JP2008151389A - Refrigerator - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a refrigerator with a simple structure, facilitating attachment and detachment of components, and provided with a water supply passage capable of improving assembly efficiency and a cleaning property, and to provide a refrigerator preventing accumulation of water in connecting parts of components of the water supply passage, and inflow of water into an ice tray. <P>SOLUTION: The refrigerator is composed such that a refrigeration compartment 5 is provided in an upper part and a freezing compartment 7 is provided in a lower part, and water supplied is carried out from a water supply tank 15 arranged in the refrigeration compartment 5 to the ice tray 21 of an icemaker mounted in the freezing compartment 7 by a water supply passage 30. The water supply passage 30 is composed of a water supply hose 31 detachably installed in the refrigeration compartment 5, and having an upper end attached to a water receptor 17 supplied with water from the water supply tank 15, a water supply pipe 35 detachably inserted with the water supply hose 31 in an upper end, and having a lower end opened above the ice tray 21 of the freezing compartment, and a connection auxiliary member 40 detachably fixed to an upper part of the water supply pipe 35 and guiding the water supply hose 31. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a refrigerator, and more specifically, a water supply device that guides water from a water supply tank disposed in an upper refrigerator compartment to an ice tray of an automatic ice maker disposed in a lower freezer compartment that is vertically separated. This relates to the refrigerator provided.

  In recent years, refrigerators with a medium capacity or more have been put on the market with a refrigerator room and a vegetable room at the top of the freezer room. In many models, automatic ice machines are used in the freezer room, and water is supplied to the refrigerator room. A tank is provided to supply water from the water supply tank to the automatic ice making machine.

  In the refrigerator as described above, the refrigerator body is configured by filling a foam heat insulating material such as urethane foam as a heat insulating material between the resin inner box and the steel plate outer box, A refrigerator room, a vegetable room, and a freezer room are provided from the top, the refrigerator room and the vegetable room are partitioned by a partition wall, and the vegetable room and the freezer room are partitioned by a heat insulating partition wall.

A water supply unit including a water supply tank and a water tray unit is provided on the upper surface of the partition wall constituting the bottom of the refrigerator compartment. The water tray unit is a water tray receiver provided on the back side of the refrigerator room. It is detachably held in the unit and is installed at a predetermined position.
In addition, an ice making unit is provided at the upper part of one side of the freezer compartment. Between the water supply unit and the ice making unit, there are a relay water supply pipe and an ice tray water supply pipe detachably connected thereto. A water supply pipe forming a water supply path is disposed.

The relay water supply pipe constituting the water supply pipe is detachably connected to the water tray, and the ice tray water supply pipe connected to the lower end of the water supply pipe is inserted into the opening provided in the heat insulating partition wall, and the tip thereof is Open on the ice tray.
Thus, the water supply pipe disposed between the water supply unit and the ice making unit can be separated from the relay water supply pipe and the ice tray water supply pipe, taken out from the refrigerator body, and washed.

In addition, an anti-freezing heater for preventing freezing of the ice tray water supply pipe is provided in the opening provided in the heat insulating partition wall, and the anti-freezing heater is provided between the inner wall of the opening and the ice tray water supply pipe. A heater cover that covers and insulates and isolates the ice tray water supply pipe and holds the ice tray water supply pipe is provided, and the ice tray water supply pipe can be removed without using a tool or the like.
Furthermore, the vegetable room side of the water supply pipe is covered with a detachable relay pipe cover that does not require tools or the like so that the water supply pipe cannot be seen (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-56958 (page 5-7, FIG. 2-4)

According to the refrigerator of Patent Literature 1, even in a water supply pipe having a vegetable room in the middle and having a long water supply path, the cleanability can be improved and the hygiene tray water supply pipe can be kept hygienic. Many effects are obtained such as easy and reliable insulation.
However, a heater cover for insulation from the antifreeze heater is provided between the ice tray water supply pipe and the inner wall of the opening of the heat insulating partition wall. The heater cover is provided between the ice tray water supply pipe and the antifreeze heater. Since both of them are held and held, there is a problem that not only the size is increased and the cost is increased, but also the assembly is troublesome and takes time.

