JP5798991B2 - Door opening device and refrigerator - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a door opening device and a refrigerator.

  Patent Document 1 discloses a door opening member that moves in the direction of opening the door by forward rotation of the motor, a door closing member that moves in the direction of closing the door by reverse rotation of the motor, and torque limiting means for limiting the drive torque. In a door opening / closing apparatus equipped with a worm gear, the opening / closing mechanism can be made thin by using a configuration in which the direction of the rotation axis is changed from a horizontal direction to a vertical direction using a worm gear, and a drawer door such as a freezer compartment door can be used. Is also applicable.

  Patent Document 2 discloses a rotating member having a speed reduction device that decelerates rotation of a motor, a rotating member having a stepped portion having a plurality of steps, and a connecting member that converts the rotational motion of the rotating member into linear motion. And a configuration in which the door is opened and closed by transmitting power to the connecting member at the step portion of the rotating member, and a configuration using a worm gear is described.

  Patent Document 3 includes a rotation member provided with a speed reduction device that decelerates rotation of a motor, a rotation member provided with a plurality of power transmission units, and a connecting member that converts the rotation motion of the rotation member into a linear motion. The power transmission unit has a flat surface portion substantially facing the rotation center direction, and the connecting member has a plurality of stepped step portions, and transmits power while the flat surface portion and the step portions are in surface contact. Has been.

Japanese Patent No. 4143568 Japanese Patent No. 4117337 Japanese Patent No. 4861926

In the configuration described in Patent Document 1, only a horizontal configuration of the worm gear is described.
Further, there is no description regarding the axial thrust load generated in the worm wheel when the worm gear is driven to rotate.

  Furthermore, the relationship between the door opening / closing device and the arrangement of the heat insulating material and the vacuum heat insulating material of the refrigerator body is not described.

  Next, in the configuration described in Patent Document 2, the arrangement of the motor and the driving gear when using the worm gear, the configuration for reducing the driving mechanism, or the arrangement of the vacuum heat insulating material in the heat insulating partition The relationship is not described.

  Next, the configuration described in Patent Document 3 does not describe the relationship between the configuration in which the drive mechanism is thinned and the arrangement of the vacuum heat insulating material in the heat insulating partition.

  In view of the above problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a door opening device that saves space when installed by reducing the thickness of a drive mechanism. Moreover, it aims at providing the refrigerator which suppressed the reduction | decrease of the heat insulation wall thickness, when the door opening apparatus was provided.

In order to solve the above problems, for example, the configuration described in the claims is adopted. The present application includes a plurality of means for solving the above problems. To give an example, a motor, a speed reduction means for reducing the driving force from the motor, a case for housing the motor and the speed reduction means, In the door opening device comprising: a rotating member that rotates by rotation of the motor; and a connecting member that converts the rotating motion of the rotating member into a linear motion, the speed reducer is a worm provided on a rotating shaft of the motor. A worm wheel that meshes with the worm, and an output gear that is coupled to the rotating member, the vertical projections of the worm wheel and the coupling member are disposed at overlapping positions, with the tip of the worm on the bottom surface It is characterized in that it is inclined in the approaching direction .

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a door opening device that saves space when installed by reducing the thickness of the drive mechanism. Moreover, the refrigerator which suppressed the reduction | decrease of the heat insulation wall thickness can be provided when the door opener is provided.

It is the figure which looked at the refrigerator main body in embodiment of this invention from the front. It is the EE sectional view conceptual diagram of FIG. It is a front view showing the structure in the store | warehouse | chamber of a refrigerator. FIG. 3 is an enlarged explanatory view of a main part of FIG. 2. It is a schematic longitudinal cross-sectional view which shows the structure of the freezer compartment door and vegetable compartment door in embodiment of this invention. It is the A direction perspective view of FIG. 5 of the door opening apparatus of the refrigerator in embodiment of this invention. It is a top view which shows the structure of the rotation member and connection member of the door opening apparatus of the refrigerator in embodiment of this invention. The figure explaining the opening operation | movement of the door opening apparatus of the refrigerator in embodiment of this invention. The figure explaining the closing operation | movement of the door opening apparatus of the refrigerator in embodiment of this invention. It is the A direction perspective view of Drawing 5 showing the upper surface of the door opening device of the refrigerator in the embodiment of the present invention. It is a B direction perspective view of Drawing 5 showing the undersurface of the door opening device of the refrigerator in the embodiment of the present invention. It is the A direction see-through perspective view of FIG. 5 showing the internal structure of the door opening device for the refrigerator in the embodiment of the present invention. It is a top view which shows the internal structure of the door opening apparatus of the refrigerator in embodiment of this invention. It is CC sectional drawing of FIG. 5 which shows the structure of the door opening apparatus of a refrigerator and the heat insulation partition in embodiment of this invention. It is DD sectional drawing of FIG. 14 which shows the structure of the door opening apparatus of a refrigerator and the heat insulation partition in embodiment of this invention. It is FF sectional drawing of FIG. 14 which shows the structure of the worm gear in embodiment of this invention. It is an expanded sectional view of the torque limiting means in the embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. It is a disassembled perspective view which shows the structure of the torque limiting means in embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the control system of the door opening apparatus of the refrigerator in embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the control procedure in the case of opening operation of the door opening apparatus of the refrigerator in embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the control procedure in the case of the closing operation | movement of the door opening apparatus of the refrigerator in embodiment of this invention. It is a perspective view of the motor and motor support means in an embodiment of the present invention. It is a sectional side view in the state where the motor in the embodiment of the present invention was built in the case.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

<Overall configuration of refrigerator body 1>
FIG. 1 is a front outline view of the refrigerator of the present embodiment. FIG. 2 is a vertical cross-sectional view taken along line EE in FIG. 1 showing a configuration inside the refrigerator. FIG. 3 is a front view showing the configuration of the refrigerator interior, and FIG. 4 is an enlarged explanatory view of the main part of FIG. 2, showing the arrangement of cold air ducts and outlets.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the refrigerator main body 1 of this embodiment has the refrigerator compartment 2, the ice making room 3, the upper freezer compartment 4, the lower freezer compartment 5, and the vegetable compartment 6 from the upper direction. As an example, the refrigerator compartment 2 and the vegetable compartment 6 are storage rooms in a refrigerator temperature zone of approximately 3 to 5 ° C. as an example. The ice making room 3, the upper freezing room 4, and the lower freezing room 5 are storage rooms in a freezing temperature zone of approximately −18 ° C. as an example.

  The refrigerating room 2 is provided with a folding door (so-called French type) refrigerating room doors 2a and 2b divided into left and right sides on the front side. The ice making room 3, the upper freezing room 4, the lower freezing room 5, and the vegetable room 6 include a drawer type ice making room door 3a, an upper freezing room door 4a, a lower freezing room door 5a, and a vegetable room door 6a, respectively. Hereinafter, the refrigerator compartment doors 2a and 2b, the ice making compartment door 3a, the upper freezer compartment door 4a, the lower freezer compartment door 5a, and the vegetable compartment door 6a may be simply referred to as doors 2a, 2b, 3a, 4a, 5a, and 6a. is there.

  The refrigerator body 1 includes a door sensor (not shown) that detects the open / closed state of the doors 2a, 2b, 3a, 4a, 5a, and 6a, and a state in which each door is determined to be open for a predetermined time, For example, an alarm panel (not shown) for notifying the user when the operation is continued for one minute or more and an operation panel 101 for setting the temperature of the refrigerator compartment 2 and the temperature of the upper freezer compartment 4 and the lower freezer compartment 5 are provided. Yes.

