JP4720588B2 - Refrigerator air conditioning damper - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a cold air adjusting damper for adjusting the inflow of cold air into a refrigerator compartment.

  In a cold refrigerator generally used for home use or business use, when the temperature in the refrigerator compartment becomes higher than a set value between the refrigerator compartment and the cool air flow path from the refrigerator, the cooler A cold air adjusting damper is provided for adjusting the internal temperature by sending the cold air discharged from the refrigerator into the refrigerator compartment.

  FIG. 7 shows this kind of the intercooled refrigerator 1. In this refrigerator 1, the cold air obtained via the cooler 2 provided at the upper part is cooled by the fan 5 in the refrigerator compartment 3 below. It is sent into the refrigerating chamber 3 through a cool air flow path 4 formed along the inner wall 3a. A cool air adjusting damper unit 6 for opening and closing the cool air flow path 4 is incorporated in an opening portion of the cool air flow path 4 in the lower portion of the inner wall 3 a of the refrigerator compartment 3.

5 and 6 show the conventional cold air adjusting damper unit 6 described above.
The cold air adjusting damper unit 6 is formed in a rectangular box-like shape in which a horizontally long and substantially cold air supply hole 7 is formed on the refrigerating chamber 3 side, and the back surface is open to communicate with the cold air flow path 4. It is a unit, and a cold air adjusting damper 8 for opening and closing the cold air supply hole 7 is provided inside.

  The cool air adjusting damper 8 has a rotating shaft 9 which is rotatably provided along the longitudinal direction inside the lower portion of the supply hole 7, and a lower edge portion in the longitudinal direction is integrated with the rotating shaft 9. And a stepping motor (not shown) provided in a casing 8a provided on the side of the unit and connected to one end of the rotating shaft 9. It is. Here, the open / close plate 10 is a plate-like member formed in a square shape larger than the supply hole 7, and a flexible sealing plate 10 a is integrally provided on the surface thereof.

  In the cool air adjusting damper 8 having the above configuration, when the temperature in the refrigerator compartment 3 becomes higher than a set value, the stepping motor is driven by the detection signal from the temperature detector, and the rotating shaft 9 rotates. . As a result, the opening / closing plate 10 rotates in the direction indicated by the dotted line in FIG. 6 and the supply hole 7 is opened, so that cold air flows into the refrigerator compartment 3 from the cold air flow path 4 through the supply hole 7. ing.

In addition to the intercooled refrigerator 1 shown in FIG. 7, many of the interiors divided into a plurality of refrigerator compartments are also used. Even in this case, the same cold air is supplied to each refrigerator compartment. An adjustment damper 8 is provided.
Incidentally, as another type of conventional cooler adjusting damper, there is one proposed by the present inventors as the following Patent Document 1.
Japanese Patent Application No. 2004-148974

  By the way, in the conventional cool air adjusting damper 8 in the refrigerator 1 shown in FIGS. 5 to 7, the opening / closing plate 10 is rotated around the rotation shaft 9 when the supply hole 7 is opened / closed. Therefore, in the cool air adjusting damper unit 6, it is necessary to secure a depth equal to or greater than the height dimension of the opening / closing plate 10. For this reason, it became one of the obstruction factors when trying to increase the relative volume in the refrigerator compartment 3 by making the thickness dimension of the cold air flow path 4 thinner.

