JP2014059067A - Refrigerator including lighting device therein - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a refrigerator which improves the visibility of a stored object.SOLUTION: A lamp cover 6 closes an opening of a front surface of an illumination room 4 and is formed by a transparent member. The lamp cover 6 includes: a first light guide part 61 which has an incident surface 61a facing an LED 3 and extends to the lateral side; and a second light guide part 62 which is bent from the first light guide part 61 through a first inclined surface 62a facing a storage room 2 and extends rearward. The second light guide part 62 protrudes inward relative to a side wall 8 of the storage room 2.

Description

  The present invention relates to a refrigerator that illuminates a storage room with LEDs.

  Conventional refrigerators are disclosed in Patent Documents 1 and 2. This refrigerator has a plurality of LEDs for illuminating a storage room for storing stored items. The LEDs are arranged in front of both side walls of the storage room side by side.

  FIG. 4 is a top sectional view showing the front part of the side wall of the storage chamber. The side wall 8 of the storage chamber 2 is filled with a heat insulating material, and the illumination chamber 4 extending up and down facing the storage chamber 2 is recessed. The wall surface of the illumination chamber 4 is formed by a frame portion 5 made of a resin molded product integrated with the side wall 8. A mounting substrate 7 on which the LEDs 3 are mounted is attached to the frame portion 5. A lamp cover 6 made of a transparent member is disposed in front of the illumination chamber 4. The lamp cover 6 is locked by engaging the claw portion 6 a with the hole portion 5 a provided in the frame portion 5.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2007-187363 (page 3 to page 6, FIG. 2) JP 2008-89277 A (pages 4 to 6, FIG. 2)

  However, according to the conventional refrigerator, the emitted light emitted from the LED 3 passes through the lamp cover 6 and illuminates the front portion of the storage chamber 2. For this reason, there existed a problem that the visibility of the stored thing distribute | arranged to the rear part of the store room 2 was bad.

  An object of this invention is to provide the refrigerator which can improve the visibility of stored goods.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a storage chamber for storing a stored item, an illumination chamber that extends in the vertical direction in front of both side walls of the storage chamber, and is recessed in the vertical direction in the illumination chamber. A plurality of LEDs provided; and a lamp cover made of a transparent member that closes an opening in front of the illumination chamber, wherein the lamp cover has a light incident surface facing the LEDs and extends laterally. A light guide and a second light guide extending from the first light guide through the first inclined surface facing the storage chamber and extending rearward, wherein the second light guide is a side wall of the storage chamber It is characterized by protruding inward.

  According to this configuration, the emitted light of the LED enters the first light guide portion via the incident surface. The light incident on the first light guide is reflected by the first inclined surface, and is guided backward through the second light guide. Light that reaches the surface of the second light guide unit on the storage chamber side at an incident angle smaller than the critical angle is emitted toward the storage chamber. Further, the second light guide part protrudes from the side wall of the storage chamber, and the light that has reached the rear end of the second light guide part is emitted backward.

  In the refrigerator having the above-described configuration, the rear surface of the second light guide portion on the storage chamber side is inclined so that the rear surface approaches the side wall of the storage chamber. According to this structure, the surface of the rear-end part of a 2nd light guide part faces the inner back of a storage chamber. Thereby, the light radiate | emitted toward the inner back of a storage chamber increases using the surface of a rear-end part as a light emission surface.

  Further, the present invention is characterized in that the refrigerator having the above-described configuration has a third light guide portion extending forward from the first light guide portion through a second inclined surface facing the storage chamber. According to this configuration, a part of the light guided to the first light guide part is reflected by the second inclined surface, and is guided forward through the third light guide part.

  Moreover, the present invention is characterized in that in the refrigerator configured as described above, an intersection line of the first inclined surface and the second inclined surface is disposed forwardly with respect to the center in the front-rear direction of the incident surface. According to this configuration, the light reflected by the first inclined surface out of the light incident on the lamp cover from the incident surface of the first light guide portion is greater than the light reflected by the second inclined surface.

  Moreover, the present invention is characterized in that in the refrigerator configured as described above, a light scattering process is performed on the front end portion of the third light guide portion. According to this structure, it can illuminate from the front of a store room, preventing the visual recognition of the inside of an illumination room from the front-end part of a 3rd light guide part.

