JP2003287364A - Refrigerator - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a refrigerator superior in convenience in use by dispensing with a rail device by solving problems of requiring the rail device for a refrigerator body, restricting a lateral width of a freezing room and an ice making room by the rail device, reducing the substantially usable volume of the freezing room and the ice making room, and reducing the volume of a vessel because a refrigerating room of the refrigerator body supports a frozen food storage vessel by the rail device installed in the refrigerator body, and can be freely pulled out forward together with a door, and an automatic ice making machine and the ice making room for arranging an ice storage vessel under the machine are also the same. <P>SOLUTION: In the door for opening-closing a front opening of the freezing room, the lower edge side is supported by a hinge so as to be openable in an almost horizontal state to the refrigerator body in a fully opening state. The freezing room is provided with the ice making machine on the left and right one side, and the ice storage vessel under the machine. The frozen food storage vessel is arranged on the left and right other side. These vessels are placed on a bottom surface of the freezing room. An inside surface of the door keeps a position equal to or a little lower than the bottom surface of the freezing room in the fully opening state. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a refrigerator body having a front opening, which is divided into a plurality of upper and lower chambers by partition walls, and at least one of the plurality of chambers is frozen below freezing. The present invention relates to a refrigerator that is a freezing room maintained at a temperature. 2. Description of the Related Art A refrigerator body having a front opening is partitioned into a plurality of upper and lower chambers by partition walls, and at least one of the plurality of chambers is maintained at a freezing temperature below freezing (also referred to as a freezing chamber). In recent years, the composition of the freezing chamber has been
The frozen food storage container is supported by a rail device attached to the refrigerator body, and is configured to be able to be pulled out forward with a door that opens and closes the front opening of the freezing chamber. An ice maker equipped with an automatic ice maker and an ice storage container below the ice maker is formed independently of this freezing room. This ice storage container is also supported by a rail device attached to the refrigerator body, and the front opening of the ice maker is opened and closed. The door is configured to be able to be pulled out forward with the door. As described above, both the freezing room and the ice making room need a rail device attached to the refrigerator body, and this rail device limits the left and right widths of the freezing room and the ice making room, and substantially uses the freezing room and the ice making room. There is a problem that the volume that can be reduced and the volume of the frozen food storage container or the ice storage container are reduced. Further, the cost of the rail device is increased, and the work of mounting the rail device is required. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention focuses on the fact that a frozen food storage container and an ice storage container can be arranged in the same freezing chamber, and a function of drawing the frozen food storage container and the ice storage container forward. The present invention is to provide a refrigerator which is easy to use while maintaining the above-mentioned condition and eliminating the need for the conventional rail device. [0005] In the refrigerator of the present invention, the inside of the refrigerator body having a front opening is divided into a plurality of upper and lower chambers, and at least one of the plurality of chambers is maintained at a freezing temperature below freezing. In the refrigerator that is a room, a door that opens and closes a front opening of the freezing chamber is supported by a hinge so that an upper side opens and closes with a lower side as a fulcrum so as to open substantially horizontally with respect to the refrigerator body in a fully opened state, In the freezing chamber, an ice maker and an ice storage container are arranged below the ice making machine on one side of the left and right sides, and a frozen food storage container is arranged on the other side of the left and right sides. It is placed on the bottom surface of the room, the inner surface of the door keeps the same or slightly lower position than the bottom surface of the freezing room in the fully opened state, and places the ice storage container and the frozen food storage container on the inner surface of the door. Withdrawable It is. [0006] This eliminates the need for the conventional rail device, and allows the frozen food storage container and the ice storage container to be disposed in the same freezing chamber, thereby making it possible to widely use the storage space. Moreover, when the frozen food storage container and the ice storage container are pulled out forward, they are smoothly drawn out on the inner side surface of the door, so that the pulling-out operation is easy and convenient. Next, a refrigerator according to the present invention will be described. 1 to 3 show an embodiment of a refrigerator of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of the refrigerator of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an explanatory view showing an open / close state of a front door of a freezing chamber, and FIG. It is a front view of the refrigerator main body which shows other embodiment of a refrigerator. First, a description will be given with reference to FIGS. Reference numeral 1 denotes a refrigerator, which is one of the cooling storages, and has a configuration in which a plurality of storage rooms are formed by partitioning the inside of the main body 2 having an entire opening, and the front surfaces of these storage rooms can be opened and closed by doors. The refrigerator body 2
A heat insulating structure in which a foam heat insulating material is filled between an outer box (outer wall plate) and an inner box (inner wall plate). Inside the refrigerator main body 2, a refrigerator compartment 3, a freezing compartment 4 serving as a freezing compartment, and a vegetable compartment 5 are defined from above. A front opening of the refrigerator compartment 3 is closed at one side of the refrigerator main body 2 by a pivotable refrigerator compartment door 6 which is opened and closed by being rotated laterally by a hinge device. A front opening of the vegetable compartment 5 is provided with a drawer-type door 7 which is pulled out forward together with vegetable containers supported by left and right rail devices provided in the vegetable compartment 5.