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and it is intended to provide a cold air adjusting damper capable of increasing the volume of an internal refrigerator compartment as compared with the conventional one without increasing the depth dimension of the refrigerator. It is to be an issue.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the invention according to claim 1 is for adjusting the temperature of a refrigerator for adjusting the temperature in the refrigerator compartment by opening and closing a cold air supply hole formed in the inner wall of the refrigerator compartment. A damper, which is engaged with an opening / closing plate provided to be movable back and forth with respect to the supply hole and movable along the supply hole and the inner wall; A groove portion that guides the opening / closing plate in the advancing / retreating direction with respect to the supply hole and the moving direction along the supply hole and the inner wall, a rack integrally provided on the back side of the opening / closing plate, and a pinion that meshes with the rack; And a motor that rotationally drives the pinion.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the opening / closing plate has convex portions that are engaged with the groove portions at both ends of the side portion, and the groove portions are Formed on the side wall orthogonal to the inner wall, and when the opening and closing plate is positioned to face the supply hole, one of the convex portions is positioned approximately spaced from the inner wall by the thickness dimension of the opening and closing plate, The other convex portion is inclined with respect to the inner wall so as to be spaced apart from the inner wall by the thickness dimension of the opening / closing plate, and has a length dimension greater than the width dimension of the supply hole in the moving direction. The first groove portion communicates with the first groove portion at the position of the other convex portion when the opening / closing plate is positioned to face the supply hole, and the other end portion approaches the supply hole. Extend and retract the opening / closing plate with respect to the supply hole A second groove portion that guides in a direction, and the rack is provided along the back surface of the opening / closing plate, and the two convex portions are engaged with the pinion when positioned in the first groove portion. 1 rack and the end of the first rack is bent in a substantially L shape in a direction away from the opening / closing plate, and the other convex portion is formed from the intersection of the first and second groove portions. A second rack that meshes with the pinion when positioned in the second groove portion is provided.

  The invention according to claim 3 is the invention according to claim 2, wherein the second groove portion extends in a direction away from the supply hole at an intersection with the first groove portion. An escape portion is formed.

  Furthermore, the invention described in claim 4 is the invention according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the opening / closing plate has a flexible surface that is deformed by being crimped to the periphery of the supply hole when the supply hole is closed. When the opening / closing plate is positioned opposite to the supply hole, the first groove portion has one convex portion that is larger than the thickness dimension of the opening / closing plate from the inner wall. The flexible member is formed so as to be spaced apart by a short length by the deformation amount of the flexible member.

  According to the invention described in any one of claims 1 to 4, when the open / close plate closing the cold air supply hole is moved in the direction of opening the supply hole, the pinion is rotationally driven by a motor, Compared with the prior art, the open / close plate with the integrally-fitted racks can be moved first in the direction away from the supply hole and then moved substantially parallel along the supply hole and the inner wall. Thus, when opening the opening / closing plate, the dimension in the direction orthogonal to the supply hole required to retract the opening / closing plate can be greatly shortened. As a result, the volume of the internal refrigerator compartment can be increased relatively than before without changing the depth dimension of the refrigerator.

  In the second aspect of the present invention, when the open / close plate that closes the cold supply hole is moved in the direction to open the supply hole, the pinion is rotated by the motor in the open direction of the open / close plate. When driven, the second rack engaged with the second rack moves to the side away from the supply hole. As a result, the opening / closing plate rotates around the one convex portion as a rotation center, and the supply hole is opened.

Next, when the other convex portion of the opening / closing plate reaches the intersection of the second groove portion and the first groove portion, the pinion meshes with the first rack, whereby the opening / closing plate is moved along the first groove portion. That is, it moves substantially parallel along the supply hole and the inner wall. When the opening / closing plate is removed from the supply hole and reaches the back side of the inner wall, the supply hole is fully opened.
Therefore, according to the second aspect of the present invention, the opening / closing plate can be driven in the forward / backward direction with respect to the supply hole and in the moving direction along the supply hole and the inner wall by only one motor.

  At this time, the opening and closing plate moves in a direction away from the supply hole by the rotation of the pinion engaged with the second rack, and the other convex portion engaged with the second groove portion is the second groove portion. And the first groove portion, the convex portion comes into contact with the inner wall of the first groove portion. As a result, smooth engagement between the pinion and the first rack may be prevented.

  In this regard, according to the third aspect of the present invention, the relief portion extending in the direction away from the supply hole is formed at the intersection of the second groove portion with the first groove portion. The other convex portion that reaches the intersection with the first groove portion by the rotation of the pinion that meshes with the two racks can move to the escape portion beyond the first groove portion. Thereby, the said pinion and a 1st rack can be meshed | engaged reliably.

