CN107782050B

CN107782050B - Refrigerator

Info

Publication number: CN107782050B
Application number: CN201710544621.XA
Authority: CN
Inventors: 小谷诚
Original assignee: Toshiba Lifestyle Products and Services Corp
Current assignee: Toshiba Lifestyle Products and Services Corp
Priority date: 2016-08-29
Filing date: 2017-07-06
Publication date: 2022-10-28
Anticipated expiration: 2037-07-06
Also published as: JP2018035954A; JP6793500B2; CN107782050A

Abstract

The invention provides a refrigerator which further improves the appearance grade of the refrigerator and has good use convenience. The refrigerator is provided with: the refrigerator comprises a refrigerator main body (1) having a storage chamber (2), and a door for closing an opening part provided in the storage chamber (2), wherein the door (7) comprises: a curved glass plate (13) provided on the front surface portion, and a detection unit (36) provided on the rear side of the glass plate (13) and detecting a change in electrostatic capacitance.

Description

Refrigerator with a door

Technical Field

Embodiments of the present invention relate to a refrigerator.

Background

In the past, a refrigerator was provided with: a refrigerator door for sealing the opening of the storage chamber of the refrigerator main body for the storage articles. Such a refrigerator is well known: the front surface of the refrigerator door greatly affects the appearance design of the whole refrigerator, greatly affects the appearance quality, and a glass plate having good glossiness is provided on the front surface of the refrigerator door (for example, see patent document 1 below).

In addition, in order to improve the convenience of the refrigerator, an operation portion for setting and releasing various functions of the refrigerator may be provided on a front surface of the refrigerator door.

Patent document

Patent document 1: japanese patent laid-open No. 3140110

Disclosure of Invention

However, there is a strong demand for: it is desirable to further improve the quality of the appearance of the refrigerator. Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide: the refrigerator has good use convenience while further improving the appearance quality of the refrigerator.

The refrigerator of the embodiment includes: in a refrigerator comprising a refrigerator main body having a storage chamber and a door for closing an opening provided in the storage chamber, the door comprises: the electrostatic capacitance detecting device includes a curved glass plate provided on a front surface portion, and a detecting portion provided on a rear side of the glass plate and detecting a change in electrostatic capacitance.

According to the above configuration, since the door front panel constituting the outer surface of the door for closing the front surface opening of the storage compartment includes the glass plate having the curved surface shape, when the refrigerator is viewed from the front, a three-dimensional appearance rich in gloss is exhibited, and the appearance quality of the refrigerator can be improved. In addition, a detection part for detecting the change of the electrostatic capacitance is arranged at the rear of the door front panel of the refrigerating chamber door, and whether a user touches the front surface of the door front panel can be detected, so that an operation part for setting/releasing various functions of the refrigerator can be arranged on the front surface of the refrigerator door, and the use convenience of the refrigerator can be improved.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing a refrigerator according to embodiment 1.

Fig. 2 is an exploded perspective view of a refrigerator door of the refrigerator in fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a front view of the operation display device showing a state showing both the operation display unit and the display unit.

Fig. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the operation display device.

Fig. 5 isbase:Sub>A sectional view taken along linebase:Sub>A-base:Sub>A of fig. 1.

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of a refrigerator according to modification 3 of the present invention.

Fig. 7 is a B-B sectional view of fig. 6.

Fig. 8 is a perspective view showing a detection substrate and a support film in a refrigerator according to modification 4 of the present invention.

Fig. 9 is a sectional view of a refrigerator according to modification 5 of the present invention.

Description of the symbols:

1. Refrigerator main body, 2. Refrigerating chamber, 7. Refrigerating chamber door, 8. Refrigerating chamber door, 13. Door front panel, 13a. Rear surface, 13 b. Front surface, 17a. Opening, 20. Storage box, 20 a. Front surface opening, 20 d. Opening, 20 e. Holding part, 20 f. Holding part, 20 g. Supporting part, 21. Cover part, 21 a. Pressing part, 21 b. Pressing surface, 30. Operation display device, 31. Operation display part, 32. Display part, 33. Display film, 35. Detection substrate, 36. Detection support part, 37. Rear side end, 37. Film side end, 37. End, and the like

Detailed Description

(embodiment 1)

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

The refrigerator shown in fig. 1 includes: a refrigerator main body having heat insulation is formed with a plurality of storage compartments therein. The storage room is provided with a refrigerating room 2 and a vegetable room 3 in this order from above, an ice making room 4 and a 1 st freezing room 5 are provided below the vegetable room 3 and in parallel on the left and right, and a 2 nd freezing room 6 is provided at the lowermost part. The refrigerating chamber 2 and the vegetable chamber 3 provided at the upper portion are storage chambers of a refrigerating temperature range, and are adjusted to a temperature of about 3 to 5 ℃.