Is closed. A door 8 for opening and closing the front opening of the freezing chamber 4 maintained at a freezing temperature below the freezing point has a lower side 9 as a fulcrum and an upper side 10 so as to open substantially horizontally with respect to the refrigerator body 2 in a fully opened state. Are supported by hinges 11 so that they can be opened and closed. In the freezing chamber 4, an ice maker 12 and an ice storage container 13 are disposed below the ice making machine 12 on one side thereof, and a frozen food storage container 14 is disposed on the other side thereof. 14 is mounted on the bottom surface of the freezing chamber 4. The inner surface 15 of the door 8 is supported by the hinge 11 so that the inner surface 15 of the door 8 is kept at a position equal to or slightly lower than the bottom surface 16 of the freezing chamber 4 when the door 8 is fully opened. FIG. 2 shows a general hinge 11, which includes two hinge plates 11A, 1
1B are connected to each other by a shaft 11C so as to be rotatable with each other. The hinge plate 11A is attached to the refrigerator body 2 by the mounting screws 17.
The hinge plate 11B is fixed to the lower surface of the door 8 by a mounting screw 18. Reference numeral 19 denotes a packing around the periphery of the inner surface of the door 8, and seals with the refrigerator body 2 when the door 8 is closed. In FIG. 2, the state where the door 8 is closed is a state shown by a solid line. In this state, when the hinge 11 is opened in the direction of arrow P about the hinge 11, the two hinge plates 11A and 11B come into contact with each other and the rotation of the door 8 is restricted. This state is the fully opened position of the door 8, and in this fully opened state, the inner surface 15 of the door 8
Keeps a position equal to or slightly lower than the bottom surface 16 of the freezing chamber 4. FIG. 2 shows a mode in which the lower position is maintained slightly. In this fully opened state, the ice storage container 13 and the frozen food storage container 14 can be pulled out on the inner side surface 15 of the door 8, and in the final state of being pulled out, the ice storage container 13 and the frozen food storage container 14 are separated from the refrigerator main body 2. It is in a substantially horizontal state on the inner side surface 15 of the door 8. By keeping the inner side surface 15 of the door 8 at the same or slightly lower position as the bottom surface 16 of the freezing chamber 4,
In addition, it is easy to draw out the frozen food storage container 14. Door 8
When the inner side surface 15 of the is equal to the bottom surface 16 of the freezing chamber 4,
The ice storage container 13 and the frozen food storage container 14 are pulled out over the packing 19. When the inner side surface 15 of the door 8 is slightly lower than the bottom surface 16 of the freezing room 4, the ice storage container 13 and the frozen food storage container 14
Can be moved to the inner surface 15 of the door 8 as it is. In this case, the ice storage container 13 is in the state of being withdrawn.
And the frozen food storage container 14 are provided with the bottom surface 16 of the freezing chamber 4 and the door 8.
Can be slightly lowered diagonally forward in a state of straddling the inner side surface 15. Ice storage container 1
By keeping the inner side surface 15 of the door 8 slightly lower than the bottom surface 16 of the freezing chamber 4 so that the bottom surface of the frozen food storage container 3 and the bottom surface of the frozen food storage container 14 do not contact the packing 19, the ice storage container 13 and the frozen food storage container 14 are pulled out. And storage can be done smoothly,
In addition, an effect of preventing damage to the packing can be obtained. In order to maintain the door 8 in the fully open state not only by the hinge 11 but also in a stable configuration that can withstand a large load, as shown in FIG. (Also referred to as a stay) 20, and a pin 21 loosely fitted in an arc-shaped groove 22 formed in the support plate 20.
