JP2005257248A - Refrigerator - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a refrigerator with extended freedom of design by using a membrane-like pressing switch as a touch switch for operating a door opening device on a door surface of the refrigerator, thereby further ensuring the switch operation to improve the reliability, thinning a switch mechanism to minimize the influence on the heat-insulating thickness of the door, and eliminating the limitation of the setting place to reduce the cost. <P>SOLUTION: This refrigerator comprises the door opening device provided in an upper portion of a refrigerator body having an opening in the front, the heat-insulating door 5 rotated by operating the door opening device to open the front opening of the refrigerator body, and the membrane-like pressing switch 15 set on the outer surface of the heat insulating door, and performing connecting/disconnecting operation of the switch by pressing a dome-like membrane body having a conductive member on the inner surface onto an electrode arranged with a space therefrom to make contact therewith. The door opening device is operated by pressing the membrane-like pressing switch. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a refrigerator in which a touch switch device for operating a door opening device is installed on a door surface.

  In recent years, refrigerators have automatically operated operation control panels for temperature control and doors that have become heavier due to large storage capacity on the front side of the door that closes the front opening of the main unit, due to diversification of storage temperature zones and ease of use. A door operation device for touching a door opening device that opens on the surface of the door is commercially available.

  The touch panel in this kind of refrigerator door opening device has a relatively wide operation surface for convenience, and is an exploded perspective view shown in FIG. 8 and the like described in Japanese Patent Application No. 2003-177368 related to the applicant's application. As shown in FIG. 9, the configuration of the touch switch device (65) provided adjacent to the operation panel (61) is such that the notch (56a) below the door surface plate (56) is closed by the door cap (57). A movable plate (69) for operating the switch (68) is pivotally supported on a panel box (67) fixed to the door cap (57).

  One end of the touch panel (66) that abuts against the pressing surface (69b) of the movable plate is pivotally supported on the panel box by a fixed shaft (81), and the other end of the touch panel (66) is a fixed shaft (81). The link shaft (82) is fixed so as to be parallel to the panel fixture (83) so as to be detachable, and the touch panel (66) is connected to the link shaft (82) and the panel fixture (83). And is arranged on the panel box (67) by the joint shaft and the fixed shaft (81) and is held so as to be movable back and forth with respect to the opening by the urging force of the spring B (84). The actuator (68a) of (68) is operated.

  When the surface of the touch panel (66) is pressed from the outside, the touch panel (66) is displaced rearward, and the protrusion (66a) abuts against the pressing surface (69b) of the movable plate to press it, and the spring The pressing piece (69a) at one end is separated from the actuator (68a) of the push button switch (68) against the spring force of A (80), and the control circuit is energized to operate the door opening device.

  With the above configuration, the touch switch device (65) can be attached to the recessed portion (60) of the door (55) after foam filling of the heat insulating material, so that the panel box (67) for mounting the movable plate (69), etc. And other members are not deformed by the influence of foam pressure of the heat insulating material, the signal is generated without affecting the switch operation caused by the deformation, etc., and the touch switch device is in the state of the panel unit. The switch operation can be confirmed.

  However, as described above, the number of mechanical components constituting the touch switch device (65) such as the fixed shaft (81), the link shaft (82), the spring A (80), the same B (84), and the movable plate (69) increases. Therefore, not only does the quality of the product deteriorate due to the operation noise and rattling caused by the switch operation, which increases the cost, but also occupies a relatively large space for storing the above-mentioned components. There are restrictions including the design aspect, and depending on the installation location such as the edge of the door, there is a problem that it is difficult to secure a predetermined heat insulation thickness in the door.

