CN115349074A

CN115349074A - Refrigerator

Info

Publication number: CN115349074A
Application number: CN202080098996.8A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 杉崎沙织; 大石隆
Original assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Corp
Current assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Corp
Priority date: 2020-03-30
Filing date: 2020-03-30
Publication date: 2022-11-15
Anticipated expiration: 2040-03-30
Also published as: JP7332036B2; TW202136694A; JPWO2021199108A1; WO2021199108A1; AU2020439808B2; TWI783399B; CN115349074B; AU2020439808A1

Abstract

The invention provides a refrigerator, which is provided with a refrigerator door capable of fixing front surface plates of a glass surface material and a steel plate to the same frame component. A refrigerator door (14) of a refrigerator (1) has a door frame (35), a back panel (36), and a front panel (33), and the door frame (35) has an upper cover, a lower cover, a right cover, and a left cover. The lower cover has: the lid comprises a plate-shaped lid body, a front rib extending upward from the upper surface of the lid body, and a recess (57 d) between the lid body and the front rib. The front rib has an adhesive surface on a front surface. The front rib is provided at a position rearward of the end portion of the cover main body in front by a distance enabling the cover main body to support the glass plate, and the cover main body has a support surface (55 d) on the upper surface in front of the front rib. When the front surface plate (33) is formed of a steel plate material, the front surface plate (33) has an end portion bent toward the back surface side in the lower direction, and the end portion is inserted into the recessed portion. When the front panel (33) is formed of glass, the lower side surface of the front panel (33) is supported by the support surface (55 d), and the back surface of the front panel (33) is joined to the adhesive surface.

Description

Refrigerator

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a door of a refrigerator.

Background

In a refrigerator, a glass surface material or a steel plate is mainly used as a front surface plate of a refrigerator door for opening and closing a storage room. Generally, the glass facestock used for the front surface plate of the refrigerator door has a greater thickness than the steel plate. In the case where the front panel is attached to a frame member of a refrigerator door, and the front panel is a steel plate, a groove for holding an end face of the steel plate is provided in the frame member. On the other hand, in the case where the front surface plate is a glass surface material, the frame member is provided with a receiving surface for receiving the glass surface material in the height direction and an adhesive surface for fixing the glass surface material along the back surface of the glass surface material.

In a conventional refrigerator door, a groove is formed in a frame member of the refrigerator door, and an inwardly bent flange provided at a peripheral edge portion of a thin plate such as a steel plate is fitted into the groove to form a door main body. When the decorative plate is attached to the door body, the decorative plate is attached to the door body by fitting the cover beads (cover) onto the surface of the door body, and fixing the beads to the frame member with screws. (see, for example, patent document 1.)

Patent document 1: japanese unexamined patent publication No. 62-98181

However, in the refrigerator described above, a cover is required to attach the decorative panel to the front surface of the door, and a process of attaching the cover to the door frame with screws is required. Further, no countermeasure is made for attaching a front surface plate, which does not have an inwardly bent flange at a peripheral edge portion, such as a glass plate having a thickness with respect to a steel plate, to a frame member.

Disclosure of Invention

The present invention solves the problem that the front surface plates of both the glass surface material and the steel plate can be fixed to the same frame member while suppressing the increase of the number of components in the door of the refrigerator.

In order to solve the above problem, a refrigerator according to the present invention includes: a refrigerator main body having a storage chamber therein; and a refrigerator door opening and closing the storage chamber of the refrigerator main body. The refrigerator door has a door frame, a back panel and a front panel, and the door frame has an upper cover, a lower cover, a right cover and a left cover. The lower cover has: the refrigerator door includes a plate-shaped cover body constituting a lower surface of the refrigerator door, a front rib provided on an upper surface of the cover body and extending upward, and a recess for sandwiching the front plate between the front rib and the cover body. The front rib has an adhesive surface on the front surface for adhering the front panel. The front rib is provided at a position rearward of the front end of the cover body by a distance that allows the cover body to support the glass plate. The cover main body has a support surface on an upper surface forward of the front rib. In the case where the front surface plate is formed of a steel plate material, the front surface plate has an end portion bent to the rear side in a lower direction, and the end portion is inserted into the recess. When the front panel is formed of glass, the lower side surface of the front panel is joined to the support surface, and the rear surface of the front panel is joined to the adhesive surface.

According to the present invention, the front surface plate of the glass surface material and the front surface plate of the steel plate material can be fixed to the same frame member, that is, the door frame, while suppressing the increase of the members.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a front view of a refrigerator in embodiment 1 of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a sectional view of the refrigerator in embodiment 1 of the present invention.

Fig. 3 is a configuration diagram of a refrigerating room left door and a refrigerating room right door in embodiment 1 of the present invention.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the left cover and the lower cover of the right refrigerator compartment door in embodiment 1 of the present invention.

Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the front panel and the lower cover of the right refrigerating compartment door in the case where the front panel is made of a steel plate material in embodiment 1 of the present invention.

Fig. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the front panel and the lower cover of the right refrigerator compartment door in which glass is used as the front panel in embodiment 1 of the present invention.

Fig. 7 is a cross-sectional view of the front panel and the right cover of the right refrigerating compartment door in which a steel plate material is used for the front panel in embodiment 1 of the present invention.

Fig. 8 is a cross-sectional view of the front panel and the right cover of the right door of the refrigerating compartment, in which glass is used as the front panel in embodiment 1 of the present invention.