Ice making compartment

4, 1 st freezer compartment 5, and 2 nd freezer compartment 6 are storage compartments in a freezing temperature range, and are adjusted to a temperature of about-20 ℃.

Although not shown, the refrigerator main body 1 is provided with: a refrigerating cycle system includes a cooler for refrigerating a storage room for cooling a refrigerating temperature zone and a cooler for freezing for cooling the storage room for cooling a freezing temperature zone. Further, although not shown, the ice making chamber 4 is provided with an automatic ice making device.

The front surface of the refrigerating chamber 2 is provided with: and right and left 2-piece side-by-

side refrigerator doors

7 and 8 for opening and closing a front opening of the refrigerator 2. The left end of the left refrigerating chamber door 7 is pivotally supported by a hinge 7a in a reversible manner, and the right end of the right refrigerating chamber door 8 is pivotally supported by a hinge 8a in a reversible manner.

At a front surface of the vegetable compartment 3, a front surface of the ice making compartment 4, a front surface of the 1 st freezing compartment 5, and a front surface of the 2 nd freezing compartment 6 are provided: and push-

pull type doors

9, 10, 11, 12 for opening and closing the front surface openings of the corresponding storage compartments. Although not shown, storage containers are provided on the back surfaces of the doors 9 to 12.

The front surface portions of the left and

right doors

7 and 8 of the refrigerating compartment 2 and the doors 9 to 12 of the vegetable compartment 3, the ice making compartment 4, the 1 st freezing compartment 5, and the 2 nd freezing compartment 6 are provided with: and a door front panel 13 constituting an outer surface of each of the doors 7 to 12. The door front panel 13 of the present embodiment includes: a colorless or colored plate-shaped glass plate having light transmittance is laminated with a colored or metallic glossy top color layer on the rear surface (back surface) side as necessary.

The door front panel 13 provided to each of the doors 7 to 12 is formed by: a plate shape that bulges and curves toward the front side so as to be located at a position closer to the center in the width direction of the refrigerator than to the left and right side ends. Specifically, the front surface and the rear surface of the door front panel 13 are curved so as not to curve in the vertical direction but to bulge forward only in the horizontal direction. The horizontal sectional shape of the door front panel 13 is: the curved shape formed by smoothly connecting a plurality of arcs having different radii of curvature is formed as a curved shape including arcs having smaller radii of curvature as they approach the outer side of the refrigerator in the width direction. Further, like the refrigerating

chamber doors

7 and 8, the door front panel 13 of the doors arranged side by side in the width direction of the refrigerator is provided in a smoothly continuous convex curved surface shape so that the center portion in the width direction of the refrigerator is at the forefront position, and the radius of curvature is larger on the inner side in the width direction (the side opposite to the hinge) than on the outer side in the width direction of the refrigerator (the hinge side).

An operation display device 30 is provided on one of the left and right refrigerating

chamber doors

7 and 8 at a position behind a glass plate constituting the door front panel 13. In this example, the operation display device 30 is provided on the door front panel 13 of the left refrigerating compartment door 7 at a position on the opposite side (right side) of the hinge, avoiding the position on the outer side in the refrigerator width direction where the radius of curvature is smallest.

As shown in fig. 2, the refrigerating chamber door 7 provided with the operation display device 30 has: a door front panel 13, an upper door cover 14, a hinge-side door cover 15, a lower door cover 16, a hinge-opposite-side door cover 17, a door inner member 18, a frame-shaped rear-side member 19, a storage case 20 for storing the operation display device 30, a cover member 21, and the like.