  Also, if water adheres to the upper part of the heater tray ice tray water supply pipe assembly, a water drain hole cannot be provided because the anti-freeze heater is located under the heater cover. There was a risk that water adhering to the ice would fall along the ice tray water supply pipe and flow into the ice tray.

  The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-described problems. In order to supply water to an ice tray that is separated from a water supply tank, the structure is simple and the components can be easily attached and detached, and the assembling property and the cleaning property are improved. An object of the present invention is to provide a refrigerator provided with a water supply channel that can be used, and a refrigerator in which water does not accumulate in the connection parts of the water supply channel components or flow into the ice tray. It is.

The refrigerator according to the present invention has a refrigerator compartment at the top and a freezer compartment at the bottom, and supplies water from a water supply tank provided in the refrigerator compartment to an ice tray of an ice making machine mounted in the refrigerator compartment through a water supply channel. The water supply path is detachably installed in the refrigerating chamber and has a water supply hose with an upper end attached to a water tray that is supplied with water from the water supply tank, and the water supply hose can be attached to and detached from the upper end. A water supply pipe that is inserted and whose lower end opens on the ice tray in the freezer compartment, and a connection auxiliary member that is detachably fixed to the upper part of the water supply pipe and guides the water supply hose.
Moreover, the drain hole is provided in the vicinity of the connection part of the water supply hose and the water supply pipe of the connection auxiliary member.

According to the present invention, a water supply path for supplying water to an ice tray that is separated from the water tank, a water supply hose attached to the water tray of the water tank, and a water supply that is connected to the water supply hose and has the other end opened on the ice tray. Since a connection auxiliary member that guides the water supply hose with one end fixed to the water supply pipe is provided at the connection portion with the pipe, the water supply hose can be attached to and detached from the water supply pipe very easily, and the cleaning property can be improved. . Further, the connection assisting member is formed in a small size with resin and is simply fixed to the water supply pipe, so that the assembly work is easy and the cost can be reduced.
Further, since the drain hole is provided in the vicinity of the connection portion between the water supply hose and the water supply pipe of the connection assisting portion, water does not accumulate near the connection portion and this water does not flow into the ice tray.

1 is a cross-sectional view of a main part of a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a main body of the refrigerator according to the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a diagram corresponding to the AA cross section of FIG. FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the main part of FIG. 1.
The refrigerator main body 1 of the refrigerator according to the present invention has an outer wall composed of a steel plate outer box 2, a resin inner box 3, and a foam heat insulating material 4 such as urethane foam filled therebetween. The refrigerator compartment 5, the vegetable compartment 6, and the freezer compartment 7 are formed from the upper part.

  The refrigerator compartment 5 and the vegetable compartment 6 are partitioned by a partition wall 8, and the vegetable compartment 6 and the freezer compartment 7 are partitioned by a heat insulating partition wall 9. And between the heat insulation wall 10 and the back wall provided in the back | inner side of the refrigerator compartment 5 and the vegetable compartment 6, the cooler 11, the air blower 12, the damper apparatus 13, etc. are arrange | positioned, and the freezer compartment 7 The compressor 14 is installed on the outer side of the rear wall on the back side.

  A recess 8a is formed on the front side of one side wall of the partition wall 8 constituting the bottom of the refrigerator compartment 5 (the side wall of the left wall in FIG. 2, hereinafter referred to as 1a), and is attached to and detached from the recess 8a. A water supply tank 15 is accommodated, and a locking step 8b is provided at the corner of the recess 8a of the partition wall 8 as shown in FIG. A box-shaped water tray receiving portion 16 having an open top surface with two sides of the locking step portion 8b is formed. An opening 16a communicates with a water supply guide member 25 described later.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the water receiving tray 17 accommodated in the water receiving tray receiving portion 16 has an L-shaped support wall having a flange portion 17 b that engages with the engaging step portion 8 b of the partition wall 8 on the outer periphery of the upper end portion. 17a and a box-shaped portion 17c formed on the inner side of the support wall 17a and having an upper surface opened. Reference numeral 17d denotes a water supply port provided at the bottom of the water tray 17 and connected to a water supply hose 31 described later.

