JP2000213856A - Refrigerator - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To refrigerate foods, e.g. vegetables, in negative pressure atmosphere by sustaining enclosed indoor state through a mechanism for locking a door under closed state and sustaining negative pressure indoor state through a suction unit subjected to operation control according to open/close of the door. SOLUTION: An enclosing/releasing mechanism operates in conjunction with the movement of a fastening metal 11 to enclose a vacuum refrigeration compartment 1 when a door 5 is locked under closed state and to release the enclosed state when the door 5 is unlocked. When the door 5 is closed, the contact piece of a detection switch is pressed by the door 5 to retract and the detection switch is turned on to actuate a suction unit 7. When the door 5 is opened, the contact piece of the detection switch advances to stop operation of the suction unit 7. Consequently, vegetables and the like can be refrigerated in negative pressure atmosphere in the negative pressure refrigeration compartment.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a refrigerator provided with a negative pressure refrigerator for cold storage of foods such as vegetables in a negative pressure atmosphere.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, when foods such as vegetables and other foodstuffs are stored in a refrigerator, the foods are refrigerated in an atmosphere equal to the outside pressure.

[0003]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a refrigerator which can refrigerate foods such as vegetables in a negative pressure atmosphere, thereby improving the storage condition of the foods. It was done.

[0004]

A refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein the interior of the refrigerator is held in a closed state by a door lock mechanism for locking the door in a closed state, and the operation is controlled in accordance with the opening and closing of the door. With a negative pressure refrigeration chamber in which the room is maintained in a negative pressure state.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the interior of the negative pressure refrigeration chamber is held in a sealed state by a door lock mechanism that locks the door of the negative pressure refrigeration chamber in a closed state, and the suction device operates in this state. Thus, the negative pressure refrigerator is maintained in a negative pressure state, and foods in the negative pressure refrigerator are stored in a negative pressure atmosphere.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the refrigerator according to the first aspect, a door open / close detection switch for transmitting a detection signal for controlling the operation of the suction device in accordance with the opening / closing operation of the door;
A sealing release mechanism that operates so that the negative pressure refrigerator is sealed when the door is closed and locked, and the sealed state of the negative pressure refrigerator is released when the locked state of the door is released. Having a configuration.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, when the door of the negative pressure refrigerator is closed and locked, the operation of the sealing release mechanism causes the negative pressure refrigerator to be in a sealed state, and the door open / close detection switch operates the door open / close switch. When the door is closed, the suction device operates according to the detection signal of the door open / close detection switch, and the negative pressure refrigerator becomes a negative pressure state. When the locked state of the door is released, the sealed state of the negative pressure refrigerator is released by the function of the sealing release mechanism,
The inside of the negative pressure refrigerator is switched from the negative pressure state to the normal pressure state, and the door can be opened. When the door is opened, the suction device stops operating.

[0008]

Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Refrigerator A is used when chilling foods such as vegetables and foodstuffs at a temperature suitable for storage. A refrigerator A shown in FIG. 1 includes a freezer 1 in which foods such as meat are stored in a frozen state, a vacuum refrigerator 2 in which foods such as vegetables are refrigerated in a negative pressure atmosphere, and a normal pressure atmosphere in which foods such as vegetables are stored. The normal-pressure refrigeration chambers 3 to be refrigerated inside are arranged side by side in the vertical direction.

The freezer 1 and the room-temperature refrigeration room 3 in the refrigerator A have a refrigeration structure of the same normal pressure as normal, and are refrigerated at normal pressure as usual.

As shown in FIG. 2, the vacuum refrigerating chamber 2 is formed in a box shape open to the front and stores food, and is rotatably connected to a front edge of the storage box 4. A door 5 for opening and closing the opening of the storage box 4;

A packing is attached to the periphery of the rear surface of the door 5 over the entire periphery to improve airtightness by being in close contact with the end face of the opening when the door 5 is closed.

The side walls 4 of the storage box 4 of the vacuum refrigerator 2
In FIG. 2A, there are formed cool air passages 6 through which cool air for keeping the inside of the vacuum refrigerator room 1 at a low temperature suitable for storing food is circulated (see FIG. 2). When the refrigerator A is used, the vacuum refrigerator 2 as well as the freezer 1 and the normal-pressure refrigerator 3 are cooled in advance.

A suction device 7 for sucking air in the vacuum refrigerator 1 and holding the vacuum refrigerator 1 in a negative pressure state is mounted on the rear wall 4b of the storage box 4. The vacuum refrigeration chamber 1 has a detection unit 8 of a pressure switch that stops the operation of the suction device 7 when the chamber reaches a predetermined negative pressure state and maintains the inside of the vacuum refrigeration chamber 1 at a predetermined negative pressure state. Have been charged.

As shown in FIG. 3 (A), a door lock mechanism 10 for locking the door 5 in a closed state is attached to a leading edge of the door 5, and a fastening fitting 11 is turned on the door lock mechanism 10. It is operably formed.

The fastening fitting 11 has a disk-shaped base 11a pivotally supported by the door 5, a hook 11b connected to the outer peripheral surface of the base 11a for substantially half a circumference, and a substantially radial direction of the base 11a. A handle 11c for rotating operation which is extended and connected to the base 11b is formed.

