JP5537267B2 - refrigerator - Google Patents

Description

  Embodiments of the present invention relate to a refrigerator.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, for example, in a refrigerator for home use, in order to improve the storage performance in a refrigerated room, it is generally performed to provide a removable shelf in the refrigerated room. In the refrigerator, the refrigerator compartment is illuminated, and the illuminator is provided on the ceiling, on the inner wall, or on both. As such an illuminator, an illuminator has been proposed that is located slightly away from the front end of the internal shelf (for example, Patent Document 1).
In the illuminator having such a configuration, there is a circumstance that it is difficult for illumination light to reach the rear part of each shelf, and the rear part of the shelf is easily darkened.

JP 2007-278698 A

  Therefore, there is provided a refrigerator that has an internal shelf and can effectively illuminate even the rear part of the internal shelf.

The refrigerator of the present embodiment is located in a storage room having an opening on the front surface, a shelf in the cabinet arranged to partition the storage chamber up and down, and a rear side from a front edge of the cabinet shelf, provided inside the side wall of the storage compartment and a lighting means for illuminating the chamber in shelves. The illumination means includes a cover that protrudes from the inner side wall of the storage chamber toward the storage chamber, and a light source that is provided at a position different from the shelf in the cabinet. The cover is formed in a groove shape, and a support portion that supports the inner shelf in a state in which movement in the vertical direction of the inner shelf is restricted by a side edge portion of the inner shelf entering the groove shape. Have .

The perspective view which shows schematic structure of the refrigerator which concerns on one Embodiment. Front view showing the refrigerator compartment Transverse plan view along line AA in FIG. Longitudinal front view along line BB in FIG. Side view seen in the direction of arrow C in FIG. The side view which shows the back board seen in the arrow D direction of FIG. Transverse plan view of the lighting unit The perspective view which shows the structure of a movable shelf

Hereinafter, an embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings.
In FIG. 1, the heat insulation box 2 of the refrigerator 1 which concerns on this embodiment has comprised the vertically long rectangular box shape which opened the front surface. The heat insulating box 2 is formed by foaming a foam heat insulating material such as urethane between a steel plate outer box 3 and a synthetic resin inner box 4 which is housed in the outer box 3 at a distance. It is configured to be filled. Although detailed description is omitted, a refrigeration cycle (not shown) and the like are incorporated in the heat insulating box 2.

  The refrigerator 1 includes a plurality of storage chambers in which the inside of the heat insulating box 2 is partitioned into a plurality of parts and has an opening on the front surface. Specifically, the refrigerator 1 is disposed at the uppermost refrigerating room 5 having the largest volume, the vegetable room 6 disposed below the refrigerating room 5, and the left side below the vegetable room 6. The ice making chamber 7, a small freezing chamber 8 disposed on the right side of the ice making chamber 7, and a freezing chamber 9 disposed below the ice making chamber 7 and the small freezing chamber 8 are configured.

  A heat insulating door filled with a foam heat insulating material such as urethane is provided on the front surface of each storage chamber so as to open and close the openings of these storage chambers. Specifically, a left door 10 and a right door 11 are provided at the front opening 5 d of the refrigerator compartment 5. The left door 10 and the right door 11 are pivotally supported by a hinge (not shown) so as to be turnable in the left-right direction. The left door 10 is set to have a width dimension shorter than that of the right door 11. On the inner side of the left door 10 (the refrigerator compartment 5 side), the left door pocket 12 is provided in three stages in the vertical direction so as to protrude toward the refrigerator compartment 5 side. Similarly, the right door pocket 13 is provided in three steps in the vertical direction on the inner side of the right door 11 (in the refrigerator compartment 5 side) so as to protrude toward the refrigerator compartment 5 side.

  Drawer-type doors 6 a, 7 a, 8 a, and 9 a are provided on the front surfaces of the vegetable room 6, ice making room 7, small freezer room 8, and freezer room 9, respectively. In this case, the door 7a of the ice making chamber 7 and the door 8a of the small freezer compartment 8 are divided at substantially the same left and right positions as the left door 10 and the right door 11 are divided. The refrigeration cycle is driven by a compressor (not shown) disposed at the lower rear part of the refrigerator 1, and the cool air cooled thereby is sent to each storage room to cool each storage room.

