Insulated box and refrigerator equipped therewith, and method for producing an insulated box

Abstract

To provide an insulated box that can significantly improve the strength at the corners compared to conventional designs. [Solution] The insulated box comprises a box body 10 having a vacuum insulation material 11 inside its side portion 10a, and a partition member 20 connected to the inside of the box body 10 and partitioning the inside of the box body 10. The box body 10 and the partition member 20 have holes 22 and 23 that connect the inside of the side portion 10a of the box body 10 and the inside of the partition member 20 to each other. The partition member 20 has an injection port 21 for filling the inside of the partition member 20 with foam insulation material 13. The inside of the partition member 20 and the inside of the side portion 10a of the box body 10 have foam insulation material 13 that is integrally connected via the holes 22 and 23. The holes 22 and 23 are positioned in front of and behind the vacuum insulation material 11 inside the side portion 10a, respectively, and the foam insulation material 13 extends along the front edge and rear edge of the vacuum insulation material 11 inside the side portion 10a, respectively.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a heat insulation box, a refrigerator including the same, and a method for producing the heat insulation box.

Background Art

[0002] Conventionally, there is known a heat insulation box for a refrigerator in which vacuum insulation panels are arranged in most of the space between an outer box and an inner box of an outer casing, excluding the corner portions (see, for example, Patent Document 1). In the corner portions of this heat insulation box, a foam insulation material formed by on-site foaming is filled from an injection port provided at a corner of a top plate constituting the outer box. According to such a heat insulation box, the strength of the corner portions where no vacuum insulation panel is provided can be increased by the foam insulation material.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] However, in a conventional heat insulation box (see, for example, Patent Document 1), filling of the foam insulation material into the corner portions may be insufficient because the vacuum insulation panels arranged in most of the inner side of the outer casing interfere. A heat insulation box with insufficient filling of the foam insulation material into the corner portions may not be able to sufficiently improve the strength of the corner portions, or there may be a risk of outside air intrusion from the unfilled portions.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0005] In view of the above circumstances, the present invention provides a heat-insulating box comprising: a box body having a pre-formed heat-insulating material inside and an opening at the front; and a partition member connected to the inside of the box body and dividing the opening vertically, wherein the box body and the partition member have holes connecting at least one of the corners inside the box body to the inside of the partition member, the inside of the partition member and the inside of the box body have foamed heat-insulating material integrally connected through the holes, and the front surface of the partition member has a partition opening. Furthermore, the refrigerator of the present invention has the aforementioned insulated box. Furthermore, the present invention relates to a method for producing an insulated box, comprising: a box body having a pre-formed insulating material inside and opening to the front; and a partition member connected to the inside of the box body and dividing the opening vertically, wherein the box body and the partition member have holes connecting at least one of the corners inside the box body to the inside of the partition member, and the inside of the partition member and the inside of the box body are integrally connected via the holes, wherein the raw foam insulating material is injected from a partition opening located on the front of the partition member. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0006] [Figure 1] This is an overall perspective view of a refrigerator equipped with an insulated box according to the first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] This is a cross-sectional view of a heat-insulating box according to the first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 3] This is an exploded perspective view of the box body constituting the heat-insulating box according to the first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 4] Figure 3 is an overall perspective view of the partition members that make up the box-shaped structure. [Figure 5A] This is a perspective view of a box illustrating the movement of foamed insulation material when the box is filled with foamed insulation material applied on-site in the manufacturing process of a box according to the first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 5B] Figure 5A is a cross-sectional view of a box body illustrating the movement of the foamed insulation material in the VB-VB section. [Figure 6A]This is a perspective view of a box illustrating the movement of foamed insulation material when the box is filled with foamed insulation material applied on-site in the manufacturing process of a box according to the second embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 6B] Figure 6A is a cross-sectional view of a box-shaped structure illustrating the movement of the foamed insulation material in the VIB-VIB section. [Figure 7A] This is a perspective view of a box illustrating the movement of foamed insulation material when the box is filled with foamed insulation material applied on-site in the manufacturing process of a box according to the third embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 7B] Figure 7A is a cross-sectional view of a box illustrating the movement of the foamed insulation material in the VIIB-VIIB section. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0007] The embodiments of the insulated box of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings as appropriate. Note that the insulated box of the present invention is not limited to those for refrigerators as described below, but can also be applied to showcases, storage units, and the like that have a refrigeration cycle.

