Refrigerator

Abstract

To provide a technology which suppresses the outside air inflow from a boundary part between left and right doors and dew condensation in the boundary part easily and at low cost, regarding a refrigerator which has bi-parting type left and right doors.SOLUTION: As a sealing member arranged between side surface parts 80a, 80b opposing mutually to a left door 2a and a right door 2b, a refrigerator includes: front end sealing members 51a, 51b provided at one of or both of the side surface parts 80a, 80b, and extending vertically; rear end sealing members 52a, 52b provided at one of or both of the side surface parts 80a, 80b and extending vertically, and being separated in the rear direction with respect to the front end sealing members 51a, 51b; an upper end sealing member provided at one of or both of the side surface parts 80a, 80b, and extending frontward / backward; and a lower end sealing member provided at a lower end part of one of or both of the side surface parts 80a, 80b and extending frontward / backward, and being separated with respect to the upper end sealing member in the downward direction.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a technique for preventing outside air from entering through a boundary between left and right doors of a refrigerator and for preventing condensation at the boundary. [Background technology]

[0002] In a refrigerator with double doors, a technology has been proposed in which the boundary between the left and right doors is sealed with a sealing member to isolate the inside from the outside of the refrigerator in order to prevent outside air from entering the refrigerator through the boundary between the left and right doors.As a publicly known example of this technology, for example, Patent Document 1 describes a door device comprising "two doors arranged with one side surface of the outer periphery facing each other at an interior opening of a box body, a first gasket provided on an interior edge surface of the two doors other than the one facing side surface and in close contact with the front edge of the opening of the box body when the doors are closed, and a pair of second gaskets provided on the one facing side surface of the two doors and in close contact with each other when the doors are closed, and multiple pairs of continuous air layers are provided facing each other within the second gasket" (see claim 1). This door device also has a configuration in which "at least one of the second gaskets is a movable gasket that moves in a direction in which the gaskets move apart" (see claim 16), and further, "a door side panel having a recess formed on one side of the door to which the movable second gasket is attached is provided, and a holding member that operates by holding the second gasket on the opening surface of the recess in the door side panel" (see claim 17). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-206854 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] In refrigerators that use sealing members to seal the boundary between the left and right doors of a double-door design, it is necessary to prevent not only the inflow of outside air through the boundary but also condensation at the boundary. The door device in Patent Document 1 includes a pair of sealing members located on opposing sides of the door that tightly contact each other when the doors are closed. To isolate the interior and exterior of the refrigerator using the pair of sealing members on the door sides, the sealing members must be positioned so that they contact the inside edge of the door side to prevent outside air from entering the interior through the top or bottom of the door side. In this case, the outside edge of the door side is exposed to outside air. This may result in condensation forming on part or all of the outside edge, as the outside edge is cooled by the cold air inside the refrigerator through the inside edge and comes into contact with the outside air. One way to prevent this condensation is to install a heat source at the boundary between the left and right doors, but this requires additional costs for the heat source and, if the heat source is an electric heater, electricity. While improving the insulation of the door itself is also possible, this requires using materials with high insulation performance or making the door thicker, which increases costs and reduces the effective internal volume. Furthermore, when a pair of sealing members are provided to cover the entire side of the door, sealing pressure must be applied so that the entire surfaces of the left and right sealing members are in close contact, and there is a possibility that heat from outside the refrigerator will be transferred to the inside of the refrigerator due to thermal conduction of the sealing members, which results in an increase in the force required to open and close the door and an increase in power consumption.

[0005] The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and aims to provide a technology for simply and inexpensively suppressing the inflow of outside air through the boundary between the left and right doors and the formation of condensation at the boundary in a refrigerator having left and right doors that open like folding doors. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] The present application includes multiple means for solving the above-mentioned problems, and one example is characterized in that "a refrigerator comprising a storage compartment whose internal space is cooled, pivotable left and right doors arranged on the front opening side of the storage compartment, and a sealing member arranged between two opposing side surfaces of the left and right doors, wherein the sealing member comprises a front end sealing member provided on one or both of the two side surfaces and extending vertically, a rear end sealing member provided on one or both of the two side surfaces and extending vertically and spaced rearward from the front end sealing member, an upper end sealing member provided on one or both of the two side surfaces and extending forward and backward, and a lower end sealing member provided on the lower end of one or both of the two side surfaces and extending forward and backward and spaced downward from the upper end sealing member." [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0007] [Figure 1] 1 is a front view of a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] 1 is a vertical cross-sectional view of a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 3] 1 is a cross-sectional view of a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a boundary between the left and right doors according to the first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 5] FIG. 2 is a front view of the left door side surface according to the first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 6] FIG. 10 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a boundary portion between the left and right doors according to a second embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 7] FIG. 10 is a front view of a left door side surface according to a second embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 8] FIG. 10 is a front view of a right door side surface according to a second embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 9] FIG. 10 is a vertical cross-sectional view of a boundary portion between left and right doors according to a second embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 10] FIG. 11 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a boundary portion between left and right doors according to a third embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 11] FIG. 10 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a boundary between the left and right doors according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 12] FIG. 10 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a boundary between the left and right doors according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0008] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0009] Fig. 1 is a front view of a refrigerator 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 2 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the refrigerator 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 2 shows a cross section taken along line II-II in Fig. 1.

