JP4247279B2 - refrigerator - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a refrigerator.

  Conventionally, as a device that automatically opens the refrigerator door, it has a short-distance operation section with a high gear ratio and a long-distance operation section with a low gear ratio, and generates a large force when peeling the packing, Thereafter, a configuration is disclosed in which an overload prevention clutch is provided in the low gear portion that opens at high speed (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  Alternatively, a configuration is disclosed in which the pressing member is linearly moved by the worm gear and the rack, the drawer door is pushed out automatically by the pressing member to automatically open, and when the door has been opened, the return spring returns to the retracted position (for example, Patent Document 2).

  Alternatively, a timing belt is provided in a support frame that supports the drawer door, an automatic opening unit that slides on the timing belt is provided, and the automatic opening unit includes a slide pin that pushes the drawer case, and a roller that operates on the timing belt, The structure comprised by the drive means for driving a slide pin and a roller is disclosed (for example, refer patent document 3).

  Alternatively, it is provided at the output stage of the reduction gear using a worm gear, and it projects from the main body to the door side by rotating by energizing the drive motor for a certain period of time to open the door. A flat cam device is disclosed (see, for example, Patent Document 4).

  Alternatively, the drive device includes a rotatable cam, and the cam device rotates the cam via the drive device in response to a signal from the door opening switch so that the long diameter end surface of the cam protrudes forward to open the door, A cam device is disclosed in which a cam is a combination of a circle and an ellipse or an elliptical shape (see, for example, Patent Document 5).

Or the structure provided with the micro switch for cam position detection which equips the output shaft with the electric motor which has a cam in the back of a drawer door, and pushes out a flame | frame by rotation of a cam is disclosed (for example, refer patent document 6).
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 02-157581 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-280827 JP 2000-220957 A JP 2002-257466 A JP 2001-317864 A Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 1-167590

  In recent years, eating habits have changed, and daily foods are often purchased at nearby food stores and cooked, and food is purchased for a week at a suburban large supermarket, etc. Storage has become common. In response to the increase in the use of frozen foods, large refrigerators with a capacity exceeding 400 liters are generally spreading at home.

  However, as the size of the refrigerator increases, the amount of food stored increases, and for example, 20 kg or more of food is stored in the freezer compartment or vegetable compartment, so the force to open the doors of the vegetable compartment or freezer compartment increases. There is. In particular, at the beginning of the door opening, in addition to the load resistance of the drawer rail, the force to peel off the magnet packing adsorbed to the refrigerator body is added, so the opening force becomes particularly heavy. Opening the refrigerator is becoming a burden for weak people.

  In addition, in a refrigerator, if the door is closed inadequately, or if it is in a so-called half-door state, the cold air will go outside and the refrigeration function will be lost, and the electricity cost will be extra and an energy saving effect will be achieved. In addition to the reduction, the quality of the stored food is deteriorated, and the outside air outside the refrigerator enters into the refrigerator to cause condensation, and water drops adhere to the inside of the refrigerator.

  By the way, in the refrigerator door, in order to prevent the leakage of cold air when the door is closed, a magnet adsorption type packing is provided over the entire circumference of the door, and when the door is closed, the magnet is the main body. Adsorbed around the opening of the. Further, when the door is closed, it is generally configured to include a closer mechanism that draws the door by a force such as a spring after the door is closed in the vicinity of the fully closed state, for example, after the remaining opening amount is about 50 mm.

  Since it is such a configuration, when opening the refrigerator door, at the beginning of opening, it was stored in a storage container provided integrally with the door, an attractive force by the magnetic packing, a pulling force by the spring of the closer mechanism Since it is necessary to apply the total acceleration force required to accelerate the entire drawer including the food from the stop state, for example, about 200 mm per second, especially when a large amount of food is stored. The force that opens the door is the greatest first force.

  After the door is pulled about 10 mm, the magnet packing is peeled off from the main body, so the force to open the door is the sum of the pulling force by the spring of the closer mechanism and the accelerating force to accelerate the drawing. Second power. If the range in which the pulling force in the closing direction by the closer mechanism is applied is, for example, 50 mm from the closed state of the door, the second force is required in that range.

  Since the closer mechanism no longer works after the door is opened more than 50mm by continuing the opening operation, the force applied to the drawer is only the acceleration force and the frictional force generated by the slide rail for sliding the drawer. The third force, which is a slight force, is sufficient to open the drawer. Here, if the drawer reaches the opening speed when it is opened by about 50 mm, the third force is sufficient only to resist the frictional force generated by the slide rail. It is sufficient to perform the opening operation with a third force that is slightly smaller than the second force. When opening the drawer of the refrigerator, as described above, the opening is particularly heavy, and there is a characteristic that a slight force is sufficient after opening to some extent, for example, about 50 mm.

  On the other hand, regarding the speed of the door during the opening operation, since the movement starts from the stopped state at the time when the magnet packing is peeled off, the speed may be very small in that range, that is, the first force range. On the other hand, when the drawer door continues to open to the range of the second and third forces, if the speed of the door accelerates to increase speed, the action when the user pulls the drawer door by hand Therefore, it is suitable for natural operation.

  Furthermore, when the drawer door is opened, the opening force continues to be applied until the door is fully opened.For example, if the user is standing immediately before the door or if an object is placed, the drawer door will hit it. It is dangerous because the opening force continues to be applied and does not stop. Therefore, when opening the drawer door, the driving force is not continuously applied, but the driving force is applied only for a short range at the beginning of opening, and then the initial speed obtained in the driving force range is gradually reduced by the frictional force of the slide rail. However, it is safer to use a so-called inertial operation that stops while stopping.

  Furthermore, in the situation where the door drive device does not operate such as a power failure, the drawer will be manually opened and closed, so even if a refrigerator drawer door drive device is provided, the manual opening and closing operation of the drawer door may be hindered, It is desirable to have a configuration that does not increase the operation due to an extra load.

  Here, in Patent Document 1, a short stroke door pushing means and a long stroke door pushing means are necessary, and the configuration is complicated. Patent Document 2 discloses a configuration using a worm and a rack, but the operation speed of the rack, which is the speed at which the drawer door is opened, is a constant configuration, so the force necessary to push out the magnet packing is output. Therefore, the reduction ratio needs to be large (that is, the speed is low) to be constant. Therefore, the operation speed is slow, and further, there is no function for closing the door. Further, Patent Document 3 discloses a configuration in which after the drawer case is opened, the driving means is reversed to reverse the gear and the gear is disengaged, but the gear is engaged with the drawer partially opened. The configuration or operation of removing the door is not described, and it does not have a function of closing the door.

  In Patent Literature 4, Patent Literature 5, and Patent Literature 6, an arcuate or elliptical rotatable cam is provided, and the cam has a long diameter portion by rotating the cam via a drive device in response to a signal from a door opening switch. Although a cam device is disclosed in which the end surface protrudes forward and the door is opened, in such a configuration according to the prior art, the amount of pushing out the door when the cam rotates is the radius of the cam as the cam rotates. Since only the change is applied, the speed given in the direction of pushing out the door is low, and the opening amount of the door is approximately equal to the protruding amount by the cam, that is, the driving range for applying the driving force to the door, and the opening amount of the door is further increased. There are limits. Further, no consideration is given to safety such as protection of the door driving device from external force and pinching of objects during door operation.

  Therefore, the present invention makes it possible to open the door lightly by reducing the opening force of the drawer door of the refrigerator, or to improve the energy saving effect by automatically closing the door from the so-called half-door state. Provide a refrigerator that can. Moreover, in the door drive device of this invention, it adapts to the characteristic of the speed at the time of pulling out the drawer door of a refrigerator.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention mainly adopts the following configuration.
In a refrigerator comprising: a drawer door placed on a slide rail movable in the front-rear direction; and a door driving device capable of opening or closing the drawer door electrically.
The door driving device includes: a motor as a driving source; a speed reducing unit that decelerates rotation of the motor; a rotary driving body that is pivotally supported to rotate together with a rotation output shaft that is decelerated by the speed reducing unit; and the drawer. A connecting member that is movably provided together with the door and that contacts the rotary drive body in a predetermined opening drive range;
The rotary drive body is provided with a plurality of drive transmission members, and the plurality of drive transmission members are arranged at different distances from the rotation center of the rotary drive body,
The connecting member has a plurality of receiving surfaces corresponding to each of the plurality of drive transmission members,
When the rotary drive body rotates in an opening direction that is a direction to open the drawer door, the first drive transmission member closest to the rotation center of the rotary drive body comes into contact with the first receiving surface of the coupling member, As the rotary drive body rotates in the opening direction, a second drive transmission member disposed at a position separated from the rotation center from the first drive transmission member abuts on the second receiving surface of the coupling member. The farthest drive transmission member disposed at the position farthest from the rotation center by repeating the contact sequentially, and finally contacts the receiving surface of the corresponding connection member to open and drive the connection member, After the last contact, the rotary drive body releases the contact with the connecting member,
A current detection means for detecting a current to the motor; a motor current lock determination value is set as a determination as to whether or not the rotary drive body is locked; and a motor current detection value detected by the current detection means However, when the motor current lock determination value is exceeded, the voltage applied to the motor is turned off or lowered.

Further, in a refrigerator comprising a drawer door that moves in the front-rear direction, and a door driving device that opens or closes the drawer door electrically or manually,
The door driving device includes a motor, a rotating body that is rotationally driven by the motor, and a connecting plate that moves in contact with the rotating body,
The rotating body is provided with a plurality of driving portions that drive in the opening / closing direction with respect to the connecting plate linked to the drawer door, and the connecting plate has a plurality of driving portions corresponding to the plurality of driving portions, respectively. Providing a receiving surface,
By the arrangement structure of each of the plurality of driving units, the connecting plate is driven in the order of low speed and large force, medium speed and medium force, high speed and small force,
Detecting the half door state of the drawer door, and driving the connecting plate in the closing direction of the drawer door by the rotating body based on the detection of the half door state;
A motor current lock determination value is set as a criterion for determining whether or not the rotating body is in a locked state that cannot be rotated by driving the motor, and the detected motor current value flowing through the motor is equal to or greater than the motor current lock determination value. In this case, the voltage applied to the motor is turned off or lowered.

