JP2013170711A - Method for manufacturing refrigerator door, refrigerator door and refrigerator - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method for manufacturing a refrigerator door which facilitates improvement in sealing property for an urethane leak while preventing an increase in cost for primary adhesion or the like.SOLUTION: A manufacturing method uses: a panel member formed in a substantially-flat plate shape; and a frame member having a frame to which the panel member is fitted from the front and which surrounds the peripheral edge of the panel member and a projection which is protruded laterally from the rear side of the inner peripheral surface of the frame so that the front surface thereof faces an opening of the frame. The method includes: a positioning step of fitting the panel member to the frame and positioning the panel member; and an adhesion step of adhesively fixing the positioned panel member to the frame member by filling a space making the rear surface of the positioned panel member contact with urethane foam. The front surface of the projection includes a recess which is formed in such a manner that a gap with the positioned panel member becomes large compared with a portion close to the tip so that the urethane foam entering the gap in the adhesion step flows into the recess.

Description

  The present invention relates to a refrigerator door manufacturing method, a refrigerator door manufactured by the manufacturing method, and a refrigerator using the door.

  Conventionally, there is a refrigerator door using a panel member formed of glass or the like. In addition, as a method for manufacturing such a refrigerator door, there is a method including a step of fitting a panel member into a frame member, positioning, and fixing the panel member. An example of the manufacturing method will be briefly described below with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 10 schematically shows a state in which the panel member 131 is positioned. The frame member 132 has a frame portion 132a into which the panel member 131 is fitted, and a protruding portion 132c protruding from the rear side of the frame portion 132a to the side. The panel member 131 has a flat plate shape, is inserted into the frame portion 132a from the front, and is positioned at a position where it hits the protruding portion 132c. At this time, a double-sided tape 135 is provided between the protrusion 132c and the panel member 131, and the panel member 131 and the frame member 132 are bonded (primary bonding).

  After such positioning, the space on the back side of the panel member 131 is filled with urethane foam. Thereby, adhesion (secondary adhesion) is performed between the panel member 131 and the frame member 132. In this way, the panel member 131 is strongly bonded to the frame member 132 by primary bonding and secondary bonding.

US Patent Application Publication No. 2011/0089790 Specification

  When the secondary bonding described above is performed, as indicated by a white arrow in FIG. 10, urethane foam enters the gap between the panel member 131 and the frame member 132 (protruding portion 132c), and urethane leakage (appears to the product exterior portion or the like). There is a risk of urethane foam leak). When urethane leakage occurs, it is necessary to remove and discard the leaked urethane foam, which increases the manufacturing cost. In the door manufacturing process, in order to prevent such problems, it is required that the sealing performance against urethane leakage is sufficient.

  Note that the double-sided tape 135 used for the primary bonding described above plays a certain role as a sealing material for suppressing urethane leakage. However, just using such a sealing material may not provide sufficient sealing performance against urethane leakage. In addition, excessive use of a sealing material to improve the sealing performance is a factor that increases the cost of primary bonding.

  In view of the above-described problems, the present invention is a method for manufacturing a refrigerator door including a step of bonding and fixing a panel member to a frame member using foamed urethane, and prevents urethane leakage while suppressing an increase in the cost of primary bonding. It aims at providing the manufacturing method which becomes easy to improve a sealing performance. Moreover, this invention aims at provision of the door manufactured by the said manufacturing method, and a refrigerator.

  In order to achieve the above object, a method for manufacturing a refrigerator door according to the present invention includes a panel member formed in a substantially flat plate shape, a frame portion in which the panel member is fitted from the front and surrounds the periphery of the panel member, and A frame member that protrudes laterally from the rear side of the inner peripheral surface of the frame portion and has a protruding portion whose front surface opposes the opening portion of the frame portion, and fits the panel member into the frame portion, A method for manufacturing a refrigerator door, comprising: a positioning step for positioning a panel member; and a bonding step in which a space in contact with the rear surface of the positioned panel member is filled with foamed urethane and the panel member is bonded and fixed to the frame member. In addition, the front surface of the protruding portion is provided with a concave portion formed so that a gap with the positioned panel member is larger than a portion closer to the tip. The urethane foam having entered the gap There are, a manufacturing method to flow into said recess.

