JP2006313039A - Refrigerator - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a refrigerator capable of suppressing lateral swing of a door and a container in largely pulling them out without increasing the number of components nor increasing weight or cost, and capable of providing a high-quality door-pulling operation by carrying out a stable sliding operation without laterally swinging the door even in closing the door. <P>SOLUTION: This refrigerator comprises: a pullout type door 11 for openably and closably closing a front opening of a storage chamber 10; a pair of right and left support frames 12 for holding a container fixed to the inside surface of the door and pulled out with the opening of the door; rails 16 arranged on both sides of the storage chamber for slidably supporting the support frames; and stopper members 19 formed by connecting, by connection pieces 21, lock parts 20 formed rotatably forward and backward at respective front ends of the rails. The refrigerator is so structured that, when the rear end 13 of each support frame comes into contact with the lock part of the stopper member by pulling out the container, the lock part is rotated and the forward movement of the container is stopped by locking the rear end of the support frame. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a refrigerator in which a storage container is taken in and out by a drawer door, and more particularly to a door in which the door and the container are prevented from swinging left and right when being pulled out.

  In recent years, refrigerators have been trending toward larger storage capacity as life has diversified. As a form, a refrigerator room with the largest storage capacity is installed at the top, a vegetable room at the bottom, and storage at the bottom. There are many types in which ice making chambers and temperature switching chambers having relatively small volumes are provided separately on the left and right in the width direction, and a freezing chamber is installed at the bottom.

  The refrigerating room is closed in a rotating manner by a door pivoted on one side in the vicinity of the front opening or by a double door, and the vegetable room, the freezer room, the ice making room, and temperature switching In many chambers, a container is attached to the storage chamber side of the door and a drawer type is provided in the front and rear direction for the convenience of taking in and out the stored items.

  Conventionally, in a drawer-type door container structure in a refrigerator, as shown in FIG. 9 which is a cross-sectional view of the drawer door, a drawer door (with a gap provided between the receiving surface on the storage chamber body side and sealed by a gasket provided on the periphery) 51) A pair of left and right support frames (52) for holding a container (not shown) extending to the inside of the storage chamber are fixed to the inner surface of 51), and the support frames (52) are connected to both sides of the storage chamber via pulleys (53) and (57). By being slidably arranged along the rail (56) provided on the door (51), it can be pulled out in conjunction with the opening and closing of the door (51).

The support frame (52) pulled out when the door is opened receives a lower surface of the support frame (52) by a pulley (57) provided in the vicinity of the opening of the storage chamber, and is attached to the rear end of the support frame ( 53) is supported by the front and rear two points supported by the rail (56) (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
JP-A-8-296957

  However, the support structure in which the door (51) and the container in the pulled out state are supported only at two short points between the fulcrums at the rear end of the container as described above in order to increase the amount of the container to be pulled out as much as possible. When the door (51) is swung to the left and right as shown by the arrows with the support frame (52) pulled out due to the presence of a gap in the width direction resulting from the engagement of the related parts for pull-out and the assembly configuration, In addition, there is a problem that if the direction of pushing in when the door is closed shifts, the balance is lost and the sliding direction is not determined, and the door and the container are closed while swinging left and right.

  The present invention has been made paying attention to this point. In order to make the support structure robust, the number of parts is increased and the weight and cost are not increased. An object of the present invention is to provide a refrigerator capable of obtaining a high-quality door pull-out operation by suppressing and performing a stable sliding operation without swinging left and right even when the door is closed.

  The refrigerator of the present invention includes a drawer-type door that closes the front opening of the storage room so as to be openable and closable, a pair of left and right support frames that hold a container that is fixed to the inner surface of the door and is pulled out when the door is opened, A rail disposed on both sides of the storage chamber that slidably supports the support frame, and a stopper member that is formed by connecting a locking portion that is rotatably provided in the front-rear direction at each front end of the rail. When the rear end of the support frame comes into contact with the engaging portion of the stopper member by pulling out the container, the container is moved forward by rotating the engaging portion and engaging the rear end of the supporting frame. This is characterized in that the system is stopped.

