storage

Abstract

In a storage facility where the front opening of the storage room is opened and closed by a sliding door, this invention facilitates repair of damage to the vertical wall at the front end of the lower guide frame of the sliding door. [Solution] The storage unit comprises a storage unit body 1 with an interior storage room 4, a sliding door 5 that opens and closes the front opening of the storage room 4, and an upper guide frame 29 and a lower guide frame 30 that guide the sliding door 5 to slide left and right. The lower guide frame 30 includes a frame body 35 that guides the lower end of the sliding door 5 and a front vertical wall 36 that rises from the front end of the frame body 35, with the front vertical wall 36 being interchangeably connected to the frame body 35.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a storage cabinet in which the front opening of a storage chamber is opened and closed by a sliding door.

Background Art

[0002] This type of storage cabinet is disclosed, for example, in Patent Document 1 previously filed by the applicant. The storage cabinet of Patent Document 1 includes a cabinet body (case body) with an internal storage chamber (refrigerating chamber), a pair of sliding doors that open and close the front opening of the storage chamber, and an upper guide frame (upper guide rail) and a lower guide frame (lower guide rail) that slide-guide the sliding doors left and right. The cabinet body is composed of a heat-insulating box body with an open front, a metal outer box and an inner box, a synthetic resin connection frame (sealing edge body) that connects the opposing ends of the outer box and the inner box, and a foamed heat-insulating material filled in the space surrounded by these. The connection frame is formed in a square frame shape and is arranged at the periphery of the front opening of the cabinet body.

[0003] The upper guide frame and the lower guide frame are fixed so as to cover the outer surface of the connection frame of the cabinet body. Among these, vertical walls extending upward are provided at both the front and rear ends of the lower guide frame, and the space between these vertical walls is divided front and rear by an intermediate vertical wall. That is, among the pair of sliding doors, the lower end portion of the front sliding door is guided between the front vertical wall and the intermediate vertical wall of the lower guide frame, and the lower end portion of the rear sliding door is guided between the rear vertical wall and the intermediate vertical wall of the lower guide frame. Rollers that can travel along the lower guide frame are pivotally supported on the left and right of the lower end portion of each sliding door. The front vertical wall of the lower guide frame shields the running surface of the roller from the line of sight of a user standing in front of the storage cabinet, contributing to enhancing the design of the storage cabinet.

[0004] A similar storage unit is disclosed in Patent Document 2. In the storage unit of Patent Document 2, the upper and lower guide frames that guide the sliding door also serve as connecting frames that connect the outer and inner boxes of the storage unit. A pair of front and rear lower rails that support the sliding door rollers are provided on the upper surface of the lower guide frame, and a raised portion that is higher than the lower rails is provided at the front end of the lower guide frame. This raised portion also contributes to enhancing the design of the storage unit by shielding the roller running surface from the line of sight of a user standing in front of the storage unit. [Prior art documents] [Patent Documents]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Publication No. 2018-68836 [Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent Publication No. 2003-176976 [Overview of the project] [Problems that the invention aims to solve]

[0006] As described above, in the storage units of Patent Documents 1 and 2, a vertical wall or raised section is erected at the front end of the lower guide frame that guides the lower end of the sliding door, shielding the roller's running surface from the front. These vertical walls, etc., are located in positions within the lower guide frame that are susceptible to external impacts (such as falling objects), and are therefore relatively prone to damage such as chipping. Furthermore, damaged vertical walls, etc., are easily visible to the user. Therefore, if damage occurs to the vertical walls, etc., it is desirable to replace the entire lower guide frame with a new one to restore the appearance of the storage unit. However, since the lower guide frame is generally firmly fixed to the main body of the unit, it is difficult to separate the lower guide frame. In cases where the lower guide frame also serves as a connecting frame that connects the outer box and the inner box, as in the storage unit of Patent Document 2, the foamed insulation material adheres tightly to the inner surface of the lower guide frame, making it even more difficult to separate the lower guide frame.

[0007] The objective of the present invention is to facilitate the repair of damage to the vertical wall at the front end of the lower guide frame that guides the lower end of a sliding door. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] The present invention relates to a storage unit comprising a storage unit body 1 with an interior storage compartment 4, a sliding door 5 for opening and closing the front opening of the storage compartment 4, and an upper guide frame 29 and a lower guide frame 30 for sliding the sliding door 5 left and right. The lower guide frame 30 includes a frame body 35 that guides the lower end of the sliding door 5 and a front vertical wall 36 rising from the front end of the frame body 35, characterized in that the front vertical wall 36 is interchangeably connected to the frame body 35.

