JP2008145075A - Panel mounting structure - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a panel mounting structure having high workability in mounting and demounting a panel, and preventing degradation of strength of a housing and increase of processing man-hours. <P>SOLUTION: A first opening portion 12a and a second opening portion 12b are formed on a front portion of the housing 12 in a state of being vertically adjacent to each other. The first opening portion 12a is rotatably pivoted on the housing 12 through a hinge 26 and opened and closed by an opening/closing door 22. A locking hole 34 is formed on the hinge 26. An engagement hole 42 is formed on a bottom plate 40 defining the second opening portion 12b. A locking claw 36 capable of being engaged with and disengaged from the locking hole 34 of the hinge 26 is mounted on an upper edge portion 24a of a front panel 24 closing the second opening portion 12b. An engagement projecting piece 44 capable of being engaged with and disengaged from the engagement hole 42 of the bottom plate 40 is projected from a lower end portion 24b of the front panel 24. The front panel 24 is mounted on the housing 12 by inserting the locking claw 36 into the locking hole 34 of the hinge 26 in a state of inserting the engagement projecting piece 44 into the engagement hole 42. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a structure in which a panel for closing a second opening adjacent to a first opening that is opened and closed by an opening / closing door is detachably attached to a housing.

  An automatic ice making machine that automatically manufactures ice blocks has an approximately box-shaped casing as a main body, and an ice storage with a heat insulating structure is integrally provided, and an ice storage chamber in which a required amount of ice blocks is stored in the ice storage Is internally defined. In the front part of the housing, an ice block outlet is opened at a position corresponding to the ice storage chamber, and the outlet is configured to be opened and closed by an open / close door provided in the housing. In addition, a machine room in which a refrigeration unit and the like are arranged is defined in the casing and is disposed below the ice storage. A maintenance room for the refrigeration unit and the like is provided in a front part of the casing corresponding to the machine room. An opening is established. The opening is closed by a front panel that is detachably attached to the housing (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

As the mounting structure of the front panel with respect to the housing, screw collars protrude from the left and right sides of the back surface of the front panel, and two large and small round holes are formed on the front surfaces of the left and right sides of the housing defining the opening. There is a type in which a so-called saddle hole is formed in a vertical direction and a front panel is attached to a housing by hooking a screw collar to the saddle hole.
JP 2000-220924 A

  However, in the above-described front panel mounting structure, the screw collar that hooks into the daruma hole is arranged on the back of the panel, so the screw collar and daruma hole are hidden by the front panel itself and cannot be seen during installation and removal. It is pointed out that the workability is poor and it takes time. In addition, the width of the front surfaces on both the left and right sides of the casing defining the opening is narrow, and if a dull hole is formed in the front surface, the strength may be reduced. In addition, there has been a problem that the number of processing steps of the housing increases.

  That is, the present invention has been proposed in order to suitably solve these problems in view of the above-described problems inherent in the prior art, and the workability of panel mounting and removal is good, and the strength of the housing is reduced. An object of the present invention is to provide a panel mounting structure capable of suppressing an increase in processing man-hours.

In order to overcome the above-mentioned problems and to achieve the intended purpose suitably, the panel mounting structure according to the invention of claim 1 of the present application is:
A second opening is opened adjacent to the first opening at the front of the housing in which an opening / closing door for opening and closing the first opening opened at the front is provided. A panel mounting structure for detachably mounting a panel to be closed to a housing,
A fixed-side hinge member disposed on the front surface of the casing facing between the first opening and the second opening, and a pivot member pivotally supported on the fixed-side hinge member disposed on an edge of the opening / closing door. The hinge is provided with a movable side hinge member, and the opening / closing door is rotatably arranged with respect to the housing,
A locking portion is provided on the hinge, and a locked portion that is detachably locked to the locking portion is provided on an edge of the panel.
The other edge portion of the panel is provided with an engaged portion that is detachably engaged with an engaging portion provided at an edge portion of the second opening in the housing.
The panel is closed with the second opening by engaging the engaged portion of the panel with the engaging portion of the housing and locking the locked portion of the panel with the locking portion of the hinge. It is configured to be attached to the housing in a state.
According to the first aspect of the present invention, since the hinge for pivotally supporting the opening / closing door is provided with the locking portion that is detachably locked to the locked portion provided on the edge of the panel, the panel During the mounting and removal operations, the locking portion between the locked portion and the locking portion is not hidden by the panel itself, the workability is improved, and the mounting and removal operations can be performed in a short time. In addition, since it is not necessary to form a boring hole or the like in the housing, the number of processing steps for the housing can be reduced and the strength is not lowered.

