JP2001153538A - Door of refrigerator - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide the door of a refrigerator which is excellent in visibility and operability of an indicator 26 for indicating the state of the interior of the refrigerator, an operating part 28 for working the operation of the refrigerator, and a door opening button 30 for actuating a door opening mechanism 3, and looks nice and can reduce the number of parts. SOLUTION: An insulating member 20 which extends vertically ranging over its roughly overall length and forms a filling space 22 for foaming urethane 23 together with door front material 12 and door rear material 14, is arranged at one side of rectangular door 10, and an indicator 26, an operating part 28, and a door opening button 30 are provided adjacently in a vertical row.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] The present invention relates to a refrigerator door.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a cooling room such as a refrigerator room or a freezing room of a refrigerator is provided with a heat insulating door for opening and closing the front surface thereof. Such a refrigerator door is generally formed by filling a heat insulating foam material such as urethane foam into an outer shell formed by a door front material, a door back material, and upper and lower door caps.

[0003] Recently, a display unit for displaying a state in the refrigerator and an operation unit for operating the refrigerator have been attached to such a refrigerator door. The display unit and the operation unit are attached to the door cap integrally with the door cap or by making a hole in a door front member and fixing the hole.

On the other hand, a refrigerator door requires a handle for opening the door, and such a handle is conventionally attached to a door front member. Further, recently, there is a refrigerator in which a door opening button is attached to a door front member, and when the door opening button is pressed, a door opening mechanism is operated to electrically open a refrigerator door.

[0005]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional refrigerator door, the display unit and the operation unit, and the handle and the door opening button for opening the door are separately provided, so that the appearance of the unit is not uniform. There is a problem that the appearance deteriorates and visibility and operability deteriorate. There is also a problem that the number of parts is large and the cost is high.

In particular, when the display unit and the operation unit are provided integrally with the upper and lower door caps, the height of the display unit and the operation unit is limited to either the upper end or the lower end of the door. Visibility and operability may deteriorate.

The present invention has been made in view of these points, and has excellent visibility and operability of such a display unit, an operation unit, and an opening button, and has a good appearance and a reduced number of parts. It is an object of the present invention to provide a refrigerator door capable of achieving the above.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A refrigerator door according to the present invention is a refrigerator door in which a heat insulating foam material is filled between a door front member and a door back member, wherein one side of the door has a rectangular shape. An edge member that extends over substantially the entire length of one side of the door and forms a space filled with the heat-insulating foam material together with the door front member and the door rear member, the edge member including a door front portion and a door side portion, A display unit for displaying a state in the refrigerator, an operation unit for operating the operation of the refrigerator, and a door opening button for operating a door opening mechanism are provided adjacent to a front part of the door of the member.

As described above, the display unit, the operation unit, and the door opening button are arranged adjacent to one side of the door on the side of the edge member arranged substantially over the entire length of the edge member, thereby enhancing the sense of unity and the appearance. Can be refined, and visibility and operability can be improved. Also, by arranging these functions in one member, the number of parts is reduced,
It is also advantageous from the viewpoint of the heat insulating property of the door as compared with the case where it is scattered in a plurality of members.

In the above-mentioned refrigerator door, there is a case where a handle recess for opening the door is provided on the side surface of the edge member.

The operability can be further improved by arranging the display unit, the operation unit, and the door-opening button in a line in front of the door of the edge member having the recess for opening the door. it can.

In the refrigerator door, it is preferable that one side of the door is rotatably attached to the refrigerator body, and the edge member is disposed on the other side.

In this case, since the edge member extends in the up-down direction, the display unit, the operation unit, and the door opening button are arranged vertically in a line. Further, since the edge member extends over substantially the entire length of the vertical side of the door, the arrangement height thereof can be freely set between the upper end and the lower end of the door, so that visibility and operability can be improved. It can be further improved.

In the above refrigerator door, the edge member includes:
Providing a substrate storage unit located behind the display unit and the operation unit and separated from the filling space, and disposing a printed wiring board for the display unit and the operation unit in the substrate storage unit is described above. It is more preferable from the viewpoint of reduction in the number of parts and heat insulation.

[0015] In the refrigerator door, the board accommodating portion has an opening for inserting the printed wiring board on a side surface of the door of the edge member, and a cover for covering the insertion opening on a side surface of the door of the edge member. May be attached.

As described above, the printed wiring board is inserted from the side surface of the door of the edge member and is housed in the board housing section, so that the workability of mounting the printed wiring board is excellent and the insertion opening of the board is inserted. Can be prevented from deteriorating the appearance.