  By adopting such a configuration, when the door is closed or opened, when the rotating plate is locked, for example, when the rotating plate is locked, the energization is turned off immediately or the applied voltage is reduced immediately after the lock is determined, so that opening and closing is highly safe. Operation is possible.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to reduce the opening force of the drawer door of the refrigerator and open the door easily and electrically, or to automatically save the energy by automatically closing the door from the so-called half-door state. Can be improved.

  In addition, while having a door drive device protection device from external force, it is possible to provide a highly safe refrigerator by detecting object pinching and collision when closing and opening the door. In addition, the drawer door can be reliably opened and closed electrically with a simple configuration, and a practical, reliable and safe refrigerator can be provided.

  The refrigerator which concerns on embodiment of this invention is demonstrated based on drawing below.

"Overall configuration of refrigerator"
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view thereof. In FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the refrigerator main body 1 is divided into a plurality of storage rooms, the uppermost part is a refrigerating room 2, and the door is a so-called French door that opens to the left and right sides as an example. The lower side of the refrigerator compartment 2 is a storage room divided into left and right, for example, one of which is a function switching room 3, and the other is an accumulator for taking out ice produced by an automatic ice making device (not shown). It is an ice making room 4.

  Furthermore, the lower part is a freezer compartment 5 provided with a drawer door that can be pulled out and opened to the front, and the lowermost stage is a vegetable compartment 6 provided with a drawer door.

  An operation display section 7 is provided on the door of the refrigerator compartment 2, and an open switch 8a for the freezer compartment 5 and an open switch 8b for the vegetable compartment 6 are provided, and the user opens the drawer by pressing the switches 8a and 8b. It is the structure which can instruct | indicate operation | movement. Here, if the freezer compartment 5 is provided above the vegetable compartment 6, the open switch 8a for the freezer compartment is provided above the open switch 8b for the vegetable compartment and provided in the same manner as the positional relationship of the doors. It is preferable because it is easy to understand which open switch 8 should be operated when the user operates.

"Structure of door drive device"
Hereinafter, the door driving device will be described taking the freezer compartment 5 as an example. The door 5a of the freezer compartment 5 and the container 12 for storing food are supported by a slide rail 11 so that they can be pulled out toward the front. A closer 13 which is a closing biasing means for pulling the freezer compartment 5 in the closing direction is provided on the back side of the slide rail 11. The closer 13 has an opening amount of, for example, 50 mm when closing the once opened freezer compartment 5. When it becomes below, a force is applied to the back side by the force of a spring (not shown) to assist the closing operation of the freezer compartment 5 until the magnet packing 14 provided on the entire circumference of the freezer compartment 5 adsorbs to the refrigerator main body 1. Close.

  A door driving device 10 is provided inside the freezer compartment 5. The door drive device 10 is opened and closed together with a drive mechanism 15 that is fixedly provided on the refrigerator body 1 side and includes a motor that is a drive source and a speed reduction mechanism that decelerates rotation of the motor, and a door body 5 a of the freezer compartment 5. In the present embodiment, a connecting plate 16 that is a connecting member provided on the lower bottom surface of the container 12 is provided, and the drive mechanism 15 applies a force to the connecting plate 16 in the moving direction of the slide rail 11 for freezing. The chamber 5 is configured to open and close. Detailed configurations and functions of the drive mechanism 15 and the connecting plate 16 will be described later. A door detector 17 is provided on the front side of the freezer compartment 5 and the freezer compartment 5 is closed, or the open amount of the freezer compartment 5 is, for example, a predetermined amount of about 30 mm (described later, FIG. It is detected whether it is within the opening amount 35) which is the closing drive amount shown in FIG.

“Configuration of three-stage acceleration link”
Next, the structure of the door drive device 10 provided with the drive mechanism 15 and the connecting plate 16 will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. Here, the door driving device 10 will be described below as being provided in the freezer compartment 5.

  FIG. 3 is a plan view of the door drive device 10 including the drive mechanism 15 and the connecting plate 16 as seen from above in FIG. 4 and 5 are perspective views showing an example of the internal configuration of the drive mechanism 15. FIG.

  In the drive mechanism 15, a rotary plate 19 that is a rotary drive body is rotatably supported around a drive shaft 18 that is a rotary output shaft, and the rotary plate 19 includes a drive pin 20 that is a drive transmission member. It has been. In the present embodiment, three drive pins 20 are provided, the first drive pin 20a at the distance r1, the second drive pin 20b at the distance r2, and the third at the distance r3 according to the distance from the drive shaft 18. The drive pins 20 c are provided, each drive pin 20 has a cylindrical shape, and the center axis of the drive pin 20 is parallel to the rotation center axis of the drive shaft 18. Here, it is assumed that r1 <r2 <r3.

  In the present embodiment, the rotating plate 19 rotates in the arrow CCW direction when the freezer compartment 5 is opened. Since the connecting plate 16 is provided on the drawer door of the freezer compartment 5 as described above, the connecting plate 16 is movable along the slide rail 11 in the direction of the arrow 23. In FIG. 3, the left direction in the figure is the front side of the refrigerator, and the freezer compartment 5 is opened when the connecting plate 16 moves leftward. The connecting plate 16 has a first receiving surface 21a with which the first driving pin 20a contacts when the freezer compartment 5 is opened, a second receiving surface 21b with which the second driving pin 20b contacts, and a third driving pin 20c. And a third receiving surface 21c in contact with each other. A detailed description of the operation of the drive pin 20 and the receiving surface 21 will be described later.

  4 and 5, a motor pinion 25 is provided on the rotating shaft of the motor 24 and meshes with the idler 26 to be decelerated. The idler 26 and the idler pinion 27 rotate as a unit, and the idler pinion 27 meshes with the idler 28. The idler 28 and the idler pinion 29 rotate as a unit, and the idler pinion 29 meshes with the drive gear 30 and is decelerated. The drive shaft 18 and the drive gear 30 are connected to each other, and the rotational speed of the motor 24 is reduced to about 1/100, for example, by this gear configuration, and the rotary plate 19 provided on the drive shaft 18 is rotated.

  In the present embodiment, torque limiting means 31 is provided between the idler 28 and the idler pinion 29, and when an excessive external force is applied to the rotating plate 19, the torque limiting means 31 is interposed and the idler 28 and idler are interposed. Since the pinion 29 slides on each other, the drive mechanism 15 can be prevented from being damaged. Further, the drive shaft 18 is provided with a rotation detection means 32 so that the rotational position of the drive shaft 18 can be detected. An example of such rotation detection means 32 is a variable resistor whose resistance value changes with the rotation of the shaft.

"Opening action"
Next, the detail of operation | movement at the time of opening the freezer compartment door 5 with the door drive device 10 by this embodiment is demonstrated using FIG. FIG. 6 is a view showing an operation when the door driving device 10 according to the present embodiment opens the freezer compartment 5, and (a) shows a state in which the freezer compartment 5 is closed as in FIG. (B) The operation | movement which opens the freezer compartment 5 by operating in order of (c) (d) (e) is shown. The rotating plate 19 is rotatable around the drive shaft 18, the connecting plate 16 is supported so as to be movable in the horizontal direction in the figure, and the connecting plate 16 is provided in the freezer compartment 5. The leftward movement indicates the opening operation of the freezer compartment 5. Here, a reference line indicating the position of the illustrated left end of the connecting plate 16 in a state where the freezer compartment 5 is closed is represented as a drawing position 34.

  In the state of (b), the rotating plate 19 rotates in the direction of the arrow CCW, the first drive pin 20a comes into contact with the first receiving surface 21a, and a force in the direction of the arrow 23a is generated with respect to the connecting plate 16. At this time, since the first drive pin 20a is located at the distance r1 shown in FIG. 3 from the drive shaft 18, the force transmitted from the first drive pin 20a to the connecting plate 16 is the torque applied to the drive shaft 18. If T, then T / r1. This force is set to be larger than the resultant force of the force that peels off the magnet packing in the freezer compartment 5, the pull-in force of the closer 13, and the force that accelerates the weight of the freezer compartment 5 and the mass of the stored food. Thus, the adsorption of the magnet packing is peeled off, and the connecting plate 16 moves in the left direction in the figure together with the freezer compartment 5, and the freezer compartment 5 starts to open.

  Further, in the state (c) in which the rotating plate 19 is rotated in the CCW direction, the second driving pin 20b is in contact with the second receiving surface 21b, and the first driving pin 20a is separated from the first receiving surface 21a. To do. That is, the second drive pin 20b is located at a distance r2 shown in FIG. 3 from the drive shaft 18 and r2> r1, and the second drive pin 20b is more than the first drive pin 20a. Since the distance from the drive shaft 18, which is the center of rotation, is longer, the peripheral speed of rotation is faster. For this reason, after the second drive pin 20b comes into contact with the second receiving surface 21b, the first drive pin 20a is separated from the first receiving surface 21a.

  In this state, the second drive pin 20b is in contact with the second receiving surface 21b and applies a force indicated by an arrow 23b. At this time, since the second drive pin 20b is located at the distance r2 shown in FIG. 3 from the drive shaft 18, the force transmitted from the second drive pin 20b to the connecting plate 16 via the second receiving surface 21b. Is T / r 2, where T is the torque applied to the drive shaft 18. This force is smaller than the force applied to the connecting plate 16 by the first drive pin 20a in the direction of the arrow 23a in the state of FIG. 6B, but the magnet packing has already been peeled off. The applied force may be set to be larger than the resultant force of the pull-in force of the closer 13 and the force of further accelerating the weight of the freezer compartment 5 and the mass of the stored food, and the connecting plate 16 is further illustrated together with the freezer compartment 5. Moving to the left direction, the opening operation of the freezer compartment 5 is continued.