  The water receiving tray 17 is accommodated in the water receiving tray accommodating portion 16 from the opening, and the flange portion 17b is engaged with the engaging step portion 8b of the partition wall 8 and is detachably held. Then, the water in the water supply tank 15 is sucked by the pump 18 and supplied to the water receiving tray 17 from the discharge pipe 19.

  Further, an inserted resin water supply path guide member 25 is integrally provided in the vertical direction in the foamed heat insulating material 4 of the side wall 1a, and the upper portion of the water supply path guide member 25 is a partition of the inner box 3. An upper opening 25a formed in a shape corresponding to the opening 3a provided in the vicinity of the recess 8a of the wall 8 and coupled to the opening 3a, and an opening provided at the lower part of the vegetable compartment 6 of the inner box 3 It has a shape corresponding to 3b (see FIG. 8), and has a lower opening 25b coupled to the opening 3b, and the space between them is formed in a circular shape.

As shown in FIG. 6, the heat insulating partition wall 9 is provided with a recess 9a having a long hole shape on the side wall 1a, and the wall surface on the side wall 1a corresponds to an inclined portion 35c of a water supply pipe 35 described later. An insertion hole 9c into which the discharge port 35d of the water supply pipe 35 is inserted is provided at the bottom.
Further, an automatic ice making machine 20 is mounted on the lower surface of the heat insulating partition wall 9 in the freezer compartment 7 on the side wall 1a side. The automatic ice making machine 20 has an ice making plate 21 and a reversing device 22 for inverting the ice making plate 21. It has.

  A water supply path 30 is removably inserted into a water supply guide member 25 provided on the side wall 1 a and supplies water in the water supply tank 15 to the ice tray 21. The upper part is connected to a water supply port 17 d of the water receiving tray 17. The water supply hose 31, the upper part is detachably connected to the water supply hose 31 in the lower opening 25b of the water supply channel guide member 25, and the lower part is opened on the ice tray 21, and these water supply hoses 31 It consists of a connection auxiliary member 40 that guides and holds the water supply pipe 35.

  A connection tool 31a connected to the water supply port 17d of the water tray 17 is provided at the upper end portion of the water supply hose 31, and a range of about 5 to 15 mm from the lower end portion is directed toward the central portion side in the width direction of the refrigerator body 1. The bent portion 31b is formed by being bent gently, and the diameter is gradually reduced to form a taper shape.

  The water supply pipe 35 is made of a metal material such as aluminum having good heat conductivity and excellent heat resistance, and the upper part is enlarged in a trumpet shape to form an enlarged diameter part 35a, and a flange 35b is provided on the outer periphery of the upper end part. It has been. The lower portion is gently bent toward the widthwise central portion of the refrigerator body 1 to form an inclined portion 35c, and is then bent substantially vertically downward to provide a discharge port 35d. Reference numeral 55 denotes a freeze prevention heater attached to the inclined portion 35c of the water supply pipe 35.

  40 is a connection auxiliary member made of a synthetic resin such as pyripropylene and formed in a gentle arc shape. As shown in FIG. 7, the inner wall is slightly larger than the outer diameter of the water supply hose 31 and has a substantially U-shaped cross section. The main body 41 is provided, and a water supply pipe fixing part 42 to which the water supply pipe 35 is connected and fixed is provided at the lower end. This water supply pipe fixing part 42 has a semicircular fitting part 43 corresponding to the outer shape of the water supply pipe 35 and a locking claw 46 at the tip part, and is connected to the fitting part 43 via a thin part 44. The engaging portion 43 is provided with a locking portion 47 to which the locking claw 46 of the fixing piece 45 is locked.