  The present invention has been made in consideration of the above points, and by using the film-like press switch as a touch switch for operating the door opening device on the door surface of the refrigerator, the switch operation is made more reliable and the reliability is improved. The purpose is to provide a refrigerator with a reduced design mechanism that reduces the influence on the insulation thickness of the door, reduces the cost by eliminating restrictions on the installation location, and increases the degree of design freedom. And

  In order to solve the above problems, a refrigerator according to the present invention includes a door opening device provided at an upper portion of a refrigerator main body having an opening on the front surface, and heat insulation that rotates by the operation of the door opening device to open the front opening of the refrigerator main body. A membrane-like pressure switch that performs contact / separation operation of the switch by pressing and contacting the door and the dome-like membrane body provided on the outer surface of the heat-insulating door and provided with a conductive member on the inner surface. The door opening device is operated by pressing this film-like pressing switch.

  As described above, according to the refrigerator of the present invention, the switch operation by pressing can be ensured to improve the reliability of the door opening performance, and the installation space can be reduced by making the switch mechanism thin and compact. The required heat insulation thickness in the door can be secured. Further, since the film-like pressing switch can be installed at an arbitrary position with respect to the door, the degree of freedom in design and design can be greatly expanded, and the cost can be reduced.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. A refrigerator main body (1) whose front view is shown in FIG. 1 is provided with a refrigerated room (2) for storing and storing refrigerated food at the uppermost part, and a lower part thereof such as a vegetable room (3) and a freezer room (4). The storage chambers are arranged in accordance with the storage temperature of the refrigerator, doors are provided at the respective front openings, and the front opening of the refrigerator compartment (2) is pivoted to the refrigerator main body side by a hinge. The supporting folding door type refrigerator compartment door (5) (5 ') is attached.

  As shown in FIG. 2, which is a longitudinal sectional view of the main part, the right door (5), which is one of the double door type refrigerator compartment doors, has an outer surface made of a thin steel plate and its left and right side edges are substantially U-shaped rearward. The front plate (6) is formed of a bent front plate (6), and a door cap (7) for closing the lower end opening is provided at the lower end of the front plate (6). The door inner plate (8) that forms the pocket portion for storing the stored items is arranged, and the space portion formed between these members is foam-filled with a heat insulating material (9) made of urethane foam. ing.

  The lower side of the front plate (6) is cut out into a rectangular shape with a predetermined height over substantially the entire width of the door (5), and a door cap (7) and a later-described portion are formed on the end surface of the cutout portion (6a). An engagement groove formed on the upper edge of the operation panel (11) is fitted and locked.

  The door cap (7) is made of a synthetic resin molded body, and on the door front support side in the width direction of the door with respect to the upper front surface position matched with the notch (6a) of the front plate (6), A recess (not shown) is provided from the upper end to the rear, and the outer end of the heat insulating door body is formed by bending the lower end to the rear and engaging the lower end of the door inner plate (8). Is a storage part for panel parts separated from the heat insulating layer below the door.

  (11) is an operation panel, which forms an outer peripheral edge along the notch (6a) of the front plate (6), and is a design member that forms the periphery of the touch panel described later.

  An operation display section (11a) and a handle section (11b) of the door (5) are configured by engaging the upper edge of the base substrate (12) with the lower edge of the operation panel (11). (11) and the recess formed in the gap between the base substrate (12) and the door cap (7) are engaged and integrated with a liquid crystal plate for operation display, a light source lamp, and a printed wiring board. The control display unit is arranged, the lower surface of the base member (12) is extended rearward and engaged with the door cap (7), and is screwed from the lower surface.

  A touch panel (11b) on the outer surface of the operation panel (11) on the anti-pivot side portion of the base substrate (12) is operated with a finger touch to open the refrigerator compartment door (5). A membrane-like push switch device (15) provided with 16) is arranged.

  The membrane pressure switch (15) is a touch panel (16) formed of a dome-shaped membrane body (17) made of an elastic body formed of a PET (polyethylene terephthalate) film and provided with a conductive member (18) on the inner surface. The touch panel (16) includes a film substrate (19) provided with a space behind the electrode (20), and electrodes (20) (20) arranged on the substrate (19) so as to be spaced apart from each other. Pressing the dome-shaped film body (17) of (16) and bringing it into contact with the electrodes (20) and (20) makes it conductive. In this way, the switch contacts and separates.