  Further, in the state (d) in which the rotating plate 19 is rotated in the CCW direction, the third driving pin 20c is in contact with the third receiving surface 21c, and the second driving pin 20b is separated from the second receiving surface 21b. To do. That is, the third drive pin 20c is located at the distance r3 shown in FIG. 3 from the drive shaft 18 and r3> r2, and the third drive pin 20c is more than the second drive pin 20b. Since the distance from the drive shaft 18, which is the center of rotation, is longer, the peripheral speed of rotation is faster. Therefore, after the third drive pin 20c comes into contact with the third receiving surface 21c, the second drive pin 20b separates from the second receiving surface 21b.

  In this state, the third drive pin 20c is in contact with the third receiving surface 21c and applies a force indicated by an arrow 23c. At this time, since the third drive pin 20c is located at the distance r3 shown in FIG. 3 from the drive shaft 18, the force transmitted from the third drive pin 20c to the connecting plate 16 via the third receiving surface 21c. Is T / r3, where T is the torque applied to the drive shaft 18. This force is even smaller than the force applied to the connecting plate 16 by the second drive pin 20b in the direction of the arrow 23b in the state of FIG. 6C, but the freezer compartment 5 has already been opened and the arrow 23c has been opened. Therefore, the freezer compartment 5 has a momentum corresponding to its own weight and speed including the container and the stored food, and the third receiving of the connecting plate 16 from the momentum and the third drive pin 20c. The opening operation can be further continued against the pulling force by the closer 13 by the force transmitted to the surface 21c.

  Further, in the state (e) in which the rotating plate 19 is rotated in the CCW direction, the third drive pin 20c is substantially separated from the third receiving surface 21c. The range of the movement amount 33 of the connecting plate 16 from the state of FIG. 6A to the state of FIG. 6E is an open drive range in which the connecting plate 16 receives a force from the drive pin 20. become. Here, it is preferable that the amount of movement 33 of the connecting plate 16 is set to be larger than the closing urging range that is the amount of drawing by the closer 13.

  That is, if the retracting stroke by the closer which is the closing bias range is, for example, 20 mm and the moving amount 33 of the connecting plate 16 is 50 mm, the connecting plate 16 stops at the position shown in FIG. This is because even if the freezer compartment 5 is stopped, the freezer compartment 5 that has just been opened by the closer 13 is not closed. However, if the freezer compartment 5 is opened more than the state of FIG. 6 (e) and the connecting plate 16 moves to the left in the drawing, the connecting plate 16 does not receive the driving force from the drive pin 20, but the freezer compartment 5 Has a speed in the direction of the arrow 23d, so the opening operation is continued until it is gradually decelerated by the friction load of the slide rail 11 and stopped. Since it operates in this way, the opening amount of the freezer compartment 5 becomes larger than the moving amount 33 of the connecting plate 16.

  As described above, the driving force in the opening direction is not continuously applied during the opening operation of the freezer compartment 5, but the driving force is applied only in a short range at the beginning of opening, and thereafter, the moving speed obtained in the driving force range slides. Since the operation to stop while gradually decelerating by the frictional force of the rail can be realized, even if the freezer compartment 5 hits when the user is standing just before the door or when an object is placed, the opening direction It is safe because no driving force is applied.

  As described above, when the freezer compartment 5 starts to be opened from the closed state, the first drive pin 20a disposed closest to the drive shaft 18 pushes and drives the connecting plate 16 to drive at a low speed. The magnet packing is peeled off by applying a large force, and the second drive pin 20b provided further away from the first drive pin 20a pushes the connecting plate 16 to generate a medium force at a medium speed. By driving, the freezing chamber 5 is accelerated against the pulling force of the closer 13 to accelerate the freezing chamber 5, and subsequently a third drive provided farther from the drive shaft 18 than the second drive pin 20b. The pin 20c pushes out the connecting plate 16, and although the force is small, the freezer compartment 5 can be further accelerated by being driven at a high speed, which is convenient for reliably performing the opening operation of the freezer compartment 5.

  In the configuration of the present embodiment, the position where the driving pin 20 contacts the connecting plate 16 and applies the driving force is substantially perpendicular to the opening direction 23 of the freezer compartment 5 when viewed from the driving shaft 18. The speed of the opening direction 23 of 20 is proportional to the rotational speed of the rotating plate 19 and the length of the arm to the drive pin 20. As a result, it is easy to increase the speed at which the door is pushed out by using a rotating cam in the prior art as compared with a configuration in which the door is pushed only by the change in radius to the contact point between the cam and the door. With such a configuration, it is possible to realize an operation in which a driving force is applied only in a short range at which the opening starts, and thereafter the opening speed obtained in the driving force range is gradually decelerated by the frictional force of the slide rail and stopped. Therefore, it is preferable.

  After the freezer compartment 5 is opened by the above operation, the rotating plate 19 further continues to rotate in the CCW direction, reaches the state of FIG. 6A and stops rotating. Needless to say, in this case, the connecting plate 16 is not at the position shown in FIG. 6A, and the freezer compartment 5 is open, so that it is moved to the left in the figure.

  As described above, in the door driving device according to the present embodiment, after the rotating plate 19 performs the opening operation of the freezer compartment 5 and then continues to rotate in the same direction and rotates once, the freezer compartment 5 is closed. In other words, it is possible to return to the origin range described with reference to FIG. 8, so it is convenient to return to the origin range at high speed. If the configuration is such that the rotating plate 19 is not rotated in one direction but opens the freezer compartment 5 and then stops once, then rotates in the opposite direction and then returns to the origin range. It is clear that it takes extra time to return to the origin range as compared with the rotation in one direction as in the embodiment.

"Calculation of opening amount"
An opening amount when the door of the freezer compartment 5 is opened by the door opening / closing mechanism of the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 18 is a diagram for explaining the relationship between the speed of the freezer compartment and the opening amount when the freezer compartment 5 is opened.

  With the opening operation of the freezer compartment 5 described with reference to FIG. 6, the freezer compartment 5 applies a force in the opening direction from the drive pin 20 through the push surface 21 by the door driving device 10 within the range of the movement amount 33 illustrated in FIG. 18. To be opened. Here, since the freezer compartment 5 has the speed V when it is opened by the amount of movement 33 (5 '), it continues to open due to inertia, and further during the inertia opening amount 74, it gradually decelerates without driving force and finally reaches the maximum. It opens to the position (5 ″) of the opening amount 73 and stops.

Here, if the mass of the freezer compartment 5 including the contained food is m, the kinetic energy E at the position of the movement amount 33 is E = (m × V ² ) / 2 (Formula 1)
It is.

Here, if the friction coefficient of the slide rail 11 is μ and the gravitational acceleration is g, the frictional force F generated by the slide rail 11 is F = μ × m × g (Formula 2)
It becomes. The energy E2 consumed by the frictional force corresponds to the product of the frictional force F and the distance L moved while receiving the friction, that is, the inertia opening amount 74.
E2 = L × F = L × μ × m × g (Formula 3)
Here, if all of the kinetic energy that the freezer originally had was consumed by friction before stopping, E = E2,
(M × V ² ) / 2 = L × μ × m × g (Formula 4)
Divide both sides by m (V ² ) / 2 = L × μ × g (Formula 5)
Therefore, the inertia opening amount 74 (that is, L) deforms (Expression 5) to L = (V ² ) / (2 × μ × g) (Expression 6)
Represented as: That is, according to Expression 6, the inertia opening amount 74 (ie, L) is independent of the mass m of the freezer compartment 5, and the friction coefficient μ of the slide rail and the speed V at the time of the movement amount 33, that is, the drive pin 20 and the pressing surface 21. It can be seen that the driving force in the opening direction transmitted from the rotating plate 19 to the connecting plate 16 disappears and depends only on the speed at which the opening starts due to inertia.

  Here, the mass m of the freezer compartment 5 is of course different depending on the amount of food stored, but the maximum opening 73 of the freezer compartment 5 when the freezer compartment is opened electrically is almost constant regardless of the amount of food. Is desirable. That is, since the frictional resistance μ of the slide rail 11 is a constant value determined by the slide rail 11, it is desirable to reduce the fluctuation of the speed V due to the amount of food in order to make the maximum opening 73 substantially constant. Therefore, it is desirable that the reduction ratio of the drive mechanism 15 be sufficiently large to reduce the fluctuation of the load torque applied to the motor 24 to reduce the fluctuation of the rotational speed. For example, the reduction ratio is set to 1/100 or more. desirable. By increasing the reduction ratio, the output torque by the motor 24 has a margin, so that the fluctuation of the rotational speed of the motor 24 due to the amount of food can be reduced, and the maximum opening amount 73 due to the amount of food can be reduced. This is preferable because the fluctuation can be reduced.

"Comparison with cam configuration"
The speed V when the freezer compartment 5 is opened by the moving amount 33 and moved by inertia is the speed at which the third drive pin 20c moves in the opening direction 23c as described with reference to FIG. It is proportional to the rotational speed of the plate 19 and is proportional to the rotation radius r, which is the distance between the contact point 75 c between the third drive pin 21 c and the third push surface 21 c and the rotation center of the drive shaft 18. Here, as shown in FIGS. 6C to 6D, the position of the contact 75c (75d in FIG. 6E) opens when the drive shaft 18 that is the center of rotation is used as a reference. The third drive pin 20c rotates around the drive shaft 18 at a speed that the connecting plate 16 moves in the opening direction 23 because it is located in the upper part of the figure, which is a direction substantially orthogonal to the direction 23. It becomes substantially equal to the circumferential speed which is the speed in the circumferential direction.