  According to this manufacturing method, it becomes easy to improve the sealing performance of urethane leakage while suppressing an increase in the cost of primary bonding.

  More specifically, as the manufacturing method, in the positioning step, a primary bonding portion that is the whole or a part of the front surface of the protruding portion other than the concave portion is bonded to the panel member using a double-sided tape. It is good also as a manufacturing method.

  More specifically, as the manufacturing method, the primary adhesion portion may be a portion closer to the root than the recess. Moreover, in the said manufacturing method, the said panel member may be made into the form which a design is given to the back side of a transparent glass plate, and this design can be seen through this glass plate.

  Moreover, the door of the refrigerator which concerns on this invention shall be manufactured by said manufacturing method. The refrigerator according to the present invention includes the door.

  According to the method for manufacturing a refrigerator door according to the present invention, it is easy to improve the sealing performance of urethane leakage while suppressing an increase in the cost of primary bonding or the like.

It is a perspective view of the refrigerator which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a front view of the state where the door of the refrigerator concerning the embodiment of the present invention was closed. It is a front view of the state which opened the door of the refrigerator which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram of the door which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing regarding the structure of the door which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing regarding the structure of the frame member which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing regarding the manufacturing method of the door which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing regarding the manufacturing method of the door which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing regarding the manufacturing method of the door which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing regarding an example of the manufacturing method of the conventional refrigerator door.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

[Overall configuration of refrigerator]
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a refrigerator 1 of the present embodiment. In this application, the front-rear and top-bottom and left-right directions of the refrigerator 1 and its constituent members (frame members and panel members described later) are as shown by arrows in FIG. 1 unless otherwise specified. In addition, the vertical and horizontal directions may be collectively referred to as “side”. FIG. 2 is a front view of the refrigerator 1 with the door closed.

  The refrigerator 1 includes double doors on the upper and lower sides in front of the heat insulating box 2. That is, the left door 3a and the right door 3b are attached to the front side and the upper side of the heat insulation box 2, and the left door 3c and the right door 3d are attached to the front side and the lower side of the heat insulation box 2, respectively. Yes. In addition, the display part 4 (for example, liquid crystal display panel) which displays the state etc. of the refrigerator 1 is provided in the upper left door 3a.

  All of these doors (3a to 3d) (hereinafter sometimes collectively referred to as door 3) are separately manufactured as heat-insulating doors with heat-insulating specifications and attached to the heat-insulating box 2. Thus, the refrigerator 1 has a form in which the door 3 is provided on the front side and the heat insulating casing 2 is provided on the rear side. A more detailed configuration and manufacturing method of the door 3 will be described again.

  The upper doors (3a, 3b) open and close the front of the refrigerator compartment 5 (see FIG. 3) described later, and the lower doors (3c, 3d) open and close the front of the freezer compartment 6 (see FIG. 3) described later. . FIG. 3 is a front view showing the refrigerator 1 when the door 3 is opened (however, the display of the lower doors (3c, 3d) is omitted).

  A refrigerator compartment 5 is provided in the upper part of the heat insulation box 2, and a freezer compartment 6 is provided in the lower part of the heat insulation box 2 through the heat insulation wall 7 with respect to the refrigerator compartment 5. In the refrigerator compartment 5, stored items are stored refrigerated, and in the freezer compartment 6, stored items are stored frozen. Hereinafter, the refrigerator compartment 5 and the freezer compartment 6 will be described.

  The rear wall 5a of the refrigerator compartment 5 is provided with a metal cooling panel 8 extending in the vertical direction at the center thereof. The cooling panel 8 forms a cold air passage (duct) (not shown) through which cold air flows together with the back wall 5a. The cold air flows from the lower side to the upper side of the cold air passage, and is discharged into the refrigerator compartment 5 from the discharge port provided in the upper portion of the cold air passage. The cool air discharged from the discharge port flows along the back wall 5a of the refrigerator, changes direction at the left and right ends, and flows forward along the side walls 5b and 5c of the refrigerator compartment 5.

