JP3430394B2 - refrigerator - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In a refrigerator having a pair of double doors, the pillar for receiving the swinging front end of the door is omitted, and the gap between the adjacent doors is sealed by a seal provided on each door. There is a form to stop. The present invention relates to a refrigerator in which a pillar of this kind is omitted.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As such a refrigerator door seal structure,
Many proposals have been made that utilize the attractive force of a magnet, and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-72650 is an example thereof. The door seal structure of the present invention seals the gap between the doors by bringing the seal strips into close contact with each other only by the elastic force of the hollow seal strip, and this type of seal structure is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-546.
It is known in Japanese Patent Publication No. 49.

In this case, a seal frame having a U-shaped cross section is attached to the front end of each door, and a seal strip is fitted and attached to each of the frame faces of the seal frames facing left and right. Further, a flat plate-shaped seal wall is provided on the frame shoulder portion on the outer side of the door with respect to the seal strip, so that the gap between the doors is double sealed inside and outside. The sealing strip includes a main body having a circular cross section and a mounting portion formed integrally with the main body.When the door is closed, the adjacent main bodies press each other, and as a result, they are deformed into an elliptical shape. By exerting close contact with each other, a sealing effect is exhibited. The mounting portion is composed of a leg piece fitted into the frame surface and a neck wall connecting the peripheral surface of the main body portion and the widthwise central portion of the leg piece, and is formed in an inverted T shape in cross section. It can be elastically deformed inward and outward. In addition, this seal structure is applied between the doors of the refrigeration truck.

[0004]

In the above-mentioned sealing strip, the main body portions press each other in opposite directions, and the arcuate circumferential surfaces of the main body portions come into close contact with each other, thereby exerting a sealing action.
However, since the main body is supported by the elastically deformable flat neck wall, the main body may be slantingly adjacent to each other when the door is closed and the inner and outer sides are displaced. The surface pressure of is insufficient to exert a sufficient sealing action. Particularly, when one door is opened and then closed again, one main body moves while pressing the other main body inwardly of the door, so that the pair of main bodies is easily displaced inward and outward.

When the above seal structure is applied to a refrigerator, each door is held in a closed state between each door and the ceiling wall in the refrigerator, as seen in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-77650. It is necessary to provide a door catch to prevent the other door from being connected and opened when one of the doors is opened and operated. The door catch is composed of a plastic engaging claw provided on the door seal frame and a socket mounted on the interior ceiling wall, and holds the door closed by the elastic engaging force of the engaging claw. Therefore, it is unavoidable that the engaging claws wear during long-term use and the engaging force with the socket gradually decreases. In the worst case, when one of the doors is opened and operated, the other door must be pressed and held so that it cannot be opened.

An object of the present invention is to provide a refrigerator having a door seal structure for sealing a gap between doors only by the elastic force of the sealing strips so that the sealing strips can always be properly adhered to each other. It is to ensure the airtightness of. Another object of the present invention is to form a seal frame that is in close contact with a door with a hollow extrusion molded product, so that a heater unit for preventing dew condensation and a power supply cord can be stored in advance by utilizing the internal space of the seal frame. The purpose is to improve the heat insulation of the door seal structure by dividing the space covered by the frame into a plurality of air chambers. Still another object of the present invention is to obtain a refrigerator provided with a door catch that can securely hold each door even during long-term use.

[0007]

The refrigerator of the present invention is shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 3, a pair of doors 3 for swinging and opening / closing the doorway 2 are provided, and a swinging tip of both doors 3 is provided with a door seal structure for sealing a gap between the doors. As shown in FIG. 3, each door 3 is provided with a paragraph portion 5 along the four edges of the inner surface, and an inner edge wall 6 parallel to the door surface wall of the paragraph portion 5 is provided with a door packing 4 containing a magnet 7. It is installed. As shown in FIG. 4, the door seal structure includes a vertically long seal frame 9 that covers the outer surface of the paragraph 5 with the door packing 4 contained therein, and a seal frame 9
The first seal 10 and the second seal 11 provided in the. The seal frame 9 is made of a plastic hollow frame body having a frame side wall 13 and a frame inner wall 14 mounted on the door 3. The first seal 10 is formed of an elastic hollow strip material having a seal wall 27 having a U-shaped cross section, and is provided vertically along the frame side wall 13. The second seal 11 is formed by an elastically deformable flat plate-shaped lip 23 that is superposed and closely adhered inside and outside when the door is closed, and is provided vertically along the frame side wall 13. A heater unit 12 for preventing dew condensation is inserted and loaded on the inner surface of the seal frame 9 facing the door packing 4.

