JP5169706B2 - refrigerator - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a refrigerator provided with a door closing device that is disposed on a hinge portion that pivotally supports a door of the refrigerator and can easily and reliably close the door.

  There is a conventional door closing device in which a cam and a spring are formed on the same axis on which the door rotates.

This is composed of a camshaft with a cam part formed around one axis on the container side and the opening and closing member side, and a spring body that elastically grips the cam part on the other side, and the cam has the same shape at a symmetrical position in the axial direction. And the two convex curved surface portions of the spring body rotate while circumscribing the arc peripheral surface portion of the cam portion, and the two convex curved surface portions of the spring body become the concave grooves of the cam portion. When circumscribing, the door is biased in the closing direction (for example, Patent Document 1, FIG. 1-A).
Japanese Patent No. 3504865

  However, in the above-described conventional configuration, the contact point of the spring body is symmetric with respect to the camshaft axis, and when the camshaft diameter is limited, the adjustment range of the closing start angle when the door is self-closing is performed. There was a problem that was narrow.

  In addition, the load applied to the tip of the spring body when the convex curved surface of the spring body circumscribes the arc peripheral surface of the cam portion is large, and in order to maintain the durability of the spring body, the configuration of the components that support the spring body is complicated. There was a problem.

  The present invention solves the above-described conventional problems, and the adjustment range of the closing start angle when the door is closed is wide, and the load applied to the spring body is reduced, so that the failure can be achieved with a simple configuration. An object is to provide a door closing device with low possibility.

  In order to solve the above conventional problems, a door closing device of the present invention includes a heat insulating box having a front opening, a door closing the front opening, a door attached to the heat insulating box and rotating the door. A hinge that is movably supported; a cam that is non-rotatably fitted to a shaft of the hinge; and a spring that presses the cam from both sides and rotates along the outer periphery of the cam; When a self-closing operation is sometimes performed, a first operation in which a gentle urging force is applied in the closing direction and a second operation in which a urging force greater than the first operation is applied in the closing direction after the first operation are performed. And a door closing device adapted to urge the door in the closing direction.

  As a result, the adjustment range of the door closing start angle can be increased, and at the same time, the load applied to the spring body can be reduced by distributing and applying the force necessary for closing the door.

  The refrigerator of the present invention can increase the door closing start angle by dispersing the urging force when the self-closing operation at the time of closing the door is performed in two stages, and at the same time reduce the load on the spring body. It is possible to provide a door closing device that can reduce the possibility of failure with a simple configuration.

The invention according to claim 1 is a heat insulating box having a front opening, a door that closes the front opening, a hinge that is attached to the heat insulating box and rotatably supports the door, and the hinge A cam that is non-rotatably fitted to the shaft, and a spring that presses the cam from both sides and rotates along the outer periphery of the cam, and the cam has both side edges at symmetrical positions in the axial direction. A concave groove 31d formed on the inclined surface and a flat surface 31e formed in the axial direction are provided, and the spring is formed by bending a leaf spring material, and is engaged with the concave groove 31d of the cam at one end. the engagement portion 41a which, in the other end portion provided with the engaging portion 41b that engages with the flat surface 31e of the cam has a flat surface, when the self-closing operation is performed at the time of door closing, the engagement The portion 41b is first applied to the flat surface 31e of the cam 31, and the first biasing force is generated. And subsequently the engagement portion 41a is applied further second biasing force to the inclined surface 31c of the side edge portions occurs in the concave groove 31d, the pressing force of the spring becomes rotational force, gentle biasing force closing A door closing device that urges the door in the closing direction by performing a first operation that is applied in the direction and a second operation in which a biasing force that is greater than the first operation is applied in the closing direction after the first operation. It is equipped with.

  Thus, in a refrigerator including a door closing device having a cam that is non-rotatably fitted to a hinge shaft and a spring that presses the cam from both sides and rotates along the outer periphery of the cam. By distributing the urging force when the self-closing operation at the time of closing is performed in two stages, the adjustment range of the door closing start angle can be increased and at the same time the load on the spring body can be reduced. Thus, it is possible to provide a door closing device with a simple configuration and a low possibility of failure.

The invention according to claim 2, recess the door closing device, the heat insulator side of the lower cap or the upper cap or the lower cap provided on the lower surface of the cap or door on which is provided on the upper surface of the door It is accommodated in the accommodating part formed.