  Furthermore, the door opening switch 23 is provided in the door 5a and the door 6a, and the signal which operates the door opening apparatus 24 mentioned later is input.

  In addition, arrangement | positioning of each store room and a door is not limited to this embodiment, The layout of various forms well-known domestic and abroad can be employ | adopted. The door opening switch 23 is not limited to the configuration provided on the door 5a and the door 6a. For example, the door opening switch 23 is provided on the handle 5 (not shown) of the door 5a and the door 6a, or on the operation panel 101 described later. May be. Moreover, the structure which receives the input signal from the operation means separate from the refrigerator main body 1 without providing the door opening switch 23 may be sufficient.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the outside of the refrigerator body 1 and the inside of the refrigerator are formed by a heat insulating box 10 formed by filling a foam heat insulating material 25 (foamed polyurethane) between the inner box 10 a and the outer box 10 b. It is separated. Moreover, the heat insulation box 10 of the refrigerator main body 1 is mounted with a plurality of vacuum heat insulating materials 18.

  The inside of the refrigerator is separated from the refrigerator compartment 2, the upper freezer compartment 4 and the ice making chamber 3 (see FIG. 1, the ice making chamber 3 is not shown in FIG. 2) by the heat insulating partition wall 12a, and by the heat insulating partition wall 12b. The lower freezer compartment 5 and the vegetable compartment 6 are separated.

  A plurality of door pockets 14 are provided on the inner side of the doors 2a and 2b (see FIGS. 1 and 2). The refrigerator compartment 2 is partitioned into a plurality of storage spaces in the vertical direction by a plurality of shelves 13.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the upper freezer compartment 4, the lower freezer compartment 5, and the vegetable compartment 6 have storage containers 4b, 5b, 6b behind the doors 4a, 5a, 6a provided in front of the respective storage compartments. Each is provided. The storage containers 4b, 5b, and 6b can be pulled out by placing a hand on a handle portion (not shown) of the doors 4a, 5a, and 6a and pulling it out to the front side. Similarly, the ice making chamber 3 shown in FIG. 1 is provided with a storage container (indicated by (3b) in FIG. 2) integrally with the door 3a, and a hand is pulled on a handle portion (not shown) of the door 3a and pulled out to the front side. Thus, the storage container 3b can be pulled out.

As shown in FIG. 2 (see FIG. 3 as appropriate), the cooler 7 is provided in a cooler storage chamber 8 provided substantially at the back of the lower freezing chamber 5. A blower 9 is provided above the cooler 7. The air cooled by the heat exchange in the cooler 7 (hereinafter, the low-temperature air heat-exchanged by the cooler 7 is referred to as “cold air”) is blown by the blower 9 into the refrigerator compartment air duct 11, the vegetable compartment air duct 17, and the ice making room. It is sent to each storage room of the refrigerator compartment 2, the vegetable compartment 6, the upper freezer compartment 4, the lower freezer compartment 5, and the ice making room 3 through the air duct 40, the lower freezer compartment air duct 41, and the upper freezer compartment air duct not shown. .
The ventilation to each storage room is controlled by opening and closing the refrigerator compartment cooling damper 20 and the freezer compartment cooling damper 21.

  Here, the refrigerating room cooling damper 20 is a so-called twin damper having two openings, the first opening 20a controls the air flow to the refrigerating room air duct 11, and the second opening 20b is the vegetable room air duct. It is the structure which controls the ventilation to 17.

  Incidentally, the air ducts to the refrigerator compartment 2, the ice making room 3, the upper freezer room 4, the lower freezer room 5, and the vegetable room 6 are provided on the back side of each storage room of the refrigerator body 1 as shown by broken lines in FIG. It has been.

  Specifically, when the first opening 20a of the refrigerating room cooling damper 20 is in the open state and the freezing room cooling damper 21 is in the closed state, the cold air is supplied from the outlets 2c provided in multiple stages through the refrigerating room air duct 11. It is sent to the refrigerator compartment 2. When the second opening 20b of the refrigerator compartment cooling damper 20 is in the open state and the freezer compartment cooling damper 21 is in the closed state, the cold air is sent from the blower outlet 6c to the vegetable compartment 6 via the vegetable compartment air duct 17.

  Note that the cold air that has cooled the refrigerator compartment 2 is, for example, in the lower right portion as viewed from the front of the cooler storage chamber 8 through the refrigerator outlet return duct 16 from the return port 2d provided on the lower surface of the refrigerator compartment 2. Return. The return air from the vegetable compartment 6 returns to the lower part of the cooler storage compartment 8 through the return opening 6d.

  When the freezer compartment cooling damper 21 is in an open state, the cold air heat-exchanged by the cooler 7 is made into ice from the outlets 3c and 4c via the ice blower fan duct 40 and the upper freezer compartment fan duct (not shown) by the internal fan 9 respectively. The air is blown into the chamber 3 and the upper freezing chamber 4. Further, the air is blown from the outlet 5 c to the lower freezer compartment 5 through the lower freezer compartment air duct 41. For this reason, the freezer compartment cooling damper 21 is attached above the blower cover 56 which will be described later to facilitate air blowing to the ice making chamber 3.

  In addition, the cold air that has cooled the upper freezer room 4, the lower freezer room 5, and the ice making room 3 returns to the cooler storage room 8 through the freezer return port 42 provided in the lower part of the lower freezer room 5.

  In FIG. 4, it is the partition 54 that the blower outlets 3c, 4c, and 5c are formed. The partition 54 divides the upper freezing chamber 4, the ice making chamber 3 and the lower freezing chamber 5, and the cooler storage chamber 8.

  The blower 9 is attached to the blower attachment portion 55. The blower mounting portion 55 partitions the cooler storage chamber 8 and the partition 54.

  A blower cover 56 covers the front surface of the blower 9. A lower freezer compartment air duct 41 is formed between the blower cover 56 and the partition 54. Moreover, the freezer compartment cooling damper 21 is provided in the upper part of the air blower cover 56, and the blower outlet 56a is formed.

  The blower cover 56 includes a rectifying unit 56 b on the front surface of the blower 9. This rectifies the turbulent flow caused by the cold air blown out and prevents the generation of noise and the like.

  Further, the blower cover 56 is provided with an upper freezer compartment air duct 40, an ice making room air duct not shown, and a lower stage for guiding the cool air blown by the blower 9 to the outlets 3c, 4c, 5c, etc. A freezer compartment air duct 41 is formed.

  Further, the blower cover 56 also plays a role of blowing cold air blown by the blower 9 toward the refrigerator compartment cooling damper 20 side. That is, the cold air that does not flow to the freezer compartment cooling damper 21 side provided in the blower cover 56 is guided to the refrigerator compartment cooling damper 20 side via the refrigerator compartment duct 15 as shown in FIG.

  And the cooler 7 is put in the storage room of the temperature zone where both the freezing temperature zone room (the upper freezing room 4, the lower freezing room 5 and the ice making room 3) and the refrigeration temperature zone room (the refrigeration room 2 and the vegetable room 6) are different. When the passed cool air is sent, most of the cool air is sent to the freezer compartment cooling damper 21 side, and the remaining other cool air is guided to the refrigerating compartment cooling damper 20 side.

  Furthermore, when only the first opening 20a of the cold room cooling damper 20 is opened, the cold air led to the cold room duct 15 is led to the cold room air duct 11, and only the second opening 20b is opened. In the case where the first opening 20a and the second opening 20b are both opened, both the refrigerator compartment air duct 11 and the vegetable room air duct 17 are guided. Led.