Fig. 9 is a sectional view of the right cover of the right door of the refrigerating compartment in embodiment 1 of the present invention.

Fig. 10 is a sectional view of the lower cover of the right door of the refrigerating chamber in embodiment 2 of the present invention.

Fig. 11 is a sectional view of the lower cover of the right door of the refrigerating chamber in embodiment 2 of the present invention.

Fig. 12 is a sectional view of the lower cover of the right door of the refrigerating chamber in embodiment 3 of the present invention.

Detailed Description

Hereinafter, a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present specification will be described with reference to the drawings. The present description is not limited to the following embodiments, and modifications and omissions may be made without departing from the spirit of the present description. Moreover, the drawings are sometimes simplified to show the actual configuration. In the drawings, the sizes of the respective components and the positional relationship between the components may be different from those in reality. In addition, with reference to reference numerals, the same parts are denoted by the same reference numerals, which are common throughout the specification. <xnotran> , , , ( "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "" ), , . </xnotran> In this specification, the terms are used to indicate a positional relationship between the refrigerator and each of the components of the refrigerator door when the refrigerator and the refrigerator door are viewed from the front. In the present specification, the right angle means an angle in the range of 90 ± 5 °.

Embodiment 1.

The following describes a structure of the refrigerator 1 according to embodiment 1.

Fig. 1 is a front view of a refrigerator 1 in embodiment 1 of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a sectional view of the refrigerator 1 in embodiment 1 of the present invention.

As shown in fig. 1 and 2, a refrigerator 1 includes a cabinet 2 as a refrigerator main body. The front surface (front surface) of the casing 2 is open and a storage space 3 is formed inside. The casing 2 is composed of an outer box 4 made of steel plate, an inner box 5 made of resin, and a heat insulating material 6 filled between the outer box 4 and the inner box 5. The storage space 3 is divided into a plurality of storage compartments, i.e., a refrigerating compartment 8, a switching compartment 9, an ice making compartment 10, a freezing compartment 11, and a vegetable compartment 12, by a plurality of heat-insulating partition walls 7.

Below the refrigerating compartment 8, a switching compartment 9 capable of switching a refrigerating temperature range and an ice making compartment 10 adjacent to the switching compartment 9 are disposed. Freezing room 11 is disposed below switching room 9 and ice making room 10, and vegetable room 12 is disposed below freezing room 11.

The front surface opening of the refrigerating chamber 8 is opened or closed by a refrigerating chamber left door 13 and a refrigerating chamber right door 14 as refrigerator doors.

The refrigerating chamber left door 13 and the refrigerating chamber right door 14 are attached to the refrigerator main body using hinges, not shown. The refrigerating room left door 13 and the refrigerating room right door 14 are rotary doors and can rotate independently of each other. Front surface openings of the switching chamber 9, the ice making chamber 10, the freezing chamber 11, and the vegetable chamber 12 are opened or closed by a drawer type switching chamber door 15, an ice making chamber door 16, a freezing chamber door 17, and a vegetable chamber door 18, respectively.

In the present embodiment, the front opening of the refrigerating chamber 8 is opened or closed by the refrigerating chamber left door 13 and the refrigerating chamber right door 14, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the refrigerator door may be configured to be opened or closed by one refrigerator door. In addition, the positions of the switching chamber 9 and the ice making chamber 10 may be reversed from fig. 1.

In fig. 1, the refrigerating room 8 is disposed at the uppermost layer, the ice making room 9 and the switching room 10 are disposed in parallel on the left and right sides below the refrigerating room, the freezing room 11 is disposed below the freezing room, and the vegetable room 12 is disposed at the lowermost layer, but the storage space 3 in the refrigerator 1 is not limited to such a disposition.

The freezing room 11 is provided with a cooler 19, and the cold air cooled by the cooler 19 is blown to the refrigerating room 8, the switching room 9, the ice making room 10, the freezing room 11, and the vegetable room 12.

The refrigerator 1 includes an operation panel 20 on a front surface side of the refrigerating room left door 13 or the refrigerating room right door 14. The operation panel 20 is a user interface for setting the refrigerator 1 according to the operation content of the user. The set temperature of each of refrigerating compartment 8, switching compartment 9, freezing compartment 11, and vegetable compartment 12 can be adjusted by operation panel 20.

The refrigerator 1 includes door closing devices (not shown) at a lower left portion of the refrigerating compartment left door 13 and a lower right portion of the refrigerating compartment right door 14, respectively, as viewed from the front.

Fig. 2 is a view showing a cross section in the depth direction of the refrigerator 1, taken at a position of the right door of the refrigerating compartment in the longitudinal direction.

A vacuum heat insulating material for reducing the heat intrusion amount of heat from the outside of the refrigerator 1 into the storage space 3 is provided between the outer box 4 and the inner box 5. The left refrigerator door vacuum heat insulator 23, the right refrigerator door vacuum heat insulator 24, the freezer door vacuum heat insulator 25, and the vegetable room door vacuum heat insulator 26 are provided inside the left refrigerator door 13, the right refrigerator door 14, the freezer door 17, and the vegetable door 18. For example, the thermal conductivity λ of the vacuum heat insulating material used in the above configuration is 0.002W/m.K.