  The cold air flowing along the side walls 5b and 5c of the refrigerator compartment 5 has a reduced flow velocity, reaches the center from the front of the refrigerator compartment, and cools the stored items. Thereby, the cool air which hits a store thing directly can be reduced and drying of a store thing can be controlled. Moreover, the temperature of a lower part can be made higher than the temperature of an upper part in the refrigerator compartment 5, and a store thing can be preserve | saved in a suitable position according to the appropriate preservation temperature of a store thing.

  Moreover, the cooling panel 8 cools the stored matter stored in the refrigerator compartment 5 together with the cold air discharged from the discharge port of the cold air passage by being cooled by the cold air flowing through the cold air passage. Therefore, the cooling effect is increased and power consumption necessary for cooling can be suppressed, and energy saving can be achieved.

  A tank room 13, a vegetable room 14, a fruit case 15, and a chilled room (fresh case) 16 are provided in the lower part of the refrigerator room 5. The tank chamber 13 stores a water tank for ice making. The vegetable compartment 14 is isolated with respect to the upper part of the refrigerator compartment 5, and a vegetable is accommodated. The fruit case 15 is isolated with respect to the upper part of the refrigerator compartment 5, and a fruit is accommodated.

  Since the vegetable compartment 14 and the fruit case 15 are cooled by the cold air discharged from the upper part of the refrigerator compartment 5 and circulated downward, the vegetable compartment 14 and the fruit case 15 are maintained at a temperature suitable for storing vegetables and fruits that are hotter than the surroundings. The chilled chamber 16 is isolated from the upper portion of the refrigerated chamber 5 and is maintained at a lower temperature than the surroundings because cold air is discharged from the lower portion of the cold air passage.

  A storage case 21 is slidably disposed in the vegetable compartment 14. In addition, a lid 22 that opens and closes between the front wall of the storage case 21 and the partition plate 9 that forms the upper wall of the vegetable compartment 14 is pivotally supported at the upper end of the vegetable compartment 14. The storage case 21 is provided with an upper surface open, and the back thereof is covered by the upper wall of the vegetable compartment 14.

  On the other hand, the front of the upper opening of the storage case 21 is covered with the lid portion 22 in a state where the storage case 21 is inserted into the vegetable compartment 14. In other words, the lid portion 22 is rotated according to the movement of the storage case 21 (slide), and opens and closes between the front wall of the storage case 21 and the upper wall of the vegetable compartment 14.

  The freezer compartment 6 is provided with an ice storage box 10 equipped with an automatic ice maker, three small freezing cases 11 and two large freezing cases 12. The ice storage box 10 stores ice made by an automatic ice maker (not shown) using the water in the tank chamber 13 (water tank). In the small refrigeration case 11 and the large refrigeration case 12, arbitrary stored items are stored frozen.

[Door structure]
Next, the configuration of the door 3 will be described in more detail. In the following description, for the sake of convenience, the configuration of the upper left door 3a will be described, but the same applies to the other doors (3b to 3d).

  FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram of the door 3a from the front viewpoint, and is displayed through the frame member 32 and the like. In the following description, for the sake of convenience, among the parts surrounded by dotted lines in FIG. 4, the left part is “left”, the upper part is “upper”, the right part is “right”, and the lower part is predetermined. The portions may be referred to as “lower portions”, respectively.

  FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the door 3a when the cross-section indicated by the two-dot chain line in FIG. 4 is viewed in the direction indicated by A, and partially shows the vicinity of the left part (which will be described later). 7 to 9 are also views from the same viewpoint as FIG. 5). As shown in these drawings, the door 3a is formed using a panel member 31, a frame member 32, and the like.

  The panel member 31 is formed in a flat plate shape having a rectangular periphery, and is provided in a shape supported by the frame member 32 so that the front surface faces forward. The panel member 31 has a configuration in which printing is performed with a design on the back surface of a transparent glass plate (glass panel), and a scattering prevention film is attached on the printing. Thereby, the design is given to the panel member 31 on the rear side of the transparent glass plate, and this design is in a form that can be seen through the glass plate. In addition, the panel member 31 may have a configuration in which, for example, a predetermined sheet (a design printed on the front side) is attached to the back surface of the glass plate. Moreover, the front side of the door 3a has a form in which the front surface (glass plate) of the panel member 31 is exposed. As a result, the door 3a has specifications with excellent design and the like.

  FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the frame member 32 in the vicinity of the left part. More specifically, the lower side of FIG. 6 shows a cross-sectional view when the cross section indicated by the two-dot chain line in FIG. 4 is viewed in the direction indicated by A, and the upper side of FIG. Sectional drawing when the cross section shown is seen in the direction shown by B is shown. As shown in FIGS. 4 to 6, the frame member 32 is formed by molding of ABS resin or the like, and includes a frame portion 32a, a side wall portion 32b, a protruding portion 32c, a display substrate support portion 32d, a reinforcing rib 32e, and the like. Have.

  The frame portion 32a has a frame shape with an opening at the front, and is adjusted to the size of the peripheral edge of the panel member 31 so that the panel member 31 can be fitted from the front (the size of the opening is the panel member). It is formed so as to be equal to or slightly larger than the peripheral edge of 31. From another viewpoint, the frame portion 32a has a shape in which plate-like bodies arranged on the left portion, the upper portion, the right portion, and the lower portion are connected to each other at the end portions. The inner peripheral surface of the frame portion 32 a is configured to surround the peripheral edge of the panel member 31.

  The side wall part 32b is configured to extend rearward from the rear side of the frame part 32a in each of the left part, the upper part, the right part, and the lower part. From another viewpoint, the side wall part 32b has a shape in which plate-like bodies arranged on the left part, the upper part, the right part, and the lower part are connected to each other at the end parts. From this, the side wall part 32b has the form which surrounds the space which contact | connects the rear surface of the panel member 31 from the up-down left-right direction.

  In addition, the door liner etc. which form the warehouse inner wall of the refrigerator 1 are provided in the rear side of the side wall part 32b, and the space which contact | connects the rear surface of the panel member 31 is closed space. The space is filled with foamed urethane 36. The urethane foam 36 serves as an insulating material and also serves as an adhesive that bonds the panel member 31 and the frame member 32 together.

  The protrusion 32c has a substantially plate shape having a front surface (front surface) and a rear surface (rear surface), and the inner periphery of the frame portion 32a in each of the left, upper, right, and lower portions. From the rear side of the surface (in other words, the front side of the inner peripheral surface of the side wall portion 32b), the front surface projects sideways so as to face the opening of the frame portion 32a. That is, of the protrusions 32c, the left one protrudes substantially to the right, the upper one protrudes substantially downward, the right one protrudes substantially to the left, and the lower one protrudes substantially upward. .

  Therefore, the front surface of the protruding portion 32 c faces the rear surface of the panel member 31. As for the position of the protrusion 32c in the protruding direction, as shown on the lower side of FIG. 6, the position close to the tip of the protrusion is referred to as “close to the tip”, and conversely, the position close to the root is referred to as “close to the root”. Sometimes.

  The protrusion 32c is provided with a recess 32c1 in which a part of the front surface is recessed rearward. The concave portion 32c1 is provided in a constant region having a predetermined width W when viewed in the protruding direction in each of the left portion, the upper portion, the right portion, and the lower portion. From another viewpoint, the recess 32c1 is provided so as to form a groove extending in a direction perpendicular to the protruding direction of the protruding portion 32c.

  That is, the recess 32c1 is provided so as to form a groove extending in the vertical direction in the left and right parts, and to form a groove extending in the horizontal direction in the upper part and the lower part. The recess 32c1 mainly plays a role of improving the sealing performance against urethane leakage in the bonding process. This point will be described in detail again.

  The display substrate support part 32d is a part for supporting the display substrate 41 on which the display unit 4 described above is mounted. The display substrate 41 is supported at the position shown in FIG. 4 by the display substrate support portion 32d so that the display portion 4 faces forward. A user in front of the door 3a can see the display on the display unit 4.

  The reinforcing rib 32e is formed in a plate shape extending in a direction perpendicular to both the inner peripheral surface of the side wall portion 32b and the rear surface of the protruding portion 32c (in the case of the left portion, front and rear, left and right directions), and the outer edge is It is a triangle having two sides, a side in contact with the side wall portion 32b and a side in contact with the protruding portion 32c. The reinforcing ribs 32e are arranged at predetermined intervals at corners formed by the side wall portions 32b and the protruding portions 32c. The reinforcing rib 32e mainly serves to reinforce the protruding portion 32c.