  A chilled case 14 for storing meat, fish, and the like, a small case 15 for storing eggs, and a water supply tank 16 for storing ice-making water are disposed at the bottom of the refrigerator compartment 5. In the refrigerator compartment 5, a chilled room ceiling plate 17 is disposed immediately above the chilled case 14, the accessory case 15, and the water supply tank 16. Further, a fixed shelf 18 is provided above the chilled room ceiling plate 17. The chilled room ceiling plate 17 and the fixed shelf 18 are both made of glass, and are arranged so as to extend horizontally between the left side surface and the right side surface in the refrigerator compartment 5. The chilled room ceiling board 17 and the fixed shelf 18 may be made of synthetic resin.

  Above the fixed shelf 18, there are a plurality of movable shelves serving as internal shelves so as to divide the refrigerator compartment 5 into upper and lower parts, in this case, two stages in the vertical direction, the upper movable shelf 19 and the lower movable shelf 20. Is arranged (see FIG. 2). Thereby, the upper part of the fixed shelf 18 in the refrigerator compartment 5 is partitioned from the top into the upper step portion 5a, the middle step portion 5b, and the lower step portion 5c by the two movable shelves 19 and 20. The movable shelf 19 (and the movable shelf 20) includes an upper inner bead 21 (and a lower inner bead 22) that is a protrusion provided behind the left and right side walls in the refrigerator compartment 5, and the inner box It is supported by a later-described illumination unit 23 (illuminating means) provided in front of the bead 21 (and the inner box bead 22) (see FIG. 3).

  As shown in FIG. 8, the movable shelf 19 (and the movable shelf 20) includes, for example, a synthetic resin frame 19a (and the movable shelf 20a) and a rectangular glass plate 19b (and a glass plate 20b). Built in. In this case, when glass is used for the movable shelf 19 (and the movable shelf 20), the weight is increased as compared with the case where a synthetic resin is used. The movable shelf 19 (and the movable shelf 20) as a whole has a narrow portion 19c (and a narrow portion 20c) formed by notching the rear edge of the movable shelf 19 (and the movable shelf 20), and the narrow portion. The wide portion 19d (and the wide portion 20d) is located in front of the portion 19c (and the narrow portion 20c) and is wider than the narrow portion 19c (and the narrow portion 20c). The horizontal dimension of the narrow portion 19c (and the narrow portion 20c) is such that a cover 24 of an illumination unit 23 (described later) provided on the left and right side walls in the refrigerator compartment 5 protrudes most into the refrigerator compartment 5. Is set to be shorter than the distance between (see FIG. 3). In this case, both side edges of the narrow portion 19c (and the narrow portion 20c) are supported by the inner box bead 21 (and inner box bead 22) described later, but are supported by the support portion 25 (and the support portion 26). Is constructed with an unsupported width. Moreover, the dimension of the wide part 19d (and the wide part 20d) in the left-right direction is set to be slightly shorter than the distance between the left and right side walls of the refrigerator compartment 5.

  Next, the inner box beads 21 and 22 will be described in detail. As shown in FIG. 2, the upper inner bead 21 is provided above the refrigerating chamber 5 so as to support the upper movable shelf 19 that partitions the refrigerating chamber 5 into an upper step portion 5 a and a middle step portion 5 b. ing. The upper inner bead 21 is composed of an upper inner bead 21a and a lower inner bead 21b, which are provided in two steps slightly apart for height adjustment. Similarly, the lower inner box bead 22 is located above the fixed shelf 18 in the refrigeration chamber 5 so as to support the lower movable shelf 20 that partitions the refrigeration chamber 5 into a middle step portion 5b and a lower step portion 5c. It is provided below the upper inner box bead 21. The lower inner box bead 22 is also composed of an upper inner box bead 22a and a lower inner box bead 22b which are provided in two stages slightly apart for height adjustment.

