refrigerator

Abstract

The objective is to provide a refrigerator that prevents frozen food from being placed on top of the roll-bond type cooler installed at the top of the refrigerator compartment. [Solution] In a refrigerator 1 comprising a refrigerator body 2, a roll-bond type cooler 21 provided in the upper part of the refrigerator compartment 20 of the refrigerator body 2, a dew tray 27 that receives moisture generated at the bottom of the cooler 21, and a cooler that circulates the cold air generated from the cooler 21 by natural convection, a shielding plate 38 is placed in front of the cooler 21, and the shielding plate 38 is provided on the dew tray 27, thereby preventing frozen food from being placed on top of the cooler 21.

Description

Technical Field

[0006] , ,

[0007] ,

[0001] The present invention relates to a shielding plate of a roll bond type cooler installed at the upper part inside the refrigerating chamber of a refrigerator body.

Background Art

[0002] Conventionally, as such a refrigerator, a shielding plate is installed on the front surface of a roll bond type cooler installed at the upper part of the refrigerator body, and this shielding plate is attached to the ceiling of the inner box (corresponding to the inner cover of the present invention), or a refrigerator in which the shielding plate is supported by a hinge so as to be openable and closable is known (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003] ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Furthermore, when removing the drip tray for cleaning, it was necessary to open the shielding plate before removing the drip tray, which resulted in poor maintainability.

[0008] The present invention aims to solve the above problems and provide a refrigerator that can reduce the number of parts related to the shielding plate, reduce the risk of frozen food being placed on top of the cooler, and further improve the maintainability of the drip tray. [Means for solving the problem]

[0009] The refrigerator according to claim 1 of the present invention comprises a refrigerator body, a roll-bond type cooler provided in the upper part of the refrigerator compartment of the refrigerator body, a dew tray for receiving moisture generated below the cooler, and a refrigerator that cools and circulates the cold air generated from the cooler by natural convection, wherein a shielding plate is provided in front of the cooler, and the shielding plate is provided on the dew tray.

[0010] Furthermore, the refrigerator according to claim 2 of the present invention is characterized in that, in claim 1, the shielding plate is molded integrally with the dew tray.

[0011] Furthermore, the refrigerator according to claim 3 of the present invention is provided in claim 1 with a cold air passage portion in the shielding plate that allows cold air generated from the cooler to fall. [Effects of the Invention]

[0012] The refrigerator described in the present invention, by being configured as described above, has the shielding plate placed in front of the cooler and the shielding plate provided on the drip tray, which prevents frozen food from being placed on top of the cooler and improves the maintainability of the drip tray.

[0013] Furthermore, since the shielding plate is molded integrally with the dew tray, the number of parts can be reduced, thereby lowering manufacturing costs.

[0014] Furthermore, by providing a cold air passage in the shielding plate for allowing cold air generated from the cooler to fall, the inside of the refrigerator can be cooled efficiently. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0015] [Figure 1] This is a perspective view of a refrigerator illustrating an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] This is a front view with the door open. [Figure 3] This is a front view of the door in the open position with the drip tray removed. [Figure 4] This is a cross-sectional view of the center. [Figure 5] This is a perspective view of the drip tray. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0016] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to Figures 1 to 5. In the description of these embodiments, the lower left direction in Figure 1 is considered the front, the upper right direction the rear, the lower right direction the right, and the upper left direction the left.

[0017] Reference numeral 1 denotes the refrigerator of the present invention. This refrigerator 1 comprises a refrigerator body 2 and a door 3. The refrigerator body 2 and the door 3 are connected by a hinge 4, and the door 3 can be opened and closed relative to the refrigerator body 2 by this hinge 4.

[0018] Furthermore, recessed handles 5, 5 are provided on the upper part of the door 3. These handles 5 are used to open and close the door 3.

[0019] The refrigerator body 2 consists of an outer cover 6, an inner cover 7, and an insulating material 8 filled in the space enclosed by the outer cover 6 and the inner cover 7. The outer cover 6 consists of an upper cover 9, a lower cover 10, a rear cover 11, and a bottom cover 12. The inner cover 7, the upper cover 9, the lower cover 10, the rear cover 11, and the bottom cover 12 are made of thin metal plates such as steel plates.

