JP2009168302A - Refrigerator - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a refrigerator having an original design and high designability allowing opening and closing of a door from any position regardless of a person's height. <P>SOLUTION: The refrigerator is equipped with an opening/closing door 3 filled with a foamed heat insulating material 14 and provided with handle parts A, B. The handle parts A, B are provided in the height direction of a side face of the door 3 and in the width direction of a top panel of the door 3. Each of the handle parts A, B comprise a handle recessed part. The door 3 is configured of an inner plate D and an outer plate C. The outer plate C is divided into a front outer plate 7 and a rear outer plate 8. On the front outer plate 7, front face protruded parts 7a, 11a are formed thereon, and on the rear outer plate 8, central recessed parts 8a, 12a are formed to be positioned behind the front face protruded parts 7a, 11a, and back face protruded parts 8b, 12b are formed to be positioned behind the central recessed parts 8a, 12a. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a refrigerator, and more particularly to a refrigerator having an improved handle portion.

  The door of the conventional refrigerator has attached the handle | steering_wheel which consists of a metal extrusion molding which has an unevenness | corrugation to the side surface (height direction of a side surface) of the door (for example, refer patent document 1).

  Also, in electrical appliances such as ice makers, a single metal plate panel is bent by a technique called hemming bending to form a handle that integrally extends from the front wall of the panel into a crank shape. This handle is provided only in the width direction of the door and is disposed at a low position of the door (see, for example, Patent Document 2).

JP 2006-46837 A (4th, 5th page, FIG. 1) JP 2004-150148 A (page 4, FIG. 3)

In recent years, refrigerators are often used in small and inexpensive models, but in conventional refrigerators of Patent Documents 1 and 2, when opening the door, if the handle is low, tall people must bend, If the position of the handle is high, the person who is short cannot reach the handle, and it may take time to open the door.
In recent years, a novel design with a refreshing feeling and smartness has been popular. However, when a handle of a metal extruded product is attached as in the conventional refrigerator of Patent Document 1, the handle has a metal texture. Due to the gloss, there is a problem that the feel of the handle is emphasized and the refreshing feeling is impaired, because the texture is different from that of the steel plate that occupies almost the entire door. In addition, the metal handle itself is expensive, and it has been difficult to apply it to a small and inexpensive model.

  Furthermore, the technology such as hemming bending used in the conventional electric appliance of Patent Document 2 requires a special technique when used for a refrigerator door, and has a sufficient investment effect for a refrigerator with a short product manufacturing life. I could not expect. In addition, since the degree of freedom is small and the handle portion is made of only a thin plate, the door has a problem in terms of strength and ease of opening and closing.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and can be opened and closed from any position regardless of height, and can be easily assembled with a small number of parts at low cost and reliability. The purpose is to provide a high refrigerator.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a refrigerator that can be refreshed and smart, has a high design and meets the trends of the times, and can satisfy the needs of purchasers.

The present invention comprises a door that is filled with a foam heat insulating material and is provided with a handle to open and close,
The handle portion is provided in the height direction of the side surface of the door and the width direction of the top surface.

  Since the handle portion of the door is provided in the height direction of the side surface of the door and the width direction of the top surface, the door can be easily opened and closed at a position that matches the height of each person's back.

Embodiment 1 FIG.
1 is an external perspective view of a refrigerator according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a front view of FIG. 1, FIG. 3 is a top view of FIG. 1, and FIG. FIG. 5 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the main part of FIG. 4, FIG. 6 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the main part of FIG. 5, FIG. 7 is a YY cross-sectional view of the freezer compartment door of FIG. The bottom view of the principal part of 2 freezer compartment doors, and FIG. 9 are the perspective views which expanded the door rotating shaft vicinity of FIG.
As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the refrigerator includes a refrigerator main body 1 (for example, a small refrigerator main body having a height of about 100 to 160 cm), a freezer compartment door 3 provided in a front opening of the refrigerator main body 1 and refrigeration. The door 4 is provided. The refrigerator main body 1 is comprised by the heat insulation box which filled the foaming heat insulating material (not shown) in the space part provided between the steel-made outer box and the resin-made inner box. The freezer compartment door 3 and the refrigerator compartment door 4 are composed of an outer plate C and an inner plate D, which are respectively attached to the top and bottom of the refrigerator body 1 and pivotally supported by a hinge portion 6 having a door rotation shaft portion 6a. ing. In addition, hinge part 6 grade | etc., Is covered with the eaves part 5a of the top plate 5 of a refrigerator (refer FIG. 9).