The gist of the invention of claim 2 is that the locked portion is provided in the panel so as to be elastically deformed in a locking / removing direction with respect to the locking portion of the hinge.
According to the invention of claim 2, since the locked portion can be elastically deformed, it is easy to engage and disengage the locked portion with respect to the locking portion.

In the invention of claim 3, the movable side hinge member is pivotally supported with respect to the fixed side hinge member on the front side from the position where the locking portion is provided, and the pivotal support portions of both hinge members are formed in an arc shape. The gist of the invention is that the back surface of the locked portion is formed with an inclined surface that elastically deforms the locked portion pressed against the pivotal support portion from the front side in a direction away from the locking portion.
According to the invention of claim 3, the locked portion is elastically deformed by simply pressing the locked portion from the front side against the pivotal support portion of the fixed side hinge member and the movable side hinge member. Therefore, the panel can be easily attached.

  According to the panel mounting structure of the present invention, the panel can be easily mounted and removed from the housing. Further, the number of processing steps for the housing can be reduced, and the strength of the housing is not reduced.

  Next, a panel mounting structure according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings by way of preferred embodiments. In the embodiment, a case where a panel mounting structure is adopted for a housing forming the main body of the automatic ice maker will be described. In the following description, front / rear and left / right are designated when the automatic ice making machine is viewed from the front as shown in FIG. 2 unless otherwise specified.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the automatic ice making machine 10 according to the embodiment includes an ice storage chamber (for storing ice blocks produced by an ice making mechanism (not shown)) inside a casing 12 that is a main body. A storage room 14) and a machine room 20 in which the electrical box 16, the refrigeration apparatus 18 and the like are stored are defined in a vertical relationship. A first opening 12a is opened at the front of the housing 12 corresponding to the ice storage chamber 14 located on the upper side, so that ice blocks stored in the ice storage chamber 14 can be taken out through the first opening 12a. It has become. The first opening 12 a is configured to be opened and closed by an opening / closing door 22 that is rotatably disposed on the front surface of the housing 12. In addition, a second opening 12b is opened in a state adjacent to the first opening 12a at the front part of the housing 12 corresponding to the machine room 20 located on the lower side, and the second opening 12b is interposed through the second opening 12b. Thus, maintenance of the refrigeration apparatus 18 and the like is performed. The second opening 12 b is closed by a front panel (panel) 24 that is detachably disposed on the front surface of the housing 12.

  The open / close door 22 is disposed on a lower edge (hereinafter referred to as a “lower edge”) 22 a and is pivotable to the front surface of the housing 12 via a pair of hinges 26, 26 that are separated from each other on the left and right. Arranged. Each hinge 26 is disposed on the fixed-side hinge member 28 disposed on the front surface 12c of the housing facing the first opening 12a and the second opening 12b and the lower edge 22a of the open / close door 22. A movable-side hinge member 32 pivotally supported by a fixed-side hinge member 28 via a hinge shaft 30 is provided. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, the fixed-side hinge member 28 is formed with a rectangular attachment portion 28a that is in contact with the front surface 12c of the housing, and is bent at a right angle from the upper end of the attachment portion 28a toward the front. The mounting portion 28a is detachably disposed and fixed to the front surface 12c of the housing by a plurality of fixing members (not shown) such as screws. The holding portion 28b is formed with a pair of projecting pieces 28c and 28c extending forwardly apart from each other in the left-right direction, and a shaft hole 28d is defined by forming the front end of each projecting piece 28c into a circular shape. Has been. In other words, in the embodiment, the circular portions formed at the front ends of the projecting pieces 28c and 28c are the pivot portions 28e and 28e.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, the movable hinge member 32 is formed into a rectangular mounting portion 32a that is in contact with the lower edge portion 22a of the open / close door 22 and a front end of the mounting portion 32a. The mounting portion 32a is detachably disposed and fixed to the lower edge portion 22a of the opening / closing door 22 by a plurality of fixing members (not shown) such as screws. It has become so. The width dimension in the left-right direction of the pivotal support portion 32c of the movable side hinge member 32 is set smaller than the separation dimension of the projecting pieces 28c, 28c in the fixed side hinge member 28. Then, the shaft holes 28d, 28d aligned in the left-right direction in a state where the pivotal support portion 32c of the movable-side hinge member 32 faces between the pivotal support portions 28e, 28e of the projecting pieces 28c, 28c of the fixed-side hinge member 28. 32b, the movable side hinge member 32 is pivotally supported with respect to the fixed side hinge member 28.

