Insulated door and refrigerator using the same

Abstract

This provides an insulated door with a high aesthetic appeal by suppressing surface irregularities in the outer panel. [Solution] The present invention provides an insulated door comprising: an outer panel; an intervening member disposed on the back side of the outer panel; a fixing member that fixes the edge of the intervening member to the back side of the outer panel; a vacuum insulating material disposed on the back side of the intervening member; and a foamed insulating material that, in a front view, is filled on the outside of the intervening member, the fixing member, and the vacuum insulating material and is in contact with a part of the back side of the outer panel, further comprising: a sheet member disposed in a part of the area facing the outer panel and the fixing member, wherein, in a front view, the sheet member extends so as to straddle the fixing member from the inside to the outside.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a heat-insulating door and a refrigerator using the same.

Background Art

[0002] Patent Document 1 discloses a heat-insulating door including an outer plate 51, an intervening member 57 disposed on the back side of the outer plate 51, a fixing portion 11 that fixes the edge of the intervening member 57 and the back surface of the outer plate 51, a vacuum heat-insulating material 56 disposed on the back side of the intervening member 57, and a foam heat-insulating material 55 (FIG. 4 of the document). Further, in Patent Document 1, a gas-bleeding tape is exemplified as the fixing portion 11 (paragraph 0043 of the document).

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] In the heat-insulating door described in Patent Document 1, an air pocket may occur between the outer plate 51 and the intervening member 57 due to misalignment during assembly work. Here, the so-called stock solution of the foam heat-insulating material 55 is usually dropped onto the vacuum heat-insulating material 56 on the central side of the door and foamed (paragraph 0046 of Patent Document 1). Then, the air pocket that may occur between the outer plate 51 and the intervening member 57 is eliminated by the foaming pressure of the foam heat-insulating material 55 on the central side of the door and moves to the edge side of the door where the air escapes. However, it has been found in the study by the inventors that this air pocket may not escape completely even if the fixing portion 11 is a gas-bleeding tape and may remain on the edge side of the intervening member 57. When the temperature of the environment changes with the air pocket remaining, the pressure of the air changes, and there is a risk that the outer plate 51 may be deformed due to the pressure difference from the atmospheric pressure.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0005] In view of the above circumstances, the present invention provides an insulated door comprising: an outer panel; an intervening member disposed on the back side of the outer panel; a fixing member that fixes the edge of the intervening member to the back side of the outer panel; a vacuum insulating material disposed on the back side of the intervening member; and a foamed insulating material that, in a front view, is filled on the outside of the intervening member, the fixing member, and the vacuum insulating material and is in contact with a part of the back side of the outer panel, further comprising a sheet member disposed in a part of the area facing the outer panel and the fixing member, wherein, in a front view, the sheet member extends so as to straddle the fixing member from the inside to the outside. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0006] [Figure 1] A front view of a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] Front view of the insulated door of the lower freezer compartment. [Figure 3] Figure 2 shows an exploded perspective view of the insulated door. [Figure 4] A schematic diagram corresponding to the cross-section viewed through arrow AA in Figure 2. [Figure 5] A plan view showing the positional relationship between the fixing member and the sheet member located on the outer plate side of the intervening member. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0007] A refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In this specification, the left and right directions refer to the left and right when viewed from the front by the user.

[0008] ≪Refrigerator≫ First, the overall configuration of the refrigerator 1 according to this embodiment will be described. Figure 1 is a front view of the refrigerator 1 according to this embodiment. As shown in Figure 1, the refrigerator 1 is equipped with storage compartments in the following order from top to bottom: a refrigerator compartment 2, an ice-making compartment 3 and an upper freezer compartment 4, a lower freezer compartment 5 and a vegetable compartment 6. The insulated doors 2a and 2b that open and close the refrigerator compartment 2 are of the pivot type, rotating around a hinge (not shown), while the insulated door 3a that opens and closes the ice-making compartment 3, the insulated door 4a that opens and closes the upper freezer compartment 4, the insulated door 5a that opens and closes the lower freezer compartment 5 and the insulated door 6a that opens and closes the vegetable compartment 6 are of the pull-out type. Note that the insulated door of the refrigerator compartment 2 is not limited to a double door (French door), but may also be a single door. Furthermore, the arrangement and number of each storage compartment and its insulated door are not limited to the example in Figure 1.

