JP2021089138A - refrigerator - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a refrigerator that can prevent distortion from occurring in face materials that are front materials of doors when foamed heat insulating materials are foamed in the doors.SOLUTION: A refrigerator 1 comprises: a refrigerator body 2 comprising front openings 6P and 7P; and doors 8 and 9 comprising face materials 12 and 15, and foamed heat insulating materials 17 and 19 inside the face materials 12 and 15, and opening/closing the front openings 6P and 7P. Handle parts 20 and 30 are provided in end surfaces of the doors 8 and 9. Ribs 21 and 31 are provided on the front side of the handle parts 20 and 30. The face materials 12 and 15 are held by the handle parts 20 and 30 and the ribs 21 and 31.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

Embodiments of the present invention relate to refrigerators.

The refrigerator is provided with a door on the front surface of the refrigerator body, and the door is provided with a handle (see Patent Document 1).

Patent No. 4926230

In a conventional refrigerator, the end of the face material, which is the front plate of the door, is held by a cap arranged on the end face of the door. The number of color variations of door face materials has increased, and especially face materials using high gloss and rich colors are being used.

When the face material of the door is, for example, a steel plate, when the urethane foam material, which is a foam heat insulating material, is foamed and filled inside the face material of the door, the urethane foam material pushes the face material from the inside. The appearance of the face material may be distorted. In particular, when a high-gloss or dark-colored steel plate is used as the face material, the face material may be significantly distorted in appearance, and the appearance of the refrigerator may be impaired.

The present invention has been made in view of the above, and an object of the present invention is that when the foamed heat insulating material is foamed in the door, it is possible to suppress distortion of the face material which is the front surface material of the door. To provide a refrigerator.

The refrigerator according to the embodiment of the present invention includes a refrigerator main body having a pair of upper and lower front openings and a door for opening and closing the front openings, respectively, and each of the end faces of the door has a concave handle portion. The upper handle portion is provided and has a concave portion recessed upward, and the lower handle portion has a concave portion recessed downward, and the front end of the concave portion is formed at a position lower than the rear end. The height dimension of the upper handle portion and the lower handle portion is smaller than the height dimension between the lower end portion of the upper handle portion and the recessed front end portion of the lower handle portion. Moreover, it is smaller than the height dimension between the concave front end portion and the concave rear end portion of the lower handle portion.

It is a front view which shows the whole of the refrigerator of 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a schematic diagram which shows the example of the internal structure of the refrigerator of FIG. FIG. 5 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing a structural example of the door and the area portion R of the door shown in FIG. 2. It is a figure which shows the comparative example. It is a front view which shows the 2nd Embodiment of this invention.

Hereinafter, embodiments for carrying out the present invention (hereinafter referred to as embodiments) will be described with reference to the drawings.

<First Embodiment>
(Overall configuration of refrigerator 1)
FIG. 1 is a front view showing the entire refrigerator of the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing an example of the internal structure of the refrigerator of FIG.

The refrigerator 1 shown in FIG. 1 has a refrigerator main body 2. As shown in FIG. 2, the refrigerator main body 2 of the refrigerator 1 has an outer box 3 made of an outer side plate and an inner box 4 made of an inner side plate. A foaming heat insulating material 5 such as a urethane foaming material is filled between the outer box 3 and the inner box 4 by foaming. As a result, the refrigerator body 2 is insulated by the foam heat insulating material 5.

A plurality of storage chambers are formed inside the inner box 4 of the refrigerator body 2. A freezing chamber 6 as a freezing compartment that can be cooled in the freezing temperature zone is arranged on the upper side of the refrigerator main body 2, and a refrigerating chamber 7 as a refrigerating compartment that can be cooled in the refrigerating temperature zone is arranged on the lower side of the freezing chamber 6. Have been placed. The refrigerating room 7 includes a vegetable room and the like.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a front opening 6P is provided on the front surface of the freezing chamber 6. The freezing chamber 6 has a single-door door 8, and the door 8 is attached to the refrigerator main body 2 by using a hinge so that the front opening 6P can be opened and closed. The door 8 has upper and lower caps 10 and 11 and a face material 12. The upper end portion and the lower end portion of the face material 12 are attached by being sandwiched from above and below by caps 10 and 11, respectively.

Similarly, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a front opening 7P is provided on the front surface of the refrigerator compartment 7. The freezing chamber 7 has a single-door door 9, and the door 9 is attached to the refrigerator main body 2 by using a hinge so that the front opening 7P can be opened and closed. The door 9 has upper and lower caps 13 and 14 and a face material 15. The upper and lower ends of the face material 15 are attached by being sandwiched from above and below by caps 13 and 14, respectively.