[0009] The front vertical wall 36 integrally comprises a vertical front wall piece 41 facing the front of the sliding door 5 and a connecting piece 42 that extends rearward in a continuous manner from the lower end of the front wall piece 41. A trapping piece 43 is provided at the front end of the frame body 35, which elastically engages with the connecting piece 42 of the front vertical wall 36.

[0010] The frame body 35 integrally includes a rail wall 37 that is in close contact with the upward mounting surface 46 of the storage body 1, and a capture piece 43 that is continuous with the front end of the rail wall 37 and spaced apart from the mounting surface 46. A slit 48 that opens forward is formed between the capture piece 43 and the mounting surface 46. The connecting piece 42 inserted into the slit 48 is supported from below by the mounting surface 46 and is captured by the capture piece 43, preventing it from coming out of the slit 48.

[0011] The entire trapping piece 43 is formed to be thicker than the thinnest part of the connecting piece 42.

[0012] A lower rail 38 is provided protruding from the upper surface of the frame body 35, which slidably supports the sliding door 5. Below the lower end of the sliding door 5 supported by the lower rail 38, the connecting piece 42 of the front vertical wall 36 engages with the capturing piece 43 of the frame body 35. [Effects of the Invention]

[0013] The storage unit according to the present invention comprises a storage unit body 1 with an interior storage chamber 4, a sliding door 5 that opens and closes the front opening of the storage chamber 4, and an upper guide frame 29 and a lower guide frame 30 that guide the sliding door 5 to slide left and right. The lower guide frame 30 includes a frame body 35 that guides the lower end of the sliding door 5 and a front vertical wall 36 that rises from the front end of the frame body 35, with the front vertical wall 36 being interchangeably connected to the frame body 35. With this configuration, if the front vertical wall 36 is damaged, such as by chipping, the entire lower guide frame 30 can be easily repaired by simply removing only the front vertical wall 36 from the frame body 35 and connecting a new front vertical wall 36 to it.

[0014] By elastically engaging the rearward-extending connecting piece 42 of the front vertical wall 36 with the capturing piece 43 at the front end of the frame body 35, the damaged front vertical wall 36 can be removed from the frame body 35 and a new front vertical wall 36 can be attached to it simply by manually elastically deforming the connecting piece 42 or the capturing piece 43, without the use of any special tools.

[0015] The frame body 35 integrally includes a rail wall 37 that is in close contact with the upward mounting surface 46 of the storage body 1, and a capture piece 43 that is continuous with the front end of the rail wall 37 and spaced apart from the mounting surface 46. The connecting piece 42, inserted into a slit 48 between the capture piece 43 and the mounting surface 46, is supported from below by the mounting surface 46 and is captured by the capture piece 43, preventing it from coming out of the slit 48. In this way, with the mounting surface 46 responsible for supporting the connecting piece 42 and the capture piece 43 responsible for capturing the connecting piece 42, the engagement structure between the capture piece 43 and the connecting piece 42 can be simplified compared to the case where the capture piece 43 is solely responsible for supporting and capturing the connecting piece 42.

[0016] If the entire trapping piece 43 is made thicker than the thinnest part of the connecting piece 42, the trapping piece 43 can be effectively prevented from breaking when removing the front vertical wall 36 from the frame body 35. The connecting piece 42 is relatively more prone to breaking than the trapping piece 43, but in most cases, the front vertical wall 36 is removed when it is damaged, so the breaking of the connecting piece 42 is not a problem.

[0017] When the connecting piece 42 of the front vertical wall 36 engages with the catching piece 43 of the frame body 35 below the lower end of the sliding door 5 supported by the lower rail 38, the removal and attachment of the front vertical wall 36 to and from the frame body 35 can be performed without being obstructed by the sliding door 5 on the lower guide frame 30, that is, with the sliding door 5 left on the lower guide frame 30.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0018] [Figure 1] It is a longitudinal sectional view of the sliding door of the storage cabinet and the upper and lower guide frames according to an embodiment of the present invention, and is a sectional view taken along line A-A in FIG. 2. [Figure 2] It is a front view of the storage cabinet. [Figure 3] It is a perspective view of the state where the front vertical wall is separated from the frame body of the lower guide frame. [Figure 4] It is a side view of the state where the front vertical wall is separated from the frame body of the lower guide frame.

Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

[0019] (Embodiment) FIGS. 1 to 4 show an embodiment of a storage cabinet according to the present invention. In this embodiment, front-back, left-right, and up-down refer to the cross arrows shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 and the front-back, left-right, and up-down indications marked near each arrow. As shown in FIG. 2, the storage cabinet of this embodiment is a refrigerated showcase for displaying refrigerated products in a retail store such as a supermarket, and includes a rectangular box-shaped cabinet body 1 having an opening in the front, a side housing 2 fixed to the left side of the cabinet body 1, and a top plate 3 covering the upper surfaces of the cabinet body 1 and the side housing 2. The inside of the cabinet body 1 composed of heat insulating walls is a storage chamber 4 opening forward, and the opening is opened and closed by a pair of sliding doors 5 of a draw-type.

[0020] The side housing 2 defines a machine room together with the left side wall of the storage body 1, and a cooling unit 8 for cooling the storage chamber 4 is accommodated in the machine room. The cooling unit 8 includes a vapor compression type refrigerator in which a compressor 9, a condenser 10, an evaporator 11, etc. are connected by refrigerant pipes, and a cooling fan 12 for air-cooling the compressor 9 and the condenser 10. The refrigerant compressed by the compressor 9 is cooled and condensed in the condenser 10, then decompressed by an expansion valve (not shown) and reaches the evaporator 11, where it cools the air around the evaporator 11. The cold air around the evaporator 11 is carried to the storage chamber 4 by a circulation fan 13 disposed in the vicinity thereof to cool the storage chamber 4.

[0021] As shown in FIG. 1, the storage body 1 includes a metal outer box 15 that serves as the exterior of the storage, a metal inner box 16 that serves as the inner wall of the storage chamber 4, a square frame-shaped connecting frame 17 that connects the opposing ends of the outer box 15 and the inner box 16, and a foamed heat insulating material 18 filled in the space surrounded by the outer box 15, the inner box 16, and the connecting frame 17. The connecting frame 17 is made of a synthetic resin having a lower thermal conductivity than the outer box 15 and the inner box 16, and prevents the conduction of cold heat from the inner box 16 to the outer box 15. Further, the connecting frame 17 is located at the periphery of the front opening of the storage body 1 and also serves as an opening frame 20 for guiding the left and right sliding of each slide door 5.

[0022] Each slide door 5 includes a pair of door plates 23·23 that overlap each other front and back, a spacer 24 interposed between the peripheral portions of these door plates 23·23, and a door frame 25 that surrounds the four sides of these door plates 23·23 and is integrated with the spacer 24. Each door plate 23 is made of a vertically long rectangular glass plate, and the door frame 25 is formed in a square frame shape by an upper frame, a lower frame, a head frame, and a tail frame. Among these, the lower frame pivotally supports a pair of left and right rollers 26 that travel along the opening frame 20.

[0023] The opening frame 20 is formed in a rectangular frame shape and comprises an upper guide frame 29 extending left and right along the upper edge of the front opening of the storage body 1, a lower guide frame 30 extending left and right along the lower edge of the opening, and a pair of side frames 31 extending up and down along the left and right side edges of the opening. The upper and lower guide frames 29 and 30 guide the pair of sliding doors 5 to slide left and right. The upper guide frame 29 that guides the upper end of each sliding door 5 is made of a strip material with a roughly horizontal E-shaped cross-section obtained by extrusion molding and is equipped with a pair of front and rear upper guide grooves 32 that open downward. The upper guide grooves 32 are formed to be slightly wider front and rear than the upper frame of the door frame 25, and the upper end of the upper frame is received by the upper guide grooves 32. In other words, each of the pair of upper guide grooves 32 guides one sliding door 5 to slide left and right.

[0024] The lower guide frame 30 is constructed by connecting a frame body 35 made of strip material obtained by extrusion molding with a front vertical wall 36. The frame body 35 occupies most of the lower guide frame 30 and guides the lower end of each sliding door 5. Specifically, the frame body 35 is equipped with a strip-shaped rail wall 37 that is vertically opposed to the upper guide frame 29, and a pair of front and rear lower rails 38 that run horizontally are provided protruding from the horizontal upper surface of this rail wall 37. A roller 26 of the sliding door 5 is placed on each of the pair of lower rails 38, and the roller 26 can run on the lower rails 38. As described above, each sliding door 5 is guided to slide left and right along the upper guide groove 32 (upper guide frame 29) and the lower rails 38 (frame body 35 of the lower guide frame 30).