[0008] (First Embodiment) First, we will describe the overall configuration of the refrigerator to which the insulated box of this embodiment is applied, and then we will describe the insulated box in detail. ≪Refrigerator≫ Figure 1 is an overall perspective view of refrigerator 1. As shown in Figure 1, the refrigerator 1 has, from top to bottom, a refrigerator compartment 2r, an ice-making compartment 3r, an upper freezer compartment 4r, a lower freezer compartment 5r, and a vegetable compartment 6r.

[0009] The front front of the top refrigerator compartment 2r is fitted with the left refrigerator door 2a and the right refrigerator door 2b. The second ice maker compartment 3r and the upper freezer compartment 4r are fitted with the ice maker door 3 and the upper freezer door 4, respectively. The front front of the third lower freezer compartment 5r is fitted with the lower freezer door 5. The front front of the bottom vegetable compartment 6r is fitted with the vegetable door 6. The left door 2a of the refrigerator compartment and the right door 2b of the refrigerator compartment are in a double-leaf opening configuration with respect to the heat insulation box 1H, which will be described in detail later. The left door 2a of the refrigerator compartment is rotatable forward by means of an upper hinge 7a and a lower hinge 8a. The right door 2b of the refrigerator compartment is rotatable forward by means of an upper hinge 7b and a lower hinge 8b.

[0010] The second-stage ice-making chamber door 3, the upper freezer compartment door 4, the third-stage lower freezer compartment door 5, and the bottom-most vegetable compartment door 6 shown in FIG. 1 are pullable forward in the direction of the paper surface of FIG. 1. Behind these ice-making chamber door 3, upper freezer compartment door 4, lower freezer compartment door 5, and vegetable compartment door 6, an ice-making chamber container 3u, an upper freezer compartment container 4u, a lower freezer compartment container 5u, and a vegetable compartment container 6u are integrally provided, respectively.

[0011] The refrigerator 1 is configured such that the opening 1H0 of the heat insulation box 1H is closed by the left door 2a of the refrigerator compartment, the right door 2b of the refrigerator compartment, the ice-making chamber door 3, the upper freezer compartment door 4, the lower freezer compartment door 5, and the vegetable compartment door 6, thereby thermally isolating the interior and exterior of the refrigerator.

[0012] ≪Heat Insulation Box≫ Next, the heat insulation box 1H (see FIG. 1) will be described. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the heat insulation box 1H shown in FIG. 1. As shown in FIG. 2, the heat insulation box 1H mainly comprises a box body 10, a vacuum heat insulation material 11, a molded heat insulation material 12 (pre-foamed board), and a foamed heat insulation material 13 of on-site foaming.

[0013] The box body 10呈現出コ字状 in the cross-sectional view shown in FIG. 2 and is open at the front. The box body 10 has an outer box 1s forming the approximate outer shape of the box body 10 and a U-shaped inner box 1u formed integrally with the outer box 1s inside the outer box 1s. The vacuum heat insulation material 11 is disposed inside the pair of side surfaces 10a of the box body 10 (inside the side surfaces). Also, inside the rear surface portion 10b of the box body 10 (inside the rear surface), a vacuum heat insulating material 11 as a pre-formed heat insulating material and a molded heat insulating material 12 as a pre-formed heat insulating material are arranged. Specifically, the molded heat insulating material 12 is arranged inside the vacuum heat insulating material 11. Note that the vacuum heat insulating material 11 is arranged in most parts except for the corner portion 10c between the outer box 1s and the inner box 1u.