The face materials 12 and 15 are front materials that cover the front surfaces of the doors 8 and 9, respectively, and are preferably steel plates. For this steel plate, for example, a high-gloss steel plate or a dark-colored steel plate is used in order to improve the aesthetic appearance of the front side of the refrigerator.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing a structural example of the region portion R of the door 8 and the door 9 shown in FIG. This region portion R includes the lower part of the door 8 and the upper part of the door 9. FIG. 3 shows a cap 11 on the lower side of the door 8, a face material 12 of the door 8, a cap 13 on the upper side of the door 9, a face material 15 of the door 9, and the like. The lower cap 11 and the upper cap 13 are both made of, for example, plastic, but may be made of metal.

As shown in FIG. 2, a foaming heat insulating material 17 such as a urethane foaming material is filled between the face material 12 of the door 8 and the upper and lower caps 10, 11 and the inner plate 16 by foaming. Similarly, between the face material 15 of the door 9 and the upper and lower caps 13 and 14 and the inner plate 18, a foaming heat insulating material 19 such as a urethane foaming material is filled by foaming.

First, a structural example of the cap 11 on the lower side of the door 8 will be described with reference to FIG.

The cap 11 of the door 8 has a handle portion 20, a rib 21 on the front side, a gasket receiving portion 22, and a flat portion 24. The cap 13 has a handle portion 30, a rib 31 on the front side, a gasket receiving portion 32, and a flat portion 34.

In the example of the refrigerator 1 shown in FIG. 1, as shown by the broken line, the handles 20 and 30 have handles for a predetermined length, for example, the user's fingers, along the X direction, which is the left-right direction of the refrigerator body 2. It is provided with a sufficient length so that it can be inserted into the portions 20 and 30 and hung.

The Z direction shown in FIG. 1 is the vertical direction of the refrigerator 1, and the Y direction is the depth direction of the refrigerator 1. The X, Y, and Z directions are orthogonal. The handles 20 and 30 are parts for the user to insert fingers to open and close the doors 8 and 9, respectively, and can be called a handle.

The handle portion 20 of the cap 11 is formed at a position between the rib 21 located on the frontmost side and the flat portion 24 located on the rear side of the rib 21. The handle portion 20 is formed in an inverted concave shape on the lower surface of the door 8 and inside the face material 12 of the door 8 so as to project upward along the Z1 direction.

The handle portion 20 has a C-shaped cross section that is substantially laterally oriented so that the user's fingers can easily hang it. The handle portion 20 operates the door 8 to open and close the front opening 6P when the user inserts the handle portion 20 with his or her fingers facing upward.

The rib 21 is continuously formed on the front side portion 20A of the handle portion 20, and is formed upward along the Z1 direction. A face material mounting groove 23 is formed between the inner surface 21A of the rib 21 and the front side portion 20A of the handle portion 20. The height of the rib 21 in the Z1 direction is smaller than the height dimension H1 of the handle portion 20. Thereby, the rib 21 can be made as inconspicuous as possible on the surface side of the face material 12.

The flat portion 24 is formed between the rear portion 20B of the handle portion 20 and the gasket receiving portion 22. The gasket receiving portion 22 fixes the rear component by inserting the gasket 25 of the rear component.

As shown in FIG. 3, the lower end portion of the face material 12 is held or fixed to the cap 11 by being fitted into the face material mounting groove 23. The inner surface 21A of the rib 21 and the front side portion 20A of the handle portion 20 are in contact with the front surface and the back surface of the face material 12, respectively. As a result, the lower end portion of the face material 12 can be reliably held or fixed so as to be sandwiched between the inner surface 21A of the rib 21 of the cap 11 and the front side portion 20A of the handle portion 20.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 2, even if the foamed heat insulating material 17 is filled between the face material 12 of the door 8, the upper and lower caps 10, 11 and the inner plate 16, when the foamed heat insulating material 17 foams. , It is possible to suppress the occurrence of appearance distortion in the face material 12. Therefore, even if a face material 12 such as a dark-colored or high-gloss steel plate is used as the front surface material of the door 8, the appearance distortion of the face material 12 can be suppressed.

When the foamed heat insulating material 17 is filled by foaming inside the door 8 having such a configuration, the foamed heat insulating material 17 is formed on the inner surface of the lower end portion of the face material 12 and the upper surface side of the cap 11. It is possible to fill every corner of the space of the existing door 8 without creating a gap. Therefore, since a gap is unlikely to occur inside the door 8, the heat insulating property of the door 8 can be improved.

