JP3528454B2 - refrigerator - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a configuration of a storage container for a vegetable compartment in a household refrigerator.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 5 is an external perspective view of a conventional refrigerator 1. FIG. 5 shows the external appearance of the refrigerator compartment 3, the vegetable compartment 2, the upper freezer compartment 4, and the lower freezer compartment 5, which are opened from the top. The drawer compartment 3 is opened by the hinge mechanism 13. It has a revolving door that holds it. About 5 cooked foods, semi-cooked foods, seasonings, eggs, bottles and canned beverages
Stored in refrigerating compartment 3 at -7 ° C, pastes of fresh seafood, meat, fish meat and livestock meat are stored in refrigerating compartment 3 at about 0-1 ° C.
Dairy products such as yogurt and cheese are stored in a chilled room of about 1 to 3 ° C. provided in the refrigerating room 3.
Meanwhile, ice, ice cream, home freezing food,
Frozen foods on the market, fresh seafood and meat that require long-term storage are placed in the upper freezer 4 or the lower freezer 5 at about -18 ° C, and fruits and vegetables at about 2 to 4 ° C with water content. It is stored in a vegetable compartment 2 that has been devised to suppress the evaporation of water and is managed on the basis of temperature.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of the vegetable compartment 2 seen from the side, and FIG. 7 is a sectional view of the vegetable compartment 2 seen from the front. Vegetable room 2
Comprises a container structure of an upper container 6 and a lower container 7, and a container lid 1 provided with a moisturizing sheet 9 for holding the humidity inside the container and a packing 10 for improving the airtightness immediately above the upper and lower containers.
1 is arranged. Further, in the lower container 7, a detachable partition 12 for partitioning fruits and vegetables such as leaves on the front side.
Is installed to form a vertical storage portion A. In the vegetable compartment 2 of such a refrigerator, as shown in FIG. 8, a container configuration in which the upper container 6 is fixed to the lower container 7,
There is a container structure in which the upper container 6 slides on the lower container 7 to the inner side and the fruits and vegetables in the lower container 7 are taken in and out, as shown in FIG. In the present description, a more complicated container configuration in which the upper container 6 slides on the lower container 7 inward and the fruits and vegetables in the lower container 7 are taken in and out will be described, which is more complicated.

The depth of the whole container forming the vegetable compartment 2 is set on the basis of the height of spinach, which is a typical leafy vegetable stored in the vertical storage section A, and the depth is about 260. Will be required. Here, if the thickness of the container is ignored in order to simplify the calculation, the depth of the upper container 6 and the depth of the lower container 7 are the values obtained by internally dividing the depth of the stand storage portion A of about 260. Become. Therefore, except for the vertical storage section A, two stages of storage depth or height can be obtained, and fruits and vegetables stored in the vegetable compartment 2 are also stored in two stages according to size. . For example, if the depth of the upper container 6 is set to about 100, which is generally adopted, the depth of the lower container 7 is necessarily about 160, and it is possible to secure a two-stage storage space. The fruits and vegetables to be stored in the chamber 2 are classified and stored in the upper container 6, the lower container 7, and the stand storage unit A in terms of size and usability. The fruits and vegetables stored in the vegetable compartment 2 are classified and stored in each of the upper and lower containers as follows, although they vary depending on the season and region.

The upper container 6 mainly stores small articles that have been used up, those whose skin is soft and easily scratched, fruits and the like, and vegetables include tomatoes, petit tomatoes, okra,
Shimeji mushrooms, shiitake mushrooms, bean sprouts, green soybeans, green beans,
Nameko, maitake, peppers, carrots, pumpkin (cut), etc. are stored, and as fruits, peach, loquat,
It stores grapes, strawberries, cherries, apples, plums, lemons, oranges, and more.

[0006] The lower container 7 mainly stores large items, items having a hard epidermis and less likely to be scratched, long items, and the like. As vegetables, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, Chinese cabbage, lettuce, eggplant, Japanese radish, turnip, pumpkin, Grapefruit and melon are stored as fruits.

The stand storage section A mainly stores leaves and vegetables such as long ones having a depth of about 260, such as spinach, pak choi, cabbage, honeybee, asparagus and cucumber.

Regarding the vegetable container, there is Japanese Patent Application No. 7-324197 as a prior application.