  A locking hole 34 as a locking portion is defined in the hinge 26 so as to open in the vertical direction by both projecting pieces 28 c and 28 c in the fixed-side hinge member 28 and the pivotal support portion 32 c of the movable-side hinge member 32. A locking claw 36 (described later) provided in the front panel 24 is inserted into and locked in the locking hole 34 so as to be detachable. The projecting dimensions of the pivot portions 28e and 32c, which are the front ends of the hinge 26, from the front surface 12c of the housing are set smaller than the thickness dimension of the door 22 as shown in FIG. In a state where the portion 12a is closed, the hinge 26 is not directly visible from obliquely above, so that the appearance is not inferior.

  The front panel 24 is formed in a rectangular box shape that is opened to the rear side using a synthetic resin as a material, and an outer diameter dimension thereof is set to a dimension that can cover the second opening 12b of the casing 12. An upper edge portion (edge portion) 24a of the front panel 24 is spaced apart in the left-right direction at the same interval as the distance between the pair of hinges 26, 26, and a pair of locking claws (locked portions) 36, 36. Is integrally molded. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, each of the locking claws 36 is formed in a recess 38 that is formed by recessing a part of the upper edge portion 24a of the front panel 24 and opening it to the front side and the upper side. A support portion 36a extending upward, and an extension portion 36b bent upward from the rear end of the support portion 36a. The upper end of the extension portion 36b is predetermined from the upper edge portion 24a. It protrudes by height. And the extension part 36b of the latching nail | claw 36 is inserted and latched so that it can detachably engage with the latching hole 34 formed in the said hinge 26 corresponding. The locking claw 36 is configured such that the extending portion 36b can be elastically deformed in the vertical direction (inward and outward directions) with respect to the front panel 24, and when the supporting portion 36a is pushed downward, the extending portion 36b is formed into the panel. The extending portion 36 b that is locked in the locking hole 34 is elastically deformed in the direction of being pulled inward, that is, in the direction of being detached from the locking hole 34.

  In addition, an inclined surface 36c is formed on the back surface of the extending portion 36b of the locking claw 36 (a surface facing the housing 12). The inclined surface 36c is inclined downward from the upper end of the extending portion 36b toward the rear. When the inclined surface 36c is pressed against the pivot portion 32c of the hinge 26 from the front side, the extending portion 36b is elastically deformed downward, that is, in a direction in which the extending portion 36b is detached from the locking hole 34. As shown in FIG. 1, the extending portion 36b of the locking claw 36 protrudes from the upper edge portion 24a at a substantially intermediate position of the front and rear thickness of the front panel 24, and the rear end of the front panel 24 is the front surface 12c of the casing. The extending portion 36b is set so as to be inserted and locked in the locking hole 34 of the hinge 26 in a state where it is in contact with the hinge 26.

  A pair of engagement holes (engagement portions) spaced apart in the left-right direction are formed on the upper surface of the front portion of the bottom plate 40 that defines the machine room 20 in the casing 12, that is, the edge portion that defines the second opening 12b. ) 42 and 42 are formed so as to penetrate in the vertical direction. In addition, a pair of engagement protrusions (separated in the left-right direction) having the same dimension as the separation dimension of the pair of engagement holes 42, 42 are formed at the rear end of the lower edge part (other edge part) 24 b of the front panel 24. (Engaged parts) 44, 44 project downward. Then, the locking claws 36 and 36 are inserted and locked into the locking holes 34 and 34 of the hinges 26 and 26 in a state where the engaging protrusions 44 and 44 are inserted and engaged with the engaging holes 42 and 42. Thus, the front panel 24 is positioned on the housing 12 with the second opening 12b closed. In addition, in a state where the engaging protrusions 44 and 44 are inserted into the engaging holes 42 and 42, the extending portion 36 b of each locking claw 36 does not interfere with the lower end of the opening / closing door 22, and the pivotally supporting portion of the hinge 26. It is set so as to contact 32c from the front side.