[0014] In FIG. 2, the symbol R is a reinforcing frame. The reinforcing frame R is arranged at each of the four corner portions 10c of the box body 10. Each corner portion 10c is a space that extends vertically on the side of the pre-formed heat insulating material, and it is an area where the reinforcing frame R and the foam heat insulating material 13 can be provided. Inside the side surface portion 10a of the box body 10 (inside the side surface) and inside the rear surface portion 10b of the box body 10 (inside the rear surface), the foam heat insulating material 13 of on-site foam is filled so as to embed the vacuum heat insulating material 11, the molded heat insulating material 12, and the reinforcing frame R. This box body 10 will be described in detail later.

[0015] The vacuum heat insulating material 11 in this embodiment is formed by evacuating an exterior material having a core material inside, although not shown in the figure. Examples of the core material include, but are not limited to, hollow powder of silica beads, synthetic resin fibers, glass wool, etc.

[0016] Examples of the exterior material include a flexible sheet in which a heat welding layer and a gas barrier layer are laminated in order from the core material side. The heat welding layer is made of a thermoplastic resin or the like. As the gas barrier layer, it is preferable to form a metal vapor deposition film of 0.1 μm or less on one side of a resin sheet.

[0017] The molded heat insulating material 12 in this embodiment assumes a pre-foamed board made of, for example, rigid urethane foam. However, the material of the molded heat insulating material 12 is not limited to this, and other foam heat insulating materials can be used. In this embodiment, the molded heat insulating material 12 is intended to be a retaining plate that holds the suction pipe P (see Figure 3) inside the rear portion 10b (see Figure 2) of the box body 10 (see Figure 2).

[0018] The field-applied foamed insulation material 13 (see Figure 2) has a partition opening 21 (see Figure 3) in the box body 10 (see Figure 2), which will be described later. The partition opening 21 functions as an injection port, and is formed by injecting the foaming liquid Us (see Figure 5A) through the partition opening 21, followed by foaming and hardening. Hereafter, the partition opening 21 will be described as the injection port 21. For the foamed insulation material 13 (see Figure 2) that is applied in-situ, a vacuum insulation material 11 (see Figure 2), which has superior insulation performance than the foamed insulation material 13, is fixed around the vacuum insulation material 11. In this embodiment, the foamed insulation material 13 that is foamed in place has a hardened density of 20 to 80 kg / m³. 3 We are assuming a certain degree of rigid polyurethane foam.

[0019] Next, we will explain the box body 10 (see Figure 2) in more detail. Figure 3 is an exploded perspective view of the box body 10 (see Figure 2). As shown in Figure 3, the box body 10 comprises an inner box 1u, an outer box 1s, and a reinforcing frame R. In Figure 3, reference numeral 11 denotes a vacuum insulation material, and reference numeral 12 denotes a molded insulation material used as a retaining plate for the suction pipe P. Note that, for the sake of drawing convenience, the suction pipe P shown in Figure 3 is depicted as being exposed on the surface of the molded insulation material 12. However, in reality, the suction pipe P is insert-molded into the molded insulation material 12 and embedded within it.

[0020] As shown in Figure 3, the inner box 1u is composed of a top plate 1u1, a pair of left and right side plates 1u2, a rear plate 1u3, and a bottom plate 1u4. The bottom plate 1u4 and the bottom member 15 of the outer box 1s, which is attached to the bottom plate 1u4 from below, are formed in a stepped shape to correspond to the machine room (not shown) of the refrigerator 1 (see Figure 1). Furthermore, the inner box 1u is equipped with a partition member 20. The partition member 20 is connected to the inside of the box body 10 (inner box 1u) and divides the inside of the box body 10 (inner box 1u) vertically. In this embodiment, there are multiple partition members 20 (two in this embodiment). The partition members 20 form a shelf section inside the box body 10 (inner box 1u).

[0021] Furthermore, in this insulated box 1H, as shown in Figure 3, the box body 10 is provided with at least one of the vacuum insulation material 11 and the molded insulation material 12 within the rear projection plane of the partition member 20. In Figure 3, reference numeral 23 denotes a hole formed in the side plate 1u2 to correspond to the mounting position of the partition member 20. This hole 23 will be explained in detail later, along with the specific configuration of the partition member 20.