  The refrigerating room cooling damper 20 is attached to the rear of the refrigerating room 2 as shown in FIG.

  Further, a defrost heater 46 as a defrosting unit is installed below the cooler 7, and in order to prevent defrost water from dripping onto the defrost heater 46 above the defrost heater 46. An upper cover 47 is provided.

  The defrost water generated by the defrosting (melting) of the frost attached to the wall of the cooler 7 and the surrounding cooler storage chamber 8 flows into the eaves 43 provided at the lower part of the cooler storage chamber 8, It reaches an evaporating dish 44 disposed in a machine room 19 to be described later via the drain pipe 27 and is evaporated by heat of a compressor 45 and a condenser (not shown) to be described later.

  Further, a cooler temperature sensor 35 attached to the cooler is shown in the upper right portion when viewed from the front of the cooler 7, the refrigerator temperature sensor 33 is placed in the refrigerator compartment 2, the freezer compartment temperature sensor 34 is placed in the lower freezer compartment 5, and ice making. The chamber 3 is provided with an ice making chamber temperature sensor (not shown), respectively, the temperature of the cooler 7 (hereinafter referred to as “cooler temperature”), the temperature of the refrigerator 2 (hereinafter referred to as “refrigerator temperature”), The temperature of the lower freezer compartment 5 (hereinafter referred to as “freezer compartment temperature”) and the temperature in the vicinity of an ice tray (not shown) (hereinafter referred to as “ice making temperature”) can be detected.

  In addition, the vegetable room temperature sensor 33a may be arranged also in the vegetable room 6, and the temperature control of each storage room can be performed more finely.

  A machine room 19 is provided on the lower back side of the heat insulating box 10. The machine room 19 contains a compressor 45 and a condenser (not shown). Is removed. Incidentally, in this embodiment, isobutane is used as a refrigerant, and the amount of refrigerant enclosed is as small as about 80 g.

  On the top surface side of the refrigerator main body 1, a control board 31 on which a CPU, a memory such as a ROM and a RAM, an interface circuit, and the like are mounted is disposed as a control means. The control board 31 includes the cooler temperature sensor 35, the refrigerator temperature sensor 33, the freezer temperature sensor 34, the door sensor that detects the open / closed state of the doors 2a, 2b, 3a, 4a, 5a, and 6a, and the refrigerator compartment 2 respectively. It is connected to a temperature setter (not shown) provided on the inner wall, a temperature setter (not shown) provided on the inner wall of the lower freezer compartment 5 and the like. And by the program previously mounted in the aforementioned ROM, the compressor 45 is turned on / off, the number of revolutions is controlled, the control of the respective drive motors for individually driving the refrigerating room cooling damper 20 and the freezing room cooling damper 21, the storage Control of ON / OFF and rotation speed of the internal blower 9, control of ON / OFF and rotation speed of the external fan, and control of ON / OFF of an alarm for notifying the door open state are performed.

  Next, only the freezing temperature zone (the ice making chamber 3, the upper freezing chamber 4, and the lower freezing chamber 5) is cooled with the refrigerating chamber cooling damper 20 closed and the freezer cooling damper 21 open. If it is, the cold air blown to the ice making chamber 3 via an ice making chamber blow duct (not shown) and the cold air blown to the upper freezer compartment 4 via the upper freezer blower duct 40 descend to the lower freezer compartment 5. And it flows like the freezing room return air shown by the arrow C in FIG. 4 with the cold air sent to the lower freezing room 5 via the lower freezing room ventilation duct 41 (refer FIG. 2). That is, it flows into the cooler storage chamber 8 from the lower front of the cooler storage chamber 8 via the freezer return port 42 arranged at the lower back of the lower freezing chamber 5, and a large number of fins are attached to the cooler piping 7a. Heat exchange is performed with the cooler 7 configured as described above.

  Incidentally, the width dimension of the freezer return port 42 is a width substantially equal to the width dimension of the cooler 7.

  On the other hand, when the refrigerating room cooling damper 20 is in the open state and the freezing room cooling damper 21 is in the closed state and only the refrigerating temperature zone room (the refrigerating room or the vegetable room 6) is being cooled, The return cold air flows into the cooler storage chamber 8 from the lower side of the cooler storage chamber 8 via the refrigerator return duct 16 like the cooler return air indicated by arrow D in FIG. Heat exchange with 7

  In addition, the cold air which cooled the vegetable compartment 6 via the 2nd opening 20b of the refrigerator compartment cooling damper 20 flows into the lower part of the cooler storage chamber 8 via the vegetable compartment return port 6d, as shown in FIG. However, the air volume is smaller than the air volume circulating in the freezing temperature zone and the air volume circulating in the refrigerator compartment 2.

  As described above, switching of the cool air to be blown to each storage chamber of the refrigerator main body 1 is performed by appropriately opening and closing each of the refrigerator compartment cooling damper 20 and the freezer compartment cooling damper 21.

<Implementation of opening and closing mechanism>
Next, the door opening device will be described with reference to FIG. 5 is a partial longitudinal sectional view showing a schematic structure of the lower freezer compartment 5 and the vegetable compartment 6 in the EE sectional view in FIG. Hereinafter, the details will be described taking the lower freezer compartment 5 as an example. The vegetable room 6 has the same configuration.

  A support frame 26 is connected to the wall on the storage chamber side of the door 5a of the lower freezer compartment 5 toward the rear. The support frame 26 is suspended by a container 5b for storing food. When the door 5a is pulled out, the support frame 26 moves along rails (not shown) provided on the left and right side walls of the lower freezer compartment 5. The container 5b is also pulled out.

  A door opening device 24 is provided on the inner bottom surface of the lower freezer compartment 5. The door opening device 24 includes a drive mechanism 27 that is fixedly provided on the refrigerator body 1 side and includes a motor and a speed reduction unit that reduces the driving force of the motor. On the lower surface of the container 5 b, there are provided connection reinforcing means 28 that connects the left and right support frames 26, and a connection plate 29 that is a connection member on the bottom surface of the connection reinforcement means 28. The lower freezing chamber 5 is opened and closed by applying a force in the moving direction of the support frame 26.

  Detailed configurations and functions of the drive mechanism 27 and the connecting plate 29 will be described later. A second door detection means 30 is provided on the front side of the lower freezer compartment 5 to detect whether the lower freezer compartment 5 is in a slightly open half-open (half door) state without being closed. The signal is sent to a control circuit to be described later.

  The drive mechanism 27 that drives the lower freezer compartment door 5a is disposed in the recess of the heat insulating partition wall 12b, and the drive mechanism 27 that drives the vegetable compartment door 6a is embedded in the refrigerator bottom wall 92 that constitutes the bottom surface of the refrigerator. Has been placed. It is desirable that the heat insulating partition wall 12b and the refrigerator bottom surface 92 be as thin as possible in order to increase the internal volume. On the other hand, in order to reduce heat leakage from the outside to the inside of the refrigerator and improve energy saving, it is necessary to improve heat insulation. Therefore, it is desirable to have a configuration that improves the heat insulating performance while reducing the thickness of the wall by filling the foam heat insulating material 25 such as urethane foam and providing the vacuum heat insulating material 18 in order to further reduce heat leakage.

<Configuration of acceleration link>
Next, the configuration and operation of the door opening device 24 including the drive mechanism 27 and the connecting plate 29 will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. Here, although the door opening apparatus 24 demonstrates the example of the freezer compartment 5, the vegetable compartment 6 is also the same structure.

  FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing the configuration of the connecting plate 29 and the rotating plate 36 provided on the drive shaft 32 which is the rotation output shaft of the drive mechanism 27, and FIG. 7 is a plan view seen from above. FIG. 8 is an explanatory view showing a series of operations for operating the drive mechanism 27 to rotate the rotating plate 36 in the opening direction and acting on the connecting plate 29 to open the door 5a, and FIG. It is explanatory drawing which shows the operation | movement which rotates the rotating plate 36 in the closing direction, acts on the connection plate 29, and closes the door 5a.

  6 and 7, the arrow G direction indicates the front side of the refrigerator body 1, and the freezer compartment door 5a opens in the arrow G direction. A rotating drive shaft 32 protrudes from the upper surface of the drive mechanism 27, and a rotating plate 36 provided with a plurality of steps 48a to 48g on the outer periphery is fixed to the driving shaft 32. When the driving shaft 32 rotates, the rotating plate 36 rotates. It is the structure which rotates together. The rotating plate 36 is disposed on the side of the connecting plate 29 where the steps 48a to 48g are formed, and the protruding portion 38 (motor housing portion) that houses the motor 37 that is the drive source of the drive mechanism 27 on the opposite side of the steps 48a to 48g. ) Is provided.

  The connection plate 29 is fixed to connection reinforcement means 28 connected to the support frame 26. When the rotating plate 36 is rotated, the connecting plate 29 moves in the direction of arrow G along the support frame 26 while the steps 48a to 48g on the outer periphery of the rotating plate 36 and the steps 49a to 49g provided on the connecting plate 29 are engaged. The door 5a opens. In other words, as the rotating plate 36 rotates, the pressing portions (steps 48a to 48g) of the rotating plate 36 press the pressed portions (steps 49a to 49g) of the connecting plate 29 to move the door 5a in the opening direction. The connecting plate 29 is disposed so as to be sandwiched between the rotating plate 36 and the motor storage portion 38.

  In FIG. 7, the configuration of the rotating plate 36 and the connecting plate 29 will be described in detail. A step 48a provided on the rotating plate 36 is provided in a range from the rotation center of the drive shaft 32 to the radius R1, and the second step is provided. 48b is provided in the range from radius R1 to radius R2. Then, a step is provided at a position where the radius increases sequentially from the third step 48c in the range of radius R3 to the seventh step 48g in the range of radius R7. Here, R1 <R2 <R3 <R4 <R5 <R6 <R7. The first step 49a meshes with the first step 48a of the rotating plate 36, and sequentially corresponds as the rotating plate 36 rotates until the seventh step 49g meshes with the seventh step 48g of the rotating plate 36. This is a configuration in which the steps are engaged with each other. Here, the pressing portions (48a to 48g) and the pressed portions (49a to 49g) correspond to each other so that the steps of the reference numerals with the same Roman letters mesh with each other.

  In this embodiment, the rotating plate 36 rotates in the counterclockwise direction indicated by the arrow in FIG. 7 when the lower freezer compartment 5 is opened.

  As described above, since the connecting plate 29 is connected to the door 5a via the support frame 26 and the connection reinforcing means 28, the connecting plate 29 can move together with the support frame 26 in the arrow G direction. In FIG. 7, the left direction in the figure is the front side of the refrigerator 1, and the freezer compartment 5 is opened when the connecting plate 29 moves in the left direction.

<Origin plate position>
Here, at the position of the rotating plate 36 shown in FIG. 7, the step 48 of the rotating plate 36 and the step 49 of the connecting plate 29 do not come into contact with each other. Even if the door 5a is opened by hand and the connecting plate 29 moves in the direction of arrow G, the connecting plate 29 can open the door 5a without contacting the rotating plate 36. Therefore, the position of the rotating plate 36 shown in FIG. 7 is set as the origin position, and after the rotating plate 36 rotates and the door opening operation is completed, the position returns to the origin position.

  If the rotating plate 36 is at the origin position, the rotating plate 36 and the connecting plate 29 do not come into contact with each other even if the door 5a is closed by hand, so that the freezer compartment door 5a can be closed smoothly.

  A first magnet 50 is provided on a part of the rotating plate 36, and the origin position is detected as will be described in detail later.

  Further, a second magnet 51 is provided on a part of the connecting plate 29, and the closing of the door 5a is detected as will be described in detail later.

<Door opening operation>
Next, an operation of opening the freezer compartment door 5a by moving the connecting plate 29 by the rotating operation of the rotating plate 36 will be described with reference to FIG.

  In FIG. 8A, as in FIG. 7, the rotating plate 36 is at the origin position. When the door opening switch 23 is pressed, the drive mechanism 27 is energized and the rotating plate 36 rotates counterclockwise as indicated by the arrow in the figure. To start.

  FIG. 8B shows a state in which the second step 48b of the rotating plate 36 contacts the second step 49b of the connecting plate 29, the connecting plate 29 moves in the direction of arrow G, and the door 5a starts to open. Show.

  In FIG. 8C, the rotating plate 36 further rotates, the sixth step 48 f comes into contact with the sixth step 49 f of the connecting plate 29, and the connecting plate 29 is further moved in the arrow G direction.

  FIG. 8D shows a state immediately after the rotating plate 36 is further rotated, the connecting plate 29 is further moved, and the seventh step 48 g is separated from the contact state with the seventh step 49 g of the connecting plate 29. The door 5a including the connecting plate 29 is accelerated in the direction of the arrow G on the left side of the drawing from the state shown in FIG. 8A to the state shown in FIG. 8D. In the state shown in FIG. Open at maximum speed in the direction.

  FIG. 8 (e) shows a state in which the door 5a has been opened, and the rotating plate 36 has been rotated in the counterclockwise direction shown in the drawing and returned to the same origin position as in FIGS. 7 to 8 (a). Show.

<Door closing operation>
When the lower freezer 5 is closed, the freezer 5 is not completely closed until the magnet packing 22 is adsorbed for some reason, and a gap is formed between the magnet packing 22 and the refrigerator main body 1, so-called half-open ( May be in a half-door state. Thus, operation | movement of the door opening apparatus 24 when it will be in a half open state is demonstrated using FIG.

  FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an operation when the door opening device 24 closes the lower freezer compartment 5. FIG. 9A shows a state in which the lower freezer compartment 5 is not completely closed, and the illustrated left end of the connecting plate 29 has moved to the left (in the door opening direction) by an opening amount 53 from the retracted position 52. It shows that there is.

Here, when the rotary plate 36 is rotated around the drive shaft 32 in the clockwise direction shown in the figure, the tip portion 57 comes into contact with the contact portion 58 of the connecting plate 29 as shown in FIG. That is, a force in a direction to close the door 5a is applied. Then, as shown in FIG. 9C, the door 5a is completely closed.
Thereafter, the rotating plate 36 is rotated counterclockwise in the drawing to return to the origin position as shown in FIG.

  By operating as described above, even if the lower freezer compartment 5 is not completely closed and is in a so-called half-open state, the rotating plate 36 is rotated in the opposite direction to the case where the lower freezer compartment 5 is opened. Thus, it is possible to close the lower freezing chamber 5 with respect to the connecting plate 29 by applying a force in the closing direction, which is preferable because a half-open state can be prevented.

<Drive mechanism>
Next, an example of the configuration of the drive mechanism 27 will be described with reference to FIGS.