  According to the present invention, even when the door is pulled out to the maximum for storing and taking out stored foods, the door and the container are stable and do not swing greatly to the left and right, and also when the door is closed A high-quality drawer door structure that can be pushed in smoothly without shaking is obtained.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of the refrigerator (1) showing the open state of the door with a two-dot chain line, and a storage space is formed by an inner box provided through a heat insulating material (3) inside the outer box (2). And, it is divided into a plurality of storage rooms by the heat insulating partition walls (4) and (5). (6) is a refrigerating room disposed at the upper part of the main body, and pivotally supports a folding door type refrigerating room door (7) by hinges provided on both sides of the front opening to close the opening. .

  In the lower part of the refrigerator compartment (6), a vegetable compartment (8) for storing vegetables and the like is arranged via a partition plate, and below the vegetable compartment (8) via an insulating partition wall (4). A relatively small volume of the temperature switching chamber (9) and an ice making chamber (not shown) are arranged on the left and right sides, and a freezing chamber (10) for storing frozen food is disposed at the bottom.

  These storage rooms other than the refrigerating room (6) have a drawer door system as shown by a two-dot chain line in FIG. 1 because they have a smaller storage capacity than the refrigerating room and are easy to use depending on the installation height position. .

  Hereinafter, the configuration will be described by taking the freezer compartment (10) as an example. As shown in FIG. 2, which is a schematic side view of the drawer of the door (11), a support with a pulley A (13) attached to the rear end on the indoor side of the door (11) that closes the front opening of the freezer compartment A frame (12) is provided, and a container (15) held on the support frame (12) is slidable back and forth by a rail (16) disposed on the side wall of the freezer compartment.

  In the rear part of the container (15), a cooler (14) and a fan that generates low-temperature cold air and supplies it to the freezer compartment and other storage rooms are placed, and the freezer compartment located in the front opening of the freezer compartment (10) A gasket made of a soft synthetic resin is inserted into the inner peripheral edge of the door (11), and the inside of the freezer compartment (10) is sealed when the door is closed.

  As shown in FIG. 3 which is a sectional view from the front showing the support part of the container (15) and FIG. 4 which is a perspective view of the main part, the rail (16) is formed by injection molding synthetic resin. A pair of left and right sides that are substantially U-shaped in cross section, are installed on the left and right side walls (10a) at the upper part in the freezer compartment (10), and are fixed to the inner surface of the door (11) and extend to the indoor side. The support frame (12) receives the lower L-shaped portion (12a) by a pulley B (17) provided at the lower front portion of the rail (16), and is attached to the rear outer side of the support frame (12). By sliding (13) into the rail (16), the container (15) holding the hook (15a) locked to the upper end of the support frame is pulled out of the room with the opening operation, and food is removed from the top opening. It is stored in a container and taken out.

  Thus, at the front ends of the left and right rails (16) and (16 '), a front wall (20a) that rises vertically and a step portion (16a) that extends substantially horizontally rearward and is provided at the front end of the rail (16). The bottom wall (20b) that engages with the bottom wall (20b) has an L-shaped cross section, and is pivotable in the front-rear direction about a support shaft (20c) provided below the front wall (20a). The provided locking part (20) and the connecting piece (21) are suspended downward from the locking part (20), and further, the bottom part of the container (15) is extended in the width direction so that the opposite side A stopper (19) is provided which is integrated with a connecting piece (21 ') extending from the engaging portion (20') and connected thereto.

  On the other hand, a rearward inclined surface (16b) is provided below the front end portion of the rail (16), and this inclined surface (16a) is used as an engaging portion of the stopper (19) shown in FIG. Rotation is stopped as an engagement surface when the connecting piece (21) extending below (20) is rotated. Further, the stopper (19) is formed by integrally molding the left and right engaging portions (20) (20 ') and the connecting piece (21) with a synthetic resin material, and has a front opening width in the freezer compartment (10). By inserting the support shaft (20c) into the inner wall of the main body as shown by the arrow in FIG.

