Refrigerator insulated door, and refrigerator

Abstract

To prevent deformation of a board box caused by a foam heat insulating material.SOLUTION: A heat insulating door includes: a flat plate-like vacuum heat insulating material; a filling space arranged at a lateral face side of the vacuum heat insulating material and extending in a longitudinal direction of the lateral face of the adjacent vacuum heat insulating material; a board box in which a part of a rear face faces the vacuum heat insulating material in a thickness direction of the vacuum heat insulating material, and the other part of the rear face is adjacent to the filling space in the thickness direction; and a liner facing the rear face of the board box interposing the vacuum heat insulating material and the filling space. The board box has a first rib projecting from the other part of the rear face into the filling space, and extending in the longitudinal direction in the filling space. The filling space has a first space arranged closer to the vacuum heat insulating material side than the first rib, and a second space facing the vacuum heat insulating material interposing the first space. A density of a foam heat insulating material filled in the first space is higher than that of a foam heat insulating material filled in the second space. The board box has a third rib projecting from the other part of the rear face into the first space, and extending in the longitudinal direction in the first space.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

Technical Field

[0005] ,

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

Background Art

[0002] As a technology of a refrigerator having a heat-insulating door using both a vacuum heat-insulating material and a foamed heat-insulating material, Patent Document 1 is known. In this document, it is described in paragraph 0031 that "a heat-insulating layer is provided inside the refrigerator compartment door 11, that is, between the main body portion forming the front side of the refrigerator compartment door 11 and the door back 31. The heat-insulating layer is composed of, for example, a vacuum heat-insulating material and a foamed heat-insulating material." <00,00010>

[0003] Also, as a technology of a refrigerator in which touch-operable components are incorporated inside the door and the operation settings are made by touch operation on the front of the door, Patent Document 2 is known. In this document, it is described in paragraph 0071 and FIG. 4 that "a frame 100 is attached to the rear surface of the front panel 20. The frame 100 is formed so as to provide a separate space in which the foaming liquid is not filled inside the refrigerator door 10, and provides a space for accommodating a cover display 200, a display assembly 300, a touch sensor assembly 500, a frame display 400, etc."

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0004]

Patent Document 1

Patent Document 2

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0005] <, However, if foamed insulation material is used as in Patent Document 1, pressure is generated when the foamed insulation material expands. Therefore, if, for example, the frame 100 that houses the display assembly 300 in Patent Document 2 is placed adjacent to the foamed insulation material, there is a risk that the frame 100 may deform due to the pressure exerted when the foamed insulation material expands.

[0006] Therefore, the present invention aims to provide an insulated door and a refrigerator that can prevent deformation of a substrate box due to foamed insulation material. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] To solve the above problems, the insulated door of the present invention comprises, for example, a flat vacuum insulation material, a filling space disposed on the side of the vacuum insulation material and extending in the longitudinal direction of the adjacent side of the vacuum insulation material, a substrate box on which a part of the back surface faces the vacuum insulation material in the thickness direction of the vacuum insulation material, and on which the other part of the back surface is adjacent to the filling space in the thickness direction, and a liner facing the back surface of the substrate box with the vacuum insulation material and the filling space in between, wherein the substrate box enters the filling space from the other part of the back surface. The substrate box has a protruding rib, a first rib extending longitudinally within the filling space, the filling space having a first space located on the vacuum insulation material side of the first rib, and a second space facing the vacuum insulation material across the first space, the density of the foam insulation material filling the first space being higher than the density of the foam insulation material filling the second space, and the substrate box has a third rib protruding from another part of the back surface into the first space, the third rib extending longitudinally within the first space.

[0008] Furthermore, the refrigerator of the present invention has, for example, the aforementioned insulated door. [Effects of the Invention]

[0009] According to the present invention, it is possible to provide an insulated door that can prevent deformation of the substrate box due to foamed insulation material, and a refrigerator. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0010] [Figure 1] A schematic diagram of a refrigerator's components. [Figure 2] Exploded view of the door in the X-axis direction. [Figure 3] Exploded view of the circuit board unit in the X-axis direction. [Figure 4] An enlarged view of the area near the substrate box in cross-section AA of Figure 1. [Figure 5] A perspective view of the back of the circuit board box. [Figure 6] Figure 4 shows an exploded view of the door in the X-axis direction, cut along the cross-section. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0011] The present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings. However, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described below. These embodiments are merely illustrative, and the present invention can be implemented in various modified and improved forms based on the knowledge of those skilled in the art. Furthermore, in the drawings used in the following description, common devices and equipment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and descriptions of devices, equipment, and operations already described may be omitted.

