JP7392982B2 - refrigerator - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a refrigerator.

A door that opens and closes a storage compartment of a refrigerator is rotatably connected to the refrigerator main body, for example, via a pair of hinge mechanisms connected to the upper and lower ends of the door. Here, the following Patent Document 1 describes a refrigerator in which the installation position of the hinge mechanism can be selected to either the left or right side of the refrigerator body, and the opening direction of the door can be changed to open to the left or open to the right according to the installation position of the hinge mechanism. and Patent Document 2.

The refrigerator disclosed in Patent Document 1 includes a refrigerator main body, a door having mounting holes in the upper part of each of the left and right sides, a hinge holding member having a through hole that overlaps with the mounting hole, and a door that connects to the through hole from the upper side of the through hole. The refrigerator includes a hinge pin that is inserted through and removably inserted into a mounting hole, and a lower hinge part that is arranged below the door and rotatably attaches the door to the refrigerator body around the axis of the hinge pin.

Further, the refrigerator disclosed in Patent Document 2 includes a heat insulating container having an insertion port at the top of the front surface of the opening, an opening provided at the top of the back surface of the door, and an insertion hole provided on the top surface of the door to communicate with the opening. , a front door having a support hole provided opposite to the insertion hole across the opening, a hinge mechanism that rotatably supports the front door at the upper part with respect to the insulating container, and a front door that is attached to the insulating container. and a rotation mechanism that is rotatably supported at the lower part.

Patent No. 4217674 Patent No. 6265950

However, in the refrigerator disclosed in Patent Document 1, when the door having a corresponding weight is lifted, the through hole provided in the hinge holding member on the refrigerator main body side and the mounting hole on the door side are overlapped, and furthermore, these holes are It is not possible to connect the refrigerator body and the door without manually inserting the hinge pin into the refrigerator. Therefore, when connecting the refrigerator body and the door, a large amount of work is required until the hinge pin is inserted into the mounting hole of the door.

Furthermore, regarding the refrigerator disclosed in Patent Document 2, after the rotating shaft support part of the hinge mechanism is inserted into both the insertion port of the heat insulating container and the opening of the front door, an insertion hole is inserted through the opening from the upper surface of the door. The heat insulating container and the front door cannot be connected unless the rotating shaft is inserted into the through hole of the rotating shaft support portion that overlaps with this insertion hole. Therefore, similar to the refrigerator disclosed in Patent Document 1, a large work load occurs when connecting the heat insulating container and the front door.

In view of the above problems, the present invention provides a refrigerator in which the opening direction of the door can be changed to left-opening or right-opening, and in which the refrigerator body and the door can be connected by simple work without a large work burden. For the purpose of providing.

In order to solve the above problems, the refrigerator according to the present invention has the following features:
A refrigerator body including a storage compartment with an open front;
a door that is disposed on the front side of the refrigerator body and opens and closes the opening of the storage compartment;
a door upper end opposing portion extending across both ends of the upper edge of the front surface of the storage room and facing the upper end of the door;
a slide unit that accommodates a hinge pin corresponding to the rotation axis of the door and slides the hinge pin to be lowered inside;
Equipped with
A hinge pin insertion hole into which a hinge pin corresponding to the rotation axis of the door can be inserted is formed in both areas of the upper end of the door,
The upper end facing part of the door is
A storage recess is provided at each end of the upper end facing portion of the door and stores the slide unit in a removable state,
The slide unit is
a slope portion that descends from the front side toward the rear side in the storage direction into the storage recess;
a hinge pin insertion path that is recessed downward from the upper surface of the slope, exposes at least the tip of the hinge pin, and inserts the hinge pin in a movable state in the storage direction;
a communication hole located on the rear side of the hinge pin insertion path in the storage direction and communicating with the hinge pin insertion hole formed at the upper end of the door;
Equipped with
A hinge pin abutting portion that can abut the tip of the hinge pin is formed in the storage recess.

Moreover, the refrigerator according to the present invention includes:
The storage recess has an opening on a side surface of the upper end facing portion of the door,
The slide unit is inserted into the storage recess from the opening.