Although the lower end of the face material 12 is fitted in the face material mounting groove 23, it is assumed that a gap is formed between the back side of the face material 12 and the front side portion 20A of the handle portion 20. However, since the foamed heat insulating material 17 is filled in this gap, the lower end portion of the face material 12 can be securely fixed.

Next, a structural example of the cap 13 on the upper side of the door 9 will be described with reference to FIG.

The handle portion 30 of the cap 13 of the door 9 is formed at a position between the rib 31 and the flat portion 34, and the handle portion 30 projects downward along the Z2 direction inside the door 9. It is formed in a concave shape. The handle portion 30 has a substantially J-shaped cross section. The handle portion 20 is provided so that the user of the refrigerator can operate the door 9 to open / close the front opening 7P by inserting his / her fingers downward.

The rib 31 is continuously formed on the front side portion 30A of the handle portion 30, and is formed downward along the Z2 direction. A face material mounting groove 33 is formed between the inner surface 31A of the rib 31 and the front side portion 30A of the handle portion 30.

A flat portion 34 is formed between the rear portion 30B of the handle portion 30 and the gasket receiving portion 32. The gasket receiving portion 32 fixes the rear component by inserting the gasket 35 of the rear component.

The upper end portion of the face material 15 is held or fixed to the cap 13 by being fitted into the face material mounting groove 33. The inner surface 31A of the rib 31 and the front side portion 30A of the handle portion 30 are in contact with the front surface and the back surface of the face material 15, respectively.

As a result, the upper end portion of the face material 15 can be reliably held or fixed to the cap 13 so as to be sandwiched between the inner surface 31A of the rib 31 and the front side portion 30A of the handle portion 30. Therefore, when the foamed heat insulating material 19 is filled between the face material 15 of the door 9, the upper and lower caps 13, 14 and the inner plate and foamed, it is possible to prevent the face material 15 from being distorted in appearance. Therefore, even if a face material 15 such as a high-gloss or dark-colored steel plate is used as the front surface material of the door 9, the appearance distortion of the face material 15 can be suppressed.

When the foamed heat insulating material 19 is filled inside the door 9 having such a configuration, the foamed heat insulating material 19 does not create a gap between the inner surface of the face material 15 and the lower surface side of the cap 13. It can be filled. Therefore, since a gap is unlikely to occur inside the door 9, the heat insulating property of the door 9 can be improved.

The upper end of the face material 15 is fitted in the face material mounting groove 33, but even if there is a gap between the inner surface side of the face material 15 and the front side portion 30A of the handle portion 30, this gap Is filled with the foamed heat insulating material 19, so that the upper end portion of the face material 15 can be securely fixed.

As shown in FIG. 3, the dimension between the upper end portion and the lower end portion of the handle portion 20 on the door 8 side, that is, the height dimension of the handle portion 20 is represented by H1. The dimension between the upper end portion and the lower end portion of the handle portion 30 on the door 9 side, that is, the height dimension of the handle portion 30, is represented by H2. Further, the dimension of the space formed between the lower end portion of the handle portion 20 and the front side portion 30A of the handle portion 30 is represented by A. The dimension between the front side portion 30A and the rear side portion 30B of the handle portion 30 is represented by B. Preferably, the height dimensions H1 and H2 of the handle portion 20 are set to be smaller than the empty dimension A and smaller than the dimension B. As a result, the empty dimension A and the dimension B are set large, so that the user can freely select whether the finger is the handle portion 20 on the door 8 side or the handle portion 30 on the door 9 side. Then the door 8 or the door 9 can be opened.

Further, as shown in FIG. 3, the position of the height dimension H1 of the handle portion 20, which represents the size of the depth of the recess of the handle portion 20, is lower than the center position L of the gasket 25. Since the position of the height dimension H1 of the handle portion 20 is lower than the center position L of the gasket 25, the height dimension H1 of the handle portion 20 corresponds to the length of the first joint of the user's finger. As a result, the user can easily open and close the door 8 by inserting the contact of the first joint of the fingers into the handle portion 20.

In the first embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the handle portion 20 of the door 8 and the handle portion 30 of the door 9 are used, for example, along the X direction (the overall width direction of the doors 8 and 9) which is the left-right direction of the refrigerator main body 2. It is provided with a sufficient length so that a person's fingers can be inserted into and hung on the handles 20 and 30.

Since the handle portion 20 of the door 8 and the handle portion 30 of the door 9 are provided, even if the door 8 is filled with the foamed heat insulating material 17, the appearance distortion of the face material 12 occurs on the front side of the door 8. Even if the door 9 is filled with the foamed heat insulating material 19, it is possible to suppress the appearance distortion of the face material 15 on the front side of the door 9.