  Next, in order to compare with the configuration related to the present embodiment described above, the opening speed in a configuration using a conventionally known cam will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 13, a cam 76 is pivotally supported around a rotation center 77 in a direction of rotation 80, and has a flat plate shape with an outer periphery 78 eccentric. A cam receiving plate 79 is provided in contact with the outer periphery 78 of the cam 76, and the cam receiving plate 79 is provided in the freezer compartment 5, and the cam receiving plate 79 rotates in the direction of the arrow 81 when the cam 76 rotates in the rotation direction 80. The freezer compartment 5 opens together with the cam receiving plate 79 to the left in the figure.

  At this time, when the cam 76 is at a position 76 ′ indicated by a broken line, the cam receiving plate 79 ′ is in contact with the contact 86. When the peripheral speed of the contact 86 at this time is represented by an arrow 83, the speed at which the cam receiving plate 79 ′ moves in the opening direction on the left side of the figure is the amount of the arrow 84 that is a projection component of the peripheral speed arrow 83 in the opening direction. The cam 76 and the cam plate 79 are slipped by the arrow 85 which is a projection component in the direction orthogonal to the opening direction. In this way, the speed in the opening direction in the case of the configuration using the cam is only a change in the radius of the contact point between the cam 76 and the cam receiving plate 79 generated by the rotation of the cam 76. Is less than the peripheral speed of the cam 76, and slip occurs between the cam 76 and the cam receiving plate 79, so that the cam 76 and the cam receiving plate 79 are worn and rubbed. Problems are likely to occur. Furthermore, in the structure using the cam shown in FIG. 13, it is a function only to push the door to the left, and there is no function to close the door.

"Closing action"
When the freezer compartment 5 is closed, the freezer compartment 5 is not closed until the magnet packing 14 is adsorbed for some reason, and a so-called half-door state is created in which a gap is formed between the magnet packing 14 and the refrigerator body 1. There is. The operation of the door drive device 10 when the door is in the half door state will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an operation when the door driving device 10 according to the present embodiment closes the freezer compartment 5, and FIG. 7A shows that the freezer compartment 5 is not closed and the illustrated left end of the connecting plate 16 is the retracted position. It is shown that it is in a state of moving by an opening amount 35 that is a closing drive range in which the closing operation can be performed. If the freezer 5 is provided with a closer 13, the freezer is usually pulled in and closed by the pulling force generated by the closer 13, but a part of the food is caught or slides for some reason. There is a rare case where the operation of the rail 11 becomes temporarily awkward (becomes unsmooth) and cannot be pulled in.

  Here, when the rotary plate 19 is rotated around the drive shaft 18 in the direction of the arrow CW, the third drive pin 20c comes into contact with the return surface 22 on the left side in the figure facing the receiving surface 21 of the connecting plate 16. FIG. 7B shows a state in which the rotating plate 19 is further rotated in the direction of arrow CW, but the connecting plate 16 is pushed and moved in the direction of arrow 36 by the third drive pin 20c, so that the connecting plate 16 The left end of the figure moves to the retracted position 34. The position shown in FIG. 7B indicates that the freezer compartment 5 is completely closed until the magnet packing 14 is attracted to the refrigerator body 1. Thereafter, the rotating plate 19 is rotated in the arrow CCW direction to the state shown in FIG. 7C, and is rotated to the same position as shown in FIG. 3 and stopped.

  By operating as described above, even if the freezer compartment 5 is not completely closed and is in a so-called half-door state, by rotating the rotating plate 19 in the opposite direction to when the freezer compartment 5 is opened, Since it can close by applying the force of the direction which closes the freezer compartment 5 with respect to the connection plate 16, a half door can be prevented and it is suitable.

  As described above, the force for opening the freezer compartment 5 needs to be more than the total of the force for peeling the magnet packing 14 and the pulling force by the closer 13, but when closing the magnet packing 14 is pulled. Since the peeling force is unnecessary and the pulling force is generated by the closer 13, the closing force applied by the door driving device 10 according to the present embodiment is sufficient as a weak force compared to the opening force. According to this embodiment, when the freezer compartment 5 is closed, the third drive pin 20c farthest from the drive shaft 18 pushes the return surface 22 of the connecting plate 16, so that the drive torque applied to the drive shaft 18 is increased. Even if the opening force is the same as that at the time of opening, the closing force is preferably smaller by r1 / r3 than the opening force. Furthermore, even if a finger or the like is sandwiched between the freezer compartment 5 and the refrigerator main body 1, the force to be sandwiched is small and the safety is high.

  Furthermore, it is safer to perform the closing operation slowly at a lower closing speed. Therefore, it is desirable to make the closing operation slower than the opening operation of the freezer compartment 5.

  Here, the closing drive range that is the opening amount 35 that can close the freezer compartment 5 will be described with reference to FIG. 2. The opening amount 35 is the door thickness that is the thickness of the door body 5 a that forms the front surface of the freezer compartment 5. It is desirable to make it smaller than 71. This is because if the opening amount 35 is larger than the door thickness 71, a finger or the like is put in the inter-door gap 72 generated between the freezer compartment 5 and the vegetable compartment 6 or the switching chamber 3 door when the freezer compartment 5 is started to be retracted. Although there is a risk of being pinched, if the opening amount 35 is set to be smaller than the door thickness 71, there is no possibility of fingers being pinched, so that safety is further enhanced.

"Manual operation"
Next, a suitable position of the rotating plate 19 when the freezer compartment 5 is closed will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 8, the connecting plate 16 shown by a solid line is in a position where the left end in the drawing matches the drawing position 34 and the freezer compartment 5 is closed. Even if the refrigerator is provided with the door drive device 10 as in the present embodiment, the user may pull out the freezer compartment 5 by hand for some reason. Alternatively, when the door drive device 10 does not operate due to a failure, it is desirable that the user can manually open and close it freely. When manually opening and closing in this way, it is desirable that the door driving device 10 has a configuration that does not prevent a user from manually operating when the freezer compartment 5 is opened or closed, or that the operation becomes heavy.

  If the user manually pulls out and opens the freezer compartment 5 from the state in which the freezer compartment 5 is closed, the connecting plate 16 provided in the freezer compartment 5 moves to the left side in the figure and becomes the position of the broken line. In the position of the broken line, each symbol is indicated by adding '. Here, the rotary plate 19 is in the position indicated by the solid line in FIG. 8, and the second tip 37b, which is the tip of the second receiving surface 21b provided on the connecting plate 16 at that position, and the first drive pin 20a. If there is a positional relationship in which the second tip 37b and the first drive pin 20a do not come into contact with each other when the connecting plate 16 moves to the left in the drawing, the user manually enters the freezer compartment. Since the connecting plate 16 and the drive pin 20 are not in contact with each other when the 5 is pulled out, the freezer compartment 5 can be freely pulled out and opened.

  Next, the rotary plate 19 is at a broken line position 19 ', and there is a gap 39 between the first tip 37a provided on the connecting plate 16 and the third drive pin 20c at that position, and the connecting plate If the first tip 37a and the third drive pin 20c ′ are in a positional relationship where the first tip 37a and the third drive pin 20c ′ do not contact each other when the 16 moves to the left in the figure, the connecting plate 16 and the drive pin are manually pulled out when the user manually pulls out the freezer compartment 5. Since 20 does not contact, freezer compartment 5 can be pulled out and opened freely.

  As described above, when the user manually opens and closes the freezer compartment 5, the connection plate 16 and the drive pin 20 do not come into contact with each other so that the line connecting the drive shaft 18 and the first drive pin 20a is the origin. It suffices to be within an angle range of the range 40 (the angle range of the rotating plate 19 where the connecting plate 16 does not interfere with the drive pin 20). Therefore, when the freezer compartment 5 is closed, the rotary plate 19 is in the origin range 40 (the angular range of the line connecting the drive shaft 18 and the first drive pin 20a where the gaps 38 and 39 can be generated). It is desirable to set so that it is easy to use when manually opening and closing. Such an angle range of the rotating plate 19 is referred to as being in the origin range in this embodiment.

"Control system configuration"
Next, the configuration of a control system for controlling the door driving device 10 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the control system. The operation display unit 7 (see FIG. 1) having the open switch 8 sends a signal to the control board 41 when the user presses the open switch 8. Each of the motors 24 of the drive mechanisms 15 (see FIGS. 2, 4 and 5) provided in the freezer compartment 5 and the vegetable compartment 6, rotation detection means 32 for detecting the rotational position of the drive shaft 18, and opening / closing of the door The door detection unit 17 that detects the state is connected to the control board 41. Reference numeral 92 denotes a switch body 92 of an open switch 88 provided on the door body 5a of the freezer compartment 5 or the door body 6a of the vegetable compartment 6 and the details thereof will be described later with reference to FIG. 5 and the switch 88 provided in the vegetable compartment 6 may be selectively installed with the open switch 8 of the refrigerator compartment 2 shown in FIG. 1, and both switches may be installed in consideration of convenience. .

  Electric power necessary for driving the door driving device 10 and the control circuit 41 is supplied from a power source 42. The rotation detection means 32 (see FIG. 5) is, for example, a variable resistor whose resistance value changes with rotation of the shaft, or may be detection means such as a microswitch that detects a predetermined rotation position of the shaft. . The door detection unit 17 (see FIG. 2) includes a first door detection unit 17a that detects whether or not the door of the freezer compartment 5 is completely closed, and the opening amount of the freezer compartment 5 door is a predetermined opening amount 35 ( 7) and a second door detector 17b for detecting whether or not it is below, for example, a magnet provided in the door and a hall element provided in the refrigerator main body 1 or Detection means such as a micro switch may be used.

  The operation display unit 7 may be provided with notification means 70 for notifying the user that the door is in a half-door state. An example of the notification means 70 sounds a buzzer or lights or blinks a lamp.

"Opening control"
The procedure of opening control when opening the freezer compartment 5 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing a procedure for opening control when the freezer compartment 5 is opened.