[0010] In the following explanation, Fig. 1 is a view of refrigerator 1 as seen from the front side, and the left side when viewed from the front side of refrigerator 1 will be referred to as left, the right side as right, the upper side as up, and the lower side as down. Fig. 2 is a view of refrigerator 1 as seen from the right side, and the left side when viewed from the right side will be referred to as the front and the right side as the rear.

[0011] As shown in FIG. 1 , the insulated box 10 of the refrigerator 1 has storage compartments, arranged in the following order from top to bottom: refrigerator compartment 2, ice-making compartment 3, upper freezer compartment 4, lower freezer compartment 5, and vegetable compartment 6. The relative positions of the storage compartments are not limited to this. The refrigerator 1 is equipped with doors that open and close the openings of each storage compartment. These doors include a left door 2a and a right door 2b, which are divided into left and right halves and rotate to open and close the opening of the refrigerator compartment 2, and a pull-out ice-making compartment door 3a, an upper freezer compartment door 4a, a lower freezer compartment door 5a, and a vegetable compartment door 6a, which open and close the openings of the ice-making compartment 3, the upper freezer compartment 4, the lower freezer compartment 5, and the vegetable compartment 6, respectively. That is, the refrigerator 1 of this embodiment is equipped with left and right doors 2a and 2b that open like a double door. The interior materials of these multiple doors are primarily made of urethane foam. Each door also has a sealing member (not shown) on the inner periphery. Each door may also be equipped with, for example, vacuum insulation material.

[0012] The refrigerator compartment 2 is separated from the ice-making compartment 3 and the upper freezer compartment 4 by a heat-insulating partition wall 27, and the lower freezer compartment 5 is separated from the vegetable compartment 6 by a heat-insulating partition wall 28. A partition 29 is provided at the front edge between the ice-making compartment 3 and the upper freezer compartment 4, at a position where it abuts against a seal provided on the inner right end side of the ice-making compartment door 3a and a seal provided on the inner left end side of the upper freezer compartment door 4a when the ice-making compartment door 3a and the upper freezer compartment door 4a are closed. A partition 30 is provided at the front edge between the ice-making compartment 3 and the upper freezer compartment 4 and the lower freezer compartment 5, at a position where it abuts against a seal provided on the inner lower end side of the ice-making compartment door 3a and the upper freezer compartment door 4a and a seal provided on the inner upper end side of the lower freezer compartment door 5a when the ice-making compartment door 3a, the upper freezer compartment door 4a, and the lower freezer compartment door 5a are closed. Door hinges (not shown) for fixing the left door 2a and the right door 2b to the insulated box body 10 of the refrigerator 1 and for rotating the left and right doors 2a, 2b are arranged on the front side of the outer top compartment of the insulated box body 10 and on the front side of the insulated partition wall 27, and the door hinges arranged on the front edge of the outer top compartment are covered with door hinge covers 16.

[0013] As shown in Fig. 2, the inside and outside of the refrigerator 1 are separated by an insulated box 10 formed by filling a foam insulation material (e.g., urethane foam) between an outer box 10a made of steel plate and an inner box 10b made of synthetic resin (e.g., ABS resin). In addition to the foam insulation material, vacuum insulation material 25, which has a lower thermal conductivity than the foam insulation material, is installed between the outer box 10a and the inner box 10b of the insulated box 10, thereby suppressing a decrease in internal volume and improving insulation performance. In this embodiment, the vacuum insulation material 25 is installed on the back, top, bottom, both side surfaces, and inside the door of the insulated box 10.

[0014] The left and right doors 2a and 2b of the refrigerator compartment 2 are equipped with multiple door pockets 33a, 33b, and 33c on the inside. The refrigerator compartment 2 is divided into multiple storage spaces by shelves 34a, 34b, 34c, and 34d. The refrigerator compartment 2 is equipped with a refrigerator compartment air duct at its rear that houses a fin-tube refrigerator compartment cooler 14a and a refrigerator compartment fan 9a. A temperature sensor 37 and an outside air humidity sensor 38 are installed inside the door hinge cover 16 on the ceiling of the refrigerator 1 to detect the temperature and humidity of the outside air (air outside the refrigerator). In addition, door sensors (not shown) are installed to detect the open / closed states of the doors 2a, 2b, 3a, 4a, 5a, and 6a.

