JP2003302150A - Refrigerator - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a refrigerator for preventing collision with other articles caused by the simultaneous opening of doors, and preventing any unstable condition by preventing another door from being opened when either of a body door or a small door is opened. <P>SOLUTION: An opening 15 for access to/from the refrigerator is formed in a surface part of a heat insulation door 8 provided on a front opening part of a body in an opening/closing manner, a small door 17 is provided on the opening in an opening/closing manner with one side thereof pivotably supported, a link member 31 with one end thereof extended in the chamber and engaged with a body opening edge is held in the heat insulation door via a pivotably supporting part 31a, and a locking bar 34 connected to one end via a pivotably supporting part of a link member with another end slidable facing one side of the small door is provided. Disengagement is performed by opening the heat insulation door, the link member is turned, the locking bar is protruded into an opening by this turn, and engaged with the small door to prevent the small door from being opened. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a door provided in a front opening of a refrigerator, and more particularly to a structure in which a small door is provided on a door surface of a main body.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, refrigerators have been diversified in their eating habits and the storage capacity has been increasing. Especially in household refrigerators, the storage capacity of more than 400 liters has become the mainstream, and the height and width of the refrigerator body are high. The size also tends to increase.

Along with this, the doors of the refrigerating room, the freezing room, and the vegetable storage room have become larger, and the amount of storage in the storage pocket inside the door has also increased. Due to the increased width, the opening space for the open / close door becomes large, making it difficult to install in a kitchen where the front is not wide and open, and a large opening is formed when the door is opened. Since a large amount of cold air flows out, the temperature in the refrigerator rapidly rises, and there is a waste of additional cooling operation power to maintain the cooling temperature in the refrigerator.

Also, since there is a tendency for a large amount of food to be stored in the storage pocket inside the door, and because the door of the refrigerating room itself is large, a large amount of force is required to open the door, and a powerless woman or an elderly person is required. In this case, there is a problem that the burden becomes large, it takes time to put the stored products in and out, and the number of times of opening and closing is further increased in the summer when the plastic bottle and the like are frequently used, which causes wasteful outflow of cold air.

As a structure to cope with the above problem, a so-called side-by-side type in which a partition plate or a partition wall for partitioning the opening of the storage chamber into left and right is provided, and a left opening door and a right opening door are installed in each of the left and right openings. There is a refrigerator,
In addition, a rotary partition body is provided on the opposite pivot side of one of the left and right doors, and this partition body is placed in front of the opening when the door is closed to form a suction member for the gasket, thereby providing a partition member on the main body side. There is a French door system that has been eliminated, and there is a configuration in which only one door is opened to suppress the outflow of cold air in the refrigerator, if necessary.

Furthermore, a small door is formed in the door to close the opening, and a storage pocket is formed inside the small door to store bottles and small seasonings. Conventionally, there is also a configuration in which a stored item in a storage pocket is taken out from the storage and stored by an opening.

[0007]

However, in the above-mentioned side-by-side method, the partition plate is present, so that the volume inside the storage is reduced and the inside is divided into left and right parts, which limits the utilization of the internal space. However, there is a drawback that it causes usability and deteriorates usability. Further, although the French door system has good usability, it has a complicated structure, and when opening the doors, both doors tend to be opened substantially at the same time, which does not contribute much to the prevention of cold air leakage.

Further, the structure of forming a small door on the surface of the door is opened and closed by a hinge provided on one side of the small door, and the pocket integrally attached to the inside of the small door is horizontal or vertical as the small door rotates. It is a structure that rotates in the direction and is extracted outside the storage, and it is possible to easily store and take out stored items that are frequently put in and out without opening the door of the storage chamber main body, which is a power saving effect that suppresses the outflow of cold air However, in these conventional configurations, the main body door and the small door can be opened at the same time.

When the main door and the small door are opened at the same time, one of the doors is rotated while the other door is not stationary and the other door is rotated, which only hinders food storage and installation work. Instead, the small door would open beyond the opening angle of the main body door, and there was a risk of colliding with a cupboard or a wall and damaging or dropping the stored items.

The present invention has been made in view of this point, and when one of the main body door and the small door is opened, the other doors are prevented from being opened so as not to be opened. An object of the present invention is to provide a refrigerator in which collision with other articles due to simultaneous opening of the door is prevented and an unstable state is prevented from occurring.