The heater unit 12 is composed of a vertically long base 31 formed of a strip-shaped magnetic metal plate and a heating element 32 mounted on the base 31. Inside the seal frame 9,
A pair of guide grooves 2 for inserting and loading the base 31
1 and the duct 16 for accommodating the power supply line 33 to the heating element 32
And. The door packing 4 vertically passing through the inside of the seal frame 9 is closely attached to the base 31 via the magnet 7 by a magnetic attraction force.

In FIG. 5, a door catch 40 for holding each door 3 in a closed state is provided between the cap 35 that closes the upper end of the seal frame 9 and the ceiling wall inside the cabinet facing the doorway 2. The door catch 40 includes a magnet catch 44 and a magnetic attraction plate 41 as shown in FIG. 6, and the magnet catch 4 is provided on the cap 35 and the ceiling wall side in the refrigerator.
4 and the suction plate 41 are arranged respectively.

Seal frame 9 made of hard plastic material
The second seal 11 made of a soft plastic material is integrally formed on the frame side wall 13 of the above. In the frame side wall 13, a groove 25 communicating with the duct 16 is provided in the inner portion of the door from the second seal 11.
To open. Thus, as shown in FIG. 4, the first seal 10 is formed of a hard plastic mounting portion 26 that is inserted into and engaged with the groove 25, and a soft plastic sealing wall 27 that is integrally molded on the outer surface of the mounting portion 26. .

[0011]

The first seal 10 and the second seal 11 provided on the seal frame 9 are in close contact with the pair of seals 10 and 11 in the door closed state to seal the gap between the doors. At this time, the seal wall 27 of the first seal 10 has a cross section U
Since it is formed of a V-shaped elastic hollow strip, the seal wall 2
It is possible to restrict the elastic deformation of 7 inward and outward. Therefore,
Adjacent seal walls 27 are well prevented from adhering to each other in a state of being displaced inward and outward. Even when the one seal wall 27 is pushed by the other seal wall 27 and is elastically deformed inward when the door is opened and closed, the circular arc peripheral walls of the respective seal walls 27 are pressed against each other by the elastic force caused by the deformation. Since they are in contact with each other, the contact pressure of the seal wall 27 can be sufficiently secured. Second
The seal 11 is in close contact with the lips 23 in a state where the lips 23 are superposed on each other and seals the gap between the seal frames 9.

Since the seal frame 9 is formed in the shape of a hollow frame and the heater unit 12 and the power supply line 33 are arranged by utilizing the inner space thereof, the assembly of the heater unit 12 can be facilitated. Especially the base 31 and the heating element 3 attached to it
Heater unit 1 composed of 2 and unit parts
2 can be easily assembled by simply inserting the base 31 into the guide groove 21 provided in the seal frame 9 and loading. The heater unit 12 mounted on the seal frame 9 divides the inside of the seal frame 9 to form an independent air layer similar to the duct 16. Further, the door packing 4 closely attached to the base 31 also divides the space between the seal frame 9 and the paragraph 5 in the left-right direction to form an independent air layer. The air layer thus divided inside the seal frame 9 serves to prevent heat conduction and improve the heat insulating property of the door seal structure portion.

The door catch 40 is replaced by the magnetic catch 4
4 and the magnetic attraction plate 41, and holds each door 3 in a closed state by a magnetic attraction force, the door holding force can be stably exhibited even during long-term use.