  When the opening operation is started (block 43), the control circuit 41 monitors the state of the rotation detecting means 32 and detects whether or not the rotating plate 19 of the drive mechanism 15 is in the origin range 40 where the operation starts (block). 44). Here, the origin range 40 is a state in which the connecting plate 16 does not interfere with the drive pin 20 even when the freezer compartment 5 is manually opened and closed as described with reference to FIG. Say.

  If the rotating plate 19 is not in the origin range 40, the motor 24 is energized (block 45) to rotate the rotating plate 19 so that the origin range 40 is reached. Whether the motor 24 is rotated in the CW direction or the CCW direction is determined by a control circuit that determines in which direction the rotating plate 19 is displaced with respect to the origin range 40 by a signal from the rotation detecting means 32. 41 determines and determines the direction in which the drive voltage is applied to the motor 24.

  When it is detected that the rotating plate 19 is in the origin range 40 and the control circuit 41 detects that the open switch 8 is operated by the user, the motor 24 is energized (block 47) to rotate the rotating plate 19. Let The rotating direction of the rotating plate 19 at this time is the arrow CCW direction in FIG. 3, and when the rotating plate 19 rotates, the connecting plate 16 is pushed by the drive pin 20 as described in FIG. 5 opens. When it is confirmed that the motor 24 continues to rotate and the rotational position of the rotating plate 19 detected by the rotation detecting means 32 has entered the origin range 40 (block 48), the motor is stopped (block 49). The opening operation is terminated (block 50).

"How to apply voltage"
Here, how to apply a voltage when energizing the motor (block 47) and starting to open the freezer compartment 5 will be described. When the rated voltage is suddenly applied when the motor is energized, an inrush current flows in the motor coil, and the motor starts to rotate rapidly from a stopped state with a maximum output torque. Therefore, when the freezer compartment 5 starts to open, maximum acceleration is performed, and the opening operation starts sharply and vigorously.

  Therefore, when the motor 24 is energized (block 47), the rated voltage is not sharply applied, but at the beginning of energization, for example, a low voltage of about 1/2 of the rated voltage is applied, and the door driving device 10 starts driving. Thereafter, as the freezer compartment 5 is opened, the voltage is gradually increased, and in the opening operation shown in FIG. 6, the opening direction is transmitted from the drive pin 20 to the connecting plate 16 in the states (c) to (d). It is desirable that energization is performed to change the voltage up to the rated voltage by increasing the voltage continuously or intermittently until the speed to 23 is maximized. By gradually increasing the voltage in such a manner, the operation when the freezer compartment 5 starts to open becomes slow, so that it is not opened vigorously, and a high-class feeling can be given to the way of opening.

  Furthermore, after passing through the state of FIG. 6 (e), the rotating plate 19 continues to rotate in the direction of the arrow CCW and then stops after rotating to the position shown in FIG. 6 (a). After the freezer compartment 5 is opened, the rotating plate 19 is idled without being loaded. Therefore, after passing the state of FIG. 6 (e), the voltage applied to the motor 24 may be made lower than the rated voltage, and the rotational speed of the motor 24 may be made low. By reducing the rotation of the motor 24 as described above, there is an effect that noise and vibration generated from the motor 24 can be reduced and a quiet operation can be realized. Further, it is desirable to reliably stop the rotating plate 19 within the origin range 40 described with reference to FIG. 8. However, since the motor 24 does not go too far when stopped by rotating at a low speed, the stopping accuracy is improved, which is preferable. .

"Configuring the Switch"
Next, an example of the configuration of the switch when the user gives an opening instruction to the opening / closing mechanism according to the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 19 is a partial cross-sectional view of a refrigerator provided with a door opening / closing mechanism according to the present embodiment, and FIG. 20 is an enlarged view of an S portion shown in FIG. S part has shown the vicinity of the upper edge of the door body 5a which comprises the front surface of the freezer compartment 5, and the frame body 87 by the side of the main body 1 which contact | abuts a door when a door is closed.

  A push button 88 is provided at the upper end of the door body 5a and protrudes from the door body 5a. A push rod 89 is provided on the back side of the push button 88, and the push button 88 and the push rod 89 are slidably supported through the door body 5a. The push button 88 and the push rod 89 are applied with a leftward force in FIG. 20A due to the return force generated by the return sprink 90 and are held in position by a stopper (not shown). A switch body 92 such as a micro switch is provided on the side of the frame body 87 that is in contact with the door body 5 a, and a wiring 94 extending from the switch body 92 to the control circuit 41 is provided inside the frame body 87.

  When the user pushes the push button 88 by hand, the push button 88 and the push rod 89 can be moved to the right side of the figure by the push amount 91 as shown in FIG. By pressing the plunger 93 provided on the switch body 92, a contact (not shown) provided in the switch body 92 is closed, and a signal indicating that the user has pressed the push button 88 can be transmitted to the control circuit 41.

  When the user releases the hand from the push button 88, the push button 88 and the push bar 89 are moved to the left in the figure by the leftward force generated by the return spring 90, so that the state shown in FIG. Returning, the plunger 93 returns and the contact inside the switch body 92 returns to the open state.

  With this configuration, the switch main body 92 and the wiring connecting the switch main body 92 to the control circuit 41 can be provided only within the frame body 87 on the main body side. There is an effect that it is not necessary to provide.

  Unlike the configuration of the present embodiment described above, if the switch main body 92 is provided on the door body 5a, the wiring 94 must be routed from the door body 5a to the main body 1 and connected to the control circuit 41, but the door body 5a. Since it is configured to open and close as a drawer, the wiring 94 needs to be in a slack state with an extra length greater than the maximum opening of the freezer compartment 5 when the freezer compartment 5 is closed. In this configuration, when the freezer compartment 5 is pulled out, it is necessary to pull out the slack wiring 94 together. However, the wiring 94 may be tangled or caught by something when opening and closing.

  Further, when viewed from the user, when the push button 88 is pushed, a force in a direction to close the freezer compartment 5 to the back side is applied. If the user presses the push button 88 and the motor 24 is energized from the control circuit 41 and the freezer compartment 5 is electrically operated to open in the direction of the arrow 23, the freezer compartment 5 is immediately opened by the user. Starts to open in the direction opposite to the direction in which the force is applied, that is, toward the user's side, so it feels unnatural for the user.

  On the other hand, in the present embodiment, the motor 24 (see FIG. 4) is not energized when the user presses the push button 88, and the motor 24 is energized when the user releases the push button 88 once pressed. In operation, the freezer compartment 5 opens forward in association with the user pulling the hand away from the push button 88, so that the user's hand movement direction and the freezer compartment 5 movement. Since the (opening) direction is the same, there is an effect that there is no sense of incongruity with respect to the operation as seen from the user, and a natural feeling of operation can be obtained.

  In such an operation, the motor 24 is energized at the timing when the control circuit 41 detects that the user releases the push button 88 and the contact in the switch main body 92 returns to the open state, and the freezer compartment 5 is energized. Can be realized if it is an electric opening operation.

"Close control"
The control procedure when closing the freezer compartment 5 from a so-called half-door state in which the freezer compartment 5 is not completely closed will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing the procedure of closing control when closing the freezer compartment 5. The operation from the start of operation (block 51) to the energization of the motor 24 (block 53) until the origin range is detected (block 52) is the same as block 43 to block 45 in FIG.

  If the first door detection unit 17a of the door detection unit 17 detects the door of the freezer compartment 5, it can be confirmed that the freezer compartment 5 is not in a half-door state but is closed, and thus the door closing operation is completed. (Block 55). If the first door detection unit 17a cannot detect the closing of the door and the second door detection unit 17b detects that the opening amount between the door and the refrigerator body 1 is 35 or less, the freezer compartment 5 is It is in an open state with an opening amount of 35 or less. If the second door detector 17b cannot detect the door, the freezer compartment 5 is opened with an opening amount of 35 or more, and therefore cannot be closed with the door opening / closing mechanism of this embodiment. In that case, the notification means 70 is sounded to notify the user of an alarm that the door is a half door (block 57).

  If the second door detection unit 17b can detect the door, the freezer compartment 5 is in a half-door state and can be closed by the door driving device 10, so the motor 24 is energized (block 58). The rotation direction at this time is the CW direction in FIG. Further, at this time, if the rotational speed of the rotating plate 19 is reduced by reducing the voltage applied to the motor 24 to, for example, about 1/2 to 1/3 of the rated voltage, Since the third drive pin 20c does not collide with the third receiving surface 21c of the connecting plate 16 and the closing force is reduced, the third drive pin 20c is suitable for safety.

  If the motor 24 is energized in the CW direction for a predetermined time, for example, 3 seconds (block 59), the rotating plate 19 reaches the state shown in FIG. 7B and the connecting plate 16 is moved in the direction of arrow 36, that is, in the direction of closing the freezer compartment 5. The freezer 5 is closed by moving. After a predetermined time has elapsed, this time, the motor 24 is energized so as to rotate in the CCW direction (block 60), and the rotating plate 19 rotates until it reaches the origin range 40 (shown in FIG. 8) as shown in FIG. 7C. If it is detected by the signal from the rotation detecting means 32 (see FIGS. 5 and 8) that the position is within the origin range 40 (block 61), the rotation of the motor 24 is stopped (block 62). Here, if the first door detection unit 17a detects that the freezer compartment 5 is closed (block 63), it can be confirmed that the freezer compartment 5 has been completely closed, and thus the process ends ( Block 66).

  If the first door detection door detection unit 17a cannot detect the closing of the freezer compartment 5, it can be determined that the half-door state continues, so the processing from block 58 to block 63, that is, the motor 24 is energized. Then, the operation of rotating the rotating plate 19 in the CW direction and closing the freezer compartment 5 is repeated a plurality of times (block 64). If it is not possible to detect the closing of the first door detector 17a even after repeating this closing operation a predetermined number of times, for example, three times, it is determined that, for example, something is caught and the freezer compartment 5 cannot be closed, The alarm means 70 is sounded to notify the user of an alarm that the door is a half door (block 65).