An upper door cover 14 is attached to an upper side portion of the door front panel 13, an outer door cover 15 is attached to a hinge-side portion (left side portion) of the door front panel 13, a lower door cover 16 is attached to a lower side portion of the door front panel 13, an inner door cover 17 is attached to a hinge-opposite-direction side portion (right side portion) of the door front panel 13, and the door covers 14, 15, 16, 17 hold four side portions of the door front panel 13. An opening 17a is provided in the door 17 on the side opposite to the hinge and in the center in the vertical direction.

The door inner 18 is: the rectangular member provided on the rear surface 13a side of the door front panel 13 includes a heat insulating material such as a vacuum heat insulating panel or a foam heat insulating material. The rear surface side member 19 is fixed to the rear surface 13a side of the glass plate 13 with the door inner 18 sandwiched between the rear surface side member 19 and the door front plate 13.

As shown in fig. 2, the storage case 20 is formed such that: the storage case 20 has a substantially rectangular box shape open on one of the front side and the right side, and has a flange portion 20b protruding outward from the peripheral edge portion of the front surface opening portion 20 a. The flange portion 20b is fixed to the rear surface 13a of the door front panel 13 with a double-sided tape, and the housing case 20 is thereby disposed between the door front panel 13 and the door inner 18, so that the front surface opening 20a is closed by the rear surface 13a of the door front panel 13. The opening 20d provided in the right side surface of the storage case 20 is opened to the outside through the opening 17a of the door cover 17, and the operation display device 30 is inserted along the inner direction in the width direction of the refrigerating chamber door 7 (hereinafter, this direction is referred to as an insertion direction T) and is closed by the cover member 21.

As shown in fig. 4, the operation display device 30 includes a display film 33, a detection substrate 35, a support film 37, a light shielding plate 40, and an operation substrate 41, and is disposed on the rear surface 13a side of the door front panel 13 of the refrigerating chamber door 7 by being inserted into the storage box 20 from the opening 17a of the door cover 17.

As shown in fig. 3, on the front surface 13b of the door front panel 13 of the refrigerating chamber door 7 provided with the operation display device 30, there are provided: an operation display unit 31 and a display unit 32.

The operation display unit 31 includes: in this example, a plurality of the functions of the operation unit that receives the user touch operation and the display unit that displays the display content are arranged in parallel in the vertical direction. The display unit 32 is disposed on the left side of the operation display unit 31, and a plurality of the display units are arranged in the vertical direction. A part of the lower portion of the display portion 32 is also disposed below the operation display portion 31. In addition, a film-shaped colored layer colored or provided with a metallic luster may be provided on the rear surface 13a of the door front panel 13, except for a portion that needs to have translucency. Accordingly, the door inner 18 such as a heat insulator is not visible from the front side of the door front panel 13.

As shown in fig. 4 and 5, a display film 33 having light transmittance is provided on the front surface of the operation display device 30 so as to face the rear surface 13a of the door front panel 13. The display film 33 is provided with a plurality of film light-transmitting portions by stencil printing so as to be positioned behind the operation display portion 31 and the display portion 32. In the present embodiment, the thin film light-transmitting portion is not visible from the front of the door front panel 13 in a normal state, but can be seen from the front of the door front panel 13 when illuminated from the rear side by the LED element 41a described later, as shown in fig. 3.

A detection substrate 35 for detecting a change in capacitance is provided on the back side (rear side) of the display film 33. The detection substrate 35 is formed of a flexible film-like substrate, and a capacitance-type detection unit 36 is provided at a position corresponding to the position of the operation display unit 31. In the present embodiment, the detection unit 36 includes: a metal film formed in a circular shape corresponding to the outer shape of the operation display portion 31, and a light transmitting hole 36a through which light from a light source disposed on the rear side passes is provided.

A support film 37 having flexibility is provided on the rear side of the detection substrate 35. The support film 37 is larger than the detection substrate 35, and the support film 37 is bonded and fixed to the display film 33 and the detection substrate 35 so as to overlap each other.

An operation substrate 41 is provided on the rear side of the support film 37 via a light shielding plate 40, and a plurality of LED (light emitting diode) elements 41a are mounted on the operation substrate 41 in a predetermined pattern.