[0012] <General configuration of a refrigerator> Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the refrigerator's configuration. The refrigerator 1 according to this embodiment has a refrigerator compartment, an ice-making compartment, an upper freezer compartment, a lower freezer compartment, and a vegetable compartment as storage compartments, and has doors to open and close the openings of each storage compartment, namely the refrigerator compartment doors D1 and D2, the ice-making compartment door D3, the upper freezer compartment door D4, the lower freezer compartment door D5, and the vegetable compartment door D6 (hereinafter, each storage compartment door will be abbreviated as "door"). In this embodiment, doors D1 and D2 are double doors.

[0013] A circuit board unit 20 is inserted into the center side of the refrigerator 1 (the negative Y-axis side of door D2) of door D2. The circuit board unit 20 is connected by a harness to a control unit (not shown) that controls the operation of the refrigerator. Based on instructions from the control unit, it displays information to the user and accepts operations from the user, transmitting the details of those operations to the control unit. In the following, the positive X-axis side in the coordinate system shown in Figure 1 will be referred to as the front side of door D2, and the negative X-axis side as the back side of door D2. For each component of door D2, the surface on the positive X-axis side will be called the front surface, and the surface on the negative X-axis side will be called the back surface. In this embodiment, the refrigerator will be described as having door D2 as a front-opening door that opens and closes the opening of a storage compartment located on the positive X-axis side, but it is not limited to this. For example, the refrigerator may have door D2 as an upward-opening door that opens and closes the opening of a storage compartment located on the positive Z-axis side. In this case, the front side of door D2 will be the positive Z-axis side, and the back side of door D2 will be the negative Z-axis side.

[0014] Figure 2 is an exploded view of door D2 in the X-axis direction. Figure 3 is an exploded view of circuit board unit 20 in the X-axis direction. As shown in Figure 2, door D2 has a front panel 2F on the front surface and a liner 2G on the back surface. As shown in Figures 2 and 3, the circuit board unit 20, circuit board box 2A, reinforcing bracket 2B, flexible insulation material 2C, and vacuum insulation material 2D are located between the front panel 2F and the liner 2G, and a door frame 2E surrounds these on all four sides. Note that in Figure 2, only the circuit board holder 26 is shown as part of the circuit board unit 20. Also, in Figure 3, the front panel 2F and liner 2G are omitted from the illustration.

[0015] As shown in FIG. 3, the substrate unit 20 includes a display film 21, a breakage prevention film 22, a light guide plate 23 (23a, 23b), a shade 24, a substrate 25, and a substrate holder 26, and is configured such that from the display film 21 to the substrate holder 26 are combined in the X-axis direction. Note that the breakage prevention film 22 also has a light diffusion function (a function of diffusing the light incident from the negative X-axis direction side to the positive X-axis direction side on the breakage prevention film 22), but is not limited thereto, and a light diffusion film may be separately provided on the back side of the breakage prevention film 22. The substrate unit 20 lights up the display printed on the display film by lighting the light source provided on the substrate 25. Further, a touch sensor is provided on the substrate 25 of the substrate unit 20, and a touch operation on the display film 21 is detected by the touch sensor on the substrate 25.

[0016] Also, the front panel 2F has translucency and is made of, for example, glass or the like. Since the front panel 2F has translucency, the display by the substrate unit 20 is lit up on the surface of the door D2.

[0017] FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of the vicinity of the substrate box 2A in the A-A cross section of FIG. 1. Similar to FIG. 2, FIG. 4 shows only the substrate holder 26 for the substrate unit 20. The door D2 is arranged on the side surface side of the flat vacuum insulation material 2D and has a filling space S extending in the longitudinal direction (Z-axis direction) of the side surface of the adjacent vacuum insulation material 2D. The filling space S is a space filled with a foam insulation material.

[0018] The vacuum insulation material 2D is an insulation material that uses a vacuum technology to enhance the insulation performance by making the periphery of the insulation material in a vacuum state and making the heat conduction by gas approach zero as much as possible. The vacuum insulation material 2D usually uses an insulation material such as porous urethane foam or glass wool as a core material, and has a metal film exterior around it and the inside in a vacuum state, so that extremely high insulation can be ensured.