  Next, the operation when the stopper (19) is opened will be described. When the container (15) is pulled out when the freezer compartment door (11) is opened, the support frame (12) supporting the container (15) is supported by the pulley B (17) and the rail (16) The maximum pull-out point is the position where the pulley A (13) at the rear of the support frame is in contact with the locking portion (20) of the stopper (19) by sliding forward with the pulley A (13) rolling inside. Pull out the door (11) and the container (15) with the support at the front and back, with the bottom of the support frame (12) contacting the pulley B (17) and the pulley A (13) contacting the top surface of the rail (16) Hold on.

  At this point, the pulley A (13) at the rear end of the support frame (12) has moved from the front end of the rail (16) to the locking portion (20) of the stopper (19) and is flush with the rail (16). The bottom wall (20b) of the locking part (20) is adapted to receive the pulley A (13). Then, the approached pulley A (13) is brought into contact with the front wall (20a) of the locking portion (20) to be locked, and the forward movement of the support frame (12) is prevented and stopped. At the same time, the locking portion (20) is rotated around the support shaft (20c) until the connecting piece (21) contacts the inclined surface (16b) of the lower surface of the rail (16). The pulley A (13) (13 ') is stably held in a V-shaped groove formed by the front wall (20a) and the bottom wall (20b).

  As the locking part (20) rotates forward, the connecting piece (21) extending below the stopper (19) is centered on the support shaft (20c) opposite to the locking part (20). Rotate backward as indicated by the arrow, and maintain the state of being inclined rearward due to the weight of the pulled out door (11) and container (15), and the front wall (20a) and the bottom wall The pulley A (13) held in the V-shaped groove formed of (20b) is prevented from moving backward by the bottom wall (20b) serving as a shield.

  The stopper (19) is rotated by its own weight when the external force such as the pulley A (13) is removed, and returns to the normal position. ) And the downward hanging portion of the connecting piece (21) are prevented from projecting indoors from the outer surface of the rail (16) so as not to obstruct the forward movement of the container (15).

  In the pulled-out state, the pulley A (13) of the support frame (12) is prevented from rotating by contact with the inclined surface (16b) of the lower surface of the front end of the rail (16). It is held in a V-shaped groove formed by the front wall (20a) and the bottom wall (20b) in a state where it cannot move back and forth, and the locking portions (20) are front end surfaces on both sides of the freezer compartment (10). Since the connecting piece (21) is formed integrally with the connecting piece (21), the pulley A (13) on both sides moves only on one side even if there is a gap in the width direction in the support mechanism portion. The door (11) and the container (15) are held stably.

  Therefore, even when swinging left and right with the door (11), the movement of the support part at the rear end of the support frame (12) on both sides is suppressed, so that it can be prevented from shaking greatly at the door part. It is.

  When the door is closed, the container (15) is pushed by holding the door (11), so that the pulley A (13) at the rear end of the support frame (12) is engaged with the locking portion (20) of the stopper (19). It is possible to close the door by pushing down the bottom wall (20b) standing in the inclined state and moving it onto the rail (16) via the stepped portion (16a) and sliding it back as it is.

  At this time, the bottom wall (20b) of the locking portion of the stopper (19) is pressed by the pulley A (13) for closing the door, and falls backward by its own weight due to the gravity of the connecting piece (21) to be in a horizontal state. However, as described above, since the locking portion (20) is integrated with the left and right sides and the timing of falling backward is the same, the rotation of the pulley A (13) starts simultaneously with the left and right. For this reason, when the door is closed, the left and right pulleys A (13) and (13 ') start to rotate at the same time, so that the support frame (19) can be smoothly moved to the back without shifting from side to side.

  Next, an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a door structure of a storage chamber having a relatively small storage capacity such as the temperature switching chamber (9) will be described.

  FIG. 6 is a front view showing a main part at the lower left of the temperature switching chamber (9), and FIG. 7 is a side view of the temperature switching chamber (9) from the inner side, and closes the front opening of the temperature switching chamber (9) as in the above embodiment. A rail having a support frame (32) with a pulley C (33) attached to the rear end of the door (23) and a container (35) held on the support frame (32) arranged on the side wall of the door (23) (36) makes it possible to slide back and forth.