Furthermore, the refrigerator according to the present invention includes:
An inclined groove inclined at the same slope as the inclined part is formed on both side walls of the slide unit,
Both ends of the tip of the hinge pin facing the both side walls engage with the inclined groove.

When the slide unit of the present invention is stored in the storage recess, the tip of the hinge pin located above the inclined portion and on the front side in the storage direction comes into contact with the hinge pin contact portion. Furthermore, as the slide unit is pushed into the storage recess, the hinge pin moves along the hinge pin insertion path and is inserted into the communication hole located on the rear side in the storage direction and the hinge pin insertion hole on the door side that overlaps with the communication hole. . Thereby, the refrigerator main body and the door can be connected. In this way, the refrigerator main body and the door can be connected only by the operation of storing the slide unit in the storage recess. Therefore, according to the present invention, the work of connecting the refrigerator body and the door does not involve a large work burden.

Further, according to the present invention, since the opening is provided on the side surface of the upper end facing portion of the door, the slide unit can be easily stored in the storage recess along the width direction of the upper end facing portion of the door.

Furthermore, according to the present invention, the tips of the hinge pins engage with the inclined grooves formed on both side walls of the slide unit, so that the hinge pins can be stably accommodated in the hinge pin insertion passages. Therefore, when the slide unit is stored in the storage recess, it is possible to prevent the hinge pin from coming off the hinge pin insertion path.

FIG. 1 is an overall perspective view of the refrigerator according to the present embodiment. FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of the upper front side of the refrigerator according to the present embodiment. FIG. 2 is a partially exploded perspective view showing a part of the refrigerator main body and door in the refrigerator according to the present embodiment. FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the slide unit in this embodiment. FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a storage recess in this embodiment. FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the slide unit before being stored in the storage recess. FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing the slide unit in the middle of being stored in the storage recess. FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a slide unit stored in a storage recess.

Hereinafter, a refrigerator 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Note that in describing the refrigerator 1 according to the present embodiment, the "vertical" direction corresponds to the height direction of the refrigerator 1, the "horizontal" direction corresponds to the width direction of the refrigerator 1, and the "front-back" direction corresponds to the width direction of the refrigerator 1. , corresponds to the depth direction of the refrigerator 1. Further, each direction of the door is defined based on the state in which the door closes the storage compartment of the refrigerator 1. In other words, the height direction (vertical direction) of the door corresponds to the height direction of the refrigerator 1, the width direction (horizontal direction) of the door corresponds to the width direction of the refrigerator 1, and the depth direction (front-back direction) of the door corresponds to the width direction of the refrigerator 1. corresponds to the depth direction of the refrigerator 1.

[composition]
The overall configuration of a refrigerator 1 according to this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3. Here, FIG. 1 is an overall perspective view of the refrigerator 1. Moreover, FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of the refrigerator 1 in which the upper front side of the refrigerator 1 is enlarged. Moreover, FIG. 3 is a partially exploded perspective view showing a part of the refrigerator main body and a door that have been disassembled.

The refrigerator 1 according to the present embodiment includes a heat insulating box body 2 corresponding to a refrigerator main body. The heat insulating box body 2 includes an outer box made of a steel plate, an inner box made of synthetic resin, and a heat insulating material made of foamed polyurethane filled in the gap formed between the outer box and the inner box.

A heat insulating partition wall is provided inside the heat insulating box 2 to partition a refrigerator compartment 3 and a freezer compartment 4. The refrigerator 1 according to the present embodiment includes a plurality of storage compartments corresponding to a refrigerator compartment 3 and a freezing compartment 4 from the top. However, the arrangement order of each storage room is not limited to this. Furthermore, the number of storage chambers is not limited to this.

The front side of each storage chamber provided in the heat insulating box body 2 is open. A heat insulating door is provided to open and close each of these openings. As shown in FIG. 1, a door 10 is provided at the front of the refrigerator compartment 3. The door 10 is rotatable by a hinge mechanism (in the case of this embodiment, a mechanism including a hinge pin and a hinge pin insertion hole into which the hinge pin can be inserted) provided at the upper and lower sides of the refrigerator compartment 3 when viewed from the front. Supported. Further, the heat-insulating door 11 is disposed so as to be able to be pulled out in the front-rear direction relative to the heat-insulating box 2 and closes the front opening of the freezer compartment 4.