[0009] The insulated casing of refrigerator 1, although not shown in the diagram, comprises an outer casing made of steel plate and an inner casing made of resin. Foamed insulation material such as rigid polyurethane foam or vacuum insulation material such as glass wool is placed in the space formed by the outer and inner casings, insulating each storage compartment inside the casing from the outside. The configuration of the insulated door of refrigerator 1 will be described below.

[0010] Insulated Doors Next, the configuration of the insulated door will be explained using the insulated door 5a of the lower freezer compartment 5 as an example. Figure 2 is a front view of the insulated door 5a of the lower freezer compartment 5, and Figure 3 is an exploded perspective view of the insulated door 5a of Figure 2 (however, foam insulation material, etc., are omitted).

[0011] The insulated door 5a comprises an outer panel 51 provided on the front side (front side) to form a decorative surface, a door frame (omitted in Figure 3) provided on the upper and lower edges of the outer panel 51, an inner panel 54 (liner) provided on the back side (rear side) of the outer panel 51, and a foamed insulation material 55 (omitted in Figure 3) that fills the space enclosed by the outer panel 51, the door frame, and the inner panel 54. Furthermore, in addition to the foamed insulation material 55, the above space is also provided with a vacuum insulation material 56 provided so as to face the surface of the outer panel 51, and an intervening member 57 provided between the outer panel 51 and the vacuum insulation material 56.

[0012] The outer panel 51 is made of steel plate and is bent to the back at the left and right curved portions. The door frame is made of resin and has an upper frame portion 52 attached to the upper edge of the outer panel 51 and a lower frame portion 53 attached to the lower edge of the outer panel 51 (see Figure 4). The inner panel 54 is made by injection molding a resin such as polypropylene and is fixed to the back sides of the left and right bent portions of the outer panel 51, the upper frame portion 52 and the lower frame portion 53.

[0013] The vacuum insulation material 56 is, for example, made by sealing a core material such as glass wool with a gas barrier laminate film to reduce the internal pressure. Furthermore, the vacuum insulation material is not limited to 56; for example, a plate-shaped insulation material may be made by forming a core material such as rigid polyurethane foam into a flat plate shape and then covering and sealing it with a gas barrier laminate film.

[0014] The intervening member 57 is positioned between the outer plate 51 and the vacuum insulation material 56 so as not to impair the appearance of the outer plate 51's surface due to irregularities on the surface of the vacuum insulation material 56 or the edges of the vacuum insulation material 56 when the foamed insulation material 55 shrinks due to heat and the outer plate 51 is pulled. The intervening member 57 is made of a material with a coefficient of thermal expansion similar to that of the outer plate 51, for example, the same type of material, preferably the same material. In this embodiment, since the outer plate 51 is made of steel, it is preferable that the intervening member also be made of steel. This makes it less likely for gaps to form between the outer plate 51 and the intervening member 57 even if they undergo thermal deformation due to changes in ambient temperature.

[0015] Furthermore, using the intervening member 57 effectively increases the thickness of the outer panel 51, improving its strength. This makes the outer panel 51 less susceptible to deformation even when stretched due to the thermal contraction of the foam insulation material 55, thus reducing the likelihood of distortion marks appearing on the surface of the outer panel 51. Such marks are less likely to occur if the outer panel 51 is made of glass of a typical thickness, but become more apparent when it is made of thin steel plates or generally soft resins.

[0016] <Method for manufacturing insulated doors> Next, a method for manufacturing the heat-insulating door 5a will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5. FIG. 4 is a schematic view corresponding to the cross-sectional view taken along the line A-A of FIG. 2, and FIG. 5 is a plan view showing the positional relationship between the fixing member and the sheet member arranged on the outer plate side of the intervening member.

[0017] First, the upper frame portion 52 and the lower frame portion 53, which are door frames, are attached to the outer plate 51 (see FIG. 4).