Further, foamed urethane 27 is filled between the vacuum heat insulator 23 for the refrigerating room left door and the outer frame of the refrigerating room left door 13, and between the vacuum heat insulator 24 for the refrigerating room right door and the outer frame of the refrigerating room right door 21. As an example, the thermal conductivity λ of the polyurethane foam 27 is 0.02W/mK.

A compressor 30 is disposed at a lower portion of a rear surface of the refrigerator 1. The refrigerant compressed by the compressor 30 is condensed in a condenser (not shown). The condensed refrigerant is decompressed by a capillary tube (not shown) serving as a decompressor. The refrigerant whose pressure has been reduced evaporates in the cooler 31, and the periphery of the cooler 31 is cooled by the heat absorption action at the time of the evaporation. A refrigeration cycle is constituted by a compressor 30, a condenser, a capillary tube as a pressure reducer, and a cooler 31.

A cold air duct 32 made of, for example, expanded polystyrene for guiding cold air into refrigerating room 8 is provided on the back side of refrigerating room 8. A control board (not shown) made of synthetic resin is provided in front of the cold air duct 32 so as to cover the cold air duct 32. The control board 18 is covered with a steel plate fastened to the back surface of the outer box 4 of the refrigerator 1 by screws and a heat insulating material, and is attached to the outer box 4. Commercial power is supplied to the control substrate.

The damper (not shown) provided in the cold air blowing duct 32, the compressor 30, and the blower are controlled by a control board. The control board detects the temperatures of the refrigerating chamber 8, the switching chamber 9, the ice making chamber 10, the freezing chamber 11, and the vegetable chamber 12 by a temperature detection device (not shown) such as a thermistor, and controls the cooling capacity of the refrigeration cycle, the start and stop of the cooling operation, the opening and closing of the damper, and the operation state of the blower so that the storage space 3 becomes a target set temperature.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view showing the components constituting the refrigerating room left door 13 and the refrigerating room right door 14 in a separated state. Further, an operation panel 20 is disposed on the refrigerating room left door 13.

As shown in fig. 3, the refrigerating chamber right door 14 is composed of a front panel 33 forming an appearance panel, a double-sided tape 34, a doorframe 35 as a frame member of the refrigerator right door 14, a vacuum heat insulator 24, and a back panel 36. The front surface plate 33 is formed using glass. Vacuum heat insulator 24 is disposed in door frame 35, and back plate 36 is attached to the rear side of door frame 35. Further, a front panel 33 is attached to the front side of the door frame 35 with a double-sided tape 34. Finally, foamed urethane (not shown) is injected into the gap between the vacuum heat insulator 24, the door frame 35, the front panel 33, and the back panel 36. Thus, the refrigerating chamber right door 14 is constructed. Similarly to the refrigerating room right door 14, the refrigerating room left door 13 is configured by a front panel 133, a double-sided tape 134, a doorframe 135 as a frame member of the refrigerating room right door, a vacuum heat insulator 23 for the refrigerating room left door, and a back panel 136.

In addition, a hot melt adhesive (not shown) may be used instead of the double-sided adhesive tape 34.

In fig. 3, the configuration in the case where the front surface plate 33 is formed using glass is shown, but in the case where the front surface plate 33 is formed using a steel plate material, the double-sided tape 34 and the hot melt adhesive can be omitted from the configuration in fig. 3. In this case, the front panel 33 has an end 38a, an end 38b, an end 38c, and an end 38d bent rearward at the left, right, upper, and lower peripheral edge portions 37. The end portions 38b and 38d are shown in fig. 5 and 7. The end portion 38 is a member for attaching and fixing the front surface plate 33 to the door frame 35. In this case, the door frame 35 is also formed of glass as in the case where the front panel 33 is formed of glass, and is similar to the structure shown in fig. 3.

In fig. 3, the door frame 35 of the refrigerating room right door 14 includes a left cover 39a, a right cover 39b, an upper cover 39c, and a lower cover 39d. The doorframe 35 is formed by assembling and fixing the left cover 39a, the right cover 39b, the upper cover 39c, and the lower cover 39d. The left cover 39a, the right cover 39b, the upper cover 39c, and the lower cover 39d each constitute one side of the door frame.

Similarly, the door frame 135 of the refrigerating room left door 13 includes a left cover 139a, a right cover 139b, an upper cover 139c, and a lower cover 139d. The door frame 135 is formed by assembling and fixing the left cover 139a, the right cover 139b, the upper cover 139c, and the lower cover 139d. The left cover 39a, the right cover 39b, the upper cover 39c, and the lower cover 39d constitute one side of the door frame.

The left cover 39a, the right cover 39b, the upper cover 39c, and the lower cover 39d are all formed by molding plastic, but the material of the left cover 39a, the right cover 39b, the upper cover 39c, and the lower cover 39d is not limited thereto, and may be formed by molding metal. The same applies to the refrigerating chamber left door 13.

In this specification, the structure of the refrigerating chamber right door 14 will be described. The left refrigerating chamber door 13 has a left-right symmetrical structure with the right refrigerating chamber door 14 although the left-right length is different when it is attached to the refrigerator 1, and therefore, the description thereof will be omitted in this specification.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged perspective view of the left cover 39a and the lower cover 39D of the door frame 35 in fig. 3, which are included in the region D. In fig. 4, the left cover 39a and the lower cover 39d of the door frame 35 are disengaged.

