JP2009127973A - Refrigerator - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a refrigerator capable of preventing the false operation of a door opening device and attaining both the operation of the door opening device and the holding of a door without separating a hand which presses a switch for the door opening device from the door to hold a handle. <P>SOLUTION: The refrigerator comprises a refrigerator body 11 having an opening at a front surface thereof, a door 22 blocking the opening, a handle 26 provided on the door 22, a detection means 30 which detects a user's hand holding operation to the handle 26, and a door opening device which assists the opening of the door 22 when the detection means 30 detects the hand holding operation. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a refrigerator provided with a door opening device that assists in opening a door that closes an opening of a refrigerator body.

  In recent years, in refrigerators, in order to assist opening of doors that have become heavier due to increased storage capacity, users can bring their hands close to radio wave sensors arranged in the refrigerator body or push a push switch. There has been proposed a refrigerator that operates a door opening device that pushes the rear surface of the refrigerator door forward and does not require a large force when the door is opened (see, for example, Patent Documents 1 to 3).

  However, in the method of operating the door opening device by the radio wave type sensor, since the sensor controls the operation of the door opening device by detecting a shield that shields the radio wave, it is a person who does not intend to open the door. However, there is a problem that the door opening device may malfunction when passing near the refrigerator body.

Also, in the method of operating the door opening device with a push-type switch, the hand that pressed the switch is once released from the door, and after moving from the switch to the handle provided on the door, the door is opened to a predetermined position to hold the door. There is a need to.
JP 2006-78001 A JP 2007-17020 A JP 2003-262456 A

  The present invention has been made in consideration of the above problems, and can prevent malfunction of the door opening device, and without releasing the hand that has pressed the switch for the door opening device from the door and then changing it to the handle. It aims at providing the refrigerator which can make operation | movement of a door opener and door maintenance compatible.

  The refrigerator of the present invention includes a refrigerator main body having an opening on the front surface, a door that closes the opening, a handle provided on the door, a detection unit that detects a user's handing operation on the handle, And a door opening device for assisting the opening of the door when the detecting means detects a hand movement.

  In the refrigerator of the present invention, since the detection means detects the operation of the handle provided on the door, the door opening device can be prevented from malfunctioning, and the door opening device operation and the door holding can be performed without changing to the handle. And both.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. 1 is a front view of a refrigerator 10 according to the present embodiment, FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA in FIG. 1, FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line BB in FIG. FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the refrigerator 10 showing the open state of the freezer compartment 16, and FIG. 6 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a main part of the freezer 10.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the refrigerator 10 includes a refrigerator main body 11 including a heat insulating box body filled with a foam heat insulating material between an outer box that forms an outer shell and an inner box that forms a storage space. An ice making room 13 having a relatively small volume automatic ice making machine and a temperature switching room 14 are provided in the lower part of the room 12, and the vegetable room 15 is provided below the freezing room 16 and the freezing room 16 is provided at the lowermost part. It is arranged.

  At the front opening of the refrigerating room 12, a rotating refrigerating room door 22 pivotally supported by the hinge 17 on the outer side of the refrigerator main body side is attached. By detecting this, the door opening device 40 drives the solenoid 43 to assist in opening the refrigerator door 22.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the refrigerator door 22 is formed of a front plate 23 whose main body outer surface is made of a thin steel plate and is bent in a substantially U-shape on the left and right sides, and stored in the refrigerator compartment side. The door inner plate 24 having a pocket portion for storing the door is disposed, and the space portion formed between these members is integrally formed by foaming and filling a heat insulating material 25 made of urethane foam. A door opening / closing handle 26 is attached to the front surface on the side opposite to the hinge 17.

  The handle 26 is positioned in front of the refrigerator door 22 and gripped by the user, and the finger F that is provided at both ends of the gripper 27 and is the grip of the handle 26 between the gripper 27 and the front plate 23. And a base portion 28 that forms a gap for inserting the.

  The refrigerator door 22 is provided with a detection unit 30 that detects a user's operation on the handle 26 at a position facing the grip unit 27.

  The detection unit 30 includes an infrared sensor 32 as detection means and a circuit board 34 on which the infrared sensor 32 is mounted. The detection unit 30 is housed in a recess 29 that opens on the front surface provided on the front surface of the refrigerator compartment door 22. The opening of the recess 29 is closed with an infrared transmissive cover body 31 to protect the infrared sensor 32 from the outside.