When the vegetable compartment 2 shown in FIG. 6 and FIG. 7 is observed from the housewife's consciousness of storage and the user-friendliness, the upper container 6 mainly contains small articles that are in use, those whose skin is soft and easily scratched, and fruits. In contrast to the desire to store items such as items, the item has a storage configuration in which fragile items and large items whose skin is relatively hard are mixed. In addition, the depth of the upper container 6 is about 100, while the height of relatively large citrus fruits such as grapefruit is around 110, so the depth is slightly insufficient and the container 7 Have to be stored.

The same applies to the lower container 7, and it is mainly intended to store large items and items that are relatively hard on the epidermis and are not easily scratched, and long items, while items that are easily damaged such as cauliflower, broccoli, and lettuce, and the epidermis. Is a storage form in which large and relatively large items are mixed. Vegetable room 2
As for the storage container of, excluding the stand storage part A,
Although it has a two-stage storage part of the upper container 6 and the lower container 7, looking at the current storage situation, it is a storage form that also mixes with the upper and lower containers, and you can search for vegetables that you have used up , When picking up things in the back or when securing a place for new storage, there are some cases where fruits and vegetables overlap or adjoin each other, causing damage and deterioration.

Further, due to the difficulty of finding the stored items due to the mixture, the fruits and vegetables may be purchased again even though they are stored. Regarding the depth of the lower container 7, taking a large cabbage as an example, 2 L of the agricultural cooperative shipping standard sold in general supermarkets etc.
The height is set to about 160 to satisfy storage below the size, but in many cases large items that exceed the 2L size of the agricultural cooperative shipping standard are mixed and distributed.
Out-of-market distribution is on the rise due to the effects of courier services and the expansion of products shipped directly from the production area, and a larger margin for the storage size is needed, and it is desired to further increase the size of the lower container 7 for storing large items. ing.

[0012]

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION The present invention has a high storability.
It is intended to secure a large storage section. Also, the classification adjustment
Improves easiness of handling, and when putting in and out due to mixing
Scratches caused by collisions can also be suppressed and the fresh fruits and vegetables stored can be kept fresh.
The purpose is to provide a refrigerator that can hold a degree
And

[0013]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention comprises a drawer-type vegetable compartment having a container structure of an upper container and a lower container,
In a refrigerator having a configuration in which the upper container and the lower container are drawn together by pulling out the vegetable compartment, the upper container is provided with a step portion on its bottom surface,
The depth of each storage part divided by this step part
Differently, according to the depth of the storage part of the upper container,
The height of the lower container placed below the upper container is different.
And the rising part of the step has a rising edge to prevent falling.
Is characterized by. Secondly, in the above refrigerator,
The upper container is configured to be slidable on the lower container, and the storage portion at the back of the lower container has a space formed by the side surface and the back surface of the lower container and the bottom surface of the upper container. The inner side of the space is substantially closed by the side surface and the back surface of the lower container and the bottom surface of the upper container. Further, in the above-mentioned refrigerator, a stand storage portion is set on the front side of the lower container.