[Manufacturing method of door]
Next, a method for manufacturing the door 3 will be described. In addition, in the following description, although the manufacturing method of the upper left door 3a is demonstrated for convenience, it is basically the same also about other doors (3b-3d).

  The step of manufacturing the door 3a includes a step of positioning the panel member 31 by fitting it into the frame portion 32a of the frame member 32 (positioning step).

  In the positioning step, as shown in FIG. 7, the panel member 31 and the frame member 32 are used, and the panel member 31 is fitted into the frame portion 32a. At this time, a double-sided tape 35 is interposed between the front surface of the protruding portion 32 c and the rear surface of the panel member 31, and bonding (referred to as “primary bonding”) is performed between the panel member 31 and the frame member 32. I will keep it.

  By the primary bonding, the panel member 31 is fixed with a certain amount of adhesive force, and is appropriately positioned inside the frame portion 32a. Further, the primary bonding also plays an auxiliary role in bonding (secondary bonding) using foamed urethane, which will be described later, and makes the panel member 31 more firmly fixed.

  A portion (primary bonding portion) where primary bonding is performed on the front surface of the protruding portion 32c is a portion (a portion other than the recessed portion) closer to the root than the recessed portion 32c1. Since the portion where the primary bonding is performed is limited in this way, the amount of the double-sided tape 35 used in the positioning step is relatively suppressed. However, the primary adhesion may be performed also in the portion closer to the tip than the recess 32c1.

  In the positioning step, the panel member 31 is inserted into the frame portion 32a and positioned at a position that directly or via the double-sided tape 35 hits the front surface of the protruding portion 32c. Thus, it can be said that the protrusion part 32c has played the role which determines the position of the panel member 31 in the case of a positioning process. When the positioning is performed, the rear surface of the panel member 31 faces rearward.

  FIG. 8 shows a state in which the panel member 31 is positioned and before a bonding process described later is performed. In addition, the upper right part in FIG. 8 represents the enlarged view of the part (the vicinity part of the clearance gap between the panel member 31 and the protrusion part 32c) enclosed with the continuous line.

  As shown in FIG. 8, the size of the gap between the rear surface of the panel member 31 and the front surface of the protrusion 32c (hereinafter referred to as “gap X” for convenience) is between the recess 32c1 and the portion closer to the tip than the recess 32c1. Are different. More specifically, the size X1 of the gap X in the recess 32c1 is sufficiently larger than the size X2 of the gap X in the portion closer to the tip than the recess 32c1.

  Moreover, the process of manufacturing the door 3a includes a process (adhesion process) of bonding and fixing the panel member 31 positioned in the positioning process to the frame member 32 using urethane foam.

  In the bonding process, the space inside the frame member 32 in which the panel member 31 is positioned (the inner surface of the upper, lower, left and right side wall portions 32b, the rear surface of the protruding portion 32c, the rear surface of the panel member 31, the door liner, etc. The panel member 31 is firmly bonded (secondary bonding) to the frame member 32 by filling the space) with urethane foam.

  More specifically, as shown in FIG. 9, a urethane foam 36 (foamed and expanded by heating) before foaming is provided in the vicinity of the center of the space in advance, and each member (panel The member 31, the frame member 32, the door liner, etc.) are fixed and heated. Thereby, the urethane foam 36 expands in the space, and finally the space is filled with the urethane foam 36.

  When the foamed urethane 36 expands, a part of the foamed urethane 36 may enter the gap X from the front end side of the protruding portion 32c, as indicated by a white arrow in FIG. The urethane foam 36 that has entered the gap X flows into the recess 32c1 when it reaches the position of the recess 32c1. Here, the recess 32c1 has a sufficiently large space (capacity) formed by the gap X compared to the portion closer to the tip than the recess 32c1, and can accumulate a large amount of the urethane foam 36 that has entered the gap X. Is possible.