  As a result, when holding the function of the door closing device on the door, not only the door closing device is not shown from the outside, but also the design is refreshed, and the distance between the upper and lower doors is made the same as the conventional one It is possible to suppress the heat intrusion into the heat insulating box.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, the door closing device is incorporated into the door in a state where the engaging portion 41b of the spring is rotated by a predetermined angle from the concave groove 31d of the cam to the door opening side.

  As a result, even when the door is closed by the door closing device, the spring body tip shape does not completely fit into the groove shape of the opposing cam, so a force is always applied in the direction of closing the door, It is possible to cope with problems such as doors not closing due to mounting variations, and at the same time, even if the self-closing force of the door closing device drops due to changes over time, the door does not impair the self-closing property. Can keep.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the spring of the door closing device is constituted by a main spring and a supplementary spring superposed on the outside of the main spring.

  As a result, even if the door self-closing force cannot be secured with the main spring alone, not only can the door self-closing force be reinforced with a supplementary spring, but the spring plate thickness can be increased to limit the tip shape of the spring body. Therefore, it is possible to set a door closing device with a wider self-closing force.

In the invention according to claim 5 , the door is divided into a first door and a second door in the left-right direction, and is supported by a hinge that supports the two doors with respect to the heat insulating box.

  Accordingly, it can be applied not only to the single door type refrigerator but also to the double door type refrigerator.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of a refrigerator according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The present invention is not limited to the embodiments.

(Embodiment 1)
Embodiment 1 of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a refrigerator according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view showing the configuration of main parts such as the door closing device and lower hinge of FIG. 1, and FIG. It is the side view which shows the state which assembled the closing device, and its AA sectional drawing.

  1 to 3, the refrigerator main body 51 has a plurality of compartments in a heat insulating box 52, and is attached to the refrigerator compartment 53, the ice making chamber 54, and the ice making compartment 54 from above, A switching chamber 55 in which the temperature of the vegetable chamber 56 can be varied, and a vegetable chamber 56 and a freezing chamber 57 are disposed in that order in the lower portion thereof.

  The front opening of each storage room is provided with a heat insulating door filled with foam heat insulating material such as urethane, for example, and the refrigerating room 53 has a left door 60 that partitions the front opening of the heat insulating box 52 to the left and right, right The door 61 is provided in the ice making chamber 54, the switching chamber 55, the vegetable chamber 56, and the freezing chamber 57 with drawer-type doors 62, 63, 64, and 65, respectively. The left door 60 and the right door 61 described above may be configured as a double door system that opens both from the center side to the outside depending on the storage form of the storage room, or a drawer type door on one side.

  The left door 60 of the refrigerating room is composed of an upper cap 71, a lower cap 72, an outer plate 73, an inner plate 74, and a heat insulating material injected and foamed into a space surrounded by the upper cap 71, on the peripheral edge on the inner plate 74 side. A magnet gasket 75 is attached. In addition, at a position corresponding to the lower hinge 20 described later, a housing portion 73 is formed integrally by being recessed in the heat insulating material, opened at a lower portion, and inserted and housed by a door closing device 30 described later. Yes.

  The lower hinge 20 is fixed to the refrigerator main body 51, and the upper hinge 21 supports the refrigerator compartment left door 160 so that it can be opened and closed. The lower hinge 20 is formed in a substantially L shape by a vertical piece 23 having a plurality of screw insertion holes 22 and fixed to the refrigerator body 51, and a horizontal piece 24 provided in a part thereof. The piece 24 is provided with a locking step portion 25 in which the left door 160 of the refrigerator compartment is in a maximum open position and a locking projection 63 of a stopper 60 described later comes into contact, and is attached integrally by caulking or the like to be refrigerated. A shaft 26 that pivotally supports the chamber left door 160 is erected, and a flat surface 27 is provided at a symmetrical position in the axial direction of the shaft 26 so that a cam 31 (described later) is fitted so as not to rotate.

  In the door closing device 30, the cylindrical cam 31 is made of, for example, a synthetic resin, and includes a large-diameter portion 31 a and small-diameter portions 31 b and 31 g provided on the upper and lower sides thereof, and both side edge portions are inclined surfaces at symmetrical positions in the axial direction. A concave groove 31d formed in 31c and a flat surface 31e (see FIG. 3) formed in the axial direction are provided, and the inner wall is a protrusion that engages with a flat surface 27 provided on the shaft 26 of the lower hinge 20. A portion 31f is provided and is non-rotatably fitted to the shaft 26 of the lower hinge 20. A control spring 40 formed by bending a leaf spring material is composed of a main spring 41 and a supplementary spring 42 disposed in close contact with the outside of the main spring 41, and the right end of the main spring 41 is outward. The left end portion has a flat surface while the tip portion is partially inclined, and is engaged with the flat surface 31e of the cam 31. The upper end piece 50a is a horizontally bent upper horizontal piece 50a with respect to the vertical piece 50, and the upper small piece 31b of the cam 31 is rotatably fitted and supported on the upper horizontal piece 50a. The bearing hole 52 is provided, and also serves as a bearing for the cam.