[0014]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION In studying the container form of the vegetable compartment 2, as an understanding of the actual condition, the vegetable compartment 2 of a refrigerator in a general household
As a result of a survey on the storage status of the types of fruits and vegetables stored in, there are many types of stored fruits and vegetables as shown in Fig. 9 as an example. Storage was the key to consideration. Based on the results of this investigation, the shipping standards of the agricultural and vegetable cooperatives ranked high were examined, and it was found that the values were as shown in FIG. 10 as an example. Moreover, in order to grasp the actual condition of the size of fruits and vegetables that consumers in general households obtain, a survey of actual purchases of various fruits and vegetables marketed in a major supermarket was conducted, and survey data as shown in FIG. 11 was obtained. When assuming the dimensions of the main fruits and vegetables stored in the vegetable compartment 2 by general consumers, the survey data of FIGS. I decided to assume that. Regarding the ease of putting fruits and vegetables in and out, based on the results of a survey of housewives' convenience and storage consciousness in the vegetable compartment 2, leafy materials such as spinach and elongated objects such as cucumber and asparagus are stored in the front storage section A on the front side. Strawberry, grape, peach,
The upper container 6 should be used for items such as loquats that have a soft epidermis and are prone to deterioration due to scratches, fruits contained in plastic packs, hard-skinned grapefruit, oranges, lemons, etc.
It has been confirmed that there is a need to store large items such as cabbage, Chinese cabbage, lettuce and the like in the lower container 7. Therefore, when considering the storage container form of the vegetable compartment 2, it is naturally important to consider the dimensions and usability of fruits and vegetables. The depth of the entire container forming the vegetable compartment 2 is set based on the height of spinach, which is a typical leafy vegetable stored in the vertical storage portion A, and the depth of the upper container 6 and the lower container 7 are set. Has a value obtained by internally dividing the depth of the vertical storage portion A of about 260 by the depth of the upper container 6. That is, by configuring the bottom surface of the upper container 6 so that the depth of the storage portion is two steps on the left and right, the height of the storage portion of the lower container 7 disposed on the lower side is set to two steps. is there. Specifically, the upper container 6 has a bottom shape as shown in the cross-sectional view of the vegetable compartment portion viewed from the side of FIG. 2 and the cross-sectional view of the vegetable container viewed from the front of FIG. An attempt is made to secure four stages of storages having different depths or heights B to E as storages with high storability without changing the size of the total height of about 260. In addition, by changing the upper and lower containers, which were conventionally set as two stages, to a four-stage storage unit, it is easier to sort and sort fruits and vegetables, and scratches that occur due to bumping during putting in and out due to mixing It is supposed that the attachment can be suppressed. Further, the upper container 6 is provided so as to close a part of the opening of the lower container 7, and the upper container 6 is the lower container 7
With the base as a base, the structure is made to be slidable to the back side. Further, when the upper container 6 and the lower container 7 are combined, the back surface of the lower container 7 is almost closed by the upper container 6, and the inside of the lower container 7 It has a structure that maintains a high humidity condition. As an effect, by providing a storage structure in which a part of the opening of the lower container 7 is closed by the upper container 6, the standing storage part A can be set on the front side and the upper container 6 can be slid to the back side. This makes it easy to see the fruits and vegetables in the lower container 7 and to put them in and out easily. Furthermore, the upper container 6 has a structure in which the back surface of the lower container 7 is substantially closed, so that the inside of the lower container 7 can be kept in a high humidity state and the freshness of the stored fruits and vegetables can be maintained. In addition, when the bottom surface of the upper container 6 is configured so that the depth of the storage portion is two stages on the left and right, the dividing line is set to be substantially the center of the container width, and the step portion 15 that is the dividing line is formed. By providing the rising portion 16 for preventing fall in the extension portion, fruits and vegetables in the storage portion B and the storage portion C can be classified, and even spherical or cylindrical objects do not fall from the storage portion B to the storage portion C. , It is possible to organize and store. Further, as shown in the external perspective view of FIG. 1, in the refrigerator 1 in which the refrigerating compartment 3 and the like excluding the drawer-type vegetable compartment door 8 are configured as revolving doors by the hinge mechanism 13, the depth of the storage portion is two stages. The shallower depth of the storage portion of the upper container 6 configured so that the hinge mechanism 1 for the door of the refrigerating chamber 3 or the like is
It is located on the 3 side and the lower container 7 is on the upper container 6 side.
By storing items with a height smaller than that, it is possible to minimize the impact caused by opening and closing the refrigerating compartment 3, etc., and suppress mechanical stress due to the impact on the stored fruits and vegetables. Is. In addition, the depth dimension of the lower container 7 is configured to be 260 ± 10 according to the height of leaves such as spinach that needs to be stored upright, and the upper container is closed so that part of the opening is closed. Container 6
Is provided in the lower container 7, and the depth dimension of the upper container 6 is
By making the size smaller than 1/2 of 260 ± 10, it is possible to carry out classified storage that meets the needs of housewives' convenience and storage. In addition, the upper container 6 is provided in the lower container 7 so as to close the rear of the opening of the lower container 7, and the cool air outlet 16 to the vegetable compartment 3 is provided in the vicinity of the upper container 6. The temperature inside the upper container 6 can be lower than that inside the lower container 7, and the freshness of fruits and the like can be further maintained. In addition, in the vegetable compartment 3 having a storage structure composed of two upper and lower containers, a step difference of 30 ± 10 is provided on the left and right of the bottom surface of the upper container 6, and the depth of the upper container 6 on the shallow side is 85 ± 10. The depth of the deep side of 6 is 115 ± 10, the height of the shallow side of the lower vessel 7 is 145 ± 10, and the height of the deep side of the lower vessel 7 is 1
As 75 ± 10, the total height of the container structure of the vegetable compartment 3 is 2
By setting it to 60 ± 10, it is possible to secure four stages of storage places according to the size of the fruits and vegetables to be stored without increasing the height of the upper and lower container combinations. Further, if the storage part A is provided on the front side of the lower container 7, it is possible to secure a storage place in five stages.

