EP2110629A2 - Kühlanlage - Google Patents

Kühlanlage Download PDF

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Publication number
EP2110629A2
EP2110629A2 EP20090167541 EP09167541A EP2110629A2 EP 2110629 A2 EP2110629 A2 EP 2110629A2 EP 20090167541 EP20090167541 EP 20090167541 EP 09167541 A EP09167541 A EP 09167541A EP 2110629 A2 EP2110629 A2 EP 2110629A2
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
shelf plate
door
refrigerator
storage
compartment
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Ceased
Application number
EP20090167541
Other languages
English (en)
French (fr)
Other versions
EP2110629A3 (de
Inventor
Yoshiki Oohashi
Shuzo Kamimura
Takeshi Shimizu
Kiyotaka Tabira
Naoki Yamanaka
Tatsuya Kawasaki
Taro Yamaguchi
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Panasonic Corp
Original Assignee
Panasonic Corp
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Priority claimed from JP2007032789A external-priority patent/JP2008051486A/ja
Priority claimed from JP2007032779A external-priority patent/JP2008051483A/ja
Priority claimed from JP2007032771A external-priority patent/JP2008051481A/ja
Priority claimed from JP2007032783A external-priority patent/JP4368895B2/ja
Priority claimed from JP2007032770A external-priority patent/JP2008051480A/ja
Priority claimed from JP2007032792A external-priority patent/JP2008051487A/ja
Priority claimed from JP2007032788A external-priority patent/JP2008051485A/ja
Priority claimed from JP2007032778A external-priority patent/JP5344793B2/ja
Priority claimed from JP2007236172A external-priority patent/JP2009068748A/ja
Application filed by Panasonic Corp filed Critical Panasonic Corp
Publication of EP2110629A2 publication Critical patent/EP2110629A2/de
Publication of EP2110629A3 publication Critical patent/EP2110629A3/de
Ceased legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F25—REFRIGERATION OR COOLING; COMBINED HEATING AND REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS; HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS; MANUFACTURE OR STORAGE OF ICE; LIQUEFACTION SOLIDIFICATION OF GASES
    • F25D—REFRIGERATORS; COLD ROOMS; ICE-BOXES; COOLING OR FREEZING APPARATUS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • F25D25/00—Charging, supporting, and discharging the articles to be cooled
    • F25D25/02—Charging, supporting, and discharging the articles to be cooled by shelves
    • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F25—REFRIGERATION OR COOLING; COMBINED HEATING AND REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS; HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS; MANUFACTURE OR STORAGE OF ICE; LIQUEFACTION SOLIDIFICATION OF GASES
    • F25D—REFRIGERATORS; COLD ROOMS; ICE-BOXES; COOLING OR FREEZING APPARATUS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • F25D27/00—Lighting arrangements
    • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F25—REFRIGERATION OR COOLING; COMBINED HEATING AND REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS; HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS; MANUFACTURE OR STORAGE OF ICE; LIQUEFACTION SOLIDIFICATION OF GASES
    • F25D—REFRIGERATORS; COLD ROOMS; ICE-BOXES; COOLING OR FREEZING APPARATUS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • F25D23/00—General constructional features
    • F25D23/02—Doors; Covers
    • F25D23/04—Doors; Covers with special compartments, e.g. butter conditioners
    • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F25—REFRIGERATION OR COOLING; COMBINED HEATING AND REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS; HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS; MANUFACTURE OR STORAGE OF ICE; LIQUEFACTION SOLIDIFICATION OF GASES
    • F25D—REFRIGERATORS; COLD ROOMS; ICE-BOXES; COOLING OR FREEZING APPARATUS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • F25D2323/00—General constructional features not provided for in other groups of this subclass
    • F25D2323/02—Details of doors or covers not otherwise covered
    • F25D2323/021—French doors
    • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F25—REFRIGERATION OR COOLING; COMBINED HEATING AND REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS; HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS; MANUFACTURE OR STORAGE OF ICE; LIQUEFACTION SOLIDIFICATION OF GASES
    • F25D—REFRIGERATORS; COLD ROOMS; ICE-BOXES; COOLING OR FREEZING APPARATUS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • F25D2325/00—Charging, supporting or discharging the articles to be cooled, not provided for in other groups of this subclass
    • F25D2325/021—Shelves with several possible configurations
    • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F25—REFRIGERATION OR COOLING; COMBINED HEATING AND REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS; HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS; MANUFACTURE OR STORAGE OF ICE; LIQUEFACTION SOLIDIFICATION OF GASES
    • F25D—REFRIGERATORS; COLD ROOMS; ICE-BOXES; COOLING OR FREEZING APPARATUS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • F25D2500/00—Problems to be solved
    • F25D2500/02—Geometry problems

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to refrigerators including shelf plates within a storage compartment.
  • refrigerators are constructed to allow storage items to be placed in door storage shelves and in-compartment storage shelves, and techniques for changing the size distribution of shelves depending on the purpose of storage are proposed (for example, see Patent Reference 1).
  • FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 are diagrams showing a conventional refrigerator 1 described in Patent Reference 1.
  • FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the refrigerator 1 with doors opened
  • FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a horizontal cross-section of the refrigerator 1.
  • the refrigerator 1 is formed from a heat-insulating main body, the inside of which serves as storage space.
  • the refrigerator 1 includes, at the top-most portion, a refrigerator compartment 2 which is the largest compartment, and a vegetable compartment 3 below the refrigerator compartment 2.
  • An ice-making compartment 4, in which an automatic ice-making device is disposed, and a temperature-switchable compartment 5 are provided side-by-side below the vegetable compartment 3, and a freezer compartment 6 is arranged independently at the bottom-most portion. Furthermore, a dedicated door is provided for the openings of the respective storage compartments in a manner which allows opening and closing.
  • plural shelf plates 14 are disposed inside the refrigerator compartment 2, and storage spaces spanning plural levels are formed.
  • a lighting device 16 is included in the back surface included in the refrigerator compartment 2.
  • the lighting device 16 is a device for illuminating the inside of the refrigerator compartment 2, and includes a lamp 16a and a lighting cover 16b, as shown in FIG. 2 .
  • a left door 12 and a right door 13 are mounted on the opening of the refrigerator compartment 2 in a manner which allows swinging, by having the top and bottom portions of their respective outer ends pivotally supported by hinges 11.
  • the refrigerator 1 includes what are called French doors.
  • French doors refer to doors including a left door and a right door, with the left door having swing axis on the left side and the right door having swing axis on the right side, and which open to the left and right from the boundary of the left door and the right door.
  • each door includes plural protrusions 19a, and the door pockets 20 are configured to engage with the protrusions 19a in a manner which allows attachment and removal.
  • the door pockets 21 provided at the bottom-most tier is configured of a forward storage part 22 and a rear storage part, and the shelf plates 14 are disposed in the inner-side of the storage compartment, facing the door pockets 21.
  • the storage items placed on the shelf plates 14 are illuminated by the lighting device 16.
  • the forward storage part 23 can easily be detached from the rear storage part 22 and, when the doors can only be opened up to 90 degrees, it is possible to widen the opening of the refrigerator compartment 2 and make taking storage items in and out easy, by detaching the forward storage part 23.
  • Patent Reference 1 Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2005-282897
  • the door pockets are in positions that allow the user to take items in and out easily and, from the perspective of convenience, primarily store plastic bottles and glass bottles. Furthermore, there is a demand for the enlargement of door pockets with the enlargement of plastic bottles in recent years. For this reason, there is a tendency for door pockets to have increased horizontal depth.
  • an inoperative space 25 between the two door pockets 21 and between the shelf plates 14 and both door pockets 21, or between the two door pockets 21 and the drawer 15 becomes larger.
  • the door pockets of the respective doors need to be made in a form and size within the swing trajectories, as previously described. Therefore, the door pockets assume an increasingly triangular shape as their horizontal depth increases.
  • a single swing door refers to a door which swings by being supported by the heat-insulating body through hinges provided on the right side or left side of the heat-insulating main body making up the main body of the refrigerator, with a straight line parallel to a height direction of the heat-insulating body as a swing axis.
  • the present invention is conceived to solve the aforementioned conventional problems and has as an object to provide a refrigerator having high storage efficiency and convenience.
  • the refrigerator in an aspect of the present invention is a refrigerator which includes a storage compartment which has an opening in front and in which items are stored; and a shelf plate disposed in a bridging manner to span between a left side-surface and a right side-surface of the storage compartment and having different left and right horizontal depths.
  • the shelf plate has different horizontal depths on the left and right side
  • the shelf plate can be used separately as two areas, that is, the area with the longer horizontal depth and the area with the shorter horizontal depth, for example.
  • efficient sectionalized storage such as placing relatively large food items, and the like, on the horizontally deeper side, becomes possible and it becomes easier for the user to take storage items in and out of the storage compartment.
  • the refrigerator may further include a door which covers the opening of the storage compartment in a manner which allows opening and closing; and a projecting part which is provided on an inner wall of the door and projecting inward, and which has a horizontal depth that offsets the horizontal depth of the shelf plate when the door is closed.
  • the front edge of the shelf plate and the projecting part are disposed to follow each other's shapes. Therefore, it is possible to fill-up the conventionally inoperative space within the storage compartment using the portion of either the left side or the right side of the shelf plate that has a longer horizontal depth.
  • the space created between the door inner-surface and the shelf plate, that is, the inoperative space can be made as small as possible and the storage space within the storage compartment can be increased.
  • the storage area within the storage compartment can be roughly divided into the three areas of the storage area of the projecting part realized as a door pocket for example, and the above-described two areas on the shelf plate, and the user can select a storage area according to the size, purpose, and so on, of the storage items. In other words, efficient sectionalized storage is realized.
  • a duct and the like for injecting cool air can be configured simply, and thus achieving superior aesthetics and design characteristics.
  • the shelf plate may include a brim material on at least a portion of the front edge, the portion including the gradation part.
  • the gradation part can be reinforced with the brim material, for example.
  • the brim material can be used as a decorative plate of the shelf plate. With this, it is possible to beautify the front edge portion of the shelf plate which is the most eye-catching spot, and thus the shelf plate can have superior design characteristics.
  • the shelf plate may further include the brim material on a left edge and a right edge, and the shelf plate may be supported by the left side-surface and the right side-surface of the storage compartment via the brim material on the left edge and the brim material on the right edge.
  • the shelf plate can be set onto the storage compartment without providing a latching part, and the like, on the main body of the shelf plate.
  • the shelf plate may include the brim material on an entire perimeter including the front edge, and the shelf plate may be supported by the left side-surface, the right side-surface, and a back surface of the storage compartment via the brim material.
  • shelf plate This allows, for example, the shelf plate to be protected or reinforced from all around, and for the shelf plate to be steadily supported by the storage compartment.
  • shelf plate may be made of a material having transparency.
  • the shelf plate by making the shelf plate into a relatively thin tabular shape, it is possible to avoid imparting a sense of crampedness to the most visible frontal portion of the shelf plate, and by applying transparency, it is possible to eliminate the sense of crampedness in the entire storage compartment and the sense of spaciousness is not impaired. Furthermore, when a light is provided in the storage compartment, it allows the light to spread thought the storage compartment.
  • shelf plate may be made of glass.
  • the brim material may be fastened onto the shelf plate by insert molding.
  • fixing strength between the shelf plate and the brim material can be improved. Specifically, when the shelf plate is set onto the refrigerator compartment via the brim material, the shelf plate is more steadily supported by the refrigerator compartment.
  • the shelf plate can be set onto the storage compartment without providing a latching part, and the like, on the main body of the shelf plate that is made of glass.
  • the shelf plate may be made of resin, and the brim material provided on the front edge of the shelf plate may be made of metal.
  • the shelf plate can be made from resin which allows easy formation, and the brim material can provide the shelf plate with sufficient strength for supporting storage items such as food items, and the like.
  • the storage compartment may include a storage case in a base surface, in a position that is below the projecting part and below a space from the gradation part of the shelf plate toward a side of the shelf plate which has a shorter horizontal depth.
  • small items such as small soy sauce containers, that are not suited for storage in the shelf plate or the door pocket can be efficiently stored.
  • storage efficiency of the entire refrigerator can be improved and more efficient sectionalized storage becomes possible.
  • the refrigerator may further include an ice-making device which makes ice
  • the storage case may be a feed-water container which supplies water to the ice-making device, and is detachably attached to the storage compartment.
  • the aforementioned storage case may be used as a supply container, and by allowing flexibility in detachment and attachment, maintenance such as cleaning becomes easy.
  • the shelf plate may be divided into a forward shelf plate and a rear shelf plate at an intermediate portion in a horizontal depth direction.
  • the refrigerator may further include supports which are provided on the left side-surface and the right side-surface of the storage compartment and project inward, and which support the forward shelf plate in a bridging manner below the rear shelf plate.
  • the refrigerator further includes a placement shelf plate which is disposed in a bridging manner to span between the left side-surface and the right side-surface of the storage compartment, and which has a shape that is identical to a shape of the shelf plate in an undivided state.
  • refrigerator may further include: a pair of supports each provided on either side-surface of the storage compartment and which supports, from beneath, a corresponding one of left and right edges of the shelf plate, the pair of supports projecting inward and extending in a horizontal depth direction like rails; and a pair of latching pieces each of which is protrudingly provided in an intermediate section of the left and right edges of the shelf plate, and which engages with a bottom of a corresponding one of the pair of supports when the shelf plate is placed on the pair of supports, wherein each of the pair of supports may include a cutout part which allows the engagement with a corresponding one of the pair of latching pieces to be released at an intermediate section in the horizontal depth direction and the latching piece to pass upward.
  • a pair of supports each provided on either side-surface of the storage compartment and which supports, from beneath, a corresponding one of left and right edges of the shelf plate, the pair of supports projecting inward and extending in a horizontal depth direction like rails
  • a pair of latching pieces each of which is
  • the engagement between the shelf plate and the supports can be released without fully pulling out the shelf plate, and thus the shelf plate can be removed without having to significantly pull the shelf plate out the front of the refrigerator.
  • the pull-out distance when pulling the shelf plate out of the refrigerator in order to change the attachment position of the shelf plate becomes long, and it becomes difficult to change the attachment position of the shelf plate when there is no space at the front of the refrigerator equivalent to the depth of the refrigerator.
  • a plurality of the pair of supports may be provided along a vertical direction in the storage compartment, and cutout parts of a higher one of adjacent ones of the pairs of supports may be disposed at positions which allow a back edge of the shelf plate placed on a lower one of the adjacent ones of the pairs of supports to pass through when tilting the shelf plate so as to lift the back edge while concurrently letting the pair of latching pieces of the shelf plate pass through cutout parts of the lower one of the adjacent ones of the pairs of supports.
  • the pair of supports may be integrally formed with an inner casing making up the storage compartment.
  • the door may be configured of French doors.
  • the French doors may include a left door and a right door
  • the curve of the gradation part may have an arc corresponding to an arc of a swing trajectory of the one of the left door and the right door having a shorter distance between a back surface of the storage compartment and a door inner-surface which is a storage compartment-side surface including the projecting part of the door.
  • the inoperative space created between the projecting parts of both doors and the shelf plate which is typical in French doors, can be made as small as possible, and the storage space within the storage compartment can be increased.
  • the French doors may include a left door and a right door
  • the left door and the right door may each include a storage pocket as the projecting part
  • a horizontal depth of the storage pocket included in the left door and a horizontal depth of the storage pocket included in the right door may be different
  • the front edge on a side of the shelf plate having a shorter horizontal depth may face the storage pocket having a longer horizontal depth
  • the front edge on a side of the shelf plate having a longer horizontal depth may face the storage pocket having a shorter horizontal depth.
  • the horizontally deeper side of the shelf plate faces the side of the door having a longer distance from the door inner-surface to the back surface, that is, the side at which an inoperative space tends to be created.
  • the space created between the door inner-surface and the shelf plate, that is, the inoperative space can be made as small as possible and the storage space within the storage compartment can be increased.
  • the user can separately use the two storage areas of varied size, namely, the horizontally deeper storage pocket and the horizontally shallower storage pocket in addition to the above-described two areas on the shelf plate, and thus convenience is extremely high.
  • a width of the left door and a width of the right door may be different, and the horizontal depth of the storage pocket of one of the left door and the right door having a greater width may be longer than the horizontal depth of the storage pocket of the other.
  • opening and closing of both doors can be done separately depending on the purpose of the user.
  • the instances in which the opening of the storage compartment is fully opened are reduced, thus leading to energy conservation.
  • the door may be a single swing door.
  • a distance between (i) a door inner-surface which is a storage compartment-side surface including the projecting part of the door and (ii) a back surface of the storage compartment may be different on a left side and a right side, due to the provision of the projecting part on the inner wall of the door, and the front edge on a side of the shelf plate having a shorter horizontal depth may face the door inner-surface on a side having a longer distance from the door inner-surface to the back surface, and the front edge on a side of the shelf plate having a longer horizontal depth may face the door inner-surface on a side having a shorter distance from the door inner-surface to the back surface.
  • the horizontally deeper side of the shelf plate faces the side of the door having a longer distance from the door inner-surface to the back surface, that is, the side at which an inoperative space tends to be created.
  • the space created between the door inner-surface and the shelf plate, that is, the inoperative space can be made as small as possible and the storage space within the storage compartment can be increased.
  • the projecting part may be a storage pocket
  • a width of the door pocket may be identical to a width of the shelf plate
  • a distance between the door inner-surface and the back surface may be different on the left side and the right side since a horizontal depth of the storage pocket is different on the left side and the right side.
  • the user can separately use the two storage areas, big and small, present side-by-side in the door pocket in addition to the above-described two areas on the shelf plate, and thus convenience is extremely high.
  • a main body of the refrigerator may be configured with a heat-insulating main body
  • the door may be a single swing door which swings by being supported by the heat-insulating main body with hinges provided on a left end portion or a right end portion of the heat-insulating main body, and which has, as a swing axis, a straight line parallel to a height direction of the heat-insulating main body, and between a left side and a right side of the door inner-surface, the distance from the door inner-surface to the back surface on a side which is nearer the swing axis may be shorter than the distance on a side which is farther.
  • the horizontal depth on the side of the door pocket which is close to the swing axis may be made relatively long and the horizontal depth on the side which is far from the swing axis may be made relatively short.