  As shown in FIG. 3, a plurality (5 in this embodiment) of infrared sensors 32 are arranged on the circuit board 34 along the grip portion 27 with a predetermined interval L (L = 30 mm in this embodiment). It is installed. Each infrared sensor 32 detects the intrusion of the user's finger F by using at least a region R1 sandwiched between the grip portion 27 and the refrigerator door 22 in a plan view, so that the user can handle the grip portion 27 and the like. Before touching the handle 26, a hand-operating action on the handle 26 is detected.

  In addition to arranging the detection unit 30 in the refrigerator compartment door 22 as described above, the detection unit 30 may be housed in the gripping unit 27 as shown in FIG.

  In addition, in this detection of the hand movement, it is preferable to set so that the user's hand movement is detected when two or more adjacent infrared sensors 32 detect the intrusion of the user's finger F at the same time. In this case, for example, the interval L between the infrared sensors 32 is set to 30 mm or less, and the small objects such as insects can be prevented from passing through the detection region R1. It is preferable to set the interval L in the direction along the grip portion 27 of the detection region R1 (vertical direction in this embodiment) to 30 mm or less.

  The door opening device 40 is provided on the ceiling portion of the refrigerator main body 11. When the detection unit 30 detects a handing operation to the handle 26, the push rod 41 protrudes and pushes the contact portion 22 a of the refrigerator door 22 forward. It is configured to open the door.

  Specifically, as shown in FIG. 4, the door opening mechanism device 40 includes a solenoid 43, and includes a coil 44 and a push rod 41 that can move in the coil 44 in the front-rear direction. The push rod 41 is composed of a plunger 45 and a rod 46 attached to the tip of the plunger 45. When a current is passed through the coil 44 from the state of waiting in the rear as shown in FIG. 4, the plunger 45 is pulled into the central portion of the coil 44. Thus, the front end 46a of the rod 46 presses the abutting portion 22a forward, and the refrigerator door 22 is opened. When the current to the coil 44 is stopped, the push rod 41 is pulled back by the biasing force of the return spring 47 attached to the plunger 45.

  Further, the front openings of the storage rooms of the ice making room 13, the temperature switching room 14, the vegetable room 15, and the freezing room 16 disposed at the lower part of the refrigerator compartment 12 are closed by pull-out doors 53, 54, 55, and 56. The storage container held by a pair of left and right support frames fixed to the back side of each door 53, 54, 55, 56 is slidable back and forth with a rail member provided on the indoor wall surface and stored together with the opening operation. It is comprised so that a container may be pulled out outside a warehouse.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the central portion in the width direction of the partition wall 58 between the freezer compartment 16 and the vegetable compartment 15 has the same configuration as the door opening device 40 that opens the refrigerator compartment door 22. A door opening device 80 is installed, and a solenoid (not shown) provided in the door opening device 80 is driven by a user's hand operation on the freezer compartment door 56 so that the freezer compartment door 56 is opened. It has become.

  Specifically, as shown in FIG. 6, a detection unit 60 composed of a circuit board 64 on which an infrared sensor 62 is mounted is housed in a recess 59 provided on the front surface of the partition wall 58, and the opening of the recess 59 transmits infrared light. The cover body 61 is closed. The infrared sensor 62 is set immediately above the handle 66 recessed in the upper part of the freezer compartment door 56 and the front surface of the freezer compartment door 56 is set as a detection region R2, and the infrared sensor 62 enters the handle 66 of the user. The finger F is detected.

  In the present embodiment, the detection unit 60 is arranged with the infrared sensor 62 facing directly above the handle 66. For example, as shown in FIG. 8, the lower part of the vegetable compartment door 55 located above the freezer compartment door 56 is disposed. A tapered surface 55a may be provided, and the detection region R2 of the infrared sensor 62 may be set toward the inside of the handle 66 using the tapered surface 55a.

  In addition, refrigerated storage spaces such as the refrigerator compartment 12 and the vegetable compartment 15 and frozen storage spaces such as the ice making compartment 13 and the freezer compartment 16 are provided at the lower back of the refrigerator 10 and are provided with a cooler, a compressor, etc. by a control unit (not shown). The refrigeration cycle is cooled by driving and the cool air generated by the cooler is supplied to each storage space by a fan, and each is cooled to a predetermined temperature.