[0022] The inner box 1u described above is assumed to be made by vacuum forming a sheet of thermoplastic resin. Examples of thermoplastic resins include, but are not limited to, acrylonitrile butadiene styrene resin (ABS resin), polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), and polyethylene terephthalate (PET). Among these, ABS resin is particularly preferred because of its excellent affinity with the rigid polyurethane foam, which is the foamed insulation material 13 applied in-situ.

[0023] As shown in Figure 3, the outer box 1s comprises an outer box body 14, a bottom member 15, and a rear member 16. These outer box body 14, bottom member 15, and rear member 16 are formed from thin steel plates, for example, with a thickness of about 0.5 mm to 0.4 mm. As shown in Figure 3, the outer box body 14 has a U-shape when viewed in the front-to-back direction. Specifically, the outer box body 14 includes a top surface portion 14a arranged to correspond to the top plate 1u1 of the inner box 1u, and a pair of side portions 14b arranged to correspond to the pair of side plates 1u2 of the inner box 1u. The outer box body 14 is positioned to cover the top plate 1u1 and a pair of side plates 1u2 of the inner box 1u via a reinforcing frame R positioned between it and the inner box 1u. The outer box body 14 is positioned at a predetermined distance from the inner box 1u by the reinforcing frame R. Furthermore, vacuum insulation material 11 is placed on the inner surfaces of the top surface 14a and side surface 14b of the outer box body 14.

[0024] As described above, the bottom member 15 is positioned along the lower surface of the bottom plate 1u4 of the inner box 1u and is fixed to the lower end of the outer box body 14 with screws or the like. Furthermore, a vacuum insulation material 11 is placed on the upper surface of the bottom member 15.

[0025] The rear member 16 is interposed between the rear plate 1u3 of the inner box 1u and the molded insulation material 12 and the vacuum insulation material 11, and is fixed to the rear edge of the outer box body 14 of the outer box 1s and the rear edge of the bottom member 15 with screws or the like. This completes the box body 10, in which the inner box 1u, outer box 1s, and reinforcing frame R are integrated.

[0026] Next, we will explain the partition member 20 in more detail. Figure 4 is an overall perspective view of the partition member 20 that constitutes the box body 10 shown in Figure 3. As shown in Figure 4, the partition member 20 is a hollow member that is rectangular (including square) in plan view. Specifically, the partition member 20 is composed of a box-shaped member that is thin in the vertical direction. An injection port 21 for the foaming liquid Us (see Figure 5A) of the foamed insulation material 13 (see Figure 2) is formed in the center of the front side of the partition member 20 in the left-right direction. The partition member 20 does not have any pre-formed insulation material such as vacuum insulation material, or if it does, its thickness direction is in the vertical direction, so it does not easily obstruct the injection of the foamed insulation material 13 (foaming liquid Us) from the injection port 21 on the front of the partition member 20.

[0027] Furthermore, holes 22 are formed on the left side, right side, and rear side of the partition member 20, allowing communication between the inside and outside of the partition member 20. The holes 22 are formed to be offset towards the front and rear ends on both the left and right sides. They are also formed to be offset towards the left and right ends on the rear side. These holes 22 do not necessarily have to be all present; only some may be provided. For example, either the hole 22 at the rear end of the left side or the hole 22 at the left end of the rear side may be present alone. Similarly, either the hole 22 at the rear end of the right side or the hole 22 at the right end of the rear side may be present alone. These holes 22 are designed to overlap with the holes 23 (see Figure 3) of the inner box 1u (see Figure 3) when the partition member 20 is connected to the inside of the inner box 1u (see Figure 3). In other words, the inner space of the partition member 20 is in communication with the inner space formed between the side portion 14b (see Figure 3) of the outer box body 14 (see Figure 3) and the side plate 1u2 of the inner box 1u (see Figure 3) via the holes 23 (see Figure 3) and 22 (see Figure 4). Furthermore, the inner space formed between the rear member 16 and the rear plate 1u3 of the inner box 1u is in communication with the partition member 20 via the holes 23 and 22 (see Figure 4).