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the outer plate C of the freezer compartment door 3 is formed by bending a thin steel plate into a substantially U-shape, and it is a hand projection that opens and closes the door by placing a hand on the open side. A front outer plate (also referred to as a right outer plate because it is shifted to the right in the figure) 7 constituting the majority of the front surface of the door provided with a portion (front convex portion) 7a and a rear surface of the handle convex portion 7a. A rear outer plate (also referred to as a left outer plate because it is shifted to the left side of the figure) provided with an insertion concave portion (a central concave portion) 8a and a rear convex portion 8b located on the back surface of the insertion concave portion 8a. Partitioned. Then, the front outer plate and the rear outer plate 8 are joined on the open side (joined portion 3a (FIG. 6)), and the side surface on the open side (see FIG. 6) is formed by these handle convex portion 7a, insertion concave portion 8a, and rear convex portion 8b. 1, the side-side handle A is configured in the entire vertical direction (hereinafter referred to as the height direction).
In the side-side handle A, the handle projection 7a is shorter than the back projection 8b (for example, about 10 to 60 mm shorter), that is, the handle projection 7a is closer to the door surface direction than the back projection 8b. It is formed to be shifted inward (for example, shifted by about 10 to 60 mm).
Similarly to the freezer compartment door 3, the outer plate C of the refrigerator compartment door 4 is also divided into a front and rear by a front outer plate 9 and a rear outer plate 10.

  As shown in FIG. 5 and FIG. 6, it extends from the back surface (also referred to as the first surface) 7 b of the handle protrusion 7 a of the front outer plate 7 of the freezer compartment door 3 and the insertion recess 8 a of the rear outer plate 8. The third surface 8c bent in a substantially L shape in the door surface direction is in surface contact to form the joint 3a. Further, the back surface (first surface) 7b of the front outer plate 7 extends and is bent in an approximately L shape on the inner plate D side to form a second surface 7c.

  A retainer 19 (extruded with synthetic resin) is attached in the vicinity of the joint portion 3a between the front outer plate 7 and the rear outer plate 8 in order to join them. The retainer 19 includes a body portion (clamping portion) 19a having a substantially inverted U shape, a contact piece (positioning piece) 19b obtained by bending an end portion of one surface of the body portion 19a into a substantially L shape, and the other. It is comprised by the press piece (inclination piece) 19c inclined and extended from the surface. And the 2nd surface 7c of the front outer plate 7 is clamped by the trunk | drum 19a, and the 1st surface 7b of the front outer plate 7 and the 3rd surface of the rear outer plate 8 are carried out by the contact piece 19b and the press piece 19c. 8c is sandwiched.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 7, a door composed of a front door cap 11 and a rear door cap 12 is formed at the upper end of the outer plate C of the freezer compartment door 3 formed by joining steel plates at a joining portion 3 a. A cap is attached to configure the top side handle portion B. The front-side door cap 11 is provided with a hand-operated convex portion (front convex portion) 11a that hangs the door to open and close the door, and the rear-side door cap 12 is formed on the back surface of the hand-convex convex portion 11a. A central recess) 12a, and a rear projection 12b located on the back side of the insertion recess 12a (however, a notch 12c (FIG. 9) is provided in the vicinity of the door rotation shaft 6a). The surface side handle portion B is divided forward and backward. In the top surface side handle portion B, the handle projection 11a is formed shorter (for example, about 10 to 60 mm shorter) than the back projection 12b, that is, the handle projection 11a is closer to the door surface than the back projection 12b. Are shifted inside (for example, shifted by about 10 to 60 mm).