(Explanation of comparative example)
Here, the shape of the cap 120 or the like having the handle portion of the comparative example will be described with reference to the comparative example of the refrigerator which is outside the scope of the present invention shown in FIG. FIG. 4 shows a cap 120 having a handle portion 123 in the refrigerator of the comparative example and another cap 220.

In the comparative example shown in FIG. 4, the surface of the face material 112 of the upper door 108 is held against the rib 121 of the cap 120. In the cap 120, a protrusion 122 and a handle portion 123 are provided on the inside of the rib 121 so as to stand upright in the Z direction. The height of the rib 121 in the Z direction is large, and the height of the protrusion 122 in the Z direction is also large. The positions of the protrusion 122 and the handle portion 123 are separated from the positions of the rib 121.

Therefore, since it is difficult for the foamed heat insulating material 130 to enter the gap between the back surface of the face material 112 and the protrusion 122 and the gap between the protrusion 122 and the handle portion 123, the adhesive area of the foamed heat insulating material 130 is reduced, and the face material 112 The lower end cannot be securely fixed to the cap 120. The presence of the protrusion 122 interferes with the filling of the foam insulating material 130. For this reason, it is not possible to suppress the occurrence of appearance distortion in the face material 112 when the foamed heat insulating material 130 is foamed.

Further, the surface of the face material 115 of the lower door 109 is held against the rib 221 of the cap 220. The cap 220 is provided with protrusions 222 standing upright in the Z direction inside the ribs 221. The height of the rib 221 in the Z direction is large, and the height of the protrusion 222 in the Z direction is also large.

Therefore, since it is difficult for the foamed heat insulating material 230 to enter the gap between the back surface of the face material 115 and the protrusion 222, the adhesive area of the foamed heat insulating material 230 is small, and the upper end portion of the face material 115 is surely attached to the cap 220. Cannot be fixed. The presence of the protrusion 222 interferes with the filling of the foamed heat insulating material 230. For this reason, it is not possible to suppress the occurrence of appearance distortion in the face material 115 when the foamed heat insulating material 230 is foamed.

(Second embodiment)
Next, a second embodiment of the refrigerator of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 5 is a front view showing a second embodiment of the refrigerator of the present invention.

The description of the refrigerator 1A shown in FIG. 5 will be omitted by assuming the same reference numerals at substantially the same locations as the refrigerator 1 shown in FIG. The refrigerator 1A shown in FIG. 5 is different from the refrigerator 1 shown in FIG. 1 in that the lengths of the handles 20 and 30 in the X direction are set as large as possible.

In the first embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the handle portion 20 of the door 8 and the handle portion 30 of the door 9 are used, for example, along the X direction (the overall width direction of the doors 8 and 9) which is the left-right direction of the refrigerator main body 2. It is provided with a sufficient length so that a person's fingers can be inserted into and hung on the handles 20 and 30.

On the other hand, in the refrigerator 1A of the second embodiment shown in FIG. 5, the handle portion 20 of the door 8 and the handle portion 30 of the door 9 are in the X direction (total width of the doors 8 and 9) which is the left-right direction of the refrigerator main body 2. Along the direction), it is as large as possible so that it is long over the entire width or almost the entire width.

As a result, on the front side of the door 8, it is possible to suppress the appearance distortion of the face material 12 along the X direction, which is the left-right direction of the refrigerator body 2, over the entire width or almost the entire width, and on the front side of the door 9. , It is possible to suppress the appearance distortion of the face material 15 over the entire width or almost the entire width along the X direction, which is the left-right direction of the refrigerator body 2.

Moreover, since the handle portion 20 of the door 8 and the handle portion 30 of the door 9 are provided over the entire width or almost the entire width along the X direction, which is the left-right direction of the refrigerator main body 2, the user can use his or her fingers. It is easy to insert into the handles 20 and 30, and the usability when opening and closing the doors 8 and 9 is improved.

As described above, the refrigerators 1 and 1A according to the embodiment of the present invention have the refrigerator main body 2, the face materials 12, 15 and the foam heat insulating materials 17, 19 inside the face materials 12, 15, and have a front opening. Doors 8 and 9 for opening and closing 6P and 7P are provided, handles 20 and 30 are provided on the end faces of the doors 8 and 9, ribs 21 and 31 are provided on the front side of the handles 20 and 30, and the handles 20 and 30 are provided. The face members 12 and 15 are held by the ribs 21 and 31.