[0028] As described above, since the holes 22 are formed to be offset towards the front and rear ends on the left and right sides, respectively, the holes 23 formed on the front side of the inner box 1u are located in front of the front edge of the vacuum insulation material 11 placed on the side portion 14b of the outer box body 14. Similarly, the holes 23 formed on the rear side of the inner box 1u are located behind the rear edge of the vacuum insulation material 11 placed on the side portion 14b of the outer box body 14. Furthermore, since the holes 22 are formed to be offset towards the left and right ends on the rear side, the holes 23 formed in the rear plate 1u3 of the inner box 1u are located to the left of the left end of the vacuum insulation material 11 placed on the rear member 16, and to the right of the right end of the vacuum insulation material 11. Thus, these holes 23 face each of the four corner portions 10c that extend in the vertical direction.

[0029] Furthermore, the hole 22 formed on the rear side of the left side of the partition member 20 and the hole 22 formed on the left side of the rear side of the partition member 20 face the same corner portion 10c, so they may be formed as two independent holes, or as a single continuous hole spanning the corner of the partition member 20. The hole 23 formed on the rear side of the left side of the inner box 1u and the hole 23 formed on the left side of the rear plate 1u3 of the inner box 1u may be formed as two independent holes, or as a single continuous hole spanning the corner of the inner box 1u. Similarly, the hole 22 formed on the rear side of the right side of the partition member 20 and the hole 22 formed on the right side of the rear side of the partition member 20 face the same corner portion 10c, so they may be formed as two independent holes, or as a single continuous hole spanning the corner of the partition member 20. The hole 23 formed on the rear side of the right side of the inner box 1u and the hole 23 formed on the right side of the rear plate 1u3 of the inner box 1u may be formed as two independent holes, or as a single continuous hole that spans the corner of the inner box 1u.

[0030] Next, a method for manufacturing the insulated box 1H (see Figure 2) according to the first embodiment will be described. Figure 5A is a perspective view of the box 10 illustrating the movement of the foaming liquid Us of the foamed insulation material 13 (see Figure 2) when the box 10 is filled with the foaming liquid Us. Figure 5B is a cross-sectional view of the box 10 illustrating the movement of the foaming liquid Us in the VB-VB section of Figure 5A. When filling the box 10 with the foaming liquid Us, the box is positioned so that the inlet 21 of the partition member 20 faces vertically upward, a so-called upside-down position. Therefore, the arrows in Figures 5A and 5B only indicate the vertical direction (vertically upward and vertically downward). Furthermore, in Figures 5A and 5B, the movement of the foaming concentrate Us is represented by dashed arrows.

[0031] As shown in Figure 5A, the foaming liquid Us is injected into the inside of the partition member 20 through the inlet 21. As shown in Figure 5B, the foaming liquid Us that fills the inside of the partition member 20 flows into the inside of the side portion 10a of the box body 10 (inside the side) through the holes 22 formed in the four corners of the partition member 20 and the holes 23 formed in the four corners of the inner box 1u. Specifically, the foaming concentrate Us flows into the corner sections 10c formed at the four corners of the box body 10.