  In addition, the width direction end portion (for example, the left end portion in FIG. 1) of the top surface side handle portion B and the upper end of the side surface side handle portion A in the height direction intersect or communicate with each other at substantially right angles. More specifically, one end of the handle convex portion 11a of the top surface side handle portion B communicates with or is connected to the handle convex portion 7a of the side surface side handle portion A, and the other end reaches the vicinity of the hinge portion 6. Further, one end of each of the insertion concave portion 12a and the rear surface convex portion 12b of the top surface side handle portion B communicates with the insertion concave portion 8a and the rear surface convex portion 8b of the side surface side handle portion A, and the other end is near the hinge portion 6. Until. In this way, the freezer compartment door 3 can be opened and closed by placing a hand in a desired position from the height direction to the width direction of the freezer compartment door 3.

  As shown in FIG. 8, the bottom surface of the outer plate C of the freezer compartment door 3 is formed integrally with the front lower door cap 15 configured integrally with the front outer plate 7 and the rear outer plate 8, respectively. The lower door cap 16 on the rear side is attached to form the lower door cap on the bottom side. The rear-side lower door cap 16 of the freezer compartment door 3 is provided with positioning ribs 16a so that fingers are not caught between the freezer compartment door 3 and the refrigerator compartment door 4 when the door is opened and closed. is there.

  And these front outer plates, rear outer plates 7 and 8 (outer plate C), the respective door caps 11 and 12 and the lower door caps 15 and 16, and the inner plate which is located on the back surface of the door and becomes the inside of the warehouse A portion surrounded by D is filled with a foam heat insulating material 14, and the freezer compartment door 3 is constituted by these. The foam heat insulating material 14 is also filled inside the handle projection 7a of the front outer plate 7, thereby increasing the strength of the handle.

  As shown in FIGS. 3 and 9, the freezer compartment door 3 is pivotally supported on the refrigerator main body 1 by a hinge portion 6 having a door rotation shaft portion 6 a. A cutout 5b is provided in the eaves portion 5a of the top plate 5 to prevent the hinge side end surface 11b of the handle projection 11a of the front door cap 11 from contacting when the freezer compartment door 3 is fully opened. Further, the hinge-side end surface 11b of the handle projection 11a is positioned below the support plate 6b of the hinge part 6 so as not to contact the support plate 6b of the hinge part 6.

In the above description, the case where the door cap structure is provided in the freezer compartment door 3 has been described. However, in the refrigerator compartment door 4, the front side upper door cap 17 and the rear side upper door cap 18 provided in the upper part thereof are provided in the freezer compartment. In the case of the freezer compartment door 3, the front side lower door cap 15 and the rear side door lower cap 16 provided on the bottom surface of the door 3 are vertically inverted and attached to the upper surface of the refrigerator compartment door 4. Therefore, it can also be applied to the refrigerator compartment door 4.
In the above description, as shown in FIG. 1, the left side of the refrigerator door 3 is opened and closed, but the right side may be opened and closed.

Next, the assembly procedure of the freezer compartment door 3 will be described.
First, the back surface (first surface) 7b of the front outer plate 7 constituting the opposite side of the steel plate and the third surface 8c of the rear outer plate 8 are brought into surface contact with each other for positioning in the front-rear direction, and the joint portion 3a. Form. In this state, the inverted U-shaped body portion 19a of the retainer 19 is fitted and sandwiched between the second surface 7c, and the back surface 7b and the third surface 8c located at the joint portion 3a are connected to the retainer 19 by the retainer 19. It is clamped by the contact piece 19b and the pressing piece 19c. In this case, the back surface 7b contacts the contact piece 19b of the retainer 19, and the third surface 8c contacts the pressing piece 19c and is pressed to the back surface 7b side. Since the pressing piece 19c has a shape that can be easily elastically deformed, the pressing piece 19c can flexibly exert a pressing force even in the dimensional variation of each part.