  Furthermore, for example, in order to prevent a phenomenon such as a child accidentally pressing the door opening switch 8 to open the freezer compartment 5 and hit the child's body, the opening operation of the freezer compartment 5 described with reference to FIG. 10 is not performed. Alternatively, the operation of the open switch may be disabled, and the user can select to perform only the closing operation shown in FIG.

"Stroke expansion with 4-stage configuration"
In the above description, a configuration in which three drive pins 20 are provided on the rotating plate 19 has been described. However, the drive pins 20 are not limited to three, and will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 12, the fourth drive pin 20d is provided on the rotary plate 19 at a position at a distance r4 (> r3) from the drive shaft 18. The coupling plate 16 is provided with a fourth receiving surface 21d on which the fourth drive pin 20d abuts.

  In the operation of opening the freezer compartment 5, the same operation as shown in FIG. 6 is performed, and in addition, the fourth drive pin 20 d pushes the fourth receiving surface 21 d to the left in the figure, so that the connecting plate 16 rotates. The range for receiving force from the plate 19 is expanded. In addition, since r4> r3, if the rotational speed of the drive shaft 18 is constant, the speed at which the fourth drive pin 20d pushes the fourth receiving surface 21d to the left in the figure is the case where there is no fourth drive pin 20d. It becomes larger by r4 / r3. As described above, since both the range of force and the speed are enlarged, when the freezer compartment 5 is opened, the opening amount of the freezer compartment 5 is enlarged, and from the user's point of view, after pressing the open switch 8 The response of the opening movement of the can be improved and a comfortable operation feeling can be obtained.

  Further, when the rotating plate 19 is rotated in the direction of arrow CW and the connecting plate 16 is moved in the direction of arrow 36 in the same manner as described in FIG. The fourth receiving surface 21d is pushed. Since the fourth drive pin 21d is farther away from the drive shaft 18 than the r4 and the third drive pin 21c, the opening 35 of the connecting plate 16 is set to about r4 /. Even if r3 is increased, the freezer compartment 5 can be closed. In this way, since the opening amount 35 that can be closed from the half-door state can be increased, the freezer compartment 5 can be more reliably closed even if a half-door is generated, energy saving can be realized, and the stored food can be removed from the outside air. Deterioration due to intrusion can be prevented.

"Implementation of door drive device"
Next, with reference to FIGS. 14 to 17, the configuration of the rotary drive body and the connecting member when the door drive device 10 shown in FIG. 12 (which performs a four-stage stroke) is incorporated in a refrigerator will be described below. In addition, FIG. 12 is a figure for demonstrating operation | movement of the door drive device regarding this embodiment, and FIGS. 14-17 is a figure which shows the specific structure in the case of applying a door drive device to an actual refrigerator. 14 to 17 are shown upside down in FIG.

  In the figure, 10 is a door drive device, 15 is a drive mechanism attached to the bottom wall side of the freezer compartment, 18 is a drive shaft, 19 is a rotary plate rotated by the drive shaft 18, and the rotary plate 19 is as shown in the figure. A drive pin 20 (20a... First drive pin, 20b... Second drive pin, 20c... Third drive pin, 20d. Is provided.

  The distance between the drive pins 20a, 20b, 20c and 20d and the drive shaft 18 is as described above. Further, the height dimension H of the drive pins 20a and 20d is formed approximately twice as high as the height of the drive pins 20b and 20c as shown in FIG. In other words, the drive pins 20b and 20c are dimensioned so as not to contact the receiving surfaces 21b and 21c of the connecting plate 16 with which the drive pins 20a and 20d abut due to the difference in the contact position in the height direction.

  As a result, even if an abnormality occurs between the rotating plate 19 and the connecting plate 16, the drive pin 20b is prevented from biting into the receiving surface 21a and the rotating plate 19 and the connecting plate 16 are prevented from locking. It is. Similarly, the drive pin 20c can be prevented from biting into the receiving surface 21d by the difference in the contact position in the height direction.

  Reference numeral 95 denotes a magnet provided on the rotary plate 19, and this magnet 95 performs positioning of the origin of the rotary plate 19 rotated by the drive shaft 18 together with a detection means (not shown). For example, a midpoint portion of the origin range 40 shown in FIG. 8 is detected, and the same function as that of the rotation detecting means 32 shown in FIG. 5 is achieved, and applied instead of this means 32. . That is, the rotating plate 19 driven by the drive shaft 18 is always stopped at the position shown in FIG. 15 after the rotation as described above. For example, even when a power failure occurs, the door is not interfered with the connecting plate 16. Open and close the door manually. For this purpose, it is stopped at the position of the magnet 95 (the position shown in Fig. 15 (origin range 40 (see Fig. 8)). In other words, the stop of the drive shaft 18 is controlled by the Hall IC described later. Is.

  Reference numeral 96 denotes a guide guide provided on the base plate 15 a forming the drive mechanism 15. This guide guide 96 is made by providing two projecting pieces 96a and 96b side by side. The opening on the entrance side is formed wider as shown in FIGS. This is because the sliding portion 16 a (see FIG. 17) of the connecting plate 16 can easily enter the guide guide 96. That is, since the connecting plate 16 is attached to the drawer door side, not only the dimensional error on the refrigerator main body side but also the assembly error is affected, and the dimensional error and assembly error on the drawer door side on which the connecting plate 16 is assembled. to be influenced. For this reason, the position of the sliding portion 16a that slides in the previous guide guide 96 often shifts to the left and right. This is because the sliding portion 16a of the sliding plate 16 can easily enter the guide guide 96 even if there is this error.

  Further, two Hall ICs 97 and 98 are provided on the projecting piece 96 b of the guide guide 96. The Hall ICs 97 and 98 operate by detecting the approach or separation of the magnets 99 and 100 provided on the sliding portion 16a of the connecting plate 16, and stop the drive shaft 18 that drives the rotating plate 19. In the example shown in the drawing, the magnets provided on the connecting plate 16 are two magnets arranged corresponding to the distance between the Hall ICs 97 and 98. However, the present invention is not limited to this. One plate-shaped magnet corresponding to the interval length may be used, and Hall ICs 97 and 98 are only ON, 97 and 98 are ON, 97 and 98 are corresponding to the insertion position of the tip portion of the plate-shaped magnet. It is only necessary to perform the operation of turning off.

  That is, the Hall IC 97 detects whether or not the door of the freezer compartment 5 is completely closed, and the Hall IC 98 detects whether the door of the freezer compartment 5 has a predetermined opening amount (for example, 35 or less shown in FIG. 7A). ) Is detected with the magnets 99 and 100 on the connecting plate 16 side. That is, as shown in FIG. 16, when the magnets 99 and 100 are opposed to the Hall IC 97 and the Hall IC 98, the door is completely closed, and the time when the magnet 99 is located between the Hall IC 97 and the Hall IC 98 is half. This is a door state (for example, opening amount 35). Note that the door of the freezer compartment 5 is normally in a fully closed state and is waiting.

  The rotating plate 19 and the connecting plate 16 in the configuration example of the present embodiment shown in FIGS. 14 to 17 are respectively operated in the same manner as the stroke expansion in the four-stage configuration described in FIG. The difference between this configuration example and that of FIG. 12 is that only the first drive pin 20a can be brought into contact with the first receiving surface 21a. That is, since the first drive pin 20a and the second drive pin 20b have different height dimensions, the second drive pin 20b has a structure that does not reach the first receiving surface 21a. Specifically, the heights of the first and fourth drive pins 20a and 20d are high, the heights of the second and third drive pins 20b and 20c are low, and the first receiving surface 21a is A hanging part is formed so that only the first driving pin 20a abuts, and the second and third driving pins do not abut against the hanging part of the receiving surface 21a and pass through. The second and third receiving surfaces 21b and 21c are formed such that the lengths of the hanging portions of the receiving surfaces are long so that the second and third driving pins having a low height can come into contact with each other.

  In the structure of each driving pin and receiving surface described above, when the freezer is opened, when the abnormal operation such as opening manually by the push button 88 is performed simultaneously with the manual opening, the above-described implementation is performed. If the configuration example of the form is not adopted, the first drive pin passes without contacting the first receiving surface (the connecting plate 16 moves forward by manual operation), and the second drive pin Abutting on the first receiving surface 21a, coupled with the structural engagement relationship with the other drive pins and the receiving surface, the connecting plate 16 and the rotating plate 19 are in a locked state, and the freezing chamber is opened. Sometimes it becomes impossible. However, when the configuration example of the present embodiment described above is employed, the second drive pin and the third drive pin pass through the first receiving surface 21a, so that the connecting plate 16 and the rotating plate 19 are locked. There is no state.

  Another significant difference is that a guide guide 96 is formed, and two Hall ICs 97 and 98 are provided on a projecting piece 96b that forms the guide guide 96. That is, the two Hall ICs 97 and 98 surely perform the opening operation of the freezer compartment 5 due to the positional relationship with the magnets 99 and 100 provided on the connecting plate 16 side, and the freezer compartment 5 is not completely closed so-called half-opening. Even if it is in the door state, the rotating plate 19 can be closed by applying a force in the direction of closing the freezing chamber 5 to the connecting plate 16 by rotating the rotating plate 19 in the opposite direction to the case where the freezing chamber 5 is opened. By preventing the half door, the cooling performance can be prevented from lowering or the energy saving effect can be obtained.

  Of course, the return surface 22 of the connecting plate 16 is pushed in the direction of closing the door by the fourth drive pin 20d as described in FIG. The return surface 22 shown in FIG. 15 is preferably inclined at 45 degrees or less in order to improve the movement of the drive pin 20d at this time (in FIG. 15, the return surface 22 is a vertical line on the paper surface). An arcuate surface inclined to the left is formed).