[0020] The door 3 is composed of an upper door cover 13, a lower door cover 14, a front door cover 15, a rear door cover 16, and a heat insulating material 17 filled in the space surrounded by the upper door cover 13, the lower door cover 14, the front door cover 15, and the rear door cover 16. The front door cover 15 and the rear door cover 16 are made of a thin metal plate such as a steel plate, and the upper door cover 13 and the lower door cover 14 are made of a synthetic resin.

[0021] And the space surrounded by the inner cover 7 and the rear door cover 16 of the door 3 is the refrigerator compartment 20.

[0022] A packing 19 is fixed to the outer peripheral portion 18 of the rear door cover 16. This packing 19 is made of an elastic body. When the door 3 is in the closed state, the packing 19 is in close contact with the front surface of the inner cover 7 so that the air in the refrigerator compartment 20 does not leak to the outside.

[0023] A cooler 21 is arranged at the upper part in the refrigerator compartment 20. This cooler 21 is of a roll bond type in which a refrigerant passage is provided between two metal plates. Further, the cooler 21 is attached to a fixing member 23 fixed to the ceiling of the inner cover 7 by an attachment portion 22 provided on the frame of the cooler 21, and is further fixed to the inner cover 7 by screws.

[0024] Also, a cooling device 24 is arranged at the lower rear part of the refrigerator body 2. The cooler 21 and the cooling device 24 are connected by a refrigerant pipe 25 so that the refrigerant circulates.

[0025] Therefore, when the cooling device 24 is driven, the cooler 21 is cooled through the refrigerant pipe 25. Then, the air around the cooler 21 is cooled, and this cooled air flows downward, causing natural convection to cool the entire inside of the refrigerator compartment 20. In the case of the present invention, the temperature inside the refrigerator compartment 20 is controlled to be about 3°C.

[0026] Furthermore, a space 26 is provided above the cooler 21. This space 26 is intended to prevent condensation from forming on the upper surface of the main body upper cover 9 due to the cold air from the cooler 21. However, as mentioned above, a problem has arisen where users place frozen food in the space 26 above the cooler 21, causing the frozen food to thaw.

[0027] A dew tray 27 is detachably attached to the lower part of the cooler 21.

[0028] The mounting structure of the drip tray 27 will now be described. The drip tray 27 has a left insertion portion 28 and a right insertion portion 29 on both the left and right sides. In addition, the left insertion portion 28 and the right insertion portion 29 have a left end surface portion 30 and a right end surface portion 31 on their rear sides, respectively.

[0029] Furthermore, the left inner wall 32 and the right inner wall 33 of the inner cover 7 are provided with a left support portion 34 and a right support portion 35. These left support portion 34 and right support portion 35 have a U-shaped groove. In addition, the left support portion 34 and the right support portion 35 each have a left stop portion 36 and a right stop portion 37 on their rear sides.

[0030] When installing the drip tray 27, the left insertion part 28 is inserted into the left support part 34, and the right insertion part 29 is inserted into the right support part 35. Since the left support part 34 and the right support part 35 have a U-shaped groove, the vertical position of the drip tray 27 is determined.

[0031] When the dew tray 27 is further inserted, the left end surface 30 comes into contact with the left stopper 36, and the right end surface 31 comes into contact with the right stopper 37, thereby determining its position in the front-to-back direction. In this way, the dew tray 27 can be detachably positioned at a predetermined location at the bottom of the cooler 21. The dew tray 27 is molded from synthetic resin.

[0032] A shielding plate 38 is provided on the front side of the dew tray 27. This shielding plate 38 is molded integrally with the dew tray 27. When the dew tray 27 is attached to the lower part of the cooler 21, the shielding plate 38 is positioned on the front side of the cooler 21.

[0033] Furthermore, since the shielding plate 38, which is positioned on the front side of the cooler 21, covers a portion of the front side of the space 26, it is possible to prevent frozen food from being placed on top of the cooler 21, i.e., in the space 26.

[0034] In this embodiment, the shielding plate 38 is provided to cover a portion of the front side of the space 26, but it may also be made to cover the entire front side of the space 26. However, in this case, the cold air from the cooler 21 will mainly flow only from the rear side of the dew tray 27, which will reduce the cooling efficiency in the refrigerator compartment 20. Therefore, in this embodiment, cold air passages 39, 39 are provided on both sides of the shielding plate 38 to serve as pathways for the cold air. By doing so, the cold air from the cooler 21 will flow downward from both the front and rear sides of the dew tray 27, thereby maintaining the cooling efficiency in the refrigerator compartment 20.