  Furthermore, in the invention according to claim 4, when the opening / closing plate is positioned to face the supply hole, the first groove is formed from the inner wall to the thickness of the opening / closing plate. Since the flexible member is formed so as to be spaced apart by a dimension that is shorter than the dimension by the amount of deformation of the flexible member, the opening / closing plate rotates the one convex portion when the opening / closing plate closes the cold air supply hole. Since it rotates about the center and is crimped to the supply hole, the flexible member provided on the surface is deformed at the periphery of the supply hole, so that high airtightness can be ensured.

1 to 4 show an embodiment of a cold air adjusting damper of a refrigerator according to the present invention, and portions common to those in FIG.
In these drawings, reference numeral 11 denotes the cold air adjusting damper for opening and closing the cold air supply hole 7 formed in the lower portion of the inner wall 3 a of the refrigerator compartment 3 and communicating with the cold air flow path 4. In addition, the edge part 3b which protrudes toward the cold air flow path 4 side is formed in the peripheral part of the supply hole 7 of the inner wall 3a.

  The cool air adjusting damper 11 is provided with an opening / closing plate 12 that is movable forward and backward with respect to the supply hole 7 and movable in the vertical direction along the supply hole 7 and the inner wall 3a. Groove 13 that guides in the advancing and retreating direction and in the vertical direction along the supply hole 7 and the inner wall 3a, first and second racks 14a and 14b provided integrally on the back side of the opening / closing plate 12, and these racks 14a and 14b. And a stepping motor 16 that rotationally drives the pinion 15.

  The opening / closing plate 12 is a plate-like member formed in an outer quadrangle larger than the supply hole 7, and a rubber packing (flexible member) 17 having a predetermined thickness dimension is integrated on the surface thereof. Is pasted. Further, on both side surfaces of the opening / closing plate 12 in the longitudinal direction, cylindrical pins (convex portions) 18a and 18b are integrally formed at the upper and lower ends, respectively.

  On the other hand, side walls 19 orthogonal to the inner wall 3a are formed at positions facing the both side surfaces of the opening / closing plate 12, and the pins 18a, 18b of the opening / closing plate 12 are inserted into these side walls 19 so as to correspond to the opening / closing plate 12. A groove 13 is formed for guiding the movement. The groove 13 is constituted by a first groove 20, a second groove 21, and an escape portion 22.

  Here, the first groove portion 20 is formed so that the lower end portion thereof is positioned below the supply hole 7. Further, as shown in FIG. 1, the lower end of the opening / closing plate including the packing 17 has a separation dimension from the inner wall 3 a to the lower (one) pin 18 a at the position where the opening / closing plate 12 closes the supply hole 7. The packing 17 is formed to be shorter than the thickness 12 by the amount of deformation when the packing 17 is crimped to the edge 3b. And the 1st groove part 20 inclines linearly in the direction which leaves | separates from the inner wall 3a gradually toward the upper end part from the said lower end part. In addition, the first groove portion 20 is formed so that its overall length is substantially more than twice the vertical dimension of the opening / closing plate 12.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 2, the second groove portion 21 is configured such that the pin 18 b above (the other side) of the opening / closing plate is movable toward the supply hole 7 at a position where the opening / closing plate 12 faces the supply hole 7. Thus, the first groove portion 20 is formed in a direction approaching the supply hole 7 side. Further, on the opposite side of the second groove portion 21 across the first groove portion 20, a relief portion 22 is formed in a direction away from the supply hole 7. Here, the second groove portion 21 and the escape portion 22 are each formed in an arc shape centering on the lower pin 18a.

  And the said 1st and 2nd rack 14a, 14b is provided in the back surface of the opening-and-closing board 12 along one side part. The first rack 14 a is formed in the vertical direction of the opening / closing plate 12, and is bent in a substantially L shape in the direction in which the second rack 14 b is separated from the opening / closing plate 12 at the upper end of the first rack 14 a. Is formed. The first and second racks 14a and 14b are formed with their teeth facing inward of the L-shape, and the pinion 15 is rotatably attached to the side wall 19 so as to face these teeth. It has been.

  Here, the first rack 14 a is linearly formed at a position where the two pins 18 a, 18 b of the opening / closing plate 12 mesh with the pinion 15 when positioned in the first groove portion 20. The second rack 14b is formed at a position where the upper pin 18b always meshes with the pinion 15 when the upper pin 18b is located in the second groove 21 from the intersection of the first and second grooves 20, 21. It is formed in a circular arc shape centering on the lower pin 18a.