  • the horizontal depth of the door pocket When enlarging one of the storage pockets generally referred to as a door pocket in a refrigerator having a single swing door, the horizontal depth becomes long. However, the horizontal depth of the door pocket can only be increased up to a certain extent in consideration of the opening and closing of the door.
  • the door pocket does not obstruct the opening and closing of the door.
  • the storage volume of the entire door pocket can be boosted up to a predetermined amount.
  • the projecting part may be a storage pocket
  • the storage pocket may have a width that is shorter than a width of the shelf plate, and is provided on a side of the inner wall of the door that is near the swing axis, and the front edge on a side of the shelf plate having a longer horizontal depth may face the door inner-surface on a side which is far from the swing axis.
  • a storage pocket having a short width may be provided and, in this case, the horizontal depth of the side of the shelf plate having a longer horizontal depth can be further increased. As such, it is possible to increase the surface area of the shelf plate and thus allowing more items to be placed on the shelf plate.
  • refrigerator may further include a stand pocket for storing small items, provided on a side of the inner wall of the door which is far from the swing axis, wherein the front edge on the side of the shelf plate having the longer horizontal depth may face a surface of the stand pocket on the storage compartment-side which is the door inner-surface on the side which is far from the swing axis.
  • the refrigerator in the present invention may include, on the side of the door inner-surface which is far from the swing axis, a stand pocket for upright storage of small items such as tubes containing condiments.
  • the storage volume of the refrigerator as a whole does not change significantly, and it is possible to efficiently store small items not suited for storing in the shelf plate and the door pocket.
  • the refrigerator may further include a drawer having different horizontal depths on a left side and a right side, corresponding to a shape of the shelf plate.
  • the conventional inoperative space can be filled-up using the horizontally deep portion of the drawer, and thus storage efficiency can be improved. Furthermore, it is possible to separately use the two storage areas depending on the difference in horizontal depths, and thus convenience to the user can be improved.
  • the drawer may include a left drawer part and a right drawer part which are independent and have different horizontal depths from one another.
  • the door has a door pocket in the inner wall.
  • the refrigerator may further include lighting devices provided on the left side-surface and the right side-surface of the storage compartment, which include a light-emitting diode as a light source and illuminate the storage compartment from different positions in the horizontal depth direction corresponding to a shape of the shelf plate.
  • lighting devices provided on the left side-surface and the right side-surface of the storage compartment, which include a light-emitting diode as a light source and illuminate the storage compartment from different positions in the horizontal depth direction corresponding to a shape of the shelf plate.
  • the lighting device is fitted to each of the right side-surface and the left side-surface of the refrigerator compartment and illuminates the inside of the refrigerator compartment from in front of the front edge of the shelf plate, with light-emitting diodes as a light source.
  • light-emitting diodes have low power consumption and a longer lifespan. Therefore, energy conservation becomes possible.
  • shelf plate may have areas having different properties.
  • shelf plate may have areas having different color tones.
  • shelf plate may have areas of different sizes.
  • properties refer to color tones or size, for example.
  • properties refer to color tones or size, for example.
  • areas of different color tones it is possible to improve the aesthetics when looking at the refrigerator from the front.
  • areas of different sizes it is possible to fabricate the shelf plate by joining the plates of different sizes making up the respective areas. As such, it becomes possible to share components with other products, and thus reduction of manufacturing costs becomes possible.
  • a plurality of shelf plates including the shelf plate may be disposed along a vertical direction within the storage compartment, and respective front edges of the plurality of shelf plates may be set to have identical horizontal depth positions.
  • the storage compartment may be a refrigerator compartment, and may be located at a topmost section of a heat-insulating main body which forms a main body of the refrigerator.
  • the refrigerator compartment which is most frequently used and into which storage items of various shapes are put can be disposed at the most user-friendly eye-level position, and thus the usability of the refrigerator can be further improved.
  • abutting surfaces of the forward shelf plate and the rear shelf plate may lap in a vertical direction.
  • the refrigerator may include a latching unit which latches together the forward shelf plate and the rear shelf plate.
  • the refrigerator may further include: a support part provided above or below the rear shelf plate, which can support the forward shelf plate when the forward shelf plate is detached, and a latching unit which latches on to the forward shelf plate.
  • the refrigerator may further include a fastening unit which prevents the rear shelf plate from easily falling out of place when the forward shelf plate is attached or detached.
  • the rear shelf plate is not displaced when the forward shelf plate is attached or detached, and thus the attachment and detachment of the forward shelf plate can be performed reliably.
  • a horizontal depth of the rear shelf plate is L
  • a minimum horizontal depth of the forward shelf plate is M
  • a maximum horizontal depth of the forward shelf plate is N
  • each of the forward shelf plate and the rear shelf plate may be configured of a glass plate and a perimeter-portion resin member.
  • the refrigerator may further include: a door which covers the opening of the storage compartment in a manner which allows opening and closing; and a projecting part provided on an inner wall of the door and projecting inward, wherein the door may be divided, into a left door and a right door, along approximately a full height of the storage compartment, and the shelf plate may be disposed further inward of the storage compartment than the projecting part and has a maximum horizontal depth behind a space created between projecting parts each of which corresponds to the projecting part and is disposed on a corresponding one of the left door and the right door.
  • the shelf plate may include a gradation part in a front-back direction of a front edge so that a placement surface for placement of storage items has different horizontal depths in a width direction.
  • a duct and the like for injecting cool air can be configured simply, and thus achieving superior aesthetics and design characteristics.
  • the shelf plate may be provided with the gradation part behind the space created between both projecting parts respectively disposed on the left door and the right door, and may have greater horizontal depth on one side of a front-back direction bordered by the gradation part, and less horizontal depth on the other side.
  • the door which is divided into the left door and the right door may be configured of French doors that open by swinging towards both left and right sides.
  • the storage space of the door pockets and the shelf plate within the storage compartment can be dramatically increased.
  • storage capability can be improved by sectionalized storage according to the shape, size, and purpose of various types of storage items such as plastic bottles, salad dressing, and so on.
  • the ease of opening the door the ease with which the inside of the storage compartment can be viewed, and consequently the taking in and out of storage items is improved due to the small swing radius of the doors centering on the user.
  • the left and right doors can be opened and closed as the situation demands, there is no need to open the entire storage compartment and this leads to energy conservation.
  • the gradation part may be formed by providing a recessed portion on the shelf plate, the recessed portion receding in a horizontal depth direction relative to a shape of either of the projecting parts on the left or right side.
  • the gradation part may be formed by providing two recessed portions on the shelf plate each relative to a shape of a corresponding one of the projecting parts on the left door and the right door.
  • a gradation part can be provided on the front of the shelf plate with respect to the inoperative space created between the left and right door pockets, it can be considered as the most efficient shape for increasing the storage space within the storage compartment.
  • the shelf plate can be given a new look which completely revises the conventional shelf plate.
  • the door may have a different width for the left door and the right door, and a horizontal depth of the projecting part on a narrower one of the left door and the right door may be small compared to a horizontal depth of the projecting part on a wider one of the left door and the right door.
  • reducing the horizontal depth of the door pocket allows for a large opening when the doors are opened and has the convenience of allowing relatively easy choking of storage items inside the storage compartment as well as allowing relatively easy taking in and out of storage items placed on the shelf plate, even when the door can only be opened for example 90 degrees for example.
  • a plurality of shelf plates including the shelf plate may be disposed along a vertical direction within the storage compartment, and front edges of the shelf plates from a top level to a bottom level may be set to have identical positions in a horizontal depth direction.
  • the shelf plates from the top level to the bottom level, together with their respective gradation parts, have the same positions, and thus there is a sense of unity when the user opens the door, and superior design characteristics are achieved.
  • plural shelf plates can be configured using the same component, and thus allowing further lowering of costs.
  • shelf plate may be made of a planar material having transparency.
  • the shelf plate into a relatively thin tabular shape, it is possible to avoid imparting a sense of crampedness to the most visible frontal portion of the shelf plate, and by applying transparency, it is possible to eliminate the sense of crampedness in the entire storage compartment and the sense of spaciousness is not impaired. Assuming that lighting is provided, it is possible to allow light to pass through the entire storage compartment.
  • At least one of a left edge, a right edge, and a back edge of the shelf plate may be supported by a corresponding one of the left side-surface, the right side-surface, or a back surface of the storage compartment, and the front edge may be provided with a reinforcing member along approximately an entire width of the shelf plate.
  • a stainless steel material for the reinforcing structure allows it to be used as a decorative plate, and beautifies the most eye-catching area, and thus achieving superior design characteristics.
  • the storage compartment may be a refrigerator compartment, and may be located at a topmost section of a heat-insulating main body which forms a main body of the refrigerator.
  • the refrigerator compartment which is most frequently used and into which storage items of various shapes are put can be disposed at the most user-friendly eye-level position, and thus the usability of the refrigerator can be further improved.
  • the refrigerator in the present invention uses creativity in the shapes of the shelf plate and door pocket and can minimize the inoperative space within the storage compartment. With this, it is possible to dramatically increase the storage space of the door pocket and the shelf plate within the storage compartment.
  • a horizontally deep area and a horizontally shallow area can be formed on the shelf plate.
  • the user can select a storage area from among the two areas on the shelf plate and the door pocket depending on the shape, size, and purpose of various types of storage items such as plastic bottles, salad dressing, and so on.
  • the door pocket includes the two areas, big and small, the user can select the storage area from among four areas. Specifically, from the user's perspective, sectionalized storage based on the shape, and so on, of storage items becomes possible, and thus the convenience of the refrigerator is improved.
  • the horizontal depth of the shelf plate can be enlarged as much as possible, there is the convenience of allowing relatively long storage items such as a skillet to be taken in and out with relative ease.
  • the aforementioned gradation part in a waveform by making the aforementioned gradation part in a waveform and configuring the storage compartment positioning to be disposed at the eye-level position of the user, visual beauty is enhanced and the design characteristics of the refrigerator as a whole is improved. Furthermore, since the shelf plate has areas of different color tones, the design characteristics of the inside of the storage compartment is improved.
  • the horizontal depth of the shelf plate and the height between shelf plates can be varied according to the form of the storage items, storage becomes possible even for tall storage items, for example, and thus the storage ability and usability of the refrigerator can be improved.
  • the present invention can provide a refrigerator that has better storage efficiency and convenience than conventional refrigerators.
  • FIG. 3 is a front view of the refrigerator in the first embodiment of the present invention.
  • a refrigerator 51 in the present embodiment is a refrigerator including French doors and a compartmentalized storage compartment within a heat-insulating main body 52.
  • the refrigerator 51 in the present embodiment specifically includes, from the top, a refrigerator compartment 53, an ice-making compartment 54, a switchable compartment 55 provided beside the ice-making compartment 54 and which allows switching of inside temperature, a vegetable compartment 56, and a freezer compartment 57.
  • each storage compartment is provided with a heat-insulating door filled with a foam heat-insulating material such as urethane.
  • the refrigerator compartment 53 is provided with a left door 60a and a right door 60b which cover the opening of the heat-insulating main body 52 in a manner which allows opening and closing.
  • the ice-making compartment 54, the switchable compartment 55, the vegetable compartment 56, and the freezer compartment 57 are provided with a drawer-type door 61, door 62, door 63, and door 64, respectively.
  • the left door 60a is configured with a shorter length in the left-right direction, that is, a shorter width than the right door 60b, and the left door 60a and the right door 60b are split at approximately the same location in the left-right direction as the location at which the ice-making compartment 54 and the switchable compartment 55 are split.
  • FIG. 4A is a perspective view of the refrigerator 51 in the present embodiment with doors opened
  • FIG. 4B is a perspective view of a part of the refrigerator compartment of the refrigerator 51 in the present embodiment
  • FIG. 4C and FIG. 4D are perspective views of a small-item case 83 and a chiller case 82, respectively, included in the refrigerator compartment 53 of the refrigerator 51 in the present embodiment
  • FIG. 5 is a vertical cross-section view (A-A shown in FIG. 3 ) of the refrigerator 51 in the present embodiment.
  • a gasket 85 is fitted along the edges of the inner-side of such French door 60a and door 60b and thus the cold air inside the refrigerator compartment 53 is prevented from flowing to the outside.
  • the left door 60a has plural left door pockets 90 in a vertical direction in its refrigerator compartment 53-side, and the right door 60b also has plural right door pockets 91 in the same manner.
  • each door pocket is held in place by a holding member and the like, not shown in the Drawings, which is cast with a door inner-surface 89 and the like thus ensuring holding strength in the holding of storage items.
  • the intra-compartment surface of the doors is formed by the door inner-surface 89 and the storage compartment-side surfaces of the respective door pockets.
  • each of the plural door pockets in the respective doors form storage spaces spanning plural levels in the refrigerator compartment 53. Furthermore, each of the plural door pockets is intended to store mainly plastic bottles of beverages and the like and bottles of condiments and the like, and are shaped to have walls on the front, back, left, and right, and an upside opening.
  • each door pocket is an example of a projecting part provided in the inner wall of a door, and has a recessed part opening upward.
  • the projecting part need not have a recessed part as long as items can be placed on it.
  • each door pocket does not have a wall on the door-side (back wall) and instead utilizes the door inner-surface 89 as a back wall.
  • a lighting device 87 is provided in a sunken space on both left and right sides of the forward locations of an inner casing 70 forming the wall surface of the refrigerator compartment 53, and such space is covered by a cover not shown in the Drawings.
  • the inside of the storage compartment is illuminated from the front by the lighting device 87.
  • the lighting device 87 may be provided in a cool air duct 84 described later, located at the back side of the refrigerator compartment 53 or the ceiling of the refrigerator compartment 53, and plural lighting devices 87 may be provided.
  • chiller case 82 for improving the freshness of meat, fish, and the like, and small-item cases 83 for storing eggs and so on, are disposed in the lowest level of the storage spaces in the refrigerator compartment 53.
  • the chiller case 82 and the small-item cases 83 are drawers included in the refrigerator compartment 53 and, in accordance with the shape of the shelf plates 80, the left and right horizontal depths are different.
  • Drawers in the present embodiment are disposed in the space formed between the bottom surface of the lowest shelf plate 80 included in the refrigerator compartment 53 and the inner casing 70 of the refrigerator compartment 53, and include independent left and right drawers.
  • the small-item case 83 is an independent left drawer unit and the chiller case 82 is an independent right drawer unit.
  • the drawers may be a single-piece drawer having different left and right lengths in accordance with the shape of the shelf plate 80.
  • drawers need not be disposed in the space beneath the lowest shelf plate 80, and may be disposed in a space of the refrigerator compartment 53 partitioned by any of the plural shelf plates 80. Specifically, it is sufficient that the drawers are disposed in the space formed between the top surface or bottom surface of a shelf plate 80 included in the refrigerator compartment 53 and the inner casing 70 of the refrigerator compartment 53.
  • drawers are shaped in this manner, storage space can be increased over the conventional refrigerator without changing the overall size of the refrigerator 51, compared to when the front surfaces are flat such as that which is conventional.
  • the cool air duct 84 is configured from approximately the entire back-side of the inside of the heat-insulating main body 52 and, as necessary, is configured by providing outlets, not shown in the Drawings, between the respective shelf plates 80 so that cool air flows through the respective storage spaces. Furthermore, the cool air duct can also be used as a positioning unit or fastening unit for the plural shelf plates 80.
  • a divider 86 is disposed between both doors positioned at the opening of the refrigerator compartment 53. When both doors are closed, the gap between both doors is sealed by the divider 86 and the gasket 85.
  • a divider 86 need not be set at the center portion.
  • the right door pocket 91 is configured to protrude further into the storage compartment-side and thus have an enlarged storage space.
  • the distance from the door inner-surface of the French doors up to the back surface of the refrigerator compartment 53 is different on the left and right, with the distance being greater on the left side.
  • shelf plate 80 and the left door pocket 90 and right door pocket 91 in the present embodiment shall be described hereafter.
  • Each of the French-type left door 60a and right door 60b configured at the opening of the refrigerator compartment 53 opens by swinging outward from the boundary of the left door 60a and the right door 60b, with the hinges 81 as an axis. With this movement, the left door pocket 90 and the right door pocket 91 included in the respective doors swing together with the doors.
  • each of the door pockets need to be in a shape that fits within the swing trajectory (dashed-dotted line) of each door.
  • the right door pocket 91 is provided with a slanting portion on the left side and is made to be horizontally deeper than the left door pocket 90 but within the swing trajectory of the right door 60b. Furthermore, the left door pocket 90 has a width and horizontal depth that are comparatively short so as to fit within the swing trajectory of the left door 60a without having to make such a slanting portion as described above.
  • the slanting portion becomes more acute as the horizontal depth of the right door pocket 91 increases, and the space between the right door pocket 91, the left door pocket 90 and the shelf plate 80, that is, the inoperable space around the back of the divider 86, becomes larger.
  • the front edge on the horizontally shallow side of the shelf plate 80 faces the door inner-surface with the shorter distance from the door inner-surface to the back surface
  • the front edge on the horizontally deeper side of the shelf plate 80 faces the door inner-surface with the longer distance from the door inner-surface to the back surface
  • the front edge of the horizontally shallow right side of the shelf plate 80 faces the horizontally deep right door pocket 91
  • the front edge of the horizontally deep left side of the shelf plate 80 faces the horizontally shallow left door pocket 90.
  • the respective horizontal depths of the projecting parts consisting of the right door pocket 91 and the left door pocket 90 conform to the horizontal depths of the shelf plate 80.
  • the shelf plate 80 assumes a shape that satisfies E>F and the sum of E and C is approximately equal to the sum of F and D.
  • the front edge of the shelf plate 80 in the present embodiment has a gradation in the front-back direction that is not present in conventional refrigerator shelf plates.
  • the part making up this gradation shall be referred to as a gradation part 92.
  • the gradation part 92 is a part which continuously connects the respective front edges of the left side and the right side of a shelf plate through a curve.
  • the shape of the shelf plate 80 in the present embodiment enlarges the storable shelf base area of the entire storage compartment combining the left door pocket 90, the right door pocket 91 and the shelf plate 80, and can thus be regarded as a shape which efficiently increases the storage space.
  • the shape of the gradation part 92 may be any shape which does not interfere with the horizontally deep right door pocket 91.
  • the shape of the right door pocket 91 is a shape that does not interfere with the left door 60a, that is, a shape that fits within the swing trajectory of the right door 60b.