In fig. 4, the left cover 39a includes a left cover main body 40a constituting a left side surface of the doorframe 35 when it is configured as a part of the doorframe 35, a front rib 41a extending in the vertical direction, a lower rib 42a extending in the front-rear direction, and a rear rib 43a extending in the vertical direction. The front rib 41a, the lower rib 42a, and the rear rib 43a are provided on the right surface 44a, which is an inner surface of the left cover main body 40 a. The front rib 41a, the lower rib 42a, and the rear rib 43a are continuously formed from the left cover main body 40a, and have a shape that extends rightward and protrudes rightward when the door frame 35 is formed. The front rib 41a is disposed forward of the rear rib 43a. The lower rib 42a is disposed at the lower end of the left cap body 40 a. Although not shown, the left cover 39a has an upper rib at the upper end of the left cover body 40a, and the upper rib extends forward and rearward, extends rightward, and protrudes rightward. The upper rib is provided on the right surface of the left cover main body 40 a.

As shown in fig. 4, the left cover 39a has an engagement receiving rib 46a provided on the right surface of the left cover body 40a in parallel with the lower rib 42a at a position above the lower rib 42 a. The engagement receiving rib 46a is formed with an engagement receiving hole 47a for receiving engagement.

In fig. 4, the lower cover 39d has a lower cover main body 40d constituting the lower surface of the door frame 35, a front rib 41d extending leftward and rightward, a left rib 48a extending forward and rearward, and a rear rib 43d extending leftward and rightward. The front rib 41d, the left rib 48a, and the rear rib 43d are provided on the upper surface, which is the inner surface of the lower cover body 40d. The front rib 41d, the left rib 48a, and the rear rib 43d are each continuously formed from the lower cover main body 40d, and have a shape extending upward and protruding upward when the door frame 35 is constructed. The front rib 41d is disposed forward of the rear rib 43d. The left rib 48d is disposed at the left end of the lower cover main body 40d. Although not shown, the lower cover 39d has a right rib 48b extending forward and backward, extending upward, and projecting upward at the upper end of the lower cover body 40d. The right rib 48b is provided on the upper surface of the lower cover main body.

The lower cover body 40d of the lower cover 39d has a grip portion 49 protruding upward between the front rib 41d and the rear rib 43d.

A claw portion 51a extending rightward is provided on the left rib 48a of the lower cover 39d.

The lower cover 39d further includes a first locking rib 50a provided on the upper surface of the lower cover body 40d to be parallel to the left rib 48a at a position on the right side of the left rib 48 a. The first locking rib 50a has a locking claw restricting portion 52a extending in the left direction.

Although not shown, when the lower cover 29a forms a part of the door frame 35, the second locking rib 50b is provided on the upper surface of the lower cover body 40d at a position symmetrical to the first locking rib 50a with respect to the center surface of the door frame 35. The right rib 48b and the second locking rib 50b are provided with a claw portion 51b and a claw regulating portion 52b, respectively, in the same manner as the left rib 48a and the first locking rib 50a, and the claw portion 51b and the claw regulating portion 52b have a bilaterally symmetrical structure with respect to the claw portion 51a and the claw regulating portion 52a.

The lower cover 39d is assembled and fixed to the left cover 39a as follows.

The claw portion 51a of the lower cover 39d is brought into proximity from obliquely below to the engagement receiving hole 47a of the engagement receiving rib 46a of the left cover 39a, and the claw portion 51a is inserted into the engagement receiving hole 47a.

When the claw portions 51a are inserted into the engagement receiving holes 47a of the engagement receiving ribs 46a, the engagement receiving ribs 46a are locked by the claw portions 51a and the claw restricting portions 52a, and thus the left cover 39a is fixed to the lower cover 39d.

The right cover 39b is configured to be bilaterally symmetrical to the left cover 39a with respect to the left and right center surfaces of the door frame 35 when constituting a part of the door frame 35.

When constituting a part of the door frame 35, the upper cover 39c is vertically symmetrical with the left cover 39a with respect to the vertical center plane (horizontal plane) of the door frame 35.

The fixing of the lower cover 39d to the right cover 39b, the fixing of the upper cover 39c to the left cover 39a, and the fixing of the upper cover 39c to the right cover 39b are performed in the same manner as the method of assembling and fixing the lower cover 39d to the left cover 39a. The doorframe 35 is formed by fixing the lower cover 39d to the left cover 39a, the lower cover 39d to the right cover 39b, the upper cover 39c to the left cover 39a, and the upper cover to the right cover 39b.

Further, metal reinforcements (not shown) are attached to the inner sides of the left cover 39a and the right cover 39b, respectively. With such a configuration, left cover 39a and right cover 39b are reinforced, and when the foamed polyurethane is injected into right refrigerating room door 14, deformation of door frame 35 due to the foamed polyurethane pressing door frame 35 from the inside can be suppressed.

The refrigerating room right door 14 is formed by attaching a front panel 33 and a back panel 36 to a door frame 35, disposing a vacuum heat insulator 24 for a refrigerating room right door inside, and filling the vacuum heat insulator with foamed urethane.

The structure of the door frame 35 holding the front surface plate 33 will be described.

Fig. 5 is a vertical cross-sectional view in the depth direction of the front panel 33a and the lower cover 39d of the refrigerating room right door 14 in the case where the front panel 33 is formed of a steel plate material.