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of a refrigerator 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention, showing an external appearance when a drawer type vegetable compartment 2 is opened. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the vegetable compartment 2 part viewed from the side, and FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the vegetable compartment 2 part viewed from the front. As shown in FIG. 1, FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, each refrigerating compartment is composed of a refrigerating compartment 3 at the upper part and an upper freezing compartment 4 and a lower freezing compartment 5 at the lower part. The vegetable compartment 2 is composed of an upper container 6 and a lower container 7, and the upper and lower containers are pulled out together by a pull-out type vegetable compartment door 8 of the vegetable compartment 2. In addition, as shown in FIG. 2, a container lid 11 including a moisturizing sheet 9 that holds the humidity inside the container and a packing 10 that enhances the airtightness is arranged immediately above the main body of the upper and lower containers. On the other hand, inside the lower container 7, a detachable partition 12 for partitioning fruits and vegetables such as leaves is installed on the front side to form a stand storage part A. In such a vegetable compartment 2 of a refrigerator, a container structure in which an upper container 6 is fixed to a lower container 7 as shown in FIG. 4 and an upper container 6 as shown in FIG. Although there is a container configuration in which the fruits and vegetables in the lower container 7 are moved in and out by sliding to the back side, according to the present invention, either container configuration can be implemented, but in the present description, a more complicated The latter container configuration in which the upper container 6 slides on the lower container 7 inward and moves the fruits and vegetables in and out of the lower container 7 will be described with reference to FIG. When setting the depth of the entire container that constitutes the vegetable compartment 2, if the height of spinach, which is a typical leafy vegetable stored in the vertical storage portion A, is set as a standard as in the conventional case, about 260 It is necessary to secure the depth. Here, as in the conventional example, the thickness of each container is neglected in order to simplify the calculation, and the description will be given with reference to FIG. Upper container 6
The depth of the bottom container 7 and the depth of the lower container 7 are values obtained by internally dividing about 260 which is the depth of the vertical storage portion A. When setting the depth of the upper container 6 to be divided into these, it is necessary to consider the housewife's consciousness of storage and usability. As a height that can store the grapefruit, which is a big thing to store in the upper container 6, it is about 115 can be set, and the depth of the lower container 7 thereunder is inevitably about 145. In addition, if the variation due to over-the-counter distribution is taken as about 15 in addition to the height of about 160 which is calculated from the 2L size cabbage of the agricultural cooperative shipping standard, which is a large item in the lower container 7, it is about 1
75 can be set, and the depth of the upper container 6 on the upper side is inevitably about 85, and the four stages can be set at equal intervals of 30 pitches. When confirming fruits and vegetables that can be stored in the upper and lower containers, a pack container of grapes, cherries, strawberries, petit tomatoes, a tray container of shiitake mushrooms, green beans, etc.,
Bags such as bean sprouts, bell peppers, nameko, peaches, oranges, lemons, tomatoes, etc. can be stored. In the deep storage portion C of the upper container 6, large citrus fruits such as grapefruit, plums and loquats contained in a large pack container are stored. Of course, it is possible to store fruits and vegetables that are put in the shallow storage portion B of the upper container 6. On the other hand, the shallow storage section D of the lower container 7 can store eggplants, carrots, lettuce, cauliflower, broccoli and the like, and the deep storage section E can store large vegetables such as Chinese cabbage, cabbage and pumpkin. In addition to this, the lower container 7 is also provided with a stand storage section A for leaves and long items that can fit in a depth of about 260. In this way, by providing about 30 steps on the left and right sides of the bottom surface of the upper container 6, the depth of the shallow storage portion B of the upper container 6 is about 85, and the depth of the deep storage portion C of the upper container 6 is about 115. Lower container 7
By setting the depth of the shallow storage portion D of the container to about 145 and the depth of the deep storage portion E of the lower container 7 to about 175, the upper and lower containers can be selected according to the size of fruits and vegetables to be stored in the upper and lower containers. Including the four stages and the vertical storage section A, the storage space of five stages is secured. Therefore, it is possible to cope with larger vegetables without changing the entire depth of the vegetable compartment 2, and to provide the vegetable compartment 2 which is easy to put in and take out because there is little overlap in each storage portion.