The operation substrate 41 is mounted with: a driving unit that drives each LED element 41a, and a determination circuit that determines whether or not the user touches the operation display unit 31 based on a change in capacitance of the detection unit 36.

The operation board 41 is disposed in the storage case 20 so as to be inclined with respect to a plane perpendicular to the front-rear direction of the refrigerator main body 1 such that the distance from the operation board to the rear surface 13a of the door front panel 13 provided in a curved shape is substantially equal in the refrigerator width direction.

The light shielding plate 40 is formed of a plate-like member disposed to overlap the front surface of the operation substrate 41, and includes, at a position corresponding to the LED element 41a provided on the operation substrate 41: and a concave portion 40a for guiding light emitted from the LED element 41a to the corresponding operation display portion 31 or display portion 32. The front surface 40b of the light shielding plate 40 opposed to the support film 37 in the front-rear direction is formed with: a curved shape bulging toward the front along the curved shape of the door front panel 13 of the refrigerating compartment door 7.

In addition, the light shielding plate 40 is provided with: and a film pressing member 40c protruding toward the front side toward the support film 37, wherein the film pressing member 40c surrounds the recess 40a. The film pressing member 40c is made of an elastically deformable rubber-like elastic body, and is in contact with the support film 37, presses the support film 37 toward the front side toward the door front panel 13, and guides light emitted from the LED element 41a only toward the operation display unit 31 disposed on the front side.

The support film 37 disposed to overlap the front surface of the light shielding plate 40 is provided with: and a through hole 37c communicating with the front surface opening of the recess 40a. The film pressing member 40c protruding from the front surface of the light shielding plate 40 abuts on the peripheral edge of the through hole 37c, and presses the detection portion 36 of the detection substrate 35 supported by the support film 37 to the display film 33.

Such a light shielding plate 40 is provided: a front end (hinge-side end) 40d in the insertion direction T is supported by a light-shielding plate support portion 20g provided in the storage case 20, and a rear end (hinge-opposite-direction end) 40e in the insertion direction T is supported by a light-shielding plate pressing member 21a projecting from the lid member 21 into the storage case 20.

The support film 37 provided on the front surface of the light-shielding plate 40 is configured to: only the rear end 37a in the insertion direction T is fixed to the light shielding plate 40 by the double-sided tape 42, and the front end 37b in the insertion direction T and the like are not fixed to the light shielding plate 40. Accordingly, the support film 37 is set to: the portion located at a position forward in the insertion direction T with respect to the rear end portion 37a can be moved with respect to the light shielding plate 40, starting from the rear end portion 37a in the insertion direction T fixed to the light shielding plate 40 by the double-sided tape 42.

The front end 37b of the support film 37 in the insertion direction T is held by a holding portion 20e provided at a peripheral edge portion of the front opening 20a of the storage case 20. The holding portion 20e is formed by: the holding surface 20f in contact with the rear surface of the support film 37 is inclined to be inclined forward as it is farther from the end 37b of the support film 37 (i.e., closer to the inside of the support film 37). Accordingly, the holding portion 20e provided in the storage case 20 holds the front end 37b of the support film in the insertion direction T so as to be directed forward as it goes away from the edge.

When the user touches the operation display unit 31 from the front surface 13b of the door front panel 13, the capacitance of the detection unit 36 provided on the detection substrate 35 changes, and the determination circuit mounted on the operation substrate 41 detects the change in capacitance, whereby the operation display device 30 executes control corresponding to the detected operation display unit 31.

In this configuration, the detection unit 36 is brought into close contact with the rear surface 13a of the curved door front panel 13, and the change in the electrostatic capacitance can be detected with higher accuracy, so that the detection substrate 35 provided with the detection unit 36 is curved in the operation display device 30: a curved shape bulging forward along the rear surface 13a of the door front panel 13.

Specifically, if the operation display device 30 is inserted into the storage case 20 from the opening 17a of the door 17 in a state where the display film 33, the detection substrate 35, the support film 37, the light shielding plate 40, and the operation substrate 41 are overlapped in the front-rear direction, the support film 37 is: the front end 37b in the insertion direction T is held by the holding portion 20e of the housing case 20 so as to be directed forward as it approaches the inside of the support film 37. Accordingly, the support film 37 has an easy deformation (deformation) characteristic so as to be bulged forward and easily bent and deformed.