  This membrane-like pressing switch device (15) is connected to a solenoid (not shown) of a door opening device (10) provided on the upper side of each counter-pivot side of the double doors (5) (5 ') in the refrigerator body (1). Connected, by the user's pressing touch operation to the touch panel (16) installed on the outer surface of the door, to energize the solenoid by energizing the film-like pressing switch (15) that is a signal operating unit, By the protrusion of the built-in plunger forward, the end face of the door is pressed by the protrusion pin provided at the tip to open it.

  Therefore, as the switch device for opening the door, only the film-like pressure switch (15) attached to the outer surface of the operation panel (11) is required. There is no need to install a switch (68), movable plate (69), and many other unit components, which not only reduces the cost of parts and the assembly process of the switch unit, but also the back of the handle (11b) and the door inner plate (8 ) Can be used as a heat insulating layer, and a heat insulating thickness can be secured to reduce power consumption.

  In addition, the adoption of the membrane-like pressing switch (15) eliminates the switch operation noise and friction engagement sound caused by the conventional mechanical engagement mechanism, improving the quality of the operation itself, and the switch contact point. Since the part is sealed, it is highly waterproof and drip-proof for water that flows down the door (5) (5 ') surface even if it is used in a refrigerator in a kitchen where water is highly likely to scatter. is there.

  Further, as described above, the touch panel (66) which is a handle portion in the conventional structure is arranged to be movable back and forth in order to press the push button switch (68). Needed to be a separate member, and as a result, the strength of the handle portion was reduced, so it was necessary to adopt a reinforcing configuration. According to the above configuration, the touch panel (16) was attached to the operation panel (11). Can be formed integrally, and sufficient strength can be obtained as a handle.

  On the back side of the touch panel (16), a handle recess (21) is formed between the touch panel (16) and a base substrate (12) that has a curled cross section to make it easier to insert fingers. This handle recess (21) is for the user to manually open the door when the door opening device by touch operation is not used or when the door opening device breaks down. At this time, the user grips the handle recess (21) and pulls it toward the user, thereby acting as a door opening handle.

  At this time, the handle (11b) of the touch panel (16) serving as the handle for opening the door is formed integrally with the operation panel (11) engaged with the base substrate (12) having a high strength, thereby It is possible to sufficiently receive the opening gravity of the placed door (5), and the door can be opened stably. In addition, when opening the door, the pulling operation by the handle recess (21) along with the pressing operation of the touch panel (16) is ergonomically compatible with the characteristics of the action, and the quality of the door opening operation is improved. Can be increased.

  As described above, since the film-like pressing switch (15) by the touch panel (16) is to touch and press to operate the switch, in order to perform the pressing operation by the user more easily and reliably, As shown in FIG. 4, it is formed as a panel (22) having a relatively large width and height as a separate member from the dome-shaped film body (17), and the film-shaped pressing switch (15) is connected to the operation panel. (11) A plurality of devices may be installed on the outer surface and covered with the touch panel (22).

  And if operation pieces such as ribs (22a) engaged along the film-like pressing switches (15) and (15) are formed on the back surface of the touch panel (22), the operation surface can be enlarged and the panel surface It is possible to use a painted product, etc., and even if any position of the touch panel (22) is pressed, it is possible to press at least one of the plurality of film-like pressing switches (15). It can be operated reliably.

  Although the present invention is configured as described above, the membrane-like pressing switch (15) is thin and compact, so that the installation location is not limited to the handle (11) of the door (5), but the door It can be installed almost anywhere on the outer surface. For example, from the necessity of maintaining the heat insulation thickness such as the side edge of the door (5) shown in FIG. In addition, an effective arrangement can be made.

  Next, another embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 6 in which the same reference numerals are given to the same portions as the above-described embodiment. The film-like pressing switch (25) having the same configuration as that of the above-described embodiment has the front and back surfaces of the switch body covered and held by the panel bodies (26) and (26), and is operated on the front surface of the door opening / closing handle recess (21). The switch is installed on the panel (11), and the switch is turned on and off by a pressing operation from the front surface of the handle recess (21) and a pulling operation from within the handle recess (21).