[0025] The front vertical wall 36 rises higher than the lower rail 38 from the front end of the frame body 35. This front vertical wall 36 shields the running surface of the roller 26, including the entire lower rail 38, from the line of sight of a user standing in front of the storage unit, thereby enhancing the aesthetic design of the storage unit. Specifically, the front vertical wall 36 is formed in an L-shape in cross-section, integrally comprising a vertical front wall piece 41 facing the lower end of the front of the sliding door 5, and a connecting piece 42 that extends backward continuously from the lower end of the front wall piece 41. The connecting piece 42 is captured by a capturing piece 43 provided at the front end of the frame body 35, thereby connecting the front vertical wall 36 to the frame body 35. The connecting piece 42 and the capturing piece 43 will be described in detail below.

[0026] As described above, the frame body 35 is part of the connecting frame 17 that connects the opposing ends of the outer box 15 and the inner box 16. The front part of the rail wall 37 is in close contact with the surface of the outer box 15, and the rear part of the rail wall 37 is in close contact with the surface of the inner box 16. The upward surfaces of the outer box 15 and inner box 16 that are in close contact with the rail wall 37 will be defined below as the mounting surface 46 of the storage body 1. As shown in Figures 3 and 4, the capture piece 43 is provided continuously with the front end of the rail wall 37 and slopes upward from the front end, with a downward-facing engaging projection 47 protruding from the tip of the capture piece 43. The entire capture piece 43, including the engaging projection 47, is spaced upward from the mounting surface 46, and a slit 48 opening forward is formed between them.

[0027] The lower surface of the connecting piece 42, which is inserted into the slit 48, is a horizontal surface that can slide along the mounting surface 46, and a recessed engagement groove 51 is formed at the base end of the upper surface of the connecting piece 42, which can engage with the engagement projection 47 of the capturing piece 43. The tip (rear end) of the connecting piece 42 has a guide surface 52 that slopes downward to the rear at an angle of approximately 45°, and the vertical height dimension of the tip of the connecting piece 42, including the guide surface 52, is set to be larger than the vertical width dimension of the opening of the slit 48 in the normal state (the vertically opposing dimension between the engagement projection 47 and the mounting surface 46).

[0028] The front vertical wall 36 is attached to the frame body 35 by a worker, such as a user of the storage facility, manually pushing the connecting piece 42 into the slit 48 from the front. As the connecting piece 42 enters the slit 48, the guide surface 52 at the tip of the connecting piece 42 presses against the leading edge of the tip (lower end) of the engaging projection 47, redirecting the rearward propulsion of the connecting piece 42 upward. This force pushes the engaging projection 47 upward, causing the entire capturing piece 43 to elastically deform upward around its base. In other words, the connecting piece 42 enters the slit 48 while elastically deforming the capturing piece 43 upward. Once the tip of the connecting piece 42 has passed over the engaging projection 47, the capturing piece 43 elastically returns to its normal state, and the engaging projection 47 engages with the engaging groove 51 from above. As a result, the connecting piece 42 is supported from below by the mounting surface 46 and is captured by the capturing piece 43, preventing it from coming out forward from the slit 48.

[0029] As shown in Figure 1, the connecting piece 42 and the capturing piece 43 engage with the engagement groove 51 and the engagement projection 47 with their vertical surfaces in close contact front to back. In other words, the front vertical wall 36 is securely connected to the frame body 35 so that it will not separate from the frame body 35 even if it is lightly pulled forward. However, if the front vertical wall 36 is damaged, such as by chipping, a user or other worker can remove the front vertical wall 36 from the frame body 35 by clearly intending to separate it. After that, the entire lower guide frame 30 can be repaired by attaching a new front vertical wall 36 to the frame body 35 using the procedure described above.

[0030] To remove the front vertical wall 36 from the frame body 35, the entire front vertical wall 36 is first tilted backward with a relatively strong force. This causes the connecting piece 42 to lift up using its tip as a fulcrum, and consequently, the tip of the capturing piece 43 is also pushed up, causing the entire capturing piece 43 to elastically deform upward. When the vertical width of the opening of the slit 48 exceeds the vertical height of the tip of the connecting piece 42, the worker can pull the connecting piece 42 forward through the slit 48 and remove the front vertical wall 36 from the frame body 35. To prevent the capturing piece 43 from breaking during this separation process, the entire capturing piece 43 is formed to be thicker in the vertical direction than the thinnest part, i.e., the base end, of the connecting piece 42. In other words, the vertical thickness of the capturing piece 43 at any point in the front-to-back direction is set to be greater than the vertical thickness of the thinnest part (base end) of the connecting piece 42.

[0031] As described above, in this embodiment, the front vertical wall 36 of the lower guide frame 30 is connected to the frame body 35 in a replaceable manner. With this configuration, if damage such as chipping occurs to the front vertical wall 36, the entire lower guide frame 30 can be easily repaired by simply removing only the front vertical wall 36 from the frame body 35 and connecting a new front vertical wall 36 to it.