  • the gradation part 92 is on the outer side of the swing trajectory of the right door 60b, it does not interfere with the right door pocket 91. Furthermore, in order to reduce the inoperative space, it is sufficient for the curve included in the gradation part 92 to be a curve having an arc which corresponds to the swing trajectory of the right door 60b.
  • the right door pocket 91 is made to be horizontally deeper than normal to make up for the reduced storage space of the left door pocket 90.
  • the storage space is increased over the conventional refrigerator without changing the overall size.
  • the size of the inoperative space resulting from the swing trajectories of the French doors described above can be suppressed by moving the location of the swing trajectories forward by moving the location of the hinges 81 forward, and so on.
  • the refrigerator 51 in the present embodiment increases the storage space over the conventional refrigerator without changing overall size.
  • the refrigerator 51 is a refrigerator that has better storage efficiency and convenience than what is conventional.
  • the plural shelf plates 80 can be made up of identical components, and this contributes to the reduction of manufacturing costs through component standardization, and the reduction of manufacturing costs through reduced operational load in the manufacturing stage.
  • the large shelf plate part 93 is characterized in being horizontally deep, and allows relatively long storage items such as a skillet or a large bottle to be placed steadily without interfering with the taking in and out of other storage items.
  • Such advantageous effects can be obtained simply by reducing the horizontal depths C and D of the left door pocket 90 and right door pocket 91, respectively, and increasing the horizontal depths E and F of the shelf plate 80.
  • shelf plates 80 by fabricating the shelf plates 80 with a material having transparency, it is possible to reduce the sense of crampedness imparted by the shelf plates 80 and give a sense of spaciousness. Furthermore, it is also possible to impart a sense of cleanliness inside the refrigerator compartment 53.
  • the gradation part 92 of the shelf plate 80 is not an angular step but has a smooth-flowing wave shape such as a rounded shape or a chamfered shape for example.
  • This also has an advantageous effect as a reinforcing structure for preventing the occurrence of stress concentration and distortion in the shelf plate 80. As such, since it is possible to prevent sagging and cracking even when storage items are placed on top, and it is attractive in appearance and superior design-wise, it is a very effective means.
  • the shelf plate 80 includes, as a brim material, a molded metal plate 95 of stainless steel, and the like, as shown in FIG. 7 .
  • FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a shelf plate 80 in the present embodiment.
  • including the metal plate 95 in the front edge of the shelf plate 80 has an advantage of allowing strength to be increased and allowing the metal plate 95 to be used as a decorative plate.
  • the metal plate 95 is fitted on the entire width of the front edge in FIG. 7 , it is sufficient to have a brim material at least on the portion including the gradation part 92. This is because the vicinity of the gradation part 92 is most prone to the occurrence of stress centering.
  • shelf plate 80 may be made to allow switching in the vertical direction depending on the shapes of the storage items, and enable the dimension in the horizontal depth direction to be variable by folding the shelf plate 80.
  • shelf plate 80 and metal plate 95 are illuminated by the lighting device 87 with a light from the front of the storage compartment, the shelf plate and metal plate are illuminated from approximately the same direction as the direction of the line of sight of the user. With this, the storage items inside the storage compartment become very easy to see, and the design characteristics of the shelf plate 80 having the wave-form gradation part 92 is improved.
  • shelf plate 80 serves a dual purpose of increasing light transmissivity and making the shelf plate clean and superior in strength.
  • the left door pocket 90 is configured to have a relatively short horizontal depth C. As such, as shown in FIG. 8 , even when assuming a usage environment in which the left door 60a can only be opened 90 degrees, the opening dimension G has a length which allows the storage items to be taken in and out.
  • the refrigerator 51 in the present embodiment it is possible to position storage items further in front using the forward-projecting large shelf plate part 93, and there is the advantage that taking storage items placed in the shelf plate 80 in and out is easy even in a usage environment in which the left door 60a cannot be sufficiently opened.
  • the refrigerator compartment 53 in the present embodiment is located on the uppermost part of the refrigerator 51. Therefore, in the case where the refrigerator 51 is a refrigerator of approximately 1800 mm main body height which is the currently predominant over-400 liter capacity type, the storage items in the refrigerator compartment 53 are positioned at approximately the same height as the user's line of sight.
  • sectionalized storage in which the user stores relatively small bottles such as condiments and dressing in the left door pocket 90, and stores relatively big items such as plastic bottles or milk cartons in the right pocket 91, becomes possible.
  • the shelf plate 80 also allows sectionalized storage in which the horizontally deep but narrow large shelf plate part 93 is used as a stocking zone for storing food items that are not frequently taken in and out, and the large shelf plate part 93 which has a relatively short horizontal depth but is wider than the large shelf plate part 93 is used as a flowing zone for storing food items that are frequently taken in and out.
  • the user can roughly divide the inside of refrigerator compartment 53 into 4 zones, and use each section depending on the purpose.
  • the refrigerator compartment 53 opening the largest, and positioning, below the refrigerator compartment 53, the ice-making compartment 54, the switchable compartment 55, the vegetable compartment 56, and so on, which have drawer doors, a very user-friendly storage compartment positioning can be realized.
  • the left door 60a is described to have a form in which left-right length, that is, the width is less than that of the right door 60b, the ratio for dividing both doors may be in any proportion.
  • the latching part needs to be attached to the glass shelf plate 80 using an adhesive and the like.
  • the latching part for setting the shelf plate 80 on the inner casing 70 can also be provided to the shelf plate 80.
  • a latching part such as a protrusion may be provided in a position of the brim material corresponding to the back end of the shelf plate 80, to allow it to be supported by the back surface of the refrigerator compartment 53.
  • the shelf plate 80 is supported not only by the left and right side-surfaces of the refrigerator compartment 53, but also by the back surface of the refrigerator compartment 53.
  • the glass shelf plate 80 and the brim material 96 shown in FIG. 10 may be fabricated separately and combined after each is completed, and the shelf plate 80 and the brim material 96 may be cast by insert molding.
  • the brim material fitted onto the glass shelf plate can serve to protect the perimeter of the shelf plate 80, prevent items placed on the shelf plate 80 from falling off, improve design characteristics, and so on.
  • the brim material need not assume such a form.
  • a metal plate having a width that is narrower than the thickness of the shelf plate 80 is fitted to the front end portion or the entire perimeter of the resin shelf plate 80 by being plugged therein.
  • FIG. 11 a second embodiment of the present invention shall be described using FIG. 11 .
  • the shapes of the left and right door pockets and shelf plate of the refrigerator 118 in the present embodiment are different from those of the refrigerator 51 in the first embodiment, other constituent elements, their functions, and so on, are the same as in the refrigerator 51 in the first embodiment.
  • plural left door pockets 100 are supportively held in place in the left door 60a and disposed along the vertical length of the left door 60a.
  • Plural right door pockets 101 are likewise supportively held in place in the right door 60b and disposed along the vertical length of the right door 60b.
  • Plural shelf plates 102 are disposed from the top to bottom of a space between the door pockets and the cool air duct 84 in positions and shapes that do not interfere with the door pockets.
  • the plural shelf plates 102 form storage spaces spanning plural levels.
  • the left door pocket 100 is of a size that fits within the swing trajectory of the left door 60a in the figure so as not to interfere with the right door 60b, and is shaped so that the shape of its base is approximately square.
  • the shelf plate 102 is supportively held in place by the inner casing 70 by being placed on protrusions, and the like, that are cast with the inner casing 70, and is disposed to be approximately horizontal with respect to the vertical direction.
  • a boundary part 106 is provided between the left door pocket 100 and the right door pocket 101, in the space just behind the divider 86, and the horizontal depth of the shelf plate 102 gradually decreases from the boundary part 106 towards the right side.
  • the left side from the boundary part 106 of the shelf plate 102 corresponds to the large shelf plate part 93 in the first embodiment
  • the right side from the boundary part 106 corresponds to the normal shelf plate part 94 in the first embodiment.
  • shelf plate 102 and the left door pocket 100 and right door pocket 101 in the present embodiment shall be described hereafter.
  • the inoperative space behind the divider 86 can be minimized.
  • the horizontal depth of the left-side portion of the shelf plate 102 can be increased.
  • the right door pocket 101 is made larger than the left door pocket 100 so as to compensate for the smallness of the left door pocket 100.
  • the storage space within the storage compartment can be dramatically increased without reducing the door pocket storage space which is very convenient for the user.
  • the refrigerator 118 in the present embodiment by adopting the shapes shown in FIG. 11 for the shapes of the shelf plate 102, the left door pocket 100, and the right door pocket 101, it is possible to improve the storage efficiency of the refrigerator 118 by enlarging the storable shelf base area within the storage compartment in the same manner as in the refrigerator 51 in the first embodiment.
  • the refrigerator 118 also allows the storage space of inside the refrigerator compartment to be divided into the 4 sections of the left door pockets 100, the right door pockets 101, the left area and the right area of the shelf plates 102, each having different horizontal depths, and so on.
  • a single boundary part 106 is present in the front edge of the shelf plate 102 and, when looking at the shelf plate 102 from the top and bottom directions, the front edge has a relatively simple shape consisting of mainly 2 straight lines.
  • the shelf plate 102 and the brim material can be fabricated at a low cost.
  • the front edge of the shelf plate 102 need not be in a shape consisting mainly of 2 straight lines as shown in FIG. 11 . Specifically, the front edge of the shelf plate 102 need not be in a shape that bends at the boundary part 106.
  • FIG. 12 a third embodiment of the present invention shall be described using FIG. 12 and FIG. 13 .
  • FIG. 12 is a horizontal cross-section view of the refrigerator compartment section of a refrigerator 119 in the present embodiment.
  • FIG. 13 is a horizontal cross-section view of the refrigerator 119 in the present embodiment when a left door 110a is opened. It should be noted that the same numerical reference is given to constituent elements that are the same as in the first embodiment and their description shall be omitted.
  • the shapes of the left and right door pockets and shelf plate of the refrigerator 119 in the present embodiment are different from those of the refrigerator 51 in the first embodiment, other constituent elements, their functions, and so on, are the same as in the refrigerator 51 in the first embodiment.
  • the refrigerator 119 in the present embodiment includes a left door 110a, a right door 110b and a right door pocket 111.
  • the refrigerator 119 in the present embodiment does not include a left door pocket.
  • the refrigerator 119 in the present embodiment further includes a shelf plate 112, and plural right door pockets 111 are disposed along the vertical length of the right door 110b.
  • Plural shelf plates 112 are disposed from the top to bottom of a space between the right door pockets 111 and the cool air duct 84 in positions and of a shape that does not interfere with the right door pockets 111.
  • the plural shelf plates 112 form storage spaces spanning plural levels.
  • the shelf plate 112 is disposed within the storage space between the right door pocket 111 and the cool air duct 84 so as to provide a certain amount of clearance so as not to interfere with the right door pocket 111.
  • the shelf plate 112 is supportively held in place by the inner casing 70 by being placed on protrusions, and the like, that are cast with the inner casing 70, and is disposed to be approximately horizontal with respect to the vertical direction.
  • the shelf plate 112 is shaped to cover almost the entire area of the space located in the refrigerator compartment-side of the left door 110a and shaped so as not to interfere with the right door pocket 111 in the forward and backward direction at the refrigerator compartment-side of the right door 110b.
  • the shelf plate 112 in the present embodiment is shaped to have a gradation in the front edge in the same manner as the shelf plate 80 in the first embodiment.
  • the shelf plate 112 maintains a relationship in which K>L.
  • the left side of a straight line extending in the horizontal depth direction from the approximate center point of the gradation part 114 of the shelf plate 112 is the large shelf plate part 113 and the right side of the straight line is the normal shelf plate part 115.
  • shelf plates 112 and the right door pockets 111 in the present embodiment shall be described hereafter.
  • the horizontal cross-section of the inside of the refrigerator compartment is virtually allocated to the right door pocket 111 and the shelf plate 112, as shown in FIG. 12 .
  • the shape of the door pocket 111 which swings integrally with the right door 110b fits within the swing trajectory of the right door 110b in the figure.
  • shelf plate 112 there is a normal shelf plate part 115 having a horizontal depth which does not interfere with the right door pocket 111, and the large shelf plate part 113 is shaped to project up to the vicinity of the left door 110a.
  • the shape of the shelf plate 112 and the right door pocket 111 shown in FIG. 12 is considered to be extremely effective in increasing storage space.
  • the left door 110a does not include door pockets as storage space and is configured of only a heat-insulating wall.
  • the shelf plate 112 can be projected up to the vicinity of the left door 110a, and the horizontal depth of the shelf plate 112 can be made to approximate the length from the door inner-surface of the left door 110a to the back surface of the storage compartment.
  • storage items can be placed in front of the user's line of sight and up front where they can easily be taken out, thus making the taking of items in and out easy and convenient.
  • it is convenient for storing long items.
  • the upper surface of the shelf plate 112 can be made into an approximate L-shape. As such, when the right door 110b is opened, aside from the taking in and out of items with respect to the forward area of the normal shelf plate part 115, the taking in and out of items with respect to the area around the gradation part 114 existing in the in-compartment direction of the left door 110a also becomes easy.
  • the user can pull out the small-item case 83 to the front without being bothered by the left door 110a.
  • pulling out and using the small-item case 83 outside the storage compartment from time to time can be done easily.
  • the refrigerator 119 in the present embodiment also allows sectionalized storage through separate usage of the large shelf plate parts 113, the normal shelf plate parts 115, and the right door pockets 111.
  • the refrigerator 119 in the present embodiment can efficiently increase storage space in the same manner as the respective refrigerators in the first and second embodiments.
  • the refrigerator 119 by providing various drawer mechanisms in the storage compartment space on the left door 110-side, the taking in and out of items can also be improved.
  • the refrigerator 119 in the present embodiment is a refrigerator that has better storage efficiency and convenience than what is conventional.
  • the respective refrigerators in the first through third embodiments include French doors having 2 doors, one each for the left and right, in the opening of the refrigerator compartment. Furthermore, the horizontal depths of the left side and the right side of the shelf plate are in accordance with the shape of the door inner-surface of the doors.
  • the aforementioned dimensions of the shelf plate are dimensions for filling up the inoperative space within the refrigerator compartment. This increases the storage space within the storage compartment. Furthermore, there are also advantageous effects such as allowing efficient sectionalized storage.
  • FIG. 14 is a front view of the refrigerator in the present embodiment.
  • a refrigerator 120 in the present embodiment includes the refrigerator compartment 53, the ice-making compartment 54, the switchable compartment 55, the vegetable compartment 56, and the freezer compartment 57, as in the refrigerator 51 in the first embodiment.
  • a single swing door 65 is set in the refrigerator compartment 53. By opening the door 65, the user can take items in and out of the refrigerator compartment 53.
  • FIG. 15 is a horizontal cross-section view (B-B shown in FIG. 14 ) of the refrigerator 120 in the present embodiment. It should be noted that the same numerical reference is given to constituent elements that are the same as in the first embodiment and their description shall be omitted.
  • the refrigerator 120 in the present embodiment includes a door pocket 97.
  • Plural door pocket 97 are supportively held in place in the door 65 and disposed along the vertical length of the door 65.
  • the door pocket 97 has a lateral width that is the same as the lateral width of a shelf plate 121, and has a shape in which the horizontal depth R on a swing axis 88-side is greater than a horizontal depth Q on the opposite side. In other words, it maintains an R>Q relationship.
  • the plural shelf plates 121 included in the refrigerator 120 are disposed from the top to bottom of a space between the door pocket 97 and the cool air duct 84 in positions and of a shape that does not interfere with the door pocket 97.
  • the plural shelf plates 121 form storage spaces spanning plural levels.
  • this shelf plate 121 includes a gradation part 124 and includes a horizontally deep large shelf plate part 122 and a horizontally shallow normal shelf plate part 123.
  • the horizontal depth of the large shelf plate part 122 is assumed to be N and the horizontal depth of the normal shelf plate part 123 is P, it maintains a relationship in which N>P and the sum of N and Q is approximately equal to the sum of P and R.
  • this shelf plate 121 is shaped to fill up the inoperative space within the storage compartment.
  • shelf plates 121 and the door pockets 97 in the present embodiment shall be described hereafter.
  • the horizontal depth of the door pocket can only be increased up to a certain extent in consideration of the opening and closing of the door.
  • the door pocket 97 needs to fit within a circle (dashed-dotted line) having a swing axis 88 which is the swing center of the door 65 as a center and passing the end of the inner casing 70 opposite the swing axis 88.
  • the distance from the door inner-surface on the side near the swing axis 88 to the back surface of the refrigerator compartment 53 is made shorter than the distance from the door inner-surface on the side which is far from the swing axis 88 to the back surface.
  • the opening and closing of the door 65 becomes possible without having to provide a slanting portion.
  • the door pocket 97 has a shape in which the right side projects into the storage compartment.
  • sectionalized storage is possible in the same manner as the refrigerator 51 in the first embodiment, and thus the refrigerator 120 is a user-friendly refrigerator.
  • the refrigerator 120 in the present embodiment is a refrigerator that has better storage efficiency and convenience than what is conventional, in the same manner as the respective refrigerators in the first through third embodiments.
  • such space exists in a position that is below the door pocket and below the space from the gradation part of the shelf plate toward the horizontally shallow side of the shelf plate, in the base of the refrigerator compartment.
  • This space is an inoperative space that cannot be used as a placement area for food items and so on because the door pocket is located directly above when the door is closed.
  • FIG. 16 is a diagram showing the case where a storage case is set in the base of the refrigerator compartment 53 of the refrigerator in the fourth embodiment.
  • a storage case 98 is set below the door pocket 97 and below the space on the right side of the gradation part 124 of the shelf plate 121.
  • the user can store, in the storage case 98, small soy sauce containers and so on that are not suited for storage in the shelf plates 121 or the door pockets 97. In other words, the storage efficiency and convenience of the refrigerator 120 is improved.
  • such a storage case 98 can be set in the same manner in the refrigerators in the first through third embodiments and the same advantageous effect is achieved.
  • the storage case 98 can also be used as a feed-water container for supplying water to the ice-making device.
  • FIG. 17 to FIG. 26 the configuration of a refrigerator in a fifth embodiment of the present invention shall be described using FIG. 17 to FIG. 26 . It should be noted that the same numerical reference is given to constituent elements that are the same as in the first embodiment.
  • FIG. 17 is a front view of the refrigerator in the present embodiment.