[0018] Next, the intervening member 57 is attached to the back side of the outer plate 51 using a fixing member 58a (first fixing member). In this embodiment, an adhesive such as hot melt is used as the fixing member 58a, but any member that can fix the outer plate 51 and the intervening member 57, such as double-sided tape, may be used. As shown in FIG. 5, the fixing member 58a is continuously provided from the left end to the right end of the intervening member 57 at the upper and lower edges of the intervening member 57. The range where the fixing member 58a is provided is not limited to the example of FIG. 5, and it may be provided at the left and right edges in addition to the upper and lower edges, or may be intermittent instead of continuous from end to end.

[0019] Here, in the region between the outer plate 51 and the intervening member 57 (the first region R1 in FIG. 4), as described above, an air pocket P1 may occur due to misalignment during the assembly operation. In this state, as shown in FIG. 4, when the foam heat-insulating material 55 is filled and foamed, the air pocket P1 moves to the edge side of the intervening member 57 due to the foaming pressure of the foam heat-insulating material 55, and part of it escapes outside the door, but part remains in the first region R1 without completely escaping.

[0020] This air pocket originally has a temperature corresponding to the temperature at the door manufacturing site. However, after being shipped as a refrigerator, it becomes the temperature corresponding to the temperature in the home kitchen or the like, and a temperature difference may occur. For example, when a refrigerator produced in summer is placed in a kitchen with a low temperature, the temperature of the air pocket decreases. Therefore, according to Boyle's law, when the volume is constant, the pressure of the air pocket decreases. That is, when the temperature decrease range is large, the pressure decrease range also becomes large, and there is a possibility that the outer plate 51 is pulled and deformed. According to the inventors' studies, when the diameter of the air pocket remaining in the door is 100 mm and the temperature decrease range is 30 degrees, the pressure decrease range is 0.01 MPa (negative pressure with respect to atmospheric pressure), and the displacement amount (concave shape) of the outer plate 51 is 0.56 mm. Conversely, when the temperature of the air pocket rises, the pressure of the air pocket also rises, becoming a positive pressure with respect to atmospheric pressure, and a convex displacement occurs by pushing the outer plate 51.

[0021] Thus, when air remains in the first region R1, it causes unevenness on the surface of the outer plate 51. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the sheet member 59 is disposed in a part of the region where the outer plate 51 and the fixing member 58a face each other, and the sheet member 59 is extended so as to straddle from the inside to the outside of the fixing member 58a in a front view. Further, the sheet member 59 has an adhesive surface on the outer plate side and a non-adhesive surface on the fixing member side, and is adhered to the outer plate 41 but not adhered to the fixing member 58a. Therefore, when air is pushed from the central side to the edge side of the intervening member 57 by the foaming pressure when the foam heat insulating material 55 foams, the non-adhesive surface of the sheet member 59 is separated from the fixing member 58a, and air can escape to the outside of the fixing member 58a through the gap. That is, air flows out from the first region R1, and deformation of the surface of the outer plate 51 is suppressed.

[0022] As shown in FIG. 5, the sheet member 59 is disposed on both left and right sides and the lower side in the region where the outer plate 51 and the fixing member 58a face each other. The drawer-type heat insulating door 5a has a larger left and right dimension than the up and down dimension, and it is more reliable for air to escape when there are air outlets near the left end and the right end. Also, the lower side is less visible to the user.

[0023] As shown in Figure 4, the other end of the sheet member 59 is located between the end of the outer panel 51 and the lower frame portion 53. An L-shaped protrusion 53a is formed at the front end of the lower frame portion 53 to protect the end face of the outer panel 51. A gap S is formed between the end face of the outer panel 51 and the protrusion 53a, allowing air to escape through this gap S, and making the sheet member 59 difficult for the user to see. In this embodiment, the sheet member 59 is described with one end positioned on the lower frame portion 53 side, but the same effect can be obtained even if one end of the sheet member 59 is positioned on the upper frame portion 52 side.

[0024] Furthermore, the sheet member 59 extends to the outside of the foam insulation material 55 in a front view and is not adhered to the foam insulation material 55. Therefore, the air that flows outward from the fixing member 58a passes between the sheet member 59 and the foam insulation material 55 and is finally discharged to the outside of the door through the gap between the door frame and the sheet member 59. Note that by providing the sheet member 59 on only a portion of the four sides of the first region R1, a gap equivalent to the thickness of the sheet member 59 may be created in the other parts. However, unlike a plate-shaped member, the sheet member 59 is thin (5 mm or less, for example 0.3 mm), so the foam insulation material will not flow out through this gap.