Fig. 6 is a vertical cross-sectional view in the depth direction of front panel 33b and lower cover 39d of refrigerating room right door 14 in the case where front panel 33 is formed of glass.

In fig. 5 and 6, the structure of the lower cover 39d is the same.

The structure of the lower cover 39a will be described with reference to fig. 5.

Fig. 5 is a vertical cross-sectional view in the depth direction of front surface plate 33a and lower cover 39d, and is a cross-sectional view at a-a' in fig. 4. The lower cover 39d has a plate-like lower cover main body 40d forming a lower surface of the door frame 35 when constituting a part of the door frame 35. The lower cover 39d has a front rib 41d formed continuously from the lower cover body 40d and extending upward on the upper surface of the lower cover body 40d. The lower cover 39d has a handle portion 49 protruding upward between the lower cover main body 40d and the front rib 41d.

The structure of the vertical cross section in the depth direction of the upper cover 39c shown in fig. 3 is vertically symmetrical to the structure of the lower cover 39d shown in fig. 5. However, the upper cover 39c is not formed with a structure corresponding to the handle portion 49 of fig. 5.

The front rib 41d is provided rearward of the front end 53 of the lower cover body 40d. The front rib 41d includes, on the inner side (upper side) of the frame: a holding portion 71d connected to the lower cover body 40d and extending forward in parallel to and apart from the lower cover; and an adhesive portion 70d connected to the holding portion 71d and extending upward. The holding portion 36 and the adhesive portion 37 form a front rib 38. The lower cover body 40d is formed forward of the front rib 41d as a support portion 54 for supporting the front panel 33 when the front panel 33 is formed of glass. The front rib 41d is provided at a position rearward of the front end 53 of the lower cover main body 40d by a distance that allows the support portion 54 forward of the front rib 41d to support the front panel 33a when the front panel 33 is made of glass.

The front surface of the front rib 41d is an adhesive surface 60 for adhering and supporting the front panel 33b when the front panel 33 is formed of glass.

The upper surface of the support portion 54 is a support surface 55d for supporting the front surface plate 33b when the front surface plate 33 is formed of glass.

Fig. 5 shows a structure in which the front surface plate 33a is attached to the lower cover 39d when the front surface plate 33 is formed using a steel plate material. In fig. 5, the front plate 33a has an end 38d bent toward the back surface side at the lower side. The dimension of the inner width of the recess 57d is set to be substantially the same as the thickness dimension of the front surface portion 38d.

By press-fitting the end portion 38d into the recess 57d, the front surface plate 33a is attached to the lower cover 39d. At this time, the lower surface of the end portion 38d is brought into contact with the support surface 55d, and the front panel 33a is moved rearward to insert the end portion 38d into the recess 57d. The front surface plate 33a is fixed to the lower cover 39d by sandwiching the end 38d between the lower cover main body 40d and the front rib 41d. The depth of the recess 57d in the depth direction is formed so that the tip of the end 38d is in contact with and fixed to the bottom surface of the recess 57d when the end 38d is inserted.

Fig. 6 shows a structure in which the front panel 33b is attached to the lower cover 39d in the case where the front panel 33 is formed of glass. In the refrigerating room right door 14 of fig. 6, the lower side surface of the front panel 33b is supported in contact with the support surface 55d, and the rear surface of the front panel 33b and the adhesive surface 60d are joined via the double-sided tape 34 or the hot melt adhesive.

The adhesive surface 60d and the support surface 55d are at right angles to each other. With this configuration, when the front panel 33b is attached to the lower cover 39d, the adhesion between the lower side surface of the front panel 33b and the support surface 55d and the adhesion between the rear surface of the front panel 33b and the adhesive surface 60d can be improved.

The front surface board 33b is bonded to the lower cover 39d by a double-sided adhesive tape 34 or a hot melt adhesive. The double-sided adhesive tape 34 and the hot melt adhesive are omitted in fig. 6. The double-sided tape 34 and the hot melt adhesive have sufficient adhesive strength against a force from the outside of the refrigerator when the front panel 33b is attached and fixed to the adhesive surface 60d. In the explanation of fig. 6, the lower side surface of the front plate 33b is in direct contact with the support surface 55d, but the present invention is not limited to this, and a cushion material or a sealing material may be disposed between the lower side surface of the front plate 33b and the support surface 55d.

As shown in fig. 5, when the front panel 33a formed of a steel plate material is attached to the lower cover 39d, the front panel 33a is separated from the adhesion surface 60d of the front rib 41d. The space formed by the separation of the two is filled with foamed polyurethane. The space between the front rib 41d and the grip portion 49 is also filled with foamed polyurethane.

When refrigerating room right door 14 is formed, rear plate 36 is attached to door frame 35, and foamed polyurethane is injected into door frame 35 having rear plate 36 facing downward and opening upward. Then, end 38d of front surface plate 33a is press-fitted into recess 57d of lower cover 39d from above door frame 35, and front surface plate 33a is attached to door frame 35. At this time, the urethane foam at the center of the door frame 35 is pressed by the front panel 33a, and therefore the urethane foam is pushed into the space between the front panel 33a and the front rib 41d and the space between the front rib 41d and the handle portion 49. When the foamed polyurethane is pushed into the space between the front surface plate 33a and the front rib 41d and the space between the front rib 41d and the grip portion 49, the end portion 38d of the front surface plate 33a is pressed toward the support portion 54 by the foamed polyurethane. When the urethane foam is pushed into the space between the front rib 41d and the grip portion 49, the front rib 41d is pressed by the urethane foam in a direction to narrow the groove width of the concave portion 57d. Therefore, compared to the case where the foamed polyurethane is not injected, the ability of the lower cover 39d to fix the front panel 33a is improved, and the front panel 33a can be prevented from falling off the door frame 35 during foaming.