  • a refrigerator 151 in the present embodiment is a refrigerator including French doors in the same manner as the refrigerator 51 in the first embodiment, and includes a compartmentalized storage compartment within the heat-insulating main body 52.
  • the refrigerator 151 in the present embodiment specifically includes, from the top, a refrigerator compartment 53, an ice-making compartment 54, a switchable compartment 55 provided beside the ice-making compartment 54 and which allows switching of inside temperature, a vegetable compartment 56, and a freezer compartment 57.
  • each storage compartment is provided with a heat-insulating door filled with a foam heat-insulating material such as urethane.
  • the refrigerator compartment 53 is provided with the left door 60a and the right door 60b which compartmentalize, into left and right sides, the front plane opening of the heat-insulating main body 52.
  • the ice-making compartment 54, the switchable compartment 55, the vegetable compartment 56, and the freezer compartment 57 are provided with the drawer-type door 61, door 62, door 63, and door 64, respectively.
  • the left door 60a is configured with a shorter length in the left-right direction, that is, a shorter width than the right door 60b, and the left door 60a and the right door 60b are split at approximately the same left-right direction location as the location at which the ice-making compartment 54 and the switchable compartment 55 are split.
  • the doors of the storage compartment are French doors having a left door and a right door of identical width, and there are also configurations where one of the left door or the right door is of the drawer-type.
  • a cooler and fan which are not shown in the Drawings are provided behind the vegetable compartment 56 and the freezer compartment 57.
  • the cooler is driven by a compressor disposed at the bottom portion of the main body of the refrigerator 151, and cooled air from the cooler is sent to the respective storage compartments. Furthermore, cooling is controlled to predetermined temperatures for each of the storage compartments.
  • FIG. 18 is a perspective view of the refrigerator 151 in the present embodiment with doors opened
  • FIG. 19 is a vertical cross-section view (A-A shown in FIG. 17 ) of the refrigerator 151 in the present embodiment.
  • plural shelf plates 180 for organizing and storing food items, and so on, are placed in the refrigerator compartment 53, and the plural shelf plates 180 create storage spaces spanning plural levels in the refrigerator compartment 53.
  • the left door 60a has plural left door pockets 90 in a vertical direction in its refrigerator compartment 53-side, and the right door 60b also has plural right door pockets 91 in the same manner.
  • each door pocket is held in place by a holding member and the like, not shown in the Drawings, which is cast with a door inner-surface 89 and the like thus ensuring holding strength in the holding of storage items.
  • the intra-compartment surface of the doors is formed by the door inner-surface 89 and the storage compartment-side surfaces of the respective door pockets.
  • each door pocket does not have a wall on the door-side (back wall) and instead utilizes the door inner-surface 89 as a back wall.
  • the cool air duct 84 for blowing the cool air cooled by the previously described cooler to the inside of the storage compartment is provided at the back of the refrigerator compartment 53, that is, at the back of the shelf plates 180.
  • the divider 86 is disposed between both doors positioned at the front plane opening of the refrigerator compartment 53. When both doors are closed, the gap between both doors is sealed by the divider 86 and the gasket 85.
  • the divider 86 is fitted to the right end of the left door 60a and is configured to turn together with the opening and closing of the left door 60a such that the left door 60a can be closed even after the right door 60b is closed first.
  • the right door pocket 91 is configured to protrude further into the storage compartment-side and thus have an enlarged storage space.
  • the distance from the door inner-surface of the French doors up to the back surface of the refrigerator compartment 53 is different at the left and right, with the distance being greater on the left side.
  • the horizontal depth of the shelf plate 180 is different on the left and right.
  • FIG. 21 is a perspective view of a part of the refrigerator compartment of the refrigerator 151 in the present embodiment
  • FIG. 22 is a perspective diagram showing the inside of the storage compartment of the refrigerator 151 when a forward shelf plate is moved below a rear shelf plate.
  • the shelf plate 180 is divided into 2, that is, forward and rear, at the center portion in the horizontal depth direction.
  • the shelf plate at the front in the horizontal depth direction is a forward shelf plate 180b, and the shelf plate at the back in the horizontal depth direction is a rear shelf plate 180a.
  • shelf plate supports 182 are provided in the form of opposing protrusions on the right side-surface and the left side-surface of the refrigerator compartment 53. By engaging the left and right end parts of the forward shelf plate 180b onto the shelf plate supports 182, the forward shelf plate 180b can be fitted to span between the right side-surface and the left side-surface of the refrigerator compartment 53 in a bridging manner. Furthermore, the same applies for the rear shelf plate 180a.
  • supports 181 for supporting the forward shelf plate 180b that is removed from the shelf plate supports 182 are fitted below the shelf plate supports 182 on which the rear shelf plate 180a is placed.
  • the supports 181 are provided in the form of opposing protrusions on the right side-surface and the left side-surface of the refrigerator compartment 53.
  • a placement shelf plate 183 is provided at the bottom-most level of the refrigerator compartment 53 directly above the small-item case 83.
  • the placement shelf plate 183 is of an undivided, single-piece construction and is approximately the same shape as the combined forward shelf plate 180b and the rear shelf plate 180a.
  • shelf plate 180 and the left door pocket 90 and right door pocket 91 in the present embodiment shall be described hereafter.
  • Each of the French-type left door 60a and right door 60b configured at the front plane opening of the refrigerator compartment 53 opens by swinging outward from around the center of the refrigerator 151, with the hinges 81 as an axis. With this movement, the left door pocket 90 and the right door pocket 91 included in the respective doors swing together with the doors.
  • each of the door pockets need to be in a shape that fits within the swing trajectory (dashed-dotted line) of each door.
  • the slanting portion becomes more acute as the horizontal depth of the right door pocket 91 increases, and the space between the right door pocket 91, the left door pocket 90 and the shelf plate 180, that is, the inoperable space around the back of the divider 86, becomes larger.
  • the front edge on the shallow side of the shelf plate 180 faces the door inner-surface with the shorter distance from the door inner-surface to the back surface
  • the front edge on the deep side of the shelf plate 180 faces the door inner-surface with the longer distance from the door inner-surface to the back surface
  • the shape of the front end portion of the shelf plate 180 toward the left and right is opposite those of the left door pocket 90 and the right door pocket 91.
  • the gradation part 192 is a part which continuously connects the respective front edges of the left side and the right side of a shelf plate through a curve.
  • the front edge of the large shelf plate part 193 and the front edge of the normal shelf plate part 194 are continuously connected by the gradation part 192.
  • this curved shape is a result of shaping to match the shape of the right door pocket 91 including the slanting portion. Determining the respective dimensions of the normal shelf plate part 194 in a shape that follows the shape of the left door pocket 91 in this manner is particularly effective in reducing the inoperative space.
  • the shape of the shelf plate 180 in the present embodiment enlarges the storable shelf base area of the entire storage compartment combining the left door pocket 90, the right door pocket 91 and the shelf plate 180, and can thus be regarded as a shape which efficiently increases the storage space
  • the right door pocket 91 is made to have a horizontal depth that is greater than normal to make up for the reduced storage space of the left door pocket 90.
  • the size of the inoperative space resulting from the swing trajectories of the French doors described above can be suppressed by moving the location of the swing axes forward by moving the location of the hinges 81 forward, and so on.
  • the plural shelf plates 180 in the vertical direction are positioned so that the front edge of each shelf plate from the top level to the bottom level are parallel, that is, the gradation part 192 of each shelf plate 180 are aligned, thereby giving a sense of unity from the user's perspective and exhibiting extremely superior design characteristics.
  • the plural shelf plates 180 can be made up of identical components, and this contributes to low-cost configuration through component standardization, and the reduction of manufacturing costs through reduced operational load in the manufacturing stage.
  • the left door pockets 90 and the right door pockets 91 there is also a possibility for enabling component standardization for the plural door pockets spanning vertically, as with the shelf plates 180. Such case is very effective in the reduction of manufacturing costs and so on.
  • Such advantageous effects can be obtained simply by reducing the horizontal depths C and D of the left door pocket 90 and right door pocket 91, respectively, and increasing the horizontal depths E and F of the shelf plate 180.
  • the shelf plate 180 into a relatively thin flat plate, the storage spaces spanning plural levels can be enlarged as much as possible, and the storage space can be increased. Furthermore, there is no sense of crampedness in the front edge of the shelf plate 180, which is most visually concerning.
  • the gradation part 192 is not an angular step but has a smooth-flowing wave shape such as a rounded shape or a chamfered shape for example.
  • This also has an advantageous effect as a reinforcing structure for preventing the occurrence of stress concentration and distortion in the shelf plate 180. As such, since it is possible to prevent sagging and cracking even when storage items are placed on top, and it is attractive in appearance and superior design-wise, it is a very effective means.
  • the front edge of the shelf plate 180 forming the opening for taking storage items in and out is not supported anywhere. Consequently, in the present embodiment, a molded metal plate 95 of stainless steel, and the like, may be fitted to the front edge of the shelf plate 180 as a reinforcing material of the shelf plate 180, as shown in FIG. 23 .
  • FIG. 23 is a perspective view of the shelf plate 180 in the present embodiment.
  • fitting a metal plate 95 in the front edge of the shelf plate 180 has an advantage of allowing strength to be further increased and allowing the metal plate 95 to be used as a decorative plate.
  • shelf plate 180 by configuring the shelf plate 180 using a material having transparency, it is possible to impart a sense of spaciousness and cleanliness within the storage compartment.
  • shelf plate 180 is formed with a shelf plate making up the large shelf plate part 193, a shelf plate making up the normal shelf plate part 194, and the gradation part 92 therebetween, it is possible to attain the same advantageous effect, as described above, of reducing the inoperative space to a certain degree.
  • the metal plate 195 is fitted, as decoration, to the front edge of a shelf plate 180 having transparency and including a wave-shaped gradation part 192 is assumed.
  • shelf plate 180 and metal plate 195 are illuminated with a light by the lighting device 87 from the front of the storage compartment, that is, when illuminated from approximately the same direction as the direction of the line of sight of the user, the storage items inside the storage compartment become very easy to see, and the design characteristics of wave-form the shelf plate 18can be further improved.
  • shelf plate 180 serves a dual purpose of increasing light transmissivity and making the shelf plate clean and superior in strength.
  • the left door pocket 90 is configured to have a relatively short horizontal depth C. As such, as shown in FIG. 24 , even when assuming a usage environment in which the left door 60a can only be opened 90 degrees, the opening dimension G has a length which allows the storage items to be taken in and out.
  • the refrigerator 151 in the present embodiment it is possible to position storage items further in front using the forward-projecting large shelf plate part 93, and there is the advantage that taking storage items placed in the shelf plate 180 in and out is easy even in a usage environment in which the left door 60a cannot be sufficiently opened.
  • the refrigerator compartment 53 in the present embodiment is located on the uppermost part of the refrigerator 151. Therefore, in the case where the refrigerator 151 is a refrigerator of approximately 1800 mm main body height which is the currently predominant over-400 liter capacity type, the storage items in the refrigerator compartment 53 are positioned at approximately the same line as the user's line of sight.
  • sectionalized storage in which the user stores relatively small bottles such as condiments and dressing in the left door pocket 90, and stores relatively big items such as plastic bottles or milk cartons in the right pocket 91, becomes possible.
  • the refrigerator compartment 53 opening the largest, and positioning, below the refrigerator compartment 53, the ice-making compartment 54, the switchable compartment 55, the vegetable compartment 56, and so on, which have drawer doors, a very user-friendly storage compartment positioning can be realized.
  • the removed forward shelf plate 180b can be set onto the supports 181 provided below the rear shelf plate 180b, there is no problem with the storage of the removed forward shelf plate 180b.
  • the length in the left-right direction of the left door 60a and the right door 60b that is, the width of the left door 60a and the width of the right door 60b may be made the same.
  • FIG. 25 is a plan cross-section view of the case where the widths of the left door and the right door of the refrigerator in the present embodiment are made the same, the width of the left door 60a and the width of the right door 60b are made the same. With this, the width of the large shelf plate 193 increases. As such, more food items, and so on, can be placed on the large shelf plate part 193.
  • a brim material such as a metal plate may be fitted on the entire perimeter of the shelf plate 180.
  • a brim material such as a metal plate may be fitted on the entire perimeter of the shelf plate 180.
  • protrusions and the like for setting the shelf plate 180 onto the inner casing 70 may be provided by casting.
  • the shelf plate 80 can be easily provided with protrusions.
  • the shelf plate 180 is made from glass
  • the protrusions need to be attached to the glass shelf plate 180 using an adhesive and the like.
  • shelf plate 180 is fabricated from glass, it is possible that the fitting of a brim material for the purpose of improving strength is unnecessary.
  • brim materials such as the metal plate 195 and the brim material 196 adopt a form which projects higher than the top surface and lower than the bottom surface of the shelf plate 180.
  • the shelf 180 is formed with a flange in its rim.
  • FIG. 27 a sixth embodiment of the present invention shall be described using FIG. 27 .
  • plural left door pockets 100 are supportively held in place in the left door 60a and disposed along the vertical length of the left door 60a.
  • Plural right door pockets 101 are likewise supportively held in place in the right door 60b and disposed along the vertical length of the right door 60b.
  • Plural shelf plates 202 are disposed from the top to bottom of a space between the door pockets and the cool air duct 84 in positions and shapes that do not interfere with the door pockets.
  • the plural shelf plates 202 create storage spaces for storage items spanning plural levels.
  • the shelf plate 202 is disposed within the storage compartment space between the left door pocket 100, the right door pocket 101 and the cool air duct 84 in such a way that a certain amount of clearance is provided so as not to interfere with the left door pocket 100 and the right door pocket 101.
  • a boundary part 206 is provided between the left door pocket 100 and the right door pocket 101, in the space just behind the divider 86, and the horizontal depth of the shelf plate 202 gradually decreases from the boundary part 206 towards the right side.
  • the boundary part 206 is a part which serves as an approximate boundary at which the horizontal depth of the shelf plate changes.
  • the left side from the boundary part 206 of the shelf plate 202 corresponds to the large shelf plate part 193 in the fifth embodiment
  • the right side from the boundary part 206 corresponds to the normal shelf plate part 194 in the fifth embodiment.
  • shelf plate 202 The advantageous effects achieved by shelf plate 202 and the left door pocket 100 and right door pocket 101 in the present embodiment shall be described hereafter.
  • the inoperative space behind the divider 86 can be minimized.
  • the horizontal depth of roughly the left-side portion of the shelf plate 202 can be increased.
  • the storage space within the storage compartment can be dramatically increased without reducing the door pocket storage space which is very convenient for the user.
  • the refrigerator 218 in the present embodiment by adopting the shapes shown in FIG. 28 for the shapes of the shelf plate 202, the left door pocket 100, and the right door pocket 101, it is possible to improve the storage efficiency by enlarging the storable shelf base area within the storage compartment in the same manner as in the refrigerator 151 in the fifth embodiment.
  • a single boundary part 206 is present in the front edge of the shelf plate 202 and, when looking at the shelf plate 202 from the top and bottom directions, the front edge has a relatively simple shape consisting of mainly 2 straight lines.
  • the shelf plate 202 and the metal plate can be fabricated at a low cost.
  • the front edge of the shelf plate 202 need not be in a shape consisting mainly of 2 straight lines as shown in FIG. 27 . Specifically, the front edge of the shelf plate 202 need not be in a shape that bends at the boundary part 206.
  • the front edge may be in a shape which softly curves at the boundary part 206.
  • the boundary part 206 may bulge toward the divider 86 within a range that does not enter the swing trajectory of the left door 60a and the right door 60b and the area required for the turning of the divider 86.
  • FIG. 28 and FIG. 29 a seventh embodiment of the present invention shall be described using FIG. 28 and FIG. 29 .
  • FIG. 28 is a horizontal cross-section view of the refrigerator compartment section of a refrigerator 219 in the present embodiment.
  • FIG. 29 is a horizontal cross-section view of the refrigerator 219 in the present embodiment when the left door 110a is opened. It should be noted that the same numerical reference is given to constituent elements that are the same as in the fifth embodiment and their description shall be omitted.
  • the shapes of the left and right door pockets and shelf plate of the refrigerator 219 in the present embodiment are different from those of the refrigerator 151 in the fifth embodiment, other constituent elements, their functions, and so on, are the same as in the refrigerator 151 in the fifth embodiment. As such, description shall be focused on the characteristic configurations of the refrigerator 219 in the present embodiment.
  • the refrigerator 219 in the present embodiment includes the left door 110a the right door 110b and the right door pocket 111. However, unlike the respective refrigerators in the fifth and sixth embodiments, the refrigerator 219 in the present embodiment does not include a left door pocket.
  • the refrigerator 219 in the present embodiment further includes a shelf plate 212, and the right door pocket 111 is supportively held in place in the right door 110b. Moreover, plural right door pockets 111 are disposed along the vertical length of the right door 110b.
  • Plural shelf plates 212 are disposed from the top to bottom of a space between the right door pockets 111 and the cool air duct 84 in positions and of a shape that does not interfere with the right door pockets 111.
  • the plural shelf plates 212 create storage spaces for storage items spanning plural levels.
  • the shelf plate 212 is disposed within the storage space between the right door pocket 111 and the cool air duct 84 so as to provide a certain amount of clearance so as not to interfere with the right door pocket 111.
  • the shelf plate 2 1 2 is supportively held in place by the inner casing 70 by being placed on protrusions, and the like, that are cast with the inner casing 70, and is disposed to be approximately horizontal with respect to the vertical direction.
  • the shelf plate 212 is shaped to cover approximately the entire area in the horizontal depth direction of the left door 110a, and shaped so as not to interfere with the right door pocket 111 in the forward and backward direction at the refrigerator compartment-side of the right door 110b.
  • the shelf plate 212 in the present embodiment is shaped to have a gradation in the front edge in the same manner as the shelf plate 180 in the fifth embodiment.
  • the shelf plate 212 maintains a relationship in which K>L.
  • the left side of a straight line extending in the horizontal depth direction from the approximate center point of the gradation part 214 of the shelf plate 212 is a large shelf plate part 213 and the right side of the straight line is a normal shelf plate part 215.
  • shelf plates 212 and the right door pockets 111 in the present embodiment shall be described hereafter.
  • the inside of the refrigerator compartment is allocated to the right door pocket 111 and the shelf plate 112, as shown in FIG. 28 .
  • the shape of the door pocket 111 which swings integrally with the right door 110b fits within the swing trajectory of the right door 110b in the figure.