By the way, as shown in FIG. 1, the refrigerator 1 according to the present embodiment includes a door upper end facing portion 20 that faces the upper end of the door 10. As shown in FIG. The door upper end opposing portion 20 extends across both ends (from the left end to the right end in front view) of the front upper edge of the refrigerator compartment 3 (storage room).

Furthermore, a recessed space 21 (a storage recess 21 to be described later) that is recessed toward the inside of the door upper end facing portion 20 is formed in both sides of the door upper end facing portion 20 . A box-shaped member (slide unit 30 to be described later) that accommodates the upper hinge pin is housed in this concave space 21 . Although FIG. 1 shows the concave space 21 only on the right side of the door upper end facing portion 20, a similar concave space is also formed on the left side (see FIG. 2). On the other hand, hinge pin insertion holes 25 into which upper hinge pins are inserted are formed at positions facing the concave space 21 in both regions of the upper end of the door 10 (see FIG. 3).

Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 3, hinge pin insertion holes 8 into which hinge pins 9 on the lower side can be inserted are provided on both sides of the lower front edge 6 of the refrigerator compartment 3, and a door support plate that supports the lower end of the door 10 is provided. 7 are attached to each. That is, the refrigerator 1 according to the present embodiment includes a pair of upper and lower hinge mechanisms provided at the right end of the refrigerator compartment 3 and a pair of upper and lower hinge mechanisms provided at the left end.

In this way, by using the pair of upper and lower hinge mechanisms provided at the right end of the refrigerator compartment 3, the right end of the refrigerator compartment 3 and the right end of the door 10 are connected. In this case, the door 10 is left open. On the other hand, if a pair of upper and lower hinge mechanisms provided at the left end of the refrigerator compartment 3 are used, the left end of the refrigerator compartment 3 and the left end of the door 10 are connected. In this case, the door 10 is opened to the right.

In addition, the said aspect shows the connection structure of the refrigerator compartment 3 and the door 10 which opens and closes it. However, if the connection structure is rotatably connected to the front surface of the storage compartment via a hinge mechanism, such as the door 10, the connection structure may be connected to other storage compartments other than the refrigerator compartment 3 and the door that opens and closes this. It can also be applied to

Next, with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5, the slide unit 30 in this embodiment and the storage recess 21 that removably stores the slide unit 30 will be described in detail. Here, FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the slide unit 30 in this embodiment. Moreover, FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the storage recess 21 in this embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 4, the slide unit 30 accommodates a hinge pin 31 on the upper side corresponding to the rotation axis of the door 10. As shown in FIG. The slide unit 30 in this embodiment is a substantially block-shaped member.

More specifically, the slide unit 30 includes an inclined portion 32, a hinge pin insertion passage 33 recessed downward from the upper surface 32U of the inclined portion 32, and a communication hole communicating with the hinge pin insertion hole 25 formed on the door upper end 10U side. 34.

Further, the slide unit 30 has an inclined groove 35 formed on both side walls 30S1 and 30S2 of the slide unit 30 and inclined at the same slope as the inclined part 32, and a slit cut from the front wall 30F toward the hinge pin insertion passage 33. It is preferable to have 36.

The hinge pin 31 is inserted into the hinge pin insertion passage 33 with its tip 31T exposed above the upper surface 32U of the inclined portion 32. As described above, the slide unit 30 is stored in the storage recess 21 of the door upper end facing portion 20. As shown in FIG. 4, when the hinge pin 31 is not stored in the storage recess 21, the hinge pin 31 is arranged on the front side of the hinge pin insertion path 33 in the storage direction.

The upper surface 32U of the inclined portion 32 is inclined so as to descend from the front side toward the rear side in the storage direction. Therefore, before the slide unit 30 is stored in the storage recess 21, the tip 31T of the hinge pin 31 is placed on the upper side of the upper surface 32U of the inclined portion 32. As a result, most (or all) of the hinge pin 31 is housed within the slide unit 30.