[0015] 3 is a cross-sectional view of a refrigerator 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention, showing a cross section taken along line III-III in FIG. The double doors of the refrigerator compartment 2 are made up of a left door 2a and a right door 2b. Peripheral gaskets 46a, 46b extending vertically are provided on the front edges of the side walls of the insulated box body 10 or on the left and right ends of the rear surfaces of the left door 2a and the right door 2b, and come into contact with the front edges of the side walls of the respective doors and the insulated box body when the left door 2a and / or the right door 2b are open. This reduces the amount of cold air leaking through gaps between the left door 2a and / or the right door 2b and the insulated box body 10.

[0016] The double doors (swing doors) 2a and 2b will be described below.

[0017] [Example 1] FIG. 4 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the boundary A between the left and right doors according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The left door 2a and the right door 2b have opposing side surfaces 80a, 80b. The left door 2a has a front-end sealing member 51a extending vertically on the front end side of the side surface 80a, and a rear-end sealing member 52a extending vertically on the rear end side. The front-end sealing member 51a is fitted into a recess 61a provided on the front end side of the side surface 80a. The rear-end sealing member 52a is fitted into a recess 62a provided on the rear end side of the side surface 80a. Similarly, the right door 2b has a front-end sealing member 51b on the front end side of the side surface 80b, and a rear-end sealing member 52b on the rear end side. The front-end sealing member 51b is fitted into a recess 61b provided on the front end side of the side surface 80b. The rear-end sealing member 52b is fitted into a recess 62b provided on the rear end side of the side surface 80b. It is preferable that the front end sealing member 51a and the rear end sealing member 52a extend beyond the vertical dimension of the opening of the refrigerating compartment 2. Note that the front end sealing member 51a and the rear end sealing member 52a may be a plurality of sealing members connected in a straight line extending vertically.

[0018] In this embodiment, the front end sealing members 51a, 51b and the rear end sealing members 52a, 52b are packings with an arc-shaped cross section. This ensures the rigidity of the front end sealing members 51a, 51b and the rear end sealing members 52a, 52b as packings. Furthermore, the two packings can slide together with a small force when they come into contact with each other. In the following description, the front end sealing members 51a, 51b will be referred to as the front end packings 51a, 51b, and the rear end sealing members 52a, 52b will be referred to as the rear end packings 52a, 52b. The front end packing 51a and the rear end packing 52a, and the front end packing 51b and the rear end packing 52b are spaced apart from each other in the front and rear directions, respectively.

[0019] A front surface 81a of the left door 2a and a front surface 81b of the right door 2b are made of a steel plate, a resin plate, or a glass plate and are exposed to the outside air.

[0020] 5 is a front view of the left door side surface portion 80a according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The right door side surface portion 80b is configured in the same manner. Note that FIG. 5 illustrates a VV cross section of FIG. The side surface portion 80a is provided at its front end with a vertically extending front-end gasket 51a, at its rear end with a vertically extending rear-end gasket 52a, at its upper end with an upper-end sealing member 53a extending front-to-rear, and at its lower end with a lower-end sealing member 54a extending front-to-rear. The upper-end sealing member 53a and the lower-end sealing member 54a are spaced apart in the vertical direction. In this embodiment, the upper-end sealing member 53a and the lower-end sealing member 54a are each a gasket with an arc-shaped cross section, but the cross-sectional shape is not limited to this. In the following description, the upper-end sealing member 53a and the lower-end sealing member 54a will be referred to as the upper-end gasket 53a and the lower-end gasket 54a, respectively.

[0021] The connections between the gaskets along each of these four edges may be provided with connecting gaskets 55 at the four corners, or the gaskets at the four edges may be integrated rectangular gaskets. Similarly, a front-end gasket, a rear-end gasket, an upper-end gasket, and a lower-end gasket are provided on the side surface 80b of the right door 2b. These gaskets seal the space between the side surfaces 80a, 80b when the left and right doors are closed, forming a substantially sealed space 70. The space 70 has a vertically elongated shape that matches the shape of the vertically elongated side surfaces 80a, 80b, and preferably spans substantially the entire area facing the side surfaces 80a, 80b. These gaskets do not necessarily need to extend uninterruptedly around the periphery of the space 70 to completely surround it; some interruptions allow air to flow between the inside and outside of the space 70. In this case, it is preferable that the amount of air flowing between the inside and outside of the refrigerator be greater than the amount of air flowing between the inside and outside of the refrigerator, and it is preferable that the amount of air flowing between the inside and outside of the refrigerator be substantially zero. When providing a location for air circulation by means of a gap or the like, it is preferable to provide the location at the center in the vertical direction of the front end packing or the rear end packing.

[0022] That is, the refrigerator 1 of this embodiment includes a storage compartment 2 whose internal space is cooled, pivotable left and right doors 2a and 2b disposed on the front opening side of the storage compartment 2, and a sealing member disposed between two opposing side surfaces 80a and 80b of the left and right doors 2a and 2b. The sealing member surrounds the four ends of the two side surfaces 80a and 80b and includes front sealing members 51a and 51b disposed at the front ends of the side surfaces 80a and 80b, rear sealing members 52a and 52b disposed at the rear ends, upper sealing members 53a and 53b disposed at the upper ends, and lower sealing members 54a and 54b disposed at the lower ends.