  • shelf plate 212 there is the normal shelf plate part 215 having a horizontal depth which does not interfere with the right door pocket 111, and the large shelf plate part 213 is shaped to project up to the vicinity of the left door 110a.
  • the shape of the shelf plate 212 and the right door pocket 111 shown in FIG. 28 is considered to be extremely effective in increasing storage space.
  • the left door 110a does not include door pockets as storage space and is configured of only a heat-insulating wall.
  • the shelf plate 212 can be projected up to the vicinity of the left door 110a, and the horizontal depth of the shelf plate 212 can be made to approximate the length from the door inner-surface of the left door 110a to the back surface of the storage compartment.
  • storage items can be placed in front of the user's line of sight and up front where they can easily be taken out, and thus taking items in and out becomes easy and convenient.
  • it is convenient for storing long items.
  • the upper surface of the shelf plate 212 can be made into an approximate L-shape. As such, when the right door 110b is opened, aside from the taking in and out of items with respect to the forward area of the normal shelf plate part 215, the taking in and out of items with respect to the area around the gradation part 214 existing in the in-compartment direction of the left door 110a also becomes easy.
  • the case is assumed in which the small-item case 83 shown in FIG. 18 and having a width that is equal to or less than M is placed in the large shelf plate part 213 of the shelf plate 212.
  • the user can pull out the small-item case 83 to the front without being bothered by the left door 110a.
  • pulling out and using the small-item case 83 outside the storage compartment from time to time can be done easily.
  • the refrigerator 219 in the present embodiment can efficiently increase storage space in the same manner as the respective refrigerators in the fifth and sixth embodiments.
  • the refrigerator 219 by providing various drawer mechanisms in the storage compartment space on the left door 110-side, the taking in and out of items can also be improved.
  • the respective refrigerators in the fifth through seventh embodiments are French door-type refrigerators including 2 doors. Furthermore, the horizontal depth of the shelf plate changes according to the compartment-side shape of the door pocket or the door.
  • the shelf plate is shaped to fill up the inoperative space in the refrigerator compartment. This increases the storage space within the storage compartment. Furthermore, there is also the advantageous effect of enabling sectionalized storage in which the storage location of storage items is changed depending on frequency of use and size.
  • FIG. 30 is a front view of a refrigerator in the present embodiment.
  • a refrigerator 220 in the present embodiment includes the refrigerator compartment 53, the ice-making compartment 54, the switchable compartment 55, the vegetable compartment 56, and the freezer compartment 57, as in the refrigerator 151 in the fifth embodiment.
  • the single swing door 65 is set in the refrigerator compartment 53. By opening the door 65, the user can take items in and out of the refrigerator compartment 53.
  • FIG. 31 is a horizontal cross-section view (B-B shown in FIG. 30 ) of the refrigerator 220 in the fourth embodiment. It should be noted that the same numerical reference is given to constituent elements that are the same as in the fifth embodiment and their description shall be omitted.
  • the refrigerator 220 in the present embodiment includes the door pocket 97.
  • Plural door pocket 97 are supportively held in place in the door 65 and disposed along the vertical length of the door 65.
  • the door pocket 97 has a shape in which the horizontal depth R on the swing axis 88-side is greater than a horizontal depth Q on the opposite side. In other words, it maintains an R>Q relationship.
  • plural shelf plates 221 included in the refrigerator 220 are disposed from the top to bottom of a space between the door pocket 97 and the cool air duct 84 in positions and of a shape that does not interfere with the door pocket 97.
  • the plural shelf plates 121 create storage spaces for storage items spanning plural levels.
  • this shelf plate 221 includes a gradation part 224 and includes a horizontally deep large shelf plate part 222 and a horizontally shallow normal shelf plate part 223.
  • the horizontal depth of the large shelf plate part 222 is assumed to be N and the horizontal depth of the normal shelf plate part 223 is P, it maintains a relationship in which N>P and the sum of N and Q is approximately equal to the sum of P and R.
  • this shelf plate 221 is shaped to fill up the inoperative space within the storage compartment.
  • shelf plates 221 and the door pockets 97 in the present embodiment shall be described hereafter.
  • the horizontal depth of the door pocket can only be increased up to a certain extent in consideration of the opening and closing of the door.
  • the door pocket 97 needs to fit within a circle (dashed-dotted line) having a swing axis 88 which is the swing center of the door 65 as a center and passing the end of the inner casing 70 opposite the swing axis 88.
  • the opening and closing of the door 65 becomes possible without having to provide a slanting portion.
  • the door pocket 97 has a shape in which the right side projects into the storage compartment.
  • sectionalized storage is possible in the same manner as the refrigerator 151 in the fifth embodiment, and thus the refrigerator 220 is a user-friendly refrigerator.
  • the refrigerator 220 in the present embodiment is a refrigerator having high storage efficiency and convenience in the same manner as the respective refrigerators in the fifth through seventh embodiments.
  • such space exists in a position that is below the door pocket and below the space from the gradation part of the shelf plate toward the horizontally shallow side of the shelf plate, in the base of the refrigerator compartment.
  • This space cannot be used as a placement area for food items and so on because the door pocket is located directly above when the door is closed.
  • FIG. 32 is a diagram showing the placement area of a storage case, in the refrigerator 220 in the present embodiment
  • the storage case 98 is set below the door pocket 97 and below the space on the right side of the gradation part 224 of the shelf plate 221.
  • the user can store, in the storage case 98, small soy sauce containers and so on that are not suited for storage in the shelf plates 221 or the door pockets 97. Furthermore, it is possible to improve the storage efficiency of the refrigerator 220.
  • such a storage case 98 can be set in the same manner in the refrigerators in the fifth through seventh embodiments and the same advantageous effect is achieved
  • the storage case 98 can also be used as a feed-water container for supplying water to the ice-making device.
  • a refrigerator in a ninth embodiment of the present invention shall be described using FIG. 33 to FIG. 35 .
  • FIG. 33 is a horizontal cross-section view of a refrigerator 251 in the present embodiment.
  • FIG. 34 is a perspective view showing the left edge portion of a shelf plate of the refrigerator 251 in the present embodiment, as seen from below the shelf plate.
  • FIG. 35 is a vertical cross-section view showing the shelf plate of the refrigerator 251 in the present embodiment in an unattached state. It should be noted that the same numerical reference is given to constituent elements that are the same as in the first embodiment and their description shall be omitted.
  • the refrigerator 251 in the present embodiment is different from the refrigerator 51 in the first embodiment in the point of including supports for easy detachment and attachment of the shelf plate, other constituent elements, their functions, and so on, are the same as in the refrigerator 51 in the first embodiment. As such, description shall be focused on the characteristic configurations of the refrigerator 219 in the present embodiment.
  • shelf plates 280 in the present embodiment are arranged inside the storage compartment 53 at predetermined intervals, by being supported from beneath by supports 281 fabricated integrally with the inner casing forming the storage compartment 53.
  • an L-shaped latching piece 296a projects from each of the edges in a drooping manner. The latching pieces 296a prevent the shelf plate 280 from inadvertently disengaging from the supports 281, by engaging with the bottom surface of the supporting parts 281.
  • Each of the supports 281 includes a cutout part 282 before the center in the horizontal depth direction.
  • the cutout part 282 has a length in the horizontal depth direction which allows the latching piece 296a to pass through, and sliding the shelf plate 280 up to the cutout part 282 allows the supports 281 to be released from the state of being clipped between the shelf plate 280 and the latching piece 296a.
  • the shelf plate 280 can be removed even when the left door 60a cannot be fully opened and the left door pocket 90 is present as shown by the dashed-dotted line.
  • the shelf plate 280 can be attached within the storage compartment 53 by performing the reverse procedure.
  • the shelf plate 280 can be easily attached and detached to the inside of the storage compartment 53 even when the shelf plate 280 has a horizontally deep portion. Furthermore, through the cutout part 282 of supports 281 disposed above, the tipping of the shelf plate 280 disposed below can be increased, and thus the shelf plate 280 can be easily removed even when the supports are parallelly arranged in close intervals.
  • FIG. 36 to FIG. 41 the configuration of a refrigerator in a tenth embodiment of the present invention shall be described using FIG. 36 to FIG. 41 . It should be noted that the same numerical reference is given to constituent elements that are the same as in the first embodiment.
  • FIG. 36 is a front view of the refrigerator in the present embodiment.
  • the refrigerator 351 in the present embodiment specifically includes, from the top, a refrigerator compartment 53, an ice-making compartment 54, a switchable compartment 55 provided beside the ice-making compartment 54 and which allows switching of inside temperature, a vegetable compartment 56, and a freezer compartment 57
  • each storage compartment is provided with a heat-insulating door filled with a foam heat-insulating material such as urethane.
  • the refrigerator compartment 53 is provided with a left door 60a and a right door 60b which cover the opening of the heat-insulating main body 52 in a manner which allows opening and closing.
  • the ice-making compartment 54, the switchable compartment 55, the vegetable compartment 56, and the freezer compartment 57 are provided with the drawer-type door 61, door 62, door 63, and door 64, respectively.
  • the doors of the storage compartment are French doors having a left door and a right door of identical width
  • one of the left door or the right door is of the drawer-type.
  • identical width refers not only to when the widths of the respective doors match perfectly, but also to when they are substantially the same. This is also true for the cases when other dimensions, locations, and so on, are said to be "the same” or "matching”.
  • FIG. 37 is a perspective view of the refrigerator 351 in the tenth embodiment with doors opened
  • FIG. 38 is a vertical cross-section view (A-A shown in FIG. 36 ) of the refrigerator 351.
  • the plural shelf plates 80 for organizing and storing food items, and so on, are placed in the refrigerator compartment 53 in a bridging manner to span between the left side-surface and the right side-surface.
  • the left door 60a and the right door 60b are placed at the opening of the refrigerator compartment 53. Specifically, the left door 60a and the right door 60b are each supported by the hinges 81 at the left and right ends of the heat-insulating main body 52.
  • a gasket 85 is fitted along the edges of the inner-side of such French door 60a and door 60b and thus the cold air inside the refrigerator compartment 53 is prevented from flowing to the outside.
  • the left door 60a has plural left door pockets 90 in a vertical direction in its refrigerator compartment 53-side, and the right door 60b also has plural right door pockets 91 in the same manner.
  • each door pocket is held in place by a holding member and the like, not shown in the Drawings, which is cast with a door inner-surface 89 and the like thus ensuring holding strength in the holding of storage items.
  • the intra-compartment surface of the doors is formed by the door inner-surface 89 and the storage compartment-side surfaces of the respective door pockets.
  • each of the plural door pockets in the respective doors form storage spaces spanning plural levels in the refrigerator compartment 53. Furthermore, each of the plural door pockets is intended to store mainly plastic bottles of beverages and the like and bottles of condiments and the like, and are shaped to have walls on the front, back, left, and right, and an upside opening.
  • each door pocket is an example of a projecting part provided in the inner wall of a door, and has a recessed part opening upward.
  • the projecting part need not have a recessed part as long as items can be placed on it.
  • each door pocket does not have a wall on the door-side (back wall) and instead utilizes the door inner-surface 89 as a back wall.
  • a lighting device 387 is provided in a sunken space on both left and right sides of the forward locations of the inner casing 70 forming the wall surface of the refrigerator compartment 53, and such space is covered by a cover not shown in the Drawings.
  • the inside of the storage compartment is illuminated from the front by the lighting device 387.
  • the light source of the lighting device 387 is plural Light-Emitting Diodes (LEDs).
  • the lighting device 387 is an example of a device, having light-emitting diodes as a light source, which is fitted to each of the right side-surface and the left side-surface of the storage compartment 53 and illuminates the inside of the storage compartment from in front of the front edge of the shelf plate 80.
  • chiller case 82 for improving the freshness of meat, fish, and the like, and small-item cases 83 for storing eggs and so on, are disposed in the lowest level of the storage spaces in the refrigerator compartment 53.
  • the heat-insulating main body 52 is configured of a heat-insulating wall in which a foam heat-insulating material 72 is injected into a space formed between the inner casing 70 that is a vacuum formed body of resin such as ABS and an outer casing 71 using a metal material such as pre-coated steel plate.
  • the cool air duct 84 for blowing the cool air cooled by the previously described cooler to the inside of the storage compartment is provided at the back of the refrigerator compartment 53, that is, at the back of the shelf plates 80.
  • the cool air duct 84 is configured from approximately the entire back-side of the inside of the heat-insulating main body 52 and, as necessary, is configured by providing outlets, not shown in the Drawings, between the respective shelf plates 80 so that cool air flows through the respective storage spaces. Furthermore, the cool air duct can also be used as a positioning unit or fastening unit for the plural shelf plates 80.
  • the divider 86 is disposed between both doors positioned at the opening of the refrigerator compartment 53. When both doors are closed, the gap between both doors is sealed by the divider 86 and the gasket 85.
  • the divider 86 is fitted to the right end of the left door 60a and is configured to turn together with the opening and closing of the left door 60a such that the left door 60a can be closed even after the right door 60b is closed first.
  • a divider 86 need not be set at the center portion.
  • shelf plates 80 is disposed within the storage compartment space between the left door pocket 90, the right door pocket 91 and the cool air duct 84, and is provided with a certain amount of clearance from the door pockets so as not to interfere with the left door pocket 90 and the right door pocket 91.
  • shelf plate 80 is supported and held in place in the heat-insulating main body 52 by being set on protrusions or the like that are cast with the inner casing 70, and is disposed so as to be approximately horizontal.
  • the left door pocket 90 is shorter in width than the right door pocket 91 in the same manner as the relationship between the left and right doors.
  • the horizontal depth C of the top plane opening of the left door pocket 90 and the horizontal depth D of the top plane opening of the right door pocket 91 are in a C ⁇ D relationship.
  • the right door pocket 91 is configured to protrude further into the storage compartment-side and thus have an enlarged storage space.
  • the distance from the door inner-surface of the French doors up to the back surface of the refrigerator compartment 53 is different at the left and right, with the distance being greater on the left side.
  • the horizontal depth of the shelf plate 80 is different on the left and right as seen from the opening of the refrigerator compartment 53.
  • shelf plate 80 and the left door pocket 90 and right door pocket 91 in the present embodiment shall be described hereafter.
  • Each of the French-type left door 60a and right door 60b configured at the opening of the refrigerator compartment 53 opens by swinging outward from the boundary of the left door 60a and the right door 60b, with the hinges 81 as an axis. With this movement, the left door pocket 90 and the right door pocket 91 included in the respective doors swing together with the doors.
  • each of the door pockets need to be in a shape that fits within the swing trajectory (dashed-dotted line) of each door.
  • the right door pocket 91 is provided with a slanting portion on the left side and is made to be horizontally deeper than the left door pocket 90 but within the swing trajectory of the right door 60b. Furthermore, the left door pocket 90 has a relatively short width and horizontal depth so as to fit within the swing trajectory of the left door 60a without having to make a slanting portion as described above.
  • the storable volume for the left door pocket 90 is comparatively small, enlarging the right door pocket 91 guarantees a fixed amount for the total storable volume for the left and right door pockets.
  • the slanting portion becomes more acute as the horizontal depth of the right door pocket 91 increases, and the space between the right door pocket 91, the left door pocket 90 and the shelf plate 80, that is, the inoperable space around the back of the divider 86, becomes larger.
  • the front edge on the shallow side of the shelf plate 80 faces the door inner-surface with the shorter distance from the door inner-surface to the back surface
  • the front edge on the deep side of the shelf plate 80 faces the door inner-surface with the longer distance from the door inner-surface to the back surface
  • the front edge of the horizontally shallow right side of the shelf plate 80 faces the horizontally deep right door pocket 91
  • the front edge of the horizontally deep left side of the shelf plate 80 faces the horizontally shallow left door pocket 90.
  • the respective horizontal depths of the projecting parts consisting of the right door pocket 91 and the left door pocket 90 conform to the horizontal depths of the shelf plate 80.
  • the shelf plate 80 assumes a shape that satisfies E>F and the sum of E and C is approximately equal to the sum of F and D.
  • the shape of the front end portion of the shelf plate 80 toward the left and right is opposite those of the left door pocket 90 and the right door pocket 91.
  • the front edge of the shelf plate 80 in the present embodiment has a gradation in the front-back direction that is not present in conventional refrigerator shelf plates.
  • the part making up this gradation shall be referred to as the gradation part 92.
  • the gradation part 92 is a part which continuously connects the respective front edges of the left side and the right side of a shelf plate through a curve.
  • the lighting device 387 illuminates the gradation part 92. With this, it is possible to improve the aesthetics in the state when the doors of the refrigerator are opened by the user.
  • the left side portion of the shelf plate 80 including the portion having the horizontal depth E shall be referred to as the large shelf plate part 93 and the right side portion of the shelf plate 80 including the portion having the horizontal depth F shall be referred to as the normal shelf plate part 94.
  • the large shelf plate part 93 and the normal shelf plate part 94 can be roughly distinguished as the left side (large shelf plate part 93) and the right side (normal shelf plate part 94) of the straight line stretching in the horizontal depth direction from the center point of the left-right direction of the gradation part 92.
  • the method for distinguishing the large shelf plate part 93 and the normal shelf plate part 94 is not limited to the above-described method and, for example, in FIG. 39 , it is acceptable to refer to only the area having the horizontal depth F as the normal shelf plate part 94, and refer to the remaining area as the large shelf plate part 93.
  • the front edge of the large shelf plate part 93 and the front edge of the normal shelf plate part 94 are continuously connected by the gradation part 92.
  • this curved shape is a result of shaping to match the shape of the right door pocket 91 including the slanting portion. Determining the respective dimensions of the normal shelf plate part 94 in a shape that follows the shape of the left door pocket 91 in this manner is particularly effective in reducing the inoperative space.
  • the shape of the shelf plate 80 in the present embodiment enlarges the storable shelf base area of the entire storage compartment combining the left door pocket 90, the right door pocket 91 and the shelf plate 80, and can thus be regarded as a shape which efficiently increases the storage space
  • the shape of the gradation part 92 may be any shape which does not interfere with the horizontally deep right door pocket 91.
  • the shape of the right door pocket 91 is a shape that does not interfere with the left door 60a, that is, a shape that fits within the swing trajectory of the right door 60b.
  • the gradation part 92 is on the outer side of the swing trajectory of the right door 60b, it does not interfere with the right door pocket 91. Furthermore, in order to reduce the inoperative space, it is sufficient for the curve included in the gradation part 92 to be a curve having an arc which corresponds to the swing trajectory of the right door 60b.