  Further, the stepping motor 16 is incorporated in the casing 8 a integrated with the outer surface of the side wall 19, and the pinion 15 is engaged with the motor pinion 16 a fixed to the output shaft of the stepping motor 16.

Next, based on FIGS. 1-3, the effect of the cold air | gas adjustment damper 11 of the refrigerator which consists of the above structure is demonstrated.
First, when the supply hole 7 is opened from the state in which the opening / closing plate 12 shown in FIG. 1 closes the supply hole 7 for cold air, the pinion 15 is rotated clockwise in FIG. Then, as shown in FIG. 2, the second rack 14b meshing with the pinion 15 moves to the right in the figure, and accordingly, the opening / closing plate 12 rotates around the lower pin 18a as the center of rotation. By doing so, the supply hole 7 is opened.

  Next, as shown in the figure, when the pin 18b above the opening / closing plate 12 slightly reaches the escape portion 22 side from the intersection of the second groove portion 21 and the first groove portion 20, the pinion 15 is reliably Mesh with one rack 14a. When the stepping motor 16 is further rotated in the same direction and the pinion 15 is rotated in the clockwise direction, the pinion 15 moves the first rack 14a upward, whereby the second rack 14b and the pinion 15 The meshing is released.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 3, when the opening / closing plate 12 moves upward along the first groove portion 20, when the upper pin 18 b reaches the upper end portion of the first groove portion 20, the opening / closing plate 12 is supplied. The supply hole 7 is completely opened by completely detaching from the hole 7.

  On the contrary, when the open supply hole 7 is closed by the opening / closing plate 12, the stepping motor 16 is rotated in the reverse direction and the pinion 15 is rotated in the counterclockwise direction from the state shown in FIG. . Then, the first rack 14 a meshing with the pinion 15 moves downward, and the opening / closing plate 12 integrated with the first rack 14 a moves downward along the first groove 20.

  Next, when the upper pin 18 b on the opening / closing plate 12 reaches the intersection of the first and second groove portions 20 and 21 shown in FIG. 2, the lowered second rack 14 b meshes with the pinion 15. Further, when the pinion 15 further rotates, the second rack 14b moves in a direction approaching the supply hole 7 on the left side in the drawing, and accordingly, the first rack 14a moves away from the pinion 15 and moves to each other. The mesh is released. As a result, the opening / closing plate 12 rotates in a direction approaching the supply hole 7 with the lower pin 18a as the center of rotation.

  Then, finally, as shown in FIG. 1, the opening / closing plate 12 is rotated toward the supply hole 7 beyond the entire thickness including the packing 17, so that the packing 17 moves to the edge 3 b of the supply hole 7. The supply hole 7 is completely closed by being crimped and deformed.

  As described above, according to the cool air adjusting damper 11, the pinion 15 is driven to rotate by the stepping motor 16, so that the opening / closing plate 12 is moved via the first and second racks 14 a and 14 b that mesh with the pinion 15. Since it can be moved in the advancing / retreating direction with respect to the supply hole 7 and in the moving direction along the supply hole 7 and the inner wall 3a, it is required for retracting the opening / closing plate 12 when opening the opening / closing plate 12 as compared with the conventional case. The dimension of the supply hole 7 in the depth direction can be greatly shortened. For this reason, the simple structure using one stepping motor 16 can relatively increase the volume of the internal refrigerator compartment without changing the depth dimension of the refrigerator.

  Further, when opening and closing, the separation dimension between the lower end of the first groove 20 where the pin 18 a below the opening and closing plate 12 is located and the inner wall 3 a is set to be larger than the thickness dimension of the opening and closing plate 12 including the packing 17. Therefore, when the supply hole 7 is closed by the opening / closing plate 12, the packing 17 is crimped and deformed to the edge 3b of the supply hole 7 to ensure high airtightness. Can do.

  In addition, the opening and closing plate 12 is first retracted from the supply hole 7 along the second groove portion 21 by the first and second groove portions 20, 21, and then the inner wall 3 a and the first groove portion 20. Since the linear movement is performed substantially in parallel, the packing 17 whose thickness is restored by releasing the pressure bonding to the edge 3b of the supply hole 7 does not interfere with the edge 3b.