[0032] Since the connecting piece 42 extending to the rear of the front vertical wall 36 is elastically engaged with the capturing piece 43 at the front end of the frame body 35, the damaged front vertical wall 36 can be removed from the frame body 35 and a new front vertical wall 36 can be attached to it simply by manually elastically deforming the capturing piece 43, without the use of any special tools.

[0033] The frame body 35 integrally includes a rail wall 37 that is in close contact with the upward mounting surface 46 of the storage body 1, and a capture piece 43 that is continuous with the front end of the rail wall 37 and spaced apart from the mounting surface 46. The connecting piece 42, inserted into a slit 48 between the capture piece 43 and the mounting surface 46, is supported from below by the mounting surface 46 and is captured by the capture piece 43, preventing it from coming out of the slit 48. In this way, the mounting surface 46 is responsible for supporting the connecting piece 42 and the capture piece 43 is responsible for capturing the connecting piece 42, thus simplifying the engagement structure between the capture piece 43 and the connecting piece 42 compared to the case where the capture piece 43 is responsible for both supporting and capturing the connecting piece 42.

[0034] Since the entire trapping piece 43 is formed to be thicker than the thinnest part of the connecting piece 42, it is possible to effectively prevent the trapping piece 43 from breaking when removing the front vertical wall 36 from the frame body 35. The connecting piece 42 is relatively more prone to breaking than the trapping piece 43, but in most cases, the front vertical wall 36 is removed when it is damaged, so the breaking of the connecting piece 42 is not a problem.

[0035] Since the connecting piece 42 of the front vertical wall 36 is engaged with the capturing piece 43 of the frame body 35 below the lower end of the sliding door 5 supported by the lower rail 38, the front vertical wall 36 can be removed from and attached to the frame body 35 without being obstructed by the sliding door 5 on the lower guide frame 30, that is, the sliding door 5 can be left on the lower guide frame 30.

[0036] In addition to the refrigerated display case described above, the present invention can be applied to various types of storage containers in which the front opening of the storage compartment is opened and closed by a sliding door 5, such as display cases for freezing or warming, room-temperature display cases without temperature control functions, or storage containers for storing goods. The number of sliding doors 5 is not limited to two. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0037] 1. Main body of the storage unit 4 Storage Rooms 5. Sliding door 29 Upper guide frame 30 Lower guide frame 35 Frame body 36 Front vertical wall 37 Rail Wall 38 Lower rail 41 Front wall piece 42 Connecting piece 43 Capture piece 46 Mounting surface 48 slits

Claims

1. The storage unit comprises a main body (1) with an interior storage compartment (4), a sliding door (5) for opening and closing the front opening of the storage compartment (4), and an upper guide frame (29) and a lower guide frame (30) for sliding the sliding door (5) left and right. The lower guide frame (30) includes a frame body (35) that guides the lower end of the sliding door (5) and a front vertical wall (36) that rises from the front end of the frame body (35). A storage facility characterized in that the front vertical wall (36) is interchangeably connected to the frame body (35).

2. The front vertical wall (36) integrally comprises a vertical front wall piece (41) facing the front of the sliding door (5) and a connecting piece (42) that extends rearward in a continuous manner from the lower end of the front wall piece (41). The storage unit according to claim 1, wherein a trapping piece (43) is provided at the front end of the frame body (35) that elastically engages with a connecting piece (42) of the front vertical wall (36).

3. The frame body (35) integrally includes a rail wall (37) that is in close contact with the upward mounting surface (46) of the storage body (1), and a capture piece (43) that is continuous with the front end of the rail wall (37) and spaced apart from the mounting surface (46). A slit (48) that opens forward is formed between the capturing piece (43) and the mounting surface (46). The storage container according to claim 2, wherein the connecting piece (42) inserted into the slit (48) is supported from below by the mounting surface (46) and is captured by the capturing piece (43) to prevent it from coming out of the slit (48).

4. The storage container according to claim 3, wherein the entire capturing piece (43) is formed to be thicker than the thinnest part of the connecting piece (42).

5. A lower rail (38) is provided protruding from the upper surface of the frame body (35) to support the sliding door (5) in a slidable manner. The storage unit according to any one of claims 2 to 4, wherein below the lower end of the sliding door (5) supported by the lower rail (38), the connecting piece (42) of the front vertical wall (36) engages with the capturing piece (43) of the frame body (35).

Images