  The front outer plate 7 and the rear outer plate 8 assembled in the above manner are extended in the vertical direction, and the front door cap 11 and the rear door cap 12 are fitted to the upper end, and the front is attached to the lower end. The lower side door cap 15 and the rear side lower door cap 16 are attached. Next, the foamed heat insulating material 14 is filled in the space inside the outer plate C while being positioned and held by a foaming jig (not shown), and is integrally molded and fixed. Finally, the inner plate D is attached to complete the freezer compartment door.

Next, the operation will be described.
When the freezer compartment door 3 is opened, a hand is inserted into the insertion recess 8a of the side-side handle portion A, a hand is placed on the handle projection portion 7a, and pulled forward, or an insertion recess 12a of the top-side handle portion B is inserted. Insert the hand into the hand, put the hand on the handle projection 11a, and pull it forward. At this time, a tall person can insert his hand into the top surface side handle portion B, and a short person can insert his hand into the side surface side handle portion A to pull the freezer compartment door 3 forward.
When closing the freezer compartment door 3, the front side of the door is pushed back to the original position.
The refrigerator door 4 is opened only from the side, but the opening and closing is the same as in the case of the freezer door 3.

  As described above, in the first embodiment, the freezer compartment door 3 is provided with the side surface handle A and the top surface handle B. A tall person can use the top side handle portion B, and can open and close the door at a position corresponding to his height. In addition, when the handle protrusions 7a and 11a of the front outer plate 7 are shorter than the rear protrusions 8b and 12b of the rear outer plate 8 (for example, when shortened by about 10 to 60 mm), it is easy to hang the handle on the handle, The freezer compartment door 3 can be easily opened and closed.

In addition, the handle portion can be a different color in the front and rear sides on both the side surface side and the top surface side, and when the handle protrusion portions 7a and 11a of the front outer plate 7 are shortened, the protrusions on the front and rear sides of the handle portion are reduced. Both parts can be confirmed.
In addition, the combination of colors can be freely changed before and after the door, up and down, etc., for example, the entire door can be designed to change the color before and after the handle, which makes the design highly Become.
In addition, the door design can be changed by making each outer plate material different from each other without attaching an expensive colored film to the outer plate C, or by changing the surface decoration of the outer plate in different colors or different colors. Sex can be imparted.

  Further, even if a gap occurs in the connection portion of the outer plate C due to variations in mass production, the gap is not visible from the front. Therefore, when the steel plate is bent, the appearance of the joint portion 3a of the front outer plate 7 and the rear outer plate 8 is shown. Defects are reduced, the design is high, and the defect rate is low.

  Further, the side-side handle portion A is formed by the outer plate C itself over the entire height, and the foamed heat insulating material 14 is filled therein, so that the strength of the handle portion can be sufficiently ensured. Further, since the side-side handle portion A conducts the outside air temperature with a metal outer plate having good heat conduction, it is possible to prevent dew condensation even if the heat insulation thickness is thin, and the reliability is high. Furthermore, the number of parts may be small, and even if the door is large, assembly is easy and inexpensive.

In addition, since both the front outer plate 7 and the rear outer plate 8 are easily bent in the outer plate processing step, they can be processed by a general-purpose press brake or the like, and the capital investment can be minimized. .
In addition, it is inexpensive because it does not require a handle, and since a handle is provided at any height, it is easy to assemble even when the door is lengthened, providing a clean sense of unity, and being smart and innovative. Design.

Embodiment 2. FIG.
10 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the main part of the freezer compartment door of the refrigerator according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention, and FIG. 11 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the main part of FIG. In the second embodiment, the third surface 8c of the rear outer plate 8 shown in FIG. 6 is extended to be bent in a substantially L shape on the inner plate D side to form a fourth surface 8d. .
As shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, the back surface 7b (first surface) of the front outer plate 7 of the freezer compartment door 3 and the third surface 8c of the rear outer plate 8 are in surface contact with each other. The second surface 7c of the front outer plate 7 of the freezer compartment door 3 and the fourth surface 8d of the rear outer plate 8 are in surface contact with each other to form the second bonding portion 30b. It is composed. In this way, the front outer plate 7 and the rear outer plate 8 are positioned not only in the front-rear direction (the vertical direction in the drawing of FIG. 11) but also in the horizontal direction (the horizontal direction of the drawing in FIG. 11).