  The rail (36) is recessed in a substantially U-shape in the indoor wall, and is installed on the left and right side walls near the bottom in the temperature switching chamber (9). The pair of left and right support frames (32) fixed to receive the horizontal portion (32a) for receiving the container (35) by a pulley D (37) protruding from the left and right bottom surfaces in front of the room, and the rear portion of the support frame (32) By sliding the pulley C (33) attached to the outside into the rail (36), the container (35) is pulled out together with the door opening operation, and the food is stored in and taken out from the top opening. is there.

  As shown in FIG. 7 which is a side view of FIG. 6, a front wall (40a) that rises vertically and a rail (36) that extends substantially horizontally rearward are formed at the front ends of the left and right rails (36) and (36 '). ) And a bottom wall (40b) that engages with a step (36a) provided at the front end of the front wall to form an L-shaped section, and a support shaft (40c) provided below the front wall (40a). ) And a locking part (40) that is pivotable in the front-rear direction, and hangs slightly downward from this locking part (40) and extends under the bottom of the container (35) in the width direction. A stopper (39) is formed by integrating the connecting piece (41) extending from the opposing locking portion (40 ') and connected thereto.

  The front end of the step portion (36a) of the rail (36) is provided with an inclined surface (36b) upward to the front, and this inclined surface (36b) is used as an engaging portion (40) of the stopper (39). The rotation is stopped as an engaging surface during the rotation. The stopper (39) is attached so as to be rotatable by fitting the support shaft (40c) into the inner wall of the main body with a width dimension along the width of the opening front portion of the temperature switching chamber (9).

  The operation of the stopper (39) is basically the same as in the above embodiment, and when the container (35) is pulled out when the door is opened, the support frame (32) supporting the container (35) is a pulley D. (37) and the pulley C (33) rolling in the rail (36) slide forward, and the pulley C (33) at the rear of the support frame comes into contact with the locking portion (40) of the stopper (39). The door (23) is supported at the front and rear two points with the bottom of the support frame (32) in contact with the pulley D (37) and the pulley C (33) in contact with the upper surface of the rail (36). And hold the container (35) in the pulled out state.

  The pulley C (33) that has entered the locking portion (40) comes into contact with the front wall (40a) to stop the support frame (32), and as shown in FIG. 8, the support shaft (40c) is The pulley C (33) is moved to the front wall (40a) by rotating the locking portion (40) forward about the center and bringing the front wall (40a) into contact with the inclined surface (36b) of the front end of the rail (36). ) And the bottom wall (40b) and stably held in the left and right V-shaped grooves.

  As the locking part (40) rotates forward, the connecting piece (41) extending below the stopper (39) also rotates backward, opposite to the locking part (40). Since the downward extending distance of the connecting piece (41) is shorter than that in the above embodiment, the rotation radius of the connecting piece (41) becomes an obstacle in space in the gap between the container (35) and the bottom of the chamber. The pulley C (33) held in the V-shaped groove formed by the front wall (40a) and the bottom wall (40b) is prevented from moving in the front-rear direction.

  As in the previous embodiment, the stopper (39) is rotated by its own weight to return to the normal position when the external force is removed, and the stopper (39) The connecting piece (41) is prevented from projecting indoors from the outer surface of the rail (36) so as not to hinder the support frame (32) from moving back and forth.

  In the pulled-out state, the pulley C (33) of the support frame (32) cannot move back and forth in the V-shaped groove formed by the front wall (40a) and the bottom wall (40b) of the locking portion (40). Since the holding portions (40) (40 ′) on both sides are installed at the same position from the front end surface of the temperature switching chamber (9) and are integrally formed with the connecting piece (41), The pulleys C (33) (33 ') on both sides do not move only on one side, and even if the door (23) is swung left and right, the movement of the pulleys C (33) (33') is suppressed. It can be prevented that the door part shakes greatly.