[0023] When the left door 2a and the right door 2b are in a closed state, a space 70 is formed between the side surface 80a of the left door 2a and the side surface 80b of the right door 2b, surrounded by the front end sealing members 51a, 51b, the rear end sealing members 52a, 52b, the upper end sealing members 53a, 53b, and the lower end sealing members 54a, 54b. In this case, the entire periphery of the space 70 is surrounded by the sealing members. The space 70 is sealed by the sealing members.

[0024] In this embodiment, packing is provided at the four edges of the door side surfaces 80a, 80b, namely the front edge (outside the compartment), rear edge (inside the compartment), top edge, and bottom edge, thereby preventing outside air from flowing into the compartment from all four sides of the door side surfaces 80a, 80b. Furthermore, when the left and right doors 2a, 2b are closed, the packings at the four edges form a sealed space 70 between the left and right door side surfaces 80a, 80b, which acts as an air insulating layer, improving the thermal insulation of the boundary A between the left and right doors. Furthermore, because the door side surfaces 80a, 80b are sealed by the packings at the four edges and are not exposed to the outside air, condensation is suppressed even when the temperature of the door side surfaces 80a, 80b is below the dew point.

[0025] The front surfaces 81a, 81b (exposed to the outside air) of the doors 2a, 2b are protected from or prevent condensation by their own insulating properties. However, thanks to the air insulation layer 70, the entire thickness of the doors 2a, 2b can be utilized as insulation, reducing the cost of materials and the power consumption required for improved insulation. The front end gaskets 51a, 51b and rear end gaskets 52a, 52b on the door side sections 80a, 80b are not connected or in contact with each other except for the upper end gasket 53a and the lower end gasket 54a. The air insulation layer 70 between them reduces the impact of heat from the outside being transferred to the inside of the refrigerator due to thermal conduction. Furthermore, because the gaskets are installed only on the four edges, the force required to apply the necessary sealing pressure is reduced, minimizing the impact on the door opening and closing force.

[0026] As described above, this embodiment is configured by simply installing gaskets on the four ends of the side portions 80a, 80b of the left and right doors 2a, 2b, and can easily and at low cost suppress the inflow of outside air from the boundary portion A between the left and right doors 2a, 2b and condensation at the boundary portion A.

[0027] The gaskets at the four ends of the left and right doors 2a and 2b may be made of different materials, shapes, and other specifications. To minimize interference between the left and right gaskets on the door rotation trajectory and reduce their impact on the door opening and closing force, the gaskets are preferably made of a soft rubber material, for example, and have an arc-shaped or fin-shaped (thin plate) shape. One or both of the front-end gaskets 51a and 51b are preferably located forward (outside the cabinet) of the door hinges, which are the rotation axes of the left and right doors 2a and 2b. This ensures that the trajectories of the front-end gaskets 51a and 51b from the closed state to the open state are directed outward, respectively. This prevents compression due to contact between the front-end gaskets 51a and 51b during opening and closing, facilitating smooth opening and closing. The rear-end gaskets 52a and 52b are also preferably located forward of the door hinges, but this may not be feasible due to installation dimensions. For this reason, rear-end packings 52a and 52b can be made into packings with a substantially straight or curved shape, such as the fin-like shape described above, which is less likely to be compressed even when they come into contact with each other.Furthermore, front-end packings 51a and 51b can be made into a two-dimensional shape with a hollow or solid cross section, such as the arc-like shape described above.

[0028] Placing the gaskets 51 and 52 forward of the door hinges allows the doors to open and close smoothly, but it is difficult to increase the contact pressure between the gaskets. To increase the contact pressure between the left and right gaskets, a cam mechanism or an electric member may be installed to slide the left door 2a to the right or the right door 2b to the left just before or just after the left and right doors 2a and 2b close, or a magnet may be installed inside the gasket. This reduces the force required to open and close the left and right doors 2a and 2b while improving the effect of suppressing the inflow of outside air through the boundary A.

[0029] Furthermore, to suppress air convection within the space 70 between the left and right door side portions 80a, 80b, one or more partition members 200 (see FIG. 5 ) protruding in the left-right direction may be provided on the left and right door side portions 80a, 80b to divide the space 70 into multiple regions. The partition member 200 may be formed of an elastic material such as rubber and may extend vertically, front-to-back, or diagonally. Each partition member 200 preferably has one or both ends adjacent to or in contact with a gasket. That is, in the refrigerator 1 of this embodiment, it is preferable that at least one of the side portion 80a of the left door 2a or the side portion 80b of the right door 2b is provided with a partition member 200 that divides the space 70 into multiple regions. The partition member 200 may be provided on only one of the left and right door side portions 80a, 80b, or the partition member 200 may include a gasket. When the partition members 200 are disposed on both door side surfaces 80a, 80b, the partition members 200 extending from the door side surface 80a and the partition members 200 extending from the door side surface 80b may be arranged alternately. In this case, it is preferable from the viewpoint of heat insulation if the tips of the partition members 200 are in contact with the door side surface portions 80b, 80a when the doors 2a, 2b are closed, and it is preferable from the viewpoint of smooth opening and closing operations if they are spaced apart.