If the first seal 10 is made up of the mounting portion 26 made of hard plastic and the sealing wall 27 made of soft plastic integrally formed on the outer surface of the mounting portion 26, the mounting portion 26 is inserted into the groove 25 of the seal frame 9. Since the first seal 10 can be fixed to the seal frame 9 only by loading, the labor for assembling the seal structure can be reduced and the first seal 10 can be easily replaced.

[0015]

1 to 6 show an embodiment of a refrigerator according to the present invention. In FIG. 2, reference numeral 1 denotes a refrigerator main body, the inside of which is divided into upper and lower two stages, and each entrance / exit 2 can be opened and closed by a pair of swingable doors 3, 3. Each door 3 is swingably supported by door hinges provided on both outer sides of the refrigerator main body 1, and can be opened by a handle 3a provided on the swinging tip side of the outer surface of the door. A door seal structure for sealing a gap between the doors is provided between the swinging tips of the doors 3 forming a pair on the left and right. Aside from this door seal structure, door packing 4 is provided along the four edges of the inner surface of the door 3.

In FIG. 3, on the four edges of the inner surface of the door 3,
The paragraph portion 5 is provided, and the door packing 4 is attached to the inner edge wall 6 of the paragraph portion 5 which is parallel to the door surface wall. The door packing 4 is made of a rubber-made packing for refrigerators, which has been widely used in the past, and a square bar-shaped magnet 7 is embedded therein. Of the door packing 4 assembled in the shape of a rectangular frame, the packing portions along the upper and lower edges of the door 3 and the side edges on the hinge side are in close contact with the opening peripheral wall of the doorway 2 and between the door 3 and the refrigerator body 1. Seal the gap.

3 and 4, the door seal structure includes a vertically long seal frame 9 that covers the outer surface of the paragraph 5 including the door packing 4 along the side edge of the door 3 on the swinging tip side. First seal 10 and second seal 11 provided
Consists of. A heater unit 12 for preventing dew condensation is arranged on the inner surface of the seal frame 9 facing the door packing 4.

The seal frame 9 has a frame side wall 13 attached to the side end wall of the door 3 and a frame inner wall 14 that bulges inward from the inner surface wall of the door 3, and the inner surfaces of both walls 13 and 14 are formed. It is composed of a hollow frame body made of hard plastic, which is formed by an extrusion molding method, in which interconnecting walls 15 having irregular cross-sections are connected to each other and a duct 16 for wiring is defined between the frame inner wall 14 and the connecting wall 15. . A fixed wall 18 fastened to the inner surface of the door with a screw 17 is provided on the outer surface of the intersection of the frame inner wall 14 and the communication wall 15.
Is projected.

A hollow reinforcing frame 20 projecting inward of the duct 16 is provided in the middle of the connecting wall 15. Further, guide grooves 21 for loading the heater unit 12 are provided on the outer side of the door with respect to the connecting wall 15 in a laterally opposed shape. Frame side wall 1
Connection claws 22 that are inserted and engaged with the side end walls of the door 3 are provided at four upper and lower positions on the inner surface of the protruding end of the door 3. Although the connecting claw 22 is originally continuous in a rib shape, it is formed to have a predetermined vertical length by cutting out an unnecessary portion thereof (see FIG. 5).
A second seal 11 made of soft plastic is provided on the outer surface of the frame side wall 13 in the front-rear midway portion. The second seal 11 is composed of a flat plate-shaped lip 23, and is integrally molded by a two-color molding method when molding the seal frame 9.

The frame side wall 13 is provided with a recess 24 for mounting the first seal 10 on the inner side of the door with respect to the second seal 11, and the groove 2 communicating with the duct 16 is provided on the bottom wall of the recess 24.
5 is open, and the first seal 10 is inserted into and engaged with the groove 25. The first seal 10 includes a vertically long mounting portion 26 made of hard plastic, and a sealing wall 2 made of a soft plastic having a U-shaped cross section integrally formed on the outer surface of the mounting portion 26.
7, and the seal wall 27 is integrally formed by a two-color molding method when the mounting portion 26 is extruded. The mounting portion 26 includes a base wall 28 fitted into the recess 24 and a base wall 28.
It is composed of a pair of engaging legs 29 having an L-shaped cross section, which is provided to project inside, and the engaging legs 29 are inserted into the duct 16 through the grooves 25 and engaged with each other, so that the seal frame 9 can be attached and prevented from coming off.