As a result, the face materials 12 and 15 can be securely sandwiched and held by the ribs 21 and 31 and the handles 20 and 30, respectively, and the foamed heat insulating materials 17 and 19 are filled up to the tips of the face materials 12 and 15. Can be done. Therefore, when the foamed heat insulating materials 17 and 19 are foamed and filled in the doors 8 and 9, respectively, the face materials 12 are prevented from forming irregularities on the face materials 12 and 15 which are the front materials of the doors 8 and 9, respectively. , 15 Appearance distortion is suppressed and the distortion becomes less noticeable. In this way, it is possible to suppress distortion of the face materials 12 and 15 which are the front materials of the doors 8 and 9.

The handles 20 and 30 are in contact with the back surfaces of the face materials 12 and 15, respectively. As a result, the face materials 12 and 15 can be more securely sandwiched by the ribs 21 and 31 and the handles 20 and 30, respectively, and the foamed heat insulating material 17 can be filled up to the tips of the face materials 12 and 15. it can. Therefore, the unevenness of the face materials 12 and 15 which are the front materials of the doors 8 and 9 can be suppressed, and the appearance distortion of the face materials 12 and 15 becomes less noticeable.

The handle portion 20 is formed in a concave shape, and the position (H1) of the deepest portion of the concave shape of the handle portion 20 is lower than the center position L of the gasket 25 attached from the back side of the door 20. There is. Thereby, preferably, the depth of the concave shape of the handle portion 20 can be set to a height at which the first joint of the user's finger is inserted into the handle portion and hooked. Therefore, the user can easily open and close the door 8 with the first joint of the fingers hooked on the handle portion 20. Moreover, by making the height of the handle portion 20 lower than the center position L of the gasket 25, the height of the handle portion 20 can be made as low as possible, so that the foamed heat insulating material 17 can surely reach the tip portion of the face material 12. Can be filled. Therefore, the unevenness of the face material 12 can be suppressed, and the appearance distortion is made inconspicuous.

The handles 20 and 30 are provided along the entire width direction (X direction) of the doors 8 and 9. As a result, on the front side of the door 8, the phenomenon that the face materials 12 and 15 cause appearance distortion along the X direction, which is the left-right direction of the refrigerator body 2, can be suppressed, so that the distortion on the front side of the handles 20 and 30 can be suppressed. Can be reduced. Moreover, since the handles 20 and 30 are provided along the entire width direction (X direction) of the doors 8 and 9, it is easy for the user to insert the fingers into the handles 20 and 30, and the doors 8 and 9 are easy to insert. When opening and closing the door, the usability when opening and closing is improved.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the embodiments are presented as examples and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. The novel embodiment can be implemented in various other embodiments, and various omissions, replacements, and changes can be made without departing from the gist of the invention. These embodiments and modifications thereof are included in the scope and gist of the invention, and are also included in the scope of the invention described in the claims and the equivalent scope thereof.

The structure of the refrigerator 1 in the illustrated example is an example, and any structure can be adopted. For example, in the refrigerators 1 and 1A, the single-door door 8 can open and close the front opening 6P of the freezing chamber 6 on the upper side of the refrigerator main body 2. However, the present invention is not limited to this, for example, a refrigerating chamber may be provided on the upper side of the refrigerator main body 2, and the front opening of the refrigerating chamber may be opened and closed by double doors on the left and right.

1 Refrigerator 1A Refrigerator 2 Main body 3 Outer box 4 Inner box 6 Freezing room 6P Front opening 7 Refrigerator room 7P Front opening 8, 9 Door 11 Cap 12 Face material 13 Cap 15 Face material 17 Foam insulation material 19 Foam insulation material 20 Handle Part 21 Rib 30 Handle 31 Rib

Claims (3)

A refrigerator body with a pair of front openings on the top and bottom,
A door that opens and closes each of the front openings is provided.
A concave handle is provided on each end face of the door.
The handle portion on the upper side has a recess that is recessed upward.
The lower handle portion has a recess that is recessed downward, and the front end of the recess is formed at a position lower than the rear end.
The height dimension of the upper handle portion and the lower handle portion is smaller than the height dimension between the lower end portion of the upper handle portion and the recessed front end portion of the lower handle portion. Moreover, the refrigerator is characterized in that it is smaller than the height dimension between the concave front end portion of the lower handle portion and the concave rear end portion of the lower handle portion. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein the position of the upper end portion of the handle portion on the upper side is lower than the center position of the sealing member attached from the back surface side of the door on the upper side. Claim 1 or 2 characterized in that the height dimension of the upper handle portion is equivalent to the height dimension between the lower end portion of the upper handle portion and the upper end portion of the lower handle portion. The refrigerator described in.

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