  10 is a perspective view of the upper surface of the drive mechanism 27 as viewed from the direction of arrow A in FIG. 5, and FIG. 11 is a perspective view of the drive mechanism 27 as viewed from the direction of arrow B in FIG. is there. FIG. 12 is a perspective view showing the upper surface of the drive mechanism 27 similar to FIG. 10, and is a perspective view showing the internal structure through the upper case 59 forming the upper surface of the drive mechanism 27. FIG. 13 is a plan view seen from above, and FIG. 14 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line CC in FIG. 13, showing a state mounted on the heat insulating partition wall 12b. 15 is a DD cross-sectional view of FIG. 14, and FIG. 16 is an FF cross-sectional view of FIG. 15 viewed from the opposite side.

  FIG. 10 shows a state in which the connecting plate 29 is removed from FIG. 6, and clearly shows the positional relationship between the rotating plate 36 and the motor storage portion 38 provided in a part of the upper case 59. The schematic configuration will be described with reference to FIG. 11. The motor 37 is disposed between the motor housing portion 38 provided in the upper case 59 and the lower case 60, and the worm 61 is provided on the rotation output shaft of the motor 37. The worm 61 is rotated by the rotation of. The motor housing portion 38 of the upper case 59 is sized so that the motor 37 can be mounted without protruding downward from the lower case 60.

  The configuration will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 12 to 14. A worm wheel 62 that is a first gear and a pinion gear 63 (second gear) that rotates integrally with the worm wheel 62 are provided on a worm wheel shaft 64. It is pivotally supported around it. An idler gear 65 that is a third gear is rotatably supported around an idler shaft 66. The output gear 67, which is the fourth gear having the largest diameter, is pivotally supported around the drive shaft 32, and the rotary plate 36 is fixed to the drive shaft 32 by fastening means such as screws 91. Yes. Further, the drive shaft 32 is sealed in a watertight manner with the upper case 59 by an O-shaped ring 90 which is a rubber seal material, for example, to prevent water from entering. When the output gear 67 rotates, the rotating plate 36 rotates and the door 5a opens and closes.

  The worm 61 meshes with the worm wheel 62 (first gear), and the pinion gear 63 (second gear) that rotates together with the worm wheel 62 meshes with the idler gear 65 (third gear). Is configured to mesh with the output gear 67 (fourth gear). Here, as an example, if the reduction ratio of the worm wheel 62 is 1/40 and the ratio of the number of teeth of the pinion gear 63 to the number of teeth of the output gear 67 is 1/3, the reduction ratio from the worm 61 to the output gear 67. Becomes 1/120. Between the output gear 67 and the drive shaft 32, there is provided torque limiting means 68 for limiting the rotational torque transmitted to the rotating plate 36 and preventing the gear from being damaged. To do. The worm 61, the worm wheel 62, the pinion gear 63, the idler gear 65, and the output gear 67 constitute a reduction means 93 that reduces the output from the motor 37.

  A part of the lower case 60 is formed with a wiring space 69 that is a recess approaching the upper case 59 side, and is used as a mounting space for the connector 70 and the wiring cable 71.

  The detection board 72 is provided with a rotation detection 73 that is, for example, a Hall IC or GMR (Giant Magnetoresistance Effect) element that detects magnetic force, and a first door detection means 74. The rotation detecting means 73 detects that the rotating plate 36 is at the origin position by the position of the first magnet 50 provided on the rotating plate 36. The first door detection means 74 detects the position of the second magnet 51 provided on the connecting plate 29 and detects that the door 5a is closed. The rotation detecting means 73 is provided in the vicinity of the drive shaft 32 in order to detect the origin position of the rotating plate 36. The first door detection 74 is provided in the range of the movement path of the connecting plate 29 arranged between the drive shaft 32 and the motor 37 in order to detect the position of the connecting plate 29.

<Basic layout>
Next, the arrangement of the motor 37, the detection board 72, the connector 70, and the gears will be described.

  The lower case 60 and the upper case 59 that form the outer shape of the drive mechanism 24 have a substantially square shape when viewed from above as shown in FIG. 13, and the lower side in the figure is the door 5 a side, that is, the front side of the refrigerator body 1. Yes, the upper side in the figure is the back side. An output gear 67 having a drive shaft 32 is arranged on the lower right side of the drive mechanism 24 in the figure, and the rotating plate 36 is rotated counterclockwise to move the connecting plate 29 downward in the figure to open the door 5a.

  The drive mechanism 24 includes a first surface 94 (upper surface) which is an upper case 59 constituting a storage member, a second surface 95 (lower surface) which is a lower case 60, a first surface 94 and a second surface. 95, a second side surface 97 that faces the first side surface 96, a third side surface 98 that connects the first side surface 96 and the second side surface 97, and a third side surface 98. A space surrounded by the fourth side surface 99 facing the surface is formed.

  The motor 37 is disposed along the fourth side wall 99 of the lower case 60, the worm 61 is on the front side (first side 96 side), and the motor terminal 75 to which the wiring cable is connected is on the back side (second side 97). Side).

  The output gear 67 is disposed closer to the first side surface 96 and closer to the third side surface 98.

  A worm wheel 62 and an idler gear 65 are disposed between the output gear 67 and the worm 61, and the rotational torque of the motor 37 is transmitted to the output gear 67 via the worm 61, worm wheel 62, and idler gear 65. The rotational centers of the worm wheel 62 and the idler gear 65 are arranged in the vicinity of a straight line connecting the meshing portion 76 between the worm 61 and the worm wheel 62 and the drive shaft 32 of the output gear 67 to constitute a speed reduction means 93. Yes.

  A wiring space 69 into which a connector receptacle 77 connected to the control board 31 and a cable connected to the connector receptacle 77 are inserted is provided on the back side (second side 97 side) of the drive mechanism 24. Between the wiring space 69 and the output gear 67, a detection board 72 is disposed in a position that overlaps the output gear 67 in a horizontally long manner along the wiring space 69, and one end of the detection board 72 extends in a direction close to the motor 37. The wiring cable 71 is connected to the side close to the motor 37.

  The rotation detection means 73 is provided on the opposite side of the drive shaft 32 from the motor 37 (near the third side surface 98). The detection board 72 is substantially L-shaped, and is bent in a direction away from the wiring space 69 (on the first side face 96 side) on the side away from the motor 37, that is, on the third side face 98 side. A rotation detector 73 is provided near one side 96.

  A connector 70 is disposed near the second side surface 97 and the fourth side surface 99, the side facing the wiring space 69 is a terminal side inserted into the connector receptacle 77, and the opposite side of the wiring space 69 is a motor. The wiring cable 71 connected to the terminal 75 and the wiring cable 71 connected to the detection board 72 are connected.

  Here, as shown in FIG. 13, the wiring cable 71 from the motor terminal 75 of the motor 37 to the connector 70 and the wiring cable 71 from the detection board 72 to the connector 70 are both arranged away from the speed reducing means 93. The 71 does not get caught in the gears constituting the speed reduction means 93 and is highly reliable. Since one end of the motor terminal 75 of the motor 37 and the detection board 72 to which the wiring cable 71 is connected is disposed adjacent to the connector 70, the wiring cable 71 is short, wiring is easy, and reliability is improved. The effect is high.

  That is, in the storage members (upper case 59 and lower case 60) that store the drive mechanism 24, the components are arranged as follows. A rotation detecting means 73 for detecting the position of the rotating member 36 and a connector 70 for electrically connecting the motor 37 and the rotation detecting means 73 to the outside of the drive mechanism 24 are provided, and the speed reducing means 93 is connected to the rotating member 36. The output gear 67 is connected to the worm 61, the output gear 67 is disposed near the first side surface 96 and the third side surface 98, and the motor 37 and the worm 61 are disposed on the fourth side surface. The worm is disposed near 99 on the first side 96, the gear train is disposed near the first side 96, and the connector is disposed near the second side 97.