[0025] Here, the non-adhesive surface of the sheet member 59 can be formed by applying a silicone material. However, even by methods other than applying a silicone material, if the wettability of the surface is made to less than 34 mN / m, it will become difficult for the sheet member 59 to adhere to the fixing member 58a (adhesive) or the foam insulation material, thus forming a non-adhesive surface for the sheet member 59.

[0026] Next, the vacuum insulation material 56 is attached to the back side of the intervening member 57 using the fixing member 58b (second fixing member). In this embodiment, the fixing member 58b is the same as the fixing member 58a, using an adhesive such as hot melt, but any adhesive that can fix the intervening member 57 and the vacuum insulation material 56 can be used, such as double-sided tape. The fixing member 58b is provided continuously from the left end to the right end of the vacuum insulation material 56 at the upper edge, center, and lower edge of the vacuum insulation material 56.

[0027] Although air pockets also form in the region between the intervening member 57 and the vacuum insulation material 56 (the second region R2 in Figure 4), even if the intervening member 57 is pulled or pushed and deformed due to these air pockets, it will not affect the appearance of the door.

[0028] The assembly assembled in the aforementioned process, namely the assembly including the outer panel 51, door frame, intervening member 57, fixing member, sheet member 59, and vacuum insulation material 56, is positioned with the surface side of the outer panel 51 facing downwards. Then, foamed insulation material 55 such as rigid polyurethane foam is poured over the vacuum insulation material 56, and while the foamed insulation material 55 is foaming, the inner panel 54 is placed on top. As the foamed insulation material 55 expands horizontally, the air that was between the outer panel 51 and the intervening member 57 is gradually pushed outwards by the foaming pressure and discharged to the outside of the door through the gap formed via the sheet member 59. After that, the aforementioned assembly and the inner panel 54 are fixed together by the foamed insulation material 55, becoming a single insulated door 5a. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0029] 1...Refrigerator, 2...Refrigerator compartment, 2a...Insulated door (of the refrigerator compartment), 3...Ice maker compartment, 3a...Insulated door (of the ice maker compartment), 4...Upper freezer compartment, 4a...Insulated door (of the upper freezer compartment), 5...Lower freezer compartment, 5a...Insulated door (of the lower freezer compartment), 6...Vegetable compartment, 6a...Insulated door (of the vegetable compartment), 51...Outer panel, 52...Upper frame, 53...Lower frame, 54...Inner panel, 55...Foam insulation material, 56...Vacuum insulation material, 57...Intervening member, 58a, 58b...Fixing member, 59...Sheet member, P1...Air pocket, R1...First region, R2...Second region

Claims

1. The exterior panels and An intervening member is disposed on the back side of the outer plate, A fixing member that fixes the edge of the intervening member to the back surface of the outer plate, A vacuum insulation material is placed on the back side of the intervening member, In a front view, the insulated door comprises a foamed insulating material that is filled on the outside of the intervening member, the fixing member, and the vacuum insulating material, and that contacts a part of the back surface of the outer panel, The system further comprises a sheet member disposed in a part of the area facing the outer panel and the fixing member, An insulating door in which the sheet member extends from the inside to the outside of the fixing member when viewed from the front.

2. In claim 1, The aforementioned sheet member is bonded to the outer panel but not to the fixing member in the insulated door.

3. In claim 2, The aforementioned sheet member extends to the outside of the foam insulation material in a front view and is not adhered to the foam insulation material, forming an insulated door.

4. In claim 3, The aforementioned sheet member has an adhesive surface and a non-adhesive surface, and the non-adhesive surface is coated with a silicone material, making it an insulated door.

5. In claim 3, The aforementioned sheet member has an adhesive surface and a non-adhesive surface, and the wettability of the non-adhesive surface is less than 34 mN / m, wherein it is an insulated door.

6. In claim 1, The insulated door is of the pull-out type, The aforementioned sheet member is an insulating door positioned on the lower side and on both the left and right sides of the region where the outer panel and the fixing member face each other.

7. A refrigerator equipped with an insulated door as described in any one of claims 1 to 6.

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