As shown in FIG. 4, the heater unit 12 is a vertically long base 3 made of a magnetic metal plate such as a strip-shaped steel plate.
1 and a heating element (heater wire) 32 fixed to one side of the inside of the base 31. As shown in FIG.
By inserting and engaging the left and right ends of 1 in the width direction with the pair of guide grooves 21, the seal frame 9 can be mounted and fixed. By assembling the heater unit 12 in the seal frame 9 in this way, a compartment similar to the duct 16 is formed between the communication wall 15 and the base 31, and the compartment prevents heat conduction of the seal frame 9 to be insulated. Imparts sex. A power supply line 33 connected to the heating element 32 is passed through the duct 16. The heating element 32 may be a planar heating element.

After the first seal 10 and the heater unit 12 are assembled to the seal frame 9, the connecting claws 22 as shown in FIG.
Is press-fitted into an engagement opening 34 provided on the side end wall of the door 3, and in this state, the fixed wall 18 is fastened to the inner wall of the door with a screw 17, whereby the seal frame 9 is fixed to the door 3. In the state where the seal frame 9 is fixed to the door 3, the door packing 4, which extends vertically through the frame, is brought into close contact with the base 31 while being elastically deformed inward and outward of the door, and the close contact state can be maintained by the attracting action of the magnet 7. . This divides the space between the base 31 and the inner edge wall 6 into a number of compartments in the left-right direction, and also blocks heat conduction.

As shown in FIG. 5, caps 35 made of injection molded products are attached to the upper and lower ends of the seal frame 9, respectively, and fixed with screws 36 screwed into the reinforcing frame 20. A door catch 40 that holds the door 3 in a closed state is provided between the cap 35 and the pedestal 37 that is fixed to the ceiling wall of the refrigerator with screws (see FIG. 6).

In FIG. 5, the cap 35 is the inner wall 14 of the frame.
And the groove 3 for assembling the suction plate 41 on the inner peripheral surface of the communication wall 15 and the end surface of the recess 24.
Eight. A seal wall 39 continuous with the second seal 11 is provided so as to protrude along the upper surface of the cap 35 along the outer peripheral edge of the door and the peripheral edge facing the gap between the doors. The seal wall 39 protruding toward the upper surface of the cap is in close contact with the opening peripheral edge of the doorway 2 in the door closed state. In addition,
The seal wall 39 is made of a soft plastic material,
When the cap 35 is molded, it is integrally molded by a two-color molding method.

In FIG. 6, the pedestal 37 is made of a plastic molded product having two pockets 43 opening toward the inner surface of the door, and a commercially available magnet catch 44 is housed in each pocket 43 and fixed with screws. I am doing it. The magnet catch 44 and the suction plate 41 fixed to the cap 35 constitute the door catch 40. Adsorption plate 41
Is formed of a magnetic metal plate such as a steel plate, and is engaged and fixed in the groove 38. Each magnet catch 44 is provided corresponding to the left and right doors 3, 3.

According to the door seal structure constructed as described above, when the left and right doors 3 and 3 are closed,
Since the first seals 10 press each other to seal the gap between the doors, and the second seals 11 are superposed on each other inside and outside to seal the gap between the doors double in the inside and outside, Despite the omission of the support pillars for receiving the doors 3 and 3, it is possible to reliably prevent the cold air from leaking and the outside air from entering the refrigerator. Further, the interior of the seal frame 9 can be divided into a plurality of compartments by the communication wall 15 and the base 31 of the heater unit 12, and further the space between the seal frame 9 and the inner edge wall 6 can be divided into a plurality of compartments by the door packing 4. With these divided air layers, heat conduction in the door seal structure can be prevented, and heat insulation can be improved. Magnet catch 44
Since the door catch 40 that uses the door holds the door closed state of each door 3 and 3, it exhibits a stable door holding force even during long-term use, and when one door 3 is opened and operated, the other door is opened. It can be surely prevented that 3 are connected and opened.