  Furthermore, since the escape portion 22 is formed at the intersecting portion of the first and second groove portions 20 and 21 on the same arc as the second groove portion 21 and extending in the direction away from the supply hole 7, The pinion 15 and the first rack 14a are moved by moving the pin 18b reaching the intersection by the rotation of the pinion 15 meshed with the second rack 21 to the escape portion 22 beyond the first groove portion 20. Can be reliably meshed.

It is a side view which shows the state which closed the supply hole of the cold air with the opening-and-closing plate of the damper for cold air adjustment of this invention. It is a side view which shows the state which moved the opening-and-closing plate of FIG. 1, and opened the supply hole of cold air. It is a side view which shows the state which moved the opening-and-closing board of FIG. 2 further, and opened the said supply hole completely. FIG. 2 is an overall perspective view showing the cool air adjusting damper of FIG. 1. It is a front view which shows the unit incorporating the conventional damper for cold air adjustment. FIG. 6 is a side sectional view of FIG. 5. It is side sectional drawing which shows a common refrigerator.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Refrigerator 3 Refrigerating room 3a Inner wall 7 Cooling air supply hole 11 Cold air adjusting damper 12 Opening and closing plate 13 Groove 14a First rack 14b Second rack 15 Pinion 16 Stepping motor (motor)
17 Packing (flexible member)
18a Lower pin (one convex part)
18b Upper pin (the other convex part)
19 Side wall 20 First groove portion 21 Second groove portion 22 Relief portion

Claims (4)

A refrigerator air conditioning damper for adjusting a temperature in the refrigerator room by opening and closing a cold air supply hole formed in an inner wall of the refrigerator room,
An opening / closing plate provided so as to be movable back and forth with respect to the supply hole and movable along the supply hole and the inner wall, and at least one side portion in the moving direction of the opening / closing plate is engaged to supply the opening / closing plate. A groove portion that guides in a forward / backward direction with respect to the hole and a moving direction along the supply hole and the inner wall, a rack that is integrally provided on the back side of the opening / closing plate, a pinion that meshes with the rack, and rotationally drives the pinion And a refrigerator for adjusting the cool air of the refrigerator. The opening / closing plate has convex portions that are engaged with the groove portions at both end portions of the side portion,
The groove is formed on a side wall orthogonal to the inner wall, and when the opening / closing plate is positioned to face the supply hole, one of the protrusions is substantially spaced from the inner wall by the thickness dimension of the opening / closing plate. And the other convex portion is inclined with respect to the inner wall so as to be spaced apart from the inner wall by the thickness dimension of the opening / closing plate or more than the width dimension of the supply hole in the moving direction. The first groove portion having a length dimension and the other opening portion communicate with the first groove portion at the position of the other convex portion when the opening / closing plate is positioned to face the supply hole, and the other end portion is the supply hole. And a second groove portion that extends in a direction approaching and guides the opening / closing plate in a forward / backward direction with respect to the supply hole,
The rack is provided along the back surface of the opening / closing plate, and a first rack that meshes with the pinion when the two convex portions are located in the first groove portion, and an end portion of the first rack. The pinion is bent when formed in a substantially L shape in a direction away from the opening and closing plate, and the other convex portion is located in the second groove portion from the intersection of the first and second groove portions. A refrigerator for adjusting a cool air of a refrigerator, characterized by comprising a second rack that meshes.   The cold air of the refrigerator according to claim 2, wherein the second groove part is formed with an escape part extending in a direction away from the supply hole at an intersection with the first groove part. Adjustment damper.   A flexible member is provided on the surface of the opening / closing plate to be deformed by being crimped to the periphery of the supply hole when the supply hole is closed, and the opening / closing plate is connected to the supply hole in the first groove portion. When facing each other, one of the convex portions is formed to be spaced apart from the inner wall by a length shorter than the thickness dimension of the opening / closing plate by a deformation amount of the flexible member. The damper for cold air adjustment of the refrigerator according to claim 2 or 3, characterized by the above-mentioned.

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