Here, these upper inner box beads 21 (upper inner box beads 21a and lower inner box beads 21b) and lower inner box beads 22 (upper inner box beads 22a and lower inner box beads 22b). Since the configuration other than the arrangement is the same, a specific configuration will be described by using the upper upper inner bead 21a as a representative.
The inner box beads 21a are provided on the left and right side walls (inner side walls of the inner box 4) on the rear side of the refrigerator compartment 5 so as to protrude inward of the refrigerator compartment 5 from the cover 24 of the illumination unit 23 described later ( (See FIG. 3). Further, the inner box bead 21a has a flat upper surface on which the movable shelf 19 is placed, and the lower part has a so-called triangular rib shape (see FIG. 2). The inner box bead 21a is formed integrally with the inner box 4, and the inside thereof is hollow before assembly (before filling with the foam heat insulating material). When the heat insulation box 2 is assembled, the structural strength is increased by foaming and filling the foam heat insulation material into the inner box bead 21a.

  Further, the dimension in the depth direction of the inner box bead 21a is set slightly longer than the dimension from the front end of the movable shelf 19 to the front end of the opening 5d on the front surface of the refrigerator compartment 5. Thus, even when the movable shelf 19 is pulled out to the front end of the opening 5d on the front surface of the refrigerator compartment 5, the left and right corners of the rear portion of the movable shelf 19 are slightly supported by the inner box beads 21a. . As a result, when the user holds the front end of the movable shelf 19 and slides the movable shelf 19 out, the support of the movable shelf 19 by the inner box bead 21a suddenly disappears and the movable shelf 19 falls. This can be prevented. For this reason, even the relatively heavy glass movable shelf 19 can be safely pulled out.

  The lighting unit 23 as lighting means is located in front of the inner box beads 21, 22 and on the left and right side walls located on the back side from the front edge of the movable shelves 19, 20, that is, in the front-rear direction in the refrigerator 5. It is provided on the left and right side walls (inner side walls of the inner box 4) respectively located on the left and right sides of the movable shelves 19 and 20 slightly forward from the center (see FIG. 3). The lighting unit 23 supports the movable shelves 19 and 20 by support portions 25 and 26 provided on a cover 24 described later, and a plurality of light sources are provided so as to straddle the two movable shelves 19 and 20 inside. Have. Thereby, the illumination unit 23 is configured to illuminate the inside of the refrigerator compartment 5, particularly the upper surfaces of the fixed shelf 18 and the movable shelves 19 and 20. The lighting unit 23 may illuminate toward the fixed shelf 18 and the movable shelves 19 and 20 in order to illuminate the inside of the refrigerator compartment 5 as a storage room. There is no need to tilt the light source.

  Specifically, the illumination unit 23 has a vertically long rectangular shape as a whole, and is configured such that a cover 24 is put on a rear plate 30 which is a board mounting member provided with a circuit board 27 (FIGS. 4 to 7). reference). The cover 24 is made of a transparent or translucent resin such as acrylic, and has a curved shape (so-called arch shape) that protrudes inward of the refrigerator compartment 5 from the inner side wall of the refrigerator compartment 5. The protrusion is provided (see FIG. 7). Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the cover 24 has a support portion 25 (upper side) for the upper movable shelf 19 formed in a concave groove shape so as to be substantially the same height as the upper surface of the inner box beads 21, 22. The lower support portion 25a and the lower support portion 25b) and the lower support portion 26 for the movable shelf 20 (the upper support portion 26a and the lower support portion 26b) are formed. The movable shelves 19, 20 are restricted from moving in the vertical direction of the movable shelves 19, 20 when the left and right edges of the movable shelves 19, 20 enter the recessed groove-shaped support portions 25, 26 of the cover 24. It is supported in the state. In this case, since the movable shelves 19 and 20 are only supported by the inner box beads 21 and 22 and the support portions 25 and 26 of the cover 24, they are slid into and out of the groove-shaped support portions 25 and 26. Can do. Here, the cover 24 is fixed to the rear plate 30 in a form in which the support portions 25 and 26 are placed on a placement portion 30c of the rear plate 30 as a substrate mounting member described later (see FIG. 4).