A retainer 19 is attached to the first and second joint portions 30a and 30b of the front outer plate 7 and the rear outer plate 8 in order to join them. The retainer 19 includes a body portion 19a having an inverted U-shaped cross section, a contact piece 19b bent in an L shape from one surface of the body portion 19a, and a pressing piece extending obliquely from the other surface. 19c. And the 2nd surface 7c and the 4th surface 8d are clamped by the trunk | drum 19a, and the 1st surface 7b and the 3rd surface 8c are clamped by the contact piece 19b and the press piece 19c.
Other configurations, operations, and effects are substantially the same as those shown in the first embodiment, and thus description thereof is omitted.

As described above, the front outer plate 7 and the rear outer plate 8 are substantially L-shaped in surface contact with the first and second contact surfaces 30a and 30b, so that positioning during assembly work is easy. is there.
In the second embodiment, the retainer 19 can be used for fixing with a tape. In this way, even if the manual processing time is increased, the manufacturing cost can be reduced.

In the first and second embodiments, the side-side handle A is constituted by the front outer plate 7 and the rear outer plate 8, and the top-side handle portion B is constituted by the front-side door cap 11 and the rear-side door cap 12. However, the front and rear may be color-coded by an outer plate that is divided into a plurality of colors.
In addition, although a small-sized (for example, a height of about 100 to 160 mm) two-door refrigerator has been described, a one-door refrigerator may be used, and a medium-sized and large-sized (for example, a height of 160 cm or more) refrigerator. It may be a multi-door refrigerator of 3 doors or more.
Moreover, although the refrigerator compartment door 4 showed the case where the front side upper door cap 17 and the back side upper door cap 18 were attached to the upper part, like the freezer compartment door 3, the front side door cap 11 and the back side are shown in the upper part. The top cap side handle B may be formed by attaching the door cap 12.

It is an external appearance perspective view of the refrigerator which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a front view of FIG. FIG. 2 is a top view of FIG. 1. It is XX sectional drawing of the freezer compartment door of FIG. It is sectional drawing to which the principal part of FIG. 4 was expanded. It is sectional drawing to which the principal part of FIG. 5 was expanded. It is YY sectional drawing of the freezer compartment door of FIG. It is a bottom view of the principal part of the freezer compartment door of FIG. It is the perspective view which expanded the door rotating shaft vicinity of FIG. It is sectional drawing to which the principal part of the refrigerator which concerns on Embodiment 2 of this invention was expanded. It is sectional drawing to which the principal part of FIG. 10 was expanded.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Refrigerator main body, 3 Freezer compartment door, 3a, 30a, 30b Joint part, 4 Refrigeration room door, 5 Top plate, 5a Eave part, 5b Notch, 6 Hinge part, 6a Door rotating shaft part, 6b Support plate, 7, 9 Front outer plate, 7a, 11a Hanger convex portion (front convex portion), 7b Back surface (first surface), 7c Second surface, 8, 10 Rear outer plate, 8a, 12a Insertion concave portion (central concave portion), 8b 12b Rear convex part, 8c 3rd surface, 8d 4th surface, 11 Front side door cap, 12 Back side door cap, 12c Notch, 14 Foam insulation, 15 Front side lower door cap, 16 Back side Lower door cap, 16a positioning rib, 19 retainer, 19a body (clamping part), 19b contact piece (positioning piece), 19c pressing piece (inclined piece), A side side handle, B top side handle, C outer plate, D inner plate.