FIG. 7 shows another embodiment of the present invention relating to the first seal 10. There, the seal wall 27 having a U-shaped cross section was integrally formed when the seal frame 9 was formed, as with the second seal 11. Of course, the seal wall 27 is made of a soft plastic material. In this case, unlike the above embodiment, when the seal wall 27 is damaged, the seal frame 9 is replaced and the seal structure is updated.

In addition to the above-described embodiment, the second seal 11 can be formed separately from the seal frame 9 and can be inserted and fixed to the frame side wall 13 like the first seal 10. If necessary, for example, as shown in FIG. 8A, the first seal 10 and the second seal 11 can be integrally formed on the mounting portion 26, and this can be inserted into the seal frame 9 and fixed.

Further, as shown in FIG. 8B, the first seal 10 is provided only on one door 3, and the first seal 10 is provided on the other door 3.
The seal rib 46 that comes into close contact with the seal 10 can be provided integrally with the seal frame 9. In this case, the seal rib 46 is formed of a hard material such as metal or plastic that is not elastically deformable.

The seal wall 27 is composed of a pair of front and rear legs and a partial arc wall connecting both legs, and is basically formed as an elastic hollow material having a U-shaped cross section. However, depending on the forming material of the seal wall 27, the inner wall surface may be different. Provide one or more reinforcing legs parallel to the front and rear legs,
It is possible to regulate the deformation inward and outward when the door is opened and closed. The refrigerator in the present invention also includes a freezer, a cool box, and the like. The magnetic catch 44 is placed on the door 3 side,
The suction plate 41 may be arranged inside the refrigerator.

[0031]

According to the present invention, the seal frame 9 fixed to the door 3 and the first seal 10 provided on the opposing side faces of the seal frame 9.
The second seal 11 constitutes a door seal structure.
Then, the first seal 10 is attached to the seal wall 2 having a U-shaped cross section.
The seal wall 27 can be restrained from bending and deforming inward and outward of the door when the door is opened and closed. Therefore, as compared with the conventional example, the first seals 10 can be properly brought into close contact with each other to reliably seal the gap between the doors 3. Since the seal frame 9 is formed of a plastic hollow frame body and the inner space thereof is used to wire the power supply line 33 or to insert the heater unit 12 therein, most of the components of the door seal structure can be loaded. The seal frame 9 can be assembled in advance and unitized, and the assembly to the door 3 having the door seal structure can be simplified correspondingly, and the seal frame 9 and the like when the first seal 10 and the second seal 11 are damaged. It can be easily replaced.

Since the inside of the seal frame 9 is divided using the base 31 of the heater unit 12 and the space inside the frame is divided into a plurality of air layers in cooperation with the space dividing action by the duct 16 and the door packing 4, the door seal is formed. It has an advantage that the heat insulating property of the structural portion is improved and the heat loss due to heat conduction can be suppressed. Since the door catch 40 is constituted by the magnet catch 44 and the attraction plate 41 attracted to the magnet catch 44, the door catch 40 is retained for a long period of time as compared with the conventional door catch that retains the door by the elastic engagement force of the engaging claws. This is advantageous in that the decrease in force can be wiped out and the door 3 can always be reliably kept in the closed state unless the user has a clear intention of opening the door 3.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional plan view showing a door seal structure.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the refrigerator.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional plan view showing a door seal structure of one door.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional plan view of the door seal structure in an exploded state.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a door catch.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a pedestal of a door catch.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional plan view showing another embodiment of the present invention relating to a door seal structure.

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional plan view showing still another embodiment of the present invention relating to a door seal structure.