Fig. 7 is a horizontal cross-sectional view of the front plate 33 and the right cover 39b in the case where the front plate 33 is formed of a steel plate material.

Fig. 8 is a horizontal cross-sectional view of the front panel 33 and the right cover 39b when the front panel 33 is formed of glass.

In fig. 7 and 8, the structure of the right cover 39b is the same.

Fig. 7 is a vertical sectional view in the depth direction of the front surface plate 33 and the lower cover 39d, and is a sectional view at B-B' in fig. 3. As shown in fig. 7, the right cover 39b has: a right cover main body 40b forming a right side surface of the door frame 35, a corner portion 56b formed continuously from the right cover main body 40b and provided in front of the right cover main body 40b, and a front side rib 41b extending in a left direction from a left side surface of the corner portion 56b. The front surface of the corner portion 56b forms the front surface of the right cover 39b, and the right side surface of the corner portion 56b coincides with the right side surface of the right cover main body 40 b. The corner portion 56b has a larger thickness in the left-right direction than the right cover main body 40b, and the corner portion 56b has a shape in which the right end front is obliquely chamfered.

As in fig. 5, the front rib 41b includes, on the inner side (toward the left) of the frame: a holding portion 71b connected to the corner portion 56b and extending forward in parallel to and apart from the corner portion 56 b; and an adhesive portion 70b connected to the holding portion 71b and extending inward (toward the left).

The right cover 39b has a recess 57b between the corner 56b and the front rib 41b. The recess 57b is a groove for fixing the front surface plate 33a made of a steel plate material to the right cover 39b, and has a shape recessed rearward. The front rib 41b has an adhesive surface 60b on the front surface. The adhesive surface 60b is located rearward of the front surface of the corner 56b. The support portion 58b located forward of the front rib 41b of the corner portion 56b functions as a protection portion for protecting the front panel 33 from an external impact. The upper surface of the supporting portion 58b is a supporting surface 55b for supporting the front surface plate 33b in the case where the front surface plate 33 is formed using glass.

The adhesive surface 60b and the support surface 55b are positioned at right angles to each other. With this configuration, when the front panel 33b is attached to the right cover 39d, the adhesion between the lower side surface of the front panel 33b and the support surface 55b and the adhesion between the rear surface of the front panel 33b and the adhesive surface 60b can be improved.

As shown in fig. 8, the distance between the front surface of the corner portion 56b and the adhesive surface 60b in the depth direction is as follows: when the front panel 33 formed of glass is joined and attached to the adhesive surface 60b of the right cover 39b, the protecting section covers the right side surface of the front panel 33, and can protect the front panel 33 from a lateral impact on the front panel 33.

In fig. 7, the front surface plate 33 has an end 38b bent toward the back surface side on its right side. By press-fitting the end portion 38b into the recess 57b, the front surface plate 33 is attached to the right cover 39b. The front surface plate 33 is fixed to the right cover 39b by sandwiching the end 38b between the corner 56a and the front rib 41b. The depth of the recess 57b in the depth direction is formed so that the tip of the end 38b contacts and is fixed to the bottom surface of the recess 57b when the end 38b is inserted.

When the front surface of the corner portion 56 is located rearward of the front surface of the front panel 33, the cleaning performance is good and the appearance is improved.

When the front plate 33 is formed of glass, the front surface of the corner portion 56a may be located forward of the front surface of the front plate 33. In this case, the corner 56a can protect the front panel 33a from an impact on the front panel 33 from the lateral direction.

The left cover 39c is symmetrical to the right cover 39b with respect to the left and right center planes of the door frame 35 when constituting a part of the door frame 35, and the left cover 39c has a corner 56b. Note that the present embodiment is not limited to this, and if the front panel 33 can be protected from impact on the front panel 33 from the lateral direction by the corner 56b, the front surface of the corner 56a of the right cover 39b and the front surface of the corner 56b of the left cover may be provided at different positions in the front-rear direction.

In the present embodiment, the recesses 57a, the recesses 57b, the recesses 57c, and the recesses 57d are provided in all of the left cover 39a, the right cover 39b, the upper cover 39c, and the lower cover 39d, but the number of recesses provided in the door frame 35 and sandwiching the front panel 33 is not limited to this. The recessed portion may be formed by holding the front panel 33a formed of a steel plate material to the door frame 35 and fixing the front panel 33 to the door frame 35 so as not to cause positional deviation of the front panel 33 against the extrusion of the foamed urethane or an external force when the refrigerator 1 is used. The recess may be provided in at least one of the left cover 39a, the right cover 39b, the upper cover 39c, and the lower cover 39d as long as such a function is not impaired.

In the present embodiment, all of the

recesses

57a, 57b, 57c, and 57d are provided in a direction recessed rearward, but the present invention is not limited thereto.