[0030] [Example 2] Second Embodiment A second embodiment will be described with reference to Figures 6 to 9. This embodiment can be configured in the same way as the first embodiment, except for the following points.

[0031] FIG. 6 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the boundary A between the left and right doors according to the second embodiment of the present invention. The front end sealing members 51a and 51b are packings with an arc-shaped cross section, as in the first embodiment, and seal the space 70 with contact pressure in the left-right direction. The rear end sealing members 92a and 92b are packings with a fin-shaped cross section, and seal the space 70 with contact pressure in the front-rear direction. In the following description, the front end sealing members 51a and 51b will be referred to as front end packings 51a and 51b, respectively, and the rear end sealing members 92a and 92b will be referred to as rear end packings 92a and 92b, respectively.

[0032] The rear-end gaskets 92a, 92b are thin, flexible plates that can deform when they come into contact with the opposing rear-end gaskets 92b, 92a or the side surfaces 80b, 80a. The rear-end gaskets 92a, 92b may be perpendicular to the door side surfaces 80a, 80b, respectively, but are preferably tilted forward or backward. By tilting the rear-end gaskets 92a, 92b, they interfere with each other, generating contact pressure due to their elasticity, reducing the likelihood of a gap forming between the rear-end gaskets 92b, 92a. When the left and right doors 2a, 2b are closed, these gaskets seal the front and rear ends of the doors, forming a space 70 between the side surfaces 80a, 80b (the lower-end gaskets 53a, 54a are not shown).

[0033] 7 is a front view of a left door side surface portion 80a according to the second embodiment of the present invention, and shows a cross section taken along line VII-VII in FIG. In this embodiment, the front end gasket 51a of the side surface portion 80a is integrated with the upper end gasket (first upper end gasket) 53a and the lower end gasket (first lower end gasket) 54a. From another perspective, the front end gasket 91a of the side surface portion 80a is U-shaped with its upper and lower ends extending rearward (toward the rear end gasket 92a), and serves as both the upper and lower end sealing members. It may also serve as either the upper or lower end sealing member.

[0034] In this embodiment, a second upper end sealing member 93a extending in the front-to-rear direction is provided above the first upper end packing 53a, and a second lower end sealing member 94a extending in the front-to-rear direction is provided below the first lower end packing 54a. The second upper end sealing member 93 and the second lower end sealing member 94a are each packings, and will be described as the second upper end packing 93a and the second lower end packing 94a. In this embodiment, the space 70 is formed by the U-shaped front end packing 51a (including the first upper end packing 53a and the first lower end packing 54a) and the rear end packing 92a.

[0035] 8 is a front view of a right door side surface portion 80b according to the second embodiment of the present invention, and shows a cross section taken along line VIII-VIII in FIG. The front end packing 51b of the side surface portion 80b has a configuration in which the upper end packing 53b and the lower end packing 54b are integrated. From another perspective, the front end packing 51b of the side surface portion 80b has a U-shape with the upper and lower ends extending rearward (toward the rear end packing 92b), and serves as both a sealing member on the upper and lower ends. It may also have a configuration in which it serves as both a sealing member on the upper and lower ends.

[0036] In this embodiment, the space 70 is formed by the U-shaped front end packing 51b (including the upper end packing 53b and the lower end packing 54b) and the rear end packing 92b.

[0037] 9 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the boundary A between the left and right doors according to the second embodiment of the present invention, showing a cross section taken along line IX-IX in FIGS. At the upper ends of the doors 2a and 2b, the upper part of the first upper end gasket 53a and the lower part of the second upper end gasket 93a of the side surface portion 80a are in contact with the lower and upper parts of the upper end gasket 53b of the side surface portion 80b, respectively, and seal the upper end sides of the door side surfaces 80a and 80b (left-right door boundary A) with vertical contact pressure. Similarly, at the lower ends of the doors 2a and 2b, the lower part of the first lower end gasket 54a and the upper part of the second lower end gasket 94a are in contact with the upper and lower parts of the lower end gasket 54b of the side surface portion 80b, respectively, and seal the lower end sides of the door side surfaces 80a and 80b (left-right door boundary A) with vertical contact pressure. In addition, rear end gaskets 92a and 92b extending vertically are provided at the rear ends of the side surfaces 80a and 80b, and the rear end sides of the doors 2a and 2b are sealed by the rear end gaskets 92a and 92b.