(Effects of Example)
Next, the operation of the panel mounting structure according to the embodiment will be described below.
When the front panel 24 is attached to the housing 12 in a state where the first opening 12a of the housing 12 is closed by the open / close door 22, a pair protruding from the lower edge portion 24b of the front panel 24 is provided. Are inserted into the corresponding pair of engaging holes 42, 42 formed in the bottom plate 40 from diagonally forward and upward. In this state, when the upper side of the inclined front panel 24 is moved so as to be close to the front surface 12c of the housing, the pair of locking claws 36, 36 provided on the upper edge 24a of the front panel 24 The extension parts 36b and 36b abut on the pivotal support parts 32c and 32c of the movable hinge members 32 and 32 in the corresponding hinges 26 and 26 from the front side.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the extending portion 36b is in contact with the inclined surface 36c with respect to the pivot portion 32c of the hinge 26, so that the upper side of the front panel 24 is further brought closer to the front surface 12c of the casing, The upper edge portion 24a of the front panel 24 enters the lower side of the open / close door 22 in the closed state while the extending portion 36b is elastically deformed downward. When the extended portion 36b exceeds the pivot portion 32c of the hinge 26, the extended portion 36b is inserted into the locking hole 34 of the hinge 26 by elastic return and locked to the rear side of the pivot portion 32c. The front panel 24 is attached to the housing 12 with the second opening 12b closed (see FIG. 1). At this time, the rear end of the front panel 24 is brought into contact with substantially the entire circumference of the front surface of the housing that defines the second opening 12b.

  Since the inclined surface 36c is formed on the back surface of the extending portion 36b and the pivot portion 32c has a circular shape (an arc on the front side), when the extending portion 36b is pressed against the pivot portion 32c from the front side, The protruding portion 36b is elastically deformed smoothly, so that the mounting operation is facilitated. In addition, since the extending portion 36b protrudes from the upper edge portion 24a of the front panel 24, the operator can visually recognize the positional relationship between the extending portion 36b and the hinge 26 from the front side. That is, it is possible to perform the attaching operation in a short time by aligning the extension part 36b with the hinge 26 in a short time without requiring time for aligning both positions depending on the feeling.

  Since the front panel 24 of the embodiment is engaged with the hinge 26 or the bottom plate 40 at four positions, the front panel 24 is stably attached to the housing 12 and is disposed in the machine room 20. It is suppressed that the refrigeration apparatus 18 that is being driven vibrates. The positions of the pivot portion 32c of the hinge 26 and the extending portion 36b of the locking claw 36 are set so that the extending portion 36b is locked to the pivot portion 32c of the hinge 26. By setting the relationship in such a manner that the rear end of the front panel 24 is pressed against the front surface 12c of the housing by elasticity, the front panel 24 can be attached to the housing 12 in a more stable state.

  Next, when the front panel 24 is removed from the housing 12, fingers are inserted into the recesses 38 formed in the upper edge 24 a of the front panel 24 from the front side, The support part 36a is pushed down. As a result, the extending portion 36b is elastically deformed so as to be detached downward from the locking hole 34, and in this state, the upper side of the front panel 24 is tilted forward so as to be separated from the front surface 12c of the housing. The locked state between the claw 36 and the hinge 26 is released. Accordingly, after the upper edge portion 24a of the front panel 24 is completely drawn forward from the lower side of the open / close door 22, the engagement protrusions 44, 44 are engaged with the engagement holes 42, 44 by lifting the front panel 24. The front panel 24 is removed from the casing 12 by being removed from the casing 42. Since the locking claw 36 is provided corresponding to the recess 38 of the front panel 24, the operator can elastically deform the locking claw 36 using the recess 38 as a mark, and remove the front panel 24. There is no need to search for the position of the locking claw 36 during the work.

  In the panel mounting structure according to the embodiment, since the locking claw 36 is formed integrally with the front panel 24, it is not necessary to separately provide a separate member such as a screw collar, and the number of parts related to the front panel 24 is reduced. Can do. In addition, since the locking hole 34 for locking the locking claw 36 of the front panel 24 is provided in the hinge 26 that pivotally supports the open / close door 22, a boring hole is formed in the housing 12 as in the prior art. Compared to the case, the processing man-hour of the housing 12 can be reduced, and the strength of the housing 12 is not lowered.