  According to the present invention, the light emitted from the LED is incident on the lamp cover from the incident surface of the first light guide facing the light, reflected by the first inclined surface, and guided to the second light guide extending backward. Light that reaches the surface of the second light guide unit on the storage chamber side at an incident angle smaller than the critical angle is emitted toward the storage chamber. In addition, the light guided to the rear of the second light guide unit is emitted toward the rear of the storage chamber from the end portion of the second light guide unit protruding inward from the side wall of the storage chamber. Thereby, the stored thing distribute | arranged to the front part and rear part of a store room can be illuminated from the front and back with the light radiate | emitted from a side. For this reason, the visibility fall of the stored item of a rear part can be prevented, and the visibility of a stored item can be improved. Since the lamp cover has a function of illuminating the rear part of the storage chamber, there is no need to newly provide another member such as a light guide plate. For this reason, the manufacturing cost of a refrigerator can be reduced.

The perspective view which shows the refrigerator of embodiment of this invention 1 arrow view of FIG. BB sectional view of FIG. Top sectional view showing a side wall of a storage room of a conventional refrigerator

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. For convenience of explanation, the same parts as those of the conventional example shown in FIG. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a refrigerator according to an embodiment, and FIG. 2 is a view taken in the direction of arrow A in FIG. The refrigerator 1 has a storage chamber 2 defined by a heat insulating box 1a filled with a heat insulating material.

  In the front part of the left and right side walls 8 of the storage room 2, an illumination room 4 in which the LEDs 3 are arranged extends vertically. Between the side walls 8, a placing tray 9 for placing a stored item is disposed. The loading tray 9 is bridged on a support portion 11 protruding from both side walls 8 of the storage chamber 2.

  A cool air passage 12 through which cool air flows is formed on the back surface of the storage chamber 2. The cold air flowing through the cold air passage 12 is discharged into the storage chamber 2 through a discharge port (not shown). The front surface of the cold air passage 12 is covered with a metal panel 13, and the cold heat of the cold air flowing through the cold air passage 12 is released to the storage chamber 2 through the metal panel 13. Thereby, the inside of the storage chamber 2 can be cooled uniformly.

  FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line BB in FIG. The lighting chamber 4 is recessed in the front portion of the side walls 8 of the storage chamber 2 so as to extend in the vertical direction (perpendicular to the paper surface), and the wall surface of the lighting chamber 4 is a frame portion 5 made of a resin molded product integrated with the side walls 8. It is formed by. In the illumination chamber 4, a mounting substrate 7 on which a plurality of chip-like LEDs 3 are mounted in the vertical direction is mounted substantially parallel to the side wall 8.

  An opening in front of the illumination chamber 4 is closed by a lamp cover 6 made of a transparent member. The lamp cover 6 is locked by engaging the claw portion 6 a with the hole portion 5 a provided in the frame portion 5. The lamp cover 6 includes a first light guide 61, a second light guide 62, and a third light guide 63. The 1st light guide part 61 has the entrance plane 61a which opposes LED3, and is extended to a side (c direction). The second light guide 62 is bent from the first light guide 61 through the first inclined surface 62a facing the storage chamber 2 and extends backward (b direction). The third light guide 63 is bent from the first light guide 61 through the second inclined surface 63a facing the storage chamber 2 and extends forward (a direction).

The first inclined surface 62a and the second inclined surface 63a are inclined at a predetermined angle with respect to the incident surface 61a, and are formed by a curved surface or a flat surface. The first inclined surface 62a and the second inclined surface 63a are preferably inclined so that light reaching from the incident surface 61a is incident at an angle larger than the critical angle. For example, when the lamp cover 6 is made of acrylic resin, the critical angle of light incident from the acrylic resin toward the air is about 42 °. Therefore, the first inclined surface 62a and the second inclined surface are incident so that the incident light from the incident surface 61a is incident on the first inclined surface 62a and the second inclined surface 63a at an angle larger than about 42 ° which is a critical angle. Preferably, 63a is formed to be inclined.
In addition, the intersection line 64 between the first inclined surface 62a and the second inclined surface 63a is disposed forwardly with respect to the center in the front-rear direction of the incident surface 61a.