  On the inside of the cover 24, a light diffusion portion 24a is formed in a portion excluding the support portions 25 and 26. For example, the light diffusing portion 24a is configured such that a large number of groove shapes extending in the left-right direction are provided in the vertical direction, and light that has passed through the light diffusing portion 24a is diffused. The light diffusing section 24a allows the illumination unit 23 to diffuse light from a light source such as a light-emitting diode with high directivity to form a more uniform surface light source, and to illuminate the inside of the refrigerator compartment 5 evenly. The light diffusing unit 24a may be subjected to, for example, embossing to diffuse light from the light source.

  The circuit board 27 includes a plurality of light emitting diodes 29 as light sources mounted on a single vertically long rectangular board 28 and a drive circuit (not shown) for driving the light emitting diodes 29. It is configured. In this case, three light emitting diodes 29a, 29b, and 29c are provided on the substrate 28 so as to straddle the movable shelf 19 and the movable shelf 20, respectively, that is, straddle the support portion 25 and the support portion 26 of the cover 24, respectively. (See FIG. 4). Thereby, in the refrigerator compartment 5, the light from light emitting diode 29a, 29b, 29c is irradiated to the space of the upper stage part 5a, the middle stage part 5b, and the lower stage part 5c, respectively, and the fixed shelf 18 and the movable shelf 19, The top surface of 20 is illuminated evenly. Here, a plurality of U-shaped cutout portions 28 a having different left and right heights are provided on both left and right edges of the substrate 28.

  The rear plate 30 has a vertically long rectangular shape and has a convex shape on the outside (right side in FIG. 4) of the refrigerator compartment 5. Moreover, the back surface (the inner box 4 side) of the upper part of the rear plate 30 has a gentle inclined portion 30a. On the front surface of the rear plate 30 (inward of the refrigerator compartment 5), an L-shaped latch that protrudes forward and upward toward the inside of the refrigerator compartment 5 corresponding to each notch portion 28 a provided in the substrate 28. A portion 30b is provided (see FIG. 6). The circuit board 27 is attached to the rear plate 30 after being positioned in the left-right direction and the up-down direction by the notch 28a formed in the board 28 being locked by the locking portion 30b. In addition, on the left and right sides of the circuit board 27 on the front surface of the rear plate 30 (inside the refrigerator compartment 5), mounting portions 30c having a thickness are provided. The support portions 25 and 26 of the cover 24 are placed on the placement portion 30c.

  The rear plate 30 has a boss portion 30d formed on the back surface (inner box 4 side) of the mounting part 30c, and the inner plate 4 is fixed by a fixing screw 32 inserted from the outer side of the inner box 4 (outer box 3 side). Screwed to the side wall. Specifically, on the left and right side walls of the inner box 4 in the refrigerating chamber 5, the accommodating portion 31 is formed by denting the inner side wall of the inner box 4 outward along the back surface shape of the rear plate 30 of the lighting unit 23. Is formed. The lighting unit 23 is disposed in a form in which the rear plate 30 portion is accommodated in the accommodating portion 31. And the illumination unit 23 is fixed to the inner box 4 by screwing the fixing screw 32 into the boss part 30d of the rear plate 30 from the outer side of the inner box 4 (outer box 3 side). In this case, a plurality of holes 33 for the fixing screws 32 are formed in the wall surface of the housing portion 31. Further, on the rear plate 30, a placement portion 30c is disposed with reference to the boss portion 30d. As a result, when the rear plate 30 of the lighting unit 23 is attached to the housing portion 31, the relative positional relationship between the inner box bead 21 (and 22) and the placement portion 30c is determined based on the hole 33. .