  • the right door pocket 91 is made to have a horizontal depth that is greater than normal to make up for the reduced storage space of the left door pocket 90.
  • the storage space is increased over the conventional refrigerator without changing the overall size.
  • the size of the inoperative space resulting from the swing trajectories of the French doors described above can be suppressed by moving the location of the swing trajectories forward by moving the location of the hinges 81 forward, and so on.
  • the refrigerator 351 in the present embodiment increases the storage space over the conventional refrigerator without changing overall size.
  • the refrigerator 351 is a refrigerator that has better storage efficiency and convenience than what is conventional.
  • the respective front edges of the shelf plates from the top level to the bottom level are disposed in parallel positions, that is, the plural shelf plates 80 are disposed such that the positions in the horizontal depth direction of the respective front edges are approximately the same.
  • the plural shelf plates 80 can be made up of identical components, and this contributes to the reduction of manufacturing costs through component standardization, and the reduction of manufacturing costs through reduced operational load in the manufacturing stage.
  • the shelf plate 80 includes a large shelf plate part 93 and the normal shelf plate part 94, in accordance with the shape of the left door pockets 90 and the right door pockets 93 which have long and short horizontal depths.
  • the shelf plate 80 includes, in the large shelf plate part 93, a large area which allows storage and is not conventionally available.
  • the large shelf plate part 93 is characterized in being horizontally deep, and allows relatively long storage items such as a skillet or a large bottle to be placed steadily without interfering with the taking in and out of other storage items.
  • Such advantageous effects can be obtained simply by reducing the horizontal depths C and D of the left door pocket 90 and right door pocket 91, respectively, and increasing the horizontal depths E and F of the shelf plate 80.
  • the shelf plate 80 into a relatively thin flat plate, the storage spaces spanning plural levels can be enlarged as much as possible. In other words, the storage space can be increased. Furthermore, there is no sense of crampedness in the front edge of the shelf plates 80, which is most visually concerning.
  • shelf plates 80 by fabricating the shelf plates 80 with a material having transparency, it is possible to reduce the sense of crampedness imparted by the shelf plates 80 and give a sense of spaciousness. Furthermore, it is also possible to impart a sense of cleanliness inside the refrigerator compartment 53.
  • the gradation part 92 of the shelf plate 80 is not an angular step but has a smooth-flowing wave shape such as a rounded shape or a chamfered shape for example.
  • This also has an advantageous effect as a reinforcing structure for preventing the occurrence of stress concentration and distortion in the shelf plate 80. As such, since it is possible to prevent sagging and cracking even when storage items are placed on top, and it is attractive in appearance and superior design-wise, it is a very effective means.
  • the shelf plate 80 includes, as a brim material, the molded metal plate 95 of stainless steel, and the like, as shown in FIG. 5 .
  • the metal plate 95 is fitted as decoration to the front edge of a shelf plate 80 having transparency and including a wave-shaped gradation part 92 as in the first embodiment, when such shelf plate 80 and metal plate 95 are illuminated by the lighting device 387 with a light from the front of the storage compartment, the shelf plate and metal plate are illuminated from approximately the same direction as the direction of the line of sight of the user. With this, the storage items inside the storage compartment become very easy to see, and the design characteristics of the shelf plate 80 having the wave-form gradation part 92 is improved.
  • shelf plate 80 serves a dual purpose of increasing light transmissivity and making the shelf plate clean and superior in strength.
  • the left door pocket 90 is configured to have a relatively short horizontal depth C. As such, as shown in FIG. 40 , even when assuming a usage environment in which the left door 60a can only be opened 90 degrees, the opening dimension G has a length which allows the storage items to be taken in and out.
  • the refrigerator 351 in the present embodiment it is possible to position storage items further in front using the forward-projecting large shelf plate part 93, and there is the advantage that taking storage items placed in the shelf plate 80 in and out is easy even in a usage environment in which the left door 60a cannot be sufficiently opened.
  • the refrigerator compartment 53 in the present embodiment is located on the uppermost part of the refrigerator 351. Therefore, in the case where the refrigerator 351 is a refrigerator of approximately 1800 mm main body height which is the currently predominant over-400 liter capacity type, the storage items in the refrigerator compartment 53 are positioned at approximately the same height as the user's line of sight.
  • sectionalized storage in which the user stores relatively small bottles such as condiments and dressing in the left door pocket 90, and stores relatively big items such as plastic bottles or milk cartons in the right pocket 91, becomes possible.
  • the shelf plate 80 also allows sectionalized storage in which the horizontally deep but narrow large shelf plate part 93 is used as a stocking zone for storing food items that are not frequently taken in and out, and the large shelf plate part 93 which has a relatively short horizontal depth but is wider than the large shelf plate parts 93 is used as a flowing zone for storing food items that are frequently taken in and out.
  • the user can roughly divide the inside of refrigerator compartment 53 into 4 zones, and use each section depending on the purpose.
  • the refrigerator compartment 53 opening the largest, and positioning, below the refrigerator compartment 53, the ice-making compartment 54, the switchable compartment 55, the vegetable compartment 56, and so on, which have drawer doors, a very user-friendly storage compartment positioning can be realized.
  • the left door 60a is described to have a form in which left-right length, that is, the width is less than that of the right door 60b, the ratio for dividing both doors may be in any proportion.
  • the left door pocket 90 is made horizontally shallow, this is the result of consideration being given mainly to user-friendliness in a situation where relatively more users are right-handed, and it goes without saying that the same advantageous effect can be obtained even when the configurations of the left and right doors were to be interchanged.
  • the length in the left-right direction of the left door 60a and the right door 60b that is, the width of the left door 60a and the width of the right door 60b may be made the same.
  • FIG. 41 is a plan cross-section view of the case where the widths of the left door and the right door of the refrigerator in the present embodiment are made the same, the width of the left door 60a and the width of the right door 60b are made the same. With this, the width of the large shelf plate part 93 increases. As such, more food items, and so on, can be placed on the large shelf plate part 93.
  • the strength, design characteristics, and so on, of the shelf plate 80 is improved by fitting the metal plate 95 on the front edge of the shelf plate 80.
  • the brim material may be fitted on the entire perimeter of the shelf plate 80.
  • a latching part and the like for setting the shelf plate 80 in the inner casing 70 can be provided by casting.
  • the shelf plate 80 can be easily provided with protrusions.
  • the latching part needs to be attached to the glass shelf plate 80 using an adhesive and the like.
  • the latching part for setting the shelf plate 80 on the inner casing 70 can also be provided to the shelf plate 80.
  • FIG. 42 a refrigerator in an eleventh embodiment of the present invention shall be described using FIG. 42 .
  • FIG. 42 is a horizontal cross-section view of the refrigerator compartment section of a refrigerator 418 in the present embodiment. It should be noted that the same numerical reference is given to constituent elements that are the same as in the tenth embodiment and their description shall be omitted.
  • the shapes of the left and right door pockets and shelf plate of the refrigerator 418 in the present embodiment are different from those of the refrigerator 351 in the tenth embodiment, other constituent elements, their functions, and so on, are the same as in the refrigerator 351 in the tenth embodiment.
  • the refrigerator 418 in the present embodiment includes the left door 60a, the right door 60b, the lighting device 387, the left door pocket 100, the right door pocket 101, and the shelf plate 102.
  • plural left door pockets 100 are supportively held in place in the left door 60a and disposed along the vertical length of the left door 60a.
  • Plural right door pockets 101 are likewise supportively held in place in the right door 60b and disposed along the vertical length of the right door 60b.
  • Plural shelf plates 102 are disposed from the top to bottom of a space between the door pockets and the cool air duct 84 in positions and shapes that do not interfere with the door pockets.
  • the plural shelf plates 80 form storage spaces spanning plural levels.
  • the lighting device 387 is fitted to each of the right side-surface and the left side-surface of the refrigerator compartment and illuminates, with light-emitting diodes as a light source, the inside of the refrigerator compartment from in front of the front edge of the shelf plate 102.
  • light-emitting diodes have low power consumption and a longer lifespan. Therefore, energy conservation becomes possible.
  • the left door pocket 100 is of a size that fits within the swing trajectory of the left door 60a in the figure so as not to interfere with the right door 60b, and is shaped so that the shape of its base is approximately square.
  • the right door pocket 101 is horizontally deeper than the left door pocket 100. Furthermore, the horizontal depth of the left end of the right door pocket 101 is reduced in order to fit within the swing trajectory of the right door 60b in the figure so as not to interfere with the left door 60a.
  • the shelf plate 102 is disposed within the storage compartment space between the left door pocket 100, the right door pocket 101 and the cool air duct 84 in such a way that a certain amount of clearance is provided so as not to interfere with the left door pocket 100 and the right door pocket 101.
  • the shelf plate 102 is supportively held in place by the inner casing 70 by being placed on protrusions, and the like, that are cast with the inner casing 70, and is disposed to be approximately horizontal with respect to the vertical direction.
  • the shape of the shelf plate 102 is one in which the left end side is horizontally deeper than the right end side.
  • a boundary part 106 is provided between the left door pocket 100 and the right door pocket 101, in the space just behind the divider 86, and the horizontal depth of the shelf plate 102 gradually decreases from the boundary part 106 towards the right side.
  • the boundary part 106 is a part which serves as an approximate boundary at which the horizontal depth of the shelf plate changes.
  • the left side from the boundary part 106 of the shelf plate 102 corresponds to the large shelf plate part 93 in the tenth embodiment
  • the right side from the boundary part 106 corresponds to the normal shelf plate part 94 in the tenth embodiment.
  • shelf plate 102 and the left door pocket 100 and right door pocket 101 in the present embodiment shall be described hereafter.
  • the inoperative space behind the divider 86 can be minimized.
  • the horizontal depth of the left-side portion of the shelf plate 102 can be increased.
  • the right door pocket 101 is made larger than the left door pocket 100 so as to compensate for the smallness of the left door pocket 100.
  • the storage space within the storage compartment can be dramatically increased without reducing the door pocket storage space which is very convenient for the user.
  • a single boundary part 106 is present in the front edge of the shelf plate 102 and, when looking at the shelf plate 102 from the top and bottom directions, the front edge has a relatively simple shape consisting of mainly 2 straight lines.
  • the shelf plate 102 and the brim material can be fabricated at a low cost.
  • the front edge of the shelf plate 102 need not be in a shape consisting mainly of 2 straight lines as shown in FIG. 42 . Specifically, the front edge of the shelf plate 102 need not be in a shape that bends at the boundary part 106.
  • the front edge may be in a shape which softly curves at the boundary part 106.
  • the boundary part 106 may bulge toward the divider 86 within a range that does not enter the swing trajectory of the left door 60a and the right door 60b and the area required for the turning of the divider 86.
  • FIG. 43 is horizontal cross-section view of the refrigerator compartment section of a refrigerator 419 in the present embodiment.
  • FIG. 44 is a horizontal cross-section view of the refrigerator 419 in the present embodiment when the left door 110a is opened. It should be noted that the same numerical reference is given to constituent elements that are the same as in the tenth embodiment and their description shall be omitted.
  • the shapes of the left and right door pockets and shelf plate of the refrigerator 419 in the present embodiment are different from those of the refrigerator 351 in the tenth embodiment, other constituent elements, their functions, and so on, are the same as in the refrigerator 351 in the tenth embodiment.
  • the refrigerator 419 in the present embodiment includes the lighting device 387, the left door 110a, the right door 110b, and the right door pocket 111.
  • the refrigerator 419 in the present embodiment does not include a left door pocket.
  • the refrigerator 419 in the present embodiment further includes the shelf plate 112, and plural right door pockets 111 are disposed along the vertical length of the right door 110b.
  • Plural shelf plates 112 are disposed from the top to bottom of a space between the right door pockets 111 and the cool air duct 84 in positions and of a shape that does not interfere with the right door pockets 111.
  • the plural shelf plates 112 form storage spaces spanning plural levels.
  • the lighting device 387 is fitted to each of the right side-surface and the left side-surface of the refrigerator compartment and illuminates, with light-emitting diodes as a light source, the inside of the refrigerator compartment from in front of the front edge of the shelf plate 102.
  • the shelf plate 112 is disposed within the storage space between the right door pocket 111 and the cool air duct 84 so as to provide a certain amount of clearance so as not to interfere with the right door pocket 111.
  • the shelf plate 112 is supportively held in place by the inner casing 70 by being placed on protrusions, and the like, that are cast with the inner casing 70, and is disposed to be approximately horizontal with respect to the vertical direction.
  • the shelf plate 112 is shaped to cover almost the entire area of the space located in the refrigerator compartment-side of the left door 110a, and shaped so as not to interfere with the right door pocket 111 in the forward and backward direction at the refrigerator compartment-side of the right door 110b.
  • the shelf plate 112 in the present embodiment is shaped to have a gradation in the front edge in the same manner as the shelf plate 80 in the tenth embodiment.
  • the shelf plate 112 maintains a relationship in which K>L.
  • the left side of a straight line extending in the horizontal depth direction from the approximate center point of the gradation part 114 of the shelf plate 112 is the large shelf plate part 113 and the right side of the straight line is the normal shelf plate part 115.
  • shelf plates 112 and the right door pockets 111 in the present embodiment shall be described hereafter.
  • the horizontal cross-section of the inside of the refrigerator compartment is virtually allocated to the right door pocket 111 and the shelf plate 112, as shown in FIG. 43 .
  • the shape of the door pocket 111 which swings integrally with the right door 110b fits within the swing trajectory of the right door 110b in the figure.
  • shelf plate 112 there is a normal shelf plate part 115 having a horizontal depth which does not interfere with the right door pocket 111, and the large shelf plate part 113 is shaped to project up to the vicinity of the left door 110a.
  • the shape of the shelf plate 122 and the right door pocket 111 shown in FIG. 43 is considered to be extremely effective in increasing storage space.
  • the left door 110a does not include door pockets as storage space and is configured of only a heat-insulating wall.
  • the shelf plate 112 can be projected up to the vicinity of the left door 110a, and the horizontal depth of the shelf plate 112 can be made to approximate the length from the door inner-surface of the left door 110a to the back surface of the storage compartment.
  • storage items can be placed in front of the user's line of sight and up front where they can easily be taken out, and thus taking items in and out becomes easy and convenient.
  • it is convenient for storing long items.
  • the upper surface of the shelf plate 112 can be made into an approximate L-shape. As such, when the right door 110b is opened, aside from the taking in and out of items with respect to the forward area of the normal shelf plate part 115, the taking in and out of items with respect to the area around the gradation part 114 existing in the in-compartment direction of the left door 110a also becomes easy.
  • the user can pull out the small-item case 83 to the front without being bothered by the left door 110a.
  • pulling out and using the small-item case 83 outside the storage compartment from time to time can be done easily.
  • the refrigerator 419 also allows sectionalized storage through separate usage of the large shelf plate parts 113, the normal shelf plate parts 115, and the right door pockets 111.
  • the refrigerator 419 in the present embodiment can efficiently increase storage space in the same manner as the respective refrigerators in the tenth and eleventh embodiments.
  • the refrigerator 419 by providing various drawer mechanisms in the storage compartment space on the left door 110-side, the taking in and out of items can also be improved.
  • the refrigerator 419 in the present embodiment is a refrigerator that has better storage efficiency and convenience than what is conventional.
  • the respective refrigerators in the tenth through twelfth embodiments include French doors having 2 doors, one each for the left and right, in the opening of the refrigerator compartment. Furthermore, the horizontal depths of the left side and the right side of the shelf plate are in accordance with the shape of the door inner-surface of the doors.
  • the aforementioned dimensions of the shelf plate are dimensions for filling up the inoperative space within the refrigerator compartment. This increases the storage space within the storage compartment. Furthermore, there are also advantageous effects such as allowing efficient sectionalized storage.
  • FIG. 45 is a front view of the refrigerator in the present embodiment.
  • a refrigerator 420 in the present embodiment includes the refrigerator compartment 53, the ice-making compartment 54, the switchable compartment 55, the vegetable compartment 56, and the freezer compartment 57, as in the refrigerator 351 in the tenth embodiment.
  • a single swing door 65 is set in the refrigerator compartment 53. By opening the door 65, the user can take items in and out of the refrigerator compartment 53.
  • FIG. 46 is a horizontal cross-section view (B-B shown in FIG. 45 ) of the refrigerator 420 in the present embodiment. It should be noted that the same numerical reference is given to constituent elements that are the same as in the tenth embodiment and their description shall be omitted.
  • the refrigerator 420 in the present embodiment includes the door pocket 97.
  • Plural door pocket 97 are supportively held in place in the door 65 and disposed along the vertical length of the door 65.
  • the door pocket 97 has a shape in which the horizontal depth R on the swing axis 88-side is greater than a horizontal depth Q on the opposite side. In other words, it maintains an R>Q relationship.
  • plural shelf plates 121 included in the refrigerator 420 are disposed from the top to bottom of a space between the door pocket 97 and the cool air duct 84 in positions and of a shape that does not interfere with the door pocket 97.
  • the plural shelf plates 121 form storage spaces spanning plural levels.
  • the lighting device 387 is fitted to each of the right side-surface and the left side-surface of the refrigerator compartment and illuminates, with light-emitting diodes as a light source, the inside of the refrigerator compartment from in front of the front edge of the shelf plate 102.
  • this shelf plate 121 includes the gradation part 124 and includes the horizontally deep large shelf plate part 122 and the horizontally shallow normal shelf plate part 123.
  • the horizontal depth of the large shelf plate part 122 is assumed to be N and the horizontal depth of the normal shelf plate part 123 is P, it maintains a relationship in which N>P and the sum of N and Q is approximately equal to the sum of P and R.
  • this shelf plate 121 is shaped to fill up the inoperative space within the storage compartment.
  • shelf plates 121 and the door pockets 97 in the present embodiment shall be described hereafter.
  • the horizontal depth of the door pocket can only be increased up to a certain extent in consideration of the opening and closing of the door.
  • the door pocket 97 needs to fit within a circle (dashed-dotted line) having a swing axis 88 which is the swing center of the door 65 as a center and passing the end of the inner casing 70 opposite the swing axis 88.
  • the opening and closing of the door 65 becomes possible without having to provide a slanting portion.
  • the door pocket 97 has a shape in which the right side projects into the storage compartment.