  The driving device 15 is fixed to the box side constituting the freezer compartment 5 with a screw or the like. Accordingly, the rotating plate 19 is naturally left on the box side when the door of the freezer compartment is pulled out. On the other hand, the connecting plate 16 attached to the freezer compartment door side is pulled out together with the door. When the door is pulled out, the engagement relationship between the rotating plate 19 and the connecting plate 16 described above is canceled as a matter of course. In other words, the mounting structure of the rotating plate 19 and the connecting plate 16 occupies a very important weight.

  Therefore, in this embodiment, the base material 15a (see FIG. 15) to which the rotating plate 19 is attached and the guide guide 96 are integrally formed to ensure the dimensions, and the projecting pieces 96a and 96b that make the guide guide 96 are provided. The guide groove width dimension between them is made close to the thickness of the sliding portion 16a on the connecting plate 16 side to secure the mounting position of both the rotating plate 19 and the connecting plate 16, thereby stabilizing the dimensional relationship. Further, the vertical dimension variation with respect to the box due to the attachment of the connecting plate 16 to the door side sufficiently secures the wrap margin between the projecting pieces 96a, 96b and the sliding portion 16a (the overlapping portion in the vertical direction on the paper surface of FIG. 17). It is countered by keeping.

"Lock detection method"
When closing the door body 5a, the force to peel off the magnet packing 14 is unnecessary, and furthermore, since the pulling force is generated by the closer 13, a weak force is sufficient for the closing force compared to the opening force. As described above, when closing, the applied voltage to the motor 24 is lowered, so that even when a finger or the like is sandwiched between the refrigerator main body 1 and the force to be sandwiched is small, the safety is increased.

  However, in the flowchart of FIG. 11, the motor 24 is energized in the block 58 to perform the closing operation, the rotating plate 19 is rotated at a low speed in the CW direction, and the block 59 waits for a predetermined time. Since the closing force is continued, it is safer to detect that a finger or an object is pinched and stop the motor 24 immediately. As a judgment to stop, the connecting plate 16 moves in conjunction with the door body 5a, and the rotating plate 19 moves while contacting the connecting plate 16. As a result, when the rotating plate 19 is locked, the door body 5a is for some reason. It can be judged that it has stopped.

  A specific method for detecting the lock of the rotating plate 19 will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 21 is a block diagram showing the contents of the control circuit 41. Here, a DC motor 24a is assumed as a specific example of the motor 24. Reference numeral 41a denotes a microcomputer that performs control, 41b denotes a driver IC capable of rotating the DC motor 24a forward and backward and variable output voltage, and 41c denotes a current detection circuit that detects a current flowing through the DC motor 24a. A drive gear 30 and a rotating plate 19 are connected to the tip of the DC motor 24a.

  FIG. 22 is a basic characteristic graph of a general DC motor (the vertical axis represents motor rotation speed and motor current), and the same applies to the DC motor 24a of this embodiment. The number of rotations is highest when the load torque is zero, and this number of rotations is called the no-load rotation number.When the load torque exceeds a predetermined value, the rotation number is zero, that is, the motor is locked, and the torque at this time is stopped. This is called dynamic torque. Further, the lower the motor voltage, the smaller the no-load rotational speed and the stationary torque. The current is proportional to the load torque, but the motor lock current (stall current) varies depending on the motor voltage. When the motor voltage is E1, the motor lock current is I1, and when the motor voltage is E2, the motor lock current is I2.

  Whether the rotating plate 19 is locked or not is determined when the motor current detection value from the current detection circuit 41c is in a state in which the motor current detection value ≧ the lock determination value during the driving of the DC motor 24a for a predetermined time ( t1) If the rotation is continued, it is determined that the rotating plate 19 is locked. As can be seen from the graph of FIG. 22, the characteristic is that the current increases when the motor is locked (rotation speed is zero).

  23, when the driver IC 41b receives a signal from the microcomputer 41a in (1) and applies a predetermined voltage to the DC motor 24a, and the door 5a stops for some reason in (2), the rotating plate 19 Is locked, that is, the current of the DC motor 24a is increased, and the applied voltage is set to zero at the time (3) when the state higher than the dotted lock determination value continues for t1 time. Note that the motor current value when the closing operation is normally performed (when the rotating plate 19 can be rotated normally) must naturally be lower than the lock determination value in order to avoid erroneous determination.

  FIG. 24 is a flowchart in which this lock detection method is incorporated in the control of the normal closing operation. In this flowchart, the block 59 is changed to lock determination in the flowchart of FIG.

  When the motor is energized in the block 58, if the door body 5a is normally closed, the rotating plate 19 is locked, and the lock is determined in the block 59, which is more than necessary from the time point (3) in FIG. Stops motor energization. If the object does not close normally due to an object being caught, the lock determination is made at block 59, and energization in the closing direction is immediately terminated from the point of (3) in FIG. 23, and a highly safe closing operation is performed. It becomes possible. Further, instead of the end of energization (the voltage applied to the motor is turned off), the voltage applied to the motor may be decreased to wait for the lock to be released, and the closing operation may be continued after the lock factor is released.

  Further, this lock determination can be applied to any case where the rotating plate 19 is rotated, such as an opening operation as well as a closing operation. For example, when performing the opening operation, even when there is an object in front of the door body 5a and the door body 5a is not opened, safety can be improved by immediately shutting off energization by determining the lock. However, as described above, the voltage applied to the DC motor 24a is changed in the opening operation and the closing operation. In this case, the current value when the rotating plate 19 is locked, that is, when the DC motor 24a is locked differs as shown in FIG. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 25, it is effective to change the lock determination value in accordance with the voltage applied to the motor.

  There are other points to note. Torque limiting means 31 (see FIG. 5) is installed in the drive mechanism 15 to prevent damage from external force (for example, when an unnecessary force is applied to the drive mechanism 15 by force, the torque limiting means is Otherwise, the gears of the speed reduction means may be damaged, but if there is a torque limiting means, this means is slid to absorb excessive force). In other words, the torque limiting means 31 limits the torque transmitted by sliding when the external torque (force) exceeds a predetermined value.

  FIG. 26 shows the action of the torque limiting means when viewed from the relationship between the rotary plate 19 and the DC motor 24a. The vertical axis of FIG. 26 represents the motor rotation speed and the motor current. When the rotating plate load torque is zero, the motor rotation speed is maximum and the motor current is minimum. As the rotating plate load torque increases, the motor current increases. When the load torque exceeds the torque limit value, the motor current is a constant value I3 thereafter, and the torque limiter is slipping.

  In a range where the load torque applied to the rotating plate 19 exceeds the torque limit value, the load torque applied to the DC motor 24a is also limited to a constant value. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 26, in a range exceeding the torque limit value, the motor rotation speed does not become zero (not locked), and the motor current value does not increase above a certain value (I3). That is, if the lock determination value is set higher than I3, the lock determination cannot be performed. Therefore, when the torque limiting means 31 is installed, it is necessary that the relationship of motor current value when the torque limiting means 31 acts> lock determination value> motor current value during normal operation is established.

"Up and down movement"
The operation when the door driving device according to the present embodiment is provided in both the freezer compartment 5 and the vegetable compartment 6 will be described. Here, as shown in FIG. 2, it is assumed that the vegetable compartment 6 is in the vicinity of the bottom of the lowermost stage, and the freezer compartment 5 is provided on the upper stage.

  When the user stands in front of the refrigerator 1 and opens the freezer 5, if the amount that the freezer 5 is electrically opened is, for example, about 15 cm to 20 cm, the inside of the freezer is looked over from the opening when opened. This is preferable. On the other hand, in the vegetable compartment 6, if the vegetable compartment 6 is opened in the same manner as the freezer compartment because the vegetable compartment 6 is in the vicinity of the floor surface, the lower end of the door of the vegetable compartment 6 may hit the user's toe when opened.

  In order to prevent the lower end of the door of the vegetable compartment 6 from hitting the user's toe when the door is opened, the vegetable compartment 6 in the lower stage has a lower opening speed when opening than the freezer compartment 5 in the upper stage. In addition, it is desirable for safety to further reduce the opening amount to within 10 cm, for example. In the above description, the vegetable room is described as being lower than the freezer room. However, when the freezer room is located lower than the vegetable room, the opening amount or opening speed of the freezer room is smaller than that of the vegetable room. It is desirable to do.

"Action and effect"
According to the present embodiment, the opening force of the drawer door of the refrigerator can be reduced and the door can be easily opened, and the door is automatically closed from a so-called half-door state to improve the energy saving effect. There is an effect that can be.

  That is, when the freezer compartment 5 starts to be opened from the closed state, the first drive pin 20a disposed closest to the drive shaft 18 pushes and drives the connecting plate 16, thereby generating a large force at a low speed. Then, the magnet packing is peeled off, and then the second drive pin 20b provided farther than the first drive pin 20a pushes the connecting plate 16 and drives it with a medium force at a medium speed. The opening operation is continued against the pulling force of the closer 13 to accelerate the freezer compartment 5, and further, a third drive pin 20c provided farther from the drive shaft 18 than the second drive pin 20b is connected. The freezing chamber 5 can be further accelerated by pushing out the plate 16 and driving at a high speed with a small force. Therefore, it is convenient to surely perform the opening operation of the freezing chamber 5, and the opening operation surely. Can be carried out, there is an effect that.

  Furthermore, even if the freezer compartment 5 is not completely closed and is in a so-called half-door state, the rotating plate 19 is rotated in the opposite direction to the case where the freezer compartment 5 is opened, thereby freezing the connecting plate 16. Since the chamber 5 can be closed by applying a force in the closing direction, a half-door is prevented and an energy saving effect is obtained. By repeating the above closing operation a plurality of times, the effect of further ensuring the prevention of half-doors can be obtained. Furthermore, if the opening amount 35 for starting to close the freezer compartment is made smaller than the door thickness 71, there is no risk that a finger or the like is pinched, so that there is an effect that safety is high.