  The lower horizontal piece 50b is bent in the opposite direction with respect to the vertical piece 50 while the lower end is parallel to the upper horizontal piece 50a. The screw insertion hole 53 is provided in the lower cap 72 together with the stopper 60 described later. Fixed. Further, the auxiliary spring 42 has such a size that both end portions thereof are positioned approximately in the middle between the engaging portions 41 a and 41 b of the main spring 41 and the vertical piece 50. Further, a supplementary spring mounting hole (not shown) is provided on the opposite side of the opening 45 of the main spring 41, and the convex portion of the supplementary spring 42 (see FIG. 3) engages with the mounting hole. The spring 41 is fixed integrally.

  The stopper 60 is made of, for example, a steel plate, and a positioning hole 62a that fits into a bearing hole 61 into which a bearing portion 64a of a hinge spacer 64 described later and a lower small diameter portion 31g of the cam 31 are inserted, and a positioning projection 65 of a hinge spacer 64 described later. , And a screw insertion hole 62b. One side edge is bent downward, and when the left side of the refrigerator compartment door 160 is opened at one end thereof, it contacts the locking step 25 of the lower hinge 20. A locking projection 63 that contacts is provided.

  The hinge spacer 64 is made of resin, presses the positioning protrusion 65 against the positioning hole 62a of the stopper, inserts the bearing hole 64a into which the lower small diameter portion 31g of the cam 31 is inserted into the bearing hole 61 of the stopper, and is integrated with the stopper. Secure to. The reinforcing plate 66 is composed of a bottom portion and vertical portions erected on both sides thereof, and is substantially U-shaped embedded in a heat insulating material, so that a screw hole 67 is provided in the bottom portion. In addition, the combination of the concave groove 31d and the flat surface 31e of the cam 31 and the engaging portions 41a and 41b of the main spring is possible even if the left and right are reversed. Further, the refrigerator door right door 161 can have the same structure as the refrigerator compartment left door 160.

  Next, an example of an assembly procedure of the door closing device 30 configured as described above and an installation procedure to the refrigerator compartment left door 160 will be described.

  First, the concave portion 31d and the flat surface 31e of the cam 31 are engaged with the engaging portions 41a and 41b of the control spring 40, and the upper small diameter portion 31b of the cam 31 is fitted into the bearing hole 52 at the upper end portion. Next, the upper small-diameter portion 31b of the cam 31 is formed from the lower opening portion into the accommodating portion 73 in which the integral part of the control spring 40 and the cam 31 is provided in the lower cap 72 of the refrigerator compartment left door 160 with the heat insulating material recessed. Insert so that it fits in the housing convex portion 74 of the lower cap. Lubricating oil is applied between the cam 31 and the engaging portions 41a and 41b of the control spring 40 in order to reduce frictional resistance during sliding.

  Next, the bearing hole portion 61 of the stopper 60 fixed integrally with the hinge spacer 64 is provided in the lower cap 72 of the refrigerator compartment left door 160 with the heat insulating material recessed and provided on the lower surface of the control spring 40. The cam 31 is fitted to the lower small diameter portion 31g. Then, the screw 82 inserted into the stopper 60, the control spring 40, and the screw insertion holes 62b, 53, 75 of the storage portion 73 is screwed into the screw hole 67 provided in the bottom portion of the reinforcing plate 65, and these are fixed integrally. Thereby, the attachment to the refrigerator compartment left door 160 of the door closing apparatus 30 is completed.

  In attaching the refrigerator compartment left door 160 to which the door closing device 30 is attached to the refrigerator main body 51, the engaging portions 41a and 41b of the control spring 40 of the door closing device provided on the lower cap 72 of the refrigerator compartment left door 160 are The cam 31 is rotated in advance so as to be positioned on the large-diameter portion 31a, not in a state where it is engaged with the concave groove 31d of the cam 31 as shown in FIG. 3 (for example, the cam 31 is rotated about 90 ° rightward in FIG. 3). The left door 160 of the refrigerator compartment is opened, the cam 31 is placed at the lower edge of the refrigerator compartment, and the vertical piece 23 of the lower hinge 20 is screwed to the refrigerator main body 1 with the screw. If it inserts in the axis | shaft 26, the axis | shaft (not shown) of the upper hinge 21 is inserted in the bearing part (not shown) of the upper cap 71 in the upper edge part of a refrigerator compartment, and it fixes to the refrigerator main body 1 with a screw | thread. The refrigerator compartment left door 160 is the refrigerator body 1 It is openably supported by upper and lower hinges.