  Further, the upper part of the water supply pipe fixing part 42 is enlarged in correspondence with the enlarged diameter part 35a of the water supply pipe 35 (hereinafter referred to as the fitting enlarged diameter part 48), and the upper end thereof is connected to the flange 35b of the water supply pipe 35. An engaging groove 49 is provided to be engaged, and a drain hole 50 is provided in the bottom portion above the engaging groove 49, that is, in the vicinity of the connecting portion between the water supply hose 31 and the water supply pipe 35. Further, a constricted portion 51 whose peripheral wall is bent inward is provided above the fitting enlarged diameter portion 48, and a rectangular rib 52 is formed on the outer periphery thereof.

Next, an example of a procedure for attaching the water supply channel 30 including the above parts to the refrigerator main body 1 will be described.
First, the lower part of the connection auxiliary member 40 is fitted to the upper part of the water supply pipe 35, the engagement groove 49 is engaged with the flange 35 b of the water supply pipe 35, and the fitting enlarged diameter portion 48 is expanded to the diameter of the water supply pipe 35. The fitting part 43 of the water supply pipe fixing part 42 is fitted into the lower part of the enlarged diameter part 35a in the part 35a. At this time, by engaging the engaging groove 49 with the flange 35a of the water supply pipe 35, the connection auxiliary member 40 is positioned and the movement in the vertical direction is restricted. Next, the fixing piece 45 of the water supply pipe fixing part 42 is bent so as to cover the upper surface of the water supply pipe 35 by the thin part 44, and the locking claw 46 is locked to the locking part 47 of the fitting part 43. The water supply pipe 35 is fixed by the joint portion 43 and the fixing piece 45. The antifreeze heater 55 is attached to the water supply pipe 35 before or after the connection auxiliary member 40 is attached.

  Next, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 8, the upper portion of the connection assisting member 40 is inserted into the lower opening 25 b of the water supply path guide member 25 from the opening 3 b provided in the inner box 3, and the water supply pipe 35. The lower part is inserted into a recess 9a provided in the heat insulating partition wall 9, and the discharge port 35d is inserted into the insertion hole 9c. And the inclination part 35c is installed along the wall surface 9b of the recessed part 9a. At this time, the rib 52 provided in the connection auxiliary member 40 contacts the inner wall of the water supply path guide member 25, and the position and rotation in the vertical and horizontal directions are restricted.

  Next, the water supply hose 31 to which the water tray 17 is connected by the connection tool 31a is inserted into the water supply path guide member 25 from the opening 16a of the water tray storage section 16, and the water tray 17 is inserted into the water tray storage section 16. The flange 17b is accommodated, and the locking step 8b of the partition wall 8 is locked. At this time, the water supply pipe 31 descends in the water supply path guide member 25.

  When the water supply hose 31 is lowered, the tip 31b is bent toward the center in the width direction of the refrigerator body 1 as described above, and the diameter is gradually reduced toward the tip and tapered. The tip 31b passes through only the inner wall on the central side of the refrigerator main body 1 of the water supply channel guide 25, and descends without being caught on the bottom surface of the main body 41 of the connection assisting member 40. As shown in FIG. 9, the tip portion of the constricted portion 51 is guided to the central portion of the water supply pipe 35, and is easily and reliably inserted into and connected to the water supply pipe 35.

  When the attachment of the water tray 17 and the water supply channel 30 is finished, the cover 60 is attached so as to cover the insulating partition wall 9a from the opening 3b of the inner box 3 to the heat insulating partition wall 9a. The cover 60 is fixed to the side wall 1a and the heat insulating partition wall 9 by screws or locking claws (not shown), and cannot be removed unless a tool or the like is used. I can't do that. If a protrusion 61 is provided on the back surface of the cover 60 corresponding to the position of the anti-freezing heater 55 and the protrusion 61 comes into contact with the anti-freezing heater 55 when the cover 60 is attached, The tube 35 is pressed against the wall surface 9b of the recess 9a and is held more stably.