In the refrigerator door, the edge member has a front wall on the front side of the door in the substrate storage section, and the operation section has a plurality of operation buttons. In some cases, a plurality of through holes through which the operation button passes are provided, and a plurality of the through holes adjacent to each other are connected.

In manufacturing the refrigerator door, a filling space is formed by an edge member together with a door front member and a door rear member, and the filling space is filled with a heat insulating foam material. At this time, since the foam is filled and foamed without attaching various members such as a printed wiring board to the edge member, the foam member deforms due to the foaming pressure if only the front wall of the board storage part is pressed and the inner wall surface is not pressed. As a result, the subsequent mounting of members such as a printed wiring board may be affected, and the appearance may be deteriorated. Therefore, by connecting a plurality of small through holes provided in the front wall in the operation unit to form a large opening, a jig can be inserted into the substrate storage unit from this opening. By pressing the inner wall surface, deformation of the edge member due to foaming pressure can be prevented.

In the above-mentioned refrigerator door, it is preferable that the front face of the door-opening button is set on the same plane as the door front face of the surrounding edge member. By setting the height of the door opening button on the same plane as the height around it,
The appearance can be improved.

[0020]

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

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a refrigerator door 10 according to one embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a front view of a refrigerator 1 having the refrigerator door 10, and FIG. FIG. 4 is an enlarged perspective view of a main part of the edge member 20 in the refrigerator door 10, FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG.
FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line BB of FIG. 1.

The refrigerator door 10 of this embodiment is a door that opens and closes the front of the refrigerator compartment located at the upper right side of the refrigerator 1 shown in FIG. 2, and the right side of the rectangular door is rotatable with respect to the refrigerator body. It is a pivoting door attached.

The refrigerator door 10 has a door front member 12 made of a metal plate, a door back member 14 made of a resin molded plate, upper and lower door caps 16 and 18, and an edge member made of a resin molded body on the left side of the door. 20 form an outer shell body having a filling space 22 therein, and in this filling space 22, a urethane foam 23
It is an insulated door filled with.

The edge member 20 is a longitudinal member that extends vertically over substantially the entire length of the left side of the door, and includes a door front portion 20a that forms the front of the door together with the door front material 12, and a door side portion that forms the left side of the door. 20b, and has a substantially L-shaped horizontal cross section. A handle recess 24 is provided in the door side surface portion 20b and functions as a handle member for opening the door 10.

As shown in FIG. 1, a display section 26 for displaying the state inside the refrigerator 1 (for example, the temperature and humidity of a refrigerator or a freezer) is provided on a door front section 20a of the edge member 20. 1 operation (for example, display switching of the display unit 26,
An operation unit 28 for switching operation of a compressor or a cooler, etc.)
Door opening buttons 30 for operating the door opening mechanism are provided adjacent to each other in a vertical line in order from the top.

A display unit 26 and an operation unit 28
Behind the board storage unit 3 for storing the printed wiring board 32 for operating the display unit 26 and the operation unit 28
4 are formed. This substrate storage portion 34 is provided in FIGS.
As shown in FIG. 5, an insertion opening 36 for inserting the printed wiring board 32 is provided in the door side surface portion 20b of the edge member 20, and the insertion opening 36 is formed so as to be depressed toward the center of the door. As shown in FIG. 5, the partition member formed integrally with the edge member 20 is separated from the filling space 22 of the urethane foam 23. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 1, the edge member 20 protrudes from the door front portion 20 a toward the center of the door, and the tip end portion is formed in a state buried in the filling space 22. Reference numeral 37 denotes a wiring lead-out portion for wiring the printed wiring board 32.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, a rectangular opening 4 into which a liquid crystal display device 42 on the printed wiring board 32 is inserted is formed in a front wall 40 which is a partition wall on the front side of the door of the board storage section 34.
4 are provided, and a plurality of through holes 48 through which a plurality of operation buttons 46 penetrate are provided below.

Here, as shown in FIG.
Of the through holes 48 for the operation buttons 46 provided on the front wall 40 of the fourth, the second and third through holes are formed by connecting two circular holes adjacent to each other on the left and right, and are long and long on the left and right. An opening 48a is provided.