  Next, the operation of the door closing device 30 configured as described above will be described.

  In the closed state of the refrigerator compartment left door 160 supported by the upper hinge 21 and the lower hinge 20, the engaging portions 41a and 41b of the control spring 40 are cam 31 as shown in FIG. Are fitted in the concave groove 31a and the flat surface 31e. At this time, as shown by the solid line, the mounting angle of the shaft 26 erected on the horizontal piece 24 of the lower hinge 20 is θ ° (for example, 8 °) with respect to the front edge of the refrigerator compartment. It is set to be in the closing direction.

  That is, since the cam 31 is non-rotatably fitted to the shaft 26 of the lower hinge 20 fixed to the refrigerator body 1, the engaging portions 41 a and 41 b of the control spring 40 are the deepest portion of the concave groove 31 a of the cam 31. The flat surface 31e is not completely reached, and is stopped at a slightly forward position. For this reason, the control spring 40 is slightly biased to press the refrigerator compartment left door 160 in the closing direction, and is positioned as indicated by a broken line to close the opening of the refrigerator compartment.

  When the refrigerator door left door 160 is opened, the engaging portion 41a of the control spring 40 moves while sliding along the inclined surface of the concave groove 31d of the cam 31, as shown in FIG. It moves away from the flat surface 31e, and the control spring 40 is gradually biased and reaches its maximum when it reaches the outer peripheral surface (large diameter portion 31a). At this time, the engaging portion 41a reaches the outer peripheral surface first, and the engaging portion 41b arrives later to cause a time difference.

  Furthermore, when the refrigerator compartment left door 160 is opened, as shown in FIG. 6, the engaging projection 63 of the stopper 60 attached to the lower cap 72 contacts the engaging step portion 25 of the lower hinge 20, and the refrigerator compartment left The door 160 is opened to the maximum and stops. Even in this state, the engaging portions 41a and 41b of the control spring 40 are not fitted into the concave groove 31d and the flat surface 31e of the cam 31, in other words, the control spring 40 is placed on the large-diameter portion 31a of the cam 31. Although it is located and urged, since the engaging portions 41a and 41b are located on the outer peripheral surface 31a of the cam 31, no turning force is generated, so the refrigerator compartment left door 160 is held in that position.

  When closing the refrigerating room left door 160 opened in this way, if a force in the closing direction is applied to the refrigerating room left door 160, the control spring 40 remains in a state of being urged to the maximum while the engaging portions 41a, 41b slides smoothly on the large-diameter portion 31a of the cam 31. When the engaging portion 41b is first applied to the flat surface 31e of the cam 31 and a first urging force is generated, and the engaging portion 41a is subsequently applied to the inclined surfaces 31c at both side edges of the concave groove 31d, the second attachment is further performed. A force is generated, and the pressing force of the control spring 40 becomes a rotational force. Even if no force is applied, the refrigerator compartment left door 160 automatically closes the opening of the refrigerator compartment even when the door opening angle is large. Return to state 4.

  According to the door closing device 30 according to the present invention, the door incorporating the door closing device 30 has a two-stage biasing force when reaching a predetermined opening position even if the force applied to the door from the opened state is weak. Can automatically close the opening, and can be reliably closed without stopping on the way.

  Further, since the spring is biased by directly clamping the cam 31 by the control spring 40, there is no variation in the pressing force (biasing force) due to variations during assembly, and a predetermined spring force is directly converted into a door closing force. be able to.

  In order to increase the closing force of the door, that is, to increase the biasing force of the control spring 40, the concave groove 31d of the cam 31 is deepened to increase the drop, or the height of the control spring is increased. Although it is conceivable to increase the thickness of the plate, this does not only require a large space for incorporation into the door, but also deteriorates workability.

  In the present invention, the auxiliary spring 42 is superposed on the outer side of the main spring 41 to reinforce the base of the control spring 40 so that a sufficient urging force can be obtained even if the plate thickness is thin. Since the cam 31 is directly clamped by the portions 41a and 41b, a small and durable control spring 35 can be obtained, and the housing portion 72b provided on the door cap without impairing the heat insulation of the refrigerator. Can be accommodated. In addition, in the case of a light door with a small door and a load of contained items, only one main spring 41 may be used.