[0011]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the invention of a refrigerator according to claim 1 penetrates the inside and outside of a refrigerator through a surface portion of a heat-insulating door which is openably and closably provided in a front opening of a heat-insulating box body. An opening is formed, and one side is pivotally supported on this opening to provide a small door that can be opened and closed, and one end of the door is extended into the storage via a pivotal support portion and engaged with the opening edge of the main body. By holding the link member and connecting it to the other end through the pivotal support part of this link member, one end facing one side of the small door and slidably provided with a locking rod, it is engaged by opening the heat insulating door Is released and the link member is rotated, and by this rotation, the locking rod is projected into the opening and engaged with the small door to prevent the small door from being opened. is there.

With this configuration, when the heat insulating door is opened, it is possible to prevent the small door from being opened, and an unstable door opening situation is caused by opening both the main body side door and the small door at the same time. It is possible to prevent the occurrence of the above-mentioned problem and improve the work of storing and taking out the food, and to prevent the collision or damage to the cupboard or the wall due to the opening of the small door at a predetermined angle or more.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, an opening penetrating the inside and outside of the refrigerator is formed on the surface of a heat-insulating door provided at the front opening of the heat-insulating box body so as to be openable and closable, and one side of which is pivotally supported. A small door that can be opened and closed is provided, and one end is held inside the heat insulation door and the other end is slidably provided so as to face one side of the small door, and one end is engaged with the sliding member. By providing a link mechanism in which the locking portion at the other end is extended to the inside of the storage via the pivotal support portion in the heat insulating door, the engagement is released by the opening of the small door and the sliding force of the sliding member is generated by the spring force. The other end projects into the opening, and at the same time, the locking part is locked to the main body side by the rotation of the link mechanism due to the movement of the sliding member to prevent the opening of the heat insulating door, With this configuration, when the small door is opened, it is possible to prevent the heat insulating door on the main body side from being opened.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, an opening penetrating the inside and outside of the refrigerator is formed on the surface of a heat-insulating door provided at the front opening of the heat-insulating box body so as to be openable and closable, and one side of which is pivotally supported. A small door is provided so that it can be opened and closed, and one end is held inside the heat insulating door and the other end is opposed to one side of the small door, and a sliding member is slidably provided. The locking part is locked to the body side by rotation to prevent the heat insulating door from opening, and one end is extended through the pivotal part to engage with the opening edge of the body to release the engagement by opening the heat insulating door. A locking rod that holds a rotating link member in the heat insulating door, and projects into the opening at the other end of the pivot portion of the link member by the rotation of the link member and engages with the small door to prevent the small door from opening. It is characterized by connecting both the heat insulation door and the small door at the same time in any opening pattern. The generation of unstable door open state due to can be prevented.

[0015]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a front view of a refrigerator according to the present invention in which a refrigerator door is provided with a small door.

A refrigerator body (1) formed of an outer box, an inner box, and a heat insulating box body in which a heat insulating material is foam-filled between the inner and outer boxes is
As a storage space inside the inner box, a refrigerating room (2) is provided at the top and a vegetable room (3) is provided below it, and an ice making storage room (4) and a temperature switching room ( 5) is divided into left and right side by side, and a freezer compartment (6) is independently arranged at the bottom, and a dedicated door is provided at the front opening of each storage compartment to close it openably and closably. is doing.

Refrigerating room (2) having the largest storage volume
Inside, a plurality of loading shelves are provided to form a storage space for stored items, and a part of the storage rack is pivoted at one side end with a hinge (7) at the front of the opening as shown in FIG. A door (8) filled with a heat insulating material (11) similar to that of the refrigerator body (1) is rotatably attached between the supported outer plate (9) and inner plate (10). (8) A magnet gasket (12) is attached to a portion of the peripheral edge corresponding to the opening, and when the door is closed, the gasket (12) is adsorbed to the peripheral edge of the opening by the magnetic force of the magnet, so that the refrigerator compartment ( 2) The inside and outside are hermetically sealed to prevent heat leakage.