[0038] That is, in refrigerator 1 of this embodiment, front-end sealing members 51a, 51b, upper-end sealing members 53a, 53b, and lower-end sealing members 54a, 54b are each formed as a single bent member. Either left door 2a or right door 2b (door 2a in this embodiment) has, as sealing members, a first upper-end sealing member formed as upper-end sealing member 53a, a second upper-end sealing member 93a provided above first upper-end sealing member 53a, a first lower-end sealing member formed as lower-end sealing member 54a, and a second lower-end sealing member 94a provided below first lower-end sealing member 54a. The other door of left door 2a or right door 2b (door 2b in this embodiment) has, as sealing members, upper-end sealing member 53b and lower-end sealing member 54b. The upper end sealing member 53b of the other door 2b comes into contact with the first upper end sealing member 53a and the second upper end sealing member 93a of the one door 2a to seal the space 70. The lower end sealing member 54b of the other door 2b comes into contact with the first lower end sealing member 54a and the second lower end sealing member 94a of the one door 2a to seal the space 70.

[0039] According to the embodiment described above with reference to FIGS. 6 to 9, the four ends of the door side portions 80a, 80b are sealed three-dimensionally by the contact pressure in the left-right direction by the front end gaskets 51a, 51b at the front end sides of the doors 2a, 2b, the contact pressure in the front-to-back direction by the rear end gaskets 92a, 92b at the rear end sides of the doors 2a, 2b, the contact pressure in the up-down direction by the first upper end gasket 53a, the second upper end gasket 93a, and the upper end gasket 53b at the upper end sides of the doors 2a, 2b, and the contact pressure in the up-down direction by the first lower end gasket 54a, the second lower end gasket 94a, and the lower end gasket 54b at the lower end sides of the doors 2a, 2b.

[0040] With this configuration, for example, when the left door 2a is closed from an open state, the rear end sides of the first upper end gasket 53a, the second upper end gasket 93a, the first lower end gasket 54a, and the second lower end gasket 94a first come into contact with the front end sides of the upper end gasket 53b and the lower end gasket 54b of the right door 2b. At this time, the interference distance of each gasket only needs to be set to an extent that the necessary contact pressure is generated in the vertical direction, and the left door 2a can be closed while the first upper end gasket 53a, the second upper end gasket 93a, the first lower end gasket 54a, and the second lower end gasket 94a slide against the upper end gasket 53b and the lower end gasket 54b, with little effect on the door opening and closing force.

[0041] Furthermore, since the left door 2a does not move up and down even when rotated, the rotation trajectory does not increase the interference distance between the upper and lower gaskets, and the force required to open and close the door does not increase. Furthermore, because the first upper end gasket 53a, second upper end gasket 93a, first lower end gasket 54a, and lower end gasket 94a provide sealing portions in two locations on both the upper and lower ends, the reliability of the seal can be improved even if there is a difference in level in the vertical direction between the left and right doors 2a, 2b due to variations in the manufacturing and assembly of the doors 2a, 2b.

[0042] Even when the rear end gasket 92a of the left door 2a comes into contact with the front side of the front end gasket 51b of the right door 2b, the rear end gasket 92a is fin-shaped and can flexibly deform, so the left door 2a can be closed with little effect on the door opening and closing force. Also, the rear side of the front end gasket 51a of the left door 2a comes into contact with the front side of the front end gasket 51b of the right door 2b just before the left door 2a is closed. Even in this case, the interference distance between the respective gaskets only needs to be set to a level that generates the necessary contact pressure in the left and right directions, so the left door 2a can be closed with little effect on the door opening and closing force.

[0043] While the above description has been given using the operation when the left door 2a is closed as an example, similar effects can be obtained when the door is opened or when the right door 2b is opened. Furthermore, the effects of sealing the four edges of the left and right door side sections 80a, 80b, such as improving insulation and suppressing condensation, are the same as in Example 1. The front end gasket 51a, the first upper end gasket 53a, and the first lower end gasket 54a may be configured as separate components rather than being integrated into a U-shape. In this case, the front end gasket 51a, the first upper end gasket 53a, and the first lower end gasket 54a may be configured as in the first example. Alternatively, the front end gasket 51a may be integrated with either the first upper end gasket 53a or the first lower end gasket 54a. Similarly, the front end packing 51b, the first upper end packing 53b, and the first lower end packing 54b may be configured as separate bodies rather than being integrated into a U-shape. In this case, the front end packing 51b, the first upper end packing 53b, and the first lower end packing 54b may be configured as in the first embodiment, for example. Alternatively, the front end packing 51b may be integrated with either the first upper end packing 53b or the first lower end packing 54b. In these cases, the connecting portions of the packings may be connected by connecting packing 55 (see FIG. 5), as described in the first embodiment. In addition, all or some of the front end gasket, first upper end gasket 53a, second upper end gasket 93a, upper end gasket 53b, first lower end gasket 54a, second lower end gasket 94a, and lower end gasket 54b may be fin-shaped gaskets similar to the rear end gaskets 92a and 92b of this embodiment.

[0044] [Example 3] 10 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a boundary portion A between the left and right doors according to a third embodiment of the present invention. This embodiment can be configured in the same manner as the previously described embodiments except for the following points.