  Further, the circuit board 27 provided on the rear plate 30 of the lighting unit 23 is located outside the left and right side edges of the movable shelves 19 and 20 and accommodated in the accommodating portion 31 in which the inner box 4 is recessed outward. The left and right side walls of the refrigerator compartment 5 (inner side walls of the inner box 4) are provided substantially in parallel. Further, the cover 24 is provided so that the most concave portions of the concave groove-shaped support portions 25 and 26 that support the movable shelves 19 and 20 are located on substantially the same plane as the left and right side walls of the refrigerator compartment 5.

According to this embodiment, the following effects can be obtained.
According to the configuration of the present embodiment, the lighting unit 23 is located in front of the inner box beads 21, 22 and on the back side from the front edge of the movable shelves 19, 20, and both left and right sides in the refrigerator compartment 5. It is provided on the side wall (inner side wall of the inner box 4). According to this, since the illumination unit 23 is arranged near the center in the front-rear direction in the refrigerator compartment 5, that is, closer to the center of the movable shelves 19, 20, the movable shelf 19, The light of the lighting unit 23 can easily reach the rear part of the light source 20, so that the rear part in the refrigerator compartment 5 and the rear parts of the movable shelves 19 and 20 can be illuminated evenly.

Further, the cover 24 of the illumination unit 23 has a convex shape toward the inside of the refrigerator compartment 5 and is configured to have concave groove-shaped support portions 25 and 26. The movable shelves 19 and 20 are configured such that the left and right side edges of the movable shelves 19 and 20 are supported by the support portions 25 and 26 and the movement in the vertical direction is restricted. According to this, when the movement of the movable shelves 19 and 20 in the vertical direction is restricted, for example, when an unexpected impact is applied to the movable shelves 19 and 20, for example, a plastic bottle containing contents, etc. When the mobile shelf 19 or 20 is dropped on the movable shelf 19 or 20, the movable shelf 19 or 20 is lifted and detached from the support portions 25 and 26, thereby preventing the movable shelf 19 or 20 from tilting or falling off. Can do.
Furthermore, according to the configuration of the present embodiment, the lighting unit 23 is provided in a form in which the rear plate 30 is accommodated in the accommodating portion 31 formed by denting the inner box 4 outward. According to this configuration, since a part of the lighting unit 23 is accommodated in the accommodating portion 31, it is possible to secure a larger internal volume in the refrigerator compartment 5.

The circuit board 27 of the illumination unit 23 is provided with a plurality of light emitting diodes 29 mounted as a light source on a single board 28. According to this, even when a plurality of light sources are mounted to irradiate a plurality of locations (upper step portion 5a, middle step portion 5b, lower step portion 5c) in the refrigerator compartment 5, only one circuit board 27 is required. Therefore, the construction of the lighting unit 23 and the assembly of the wiring are simplified.
Further, the circuit board 27 of the lighting unit 23 is located on the outer side of the left and right side edges of the movable shelves 19 and 20 so as to be accommodated in the accommodating part 31. Side wall). The cover 24 is provided so that the most concave portions of the concave groove-shaped support portions 25 and 26 that support the movable shelves 19 and 20 are located on substantially the same plane as the left and right side walls of the refrigerator compartment 5. According to this, the dimension in the left-right direction of the movable shelves 19, 20 can be set to the same extent as the distance between the left and right side walls of the maximum refrigerator compartment 5, and the movable shelf 19 can be divided without dividing the circuit board 27 into a plurality of sheets. , 20 can be slid forward and arranged to be removable.

  Further, the rear plate 30 of the illumination unit 23 is provided with a thick mounting portion 30c, and the support portions 25 and 26 are mounted on the mounting portion 30c. According to this, since the support parts 25 and 26 which support the movable shelves 19 and 20 are further supported by the placement part 30c of the rear plate 30, the movable shelves 19 and 20 placed on the support parts 25 and 26 are supported. The weight of can be set without depending on the strength of the support portions 25 and 26. As a result, while the movable shelves 19 and 20 are made of glass with relatively high weight but good design, the cover 24 is also thin and good in design.