This is due to manufacturing reasons during the filling and foaming of the urethane 23. That is, at the time of manufacturing the door, the door front member 12, the door rear member 14, the upper and lower door caps 1
When the urethane foam 23 is filled in the filling space 22 formed by the urethane foam 23, the urethane foaming jig is used to prevent the deformation of the edge member 20 due to the foaming pressure of the urethane 23. It is necessary to hold down the inner wall surface of the storage section 34. At this time, as for the display section 26, since a large display window 44 is provided on the front wall 40 of the substrate storage section 34, a urethane jig can be inserted through the display window 44 to press the substrate storage section 34. But the operation unit 2
Regarding 8, the urethane jig cannot be inserted simply by providing the small through hole 48 corresponding to the operation button 46. Therefore, as described above,
By connecting the two through-holes to form a large opening 48a, the urethane jig can be also
4, and the inner wall surface can be pressed down to prevent deformation of the edge member 20 due to foaming pressure.

In front of the front wall 40, an operation button 4
The operation panel 50 forming the display unit 26 and the operation unit 28 is covered with the unit 6 interposed therebetween. The operation panel 50 is attached to the edge member 20 by claw fitting. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 5, the front surface of the door is arranged on the same surface as the edge front surface of the edge member 20 without any step.

The operation panel 50 has a vertically long and narrow rectangular shape, has a display window 51 constituting the display section 26 at the upper part thereof, and a plurality of buttons 5 constituting the operation section 28 thereunder.
Two. Then, through this display window 51,
The screen of the liquid crystal display device 42 inserted in the opening 44 is configured to be seen from the front of the door. Further, when the button 52 of the operation panel 50 is pressed, the corresponding operation button 46 presses the button 53 on the printed wiring board 32 housed in the board housing part 34 to operate the refrigerator 1. (See FIG. 5).

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 5, the printed wiring board 32 has a screw 55 on a board mounting plate 54 for protecting the front surface thereof.
In this state, the board is inserted into the board accommodating portion 34 of the edge member 20 from the insertion opening 36, and the board mounting plate 54 is fixed to the opening edge of the insertion opening 36 with screws 56 or the like. It is stored and fixed in the part 34.

The opening button 30 is formed in a vertically elongated rectangular plate shape having the same width as the operation panel 50.
As shown in the figure, the front of the door is provided with a wavy shape to make the meat closet inconspicuous. This opening button 30
Are arranged closely under the operation panel 50 with almost no gap, and cover the recess 58 provided in the door front portion 20a of the edge member 20 so that the front of the door is closed by the surrounding edge member 20 and the operation panel 50. Is set to be on the same plane as the front of the door.

The door opening button 30 includes two movable plates 59, 6
0 and the recess 58 of the edge member 20 by the action of a spring (not shown).
It is configured to be pushed into the inside and return to the original state. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 3, bearings 61 and 62 that support the rotating shafts of the two movable plates 59 and 60 are provided on the back surface of the door opening button 30. At 62, two movable plates 5 behind the opening button 30
With the components 9 and 60 mounted, the components are slid from above into the recesses 58 and are attached to the edge member 20.

As shown in FIG. 6, in the concave portion 58 of the edge member 20, a micro switch 64 pressed by the movable plates 59, 60 is fixedly mounted on the substrate 65. When the microswitch 64 is pressed, the door opening mechanism 3 disposed above the refrigerator compartment 2 is operated by wiring (not shown), and the pusher 4 presses the contact portion 66 provided on the door cap 16 forward. Then, the door 10 is opened (see FIG. 1).

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 6, the door side portion 20b of the edge member 20 provided with the concave portion 58 at which the door opening button 30 is provided prevents the door front portion 20a from being thinned. For this purpose, a meat steal portion 68 is formed.

As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG.
As shown in FIG. 3, a cover 70 for closing the insertion opening 36 of the substrate storage section 34 is attached by nail fitting. The cover 70 is formed so as to cover the door side surface part 20b not only at the position where the display unit 26 and the operation unit 28 where the insertion opening 36 is provided but also at the position where the door opening button 30 is provided. Thus, the screw for fixing the board mounting plate 54 is hidden, and the meat steal portion 68 is also hidden, thereby preventing the appearance from being deteriorated. In addition, the door side surface part 20b of the edge member 20
A concave portion 72 in which the cover 70 is disposed is formed (see FIG. 4), and the cover 70 is fitted in the concave portion 72 to be attached to the door side surface 20 b of the edge member 20 without any step. .

As shown in FIG. 1, the handle recess 24 is provided in the door side surface portion 20b of the edge member 20 at the position where the door opening button 30 is provided, and a mechanism for opening the door 10 in this manner. Recess 24 and door opening button 3
By setting 0 to the same height, the door opening operation is facilitated. The handle recess 24 extends not only at the position where the door opening button 30 is disposed, but also therefrom to the lower end of the edge member 20. In addition, the handle recess 24 is provided with the cover 7.
0, the cover 70 also has a recess 24a corresponding to the handle recess 24 in that portion.
Are formed.