Inside the refrigerating compartment door (8), a plurality of pocket members (13) and (14) are arranged over the front surface of the refrigerating compartment to form a storage space, and a lower portion of the refrigerating compartment (2). The vegetable compartment (3), the ice making storage compartment (4), the temperature switching compartment (5), and the freezing compartment (6) arranged in the above are attached to the doors and extend inside the storage compartment (not shown) and the inner wall surface of the compartment. With the rail mechanism of and, together with each storage container placed on the frame, a drawer door system that pulls out to the outside of the cabinet in the front-rear direction is adopted.

In the lower part of the surface center of the refrigerating compartment door (8), an opening (1
5) is formed to penetrate the inside and outside of the refrigerator. This opening (1
5) is a frame body (16) having a step (16a) formed between an opening formed in the door outer plate (9) and an inner plate (10) formed with an opening slightly smaller than the opening. Are formed by penetrating the inner and outer plates while connecting with each other to close the gap.

A small door (17) is attached to the frame body (16) forming the opening (15) so as to openably and closably close the opening by means of a pivot shaft provided on one side above and below the opening.

The small door (17) is formed by integrally molding inner and outer double walls having a heat insulating space inside by blow molding or injection molding of synthetic resin, and a step portion corresponding to the step portion (16a) of the opening. (17a) is formed in the peripheral portion and the opening (1
A gasket (18) is provided between the step (16a) (17a) between the small door (17) and the small door (17) to block the opening from the outside heat, and a handle (19) is provided on one side of the surface. .

For sealing the opening (15), various methods can be used, such as utilizing the attraction and repulsion between the magnets provided on the small door side and the opening side, or by using a gasket method similar to that of the latch or the door. Can be adopted.

When the opening of the small door (17) is closed by the magnet gasket method, the small door (17)
2 is molded with a thin steel plate which is a magnetic body, and contrary to FIG. 2, it may be adsorbed by the magnetic force of the magnet gasket (18) attached to the frame body (16) side, and the surface of this small door (17) is It can be used as a memo board by attaching memo paper with a magnet.

The upper and lower portions of the inside of the small door (17) have a storage pocket (20) having an L-shaped cross section and a storage pocket (2 for storing relatively large stored items such as PET bottles).
1) is engaged with and attached to the ridge (22a) of the inner plate (22) of the small door.

The storage pocket (21) is arranged so as to be located inside the storage pocket (14) of the refrigerating compartment door (8), and when the refrigerating compartment door (8) is opened, the refrigerating compartment is opened. Stored goods are stored in and taken out from the inside of the room door into the storage pockets (14) (21). And FIG.
As shown in Fig. 3 in which the small door (17) is opened, the small door (17) is opened and the stored items in the pocket (21) are taken out or stored from the small door side. In addition, from the opening (15) to the refrigerating compartment side storage pocket (14)
It is also possible to take out the stored items directly.

A frame body (16) forming the opening (15)
An in-compartment lamp (24) for illuminating the inside of the compartment and a shade (25) are attached to the front of the interior of the compartment with a recess (16b) provided above the periphery. The interior light (24) is energized by a door switch (not shown) that is interlocked with the opening and closing of the small door (17). When the small door (17) is opened, the interior light (24) is turned on. I am trying.

In the lower part of the refrigerating compartment door (8) on the opening side, the pivot support portion (31a) is held in the heat insulating wall, one end of which extends to the inside of the refrigerator, and the other end of the refrigerating compartment door (8). 8) The link member (31) is provided extending to the vicinity of the front end.

The pivot member (31a) of the link member is provided with a spring member (32), and the spring action causes the engagement roller (33) provided at the one end to form an opening edge of the refrigerating chamber (2).
A guide groove (28a) formed on the upper surface of a partition (28) between the vegetable compartment (3) and the vegetable compartment (3) is engaged so as to be pressed.

A small door (17) is provided at the other end of the link member (31).
The lower end of a locking rod (34) provided so as to be slidable in the up-and-down direction so as to face the lower surface of the is connected, and in the free state, due to the action of the spring member (32), the locking rod (34 The upper end of (1) protrudes from the opening (15) and faces the engaging recess hole (17b) formed in the lower surface of the small door (17).

With this structure, when the refrigerating compartment door (8) is closed, the engaging roller (33) rides on the inclined surface of the guide groove (28a) of the partition, as shown in FIG. Therefore, the other end of the link member (31) is located below and the locking rod (3
Since the upper end of 4) does not project into the opening (15), both the refrigerator compartment door (8) and the small door (17) can be opened.