As shown in fig. 9, in the right cover 39b, a recess 57b may be formed in the corner portion 56b in a direction recessed rightward from the adhesion surface 60b. In the left cover 39, the recessed portion 57a may be formed in the corner portion 56a in a direction recessed leftward. As shown in fig. 5, a recess 57c and a recess 57d recessed rearward are formed in the upper cover 39c and the lower cover 39d.

In this case, the bent end portions 38c and 38d on the back side of the front plate 33a are inserted into the recessed portions 57c and 57d of the upper cover 39c and the lower cover 39d in the depth direction, respectively, to fix the front plate 33a to the upper cover 39c and the lower cover 39d. Then, the recessed portions 57a and 57b of the left and

right covers

39a and 39b are inserted into the left and right end portions of the front surface plate 33a from the left and right, respectively, to form the door frame 35. The dimensions of the inner widths of the concave portions 57a and 57b are set to be substantially the same as the thickness dimension of the front surface plate 33a. Even if the door frame 35 has such a structure, both the front panel 33a formed of a steel plate material and the front panel 33b formed of glass can be fixed to the same door frame 35.

< method for fixing appearance panel >

Next, a method of fixing the front panel 33 to the door frame 35 will be described.

The case where the front surface plate 33 is formed using a steel plate material will be described.

The front surface plate 33a is pressed to the front surface of the doorframe 35 formed by assembling the left cover 39a, the right cover 39b, the upper cover 39c, and the lower cover 39d. The left cap 39a and the right cap 39b are respectively provided with a recess 57a and a recess 57b having the structure shown in fig. 7. The upper cover 39c and the lower cover 39d are formed with a recess 57c and a recess 57d, respectively, having the structure shown in fig. 5.

An end portion 38d of the front plate 33a bent toward the back surface side is inserted into the recess 57d of the lower cover 39d so as to contact the bottom surface of the recess 57d. End portions 38a, 38b, and 38c of front surface plate 33a bent toward the back surface side are also inserted into recess 57b, recess 57c, and recess 57d, respectively. Thus, the front surface plate 33a is attached to the door frame 35.

Next, a case where the front surface plate 33 is formed using glass will be described.

The front panel 33b is bonded to the bonding surface 60a, the bonding surface 60b, the bonding surface 60c, and the bonding surface 60d of the door frame 35 formed by assembling the left cover 39a, the right cover 39b, the upper cover 39c, and the lower cover 39d by bonding the double-sided tape 30 thereto or applying a hot melt adhesive (not shown). At this time, the lower side surface of the front surface plate 33b is supported by the support surface 55d of the lower cover 39d. Thus, the front plate 33b is fixed to the adhesive surface 60b. At this time, a part of the hot melt adhesive extruded by the pressing at the time of bonding of the front surface plate 33b flows into the concave portion 57d provided outside the bonding surface 60b. With this configuration, the hot melt adhesive is prevented from entering the gap between the glass surface and the support portion and leaking from the front surface of the refrigerator door, and therefore the quality of the appearance of the refrigerator door is improved.

In the present embodiment, the material of the front plate 33 includes a steel plate and glass, but the material of the front plate 33 is not limited to this, and may be a metal plate or resin, for example. If the shape of the front panel 33 with respect to the door frame 35 can be formed in the same manner as in fig. 5 and 6, the material of the front panel 33 can be changed to another material such as a metal plate or resin.

In a door frame of a conventional refrigerator door, when a front panel formed of glass is attached, a protruding portion provided so as to protrude forward of the door frame from a support portion of the front panel covers a part of the door frame, thereby preventing the front panel from coming off the door frame. In the refrigerating room right door 14 of the present embodiment, the front panel 33b is fixed to the door frame 35 by fixing the adhesive surface 60d of the lower cover 39d and the front panel 33b with the double-sided tape 34 or hot melt adhesive and supporting the front panel 33b with the supporting surface 55d. With this configuration, since the protruding portion provided on the front surface of front panel 33b is not necessary, the area of the front surface of front panel 33b can be increased, and the appearance of refrigerating room right door 14 can be improved. In addition, in the conventional refrigerator door, when foreign matters such as dust are accumulated on the boundary portion between the front panel and the protruding portion, the foreign matters are difficult to remove, and the cleaning performance is not good. In the refrigerating room right door 14 of the present embodiment, since no protruding portion is provided on the front surface of the front panel 33b in the door frame 35, foreign substances such as dust can be easily removed, and the cleanability of the refrigerator door can be improved. The same applies to the refrigerating chamber left door 13.

< embodiment 2 >

Embodiment 2 of the present invention will be described. Note that the front view and the sectional view of the refrigerator 200 in embodiment 2, and the structures of the refrigerating chamber left door 201 and the refrigerating chamber right door 202 are common to fig. 1, fig. 2, and fig. 3 of embodiment 1.

A structure of a door frame 203 according to embodiment 2 will be described with reference to fig. 10 and 11. In embodiment 2, the front rib provided in the lower cover main body 205 is formed of two members.

Fig. 10 is a vertical sectional view of the lower cover 204 in the depth direction in embodiment 2. The lower cover 204 has a lower cover main body 205, as in embodiment 1. The lower cover 204 has a stepped portion 206 formed continuously from the lower cover main body 205 and extending upward on the upper surface of the lower cover main body 205.