After the operation display device 30 is inserted into the housing case 20, the cover member 21 is fitted into the opening 20d provided in the right side surface of the housing case 20, and the opening 20d is closed. At this time, the light shielding plate pressing member 21a provided in the cover member 21 is pressed in the insertion direction T, and presses the rear end portion 40e of the light shielding plate 40 in the insertion direction T.

The light shielding plate pressing member 21a is formed by: since the pressing surface 21b abutting on the rear surface of the shade 40 is an inclined surface inclined rearward as approaching to the front in the insertion direction T, the rear end portion 40e of the shade 40 in the insertion direction T is pressed forward of the refrigerator main body 1 and is pressed forward in the insertion direction T. That is, when the lid member 21 closes the opening 20d of the storage case 20, the light shielding plate 40 is pressed toward the door front panel 13 by the light shielding plate pressing member 21a and is pressed to the back side (the front side in the insertion direction T) of the storage case 20.

The light shielding plate 40 is pressed forward toward the door front panel 13 by the light shielding plate pressing member 21a, and thereby the support film 37 on which the detection substrate 35 and the display film 33 are laminated is pressed against the rear surface 13a of the door front panel 13 via the film pressing member 40c provided on the front surface 40b of the light shielding plate 40. The elastically deformable film pressing member 40c bends and deforms the detection substrate 35 and the display film 33, which are superposed on and fixed to the support film 37, into: the detection substrate 35 and the display film 33 are brought into close contact with each other along the curved shape of the door front panel 13 of the refrigerating chamber door 7 and pressed against the rear surface 13a of the door front panel 13.

When the light shielding plate 40 is pressed forward in the insertion direction T by the light shielding plate pressing member 21a, the rear end 37a of the support film 37 fixed to the light shielding plate 40 by the double-sided tape 42 in the insertion direction T is also pressed forward in the insertion direction T. The front end 37b of the support film 37 in the insertion direction T is held by a holding portion 20e provided in the storage case 20. Thus, the force pressing the front and

rear end portions

37a, 37b in the insertion direction T toward the film inner side acts on the support film 37. Accordingly, the support film 37 is bent together with the detection substrate 35 and the display film 33 such that: the detection substrate 35 and the display film 33 are pressed and brought into close contact with the rear surface 13a of the door front panel 13 by a shape matching the rear surface 13a of the door front panel 13 of the refrigerating chamber door 7.

In the refrigerator of the present embodiment as described above, the door front panel 13 constituting the outer surface of the doors 7 to 12 for closing the front surface openings of the storage compartments 2 to 6 is a curved glass plate, and when the refrigerator is viewed from the front, the refrigerator exhibits a three-dimensional appearance rich in gloss, and the appearance quality of the refrigerator can be improved.

Further, a detection unit 36 for detecting a change in electrostatic capacitance is provided behind the door front panel 13 of the refrigerating chamber door 7, and it is possible to detect whether or not the user touches the front surface 13b of the door front panel 13, and thus, an operation unit for setting/releasing various functions of the refrigerator can be provided on the front surface of the refrigerator door, and the convenience of use of the refrigerator can be improved.

In the present embodiment, the operation display device 30 including the detection unit 36 is provided with: since the position on the glass plate constituting the door front panel 13, which is the position on the rear side of the portion having the smallest radius of curvature, is avoided, the detection unit 36 can be easily brought into close contact with the rear surface 13a of the door front panel 13, and the detection sensitivity can be obtained well. In addition, when a plurality of detection units 36 are provided, the distance from the front surface 13b of the door front panel 13 touched and operated by the user to each detection unit 36 is constant, and the detection sensitivity of each detection unit 36 can be easily set.

In the present embodiment, since the detection unit 36 is formed on the detection substrate 35 having flexibility and the detection substrate 35 is disposed on the rear surface 13a of the door front panel 13 by bending, the detection unit 36 can be easily brought into close contact with the rear surface 13a even in the case of the door front panel 13 having a curved shape, and the detection sensitivity of the detection unit 36 can be improved.