  In this way, when water in the water supply tank 15 is supplied to the ice tray 21 by the water supply path 30 installed in the side wall 1a of the refrigerator body 1, the pump 18 provided in the water supply tank 15 is driven, The water sucked by the water is sent from the discharge pipe 19 to the water receiving tray 17. The water sent to the water tray 17 passes through the water supply hose 31 and the water supply pipe 35 and is supplied to the ice tray 21 from the discharge port 35d. At this time, the water adhering to the peripheral wall of the water supply hose 31 and the inner wall of the connection auxiliary member 40 is discharged to the outside from the drain hole 50 of the connection auxiliary member 40, so that it accumulates in the connection part or flows into the ice tray 21. I will not.

When taking out the water supply path 30 from the refrigerator main body 1 for cleaning etc., first, the cover 60 is removed using a tool etc. Next, when the water tray 17 is lifted upward, the water tray 31 to which the water supply hose 31 is connected can be taken out from the refrigerator compartment 5.
Next, the water supply pipe 35 is pulled up and the discharge port 35 d is pulled out from the insertion port 9 c and taken out from the vegetable compartment 6 together with the connection auxiliary member 40. And if necessary, the water tray 17, the water supply hose 31, the water supply pipe 35, the connection auxiliary member 40, and the antifreezing heater 55 are separated, washed and cleaned.

When cleaning is completed, the water tray 17 and the water supply channel 30 are assembled into the refrigerator main body 1 again as described above.
In addition, the order of the above-mentioned attachment, removal, cleaning, etc. of the water supply channel 30 shows an example, and can be changed as appropriate.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of another example of the connection assisting member according to the present invention. In addition, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected to the same part as the connection auxiliary member of FIG. 7, and description is abbreviate | omitted.
The connection assisting member 40 according to this example has the water supply pipe fixing portion 42 formed in an arc shape larger than a semicircle and has an inner diameter substantially equal to or slightly smaller than the outer diameter of the water supply pipe 35, and its elasticity is increased. It is adapted to be fitted and fixed to the water supply pipe 35.
The operation of this example is the same as that of the connection assisting member 40 of FIG. 7, but can be more easily fixed to the water supply pipe 35.

According to the present invention, the water supply channel guide member 25 is provided in the side wall 1a of the refrigerator main body 1, and the water supply channel 30 is inserted into the water supply channel guide member 25 so that the space efficiency of the vegetable compartment 6 is improved. It is possible to improve the internal volume.
Further, a connection auxiliary member 40 is disposed at a connection portion between the water supply hose 31 connected to the water receiving tray 17 and the water supply pipe 35 whose discharge port 35d opens into the freezer compartment 7, and the water supply hose 31 is connected to the water supply pipe 35. Since the water supply hose 31 is guided at the time of connection, the attachment / detachment to the water supply pipe 35 is extremely easy, and the connectivity and cleanability of the water supply path 30 can be improved.

Furthermore, since the connection auxiliary member 40 is small and can be manufactured at low cost and is only fixed to the water supply pipe 35 when assembled, the assembly work is easy.
Moreover, since the drainage hole 50 was provided in the connection auxiliary member 40 and the water adhering to the surrounding wall of the water supply hose 31 or the inner wall of the connection auxiliary member 40 was discharged outside from this drainage hole 50, these water was It does not accumulate in the connection part or flow into the ice tray 21, and mold does not occur on the inner wall of the connection auxiliary member 40.

  Further, when the water supply auxiliary member 40 is connected to the water supply pipe 35, the engaging groove 49 is engaged with the flange 35 b of the water supply pipe 35 to prevent positioning and vertical movement, and the water supply pipe fixing portion 42. The locking piece 45 is bent and the locking claw 46 is locked to the locking portion 47, or is fitted using its elasticity and fixed to the water supply pipe 35. Can be attached.

  Furthermore, since the rib 52 was provided in the back surface of the connection auxiliary member 40, and the upper part was inserted in the water supply path guide member 25 from the opening part 3b of the vegetable compartment 6, the rib 52 is formed in the inner wall of the water supply path guide member 25. Positioning in the left-right direction and up-down direction can be performed by contact, and rotation can be prevented, so that there is no positional shift when the water supply pipe 35 of the water supply hose 31 is connected, and the guide is reliably provided. be able to.