The case where the refrigerator compartment door (8) is opened in this state will be described. As shown in FIG. 4, when the door of the refrigerating compartment is opened, the engaging roller (33) at the tip of the link member (31) separates from the partition (28) and comes off the guide groove (28a), so that the spring member (32 ), The other end of the link member (31) pivots upward, the locking rod (34) moves upward, and the locking rod (34) projects into the opening (15) at the same time. The upper end fits into the locking recess (17b) of the small door.

By the above fitting, the small door (17) is engaged and locked with respect to the refrigerating compartment door (8), and the small door (17) is prevented from opening. That is, the small door (17) cannot be opened when the refrigerator compartment door (8) is opened.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings, in which the same parts as those in the above-mentioned embodiment are designated by the same reference numerals. As can be understood from FIG. 5, which is a schematic cross-sectional view of the small door (17) in the closed state along the line AA in FIG. 2, the door (8 A sliding member (42) is horizontally slidably provided on the small door (17) so that one end is held by the compression spring (41) and the other end corresponds to one side of the small door (17).

A roller (43) is attached to the other end of the sliding member (42) so as to project toward the small door (17) side of the opening (15) of the refrigerating compartment door in a free state. When the opening (15) is closed by the small door (17), the roller (43) is pushed into the heat insulation wall against the force of the spring (41), and the sliding member (42). An engaging portion (45) having an L-shaped hook provided at the other end of the link mechanism (44) having one end engaged with the other end is extended in the interior direction.

The link mechanism (44) is rotatably provided as the sliding member (42) slides by the pivotal support (44a) located inside the heat insulating door, and the small door (17) is closed. Then, since the sliding member (42) is pushed in by the small door, one end is located on the left side in FIG.
The locking portion (45) is in a free state without engaging with the locking projection (2a) formed by projecting on the side wall of the opening of the refrigerating compartment (2) around the center (a), and the refrigerating compartment door ( 8) is in a state where it can be opened and closed arbitrarily.

The case where the small door (17) is opened from the above state will be described. As shown in FIG. 6, when the small door (17) is opened, the roller (43) at the tip of the sliding member (42) releases its pressing force, so that the action of the spring (41) causes the inside of the opening (15). Project to.

Simultaneously with the movement of the sliding member (42) toward the opening (15), the link mechanism (44) rotates counterclockwise, and the L-shaped hook of the engaging portion (45) at the other end is attached to the side wall of the main body. Locking protrusion (2
By engaging and locking a), the refrigerator door (8) is prevented from opening. That is, the refrigerator door (8) cannot be opened when the small door (17) is opened.

Further, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described. This embodiment is a combination of the above two embodiments, and specifically, in the lower part of the refrigerating compartment door (8) and the small door (17) on the opening side, as shown in FIGS. As shown, the side walls of the doors (8) and (17) on the opening side have the structures shown in FIGS. 5 and 6.

According to this structure, when either the refrigerating compartment door (8) or the small door (17) is opened, the small door (17) or the refrigerating compartment door (8) which is closed at that time. Not only can the opening of the refrigerating compartment door (8) be prevented when the small door (17) is opened as the opening pattern in the first embodiment. You can
As the door opening pattern in the case of the second embodiment, the opening of the small door (17) after opening the refrigerating compartment door (8) can also be prevented.

Therefore, both the refrigerating compartment door (8) and the small door (17) are opened at the same time in any opening pattern including the situation where one door is opened and the other door is opened. To prevent unstable door-opening situations and improve food storage and retrieval work, and prevent collisions and damage to cupboards and walls due to small doors opening more than a specified angle. You can

In the above embodiment, the small door (17) is opened and closed horizontally by the pivot shaft provided on one side of the door. However, the pivot shaft is provided at the lower side and pivoted vertically. By doing so, the small door is opened by rotating in the front direction, and the storage pocket (21) is also opened in the front direction, so that storage items such as bottles can be easily taken out.

In this case, in the first embodiment, the relationship between the link member (31), the locking rod (34) and the main body door (8) and the small door (17) is defined by the upper surface of the door and the upper side surface. age,
Also in the second embodiment, the sliding member (42), the link mechanism (44), and the engaging portion (45) have the same relational structure as the upper faces of the small door (17) and the main body door (8). And it is sufficient.