In addition, in the present embodiment, since the door front panel 13 is formed in a curved shape that bulges forward, when the detection substrate 35 is curved along the rear surface 13a of the door front panel 13, the detection substrate 35 is deformed so as to bulge forward, and thus the detection portion 36 provided on the detection substrate 35 is pressed against the rear surface 13a of the door front panel 13, and the detection sensitivity of the detection portion 36 can be further improved.

In the present embodiment, the front and

rear end portions

37a, 37b of the support film 37 in the insertion direction T are pressed toward the inside of the film, whereby the support film 37 is bent into a shape along the rear surface 13a of the door front panel 13, and the detection portion 36 provided on the detection substrate 35 can be brought into close contact with the rear surface 13a of the door front panel 13.

In addition, in the present embodiment, the film pressing member 40c provided in the shade 40 presses the support film 37 forward, and functions as a restricting portion, that is, restricts the support film 37 from being bent into a shape recessed toward the rear side, so even if both

end portions

37a, 37b of the support film 37 are pressed toward the film inner side, the support film 37 is not deformed so that the detection portion 36 is separated from the rear surface 13a of the door front panel 13, and the detection portion 36 can be reliably brought into close contact with the rear surface 13a of the door front panel 13.

In the present embodiment, the support film 37 is held by the holding portion 20e of the storage case 20 so as to be directed forward as it approaches the inside of the support film 37, and the support film 37 has an easy deformation (deformation) characteristic so as to be easily deformed into a curved shape bulging forward, so that even if both

end portions

37a, 37b of the support film 37 are pressed toward the film inside, the support film 37 is not deformed so that the detection portion 36 is separated from the rear surface 13a of the door front panel 13, and the detection portion 36 can be reliably brought into close contact with the rear surface 13a of the door front panel 13.

(modification 1)

In the above-described embodiment, the following description is made: the elastically deformable film pressing member 40c presses the support film 37 against the rear surface 13a of the door front panel 13, and presses both

end portions

37a, 37b of the support film 37 toward the film inner side, thereby bending and deforming the support film 37 into a shape along the door front panel 13 and bringing the detection substrate 35 and the display film 33 into close contact with each other, but may be: the support film 37 is bent and deformed by pressing the support film 37 against the rear surface 13a of the door front panel 13 by the film pressing member 40c, instead of pressing the both

end portions

37a, 37b of the support film 37 toward the film inside, or by pressing the both

end portions

37a, 37b of the support film 37 toward the film inside without providing the film pressing member 40 c.

(modification 2)

In the above-described embodiment, the following description is given: the

ends

37a and 37b of the support film 37 fixed to overlap the detection substrate 35 provided with the detection unit 36 are pressed toward the film inner side, whereby the detection substrate 35 is bent together with the support film 37, but the detection substrate 35 may be pressed inward and bent.

(modification 3)

In the above-described embodiment, the following description is given: although the door front panels 13 provided on the front surface portions of the doors 9 to 12 of the left and

right doors

7 and 8 of the refrigerating compartment 2, the vegetable compartment 3, the ice making compartment 4, the 1 st freezing compartment 5, and the 2 nd freezing compartment 6 are in the shape of a curved plate that is not curved in the vertical direction and is raised forward only in the horizontal direction, the door front panels 132 provided on the front surface portions of the doors 9 to 12 may be in the shape of a curved plate that is not curved in the vertical direction and is recessed rearward only in the horizontal direction, as shown in fig. 6, for example.

In the operation display device 30 provided to the refrigerating compartment door 7, as shown in fig. 7, the front surface 402b of the light shielding plate 402 opposed to the support film 37 in the front-rear direction is formed as: a curved shape that follows the curved shape of the door front panel 132 of the refrigerating chamber door 7 and bulges toward the rear side. A film pressing member 40c protruding forward toward the support film 37 is provided on the front surface 402b of the light shielding plate 402, wherein the film pressing member 40c surrounds the concave portion 40a. The film pressing member 40c is made of an elastically deformable rubber-like elastic body, and presses the support film 37 toward the front side while being in contact with the support film 37 and toward the door front panel 132, thereby bringing the detection portion 36 provided on the detection substrate 35 into close contact with the rear surface 132a of the door front panel 132 and guiding the light emitted from the LED element 41a only toward the operation display portion 31 disposed on the front side.