<Rotation direction>
The rotation direction of the worm 61 and each gear will be described with reference to FIG.
The rotating plate 36 rotates counterclockwise in the drawing to open the door 5a. At this time, the output gear 67 rotates counterclockwise together with the rotating plate 36, the idler gear 65 meshing with the output gear 67 rotates clockwise, and the pinion gear 63 and the worm wheel 62 meshing with the idler gear 65 are counterclockwise. The worm 61 is fed with teeth from the motor 37 side toward the tip side.

Since the reaction force during driving is opposite to the rotational direction, the axial reaction force applied from the worm wheel 62 to the worm 61 is directed to press the worm 61 against the motor 37.
In this case, since the reaction force in the axial direction can be received by a thrust bearing (not shown) provided in the motor 37 itself, the worm 61 is less likely to be loose (slack) with respect to the rotation shaft of the motor 37 and the rotation is stabilized. Therefore, it is preferable that the meshing between the worm 61 and the worm wheel 62 is stable and the generation of vibration and noise is suppressed.

<Motor protrusion amount>
A state in which the drive mechanism 27 is embedded in the heat insulating partition wall 12b will be described with reference to FIGS.

  The drive mechanism 27 is attached to the heat insulating partition wall 12b with a configuration that prevents water from entering through the sealing material 78 around the entire circumference of the upper case 59.

  By the way, in order to expand the internal volume of the lower freezer compartment 5, it is necessary to reduce the gap H7 (see FIG. 14) between the bottom surface of the container 5b and the heat insulating partition wall 12b. It is desirable to reduce the gap H7 within a range in which meshing driving can be ensured.

  Here, since the rotation plate 36 is disposed so as to protrude from the drive mechanism 27 by the height H1, a gap of (H7−H1) is ensured with respect to the bottom surface of the container 5b. On the other hand, since the connecting plate 29 opens together with the door 5a, it may be close to the bottom surface of the container 5b. However, in order to ensure engagement with the rotating plate 36, it is desirable to dispose the connecting plate 29 close to the drive mechanism 27. .

  Therefore, in order to reduce the gap H7, it is effective to reduce the height H1 by arranging the drive mechanism 27 in the recess of the heat insulating partition wall 12b.

  The heat insulating partition wall 12b partitions the lower freezer compartment 5 and the vegetable compartment 6, and the freezer compartment 5 has a temperature difference of about −18 ° C. and the vegetable compartment 6 has a temperature difference of about +3 to 5 ° C. On the other hand, in order to increase the internal volume, it is desired to reduce the heat insulating partition wall 12b thickness H3. Therefore, it is necessary to improve the heat insulating performance while making the heat insulating partition wall 12b thin.

  In addition, it is effective to fill the foam heat insulating material 25 such as urethane foam and to dispose the vacuum heat insulating material 18 over the entire surface. In particular, the heat insulating partition wall 12b is partially provided in the portion where the drive mechanism 27 is disposed. Since it becomes thin, if the vacuum heat insulating material 18 is arrange | positioned in the part, the heat insulation effect will be high.

  Therefore, if the thickness Hv of the vacuum heat insulating material 18 is increased while the thickness H3 of the heat insulating partition wall 12b is reduced, the heat insulating performance is improved. Therefore, the thickness of the concave portion of the heat insulating partition wall 12b is reduced. It is desirable to reduce the height H4. Furthermore, since the vacuum heat insulating material 18 has a structure in which an airtight bag containing glass fiber is sealed and the inside is evacuated, it is preferable that the airtightness of the bag is not released by the piercing of a sharp structure. Therefore, the thickness of the drive mechanism 27 is reduced, and the bottom surface 95 of the drive mechanism 27, which is the lower surface of the lower case 60, has a flat shape without protrusions. It is effective to improve the heat insulation property.

  While the thickness of the drive mechanism 27 is reduced, the motor 37 requires an output torque sufficient to open the door 5a, and thus the diameter of the motor 37 is larger than the thickness of the drive mechanism 27. Accordingly, a part of the outer shape of the motor 37 protrudes from the upper surface 94 of the upper case 59 or the bottom surface 95 of the lower case 60. That is, the distance between the top surface 94 and the bottom surface 95 is smaller than the diameter of the motor 37, but only the portion where the motor 37 is disposed protrudes. Here, since it is desirable that the bottom surface 95 of the lower case 60 is not provided with a protrusion, the motor housing portion 38 is protruded from the upper surface 94 by H2, and the protrusion amount is compared with the thickness H1 of the rotating plate 36 portion. By configuring H2 ≦ H1 so as to be equal or smaller, the bottom surface 95 of the lower case 60 remains flat, and the motor 37 having a larger outer shape than the case thickness can be used. Further, since the motor storage portion 38 is smaller than the height H1 of the rotating plate 36, it is not necessary to provide a special shape such as unevenness on the bottom surface of the container 5b to avoid the motor storage portion 38. Thereby, it is suitable without improving the heat insulation performance and reducing the volume of the container 5b.

<Warm wheel height and slant arrangement>
Next, the arrangement of the motor 37, the worm 61, and the worm wheel 62 will be described with reference to FIGS. 15 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line DD in FIG. 14, and FIG. 16 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line FF in the same part as FIG.

  As described above, the connecting plate 29 is disposed between the motor housing portion 38 and the rotating plate 36, and further needs to be engaged with the rotating plate 36. On the other hand, it is desirable that the speed reduction means 93 from the worm 61 to the output gear 67 arranged between the motor housing portion 38 and the rotating plate 36 does not disturb the arrangement of the connecting plate 29.

  Since the worm wheel 62 meshes with the worm 61 provided on the rotating shaft of the motor 37, the worm wheel 62 is disposed on the rotating plate 36 side adjacent to the motor 37 and overlaps the connecting plate 29 (see FIG. 14). Since the worm wheel 62 meshes with the worm 61, the position of the worm wheel 62 moves toward the upper case 59 in FIG. 14 as the diameter of the motor 37 increases, and the worm wheel 62 protrudes from the upper surface of the upper case 59. The protrusion amount of the worm wheel storage portion 79 is increased. For example, when the shape of the worm wheel storage portion 79 ′ shown by the one-dot chain line in FIG. 14 is obtained, it is necessary to move the position of the connecting plate 29 upward to a position where it does not interfere with the worm wheel storage portion 79 ′. The depth becomes smaller and the volume decreases.

  Therefore, it is desirable that the height position of the worm wheel 62 be close to the bottom surface 95 side of the drive mechanism 27. The configuration will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 15 and 16. In FIG. 15, when the motor 37 is arranged close to the bottom surface of the lower case 60, the height Ha of the rotation center 80 of the motor 37 is substantially equal to the radius of the motor 37, that is, ½ of the outer shape of the motor 37.

  Here, as shown in FIG. 16, when the motor 37 and the worm 61 are inclined by an angle θ in the direction in which the tip of the worm 61 approaches the bottom surface of the drive mechanism 27, the rotation center 80 on the worm 61 side of the motor 37 is changed. Although the height Ha does not change, the height of the engaging portion 76 between the worm 61 and the worm wheel 62 is Hb, that is, Ha> Hb. As a result, the worm wheel 62 can be arranged closer to the lower case 60 side (bottom surface 95 side) than the radius of the motor 37, that is, ½ of the outer dimension of the motor 37. This is preferable because the amount of protrusion can be reduced.

  Next, a particularly preferable value of the inclination angle θ of the motor 37 will be described with reference to FIG.

