refrigerator

Abstract

The object of the present invention is to provide a refrigerator that eliminates the need for screws to be used in the door liner of a pull-out door. [Solution] A refrigerator comprising an outer panel, an inner panel, an insulating material disposed between the outer panel and the inner panel, and a drawer frame member, wherein the inner panel has a storage section for housing a part of the drawer frame member.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a refrigerator.

Background Art

[0002] Patent Document 1 discloses a technique in which, in the drawer portion of a refrigerator, the door-side attachment portion of the drawer frame is fixed by screwing.

Prior Art Document

Patent Document

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] However, in Patent Document 1, since the door-side attachment portion of the drawer frame is fixed by screwing, the screw and the protrusion for supporting the screw protrude toward the hollow portion side inside the door. At this time, when a configuration in which a vacuum heat insulating material is disposed in the hollow portion inside the door is adopted, there is a risk that the screw and the protrusion may contact the vacuum heat insulating material and be damaged and leak.

[0005] An object of the present invention is to provide a refrigerator that can eliminate the need for screws on the door liner of a drawer-type door.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0006] The present invention is a refrigerator including an outer plate, an inner plate, a heat insulating material disposed between the outer plate and the inner plate, and a drawer frame member, wherein the inner plate has a storage portion for storing a part of the drawer frame member.

Effects of the Invention

[0007] According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a refrigerator that can eliminate the need for screws on the door liner of a drawer-type door.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0008] [Figure 1] This is a front view of the refrigerator according to this embodiment. [Figure 2] An exploded perspective view of the insulated door (freezer door), seen from diagonally in front and above. [Figure 3] A perspective view of the door liner, which forms the rear of an insulated door, seen from diagonally above and behind. [Figure 4] Figure 3 shows an enlarged view of the main part of the drawer frame member. [Figure 5] Cross-sectional view AA in Figure 3. [Figure 6] Cross-sectional view AA of Figure 3 in another embodiment. [Figure 7] Furthermore, Figure 3 shows a cross-sectional view AA of another embodiment. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0009] Hereinafter, embodiments for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings as appropriate. [Examples]

[0010] First, the configuration of the refrigerator to which this embodiment is applied will be described. Figure 1 is a front view of the refrigerator according to this embodiment. The refrigerator 1 comprises a box body and insulated doors 11 to 16 attached to the box body. In this embodiment, the insulated doors are composed of multiple parts. The outer box comprises a top panel, a back panel, a bottom panel, a left side panel, and a right side panel. The insulated doors 11 and 14 are rotatably supported by hinges and can be opened and closed.

[0011] For example, the refrigerator has storage compartments, with a refrigerator compartment at the positions of insulated doors 11 and 14 from top to bottom, an ice maker compartment and a freezer compartment at the positions of insulated doors 12 and 13, a freezer compartment at the position of insulated door 13, and a vegetable compartment at the position of insulated door 16.

[0012] Furthermore, insulated doors 11 and 14 are rotating insulated doors that rotate around a hinge, while insulated doors 12, 15, 13, and 16 are pull-out insulated doors. When a pull-out insulated door is pulled out, the containers that make up each compartment are pulled out along with the insulated door. Although this embodiment is explained using the refrigerator shown in Figure 1, it can be applied to other refrigerators as well.

[0013] Figure 2 is an exploded perspective view of the insulated door 13 (freezer door) viewed from diagonally in front and above. The insulated door 13 has an outer shell formed by a front outer panel 7, an upper frame member 8 at the top, a lower frame member 9 at the bottom, and a rear door liner 10 (inner panel). The vacuum insulation material 20 is placed inside this outer shell. The outer panel 7 is formed by bending a thin steel sheet, with the front, right side, and left side being integrally formed. The upper and lower edges of the outer panel 7 are covered by the upper frame member 8 and lower frame member 9, which are made of resin, respectively.

[0014] In this explanation, the outer panel 7 of the insulated door is assumed to be made of steel plate, but it is not limited to this and may be made of glass.

[0015] Figure 3 is a perspective view of the door liner 10 (inner panel) that constitutes the rear of the insulated door 13, viewed from diagonally above and behind. As shown in Figure 3, a drawer frame member 30 is provided on the rear surface (storage compartment side) of the door liner 10 to support the load of the insulated door 13 by sliding with a rail provided on the refrigerator body side. Preferably, the drawer frame member 30 consists of a connecting portion 30a, one end of which is fixed to the door liner 10, and an extension portion 30b, the other end of which is fixed to the connecting portion 30a. The extension portion 30b is longer in the front-to-back direction than the connecting portion 30a. Note that the drawer frame member 30 shown on the left side of Figure 3 shows a state in which the extension portion 30b is not attached to the connecting portion 30a. The drawer frame member 30 may also be formed by the connecting portion 30a alone by giving the connecting portion 30a sufficient length.

[0016] FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of the main part of the drawer frame member 30. As shown in FIG. 4, the connecting part 30a and the extension part 30b that constitute the drawer frame member 30 connect the respective ends with screws, rivets 31, etc. The connecting part 30a and the extension part 30b are formed with main parts 30a1 and 30b1 which are bent flange parts extending in the left-right direction from the upper and lower ends so as to have a substantially U-shaped cross section, increasing the strength. By structuring the drawer frame member 30 as a split structure in this way, extension parts 30b with different front-rear dimensions can be attached according to the depth dimension of the refrigerator, enabling parts sharing for multiple types of refrigerators with different depth dimensions (that is, even for refrigerators with different depth dimensions, the door liner 10 and the connecting part 30a can be shared).