[0045] A side surface 80a of the left door 2a and a side surface 80b of the right door 2b are sealed with front end sealing members 51a, 51b and rear end sealing members 52a, 52b, forming a space 70. In this embodiment, a heat source 103 is provided inside the left door 2a near the front end packing 51a.

[0046] By using the heat source 103 to heat the front surface 81a of the left door 2a and the front surface 81b of the right door 2b, condensation on the door front surfaces 81a and 81b can be suppressed without taking special measures to improve insulation, such as thickening the doors or using materials with high thermal insulation performance. The entire door side surfaces 80a and 80b are sealed with packings at all four edges and are not exposed to the outside air, so only the door front surfaces 81a and 81b, which are exposed to the outside air, need to be heated. In this embodiment, the heat source 103 is located near the door front surface 81a of the left door 2a, and the front surface 81a of the left door 2a is directly heated by the heat source 103. Meanwhile, the door front surface 81b of the right door 2b is heated by heat transferred in the following order: the heat source 103, the front end packing 51a, and the front end packing 51b. In order to efficiently transfer the heat from the heat source 103 to the door front portion 81b, it is preferable that the heat source 103 be placed near the front end gasket 51a and in a position that overlaps part or all of the front end gasket 51a when viewed from the side of the door.

[0047] That is, the refrigerator 1 of this embodiment is provided with a heat source 103 that heats the area including the space 70 in front of it.

[0048] In this embodiment, the heat source 103 is disposed across the top and bottom of the door 2a, but it may also be disposed only in a portion of the door, for example, only in approximately the center of the door 2a in the vertical direction. In this case, it is preferable to use a material with good solid thermal conductivity for the front end gasket 51a. This allows the heat generated by the heat source 103 to be distributed throughout the entire door 2a in the vertical direction via the front end gasket 51a. Furthermore, the required heat source 103 is smaller, which leads to cost reduction.

[0049] Heat source 103 may be disposed in right door 2b, or may be disposed in both left door 2a and right door 2b. When heat source 103 is installed in only one of left and right doors 2a and 2b, by disposing a member with high thermal conductivity on front surfaces 51a1 and 51b1 of front end gaskets 51a and 51b, both left and right doors 2a and 2b can be heated efficiently. That is, in refrigerator 1 of this embodiment, front end sealing members 51a and 51b have higher thermal conductivity than any or all of rear end sealing members 52a and 52b, upper end sealing members 53a and 53b, and lower end sealing members 54a and 54b.

[0050] The type of heat source may be an electric heater, or heat may be transported from the heat radiation pipes constituting the refrigeration cycle of the refrigerator 1 or the display units on the door front portions 81a and 81b.

[0051] [Example 4] 11 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a boundary portion A between the left and right doors according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention. This embodiment can be configured in the same manner as the previously described embodiments except for the following points.

[0052] Each packing is provided on the side surface 80a of the left door 2a, but not on the right door 2b. The packing on the left door 2a comes into contact with the side surface 80b of the right door 2b, forming a sealed space 70. Packing may be provided only on the right door 2b, instead of on the left door 2a.

[0053] By configuring the gasket to be installed on only one of the left and right doors 2a, 2b in this way, it is possible to reduce material costs and assembly man-hours compared to installing gaskets on both doors. Furthermore, if gaskets are installed on both doors 2a, 2b, there is a possibility of poor sealing due to misalignment between the two doors. However, with this configuration, the space 70 can be sealed by having one gasket contact the side surface 80b of the other door. This reduces the occurrence of poor sealing. Note that the gasket may be installed only on the right door 2b side, not on the left door 2a side.

[0054] [Example 5] 12 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a boundary portion A between the left and right doors according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention. This embodiment can be configured in the same manner as the previously described embodiments except for the following points.

[0055] One or more vent holes 123 are provided in rear end gasket 122a of left door 2a, spaced apart vertically, and the inside of the refrigerator is connected to space 70 via vent holes 123. That is, in refrigerator 1 of this embodiment, rear end sealing member 122a is provided with vent holes 123 that communicate between the inside of storage compartment 2 and space 70. Ventilation hole 123 may be provided in the rear end gasket of right door 2b instead of or in addition to the gasket of left door 2a.

[0056] By providing the air vent 123, even when high-humidity outside air remains in the space 70 due to the opening and closing of the left and right doors 2a and 2b, low-humidity air from inside the refrigerator can flow into the space 70, thereby preventing condensation on the door side surfaces 80a and 80b due to the remaining outside air. When the left and right doors 2a and 2b are closed, the front, upper, and lower ends of the door side surfaces 80a and 80b are sealed with packings, so no new high-humidity outside air will flow into the space 70. The shape and size of the air vent 123 are arbitrary. The air vent 123 may be provided on the rear end packing 52b side or on both rear end packings 52a and 52b. However, it is preferable to provide at least two air vents 123 to ensure sufficient air exchange between the space 70 and the refrigerator interior. Instead of providing the vent holes 123 in the rear end gaskets 52a, 52b, a gap may be intentionally provided between the left and right rear end gaskets 52a, 52b. By designing the amount of airflow between the vent holes 123 and the space 70 to the minimum amount necessary to suppress condensation on the door side portions 80a, 80b, convection within the space 70 is suppressed, allowing the space 70 to function as an air insulating layer. Instead of or in addition to gaskets, holes that connect the interior space and the space 70 may be provided in the doors 2a, 2b.