In this case, as in the above-described embodiment, when the refrigerator is viewed from the front, the refrigerator can be enhanced in appearance quality by giving a glossy appearance, and the operating unit for setting and releasing various functions of the refrigerator can be provided on the front surface of the refrigerator door, thereby enhancing the usability of the refrigerator.

(modification 4)

In the above embodiment, although: although the door front panel 13 provided on the front surface portion of each of the doors 9 to 12 of the left and

right doors

7 and 8, the vegetable compartment 3, the ice compartment 4, the 1 st freezer compartment 5, and the 2 nd freezer compartment 6 of the refrigerating compartment 2 is in the form of a curved plate that is not curved in the vertical direction but that is convex forward only in the horizontal direction, the door front panel 13 provided on the front surface portion of each of the doors 9 to 12 may be, for example: a curved shape that bulges forward in the vertical direction and the horizontal direction or is concave rearward. In this case, as illustrated in fig. 8, a notch 38 may be provided in the detection substrate 35 or the support film 37 on which the detection unit 36 is provided. Accordingly, the detection unit 36 can be brought into close contact with the door front panel 13 that is bent in the vertical direction and the horizontal direction, and the detection sensitivity of the detection unit 36 can be improved.

(modification 5)

In the above-described embodiment, the following description is given: although the detection section 36 is provided on the thin-film detection substrate 35 having flexibility and the detection section 36 is brought into close contact with the door front panel 13 by bending the detection substrate 35 along the rear surface 13a of the door front panel 13, thereby improving the detection sensitivity of the detection section 36, for example, as shown in fig. 9, the detection section 36 may be provided on a rigid substrate 39 made of an insulator base material having high rigidity and provided between the detection section 36 and the door front panel 13: a rubber-like dielectric 44 having elasticity. Even in this case, the detection portion 36 provided on the rear side of the door front panel 13 having a curved shape is made to function, and the operation portion can be provided on the front surface of the refrigerator door.

(other embodiments)

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, these embodiments are merely provided as examples, and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. These embodiments may be implemented in other various ways, and various omissions, substitutions, and changes may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. These embodiments and modifications are also encompassed within the scope and spirit of the present invention, and the scope and equivalents of the present invention are also encompassed by the claims.

Claims

1. A refrigerator is provided with: a refrigerator main body having a storage chamber, and a door for closing an opening portion provided in the storage chamber, the refrigerator characterized in that,

the door is provided with: a curved glass plate provided on the front surface portion, and a detection portion provided on the rear side of the glass plate and detecting a change in electrostatic capacitance,

the detection portion is provided along the glass plate on a rear side of the glass plate,

the substrate of the detection part is inserted from the side part of the door and is limited to keep a shape bending along the curved surface of the glass plate under the inserted state,

the housing section for housing the substrate of the detection section is provided with a portion inclined forward as the end portion thereof is farther from the insertion direction side in the direction opposite to the insertion direction, and presses the support film which is overlapped with the housed substrate at the rear.

2. The refrigerator according to claim 1,

the glass plate is formed into a curved shape in which a plurality of circular arcs having different radii of curvature are smoothly connected,

the detection unit is provided so as to avoid a position behind a portion of the glass plate where the radius of curvature is smallest.

3. The refrigerator according to claim 1 or 2,

the detection section is formed on a film having flexibility.

4. The refrigerator according to claim 3,

the glass sheet is formed into a sheet shape that bulges and bends toward the front side,

the disclosed device is provided with: and a pressing portion that presses an end portion of the film toward an inner side of the film and bends the film along the glass plate.

5. The refrigerator according to claim 4,

the disclosed device is provided with: a restricting portion that restricts the film from deforming into a curved shape that is concave toward the rear side.

6. The refrigerator according to claim 4,

a holding section for holding one end of the film,

the holding portion holds the film so as to be more oriented toward the front side as it goes away from the edge of the film.

7. The refrigerator according to claim 5,

a holding portion for holding one end portion of the film,

the holding portion holds the film so as to be more forward as it is farther from the edge of the film.

8. The refrigerator according to claim 1 or 2,

a dielectric member having elasticity is provided between the glass plate and the detection section.