[0032] Returning to Figure 5A, the foaming liquid Us that has flowed into the corner section 10c flows preferentially along the longitudinal direction of the box body 10, specifically through the corner section 10c where the vacuum insulation material 11 is not present, among the side surfaces 10a of the box body 10. Furthermore, the dimension in the thickness direction of the partition member 20 inside the partition member 20 (distance D1) is set to be greater than the dimension (distance D2) between the edge of the vacuum insulation material 11 inside the side portion 10a of the box body 10 (inside the side portion) and the edge of the side portion 10a. When pre-foamed molded insulation material such as vacuum insulation material is provided inside the partition member 20, distance D1 is calculated excluding the dimension in the thickness direction of the vacuum insulation material. That is, if vacuum insulation material is attached to either the upper or lower surface of the partition member 20, it refers to the dimension from the surface of the vacuum insulation material on the other side to the other surface of the partition member 20. In this case, the inlet 21 and hole 22 of the partition member 20, and the hole 23 of the inner box, each have at least a portion that does not overlap with the vacuum insulation material. For example, as in the second embodiment described later, the injection port 21 is provided closer to the side portion 10a than the vacuum insulation material (avoiding it in the left-right direction in Figure 3) so that the foaming liquid Us passing through the injection port 21 is not obstructed by the vacuum insulation material. Alternatively, the injection port may be placed to avoid the thickness range of the vacuum insulation material (avoiding it in the up-down direction in Figure 3). The same applies to the holes 22 and 23; for example, when projecting the holes 22 and 23 onto the vacuum insulation material side from the opposite side of the vacuum insulation material, it is preferable to ensure that the projected surface does not overlap with the vacuum insulation material.

[0033] The foaming liquid Us flows into the area around the vacuum insulation material 11 provided on the upper surface 14a of the outer box body 14, and around the vacuum insulation material 11 provided on the bottom member 15, via the corner portion 10c. Then, as this foaming liquid Us hardens, the insulated box 1H shown in Figure 2 is completed. In such an insulated box 1H, as shown in Figure 2, foaming insulation material 13 is formed at the four corner portions 10c, extending vertically (in the direction perpendicular to the plane of the paper in Figure 2) along the front and rear edges of the vacuum insulation material 11, respectively. In addition, the foaming insulation material (not shown) formed around the vacuum insulation material 11 of the upper surface portion 14a and around the vacuum insulation material 11 of the bottom member 15 is connected to the foaming insulation material 13 extending vertically (in the direction perpendicular to the plane of the paper in Figure 2) and becomes one unit.

[0034] <Effects> Next, the effects and benefits of this embodiment will be described. The insulated box 1H of this embodiment comprises a box body 10 having a vacuum insulation material 11 inside the side portion 10a and opening to the front, and a partition member 20 connected to the inside of the box body 10 and dividing the inside of the box body 10 vertically. The box body 10 and the partition member 20 have holes 22 and 23 that connect the inside of the side portion 10a of the box body 10 and the inside of the partition member 20 to each other. The front surface of the partition member 20 has an injection port 21 for filling the inside of the partition member 20 with site-foamed foam insulation material 13. The inside of the partition member 20 and the inside of the side portion 10a of the box body 10 have foam insulation material 13 that is integrally connected via the holes 22 and 23. The holes 22 and 23 are located in front of and behind the vacuum insulation material 11 inside the side portion 10a, respectively, and the foam insulation material 13 extends vertically along the front edge and rear edge of the vacuum insulation material 11 inside the side portion 10a, respectively.

[0035] In conventional insulated boxes (see, for example, Patent Document 1), the vacuum insulation panels (vacuum insulation material) placed on most of the inside of the outer shell (box body) interfered with each other, sometimes resulting in insufficient filling of foam insulation material in the corner areas. In contrast, in the insulated box 1H of this embodiment, the foamed insulation material 13 is filled into the interior of the side portion 10a through holes 22 and 23 located in front of and behind the vacuum insulation material 11, respectively, from the injection port 21 of the partition member 20. Since the holes 22 and 23 are located on the central side in the vertical direction, which is the longitudinal direction of the insulated box 1H, the foamed insulation material 13 (foaming liquid Us) that enters the interior of the side portion 10a branches up and down as it fills. In this embodiment, there are two partition members 20, but from the viewpoint of the filling of the foamed insulation material 13 (foaming liquid Us), it is considered preferable that at least one of the partition members 20 provided in the insulated box 1H be located on the central side of the longitudinal dimension (within the range of 40-60% from one end). In this embodiment, the partition member 20 between the refrigerator compartment 2r and the ice-making compartment 3r and upper freezer compartment 4r is located within this range. As a result, the foamed insulation material 13 is sufficiently filled into the interior of the side portion 10a without being interfered with by the vacuum insulation material 11. Furthermore, the filled foamed insulation material 13 extends vertically along the front and rear edges of the vacuum insulation material 11, respectively. In other words, the insulated box 1H allows for a significant improvement in the strength of the corner section 10c compared to conventional designs.