[0019] The substrate box 2A has a part of its back surface facing the vacuum insulating material 2D in the thickness direction (X-axis direction) of the vacuum insulating material 2D, and the other part of its back surface is adjacent to the filling space S in the X-axis direction. The substrate box 2A has a first rib 2A1 that protrudes from the other part of the back surface adjacent to the filling space S into the filling space S. FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the back side of the substrate box. As shown in FIG. 5, the first rib 2A1 extends in the Z-axis direction on the back surface of the substrate box 2A. Therefore, inside the door D2, the first rib 2A1 extends in the Z-axis direction in the filling space S shown in FIG. 4. By providing the first rib 2A1, the pressure during the foaming of the foam insulating material against the portion of the substrate box 2A that is not fixed to the door frame 2E (mainly the portion overlapping the vacuum insulating material 2D in the X-axis direction) can be suppressed by the first rib 2A1. As a result, deformation of the substrate box 2A can be prevented. Also, in the filling space S, there is a first space Sa adjacent to the side surface of the vacuum insulating material 2D on one side surface side of the first rib 2A1, and there is a second space Sb having a larger volume than the first space Sa on the other side surface side of the first rib 2A1. Between the first space Sa and the second space Sb, there is the first rib 2A1 that reduces the flow thickness (dimension D) of the foam insulating material. The foam insulating material is injected so as to flow from the second space Sb side to the first space Sa side. By doing so, the density of the foam insulating material filled in the first space Sa becomes higher than that in the second space Sb. After the foam filling is completed, the high-density foam insulating material filled in the first space Sa can increase the compressive strength resistance of adjacent components such as the substrate box 2A. Also, deformation due to temperature changes can be reduced.

[0020] Since the foam insulating material in the first space Sa is filled at a high density, in order to suppress the deformation of the substrate box 2A facing the first space Sa, the substrate box 2A is provided with not only the first rib 2A1 but also a third rib 2A3. [[ID=X]]

[0021] Specifically, the substrate box 2A further has a third rib 2A3 that protrudes into the first space Sa from another part of the back surface adjacent to the filling space S. As shown in Figure 5, the third rib 2A3 extends in the Z-axis direction on the back surface of the substrate box 2A, similar to the first rib 2A1. In addition, the third rib 2A3 is provided on the positive Y-axis side than the first rib 2A1. Therefore, as shown in Figure 4, inside the door D2, the third rib 2A3 extends in the Z-axis direction within the first space Sa. Having such a third rib 2A3 increases the strength of the substrate box 2A.

[0022] As shown in Figure 4, the flexible insulation material 2C is installed sandwiched between the substrate box 2A and the vacuum insulation material 2D. The flexible insulation material 2C is also in contact with the third rib 2A3. The flexible insulation material 2C is a flexible sheet-like insulation material. Furthermore, the flexible insulation material 2C is not foamed and formed inside the door D2, but is pre-formed before being installed inside the door D2. Examples of flexible insulation material 2C include highly foamed polyethylene sheets. Because the flexible insulation material 2C is flexible, it can deform according to the shape of the back surface of the substrate box 2A, making it difficult for gaps to form between the back surface of the substrate box 2A and the flexible insulation material 2C. As a result, it is possible to prevent foamed insulation material from flowing between the back surface of the substrate box 2A and the flexible insulation material 2C.

[0023] Because the third rib 2A3 is located within the first space Sa, the third rib 2A3 and the vacuum insulation material 2D do not overlap in the X-axis direction. The tip of the third rib 2A3 is easily filled with foamed insulation material, so even if the flexible insulation material 2C shrinks in the X-axis direction, the third rib 2A3 and the vacuum insulation material 2D will not come into contact.

[0024] Furthermore, the third rib 2A3 is designed so that the height of the substrate box 2A in the X-axis direction is lower than the thickness of the flexible insulation material 2C sandwiched between the substrate box 2A and the vacuum insulation material 2D. This ensures that even if the third rib 2A3 and the vacuum insulation material 2D overlap in the X-axis direction, they will not come into contact with each other.

[0025] As shown in Figure 4, the substrate box 2A has a second rib 2A2 that protrudes into the second space Sb from another part of the back surface adjacent to the filling space S. As shown in Figure 5, the second rib 2A2 extends in the Z-axis direction on the back surface of the substrate box 2A, similar to the first rib 2A1. Furthermore, the second rib 2A2 is located on the negative Y-axis side than the first rib 2A1. Therefore, as shown in Figure 4, inside the door D2, the second rib 2A2 extends in the Z-axis direction within the second space Sb.