[Example of change]
The present application is not limited to the configuration of the above-described embodiment, and other configurations can be appropriately employed.
1. In the embodiment, the case where the two openings are opened in a vertical relationship has been described. However, the two openings may be opened in a horizontal relationship. In this case, a hinge is provided at either the left or right edge of the door, and the door is opened laterally. What is necessary is just to provide in an edge part. That is, the configuration of the embodiment is rotated by 90 degrees.
2. In the embodiment, the description has been given of the case where the locking hole and the engaging hole are formed in the hinge and the bottom plate, and the locking claw and the engaging protruding piece inserted into the locking hole and the engaging hole are provided on the front panel. The relationship between the locking portion and the locked portion and the engaging portion and the engaged portion may be opposite to those in the embodiment. That is, it is possible to adopt a configuration in which a locking claw is protruded from the hinge, an engaging protrusion is protruded from the bottom plate, and a locking hole or an engaging hole is formed in the front panel corresponding to these. In addition, about a latching hole or an engagement hole, the recessed part which a latching claw and an engagement protrusion piece can engage may be sufficient, and when it is set as this recessed part, strength reduction can be suppressed compared with a hole.
3. In the embodiment, the description has been given in the case where the locking hole as the locking portion is defined by the protruding piece of the fixed-side hinge member and the pivotal support portion of the movable-side hinge member in the hinge, but only the fixed-side hinge member is used. You may form a locking hole in the holding | maintenance part. Moreover, the structure which protrudes a latching claw in this holding | maintenance part may be sufficient.
4). The number of hinges pivotally supporting the open / close door may be set according to the size of the open / close door, and therefore the number of locked portions provided on the front panel may be set according to the number of hinges.
5. In the embodiment, the case where the panel mounting structure is adopted in the automatic ice making machine has been described. However, one of the adjacent openings in the front part of the housing is opened and closed with an opening / closing door, and the other opening is closed with the panel. If it is a structure, it may be a refrigerator or a warm storage.

It is a principal part vertical side view of the automatic ice maker in the state where the front panel was attached to the housing | casing which concerns on an Example. It is a front view of the automatic ice maker which concerns on an Example. It is a schematic perspective view shown in the state which removed the front panel from the housing | casing which concerns on an Example. It is a schematic perspective view of the hinge which concerns on an Example. It is a principal part vertical side view of the automatic ice maker in the state which attaches the front panel to the housing | casing which concerns on an Example.

Explanation of symbols

12 Housing, 12a 1st opening, 12b 2nd opening, 12c Front of housing 22 Open / close door, 22a Lower edge (edge), 24 Front panel (panel)
24a Upper edge part (edge part), 24b Lower edge part (other edge part), 28 Fixed side hinge member 32 Movable side hinge member, 32c Pivot part, 34 Locking hole (locking part)
36 locking claw (locked portion), 36c inclined surface, 42 engaging hole (engaging portion)
44 Engagement protrusion (engaged part)

Claims (3)

A second door adjacent to the first opening (12a) is provided at the front of the housing (12) provided with an opening / closing door (22) for opening and closing the first opening (12a) opened at the front. A panel mounting structure in which an opening (12b) is opened and a panel (24) for closing the second opening (12b) is detachably mounted to a housing (12),
A fixed-side hinge member (28) disposed on the front surface (12c) of the casing facing between the first opening (12a) and the second opening (12b) and an edge of the open / close door (22) ( 22a) and a hinge (26) provided with a movable side hinge member (32) pivotally supported by a fixed side hinge member (28) so that the open / close door (22) is connected to the casing (12). ) To be rotatable with respect to
The hinge (26) is provided with a locking portion (34), and a locked portion (36) that is detachably locked to the locking portion (34) is an edge of the panel (24) ( 24a)
The other edge portion (24b) of the panel (24) is detachably engaged with an engagement portion (42) provided at the edge portion of the second opening (12b) in the housing (12). The engaged portion (44) is provided,
The engaged portion (44) of the panel (24) is engaged with the engaging portion (42) of the housing (12), and the locked portion (36) of the panel (24) is engaged with the hinge (26). Mounting the panel characterized in that the panel (24) is mounted on the housing (12) with the second opening (12b) being closed by being locked to the locking portion (34) Construction.   The panel mounting structure according to claim 1, wherein the locked portion (36) is provided on the panel (24) so as to be elastically deformed in a locking / detaching direction with respect to the locking portion (34) of the hinge (26). .   The movable-side hinge member (32) is pivotally supported with respect to the fixed-side hinge member (28) on the front side from the position where the locking portion (34) is provided, and the pivotally supported portions (32c) of both hinge members (28, 32). ) Is formed in an arc shape, and on the back surface of the locked portion (36) of the panel (24), a locked portion (36) pressed from the front side to the pivot portion (32c) is locked. The panel mounting structure according to claim 2, wherein an inclined surface (36 c) is formed that is elastically deformed in a direction away from the panel.

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