A door opening / closing detection switch 12 for detecting the movement of the door 5 and transmitting a detection signal for controlling the operation of the suction device 7 in accordance with the opening / closing of the door 5 is provided on the front edge of the side wall 4a on one side of the storage box 4. , Door lock mechanism 1 together with fastener 11
0, which receives the tightening fitting 11 and locks the door 5 in a closed state, and a closed state of the vacuum refrigerating chamber 1 when the door 5 is locked when the door 5 is closed. A sealing release mechanism 14 that operates in accordance with the movement of the clamp 11 is attached so that the sealed state of the vacuum refrigerator 1 is released when the state is released.

When the door 5 is closed, the touching piece 12a of the detection switch 12 is pressed by the door 5 and retreats, the detection switch 12 is turned on, and the suction device 7 starts operating.

When the door 5 is opened, the contact piece 12a of the detection switch 12 is opened and moves forward, the detection switch 12 is turned off, and the operation of the suction device 7 is stopped.

The receiving bracket 13 is formed with an engaging portion 13a which is engaged with and disengaged from the latching portion 11b of the clamping bracket 11, and the handle 11c is moved from the sideways upright posture to the upright posture with the door 5 fully closed. When the rotating operation is performed until
Is locked by the engaging portion 13a of the receiving bracket 13 and the door 5 is locked in the closed state.

In this state, the fastening fitting 11 is moved to the handle 11c.
Is rotated from the upright posture to the side-down posture, the engaging portion 11a of the fastening fitting 11 is engaged with the engaging portion 1 of the receiving fitting 13.
3a, and the locked state of the door 5 is released.

As shown in FIGS. 4 (A) and 4 (B), the sealing release mechanism 14 is fixed to the side wall 4a of the storage box 4 and has a shaft hole 15a.
Is slidably inserted into the axial hole 15a in the axial direction,
The sliding piece 16 is pushed and released by the handle 11c of the fastening fitting 11, and a spring 17 is inserted into the shaft hole 15a of the receiving cylinder 15 and urges the sliding piece 16 forward (outward). I have.

The receiving cylinder 15 has external communication holes 18 communicating with the inside of the vacuum refrigerating chamber 2 through the through holes 18a of the side wall 4a, and is formed on both sides of the shaft hole 15a.

The slide piece 16 has
The inner communication hole 19 is formed so as to move to a position facing the outer communication hole 18 when the slider advances, and to move away from the outer communication hole 18 when the slide piece 16 retreats.

When the door 11 is closed and the closed state of the door 5 is locked by rotating the handle 11c of the fastening fitting 11,
As shown in FIG. 4 (B), the slide piece 16 is pushed back by the handle 11c and retreats, and the inner communication hole 19 becomes the outer communication hole 1.
8, the communication flow path 20 for communicating the inside of the vacuum refrigerator 2 with the outside air is closed, and the inside of the vacuum refrigerator 1 is locked in a sealed state.

In this state, when the locking member 11 is returned to operate to release the locked state of the door 5, the slide 16 is released and moves forward by the elastic force of the spring 17, and the inner communication hole 19 and the outer communication hole 18. Are communicated with each other to open the communication flow path 20, and the vacuum refrigerating chamber 1 is in a state of communication with the outside air, and has a normal pressure.

According to the above-described embodiment, it is possible to perform vacuum refrigeration in which vegetables and the like are refrigerated in a negative pressure atmosphere in the vacuum refrigeration chamber 2, and hold the vegetables and the like in a state similar to the state where the vegetables and the like are sealed in a vacuum pack. Therefore, it is possible to maintain the freshness of the vegetables and the like, make them last longer, and extend the shelf life of the ingredients.

The inside of the vacuum refrigerator 2 can be switched between a sealed state and a non-sealed state in accordance with the locked state and the unlocked state of the door 5 of the vacuum refrigerator 2. The inside of the refrigeration room 2 can be switched between the normal pressure state and the negative pressure state, the handling of the vacuum refrigeration room 2 is simplified, and the inside of the vacuum refrigeration room 2 can be kept in the negative pressure state when the door 5 is closed.

[0028]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, vegetables and the like can be refrigerated in a negative pressure atmosphere in a negative pressure refrigeration room,
It is possible to extend the freshness of vegetables and extend the shelf life of the ingredients.

According to the second aspect of the invention, the negative pressure refrigerator can be switched between the sealed state and the non-sealed state in accordance with the locked state and the unlocked state of the door of the negative pressure refrigerator. The negative pressure refrigeration chamber can be switched between normal pressure state and negative pressure state in conjunction with the movement of the vacuum chamber, simplifying the handling of the vacuum refrigeration chamber and maintaining the negative pressure refrigeration chamber at the negative pressure state when the door is closed. .

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a refrigerator showing a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line XX of FIG.

FIGS. 3A and 3B are side views of a main part for explaining movements of a door lock mechanism and a door lock detection mechanism.

FIGS. 4A and 4B are cross-sectional views of a main part, similarly.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 Vacuum refrigeration room 5 Door 6 Cold air flow path 7 Suction device 10 Door lock mechanism 11 Fastening bracket 12 Door open / close detection switch 13 Receiving bracket 14 Seal release mechanism A Refrigeration chamber

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A negative pressure refrigerator in which a room is held in a closed state by a door lock mechanism that locks the door in a closed state, and the room is held in a negative pressure state by a suction device that is operated and controlled according to opening and closing of the door. Refrigerator with room. 2. A door opening / closing detection switch for transmitting a detection signal for controlling the operation of the suction device in accordance with the opening / closing operation of the door, a closed state of the negative pressure refrigerator when the door is closed and locked, and the door is locked. 2. The refrigerator according to claim 1, further comprising a sealing release mechanism operable to release the sealed state of the negative pressure refrigerator when the state is released.