  For this reason, the urethane foam 36 that has entered the gap X remains in the recess 32c1 and is prevented from entering the portion closer to the root than the recess 32c1 as much as possible. Thus, urethane leakage in the bonding process (the urethane foam 36 that has entered the gap X leaks outside through the portion closer to the root than the recess 32c1) is prevented as much as possible.

  Thus, in this embodiment, the sealing performance against urethane leakage is improved as compared with the case where the recess 32c1 is not provided (the case illustrated in FIG. 10). In the present embodiment, since the gap X becomes large in the recess 32c1, it is avoided that the urethane foam that has entered the gap X easily advances due to a capillary phenomenon. In this embodiment, it can be said that the sealing performance against urethane leakage is also improved from this point.

[Others]
As described above, the method for manufacturing a refrigerator door according to the embodiment of the present invention includes a panel member 31 formed in a flat plate shape and a frame portion that surrounds the periphery of the panel member 31 by being fitted from the front. 32a, and a frame member 32 having a protrusion 32c protruding from the rear side of the inner peripheral surface of the frame portion 32a to the side and having a front surface facing the opening of the frame portion 32a. The positioning method includes a positioning step of fitting and positioning in 32a, and a bonding step of filling the space in contact with the rear surface of the positioned panel member 31 with foamed urethane 36 and bonding and fixing the panel member 31 to the frame member 32. .

  Further, the front surface of the protrusion 32c is provided with a recess 32c1 formed so that the gap X between the panel member 31 and the positioned panel member 31 is larger than the portion near the tip, and enters the gap X in the bonding process. The foamed urethane 36 is allowed to flow into the recess 32c1.

  Therefore, the said manufacturing method is a manufacturing method including the process of adhering and fixing a panel member to a frame member using foamed urethane, and it is easy to improve the sealing performance of urethane leakage while suppressing an increase in the cost of primary bonding. It has become.

  The configuration of the present invention can be variously modified in addition to the above embodiment without departing from the spirit of the invention. That is, the above-described embodiment is an example in all respects, and should be considered not restrictive. The technical scope of the present invention is shown not by the above description of the embodiment but by the scope of the claims, and is understood to include all modifications within the meaning and scope equivalent to the scope of the claims. Should.

  The present invention can be used for refrigerator manufacturing processes and the like.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Refrigerator 2 Heat insulation box 3, 3a-3d Door 4 Display part 41 Display board 5 Refrigeration room 6 Freezing room 7 Heat insulation wall 8 Cooling panel 9 Partition plate 10 Ice storage box 11 Small freezing case 12 Large freezing case 13 Tank room 14 Vegetable Chamber 15 Fruit case 16 Chilled chamber 21 Case 22 Lid portion 31 Panel member 32 Frame member 32a Frame portion 32b Side wall portion 32c Projection portion 32c1 Recessed portion 32d Display substrate support portion 32e Reinforcement rib 35 Double-sided tape 36 Urethane foam

Claims (6)

A panel member formed in a substantially flat plate shape;
A frame portion in which the panel member is fitted from the front and surrounding the periphery of the panel member; and a protruding portion that protrudes laterally from the rear side of the inner peripheral surface of the frame portion and the front surface faces the opening of the frame portion. Having a frame member,
A positioning step of fitting the panel member into the frame portion and positioning the panel member;
A bonding step of filling a space in contact with the rear surface of the positioned panel member with foamed urethane and bonding and fixing the panel member to the frame member;
A method of manufacturing a refrigerator door, comprising:
On the front surface of the protrusion,
A recessed portion is formed so that a gap with the positioned panel member is larger than a portion near the tip,
The manufacturing method characterized in that the urethane foam that has entered the gap in the bonding step flows into the recess. In the positioning step,
The manufacturing method according to claim 1, wherein a primary bonding portion that is the whole or a part of a portion other than the concave portion on the front surface of the protruding portion is bonded to the panel member using a double-sided tape. The primary bonded portion is
The manufacturing method according to claim 2, wherein the manufacturing method is a portion closer to the base than the concave portion. The panel member is
The manufacturing method according to claim 3, wherein a design is applied to the rear side of the transparent glass plate, and the design is visible through the glass plate.   A refrigerator door manufactured by the manufacturing method according to any one of claims 1 to 4.   A refrigerator comprising the door according to claim 5.