[0035] Furthermore, if a user attempts to remove the shielding plate 38 and place frozen food into the space 26, they will have to remove the dew tray 27 along with it, which is expected to have the effect of making the user aware that they are misusing the product.

[0036] Furthermore, by writing a warning such as "Frozen foods cannot be stored" on the front surface 40 of the shielding plate 38, it is possible to more reliably make users aware that frozen foods cannot be placed in the space 26, thereby reducing the risk of frozen foods being placed in the space 26.

[0037] Furthermore, the dew tray 27 is provided with a water receiving section 41 for receiving moisture that forms on the lower surface of the cooler 21. The shape of this water receiving section 41 needs to be adjusted according to the shape of the cooler 21 and the location of the moisture that forms. In this embodiment, it is a rectangle that is slightly larger than the cooler 21.

[0038] To explain the drainage of moisture generated on the lower surface of the cooler 21, moisture is generated on the lower surface of the cooler 21 when the door 3 is opened and closed, etc., and as the amount of moisture increases, it turns into water droplets and falls into the water receiving section 41 of the dew tray 27. A drain port 42 is provided on the rear side of the water receiving section 41, and the water receiving section 41 has slopes 43, 44, and 45 so that water flows into the drain port 42.

[0039] Therefore, the water droplets that fall onto the water receiving section 41 flow down one or more of the slopes 43, 44, and 45, reach the drain outlet 42, and fall down.

[0040] A drain member 46 is provided below the drain opening 42, and a receiving portion 47 of this drain member 46 is positioned below the drain opening 42.

[0041] Then, water droplets from the drain port 42 fall onto the receiving section 47, pass through the drain pipe 48 of the drain member 46 and fall downward, and the water droplets are collected in the drain case 49 located at the lower rear of the refrigerator body 2.

[0042] In this way, the moisture generated at the bottom of the cooler 21 is discharged from the refrigerator compartment 20 to the outside.

[0043] As described above, in the refrigerator 1 comprising the refrigerator body 2, the roll-bond type cooler 21 provided in the upper part of the refrigerator compartment 20 of the refrigerator body 2, the dew tray 27 that receives moisture generated at the bottom of the cooler 21, and the cool air generated from the cooler 21 that is cooled and circulated by natural convection, the shielding plate 38 is placed in front of the cooler 21, and the shielding plate 38 is provided on the dew tray 27, thereby preventing frozen food from being placed on top of the cooler 21 and improving the maintainability of the dew tray 27.

[0044] Furthermore, since the shielding plate 38 is molded integrally with the dew tray 27, the number of parts can be reduced, thereby lowering manufacturing costs.

[0045] Furthermore, by providing the cold air passages 39, 39 in the shielding plate 38 that allow cold air generated from the cooler 21 to fall, the inside of the refrigerator compartment 20 can be cooled efficiently.

[0046] It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the gist of the invention. For example, in the embodiments described above, the shielding plate 38 was integrally molded with the dew tray 27, but the shielding plate may be a separate part and fixed to the dew tray with screws or the like.

[0047] Furthermore, although the cold air passages 39, 39 were provided on both sides of the shielding plate 38, holes corresponding to the cold air passages may also be provided in the shielding plate 38. [Explanation of symbols]

[0048] 1. Refrigerator 2. Refrigerator unit 20 Refrigerator 21 Cooler 27 Dew pan 38 Shielding plate 39 Cold air passage section

Claims

1. A refrigerator comprising a refrigerator body, a roll-bond type cooler installed in the upper part of the refrigerator compartment of the refrigerator body, a dew tray for receiving moisture generated below the cooler, and a refrigerator that cools and circulates the cold air generated from the cooler by natural convection, A refrigerator characterized in that a shielding plate is placed in front of the cooler, and the shielding plate is provided on the dew tray.

2. The refrigerator according to claim 1, characterized in that the shielding plate is molded integrally with the dew tray.

3. The refrigerator according to claim 1, characterized in that the shielding plate is provided with a cold air passage for allowing cold air generated from the cooler to fall.

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