[0036] Furthermore, in this insulated box 1H, the dimension in the thickness direction of the partition member 20 inside the partition member 20 (distance D1) is set to be greater than the dimension (distance D2) between the edge of the vacuum insulation material 11 inside the side portion 10a of the box body 10 and the edge of the side portion 10a of the box body 10. With such an insulated box 1H, good fluidity of the foamed insulation material 13 (foaming liquid Us) immediately after it is injected into the inside of the partition member 20 from the injection port 21 can be ensured.

[0037] Furthermore, in this insulated box 1H, the box body 10 is provided with at least one of the vacuum insulation material 11 and the molded insulation material 12 within the rear projection plane of the partition member 20. With such an insulated box 1H, the foamed insulation material 13 (foaming liquid Us) is filled into the interior of the side portion 10a from the injection port 21, without interference from the vacuum insulation material 11 and the molded insulation material 12, while ensuring insulation at the rear portion 10b of the insulated box 1H.

[0038] (Second Embodiment) Next, the insulation box 1H of the second embodiment will be described. Here, the structure of the insulation box 1H will be described while explaining the manufacturing method of the insulation box 1H of the second embodiment. In the following, the same reference numerals are used for components that are the same as in the first embodiment, and detailed descriptions are omitted.

[0039] Figure 6A is a perspective view of the box body 10 illustrating the movement of the foamed insulation material 13 (foaming concentrate Us) when the box body 10 is filled with the foamed insulation material 13 (foaming concentrate Us) in the manufacturing process of the insulated box 1H according to the second embodiment. Figure 6B is a cross-sectional view of the box body 10 illustrating the movement of the foamed insulation material 13 (foaming concentrate Us) in the VIB-VIB section of Figure 6A. Figure 6A corresponds to Figure 5A in the first embodiment, and Figure 6B corresponds to Figure 5B in the first embodiment.

[0040] First, referring to Figure 6B, the insulated box 1H according to the second embodiment differs from the insulated box 1H according to the first embodiment (see Figure 5B) in that it has a vacuum insulation material 11 inside the partition member 20. This vacuum insulation material 11 is smaller than the partition member 20 in a plan view. Furthermore, as shown in Figure 6B, the insulated box 1H according to the second embodiment differs from the insulated box 1H according to the first embodiment (see Figure 5B) in that the injection port 21 is located on the side surface 10a side of the vacuum insulation material 11 and is offset so as to be adjacent to the corner portion 10c. Furthermore, in the insulated box 1H according to the second embodiment, as shown in Figure 6A, the inlet 21 is formed not only on the partition member 20 but also on the upper surface 14a of the box body 10 and on the bottom member 15. Furthermore, in the insulated box 1H according to the second embodiment, as shown in Figure 6A, the inlet 21 is arranged so as to alternately on one side and the other side in the width direction of the box body 10.

[0041] <Effects> In the second embodiment, the insulated box 1H has a vacuum insulation material 11 inside the partition member 20, and the inlet 21 is positioned on the side portion 10a side, avoiding the vacuum insulation material 11. With such an insulated box 1H, as shown in Figures 6A and 6B, the foamed insulation material 13 (foaming liquid Us) can be injected into the interior of the partition member 20 from the injection port 21 without interference from the vacuum insulation material 11.

[0042] Furthermore, the insulated box 1H according to this second embodiment has a plurality of inlet ports 21, and the inlet ports 21 are arranged alternately on one side in the width direction of the box body and the other side in the width direction. According to the insulated box 1H of this second embodiment, the foamed insulation material 13 (foaming liquid Us) can be efficiently injected into the interior of the partition member 20 from the injection port 21.