  Further, the connection auxiliary member 40 is made of resin such as polypropylene, and the water supply pipe 35 has high thermal conductivity from the anti-freezing heater 55 and is more expensive than resin because it is metallic such as aluminum having excellent heat resistance. . In the present invention, by providing the resin connection auxiliary member 40, the expensive water supply pipe 35 can be shortened, so that the cost can be reduced.

In the above description, the case where the water receiving tray 17 is disposed in the water supply tank 15 is shown. However, the refrigerator having a water receiving tray outside the water supply tank can be used without changing the structure and shape of other parts. The invention can be implemented.
Moreover, although the case where the water supply hose 31 was connected to the water tray 17 so that attachment or detachment was possible was shown, also when a water tray and a water supply hose are formed integrally, this invention can be implemented similarly to the above.

It is sectional drawing of the principal part of the refrigerator which concerns on one embodiment of this invention. It is a perspective view of the main body of the refrigerator which concerns on this invention. It is sectional drawing of the refrigerator which concerns on this invention corresponding to the AA cross section of FIG. It is a disassembled perspective view of the principal part of FIG. It is explanatory drawing of the water receiving tray accommodating part and water receiving tray of FIG. It is explanatory drawing of the recessed part provided in the heat insulation partition wall of FIG. It is a perspective view of the connection auxiliary member of FIG. It is explanatory drawing of the assembly | attachment procedure to the refrigerator of a water supply channel. It is explanatory drawing of the assembly | attachment procedure to the refrigerator of a water supply channel. It is a perspective view of the other example of a connection auxiliary member.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Refrigerator main body, 1a Side wall, 5 Refrigeration room, 6 Vegetable room, 7 Freezing room, 8 Partition wall, 8a Recessed part, 9 Thermal insulation partition wall, 9a Recessed part, 15 Water tank, 16 Water tray receiving part, 17 Water tray, 21 Ice making Dish, 25 Water supply channel guide member, 30 Water supply channel, 31 Water supply hose, 35 Water supply tube, 35b Flange, 40 Connection auxiliary member, 42 Water supply tube fixing part, 49 Engaging groove, 50 Water drain hole, 51 Constriction part, 52 Rib, 55 Anti-freezing heater, 60 cover.

Claims (8)

A refrigeration room is provided in the upper part and a freezing room is provided in the lower part, configured to supply water from a water supply tank provided in the refrigeration room to an ice tray of an ice making machine mounted in the freezing room through a water supply channel,
The water supply path is detachably installed in the refrigerator compartment, and a water supply hose having an upper end attached to a water tray that is supplied with water from the water supply tank, and the water supply hose is detachably inserted into the upper end, A refrigerator comprising: a water supply pipe that opens on an ice tray in the freezer compartment; and a connection auxiliary member that is detachably fixed to an upper portion of the water supply pipe and guides the water supply hose.   The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein a drain hole is provided in the vicinity of a connection portion between the water supply hose and the water supply pipe of the connection auxiliary member.   The refrigerator according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the connection auxiliary member is formed in a substantially U-shaped cross section with a synthetic resin, and a fixing portion is provided at a lower end portion thereof to be fixed to the water supply pipe.   The refrigerator according to claim 3, wherein an engagement groove for engaging a flange provided on an outer periphery of an upper end portion of the water supply pipe is provided above the fixing portion of the connection auxiliary member.   5. The drain hole is provided at the bottom above the engagement groove of the connection auxiliary member, and a constriction for guiding the water supply hose is provided at the outer periphery above the drain hole. Refrigerator.   The refrigerator according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein a square rib for positioning and preventing rotation is provided on a back surface of the connection auxiliary member.   The refrigerator according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the water supply path is detachably disposed in a side wall of the refrigerator body.   The refrigerator according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the water supply pipe is detachably attached to a water tray.

Images