In the refrigerator 10 configured as described above, when a user tries to open the refrigerator compartment door 22 and inserts a finger F between the grip portion 27 of the handle 26 and the front surface of the refrigerator door 22 as shown in FIG.
Two or more adjacent infrared sensors 32 detect the intrusion of the finger F into the detection region R1 at the same time, and thereby detect a hand movement operation on the handle 26 before the user contacts the handle 26 such as the grip portion 27. To do. When detecting the handing operation in the detection unit 30, a control unit (not shown) operates the solenoid of the door opening device 40, and the push rod 41 pushes the contact portion 22a of the refrigerator door 22 forward to open the door.

  Further, when the user tries to open the freezer compartment door 56 and inserts the finger F into the handle portion 66 provided at the top of the freezer compartment door 56 as shown in FIG. 6, the infrared sensor 62 moves to the detection region R2. Intrusion of the finger F is detected, and before the user touches the handle 66, a hand-operating action on the handle 66 is detected.

  Thus, in the refrigerator 10 of this embodiment, since the detection parts 30 and 60 detect the user's handle operation to the handles 26 and 66 and operate the door opening devices 40 and 80, there is no intention of opening the door. Even if a person passes near the refrigerator 10, there is no possibility that the door opening devices 40 and 80 malfunction. Moreover, since the doors 22 and 56 are pushed forward and opened while the handles 26 and 66 are grasped, the handles 26 and 66 can be held even when it is desired to hold the doors 22 and 56 at a desired opening position. It is easy to use without having to change.

  Furthermore, the detection unit 30 includes a plurality of infrared sensors 32 disposed along the gripping unit 27 with a predetermined interval L, and two or more adjacent infrared sensors 32 enter the user's finger F at the same time. Therefore, even if a small object such as an insect passes through the detection region R1 of the infrared sensor 32, the door opening device 40 is inadvertently detected and the door opening device 40 operates inadvertently. There is nothing to do.

  In particular, by setting the distance L of the infrared sensor 32 to 30 mm or less, the width of the clenched fist of an elderly person or a small hand that is assumed as a user, that is, the distance from the base of the index finger to the base of the little finger is about Since it is 60-64 mm, the adjacent infrared sensor 32 can be made to react simultaneously regardless of the grip position of the holding | grip part 27 in the hand-operating operation | movement to the handle | steering-wheel 26, restraining the use number of the infrared sensor 32. FIG.

  In addition, by setting the detection region R1 of the infrared sensor 32 between the grip portion 27 and the front surface of the refrigerator compartment door 22, the infrared sensor 32 does not react even if an object passes near the handle 26, which is not effective. The door opening device 40 does not operate in preparation.

  Further, in the drawer-type freezer compartment door 56, the detection unit 60 that detects the handle operation of the handle 66 is disposed on the partition wall part 58 of the refrigerator main body 11, so that the drawer-type freezer compartment is difficult to route the wiring. The handing operation can be detected without providing wiring or the like for connecting the detection unit 60 and the control unit to the door 56.

(Second Embodiment)
Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the first embodiment described above, the handle 26 provided on the refrigerator compartment door 22 is a grip handle having the grip portion 27 disposed in front of the refrigerator compartment door 22, but the present invention is not limited to this, for example, The front may be covered with a decorative panel such as an operation panel, and a finger can be inserted only from one direction.

(Third embodiment)
Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the first embodiment described above, the detection unit 60 that detects the operation of the handle 66 provided on the freezer compartment door 56 is disposed on the partition wall 58, but is detected on the storage compartment door above the freezer compartment 16. The part 60 may be disposed. Thus, even if the detection part 60 is arrange | positioned at a storeroom door, the handing operation to the freezer compartment door 56 can be detected. In such a case, the storage compartment door in which the detection unit 60 is disposed is a rotary door, so that the connection wiring that connects the detection unit 60 and the control unit can be easily routed.

(Fourth embodiment)
Next, a fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the above-described first embodiment, the detection region R1 where the infrared sensor 32 detects the intrusion of the user's finger F is sandwiched between the grip portion 27 and the refrigerator door 22 in the region sandwiched between the grip portion 27 and the refrigerator door 22. 9, for example, as shown in FIG. 9, the direction in which the finger F is inserted during the hand-operating operation from the position facing the grip portion 27, that is, the width direction of the refrigerator 10, as shown in FIG. Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 10, the infrared sensor 32 may be set so that the detection region R1 is directed in the direction in which the finger F is inserted during the hand-operating operation. By disposing the detection unit 30 in this way, the user's hand movement operation can be detected more quickly, so that the door opening device 40 can be easily controlled at an appropriate timing according to the user's door pulling operation. .