  Like the screw, the worm 61 has a configuration in which gear teeth are spirally arranged on the cylindrical surface, and the twist angle is referred to as a lead angle. Therefore, in general, the worm wheel 62 that meshes with the worm 61 is a helical gear (helical gear) having a helix angle equal to the lead angle of the worm 61.

  By the way, when the worm 61 is inclined in the direction in which the twist angle of the worm wheel 62 is reduced at the meshing portion 76 of the worm 61 and the worm wheel 62, and especially the worm 61 is inclined so as to be equal to the lead angle, the lead angle becomes the worm The gear tooth trace 81 that is canceled by the inclination of 61 and meshes with the worm wheel 62 connects the vertical direction (upper case 59 (first surface 94) and lower case 60 (second surface 95)) vertically as shown. Direction). Then, the helical angle of the helical gear of the worm wheel 62 becomes 0 degrees, and the worm wheel 62 can be a spur gear. Spur gears are easier to process than helical gears, and can be easily obtained with high accuracy. When a gear is a resin molded product, it is not necessary to mold while twisting a mold like a helical gear. Therefore, there is an effect that the mold is simple and inexpensive and easy to mold.

<Thrust load>
In general, since helical gears have teeth arranged in a screw shape, a component in the axial thrust direction is generated in the gear when torque is transmitted. The forward and reverse of the thrust component force is reversed depending on the rotation direction of the helical gear, and the gear moves until it comes into contact with the stoppers at both ends of the helical gear in the axial direction. For this reason, the helical gear is likely to be displaced due to backlash (slack), and the bearing structure needs to be able to tolerate the thrust load. When a thrust load occurs, the helical gear is pressed against the stopper in the axial direction, so that an excessive friction load torque is generated and the rotational load torque is increased.

  Furthermore, in the configuration in which the helical gear rotates in a horizontal plane when the rotation axis is vertical as in the present embodiment, depending on the rotational direction of the worm 61, the helical gear generates a thrust load in the lifting direction, Depending on the magnitude of the self-weight of the gear and the frictional force of the meshing portion, it may repeatedly float and descend with rotation. As a result, the helical gear vibrates up and down, causing noise.

  Further, when the position of the helical gear fluctuates up and down, the meshing position with the worm 61 moves in the circumferential direction because the teeth are twisted. That is, even if the worm 61 rotates at a constant angular velocity, if the worm wheel 62 that is a helical gear moves in the axial direction, the angular velocity of the worm wheel 62 fluctuates, and as a result, the worm wheel 62 does not rotate. It becomes stable and causes vibration and noise.

  By the way, the worm wheel 62 can be a spur gear by inclining the worm 61 by the lead angle as in this embodiment. As a result, since no thrust load is generated on the worm wheel 62, there is an effect that the frictional load torque is small, and vibrations, noises, and fluctuations in the rotational angular velocity are small, and stable gear engagement can be realized.

<Torque limiting means>
Next, an example of the configuration of the torque limiting means 68 shown in FIG. 14 will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 17 is a cross-sectional view including the rotation shaft of the output gear 67 including the torque limiting means 68, and FIG. 18 is an exploded perspective view showing each component of the torque limiting means 68.

  One end of the drive shaft 32 has a flat portion 82 from which the outer circumference of the cylindrical shape is removed in the axial direction, and is driven to rotate by being fitted to the rotating plate 36. The other end of the drive shaft 32 is enlarged in diameter and has an outer periphery as a first sliding surface 83, and a groove 85 is provided at one end of the first sliding surface 83.

  The output gear 67 is provided with gear teeth on the outer periphery, and a piece-like portion 88 formed by dividing the circumference by a plurality of slits 87 on the inner periphery is erected around the rotation center of the output gear 67. The inner periphery forms a second sliding surface 84. A part of the second sliding surface 84 forms a circumferential stopper 86 protruding inward. In the present embodiment, the number of the slits 87 or the piece-like portions 88 is divided into six, but the number is not limited to six, and any shape and number of divisions that can obtain a predetermined compressive strength for holding the drive shaft 32 can be obtained. Good.

  The first sliding surface 83 provided on the outer periphery of the drive shaft 32 is fitted to the second sliding surface 84 which is the inner circumference of the piece-like portion 88 of the output gear 67, and the stopper 86 is fitted in the groove 85. In combination, the movement in the axial direction is prevented. The ring spring 89 is fitted while tightening the outer periphery of the piece-like portion 88.

  Here, if the diameter of the first sliding surface 83 is D1, the inner periphery of the second sliding surface 84 is D2, the outer periphery of the piece-shaped portion 88 is D3, and the inner periphery of the ring spring 89 is D4, D1 > D2 is applied as a surface pressure between the first sliding surface 83 and the second sliding surface 84, and the ring spring 89 is expanded and fitted as D4 <D3. In this configuration, a compressive force to be compressed is applied to the side, and a predetermined pressure contact force is applied between the first sliding surface 83 and the second sliding surface 84.

  Here, if the compression force applied between the first sliding surface 83 and the second sliding surface 84 by the ring spring 89 is F, and the friction coefficient is μ, it is between the drive shaft 32 and the output gear 67. The friction torque T generated in the above is T = Fμ (D1 / 2). When a torque equal to or greater than T is applied between the drive shaft 32 and the output gear 67, the first sliding surface 83 and the second sliding surface 84 slide with each other and function as torque limiting means 68. Here, by adjusting the compression force F by the ring spring 89, an appropriate friction torque can be added.

  According to the present embodiment, the piece-like portion 88 is provided integrally with the output gear 67, is fitted with the drive shaft 32, and is tightened by the ring spring 89. Thereby, the torque limiting means 68 can be configured at low cost.

  In the present embodiment, an example in which a coil spring is used as the ring spring 89 has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to the coil spring, and any configuration may be used as long as the piece 88 is tightened. The structure which put the slit in the direction may be sufficient.

<Block diagram>
FIG. 19 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a refrigerator including the door opening device according to the embodiment of the present invention. A control circuit including the control board 31 is connected to a power source 100 that generates a direct current of a predetermined voltage from a commercial power source. Furthermore, it is connected to an operation panel 101 having an operation means 102 such as a push button switch for adjusting temperature and a display means 103 such as a blinking LED. Further, the temperature sensors 33, 34, 35, the refrigerator compartment cooling damper 20, the freezer compartment cooling damper 21, the compressor 45, the door opening device 24, etc. are connected to drive and control them. In FIG. 1, the operation panel 101 is disposed on the front surface of the refrigerator main body 1, for example, the front surface of the refrigerator compartment door 2 a, and improves usability when the user changes or confirms various functions. ing.

<Control system configuration>
Next, the configuration of a control system for controlling the door opening device 24 will be described with reference to FIG.
FIG. 19 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the control system.

  When the user presses the door opening switch 23, the signal is sent to the control board 31. The motor 37 of the drive mechanism 27 provided in the lower freezer compartment 5 and the vegetable compartment 6, the rotation detection means 73 for detecting the rotational position of the drive shaft 32, and the first door detection means for detecting the position of the connecting plate 29. 74 and the second door detection means 30 for detecting the open / closed state of the door are connected to the control board 31. In addition, power necessary for driving the door opening device 24 and the control board 31 is supplied from the power supply 100.

  The operation panel 101 may be provided with notifying means 104 for notifying the user that the door is not closed and is open. An example of the notification means 104 sounds a buzzer or lights or blinks a lamp.

<Opening control>
The procedure of the opening control when opening the lower freezer compartment 5 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 20 is a flowchart showing a procedure for opening control when the lower freezer compartment 5 is opened.