  Further, when the door is closed, by pushing the door (23), the pulley C (33) slides on the rail (36) by pushing the bottom wall (40b) of the locking portion (40) backward. However, as described above, the rotation of the pulley C (33) starts from the left and right at the same time, so that when the door is closed, the left and right pulleys C (33) (33 ') start to rotate simultaneously, so that they do not wobble from side to side. Can be moved to the back side.

  The present invention is configured as described above, and the stoppers (19) and (39) provided in front of the rails (16) and (36) are connected to the left and right to be integrated, and when the door is pulled out, the locking portion (20) In (40), the rear end of the rail is held to prevent the movement, and the left and right swing of the door in the pulled out state is suppressed, and the quality of the drawer configuration is improved. It is not restricted to an example, The change in the range which does not deviate from a summary is possible. For example, the rear end member of the rail held by the locking portion is not limited to the pulleys A (13) and C (33), but may be any member having a low frictional resistance that slides in the rail.

  Further, the stoppers (20) and (40) of the stopper are rotated so as to rotate or hold the engaging part by engaging with the rail surface, not the rotating shafts (20c) and (40c). Any configuration may be used. In each of the above embodiments, the example of the drawer door type container in the freezer compartment or temperature switching chamber of the refrigerator has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and drawers of other storage rooms such as ice storage boxes in vegetable rooms and ice making rooms are used. It goes without saying that it can also be adopted as a type door container configuration.

  INDUSTRIAL APPLICATION This invention can be utilized for the refrigerator provided with the drawer-type door and the storage container.

It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the refrigerator which shows one Embodiment of this invention. It is a schematic longitudinal cross-sectional view of the freezer compartment in FIG. It is a schematic sectional drawing seen from the front of the container support part of FIG. It is a perspective view from the room inner side of FIG. FIG. 5 is an enlarged side view showing the movement of the stopper mechanism of FIG. 4. It is a schematic front view of the temperature switching chamber principal part which shows the other Example of this invention. FIG. 7 is a side view of FIG. 6. It is a side view which shows the state which pulled out the container of FIG. It is a cross-sectional view of a refrigerator storage room showing a conventional state.

Explanation of symbols

1 Refrigerator body 6 Refrigerated room 8 Vegetable room 9 Temperature switching room 10 Freezer room 11 Freezer room door
12, 32 Support frame 12a L-shaped part 13 Pulley A
15, 35 Container 15a Ridge 16, 36 Rail
16a, 36a Step 16b, 36b Inclined part 17 Pulley B
19, 39 Stopper 20, 40 Locking part 20a, 40a Front wall
20b, 40b Bottom wall 20c, 40c Support shaft 21, 41 Connecting piece
23 Temperature switching chamber door 32a Horizontal part 33 Pulley C
37 pulley D

Claims (5)

  A drawer-type door that closes the front opening of the storage room so as to be openable and closable, a pair of left and right support frames that are fixed to the inner surface of the door and hold the container that is pulled out when the door is opened, and the support frames are slidable Rails disposed on both sides of the storage chamber to be supported on the rails, and stopper members that are connected to each front end of the rails so as to be pivotable in the front-rear direction by connecting pieces. When the rear end of the support frame comes into contact with the engaging portion of the stopper member, the forward movement of the container is stopped by rotating the engaging portion and engaging the rear end of the supporting frame. A refrigerator characterized by that.   The stopper portion is formed in an L-shape comprising a front wall and a bottom wall that receives the rear end of the support frame, and the lower portion of the front wall is pivotally supported on the main body side to be rotatable. The refrigerator according to claim 1.   3. The refrigerator according to claim 2, wherein the locking portion of the stopper member is not protruded indoors from the outer surface of the rail.   Even if the stopper is rotated by an external force such as the rear end of the support frame abutting when the container is pulled out, the stopper member rotates by its own weight and returns to the normal position when the external force is removed. The refrigerator according to claim 1. The connecting piece hangs downward from the locking portion with the vicinity of the locking portion of the stopper member as a fulcrum, further extends in the width direction below the bottom surface of the container, and is connected and integrated with the other side of the opposing locking portion. The refrigerator according to claim 4.

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