In addition, a boss portion 30d is formed on the back side of the thick mounting portion 30c on the rear plate 30 constituting the illumination unit 23. As a result, the fixing screw 32 can be screwed into the boss portion 30d, and can be reliably fixed to the accommodating portion 31 by screw fixing.
A light diffusion portion 24 a having a groove shape extending in the left-right direction is formed on the inside of the cover 24 of the illumination unit 23 except for the support portions 25 and 26. According to this, the illumination unit 23 diffuses the light from the light-emitting diode 29 having high directivity, becomes a more uniform surface light source, and can illuminate a wide area evenly to the rear part in the refrigerator compartment 5.

  In the above embodiment, the illumination unit 23 is screwed to the housing part 31 via the boss part 30d provided on the rear plate 30. However, the present invention is not limited to this, for example, the rear part is replaced with the boss part 30d. A configuration may be adopted in which a concave portion (or convex portion) is provided on the plate 30 and a convex portion (or concave portion) is provided on the side surface of the inner box 4 of the accommodating portion 31 so as to be fitted thereto, and the concave and convex portions are fitted and fixed. According to this, since the illumination unit 23 can be fixed to the accommodating part 31 without using the fixing screw 32, the assembly efficiency can be improved.

The inner box beads 21 and 22 are configured integrally with the inner box 4, but the inner box beads 21 and 22 and the inner box 4 may be attached separately.
As described above, according to the refrigerator of the present embodiment, the illuminating means is located on the inner side wall of the storage chamber and is located on the back side from the front edge of the shelf in the cabinet arranged to partition the storage chamber up and down. The upper surface of the shelf in the cabinet is illuminated. Thereby, in the refrigerator which has a shelf in a warehouse, even the back part of this shelf can be illuminated effectively.

  The refrigerator described above is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and can be applied by appropriately changing to various embodiments without departing from the gist thereof.

  In the drawings, 1 is a refrigerator, 5 is a refrigerator compartment (storage room), 5d is an opening, 19 and 20 are movable shelves (shelf in the cabinet), 23 is an illumination unit (illumination means), 24 is a cover, and 24a is light diffusion. , 25 and 26 are support portions, 28 is a substrate, 29 is a light emitting diode (light source), 30 is a rear plate (substrate mounting member), 30c is a placement portion, 30d is a boss portion, and 31 is a storage portion.

Claims (8)

A storage room having an opening on the front surface;
A cabinet shelf arranged to partition the storage room up and down;
Located at the back side of the front end edge portion of the in-compartment shelves, and a lighting means for illuminating the chamber in shelves provided inside the side wall of the storage compartment,
The illumination means includes a cover that protrudes from the inner side wall of the storage chamber toward the storage chamber, and a light source provided at a position different from the shelf in the warehouse,
The cover is formed in a groove shape, and a support portion that supports the inner shelf in a state in which movement in the vertical direction of the inner shelf is restricted by a side edge portion of the inner shelf entering the groove shape. Has a refrigerator. The storage chamber has a storage portion formed by denting the inner side wall of the storage chamber outward,
The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein the storage unit is arranged in a form in which the illumination unit is stored. The refrigerator according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the illumination means includes a circuit board on which a light source that illuminates the shelf in the cabinet is mounted . The cabinet shelf is provided in a plurality of stages,
The refrigerator according to claim 3, wherein the circuit board is configured by mounting a plurality of light sources for illuminating the respective shelves on a single board, and is provided substantially in parallel with the inner side wall of the storage chamber . The refrigerator according to claim 4, wherein the circuit board is positioned outside the left and right side edges of the internal shelf and is accommodated in the accommodating portion . The illumination means has a board attachment member to which the circuit board is attached,
The refrigerator according to any one of claims 3 to 5, wherein the board mounting member is provided with a placement portion on which the support portion of the cover is placed . The board mounting member has a boss part on the back side of the mounting part,
The refrigerator according to claim 6, wherein the board mounting member is fixed to an inner wall of the storage chamber via the boss portion . The refrigerator according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the cover includes a light diffusion portion that diffuses light from the light source .

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