between the substrate holder and the substrate box.

6. The refrigerator door according to claim 5, The light-shielding tape is integrally molded into the refrigerator door.

7. The refrigerator door according to claim 1 or 3, The refrigerator door is characterized in that the display film and the substrate holder are adhered with double-sided tape.

8. The refrigerator door according to claim 7, A refrigerator door characterized in that the thickness of the double-sided tape is at least twice the thickness of the display film.

9. A refrigerator equipped with the refrigerator door according to claim 1 or 3.

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