According to the above configuration , the upper container 6 of the vegetable compartment 2
By configuring the bottom part of the container so that the storage depth is two steps on the left and right, the storage height of the lower container 7 disposed on the lower side is also two steps, and even if the container height is the same as the conventional one, it is larger. It has become possible to store items according to the needs of housewives. Therefore, it was possible to obtain a form that was easy to put in and take out without searching for small vegetables or vegetables that had been used up that were hard to find because they were hidden by a large object.
Furthermore, since high storability for classification can be obtained, the fruits and vegetables stored in the upper and lower containers can be confirmed at a glance, double purchase can be prevented, and deterioration of freshness due to scratches of fruits and vegetables during withdrawal can be suppressed.

[0017]

According to the present invention, a vegetable compartment having a high storability is provided.
It is possible to provide a refrigerator equipped with
Since the back part of the lower container is almost closed, the lower container
It keeps the high humidity inside and keeps the freshness of the stored fruits and vegetables.
And are possible.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of a refrigerator of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the vegetable compartment portion of the refrigerator according to the present invention as viewed from the side.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the vegetable compartment portion of the refrigerator according to the present invention as viewed from the front.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the vegetable compartment viewed from the side of the configuration in which the upper container of the present invention is fixed.

FIG. 5 is an external perspective view of a conventional refrigerator.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of a vegetable compartment portion viewed from the side of a conventional refrigerator.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of a vegetable compartment portion seen from the front of a conventional refrigerator.

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of a configuration in which an upper container as a conventional example is fixed.

FIG. 9: Survey data of storage type of fruits and vegetables

FIG. 10: Survey data of agricultural cooperative shipping standards

[Fig. 11] Data for surveying actual dimensions of fruits and vegetables

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Fridge, 9 ...
・ Moisturizing sheet, 2 ... Vegetable room,
10 ... Packing, 3 ... Refrigerator,
11 ... ・ Container lid, 4 ・ ・ ・ ・ Upper freezer compartment, 12 ・ ・ ・ ・ Partitioner, 5
・ ・ ・ ・ Lower freezer, 13 ・ ・ ・
Hinge mechanism, 6 ..., upper container,
14: Cold air outlet, 7: Lower container,
15 ... ・ Step, 8 ・ ・ ・ ・ Vegetable compartment door, 16 ・ ・ ・ ・ Stand up.

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Hitoshi Yokoyama 1-280, Higashi Koigakubo, Kokubunji City, Tokyo Inside the Hitachi Design Research Center (72) Inventor Kazuhiro Ishida 800 Tomita, Ohira Town, Shimotsuga-gun, Tochigi Hitachi, Ltd. Cooling Division, Manufacturing Company (72) Masuji Sudo Inventor Masuji Sudo 800, Tomita, Ohira-cho, Shimotsuga-gun, Tochigi Prefecture Cooling Division, Hitachi, Ltd. (72) Teruichi Shiragata 292 Yoshida-cho, Totsuka-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa Hitachi, Ltd., Multimedia System Development Division (56) References JP-A-4-325117 (JP, A) JP-A-6-265260 (JP, A) Actually opened Sho-55-56395 (JP, U) Actually opened Flat 4-43790 (JP, U) (58) Fields investigated (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) F25D 25/00

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A refrigerator having a drawer-type vegetable compartment comprising a container structure of an upper container and a lower container, wherein the upper container and the lower container are withdrawn by pulling out the vegetable container, The upper container has a stepped portion on the bottom surface, and the depths of the storage portions divided by the stepped portion differ, and the lower side of the upper container corresponds to the depth of the storage portion of the upper container. refrigerator housing portion of the lower container Ri is Do different height, in the extension of the stepped portion, characterized in that a rise for fall prevention that is disposed. 2. The upper container is configured to be slidable on the lower container, and a storage portion at the back of the lower container is
A space is formed by the side surface and the back surface of the lower container and the bottom surface of the upper container, and the back side of this space is substantially closed by the side surface and the back surface of the lower container and the bottom surface of the upper container. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein: 3. The refrigerator according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a stand storage section is set on the front side of the lower container.