[0043] (Third embodiment) Next, the third embodiment of the insulated box will be described. Here, the manufacturing method of the insulated box 1H of the third embodiment will be described, along with the configuration of this insulated box 1H. In the following, the same reference numerals are used for components that are the same as those in the first and second embodiments, and detailed descriptions are omitted.

[0044] Figure 7A is a perspective view of the box 10 illustrating the movement of the foamed insulation material 13 (foaming liquid Us) when the box 10 is filled with the foamed insulation material 13 (foaming liquid Us) in the manufacturing process of the insulated box 1H according to the third embodiment. Figure 7B is a cross-sectional view of the box 10 illustrating the movement of the foamed insulation material 13 in the VIIB-VIIB section of Figure 7A. Figure 7A corresponds to Figure 6A in the second embodiment, and Figure 7B corresponds to Figure 6B in the second embodiment.

[0045] First, referring to Figure 7A, the insulated box 1H according to the third embodiment differs from the insulated box 1H according to the second embodiment (see Figure 6A) in that the partition member 20 has a pair of inlet openings 21. Furthermore, in the third embodiment of the insulated box 1H, as shown in Figure 7A, in addition to the partition member 20, a pair of inlet openings 21 are also formed on the upper surface 14a of the box body 10 and on the bottom member 15. Furthermore, as shown in Figure 7B, each of the pair of inlet ports 21 is offset so that it avoids the vacuum insulation material 11 and is adjacent to the corner portion 10c.

[0046] <Effects> The insulated box 1H according to the third embodiment has a pair of inlet ports 21 on each of the partition member 20, the upper surface portion 14a, and the bottom member 15. The inlet ports 21 are formed to avoid the vacuum insulation material 11. According to the insulated box 1H of this third embodiment, the foamed insulation material 13 (foaming liquid Us) can be injected more efficiently into the interior of the partition member 20 from the injection port 21.

[0047] Although embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments and can be implemented in various forms. A pre-formed insulating material, such as a molded insulating material 12, may be used instead of the vacuum insulating material 11. The vacuum insulating material 11 is also an example of a pre-formed insulating material. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0048] 1H Insulated Box 10 box body 10a Side part 11 Vacuum insulation material 13. Foam insulation 20 Partition Members 21 Partition opening (inlet) 22 Hole 23 Hole

Claims

1. A box-shaped body having pre-formed insulation material inside and an opening at the front, A partition member connected to the inside of the box body and dividing the opening vertically, Equipped with, The box body and the partition member have holes that connect at least one of the corners inside the box body to the inside of the partition member. The interior of the partition member and the interior of the box body are connected integrally by the holes, The front surface of the partition member is an insulated box having a partition opening.

2. The insulating box according to claim 1, wherein the partition opening is an inlet used for injecting the raw foam insulating material.

3. The insulated box according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the dimension of the partition member in the thickness direction inside the partition member is set to be greater than the dimension between the edge of the vacuum insulation material placed inside the side portion of the box and the edge of the side portion of the box.

4. The insulated box according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the partition member has a pre-formed insulating material inside, and the partition opening is positioned to avoid the insulating material.

5. The insulated box according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the box body comprises at least one of a vacuum insulation material and a molded insulation material within the rear projection plane of the partition member.

6. The heat-insulating box according to claim 1 or 2, wherein it has a plurality of partition openings, and the partition openings are arranged alternately on one side in the width direction of the box and the other side in the width direction of the box body.

7. A refrigerator having an insulated box according to claim 1 or 2.

8. A box-shaped body having pre-formed insulation material inside and an opening at the front, A partition member connected to the inside of the box body and dividing the opening vertically, Equipped with, The box body and the partition member have holes that connect at least one of the corners inside the box body to the inside of the partition member. A method for producing an insulated box having foamed insulation material integrally connected to the inside of the partition member and the inside of the box body via the holes, A production method comprising injecting the raw foam insulation material through a partition opening located on the front surface of the partition member.

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