As for the main body door, the refrigerator door has been described in the above embodiment, but the present invention is not limited to this, and a relatively large door such as a freezer compartment door or a vegetable compartment door deviates from the spirit of the present invention. Can be implemented without
The opening direction of the door is not limited to the opening in the horizontal direction, and can be easily applied to the opening and closing doors in the vertical and vertical directions.

[0044]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, it is possible to easily take out and store stored items, prevent wasteful outflow of cold air, and reduce power consumption. When the door is opened, it is possible to prevent the small door from opening, preventing the occurrence of an unstable door opening situation caused by opening both the main body side door and the small door at the same time, and storing food. And take out work well,
It is possible to prevent collision or damage to a cupboard, a wall or the like due to the small door opening at a predetermined angle or more.

According to the invention of claim 2, when the small door is opened, it is possible to prevent the heat insulating door on the main body side from being opened.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, it is possible to prevent an unstable door open state due to simultaneous opening of both the main body side door and the small door in any door opening pattern.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of a refrigerator provided with a small door showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of a main part of a small door portion of the refrigerator shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view of an essential part showing a state in which a small door in FIG. 2 is opened.

FIG. 4 is a partial vertical cross-sectional view showing an open state of a small door of the same portion as FIG.

FIG. 5 is a schematic plan sectional view of the opening side of the small door taken along the line AA in FIG. 2 showing the second embodiment of the present invention.

6 is a plan sectional view showing a state in which a small door of the same portion as FIG. 5 is opened.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Refrigerator main body 2 ... Refrigerator 8 ...
Refrigerator doors 13, 14 ... Pocket member 15 ... Opening 16 ...
Frames 16a, 17a ... Steps 16b ... Recesses 17 ...
Small door 17b ... Locking recess 18 ... Gasket 19 ...
Handles 20, 21… Storage pockets 22… Small door inner plate 24…
Interior light 25 ... Shade 28 ... Partition 28a
… Guide groove 31… Link member 31a… Pivot 32…
Spring member 33 ... Engaging roller 34 ... Locking rod 41 ...
Compression spring 42 ... Sliding member 43 ... Roller 44 ...
Link mechanism 44a ... Pivot part 45 ... Locking part

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A heat-insulating door which is openably and closably provided in a front opening of a heat-insulating box body, an opening which is formed in a front surface of the heat-insulating door and penetrates the inside and outside of the refrigerator, and one side of which is pivotally supported to open and close. A small door that is freely provided, a link member that is held in the heat insulating door and has one end extended to the inside of the cabinet through a pivotal support portion and engaged with an opening edge of the main body, and the other end through the pivotal support portion of the link member. A locking rod that is slidably provided with one end facing one side of the small door and is disengaged when the heat insulating door is opened to rotate the link member. A refrigerator characterized in that a locking rod is projected into the opening and is engaged with the small door to prevent the small door from opening. 2. An adiabatic door provided at the front opening of the adiabatic box body so as to be openable and closable, an opening formed in the surface of the adiabatic door to penetrate the inside and outside of the refrigerator, and one side of which is pivotally supported to open and close. A small door freely provided, a sliding member having one end held in the heat insulating door and the other end facing one side of the small door and being slidably provided, and one end engaged with the sliding member. A link mechanism in which a locking portion at the other end is extended into the storage via a pivotal support portion in the heat insulating door, and the engagement is released by opening the small door, and the sliding member is moved by a spring force. A refrigerator characterized in that an end projects into an opening, and at the same time, a locking portion is locked to a main body side by rotation of a link mechanism due to movement of a sliding member to prevent opening of a heat insulating door. 3. A heat-insulating door provided at the front opening of the heat-insulating box body so as to be openable and closable, an opening formed in the surface of the heat-insulating door for penetrating inside and outside the refrigerator, and one side of which is pivotally supported to open and close. A small door freely provided, a sliding member having one end held in the heat insulating door and the other end slidably facing one side of the small door, and a link mechanism by movement of the sliding member. Open the heat insulating door by extending one end through a locking part that locks to the main body side by rotation and prevents the heat insulating door from opening and a pivotal support part held in the heat insulating door to engage with the opening edge of the main body And a link member that is disengaged by the rotation and is connected to the other end of the pivot portion of the link member,
A refrigerator characterized in that it comprises a locking rod that projects into the opening when the link member rotates and engages with the small door to prevent the small door from opening.