  In addition, the 2nd light guide part 62 and the 3rd light guide part 63 protrude inside (c direction) rather than the side wall 8 of the storage chamber 2. As shown in FIG. In addition, the storage chamber 2 side surface of the rear end portion 62 b of the second light guide portion 62 is inclined so that the rear side approaches the side wall 8 of the storage chamber 2. The surface of the front end portion 63 b of the third light guide portion 63 on the storage chamber 2 side is inclined so that the front approaches the side wall 8 of the storage chamber 2.

  The lamp cover 6 is made of a transparent member. For this reason, you may perform a light-scattering process to the front-end part 63b of the 3rd light guide part 63. FIG. Thereby, the visual recognition of the inside of the illumination chamber 4 such as the mounting substrate 7 can be prevented. As the light scattering treatment, an uneven surface treatment such as sandblasting, graining, satin finishing, knurling or the like may be performed. Moreover, you may color milky white etc. That is, it is only necessary that the lamp cover 6 be subjected to a process for reducing the visibility of the LED 3.

  Further, acrylic resin, glass, polystyrene resin or the like may be used for the lamp cover 6. Polystyrene resin has better moldability and greater light diffusion than acrylic resin and glass. Further, a colorant may be mixed into the lamp cover 6 to develop illumination light.

  When the door of the storage chamber 2 is opened, the LED 3 is energized, and the emitted light emitted from the LED 3 enters the lamp cover 6 from the incident surface 61a of the opposing first light guide 61 and guides the light toward the side. The light guided by the first light guide 61 is reflected by the first inclined surface 62a or the second inclined surface 63a. The light reflected by the first inclined surface 62a guides the second light guide 62 toward the rear (b direction). Further, the light reflected by the second inclined surface 63a guides the third light guide part 63 toward the front (a direction).

  Since the intersection line 64 between the first inclined surface 62a and the second inclined surface 63a is disposed forwardly with respect to the center in the front-rear direction of the incident surface 61a, the incident light enters the lamp cover 6 from the incident surface 61a. Of the light, the light reflected by the first inclined surface 62a is greater than the light reflected by the second inclined surface 63a. Thereby, the light which guides the 2nd light guide part 62 back (b direction) becomes more than the light which guides the 3rd light guide part 63 toward the front (a direction), and the emitted light of LED3 A lot of light is guided to the rear of the storage chamber 2.

  At this time, the light that reaches the surfaces of the second light guide 62 and the third light guide 63 on the storage chamber 2 side at an incident angle smaller than the critical angle is emitted toward the storage chamber 2. Further, the light guided to the rear of the second light guide part 62 is emitted from the rear end part 62 b of the second light guide part 62 protruding inward from the side wall 8 of the storage room 2 toward the rear part of the storage room 2. . On the other hand, the light guided to the front of the third light guide part 63 is emitted toward the front part of the storage chamber 2 from the front end part 63 b of the third light guide part 63 protruding inward from the side wall 8 of the storage room 2. .

  Thereby, the stored thing distribute | arranged to the front part and the rear part of the storage chamber 2 with the light radiate | emitted from a side can be illuminated from front and back. For this reason, the visibility fall of the stored item of a rear part can be prevented, and the visibility of a stored item can be improved. It is not necessary to provide a separate member such as a light guide plate in order to illuminate the rear part of the storage room using the lamp cover 6. For this reason, the manufacturing cost of the refrigerator 1 can be reduced.

  Note that the surface of the rear end portion 62 b on the storage chamber side 2 is inclined so as to approach the side wall 8 of the storage chamber 2. For this reason, the surface of the rear end portion 62 b of the second light guide portion 62 faces the inner rear side of the storage chamber 2. Thereby, the surface of the rear end portion 62b becomes a light emitting surface, and the light emitted toward the inner rear side of the storage chamber 2 is increased, so that the stored item at the center in the left-right direction at the rear portion of the storage chamber 2 can be irradiated. . Moreover, the light radiate | emitted from the rear-end part 62b is reflected by the metal panel 13, and the inside of the storage chamber 2 can be illuminated also from the back.

  The lamp cover 6 extends in the vertical direction (perpendicular to the paper surface), and light incident on the lamp cover 6 is also guided in the vertical direction. Thereby, the light guided from the area | region which opposes between adjacent LED3 is radiate | emitted.