(Fifth embodiment)
Next, a fifth embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. In addition, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected to the element which is the same as that of above-mentioned 1st Embodiment, or respond | corresponds, and the overlapping description is abbreviate | omitted.

  In the fifth embodiment, as shown in FIG. 11, the gripping portion 27 of the handle 26 is connected to one base portion 28a via a hinge 36 so that the user can press the gripping portion 27 backward. ing. The grip portion 27 is urged forward by a spring 37 and abuts against a stopper portion 28c provided on the other base portion 28b.

  In such a handle 26, when the user puts his / her hand on the handle 26 of the refrigerator door 22 and pulls out the grip portion 27 in the state of pulling forward, the grip portion 27 and the stopper portion 28 c come into contact with each other and the refrigerator door 22 is moved. The door can be opened to a desired opening position, and as shown in FIG. 12, the user presses the gripping portion 27 backward as a pressing piece so that the gripping portion 27 is placed in the detection region R1 of the infrared sensor 32. The door opening device 40 can be operated by intrusion.

  In the fifth embodiment, without providing a separate sensor, the user's intention to open the door can be detected not only by the user's handle operation on the handle, but also by the pressing operation of the handle, thereby further improving the usability of the refrigerator 10. be able to.

It is a front view of the refrigerator which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is AA sectional drawing of FIG. It is BB sectional drawing of FIG. It is a top view which shows a door opening apparatus. It is a refrigerator which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention, and is a perspective view which shows the open door state of a freezer compartment. It is a principal part expanded sectional view of the refrigerator which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is sectional drawing of the refrigerator which concerns on the example of a change of 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a principal part expanded sectional view of the refrigerator which concerns on the example of a change of 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is sectional drawing of the refrigerator which concerns on 4th Embodiment of this invention. It is sectional drawing of the other refrigerator which concerns on 4th Embodiment of this invention. It is sectional drawing of the refrigerator which concerns on 5th Embodiment of this invention. It is sectional drawing of the refrigerator which concerns on 5th Embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Refrigerator 11 ... Refrigerator main body 12 ... Refrigeration room 22 ... Refrigeration room door 26 ... Handle 27 ... Grip part 30 ... Detection part 31 ... Cover body 32 ... Infrared sensor 34 ... Circuit board 40 ... Door opening device

Claims (11)

  A refrigerator main body having an opening on the front surface, a door that closes the opening, a handle provided on the door, a detection unit that detects a user's operation on the handle, and the detection unit performs the operation And a door opening device that assists in opening the door when detected.   The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein the detection unit is an infrared sensor that detects a handle operation on the handle before a user contacts the handle.   The refrigerator according to claim 2, wherein the infrared sensor is disposed at a position facing the handle on the front surface of the door.   The refrigerator according to claim 2, wherein the infrared sensor is disposed on a back surface of the handle. The refrigerator according to claim 2, wherein the refrigerator includes a plurality of infrared sensors, and detects a hand movement when two or more adjacent infrared sensors react simultaneously.   6. The refrigerator according to claim 5, wherein an interval between adjacent infrared sensors is 30 mm or less.   The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein the detection unit detects a user's handing operation on the handle in an area sandwiched between the door and the handle.   The refrigerator according to claim 3, wherein the infrared sensor is disposed at a position that is deviated by a predetermined amount from a position facing the handle in a direction in which a hand is inserted when gripped.   The refrigerator according to claim 2, wherein the infrared sensor is disposed such that a detection area for detecting a hand movement operation is inclined toward a gripping hand insertion direction at the time of hand holding.   The refrigerator according to claim 2, wherein the handle includes a pressing piece, and the infrared sensor is caused to react by a pressing operation of the pressing piece.   The said door is a drawer type door, Comprising: The partition wall which opposes the back surface of the said drawer type door, and partitions off the said refrigerator main body, The said detection means is arrange | positioned at the said partition wall, It is characterized by the above-mentioned. Refrigerator.

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