On the other hand, as the slide unit 30 is pushed into the storage recess 21, the hinge pin 31 moves toward the rear side in the storage direction. The hinge pin insertion passage 33 in this embodiment is a passage for the hinge pin 31 that passes through the inclined portion 32 in the thickness direction. Therefore, as the hinge pin 31 moves rearward in the storage direction, it is gradually ejected out of the bottom surface of the slide unit 30 from the rear end 31B.

Finally, when the hinge pin 31 reaches the communication hole 34, it is fitted into the hinge pin insertion hole 25 (see FIG. 5) provided on the door upper end 10U side. Note that the operation when the slide unit 30 is stored in the storage recess 21 will be described later.

Further, as described above, the inclined grooves 35 are formed on both side walls 30S1 and 30S2 of the slide unit 30. When the hinge pin 31 moves rearward in the storage direction, both ends 31a and 31b of the tip 31T of the hinge pin 31 engage with the inclined grooves 35 facing each other.

Thereby, the hinge pin 31 can be stably housed in the hinge pin insertion passage 33. Therefore, when the slide unit 30 is stored in the storage recess 21, it is possible to prevent the hinge pin 31, which moves from the front side in the storage direction to the direction side, from coming off the hinge pin insertion path 33 inside the slide unit 30.

Next, the structure inside the storage recess 21 will be explained with reference to FIG. The storage recess 21 in this embodiment includes an opening 22 formed in the side surface 20S of the door upper end facing part 20, and a hinge pin contact part 23 that can come into contact with the tip of the hinge pin 31. Since the opening 22 is provided in the side surface 20S of the door upper end facing part 20, the slide unit 30 can be easily stored in the storage recess 21 along the width direction of the door upper end facing part 20.

As shown in FIG. 5, the hinge pin contact portion 23 is a plate-shaped portion that projects downward from the inner upper surface of the storage recess 21. As shown in FIG. When the slide unit 30 is stored in the storage recess 21, the hinge pin contact portion 23 is inserted into the slit 36 of the slide unit 30 and comes into contact with the tip 31T of the hinge pin 31.

Note that in this embodiment, when the hinge pin 31 is located at the frontmost end of the hinge pin insertion path 33 (that is, before the slide unit 30 is stored in the storage recess 21), the rear end 31B of the hinge pin 31 exposed outside the bottom. Therefore, when the slide unit 30 is stored in the storage recess 21, the bottom surface 24 of the storage recess 21 also comes into contact with the rear end 31B of the hinge pin 31 (in this embodiment, more precisely, the rear end 31B of the hinge pin 31 (It comes into contact with the edge of the notch-shaped through hole 24H facing the hinge pin insertion hole 25.) The hinge pin 31 that has come into contact with the hinge pin contact portion 23 and the bottom surface 24 of the storage recess 21 is prevented from moving further into the storage recess 21 .

In this way, both the hinge pin contact portion 23 and the bottom surface 24 (the edge of the through hole 24H) in the storage recess 21 abut the hinge pin 31, so the hinge pin 31 can be more reliably guided to the communication hole 34. . As a result, a situation in which the hinge pin 31 is not inserted into the hinge pin insertion hole 25 can be effectively prevented.

[motion]
Next, the operation when storing the slide unit 30 in the storage recess 21 will be described with reference to FIGS. 6 to 8. Here, FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the slide unit 20 before being stored in the storage recess 21. As shown in FIG. Further, FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the slide unit 20 in the middle of being stored in the storage recess 21. As shown in FIG. Further, FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the slide unit 20 stored in the storage recess 21. As shown in FIG.

First, after aligning both ends of the door 10 with both ends of the refrigerator compartment 3 and arranging the door 10 so as to close the front surface of the refrigerator compartment 3, as shown in FIG. The slide unit 30 is inserted through the opening 22 of the storage recess 21. Note that the member 22C is a cover that closes the opening 22 of the storage recess 21. After the slide unit 30 is stored in the storage recess 21, the cover 22C closes the opening 22.