  When manually opening and closing, the door opening and closing mechanism according to the present embodiment does not contact the driving mechanism provided in the refrigerator body and the connecting plate provided integrally with the drawer door, so that the user can open and close the drawer. Since there are no phenomena such as obstructing manual operation or heavy opening / closing operation, it is easy to use, and the user's usability is not impaired even in the event of a failure.

  Moreover, in this embodiment, when the drive mechanism (rotary plate) and the coupling plate are engaged (sliding), there is no accident that the drive pin on the rotary plate side is caught. A certain combination can be ensured.

  In addition, while having a protection device for the door driving device from an external force, there is an effect that the object can be reliably detected when the door is closed and when the door is opened and the safety is high.

"Application to others"
In the present embodiment, an example in which the door driving device 10 is provided in the drawer door of the freezer compartment 5 or the vegetable compartment 6 is shown, but the present invention is not limited to this embodiment, and the rotary door of the refrigerator compartment door 2 It goes without saying that the same effect can be obtained even if it is provided.

  Further, in the present embodiment, the configuration in which the refrigerator is provided with the door driving device has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to the refrigerator, for example, a file cabinet for storing documents or a sink built-in type that is used by pulling out toward the front. The present invention can be applied to a drawer-type device such as a dishwasher, and even in this case, it is clear that the present invention has the same effect as described in the embodiment.

  In the present embodiment, an example in which the drive mechanism 15 is configured by only a spur gear is shown, but the drive mechanism 15 is not limited to a spur gear, and may be configured by using a worm gear. Furthermore, the drive pin 20 may be a rotary roller instead of the cylindrical pin as in the present embodiment.

It is a perspective view which shows the structure of the refrigerator which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is sectional drawing which shows the structure of the refrigerator which concerns on this embodiment. It is a top view which shows the structure of the drawer door drive device of the refrigerator which concerns on this embodiment. It is a perspective view which shows the structure of the drawer door drive device of the refrigerator which concerns on this embodiment. It is a perspective view which shows the structure of the drawer door drive device of the refrigerator which concerns on this embodiment. It is a figure explaining the opening operation | movement of the drawer door drive device of the refrigerator which concerns on this embodiment. It is a figure explaining the closing operation | movement of the drawer door drive device of the refrigerator which concerns on this embodiment. It is a figure explaining the position at the time of the stop of the drawer door drive device of the refrigerator which concerns on this embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the control system of the drawer door drive device of the refrigerator which concerns on this embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the control procedure in the case of opening operation | movement of the drawer door drive device of the refrigerator which concerns on this embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the control procedure in the case of closing operation of the drawer door drive device of the refrigerator which concerns on this embodiment. It is a figure which shows another structure of the drawer door drive device of the refrigerator which concerns on this embodiment. It is a figure explaining the structure by the conventional cam. It is a perspective view of the drive mechanism explaining the attachment state of each member centering on the rotation drive body shown in FIG. It is a top view for demonstrating operation | movement of the door drive device containing the drive mechanism shown in FIG. It is a side view of the door drive device shown in FIG. It is a front view of the door drive device shown in FIG. It is a figure explaining the opening operation | movement of the drawer door drive device of the refrigerator by this invention. It is a figure which shows the structure of the open switch of the drawer door drive device of the refrigerator which concerns on this embodiment. It is an enlarged view which shows the structure of the open switch of the drawer door drive device of the refrigerator which concerns on this embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows the content of the control circuit regarding this embodiment. It is a figure which shows the basic characteristic of a DC motor. It is a timing chart figure which shows the lock determination of the rotating plate in the door drive device regarding this embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the control procedure in the case of the closing operation incorporating the lock determination control of the rotating plate in the door drive device regarding this embodiment. It is a figure which shows the relationship between a motor applied voltage and a lock determination value. It is a figure which shows a load torque at the time of having a torque control means, and a motor characteristic.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Refrigerator main body, 2 ... Refrigeration room, 3 ... Switching room, 4 ... Ice making room, 5 ... Freezing room, 5a ... Door body, 6 ... Vegetable room, 7 ... Operation display part, 8 ... Open switch, 10 ... Door drive 11: Slide rail, 12: Container, 13: Closer, 14 ... Magnet packing, 15 ... Drive mechanism, 15a ... Base plate, 16 ... Connection plate, 16a ... Sliding part, 17 ... Door detection part, 17a ... No. One door detector, 17b ... Second door detector, 18 ... Drive shaft, 19 ... Rotating plate,
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 20 ... Drive pin, 20a ... 1st drive pin, 20b ... 2nd drive pin, 20c ... 3rd drive pin, 20d ... 4th drive pin, 21 ... Reception surface, 21a ... 1st reception surface, 21b ... second receiving surface, 21c ... third receiving surface, 21d ... fourth receiving surface, 22 ... returning surface, 23 ... opening direction, 24 ... motor, 24a ... DC motor, 25 ... motor pinion, 26 ... Idler, 27 ... idler pion, 28 ... idler, 29 ... idler pion,
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 30 ... Drive gear, 31 ... Torque limiting means, 32 ... Rotation detection means, 33 ... Movement amount, 34 ... Retraction position, 35 ... Opening amount, 36 ... Arrow, 37a ... First tip, 37b ... Second tip, 37c ... third tip, 38 ... gap, 39 ... gap, 40 ... origin range, 41 ... control circuit, 41a ... microcomputer, 41b ... driver IC, 41c ... current detection circuit, 42 ... power supply,
70 ... notification means, 71 ... door thickness, 72 ... gap between doors, 73 ... maximum opening, 74 ... inertia opening, 75 ... contact, 76 ... cam, 77 ... rotation center, 78 ... cam outer periphery, 79 ... cam Receiving plate, 80 ... rotating direction, 81 ... arrow, 82 ... cam radius, 83 ... peripheral speed, 84 ... opening speed, 85 ... sliding speed, 86 ... contact point, 87 ... frame, 88 ... push button, 89 ... push rod , 90 ... Return spring, 91 ... Push amount, 92 ... Switch body, 93 ... Plunger, 94 ... Wiring, 95 ... Magnet, 96 ... Guide guide, 96a, 96b ... Projection piece, 97 ... Hall IC, 98 ... Hall IC, 99 ... magnet, 100 ... magnet,

Claims (7)

In a refrigerator comprising: a drawer door placed on a slide rail movable in the front-rear direction; and a door driving device capable of opening or closing the drawer door electrically.
The door driving device includes: a motor as a driving source; a speed reducing unit that decelerates rotation of the motor; a rotary driving body that is pivotally supported to rotate together with a rotation output shaft that is decelerated by the speed reducing unit; and the drawer. A connecting member that is movably provided together with the door and that contacts the rotary drive body in a predetermined opening drive range;
The rotary drive body is provided with a plurality of drive transmission members, and the plurality of drive transmission members are arranged at different distances from the rotation center of the rotary drive body,
The connecting member has a plurality of receiving surfaces corresponding to each of the plurality of drive transmission members,
When the rotary drive body rotates in an opening direction that is a direction to open the drawer door, the first drive transmission member closest to the rotation center of the rotary drive body comes into contact with the first receiving surface of the coupling member, As the rotary drive body rotates in the opening direction, a second drive transmission member disposed at a position separated from the rotation center from the first drive transmission member abuts on the second receiving surface of the coupling member. The farthest drive transmission member disposed at the position farthest from the rotation center by repeating the contact sequentially, and finally contacts the receiving surface of the corresponding connection member to open and drive the connection member, After the last contact, the rotary drive body releases the contact with the connecting member,
A current detection means for detecting a current to the motor; a motor current lock determination value is set as a determination as to whether or not the rotary drive body is locked; and a motor current detection value detected by the current detection means When the motor current lock determination value is greater than or equal to, the voltage applied to the motor is turned off or reduced. In claim 1,
Detecting a half-door state that is not a fully closed state of the drawer door by detecting the position of the connecting member, and rotating the rotary drive body in the closing direction of the drawer door by the detection,
The refrigerator is characterized in that the connecting member is driven in the direction in which the drawer door is closed by the farthest drive transmission member of the rotary driving body. In claim 1 or 2,
The refrigerator, wherein the motor current lock determination value is changed according to the voltage applied to the motor. In claim 1, 2 or 3,
A refrigerator comprising torque limiting means for limiting a transmitted torque to a predetermined value or less between the rotary driving body and the motor. In any one of claims 1 to 4,
Motor current value 1 detected by the current detection means when the torque limiting means is operating, and motor current value 2 when the torque limiting means is not operating and the rotary drive body is rotating And the relationship between the motor current lock determination value and
Motor current value 1> Lock judgment value> Motor current value 2
The refrigerator characterized by being. In any one of claims 1 to 5,
Different length dimensions of the first drive transmission member and the second drive transmission member in the direction toward the connecting member;
The refrigerator, wherein the second drive transmission member does not contact the first receiving surface of the connecting member corresponding to the first drive transmission member. In a refrigerator comprising a drawer door that moves in the front-rear direction, and a door driving device that opens or closes the drawer door electrically or manually,
The door driving device includes a motor, a rotating body that is rotationally driven by the motor, and a connecting plate that moves in contact with the rotating body,
The rotating body is provided with a plurality of driving portions that drive in the opening or closing direction with respect to the connecting plate linked to the drawer door, and the connecting plate corresponds to the plurality of driving portions, respectively. Provide multiple receiving surfaces,
By the arrangement structure of each of the plurality of driving units, the connecting plate is driven in the order of low speed and large force, medium speed and medium force, high speed and small force,
Detecting the half door state of the drawer door, and driving the connecting plate in the closing direction of the drawer door by the rotating body based on the detection of the half door state;
A motor current lock determination value is set as a criterion for determining whether or not the rotating body is in a locked state that cannot be rotated by driving the motor, and the detected motor current value flowing through the motor is equal to or greater than the motor current lock determination value. The refrigerator is characterized in that the voltage applied to the motor is turned off or lowered in the event of failure.

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