According to the present embodiment, the light emitted from the LED 3 enters the lamp cover 6 from the incident surface 61a of the first light guide unit 61 facing the second light guide unit 62, is reflected by the first inclined surface 62a, and extends rearward.
Is guided to. Light that reaches the surface of the second light guide 62 on the storage chamber 2 side at an incident angle smaller than the critical angle is emitted toward the storage chamber 2. Further, the light guided to the rear of the second light guide unit is emitted toward the rear of the storage chamber 2 from the rear end portion 62b of the second light guide unit 62 protruding inward from the side wall of the storage chamber. Thereby, the stored thing distribute | arranged to the front part and the rear part of the storage chamber 2 with the light radiate | emitted from a side can be illuminated from front and back. For this reason, the visibility fall of the stored item of a rear part can be prevented, and the visibility of a stored item can be improved. Since the lamp cover 6 has a function of illuminating the rear part of the storage chamber 2, there is no need to newly provide another member such as a light guide plate. For this reason, the manufacturing cost of the refrigerator 1 can be reduced.

  In addition, the storage chamber 2 side surface of the rear end portion 62 b of the second light guide portion 62 is inclined so that the rear side approaches the side wall 8 of the storage chamber 2. For this reason, the surface of the rear end portion 62 b of the second light guide portion 62 faces toward the inner rear side of the storage chamber 2. Thereby, the light radiate | emitted toward the inner back of the storage chamber 2 by making the surface of the rear-end part 62b into a light emission surface increases. Therefore, it is possible to more reliably illuminate the interior of the storage chamber 2 from the rear portion, thereby further improving the visibility of the stored items. Further, part of the light emitted backward from the rear end portion 62 b of the second light guide portion 62 is incident on the metal panel 13 and reflected to the front of the storage chamber 2. Thereby, the inside of the storage chamber 2 can be illuminated also from the back.

  Further, by having the third light guide portion 63 extending forward from the first light guide portion 61 through the second inclined surface 63 a facing the storage chamber 2, the lamp cover from the incident surface 61 a of the first light guide portion 61 is provided. 6 is reflected by the second inclined surface 63a and guided to the third light guide 63 extending forward. The light guided to the third light guide part 63 is emitted toward the front of the storage chamber 2. Thereby, the storage thing distribute | arranged to the front part and the rear part of the store room 2 can be illuminated from back and front. Therefore, the visibility of the stored item can be improved.

  In addition, an intersection line 64 between the first inclined surface 62a and the second inclined surface 63a is disposed forwardly with respect to the center in the front-rear direction of the incident surface 61a. Thereby, the light reflected on the first inclined surface 62a out of the light incident on the lamp cover 6 from the incident surface 61a becomes larger than the light reflected on the second inclined surface 63a. Thereby, the back in the storage chamber 2 is illuminated brighter than the front.

  Further, by performing a light scattering process on the front end portion 63b of the third light guide portion 63, the front end portion 63b of the third light guide portion 63 is prevented from being visually recognized inside the illumination chamber 4 from the front of the storage chamber 2. Can be illuminated.

  According to this invention, it can utilize for the refrigerator which illuminates the storage chamber by LED.

1 Refrigerator 2 Storage room 3 LED
4 Illumination Room 5 Frame 6 Lamp Cover 7 Mounting Board 8 Side Wall 11 Supporting Section 12 Cooling Air Path 13 Metal Panel 61 First Light Guide 61a Incident Surface 62 Second Light Guide 62a First Inclined Surface 62b Rear End 63 Third Light guide part 63a Second inclined surface 63b Front end part 64 Intersection line

Claims (5)

  A storage chamber for storing stored items; an illumination chamber extending vertically in front of both side walls of the storage chamber; and a plurality of LEDs arranged vertically in the illumination chamber; and the illumination chamber A lamp cover made of a transparent member that closes the front opening of the LED, the lamp cover having a light incident surface facing the LED, and extending laterally from the first light guide. A second light guide part that bends and extends rearward through a first inclined surface facing the storage chamber, wherein the second light guide part protrudes inward from the side wall of the storage room. refrigerator.   2. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein a rear surface of the rear end portion of the second light guide portion is inclined so that a rear side approaches a side wall of the storage chamber.   The refrigerator according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising a third light guide portion extending forward from the first light guide portion via a second inclined surface facing the storage chamber.   The line of intersection between the first inclined surface and the second inclined surface is disposed so as to be biased forward with respect to the center in the front-rear direction of the incident surface. refrigerator.   The refrigerator according to claim 3 or 4, wherein a light scattering process is performed on a front end portion of the third light guide portion.

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