In the present embodiment, as shown in fig. 10, the step portion 206 has an L-shaped step 207 formed from the front surface of the step portion 206 to the upper surface of the step portion 206 and recessed rearward. The fixing member 208 is bonded to the stepped portion so as to contact both surfaces of the step 207. The fixing member 208 has an L-shape formed by a side 209 extending forward from the stepped portion 206 when attached to the stepped portion 206 and a side 210 extending upward. The stepped portion 206 and the fixing member 208 form a front rib 211. The front surface of the fixing member 208 on the side extending upward serves as an adhesive surface 212. Further, a portion forward of the adhesion surface 212 of the lower cover main body 205 serves as a support portion 213. The step portion 206 and the fixing member 208 are bonded to each other by a double-sided tape or a screw. Even with such a structure, the same effects as those of embodiment 1 can be obtained. A recess 214 is formed between the fixing member 208 and the lower cover main body 205.

In embodiment 1, the lower cover 39d has a lower cover main body 40d, and a recess 57d is formed between the lower cover main body 40d and the front rib 41d formed continuously from the lower cover main body 40d. In order to form the lower cap having such a structure, an undercut process for forming the recess 57d is required.

In the present embodiment, the stepped portion 206 and the fixing member 208 form a front rib 211, and a concave portion 214 is formed between the lower cover main body 205 and the front rib 211. With such a configuration, an undercut process is not required, and the cost at the time of molding can be reduced to be lower than that of the lower cover of embodiment 1.

The structure in which the front rib is formed by the two members, the stepped portion 206 and the fixing member 208, is not limited to fig. 10, and for example, as shown in fig. 11, the fixing member 208 may have a rectangular cross section, and the entire rear surface of the fixing member 208 may be bonded to the stepped portion 206 to form the front rib 211. Even with such a configuration, an undercut process for forming the recess 214 is not required at the time of molding the lower cover 204, and the cost at the time of molding can be kept low as compared with the lower cover of embodiment 1.

< embodiment 3 >

Embodiment 3 of the present invention will be described. Note that, in the front view and the cross-sectional view of the refrigerator 300 according to embodiment 3, the structures of the refrigerating chamber left door 301 and the refrigerating chamber right door 302 are common to fig. 1, 2, and 3 of embodiment 1. In embodiment 3, an opening 305 is formed in a front rib 304 provided in a lower cover main body 303 provided in a refrigerating compartment right door 302.

In the present embodiment, as shown in fig. 12, the front rib 304 provided in the lower cover main body 303 has an opening 305 penetrating to the back surface at the adhesive portion 306. The other structure is the same as fig. 5 and 6.

With such a configuration, when rear panel 36 is attached to door frame 35, urethane foam is injected into door frame 35, and then front panel 33a is attached to door frame 35, urethane foam flows into the space between front panel 33a and front rib 304 through opening 305, and therefore urethane foam fills the space between front panel 33 and front rib 304 more easily than in the case where opening 305 is not provided. Therefore, compared to the case where the opening 305 is not provided on the front surface of the front rib 304, a gap due to the injection and leakage of the urethane foam is less likely to be formed in the space between the front panel 33 and the front rib 304, and when the front panel 33 is formed using a steel plate material, the effect of pressing the end portion of the front panel 33a toward the support portion side by the urethane foam when the front panel 33a is attached to the door frame 35 is higher than that when the opening 305 is not provided.

When the front panel 33 is formed of glass, the front panel 33b is attached to the adhesive surface 306 of the lower cover via a hot melt adhesive. At this time, a part of the hot melt adhesive flows into the opening 305 formed in the adhesive surface 306. Therefore, as compared with the case where the opening 305 is not provided in the adhesive surface 306, the hot melt can be prevented from flowing out from between the front surface plate 33b and the support portion and leaking to the front surface of the refrigerator door, and therefore, the quality of the door with respect to the appearance at the time of manufacturing the refrigerator door can be improved.

The embodiments are also included in the scope of the technical ideas described in the embodiments, if they are appropriately combined, modified, or omitted.

Description of the reference numerals

A refrigerator; a box body; a door frame; a left cap; a right cap; 39c.. An upper cover; a lower cover; a front rib; a lower cap body; a refrigerator right door; a back panel; a front surface plate; a front surface plate; a front surface plate; a bonding surface; a bearing surface; a recess.

Claims

1. A refrigerator has: a refrigerator main body having a storage chamber therein; and a refrigerator door opening and closing the storage chamber of the refrigerator main body,

the refrigerator is characterized in that,

the refrigerator door has a door frame, a back panel and a front panel,

the door frame is provided with an upper cover, a lower cover, a right cover and a left cover,

the lower cover has: a plate-shaped cover main body constituting a lower surface of the refrigerator door, a front rib provided on an upper surface of the cover main body and extending upward, and a recess for sandwiching the front panel between the cover main body and the front rib,

the front rib has an adhesion surface on a front surface for adhering the front panel,

the front rib is provided at a position rearward of a front end of the cover main body by a distance that allows the cover main body to support a glass plate,

the cover main body has a support surface on the upper surface in front of the front rib,

in the case where the front surface plate is formed of a steel plate material, the front surface plate has an end portion bent toward the back surface side at a lower portion, the end portion being inserted into the recess,

when the front panel is formed of glass, the lower side surface of the front panel is supported by the support surface, and the back surface of the front panel is joined to the adhesive surface.

2. The refrigerator according to claim 1,

the front rib is formed of two parts.

3. The refrigerator according to claim 1,

the front rib has an opening penetrating to a back surface of the front rib on the bonding surface.