[0026] Door D2 has a reinforcing bracket 2B. As shown in Figure 5, the reinforcing bracket 2B has a shape that extends in the Z-axis direction, and as shown in Figure 4, the XY cross-section has a U-shape with an opening in the negative X-axis direction. The first rib 2A1 and the second rib 2A2 sandwich the reinforcing bracket 2B. For example, the first rib 2A1 and the second rib 2A2 are provided with projections 2A4 and 2A5 on their opposing surfaces, and the reinforcing bracket 2B is sandwiched by being supported by the projections 2A4 and 2A5. In addition, multiple projections 2A4 and 2A5 for supporting the reinforcing bracket 2B may be provided along the Z-axis direction. By having the reinforcing bracket 2B in this way, the strength of the first rib 2A1 and the second rib 2A2 is improved, and they can withstand the pressure generated when the foamed insulation material expands in the filled space S.

[0027] Figure 6 is an exploded view of door D2 in the X-axis direction, cut along the cross-section shown in Figure 4. The substrate holder 26 has an extrusion portion 26a on its back surface that generates an extruding force. The substrate box 2A has an engagement portion 2Aa on its surface that engages with the extrusion portion 26a. When the substrate holder 26 is housed in the substrate box 2A, the extrusion portion 26a engages with the engagement portion 2Aa, as shown in Figure 4, generating an extruding force toward the front side. As a result, the substrate unit 20 is pressed against the front panel 2F, improving the visibility of the display and the sensitivity of the touch sensor.

[0028] As described in detail above, this embodiment provides an insulated door and a refrigerator that can prevent deformation of the circuit board box due to foam insulation material, even when only a portion of the circuit board box is fixed to the door frame. [Explanation of symbols]

[0029] 1: Refrigerator D1, D2: Refrigerator door D3: Ice maker door D4: Upper freezer door D5: Lower freezer door D6: Vegetable compartment door 20: Circuit board unit 21: Display film 22: Anti-destruction film 23, 23a, 23b: Light guide plate 24: Shade 25: Circuit board 26: Circuit board holder 26a: Extrusion section 2A: Circuit board box 2A1~2A3: Rib 2Aa: Engagement part 2A: Circuit board box 2B: Reinforcement hardware 2C: Flexible insulation material 2D: Vacuum insulation material 2E: Door frame 2F: Front board 2G: Liner S: Filling space Sa: 1st space Sb: 2nd space D: Shortest distance

Claims

1. A flat vacuum insulation material, A filling space is provided on the side of the vacuum insulation material, extending in the longitudinal direction of the adjacent side of the vacuum insulation material, A portion of the back surface faces the vacuum insulation material in the thickness direction, and the rest of the back surface faces the substrate box adjacent to the filling space in the thickness direction, The vacuum insulation material and the liner facing the back surface of the substrate box, with the filling space in between, The substrate box has ribs that protrude from other parts of the back surface into the filling space, The filling space has a first rib that extends in the longitudinal direction, The filling space comprises a first space located on the vacuum insulation material side of the first rib, and a second space facing the vacuum insulation material across the first space. The density of the foamed insulation material filled in the first space is higher than the density of the foamed insulation material filled in the second space. The second space is equipped with a reinforcing fitting having a U-shaped cross-section, The first rib has the side opposite the reinforcing bracket facing the first space, and the side with the reinforcing bracket facing the second space. The substrate box has a second rib that protrudes into the second space, The reinforcing fitting is sandwiched between the first rib and the second rib, The extension dimensions of the first rib and the second rib in the direction from the back side of the substrate box toward the filling space are longer than the dimensions of the reinforcing bracket in the same direction. The aforementioned substrate box has ribs that protrude from other parts of the back surface into the first space, The first space has a third rib that extends in the longitudinal direction. A refrigerator door characterized by its insulating properties.

2. An insulated door according to claim 1, The system further comprises a flexible insulating material sandwiched between the substrate box and the vacuum insulating material, The third rib has a height in the thickness direction that is lower than the thickness of the flexible insulation material sandwiched between the substrate box and the vacuum insulation material. The flexible insulation material is in contact with the third rib A refrigerator door characterized by its insulating properties.

3. An insulated door according to claim 1, The aforementioned circuit board box further includes a circuit board holder housed on the front side, The substrate holder has an extrusion section on its back surface that generates an extruding force, The substrate box has an engaging portion on its surface that engages with the extruded portion, The extrusion portion generates an outward pushing force when the substrate holder is housed in the substrate box by engaging with the engagement portion. A refrigerator door characterized by its insulating properties.

4. A refrigerator having an insulated door according to any one of claims 1 to 3.

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