Reference numeral 74 denotes a vertically extending narrow groove provided in the door front portion 20a of the edge member 20. The narrow groove extends through the left and right sides of the operation panel 50 and the door opening button 30 over the entire length of the edge member 20. Is formed. Open button 30
Around the edge member 2 so that it is pushed in smoothly.
A gap for sliding is required between the two, but such a gap is not preferable in appearance. Therefore, a narrow groove 74 corresponding to the gap between the left and right sides of the door opening button 30 is formed on the edge member 20.
The sliding gap is made inconspicuous by being formed over the entire length of the sliding member. Further, since the same groove shape is also provided on the left and right sides of the operation panel 50 above the door opening button 30 by the narrow groove 74, it is possible to improve a sense of unity in both appearances.

According to the refrigerator door 10 of the present embodiment described above, the edge member 20 arranged on the side opposite to the flange of the rotating door has:
In addition to the provision of the recess 24 for opening the door, the display unit 26, the operation unit 28, and the door opening button 30 are arranged close to each other in the vertical direction in front of the door in the vicinity thereof, so that visibility and operability can be improved. As much as possible, the sense of unity in the front of the door is enhanced and the appearance is excellent. In addition, by arranging these functions in one member called the edge member 20,
The number of parts is reduced, and it is more advantageous in terms of the heat insulating property of the door than in the case where the door is scattered in a plurality of members.

Further, since the positions of these functions can be set at an arbitrary height on the edge member 20 extending in the vertical direction, the refrigerator 1 shown in FIG. The height of the door button 30 can be set to enhance the handleability, and the height of the display unit 26 can be set to a height that is easy for the user to see, to enhance the visibility.

[0042]

According to the refrigerator door of the present invention, a display portion,
By arranging the operation unit and the door opening button adjacent to each other in a row, the sense of unity is enhanced, the appearance is refined, and visibility and operability can be improved. In addition, by arranging these functions in one member, the number of parts is reduced, and the heat insulating property of the door is more advantageous than the case where the members are scattered in a plurality of members. .

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a refrigerator door according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view of a refrigerator provided with the refrigerator door.

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the refrigerator door.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged perspective view of a main part of an edge member in the refrigerator door.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along line BB of FIG. 1;

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Refrigerator door 12 Door front member 14 Door rear member 20 Edge member 20a Door front portion 20b Door side portion 22 Filling space 23 Foam urethane 24 Handle recess 26 Display unit 28 Operation unit 30 Door opening button 32 Printed wiring board 34 Board storage unit 36 Insertion opening 40 Front wall of substrate storage unit 46 Operation button 48 Penetration Hole 48a: Large opening 70: Cover

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A refrigerator door in which a heat insulating foam material is filled between a door front member and a door back member, wherein the door has a rectangular shape and extends over substantially the entire length of the door. An edge member forming a filling space of the heat-insulating foam material together with the door material and the door backing material, the edge member including a door front part and a door side part; , An operation unit for operating the refrigerator, and a door opening button for operating a door opening mechanism are provided adjacent to each other. 2. The refrigerator door according to claim 1, wherein a recessed portion for opening the door is provided on a side surface of the door of the edge member. 3. The refrigerator door according to claim 1, wherein the left and right sides of the door are rotatably attached to the refrigerator body, and the edge member is arranged on the other side. 4. A substrate storage portion is provided on the edge member, which is located behind the display portion and the operation portion and is separated from the filling space, and a print for the display portion and the operation portion is provided in the substrate storage portion. The refrigerator door according to claim 1, wherein a wiring board is provided. 5. The printed circuit board according to claim 1, wherein the board storage section has an opening for inserting the printed wiring board on a door side surface of the edge member, and a cover for covering the insertion opening is attached to the door side surface of the edge member. The refrigerator door according to claim 4, characterized in that: 6. The edge member has a front wall on the front side of the door in the substrate storage section, the operation section has a plurality of operation buttons, and the operation buttons penetrate the front wall in the operation section. 5. The refrigerator door according to claim 4, wherein a plurality of through holes are provided for connecting the plurality of through holes, and the plurality of adjacent through holes are connected to each other. 7. The refrigerator door according to claim 1, wherein the front of the door of the door opening button is set on the same plane as the front of the door of the peripheral member around the door.