[0017] Also, the dimension of the connecting part 30a in the front-rear direction is shorter than the dimension of the extension part 30b in the front-rear direction. That is, the door liner 10 in the state where only the connecting part 30a is attached (the state on the left side of the paper surface in FIG. 3) can have a shorter dimension in the front-rear direction than the door liner 10 in the state where the connecting part 30a and the extension part 30b are attached (the state on the right side of the paper surface in FIG. 3), so it is easier to store multiple pieces in a warehouse or the like or to carry out the work of transporting the door liner 10.

[0018] FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line A-A of FIG. 3. As shown in FIG. 5, the door liner 10 and the connecting part 30a are integrally formed and connected by, for example, insert molding. The connecting part 30a of the drawer frame member 30 has an L-shape formed by a base part 30a2 along the surface direction (for example, the left-right direction) of the door liner 10 and a main part 30a1 along the front-rear direction (the direction orthogonal to the surface direction). Also, the connecting part 30a is embedded in the storage part 10a which is the space of the door liner 10 by insert molding.

[0019] The door liner 10 has a front surface 10a1 facing the vacuum insulation material 20, a rear surface 10a2 facing a part of the front surface 10a1 across the storage space of the base 30a2 in the storage part 10a, and a first branch part 10a3 where the front surface 10a1 branches toward the rear surface 10a2. Further, the door liner 10 has left and right side surfaces 10a4 and 10a5 facing each other across the storage space of the main part 30a1 in the storage part 10a and extending in the front-rear direction. The left side surface 10a4 is formed at a position branched from the front surface 10a1 by a second branch part 10a6, and the right side surface 10a5 is formed by the rear surface 10a2 extending rearward. The storage part 10a has the storage space of the base 30a2 and the storage space of the main part 30a1 continuous, and as a whole, the storage part 10a also presents a cross-sectional L shape.

[0020] The base 30a2 embedded in the door liner 10 is arranged on the front side of the rear surface 10a2 of the door liner 10. As illustrated in FIG. 5, when the front surface 10a1 and the rear surface 10a2 are flush, the front surface 10a1 is recessed on the front side (outer plate 7 side), and the inner space of the door liner 10 is recessed. A recess 20a is formed in the vacuum insulation material 20 so as to face this recessed part. Thereby, the gap generated between the door liner 10 and the vacuum insulation material 20 can be reduced, and the heat insulation performance of the heat insulation door 13 can be ensured. On the other hand, FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line A-A of FIG. 3 and shows another embodiment different from FIG. 5. When the rear surface 10a2 is located behind the front surface 10a1, that is, when the first branch part 10a3 extends rearward from the front surface 10a1, the front surface 10a1 facing the vacuum insulation material 20 becomes flat and the inner space of the door liner 10 can be flat without being recessed, so that the gap generated between the door liner 10 and the vacuum insulation material 20 can be made smaller.

[0021] FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line A-A of FIG. 3 and shows an embodiment different from both FIGS. 5 and 6. By forming one or more reinforcing ribs 10b so as to connect the left and right side surfaces 10a4 and 10a5 which are left and right side surface parts to the front surface 10a1 or the rear surface 10a2, the strength of the connection part of the door liner 10 and the connection part 30a can be increased.

[0022] As described above, in this embodiment, the insulated door of the refrigerator has a metal drawer frame member 30 integrally attached to the resin door liner 10 (inner panel) by insert molding or the like, which allows the drawer frame member 30 to be embedded in the door liner 10 and improves ease of assembly.

[0023] Furthermore, by making the drawer frame member 30 a two-part structure (front and rear), it is possible to share parts between refrigerators with different depth dimensions, and to improve handling during the manufacturing process.

[0024] Furthermore, by connecting the door liner 10 (inner panel) and the drawer frame member 30 using insert molding, the dimensions between the door liner 10 and the vacuum insulation material 20 can be reduced. In this case, if a structure is adopted in which no foam insulation material is interposed between the door liner 10 (inner panel) and the vacuum insulation material 20 (urethane-less structure), the use of screws can be reduced, thereby suppressing leaks due to damage to the vacuum insulation material 20. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0025] 1...Refrigerator, 7...Outer panel, 8...Upper frame member, 9...Lower frame member, 10...Door liner (inner panel), 11...Insulated door, 12...Insulated door, 13...Insulated door, 14...Insulated door, 15...Insulated door, 16...Insulated door, 20...Vacuum insulation material, 30...Drawer frame member, 30a...Connecting part, 30b...Extension part, 31...Screw.

Claims

1. The insulated door comprises an outer panel, an inner panel, an insulating material disposed between the outer panel and the inner panel, and a drawer frame member. The refrigerator is characterized in that the inner panel has a storage section for housing a part of the drawer frame member.

2. In the refrigerator according to claim 1, Of the inner panel, the basic surface facing the insulation material and the rear surface located further away from the insulation material than the basic surface face each other across the storage compartment. The aforementioned base surface and the aforementioned rear side surface are flush, and the base surface is recessed toward the outer plate side. The aforementioned insulation material is characterized in that the recessed portion is recessed toward the outer panel side.

3. In the refrigerator according to claim 1, Of the inner panel, the basic surface facing the insulation material and the rear surface located further away from the insulation material than the basic surface face each other across the storage compartment. A refrigerator characterized in that the basic surface is flat.

4. In the refrigerator according to claim 1, The drawer frame member comprises a base portion extending along the inner plate and a main portion extending in a direction perpendicular to the inner plate. The refrigerator is characterized in that the inner panel has left and right side portions that are opposite to the main portion, sandwiching it.

5. In the refrigerator according to claim 4, A refrigerator characterized by having reinforcing ribs connected to the left and right side portions.

6. In the refrigerator according to any one of claims 1 to 5, The refrigerator is characterized in that the drawer frame member has a connecting portion having one end housed in the storage portion, and an extension portion connected to the other end of the connecting portion.

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