[Explanation of symbols]

2 doorway 3 doors 4 door packing 5 paragraphs 6 inner wall 7 magnets 9 seal frame 10 First seal 11 Second seal 12 heater unit 13 Frame side wall 14 Frame inner wall 16 ducts 21 Guide groove 23 Lip 25 grooves 26 Mounting part of 1st seal 27 Seal wall of the first seal 31 Heater unit base 32 Heating element of heater unit 33 power line 35 cap 40 door catch 41 suction plate 44 magnet catch

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-10-54649 (JP, A) JP-A-9-72650 (JP, A) JP-A-9-14825 (JP, A) (58) Field (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) F25D 23/02 305

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A refrigerator having a pair of doors 3 for swinging and opening / closing the entrance / exit 2, and a door seal structure for sealing a gap between the doors at the swinging ends of both doors 3. Paragraphs 5 are provided along the four peripheral edges of the inner surface, and an inner edge wall 6 parallel to the door surface wall in the paragraphs 5,
The door packing 4 incorporating the magnet 7 is attached, and the door seal structure has a vertically long seal frame 9 that covers the outer surface of the paragraph 5 in a state of including the door packing 4, and a first seal 10 provided on the seal frame 9. And the second seal 11, the seal frame 9 is made of a plastic hollow frame having a frame side wall 13 and a frame inner wall 14 mounted on the door 3, and the first seal 10 is a U-shaped seal in cross section. The second seal 11 is formed of an elastic hollow strip having a wall 27 and is vertically long along the side wall 13 of the frame. The second seal 11 is an elastically deformable flat plate-like member that polymerizes and adheres inside and outside when the door is closed. be formed by a lip 23 is provided vertically elongated along the frame side wall 13, the inner surface of the sealing frame 9 which faces the door gasket 4, the heater unit 12 for preventing dew condensation is disposed, the heater Unit 12, is formed in strip-shaped magnetic metal plate
Vertical base 31 and heating element attached to the base 31
32, and the base 31 is inserted and loaded in the seal frame 9.
For guiding the pair of guide grooves 21 for supplying heat to the heating element 32
And a duct 16 for accommodating the magnet 7 and the door packing 4 vertically passing through the inside of the seal frame 9,
A refrigerating cabinet that is in close contact with the base 31 via a magnetic attraction force . 2. A pair of doors 3 for swinging and opening the doorway 2 are provided.
And has a swing tip of both doors 3 for sealing a gap between the doors.
1. A refrigerator having an asylum structure, in which paragraphs 5 are provided along the four inner peripheral edges of each door 3.
The inner edge wall 6 parallel to the door surface wall in the paragraph 5,
The door packing 4 containing the magnet 7 is attached, and the door seal structure is configured with the door packing 4 inside.
In the vertically long seal frame 9 that covers the outer surface of the drop portion 5,
It includes the first seal 10 and the second seal 11 provided.
The seal frame 9 includes the frame side wall 13 and the frame inner wall mounted on the door 3.
Made of a rigid plastic hollow frame having
Ri, around middle portion of the frame side wall 13, made of a soft plastic material
The second seal 11 is integrally molded, and when the door is closed , the second seal 11 is superposed on the inside and outside.
Made of elastically deformable flat lip 23
And is vertically provided along the frame side wall 13, and the frame side wall 13 has a datum in the inner portion of the door from the second seal 11.
The groove 25 communicating with the slot 16 is opened, and the first seal 10 is provided vertically along the frame side wall 13.
The hard plasties that are inserted into and engaged with the grooves 25.
Integrally formed on the outer surface of the mounting part 26 and the mounting part 26 made of
And a sealing wall 27 made of soft plastic with a U-shaped cross section
Is formed on the inner surface of the seal frame 9 facing the door packing 4 to prevent dew condensation.
Refrigerator in which a heater unit 12 for stopping is inserted and loaded . 3. A cap 35 for closing the upper end of the seal frame 9.
And a ceiling wall in the cabinet facing the doorway 2 are provided with a door catch 40 that holds each door 3 in a closed state. The door catch 40 includes a magnet catch 44 and a magnetic attraction plate. 3. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein the refrigerator comprises a cap 41 and a magnet catch 44 and a suction plate 41, which are provided on the cap 35 and the ceiling wall in the refrigerator, respectively .