  Furthermore, since the cam 31 directly biases the control spring 40, the number of parts is small, the operation is smooth, and an inexpensive door closing device 30 can be obtained.

  Further, in the door closing device 30 according to the present invention, even when the door reaches the maximum open position, the locking portions 41a and 41b of the control spring 40 do not engage with the concave groove 31d of the cam 31 and the flat surface 31e. As described above, since the maximum opening position is regulated by the locking step portion 25 provided on the lower hinge 20 and the locking projection 63 provided on the stopper 60, the door can be opened even when the door is opened to the maximum angle. Does not require great force when closing.

  Furthermore, since the door closing device 30 is shielded from the foam heat insulating material by the cap, only the door closing device 30 can be easily replaced without replacing the door even if it breaks down. Therefore, the refrigerator has excellent serviceability. Can be obtained.

  In addition, since the door closing force is obtained in two stages, the door closing angle can be easily adjusted by simply increasing the difference between the flat surface 31e of the cam 31 and the outer peripheral surface 31a from the shaft of the cam 31. . In the above description, a case is shown in which the heat insulating material side is recessed in the lower cap 72 of the vegetable compartment door 7 to provide the accommodating portion 72b, and the door closing device 30 is accommodated in the accommodating portion 72b. The cap 71 may also be provided with the door closing device 30.

  Moreover, although the case where the door closing device 30 was provided in the refrigerator compartment left door 160 was shown, you may provide the door closing device 30 also in another door, and in this case, the door closing device 30 can be incorporated in the upper and lower caps. For example, it is possible to cope with a larger door or a heavy door with a large load.

  Although the case where the door closing device 30 according to the present invention is incorporated in a refrigerator for home use has been shown, the present invention can also be implemented for a refrigerator door having another structure.

The perspective view of the refrigerator which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention The perspective view which decomposes | disassembles and shows the door closing apparatus of FIG. 1, a lower hinge, etc. Side view showing the assembled state of the door closing device and its AA sectional view Action explanatory diagram of door closing device Action explanatory diagram of door closing device Action explanatory diagram of door closing device

Explanation of symbols

20 Lower hinge 30 Door closing device 31 Cam 31d Groove 31e Flat surface 40 Control spring 41 Main spring 41a, 41b Engagement part 42 Supplementary spring 51 Refrigerator main body 60 Stopper 160 Refrigeration room left door 161 Refrigeration room right door

Claims (5)

A heat insulating box having a front opening; a door for closing the front opening; a hinge attached to the heat insulating box for rotatably supporting the door; and a non-rotatably fitted shaft of the hinge. And a cam that presses the cam from both sides and rotates along the outer periphery of the cam, and the cam is a concave groove having side edges formed on inclined surfaces at symmetrical positions in the axial direction. 31d and a flat surface 31e formed in the axial direction are provided, the spring is formed by bending a leaf spring material, and an engaging portion 41a that engages with the concave groove 31d of the cam is provided at one end. One end portion is provided with an engaging portion 41b that has a flat surface and engages with the flat surface 31e of the cam. When the self-closing operation is performed when the door is closed, the engaging portion 41b is first connected to the cam 31. The first urging force is generated on the flat surface 31e, and then the engaging portion 1a is the groove 31d according Still second biasing force to the inclined surface 31c of the side edge portions occurs in the pressing force of the spring becomes rotational force, a first operation of gentle biasing force is applied to the closing direction, A refrigerator including a door closing device configured to bias the door in the closing direction by performing a second operation in which a biasing force larger than the first operation is applied in the closing direction after the first operation. The door closing device, and housed in the housing formed by the heat insulating material side of the lower cap or the upper cap or the lower cap provided on the lower surface of the cap or door on which is provided on the upper surface of the door is recessed The refrigerator according to claim 1 . The refrigerator according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the door closing device is incorporated into the door in a state where the engagement portion 41b of the spring is rotated by a predetermined angle from the concave groove 31d of the cam toward the opening side of the door. The refrigerator according to any one of claims 1 to 3 , wherein the spring of the door closing device is configured by a main spring and a supplementary spring superposed on the outside of the main spring. The door is divided into two and the first door and the second door in the horizontal direction, according to any one of claims 1 to 4, with respect to the heat-insulating main body is supported by a hinge which supports the two doors refrigerator.

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