  With this configuration, the refrigerator door (5) is opened in a film form when the user pushes it or pulls it from the panel body (26) (26) installed on the handle of the operation panel (11). The pressing switch (25) is pressed and the switch is operated to drive the door opening device (10), so that the usability can be improved.

  Still another embodiment will be described. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 7, the inner side of the door surface side from the upper surface side of the grip portion (30) of the door opening / closing handle (29) having the membrane-like pressing switch (15) attached to the heat insulating door (5). The touch panel (32), which is arranged in a plurality of rows on the outer surface of the side and the surface of each film-like pressing switch (15) is formed in a shape along the grip (30), is covered and fixed as a cap.

  The grip handle (29) as described above has a circular cross section so that it can be easily grasped by being familiar with the hand. Normally, in a conventional push button switch mechanism, it is not possible to install it on such a curved surface. Although it is almost difficult, as described above, since the film-like pressing switch (15) is formed of an elastic film sheet, it can be installed on a curved surface such as the grip part (30) and is thin. Thus, the strength can be maintained without reducing the cross-sectional area of the handle member. In addition, when the grip handle (29) is gripped and pulled, the panel (32) is naturally pressed and the switch (15) is urged, and the door opening operation is assisted to open the door smoothly. There is an effect that the design can be improved while maintaining the operability well.

  The present invention can be used for a refrigerator using a touch switch device.

It is an external appearance front view of the refrigerator which shows one Embodiment of this invention. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view which shows the touch-panel part of the refrigerator compartment door of FIG. It is a schematic sectional drawing of the film-like press switch in FIG. It is a perspective view of the panel which shows the example which used two or more film-like press switches of FIG. It is a perspective view which shows the usage example to the other place of the film-like press switch of FIG. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the same part as FIG. 2 which shows the other Example of this invention. It is a perspective view of the refrigerator grip handle which shows the further another Example of this invention. It is a perspective view which shows arrangement | positioning of the opening operation unit part in the conventional refrigerator door. It is a disassembled perspective view which shows the detail of the operation unit in FIG.

Explanation of symbols

5 Refrigerating room right door 6 Front plate 6a Notch 7 Door cap 9 Heat insulation 10 Door opening device
11 Operation panel 11a Operation display 11b Handle
12 Base substrate 15, 25 Membrane pressure switch 16, 26 Touch panel
17 Domed membrane 18 Conductive member 19 Film substrate
20 Electrode 21 Handle Recess 22 Touch panel
22a Rib 29 Door opening / closing handle 30 Grip part
32 Touch panel

Claims (5)

  A door opening device provided at the top of the refrigerator main body having an opening on the front surface, a heat insulating door that is rotated by the operation of the door opening device to open the front opening of the refrigerator main body, and is installed on the outer surface of the heat insulating door to conduct to the inner surface The dome-shaped film body provided with a conductive member is pressed and brought into contact with the spaced electrode, and the door is opened by pressing the film-shaped pressure switch. A refrigerator characterized by operating the apparatus.   A plurality of film-like pressing switches are arranged on the outer surface of the door, the outer surface is covered with a touch panel, and the touch panel is operated by pressing at least one of the plurality of film-like pressing switches by pressing the touch panel at an arbitrary position. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein a piece is formed.   The refrigerator according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a film-like pressing switch is installed in front of a door opening / closing handle recess on the door surface.   The touch panel with the front and back surfaces of the membrane-shaped push switch covered with a panel is installed in front of the door opening / closing handle recess, and the switch is operated by pressing from the front of the handle recess and pulling from inside the recess. The refrigerator according to claim 1 or 2. The refrigerator according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a film-like press switch is installed on the outer surface of a grip portion of a door opening / closing handle attached to the heat insulating door, and the surface of the film-like press switch is covered with a touch panel.

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