Next, when the slide unit 30 is gradually pushed into the storage recess 21, as shown in FIG. The bottom surface 24 (the edge of the through hole 24H) abuts the rear end 31B of the hinge pin 31.

As a result, the hinge pin 31 is prevented from moving further into the storage recess 21 and remains at a position directly above the hinge pin insertion hole 25. When the slide unit 30 is further pushed into the storage recess 21, the hinge pin 31 moves backward in the storage direction through the hinge pin insertion path 33.

At this time, the tip 31T of the hinge pin 31 descends along the upper surface 32U of the inclined portion 32. Along with this, the hinge pin 31 also descends. As a result, the hinge pin 31 is ejected from the rear end 31B to the outside of the bottom surface of the slide unit 30, passes through the entrance 25H of the hinge pin insertion hole, and is gradually inserted into the hinge pin insertion hole 25.

When the slide unit 30 is completely stored in the storage recess 21, the hinge pin 31 is fitted into the hinge pin insertion hole 25, as shown in FIG. In the illustrated example, the door 10 is connected to the right end of the refrigerator compartment 3, but a similar mechanism is also provided at the upper end facing portion 20 of the door and the left end of the upper end 10U of the door. The door 10 is connected to the left end of the refrigerator compartment 3 by storing the slide unit 30 in the storage recess 21 arranged at the left end of the door upper end facing part 20.

Note that before or after installing the hinge pin 31 (upper hinge pin) by storing the slide unit 30 in the storage recess 21, insert the lower hinge pin 9 into the hinge pin insertion hole of the door support plate 7, as shown in FIG. 8 and the hinge pin insertion hole of the door lower end 10B, the door lower end 10B and the refrigerator compartment 3 can be connected.

The embodiments according to the present invention have been described above in detail. However, the above description is provided to facilitate understanding of the present invention, and is not intended to limit the present invention. The present invention may include modifications and improvements that may be made without departing from the spirit thereof. The present invention also includes equivalents thereof.

1... Refrigerator 2... Refrigerator body (insulated box)
3... Refrigerator room 4... Freezer room 10... Door 20... Door upper end opposing part 21... Storage recess 22... Opening 23... Hinge pin contact part 24... Bottom of storage recess 25... Hinge pin insertion hole 30... Slide unit 31... (upper side) ) Hinge pin 31T... Hinge pin tip 32... Inclined portion 33... Hinge pin insertion passage 34... Communication hole 35... Inclined groove

Claims (3)

A refrigerator body including a storage compartment with an open front;
a door that is disposed on the front side of the refrigerator body and opens and closes the opening of the storage compartment;
a door upper end opposing portion extending across both ends of the upper edge of the front surface of the storage room and facing the upper end of the door;
a slide unit that accommodates a hinge pin corresponding to the rotation axis of the door and slides the hinge pin to be lowered inside;
Equipped with
A hinge pin insertion hole into which a hinge pin corresponding to the rotation axis of the door can be inserted is formed in both areas of the upper end of the door,
The upper end facing part of the door is
Storage recesses are provided at both ends of the upper end facing portion of the door and store the slide unit in a removable state,
The slide unit is
a slope portion that descends from the front side toward the rear side in the storage direction into the storage recess;
a hinge pin insertion path that is recessed downward from the upper surface of the slope, exposes at least the tip of the hinge pin, and inserts the hinge pin in a movable state in the storage direction;
a communication hole located on the rear side of the hinge pin insertion path in the storage direction and communicating with the hinge pin insertion hole formed at the upper end of the door;
Equipped with
The refrigerator, wherein the storage recess is formed with a hinge pin contact portion that can come into contact with a tip of the hinge pin. The storage recess has an opening on a side surface of the upper end facing portion of the door,
The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein the slide unit is inserted into the storage recess from the opening. An inclined groove inclined at the same slope as the inclined part is formed on both side walls of the slide unit,
The refrigerator according to claim 1 or 2, wherein both ends of the tip of the hinge pin that face the both side walls engage with the inclined groove.

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