Are attached to the left and right sides of the refrigerator body 2. The support plate 20 and the pin 21 restrict the pin 8 from hitting the rear end of the arc-shaped groove 22 when the door 8 is fully opened as shown in FIG. Good. Reference numeral 23 denotes a movable allowance recess of the support plate 20. It should be noted that the opening restriction device for the door 8 may have another configuration. FIG. 3 shows another embodiment in which the partition structure of the refrigerator main body 2 according to the present invention is different from the above. 1 and 2 denote the same parts. The refrigerator main body 2 is formed by partitioning a refrigerator compartment 3, a vegetable compartment 5, a freezing compartment 4, and a freezing compartment 30 from above. The freezing room 4 is divided into an ice making room 4A and a switching room 4B on the left and right sides by a partition wall 31. The switching room 4B can be switched to a freezing room at around -20 ° C or a refrigeration room at around 3 ° C by a temperature switch. The ice making room 4A and the switching room 4B may be configured to be openable and closable by separate doors, or may be configured to be openable and closable by a single door. An ice making water tank 32 is supplied to the ice making machine 12 from a pipe 38 by a pump 33. 34 is a vegetable room container. In the case of a separate door or a single door,
The doors have the same configuration as that described with reference to FIG. 2 so that the same functions as those described above can be achieved. The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, but includes various embodiments without departing from the scope of the claims. According to the present invention, the conventional rail device is not required, and the storage space can be widely used by disposing the frozen food storage container and the ice storage container in the same freezing room. In addition, when the frozen food storage container and the ice storage container are pulled out forward, they are smoothly drawn out on the inner side surface of the door, so that the pulling-out operation is easy and convenient. In the fully opened state of the door, the ice storage container and the frozen food storage container are separated from the refrigerator main body in the pulled-out final state and are kept substantially horizontal on the inner side surface of the door, so that the ice storage container and the frozen food storage container are kept in a horizontal state. Frozen foods can be easily taken in and out. When the inside surface of the door is kept slightly below the bottom surface of the freezing chamber, the door may be straddled over the bottom surface of the freezing room and the inside surface of the door while the ice storage container and the frozen food storage container are being pulled out. It can take a slightly diagonally downward state. In order to prevent the bottom surfaces of the ice storage container and the frozen food storage container from coming into contact with the packing in the front-down state, the inner surface of the door is kept slightly below the bottom surface of the freezing chamber, so that the ice storage container and the frozen food storage container are pulled out. And the packing can be performed smoothly, and the effect of preventing the packing from being damaged can be obtained. Further, noting that the frozen food storage container and the ice storage container can be arranged in the same freezing room, as described above, the frozen food storage container and the ice storage container are stored in one freezing room and opened and closed by a common door. By doing so, the configuration of the freezing chamber is simplified, and an excellent effect is achieved.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of the refrigerator of the present invention. FIG. 2 is an explanatory view showing an open / closed state of a front door of a freezing chamber according to the present invention. FIG. 3 is a front view of a refrigerator main body showing another embodiment of the refrigerator of the present invention. [Description of Signs] 1 ... Refrigerator 2 ... Refrigerator body 4 ... Freezing room 8 ... Door 11 ... Hinge 12 ... Ice making machine 13 ... Ice storage container 14 ... Frozen food storage container 15 ... Inner surface 16 of the door ... Freezing room Bottom 19 of the packing

Claims (1)

Claims: 1. A refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein the inside of the refrigerator main body having the front opening is divided into a plurality of upper and lower chambers, and at least one of the plurality of chambers is a freezing room maintained at a freezing temperature below freezing. A door that opens and closes the front opening of the freezing chamber is supported by a hinge so that the lower side is a fulcrum and the upper side is opened and closed with the lower side as a fulcrum so as to open in a substantially horizontal state with respect to the refrigerator body in the fully opened state. An ice making machine and an ice storage container are arranged below the ice making machine on one side of the left and right, a frozen food storage container is arranged on the other side of the left and right, and the ice storage container and the frozen food storage container are placed on the bottom surface of the freezing chamber. A refrigerator in which the inner side surface of the door keeps a position equal to or slightly lower than the bottom surface of the freezing chamber in the fully opened state, and the ice storage container and the frozen food storage container can be pulled out onto the inner side surface of the door.