[0057] By implementing the above-described embodiments, in a refrigerator 1 having left and right doors 2a, 2b that open like a double door, it is possible to easily and at low cost suppress or prevent outside air from entering through the boundary A between the left and right doors 2a, 2b and condensation at the boundary A. The present invention can also be applied to various products other than refrigerators.

[0058] The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments and includes various modifications. For example, the above-described embodiments have been described in detail to clearly explain the present invention, and are not necessarily limited to those including all of the configurations. Furthermore, it is possible to replace part of the configuration of one embodiment with the configuration of another embodiment, or to add the configuration of another embodiment to the configuration of one embodiment. Furthermore, it is possible to add, delete, or replace part of the configuration of each embodiment with other configurations. [Explanation of symbols]

[0059] 1...refrigerator, 2...storage compartment, 2a...left door, 2b...right door, 51a, 51b...front end gasket (front end sealing member), 52a, 52b...rear end gasket (rear end sealing member), 53a...upper end gasket (upper end sealing member, first upper end sealing member), 53b...upper end gasket (upper end sealing member), 54a...lower end gasket (lower end sealing member, first lower end sealing member), 54b...lower end gasket (lower end sealing member), 70...space surrounded by sealing members, 80a...side portion of left door 2a, 80b...side portion of right door 2b, 92a, 92b...rear end gasket (rear end sealing member), 93a...second upper end sealing member, 94a...second lower end sealing member, 103...heating source, 123...vent, 200...partition portion.

Claims

1. A refrigerator comprising: a storage compartment whose internal space is cooled; a pivotable left door and a pivotable right door disposed on a front opening side of the storage compartment; and a sealing member disposed between two opposing side surfaces of the left door and the right door, The sealing member may include: a front end sealing member provided on one or both of the two side surface portions and extending vertically; a rear end sealing member provided on one or both of the two side surface portions, extending vertically, and spaced rearward from the front end sealing member; an upper end sealing member provided on one or both of the two side surface portions and extending in the front-rear direction; a lower end sealing member provided at the lower end of one or both of the two side portions, extending forward and backward, and spaced downward from the upper end sealing member.

2. The refrigerator according to claim 1, When the left door and the right door are in a closed state, a space is formed between the side surface of the left door and the side surface of the right door, and The refrigerator is characterized in that the front end sealing member is arranged at the front of the space, the rear end sealing member is arranged at the rear, the upper end sealing member is arranged above, and the lower end sealing member is arranged below the space.

3. The refrigerator according to claim 2, The refrigerator, wherein the front end sealing member has a hollow or solid cross-sectional shape.

4. The refrigerator according to claim 3, The refrigerator, wherein the rear end sealing member is a flexible thin plate.

5. The refrigerator according to claim 1 or 2, The front end sealing member is disposed forward of the rotation axes of the left door and the right door.

6. The refrigerator according to claim 2, The refrigerator is characterized by comprising a partition member that is disposed in the space and protrudes in the left-right direction, and extends up-down, front-back, or diagonally.

7. The refrigerator according to claim 4, the front end sealing member seals the space with contact pressure in the left-right direction; The rear end sealing member seals the space with contact pressure in the front-rear direction.

8. The refrigerator according to claim 2, the front end sealing member and the upper end sealing member and / or the lower end sealing member are formed of a single bent member, One of the left door and the right door has, as the sealing members, a first upper end sealing member as the upper end sealing member, a second upper end sealing member provided above the first upper end sealing member, a first lower end sealing member as the lower end sealing member, and a second lower end sealing member provided below the first lower end sealing member, the other of the left door and the right door has, as the sealing member, the upper end sealing member and the lower end sealing member, the upper end sealing member of the other door comes into contact with the first upper end sealing member and the second upper end sealing member of the one door to seal the space; The refrigerator, wherein the lower end sealing member of the other door contacts the first lower end sealing member and the second lower end sealing member of the one door to seal the space.

9. The refrigerator according to claim 2, The refrigerator is characterized by comprising a heat source for heating an area including the area in front of the space.

10. The refrigerator according to claim 9, the heat source is disposed on one of the left door and the right door; The front end sealing member has a higher thermal conductivity than at least one of the rear end sealing member, the upper end sealing member, and the lower end sealing member.

11. The refrigerator according to claim 1 or 2, The refrigerator, wherein at least one of the sealing members abuts against the opposing side surface portion.

12. The refrigerator according to claim 2, A refrigerator characterized by comprising an air vent that communicates the inside of the storage compartment with the space.

Images