  • sectionalized storage is possible in the same manner as the refrigerator 351 in the tenth embodiment, and thus the refrigerator 420 is a user-friendly refrigerator.
  • the refrigerator 420 in the present embodiment is a refrigerator that has better storage efficiency and convenience than what is conventional, in the same manner as the respective refrigerators in the tenth through twelfth embodiments.
  • such space exists in a position that is below the door pocket and below the space from the gradation part of the shelf plate toward the horizontally shallow side of the shelf plate, in the base of the refrigerator compartment.
  • This space is an inoperative space that cannot be used as a placement area for food items and so on because the door pocket is located directly above when the door is closed.
  • FIG. 47 is a diagram showing the case where a storage case is set in the base of the refrigerator compartment of the refrigerator in the present embodiment.
  • the storage case 98 is set below the door pocket 97 and below the space on the right side of the gradation part 124 of the shelf plate 121.
  • the user can store, in the storage case 98, small soy sauce containers and so on that are not suited for storage in the shelf plates 121 or the door pockets 97.
  • the storage efficiency and convenience of the refrigerator 420 is improved.
  • such a storage case 98 can be set in the same manner in the refrigerators in the tenth through twelfth embodiments and the same advantageous effect is achieved.
  • the storage case 98 can also be used as a feed-water container for supplying water to the ice-making device.
  • the lighting device 387 may also illuminate the storage case 98 aside from the refrigerator compartment. This can be realized by facing a part of the LEDs included in the lighting device 387 toward the back surface and facing the remainder towards the bottom. With this, the inside of the storage case 98 can be brightly illuminated, and thus making it possible to see the storage items inside the storage case 98 easily.
  • the refrigerators in the tenth through thirteenth embodiments have been described thus far, the present invention is not limited to such descriptions. Furthermore, constituent elements of mutually different embodiments may be combined.
  • the single-door refrigerator 420 described in the thirteenth embodiment may include a shallow door pocket such as in the right door pocket 111 in the twelfth embodiment.
  • FIG. 48 is a horizontal cross-section view of the case where the refrigerator 420 in the thirteenth embodiment includes only a laterally-short door pocket.
  • the door 65 includes a projecting part on the right side since the door 65 includes a door pocket 99 only on the swing axis 88-side, that is, the right side which is near the hinge.
  • horizontal depth of the right side of the shelf plate 112 which faces the door pocket 99 is short so that the shelf plate 112 and the door pocket 99 do not interfere with each other. Furthermore, the horizontal depth of the left side is longer than the horizontal depth of the right side, and is such that the front edge of the left side extends up to the vicinity of the heat-insulating wall making up the door 65.
  • the gradation part 114 of the shelf plate 112 is made up of a curve so as not to interfere with the door pocket 99 and to reduce the inoperative space.
  • the refrigerator 420 can fill up, with the shelf plate 112, the space on the storage compartment-side of left side of the door 65 which usually tends to become an inoperative space, and thus achieves high storage efficiency.
  • the refrigerator 420 shown in FIG. 48 includes the three storage areas of the large shelf plate part 113 and the normal shelf plate part 115 of the shelf plate 112, and the door pocket 99, and thus allows the user to perform sectionalized storage efficiently.
  • the refrigerator 420 is a very convenient refrigerator.
  • the lighting device 387 is fitted to each of the right side-surface and the left side-surface of the refrigerator compartment and illuminates, with light-emitting diodes as a light source, the inside of the refrigerator compartment from in front of the front edge of the shelf plate 112. With this, shadows are not cast on the storage items on the shelf plate 112 and the user can easily see the storage items, and thus convenience is improved. Furthermore, compared to conventional light bulbs, light-emitting diodes have low power consumption and a longer lifespan. Therefore, energy conservation becomes possible.
  • the door 65 may include a horizontally shallow storage pocket, on the left side of the surface on the storage compartment-side.
  • the door 65 may include, on the left side of the storage compartment-side surface, a stand pocket for storing small items, such as condiments tubes, in an upright manner.
  • FIG. 49 to FIG. 57 the configuration of a refrigerator in a fourteenth embodiment of the present invention shall be described using FIG. 49 to FIG. 57 . It should be noted that the same numerical reference is given to constituent elements that are the same as in the first embodiment.
  • FIG. 49 is a front view of the refrigerator in the present embodiment.
  • a refrigerator 451 in the present embodiment is a refrigerator including French doors in the same manner as the refrigerator 51 in the first embodiment, and includes a compartmentalized storage compartment within the heat-insulating main body 52.
  • the refrigerator 451 in the present embodiment specifically includes, from the top, a refrigerator compartment 53, an ice-making compartment 54, a switchable compartment 55 provided beside the ice-making compartment 54 and which allows switching of inside temperature, a vegetable compartment 56, and a freezer compartment 57.
  • each storage compartment is provided with a heat-insulating door filled with a foam heat-insulating material such as urethane.
  • the refrigerator compartment 53 is provided with a left door 60a and a right door 60b which cover the opening of the heat-insulating main body 52 in a manner which allows opening and closing.
  • the ice-making compartment 54, the switchable compartment 55, the vegetable compartment 56, and the freezer compartment 57 are provided with the drawer-type door 61, door 62, door 63, and door 64, respectively.
  • the doors of the storage compartment are French doors having a left door and a right door of identical width
  • one of the left door or the right door is of the drawer-type.
  • identical width refers not only to when the widths of the respective doors match perfectly, but also to when they are substantially the same. This is also true for the cases when other dimensions, locations, and so on, are said to be "the same” or "matching”.
  • a cooler and fan which are not shown in the Drawings are provided behind the vegetable compartment 56 and the freezer compartment 57.
  • the cooler is driven by a compressor disposed at the bottom portion of the main body of the refrigerator 451, and cooled air from the cooler is sent to the respective storage compartments. Furthermore, cooling is controlled to predetermined temperatures for each of the storage compartments.
  • plural shelf plates 480 for organizing and storing food items, and so on, are placed in the refrigerator compartment 53 in a bridging manner to span between the left side-surface and the right side-surface.
  • FIG. 52 is diagram showing the shelf plate 480 included in the refrigerator 451 in the present invention.
  • the shelf plate 480 includes, on the left and right, areas having different color tones.
  • the shelf plate looks even more beautiful to the user, when the doors of the refrigerator are opened.
  • the left door 60a and the right door 60b are placed at the opening of the refrigerator compartment 53.
  • the left door 60a and the right door 60b are each supported by the hinges 81 at the left and right ends of the heat-insulating main body 52.
  • a gasket 85 is fitted along the edges of the inner-side of such French door 60a and door 60b and thus the cold air inside the refrigerator compartment 53 is prevented from flowing to the outside.
  • the left door 60a has plural left door pockets 90 in a vertical direction in its refrigerator compartment 53-side, and the right door 60b also has plural right door pockets 91 in the same manner.
  • each door pocket is held in place by a holding member and the like, not shown in the Drawings, which is cast with a door inner-surface 89 and the like thus ensuring holding strength in the holding of storage items.
  • the intra-compartment surface of the doors is formed by the door inner-surface 89 and the storage compartment-side surfaces of the respective door pockets.
  • each of the plural door pockets in the respective doors form storage spaces spanning plural levels in the refrigerator compartment 53. Furthermore, each of the plural door pockets is intended to store mainly plastic bottles of beverages and the like and bottles of condiments and the like, and are shaped to have walls on the front, back, left, and right, and an upside opening.
  • each door pocket is an example of a projecting part provided in the inner wall of a door, and has a recessed part opening upward.
  • the projecting part need not have a recessed part as long as items can be placed on it.
  • each door pocket does not have a wall on the door-side (back wall) and instead utilizes the door inner-surface 89 as a back wall.
  • the lighting device 87 is provided in a sunken space on both left and right sides of the forward locations of the inner casing 70 forming the wall surface of the refrigerator compartment 53, and such space is covered by a cover not shown in the Drawings.
  • the inside of the storage compartment is illuminated from the front by the lighting device 87.
  • the lighting device 87 may be provided in a cool air duct 84 described later, located at the back side of the refrigerator compartment 53 or the ceiling of the refrigerator compartment 53, and plural lighting devices 87 may be provided.
  • chiller case 82 for improving the freshness of meat, fish, and the like, and small-item cases 83 for storing eggs and so on, are disposed in the lowest level of the storage spaces in the refrigerator compartment 53.
  • the heat-insulating main body 52 is configured of a heat-insulating wall in which a foam heat-insulating material 72 is injected into a space formed between the inner casing 70 that is a vacuum formed body of resin such as ABS and an outer casing 71 using a metal material such as pre-coated steel plate.
  • the cool air duct 84 for blowing the cool air cooled by the previously described cooler to the inside of the storage compartment is provided at the back of the refrigerator compartment 53, that is, at the back of the shelf plates 480.
  • the cool air duct 84 is configured from approximately the entire back-side of the inside of the heat-insulating main body 52 and, as necessary, is configured by providing outlets, not shown in the Drawings, between the respective shelf plates 480 so that cool air flows through the respective storage spaces.
  • the cool air duct can also be used as a positioning unit or fastening unit for the plural shelf plates 480.
  • the divider 86 is disposed between both doors positioned at the opening of the refrigerator compartment 53. When both doors are closed, the gap between both doors is sealed by the divider 86 and the gasket 85.
  • a divider 86 need not be set at the center portion.
  • the shelf plate 480 is disposed within the storage compartment space between the left door pocket 90, the right door pocket 91 and the cool air duct 84, and is provided with a certain amount of clearance from the door pockets so as not to interfere with the left door pocket 90 and the right door pocket 91.
  • shelf plate 480 is supported and held in place in the heat-insulating main body 52 by being set on protrusions or the like that are cast with the inner casing 70, and are disposed so as to be approximately horizontal.
  • the left door pocket 90 is shorter in width than the right door pocket 91 in the same manner as the relationship between the left and right doors.
  • the horizontal depth C of the top plane opening of the left door pocket 90 and the horizontal depth D of the top plane opening of the right door pocket 91 are in a C ⁇ D relationship.
  • the right door pocket 91 is configured to protrude further into the storage compartment-side and thus have an enlarged storage space.
  • the distance from the door inner-surface of the French doors up to the back surface of the refrigerator compartment 53 is different at the left and right, with the distance being greater on the left side.
  • the horizontal depth of the shelf plate 480 is different on the left and right as seen from the opening of the refrigerator compartment 53.
  • shelf plate 480 and the left door pocket 90 and right door pocket 91 in the present embodiment shall be described hereafter.
  • Each of the French-type left door 60a and right door 60b configured at the opening of the refrigerator compartment 53 opens by swinging outward from the boundary of the left door 60a and the right door 60b, with the hinges 81 as an axis. With this movement, the left door pocket 90 and the right door pocket 91 included in the respective doors swing together with the doors.
  • each of the door pockets need to be in a shape that fits within the swing trajectory (dashed-dotted line) of each door.
  • the right door pocket 91 is provided with a slanting portion on the left side and is made to be horizontally deeper than the left door pocket 90 but within the swing trajectory of the right door 60b. Furthermore, the left door pocket 90 has a relatively short width and horizontal depth so as to fit within the swing trajectory of the left door 60a without having to make a slanting portion as described above.
  • the storable volume for the left door pocket 90 is comparatively small, enlarging the right door pocket 91 guarantees a fixed amount for the total storable volume for the left and right door pockets.
  • the slanting portion becomes more acute as the horizontal depth of the right door pocket 91 increases, and the space between the right door pocket 91, the left door pocket 90 and the shelf plate 480, that is, the inoperable space around the back of the divider 86, becomes larger.
  • the front edge on the shallow side of the shelf plate 480 faces the door inner-surface with the shorter distance from the door inner-surface to the back surface
  • the front edge on the deep side of the shelf plate 480 faces the door inner-surface with the longer distance from the door inner-surface to the back surface
  • the front edge of the horizontally shallow right side of the shelf plate 480 faces the horizontally deep right door pocket 91
  • the front edge of the horizontally deep left side of the shelf plate 480 faces the horizontally shallow left door pocket 90.
  • the respective horizontal depths of the projecting parts consisting of the right door pocket 91 and the left door pocket 90 conform to the horizontal depths of the shelf plate 80.
  • the shelf plate 480 assumes a shape that satisfies E>F and the sum of E and C is approximately equal to the sum of F and D.
  • the shape of the front end portion of the shelf plate 480 toward the left and right is opposite those of the left door pocket 90 and the right door pocket 91.
  • the front edge of the shelf plate 480 in the present embodiment has a gradation in the front-back direction that is not present in conventional refrigerator shelf plates.
  • the part making up this gradation shall be referred to as a gradation part 492.
  • the gradation part 492 is a part which continuously connects the respective front edges of the left side and the right side of a shelf plate through a curve.
  • the left side portion of the shelf plate 480 including the portion having the horizontal depth E shall be referred to as a large shelf plate part 493 and the right side portion of the shelf plate 480 including the portion having the horizontal depth F shall be referred to as a normal shelf plate part 494.
  • the large shelf plate part 493 and the normal shelf plate part 494 can be roughly distinguished as the left side (large shelf plate part 493) and the right side (normal shelf plate part 494) of the straight line stretching in the horizontal depth direction from the center point of the left-right direction of the gradation part 492.
  • the method for distinguishing the large shelf plate part 493 and the normal shelf plate part 494 is not limited to the above-described method and, for example, in FIG. 53 , it is acceptable to refer to only the area having the horizontal depth F as the normal shelf plate part 494, and refer to the remaining area as the large shelf plate part 493.
  • the front edge of the large shelf plate part 493 and the front edge of the normal shelf plate part 494 are continuously connected by the gradation part 492.
  • this curved shape is a result of shaping to match the shape of the right door pocket 91 including the slanting portion. Determining the respective dimensions of the normal shelf plate part 494 in a shape that follows the shape of the left door pocket 91 in this manner is particularly effective in reducing the inoperative space.
  • the shape of the shelf plate 480 in the present embodiment enlarges the storable shelf base area of the entire storage compartment combining the left door pocket 90, the right door pocket 91 and the shelf plate 480, and can thus be regarded as a shape which efficiently increases the storage space
  • the shape of the gradation part 492 may be any shape which does not interfere with the horizontally deep right door pocket 91.
  • the shape of the right door pocket 91 is a shape that does not interfere with the left door 60a, that is, a shape that fits within the swing trajectory of the right door 60b.
  • the gradation part 492 is on the outer side of the swing trajectory of the right door 60b, it does not interfere with the right door pocket 91. Furthermore, in order to reduce the inoperative space, it is sufficient for the curve included in the gradation part 492 to be a curve having an arc which corresponds to the swing trajectory of the right door 60b.
  • the right door pocket 91 is made to have a horizontal depth that is greater than normal to make up for the reduced storage space of the left door pocket 90.
  • the storage space is increased over the conventional refrigerator without changing the overall size.
  • the size of the inoperative space resulting from the swing trajectories of the French doors described above can be suppressed by moving the location of the swing trajectories forward by moving the location of the hinges 81 forward, and so on.
  • the refrigerator 451 in the present embodiment increases the storage space over the conventional refrigerator without changing overall size.
  • the refrigerator 451 is a refrigerator that has better storage efficiency and convenience than what is conventional.
  • the plural shelf plates 480 in the vertical direction are positioned so that the front edge of each shelf plate from the top level to the bottom level are parallel, that is, the position in the horizontal depth direction of the respective front edges of the plural shelf plates 480 are the same.
  • the plural shelf plates 480 can be made up of identical components, and this contributes to the reduction of manufacturing costs through component standardization, and the reduction of manufacturing costs through reduced operational load in the manufacturing stage.
  • the shelf plate 480 includes a large shelf plate part 493 and the normal shelf plate part 494, in accordance with the shape of the left door pocket 90 and the right door pocket 93 which have long and short horizontal depths.
  • the large shelf plate part 493 includes a large area which allows storage and that is not conventionally available.
  • the large shelf plate part 493 is characterized in being horizontally deep, and allows relatively long storage items such as a skillet or a large bottle to be placed steadily without interfering with the taking in and out of other storage items.
  • Such advantageous effects can be obtained simply by reducing the horizontal depths C and D of the left door pocket 90 and right door pocket 91, respectively, and increasing the horizontal depths E and F of the shelf plate 180.
  • the shelf plate 480 into a relatively thin flat plate, the storage spaces spanning plural levels can be enlarged as much as possible. In other words, the storage space can be increased. Furthermore, there is no sense of crampedness in the front edge of the shelf plate 480, which is most visually concerning.
  • shelf plates 480 by fabricating the shelf plates 480 with a material having transparency, it is possible to reduce the sense of crampedness imparted by the shelf plates 480 and give a sense of spaciousness. Furthermore, it is also possible to impart a sense of cleanliness inside the refrigerator compartment 53.
  • the gradation part 492 of the shelf plate 480 is not an angular step but has a smooth-flowing wave shape such as a rounded shape or a chamfered shape for example.
  • This also has an advantageous effect as a reinforcing structure for preventing the occurrence of stress concentration and distortion in the shelf plate 480. As such, since it is possible to prevent sagging and cracking even when storage items are placed on top, and it is attractive in appearance and superior design-wise, it is a very effective means.
  • the shelf plate 480 includes, as a brim material, a molded metal plate 495 of stainless steel, and the like, as shown in FIG. 54 .
  • FIG. 54 is a perspective view of the shelf plate 480 in the present embodiment.
  • including the metal plate 495 in the front edge of the shelf plate 480 has an advantage of allowing strength to be increased and allowing the metal plate 495 to be used as a decorative plate.
  • the metal plate 495 is fitted on the entire width of the front edge in FIG. 54 , it is sufficient to have a brim material at least on the portion including the gradation part 492. This is because the vicinity of the gradation part 492 is most prone to the occurrence of stress centering.
  • shelf plate 480 may be made to allow switching in the vertical direction depending on the shapes of the storage items, and enable the dimension in the horizontal depth direction to be variable by folding the shelf plate 80.
  • the aforementioned shelf plate 480 is configured to be a single flat plate, even with a two-part construction divided right in the vicinity of the gradation part 492, as long as it is configured by a shelf plate making up the large shelf plate part 493 and a shelf plate making up the normal shelf plate part 494 and the gradation part 492 is present in between, it is possible to attain the same advantageous effect, as described above, of reducing the inoperative space to a certain degree.