Claims (17)

It is equipped with a door that is filled with foam insulation and has a handle to open and close,
The refrigerator, wherein the handle is provided in a height direction of a side surface of the door and a width direction of a top surface.   The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein the handle portion includes a handle recess portion formed along a height direction of a side surface of the door and a width direction of the top surface.   The door is composed of an inner plate and an outer plate, the outer plate is divided into a front outer plate and a rear outer plate, a front convex portion is formed on the front outer plate, and the front convex portion is formed on the rear outer plate. The refrigerator according to claim 2, wherein a central concave portion located behind the portion and a rear convex portion located behind the central concave portion are formed.   The refrigerator according to claim 3, wherein the front convex portion of the front outer plate is shifted inward in the surface direction of the door from the rear convex portion of the rear outer plate.   The front surface convex portion of the front outer plate extends from the rear convex portion of the rear outer plate to the surface direction of the door over substantially the entire height in the height direction of the side surface of the outer plate and over the entire width in the width direction of the top surface. The refrigerator according to claim 4, wherein the refrigerator is shifted inward. The front convex portions are formed along the height direction of the side surfaces of the front outer plate, the central concave portion and the rear convex portion are formed along the height direction of the side surfaces of the rear outer plate, and the front surfaces thereof. The handle recess is formed by the protrusion, the center recess, and the back protrusion, and the front protrusion of the front outer plate is shifted inward in the surface direction from the rear protrusion of the rear outer plate, and the side hook portion is Formed,
A front door cap having the front convex portion is attached along the width direction of the top surface of the front outer plate, and the central concave portion and the rear convex portion are provided along the width direction of the top surface of the rear outer plate. A rear door cap is attached, and the front convex portion, the central concave portion, and the rear convex portion form the handle concave portion, and the front convex portion of the front door cap is formed as the rear convex portion of the rear door cap. The refrigerator according to any one of claims 3 to 5, wherein a top side handle portion is formed so as to be shifted inward in the surface direction from the portion.   The refrigerator according to claim 6, wherein the side-side handle and the top-side handle are communicated or connected to form the handle substantially in an L shape.   The refrigerator according to claim 6 or 7, wherein a front-side lower door cap and a rear-side lower door cap are attached to the bottom surface side of the outer plate.   The steel plate is bent into a substantially U shape and the ends of the opposite sides are joined to form an outer plate, the side-side handle is formed in the vicinity of the joined portion, and the top surface is opened at the top surface side opening. The refrigerator according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein a side handle is formed.   The refrigerator according to claim 9, wherein the outer plate is filled with a foam heat insulating material.   The front outer plate is provided with a first surface on the rear surface side that forms a front convex portion, a second surface formed by extending the first surface and bending the inner surface side, and The rear outer plate is provided with a third surface formed by bending the surface forming the central recess in the door surface direction, and the vicinity of the end of the first surface and the third surface are brought into contact with each other and joined. The refrigerator in any one of Claims 3-10 characterized by these.   A third surface of the rear outer plate is extended and bent toward the inner plate to further form a fourth surface, the second surface of the front outer plate, and the fourth surface of the rear outer plate. The refrigerator according to claim 11, wherein the refrigerator is joined in contact with the surface of the refrigerator.   A holding portion that holds at least the second surface of the front outer plate; a positioning piece that contacts and positions the first surface; and an inclined piece that presses the third surface of the rear outer plate. The refrigerator according to claim 11, further comprising a retainer.   The positioning rib is provided on at least one of the back side lower door cap and the back side upper door cap attached to the bottom surface of the freezer compartment door and the top and bottom surfaces of the refrigerator compartment door. The refrigerator in any one of 13.   A notch portion is provided in the vicinity of the door rotation shaft portion of the rear surface convex portion of the back side door cap, and a top portion is provided on the top plate to cover the notch portion together with the door rotation shaft portion. The refrigerator of claim | item 6-14.   The refrigerator according to claim 15, wherein the front convex portion provided on the front door cap is located below the support plate of the door rotation shaft portion.   The refrigerator according to claim 15 or 16, wherein a cutout for preventing contact with the front convex portion is provided in the eaves portion of the top plate.

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