  • the metal plate 495 is fitted as decoration to the front edge of a shelf plate 480 having transparency and including a wave-shaped gradation part 492 is assumed.
  • shelf plate 480 and metal plate 495 are illuminated by the lighting device 87 with a light from the front of the storage compartment, the shelf plate and metal plate are illuminated from approximately the same direction as the direction of the line of sight of the user. With this, the storage items inside the storage compartment become very easy to see, and the design characteristics of the shelf plate 480 having the wave-form gradation part 492 is improved.
  • shelf plate 480 serves a dual purpose of increasing light transmissivity and making the shelf plate clean and superior in strength.
  • the left door pocket 90 is configured to have a relatively short horizontal depth C. As such, as shown in FIG. 55 , even when assuming a usage environment in which the left door 60a can only be opened 90 degrees, the opening dimension G has a length which allows the storage items to be taken in and out.
  • the refrigerator 451 in the present embodiment it is possible to position storage items further in front using the forward-projecting large shelf plate part 493, and there is the advantage that taking storage items placed in the shelf plate 80 in and out is easy even in a usage environment in which the left door 60a cannot be sufficiently opened.
  • the refrigerator compartment 53 in the present embodiment is located on the uppermost part of the refrigerator 451. Therefore, in the case where the refrigerator 451 is a refrigerator of approximately 1800 mm main body height which is the currently predominant over-400 liter capacity type, the storage items in the refrigerator compartment 53 are positioned at approximately the same height as the user's line of sight.
  • sectionalized storage in which the user stores relatively small bottles such as condiments and dressing in the left door pocket 90, and stores relatively big items such as plastic bottles or milk cartons in the right pocket 91, becomes possible.
  • the shelf plate 80 also allows sectionalized storage in which the horizontally deep but narrow large shelf plate part 493 is used as a stocking zone for storing food items that are not frequently taken in and out, and the large shelf plate part 493 which has a relatively short horizontal depth but is wider than the large shelf plate part 493 is used as a flowing zone for storing food items that are frequently taken in and out.
  • the user can roughly divide the inside of refrigerator compartment 53 into 4 zones, and use each section depending on the purpose.
  • the refrigerator compartment 53 opening the largest, and positioning, below the refrigerator compartment 53, the ice-making compartment 54, the switchable compartment 55, the vegetable compartment 56, and so on, which have drawer doors, a very user-friendly storage compartment positioning can be realized.
  • the left door 60a is described to have a form in which left-right length, that is, the width is less than that of the right door 60b, the ratio for dividing both doors may be in any proportion.
  • the left door pocket 90 is made horizontally shallow, this is the result of consideration being given mainly to user-friendliness in a situation where relatively more users are right-handed, and it goes without saying that the same advantageous effect can be obtained even when the configurations of the left and right doors were to be interchanged.
  • the length in the left-right direction of the left door 60a and the right door 60b that is, the width of the left door 60a and the width of the right door 60b may be made the same.
  • the width of the large shelf plate part 493 and the width of the normal shelf plate part 494 are the same albeit approximately.
  • the width of the left door 60a and the width of the right door 60b are made the same. With this, the width of the large shelf plate 493 increases. As such, more food items, and so on, can be placed on the large shelf plate part 493.
  • the strength, design characteristics, and so on, of the shelf plate 480 is improved by fitting the metal plate 495 on the front edge of the shelf plate 480.
  • the brim material may be fitted on the entire perimeter of the shelf plate 480.
  • the shelf plate 480 is fabricated from resin, a latching part, and the like, for setting the shelf plate 480 in the inner casing 70 can be provided by casting.
  • the shelf plate 480 can be easily provided with protrusions.
  • the latching part needs to be attached to the glass shelf plate 480 using an adhesive and the like.
  • the protrusions for setting the shelf plate 480 on the inner casing 70 can also be provided to the shelf plate 480.
  • FIG. 57 is diagram showing the glass shelf plate 480 included in the refrigerator 451 in the present invention fitted with the brim material covering its entire perimeter.
  • a brim material 496 shown in FIG. 57 is for example made of resin, and is provided with latching parts 496a in parts corresponding to both ends of the shelf plate 480 by casting.
  • a latching part such as a protrusion may be provided in a position of the brim material corresponding to the back end of the shelf plate 480, to allow it to be supported by the back surface of the refrigerator compartment 53.
  • the shelf plate 480 is supported not only by the left and right side-surfaces of the refrigerator compartment 53, but also by the back surface of the refrigerator compartment 53.
  • the glass shelf plate 480 and the brim material 496 shown in FIG. 58 may be fabricated separately and combined after each is completed, and the shelf plate 480 and the brim material 496 may be cast by insert molding.
  • the shelf plate 480 including the brim material 496 and the latching part 496a can be fabricated more rapidly. Furthermore, the fixing strength between the shelf plate 480 and the brim material 496 can be improved.
  • shelf plate 480 is fabricated from glass, it is also possible that the fitting of a brim material for the purpose of improving strength is unnecessary.
  • the brim material fitted onto the glass shelf plate can serve to protect the perimeter of the shelf plate 480, prevent items placed on the shelf plate 480 from falling off, improve design characteristics, and so on.
  • brim materials such as the metal plate 495 and the brim material 496 adopt a form which sandwiches the top surface and bottom surface of the shelf plate 480.
  • the brim material need not assume such a form.
  • a metal plate having a width that is narrower than the thickness of the shelf plate 480 is fitted to the front end portion or the entire perimeter of the resin shelf plate 480 by being plugged therein.
  • the shelf plate 480 includes, on the left and right, areas having different color tones
  • the color tones are merely one example of the properties of the respective areas included in the shelf plate 480.
  • the properties of the respective areas of in the shelf plate 480 include the size, shape, and so on, of such area. More specifically, in the case where the shelf plate 480 shown in FIG. 52 is made of glass, the shelf plate 480 is configured by joining glass sheets which are respectively different in size for the area 480a and 480b included in the shelf plate 480.
  • FIG. 58 a refrigerator in a fifteenth embodiment of the present invention shall be described using FIG. 58 .
  • FIG. 58 is a horizontal cross-section view of the refrigerator compartment section of a refrigerator 518 in the present embodiment. It should be noted that the same numerical reference is given to constituent elements that are the same as in the fourteenth embodiment and their description shall be omitted.
  • plural left door pockets 100 are supportively held in place in the left door 60a and disposed along the vertical length of the left door 60a.
  • Plural right door pockets 101 are likewise supportively held in place in the right door 60b and disposed along the vertical length of the right door 60b.
  • Plural shelf plates 502 are disposed from the top to bottom of a space between the door pockets and the cool air duct 84 in positions and shapes that do not interfere with the door pockets.
  • the plural shelf plates 480 form storage spaces spanning plural levels.
  • the shelf plate 502 in the present embodiment also includes, on the left and right, areas having different color tones, in the same manner as the shelf plate 480 in the fourteenth embodiment. With such a shelf plate 480, it is possible to improve the aesthetics in the state when the doors of the refrigerator are opened.
  • the left door pocket 100 is of a size that fits within the swing trajectory of the left door 60a in the figure so as not to interfere with the right door 60b, and is shaped so that the shape of its base is approximately square.
  • the right door pocket 101 is horizontally deeper than the left door pocket 100. Furthermore, the horizontal depth of the left end of the right door pocket 101 is reduced in order to fit within the swing trajectory of the right door 60b in the figure so as not to interfere with the left door 60a.
  • the shelf plate 502 is disposed within the storage compartment space between the left door pocket 100, the right door pocket 101 and the cool air duct 84 in such a way that a certain amount of clearance is provided so as not to interfere with the left door pocket 100 and the right door pocket 101.
  • the shelf plate 502 is supportively held in place by the inner casing 70 by being placed on protrusions, and the like, that are cast with the inner casing 70, and is disposed to be approximately horizontal with respect to the vertical direction.
  • the shape of the shelf plate 502 is one in which the left end side is horizontally deeper than the right end side.
  • a boundary part 506 is provided between the left door pocket 100 and the right door pocket 101, in the space just behind the divider 86, and the horizontal depth of the shelf plate 502 gradually decreases from the boundary part 506 towards the right side.
  • the boundary part 506 is a part which serves as an approximate boundary at which the horizontal depth of the shelf plate changes.
  • the left side from the boundary part 506 of the shelf plate 502 corresponds to the large shelf plate part 493 in the fourteenth embodiment
  • the right side from the boundary part 506 corresponds to the normal shelf plate part 494 in the fourteenth embodiment.
  • shelf plate 502 and the left door pocket 100 and right door pocket 101 in the present embodiment shall be described hereafter.
  • the inoperative space behind the divider 86 can be minimized.
  • the horizontal depth of the left-side portion of the shelf plate 502 can be increased.
  • the right door pocket 101 is made larger than the left door pocket 100 so as to compensate for the smallness of the left door pocket 100.
  • the storage space within the storage compartment can be dramatically increased without reducing the door pocket storage space which is very convenient for the user.
  • the refrigerator 518 in the present embodiment by adopting the shapes shown in FIG. 58 for the shapes of the shelf plate 502, the left door pocket 100, and the right door pocket 101, it is possible to improve the storage efficiency of the refrigerator 518 by enlarging the storable shelf base area within the storage compartment in the same manner as in the refrigerator 451 in the fourteenth embodiment.
  • the refrigerator 518 also allows the storage space of inside the refrigerator compartment to be divided into the 4 sections of the left door pockets 100, the right door pockets 101, the left area and the right area of the shelf plates 502, each having different horizontal depths, and so on.
  • a single boundary part 506 is present in the front edge of the shelf plate 502 and, when looking at the shelf plate 502 from the top and bottom directions, the front edge has a relatively simple shape consisting of mainly 2 straight lines.
  • the shelf plate 502 and the brim material can be fabricated at a low cost.
  • the front edge of the shelf plate 502 need not be in a shape consisting mainly of 2 straight lines as shown in FIG. 58 . Specifically, the front edge of the shelf plate 502 need not be in a shape that bends at the boundary part 506.
  • the front edge may be in a shape which softly curves at the boundary part 506.
  • the boundary part 506 may bulge toward the divider 86 within a range that does not enter the swing trajectory of the left door 60a and the right door 60b and the area required for the turning of the divider 86.
  • FIG. 59 and FIG. 60 A refrigerator in a sixteenth embodiment of the present invention shall be described using FIG. 59 and FIG. 60 .
  • FIG. 59 is horizontal cross-section view of the refrigerator compartment section of a refrigerator 519 in the present embodiment.
  • FIG. 60 is a horizontal cross-section view of the refrigerator 519 in the present embodiment when the left door 110a is opened. It should be noted that the same numerical reference is given to constituent elements that are the same as in the fourteenth embodiment and their description shall be omitted.
  • the refrigerator 519 in the present embodiment includes the left door 110a, the right door 110b, and the right door pocket 111. However, unlike the respective refrigerators in the fourteenth and fifteenth embodiments, the refrigerator 519 in the present embodiment does not include a left door pocket.
  • the refrigerator 519 in the present embodiment further includes a shelf plate 512, and plural right door pockets 111 are disposed along the vertical length of the right door 110b.
  • Plural shelf plates 512 are disposed from the top to bottom of a space between the right door pockets 111 and the cool air duct 84 in positions and of a shape that does not interfere with the right door pockets 111.
  • the plural shelf plates 512 form storage spaces spanning plural levels.
  • the shelf plate 512 is disposed within the storage space between the right door pocket 111 and the cool air duct 84 so as to provide a certain amount of clearance so as not to interfere with the right door pocket 111.
  • the shelf plate 512 is supportively held in place by the inner casing 70 by being placed on protrusions, and the like, that are cast with the inner casing 70, and is disposed to be approximately horizontal with respect to the vertical direction.
  • the shelf plate 512 is shaped to cover almost the entire area of the space located in the refrigerator compartment-side of the left door 110a, and shaped so as not to interfere with the right door pocket 111 in the forward and backward direction at the refrigerator compartment-side of the right door 110b.
  • the shelf plate 512 in the present embodiment is shaped to have a gradation in the front edge in the same manner as the shelf plate 480 in the fourteenth embodiment.
  • the shelf plate 512 maintains a relationship in which K>L.
  • the left side of a straight line extending in the horizontal depth direction from the approximate center point of the gradation part 514 of the shelf plate 512 is a large shelf plate part 513 and the right side of the straight line is a normal shelf plate part 515.
  • shelf plates 512 and the right door pockets 111 in the present embodiment shall be described hereafter.
  • the horizontal cross-section of the inside of the refrigerator compartment is virtually allocated to the right door pocket 111 and the shelf plate 512, as shown in FIG. 59 .
  • the shape of the door pocket 111 which swings integrally with the right door 110b fits within the swing trajectory of the right door 110b in the figure.
  • shelf plate 512 there is the normal shelf plate part 515 having a horizontal depth which does not interfere with the right door pocket 111, and the large shelf plate part 513 is shaped to project up to the vicinity of the left door 110a.
  • the shape of the shelf plate 512 and the right door pocket 111 shown in FIG. 59 is considered to be extremely effective in increasing storage space.
  • the shelf plate 512 in the present embodiment also includes, on the left and right, areas having different color tones, in the same manner as the shelf plate 480 in the fourteenth embodiment. With such a shelf plate 480, it is possible to improve the aesthetics in the state when the doors of the refrigerator are opened.
  • the left door 110a does not include door pockets as storage space and is configured of only a heat-insulating wall.
  • the shelf plate 512 can be projected up to the vicinity of the left door 110a, and the horizontal depth of the shelf plate 512 can be made to approximate the length from the door inner-surface of the left door 110a to the back surface of the storage compartment.
  • storage items can be placed in front of the user's line of sight and up front where they can easily be taken out, and thus taking items in and out becomes easy and convenient.
  • it is convenient for storing long items.
  • the upper surface of the shelf plate 512 can be made into an approximate L-shape. As such, when the right door 110b is opened, aside from the taking in and out of items with respect to the forward area of the normal shelf plate part 515, the taking in and out of items with respect to the area around the gradation part 514 existing in the in-compartment direction of the left door 110a also becomes easy.
  • the case is assumed in which the small-item case 83 shown in FIG. 50 and having a width that is equal to or less than M is placed in the large shelf plate part 513 of the shelf plate 512.
  • the user can pull out the small-item case 83 to the front without being bothered by the left door 110a.
  • pulling out and using the small-item case 83 outside the storage compartment from time to time can be done easily.
  • the refrigerator 519 also allows sectionalized storage through separate usage of the large shelf plate parts 513, the normal shelf plate parts 515, and the right door pockets 111.
  • the refrigerator 519 in the present embodiment can efficiently increase storage space in the same manner as the respective refrigerators in the fourteenth and fifteenth embodiments.
  • the refrigerator 519 by providing various drawer mechanisms in the storage compartment space on the left door 110-side, the taking in and out of items can also be improved.
  • the refrigerator 519 in the present embodiment is a refrigerator that has better storage efficiency and convenience than what is conventional.
  • the aforementioned dimensions of the shelf plate are dimensions for filling up the inoperative space within the refrigerator compartment. This increases the storage space within the storage compartment. Furthermore, there are also advantageous effects such as allowing efficient sectionalized storage.
  • FIG. 61 is a front view of a refrigerator in the present embodiment.
  • a refrigerator 520 in the present embodiment includes the refrigerator compartment 53, the ice-making compartment 54, the switchable compartment 55, the vegetable compartment 56, and the freezer compartment 57, as in the refrigerator 451 in the fourteenth embodiment.
  • a single swing door 65 is set in the refrigerator compartment 53. By opening the door 65, the user can take items in and out of the refrigerator compartment 53.
  • FIG. 62 is a horizontal cross-section view (B-B shown in FIG. 61 ) of the refrigerator 520 in the present embodiment. It should be noted that the same numerical reference is given to constituent elements that are the same as in the fourteenth embodiment and their description shall be omitted.
  • the refrigerator 520 in the present embodiment includes the door pocket 97.
  • Plural door pocket 97 are supportively held in place in the door 65 and disposed along the vertical length of the door 65.
  • the door pocket 97 has a shape in which the horizontal depth R on the swing axis 88-side is greater than a horizontal depth Q on the opposite side. In other words, it maintains an R>Q relationship.
  • plural shelf plates 521 included in the refrigerator 520 are disposed from the top to bottom of a space between the door pocket 97 and the cool air duct 84 in positions and of a shape that does not interfere with the door pocket 97.
  • the plural shelf plates 521 form storage spaces spanning plural levels.
  • the horizontal depth of the large shelf plate part 522 is assumed to be N and the horizontal depth of the normal shelf plate part 523 is P, it maintains a relationship in which N>P and the sum of N and Q is approximately equal to the sum of P and R.
  • this shelf plate 521 is shaped to fill up the inoperative space within the storage compartment.
  • the shelf plate 521 in the present embodiment also includes, on the left and right, areas having different color tones, in the same manner as the shelf plate 480 in the fourteenth embodiment. With such a shelf plate 480, it is possible to improve the aesthetics in the state when the doors of the refrigerator are opened.

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  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
  • Combustion & Propulsion (AREA)
  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
  • Thermal Sciences (AREA)
  • General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Refrigerator Housings (AREA)
  • Devices That Are Associated With Refrigeration Equipment (AREA)
EP20090167541 2007-02-13 2008-01-17 Kühlanlage Ceased EP2110629A3 (de)

Applications Claiming Priority (10)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
JP2007032779A JP2008051483A (ja) 2006-07-27 2007-02-13 冷蔵庫
JP2007032771A JP2008051481A (ja) 2006-07-27 2007-02-13 冷蔵庫
JP2007032783A JP4368895B2 (ja) 2006-07-27 2007-02-13 冷蔵庫
JP2007032789A JP2008051486A (ja) 2006-07-27 2007-02-13 冷蔵庫
JP2007032770A JP2008051480A (ja) 2006-07-27 2007-02-13 冷蔵庫
JP2007032792A JP2008051487A (ja) 2006-07-27 2007-02-13 冷蔵庫
JP2007032788A JP2008051485A (ja) 2006-07-27 2007-02-13 冷蔵庫
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EP2124003A1 (de) 2009-11-25
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CN101672559A (zh) 2010-03-17
EP2110629A3 (de) 2011-04-06
CN101672559B (zh) 2013-08-28
EP2124003A4 (de) 2017-05-10
TW200842300A (en) 2008-11-01
TWI416055B (zh) 2013-11-21
CN101611281A (zh) 2009-12-23

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