  When the opening operation is started (block 105), the control board 31 monitors the state of the rotation detection 73 to detect whether or not the rotation plate 36 of the drive mechanism 27 is at the starting position for starting the operation (block 106). .

  If the rotating plate 36 is not at the origin, the motor 37 is energized (block 107), the rotating plate 36 is rotated, the rotation detection 73 is monitored, and the origin is set.

  When it is detected that the rotating plate 36 is at the origin and the control board 31 detects that the door opening switch 23 is operated by the user (block 108), the motor 37 is energized (block 109). 36 is rotated. The rotating direction of the rotating plate 36 at this time is counterclockwise as shown in FIG. 8, and when the rotating plate 36 rotates, the connecting plate 29 is pushed and the freezer compartment 5 is opened. When the motor 37 continues to rotate and it is confirmed by the rotation detection 73 that the rotating plate 36 is at the origin position (block 110), the motor is stopped (block 111) and a series of opening operations are completed (block 112). .

<Close control>
A control procedure for 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. 21 is a flowchart showing a procedure for closing control when the freezer compartment 5 is closed. The operations from the start of the operation (block 113) to the energization of the motor 37 (block 115) until the origin is detected (block 114) are the same as the blocks 105 to 107 in FIG.

  If the first door detection means 74 detects the second magnet 51 of the connecting plate 29 (block 116), the door 5a of the lower freezer compartment 5 is not half open (half door) but closed. Thus, the door closing operation is completed (block 117). On the other hand, when the second door detecting means 30 is open (block 118), the door 5a is open, so that the user is informed of an alarm that the door is a half door, for example, by ringing the notifying means 104. (Block 119).

  When the first door detection means 74 cannot detect the closing of the door and the second door detection means 30 detects the closing and detects that the door is a half door, the motor 37 is energized (block 120). The rotation direction at this time is a clockwise direction in FIG. Further, at this time, the rotation speed of the rotating plate 36 is reduced by reducing the voltage applied to the motor 37 to, for example, about 1/2 to 1/3 of the rated voltage. Then, since the rotating plate 36 rotates in the clockwise direction at a low speed, the door 5a is not suddenly closed and the safety is improved, which is preferable.

  If the motor 37 is energized in the clockwise direction for a predetermined time, for example, 3 seconds (block 121), the rotating plate 36 reaches the state shown in FIG. 9B and moves the connecting plate 29 in the direction of the arrow, that is, in the direction of closing the door 5a. And close the lower freezer compartment 5. After a predetermined time has elapsed, the motor 37 is energized so as to rotate counterclockwise (block 122), and is rotated until the rotating plate 36 reaches the origin position as shown in FIG. When the origin is detected by the signal (block 123), the rotation of the motor 37 is stopped (block 124). If the first door detecting means 74 detects that the lower freezer compartment 5 is closed (block 125), it can be confirmed that the lower freezer compartment 5 is completely closed. The process ends (block 126). If the first door detection means 74 cannot detect the closing of the lower freezer compartment 5, it can be determined that the half-door state continues, so that the processing from block 120 to block 125, that is, the motor 37 is energized. Then, the operation of rotating the rotating plate 36 clockwise to close the lower freezer compartment 5 is repeated a plurality of times (block 127). If the closing of the first door detection means 74 cannot be detected even after repeating this closing operation a predetermined number of times, for example, three times, it is determined that the lower freezer compartment 5 cannot be closed, and the notification means 104 is sounded. The user is notified of the alarm that the door is in a half-door state (block 128).

<Effect>
According to the present invention, it is possible to open the door lightly by reducing the opening force of the drawer door of the refrigerator, and to automatically close the door from a so-called half-door (half-open) state, thereby achieving an energy saving effect. There is an effect that it can be improved. Further, the configuration and effects will be described in detail below.

  First, a drive mechanism 27 having a motor 37, a storage member (upper case 59, lower case 60) that stores the drive mechanism 27, a rotary member 36 (rotary plate) that rotates by the rotation of the motor 31, and a rotary member In the door opening device 24 having a connecting member 29 (connecting plate) that converts the rotational motion of 36 into a linear motion, the first surface 94 of the storage member and the second surface facing the first surface 94 95 is smaller than the outer shape of the motor 31 and includes a motor housing portion 38 (protruding portion) that covers the motor 37 protruding from the first surface 94, and the rotating member 36 protrudes outward from the first surface 94. In addition, the motor housing portion 38 has the same or smaller protruding length from the first surface 94 than the rotating portion 36 material.

  As a result, the thickness of the drive mechanism 27 is reduced, and the bottom surface 95 (second surface), which is the lower surface of the lower case 60, has a flat shape without protrusions, thereby providing vacuum insulation on the lower surface of the drive mechanism 27. It is effective to arrange the material 18 to enhance the heat insulating property of the heat insulating partition wall 12b.

  Further, the motor housing portion 38 protrudes from the upper surface by H2, and further, the protruding amount is configured to be equal to or smaller than the thickness H1 of the rotating plate 36 (H2 ≦ H1). The bottom surface 95 remains flat, and the motor 37 having a diameter larger than the storage member thickness can be used. Further, since the motor storage portion 38 is smaller than the height H1 of the rotating plate 36, the bottom surface of the container 5b does not need to be provided with a special shape for avoiding the motor storage portion 38, and the volume of the container 5b is reduced. It is preferable.

  Secondly, a speed reduction means 93 for reducing the driving force from the motor 37 is provided, and the speed reduction means 93 includes a worm 61 that rotates by a rotating shaft of the motor 37 and a worm wheel 62 that rotates while meshing with the worm 61. The rotating shaft of the motor 37 and the rotating shaft of the worm 61 are provided to be inclined at a predetermined angle from the first surface 94, and the worm 61 and the worm wheel 62 are tangent to the meshing portion 76 of the worm 61 and the worm wheel 62. Are arranged so as to be along the direction connecting the first surface 94 and the second surface 97 vertically.

  That is, the height Ha of the rotation center 80 on the worm 61 side of the motor 37 is not changed by inclining the motor 37 and the worm 61 by an angle θ in the direction in which the tip of the worm 61 approaches the bottom surface of the drive mechanism 27. The height of the meshing position 76 between the worm 61 and the worm wheel 62 is Hb, and the relationship of Ha> Hb is established. Therefore, the worm wheel 62 can be further arranged closer to the bottom surface 95, and as a result, The amount of protrusion toward the upper case 60 can be reduced.

  Third, the worm wheel 62 is a spur gear. That is, by inclining the worm 61 by the lead angle, the worm wheel 62 can be made a spur gear. As a result, no thrust load is generated on the worm wheel 62, so that the friction load torque is small, and vibration, noise, rotation Stable gear meshing can be realized with little variation in angular velocity.

  Fourth, either the distance from the first surface 94 to the meshing position of the worm wheel 62 and the worm 61 or the distance from the second surface 95 to the meshing position of the worm wheel 62 and the worm 61 is the motor. It is smaller than 1/2 of the outer shape of 37. Accordingly, the height position of the meshing portion 76 between the worm 61 and the worm wheel 62 can be arranged closer to the lower case 60 side (bottom surface 95 side) than 1/2 of the outer dimension of the motor 37. The amount of upward protrusion of the storage portion 79 can be reduced.

  Fifth, the drive mechanism 24 includes a first side surface 96 that connects the first surface 94 (upper surface) and the second surface 95 (lower surface), a second side surface 97 that faces the first side surface 96, A rotation detecting means 73 that includes a third side surface 98 that connects the first side surface 96 and the second side surface 97, and a fourth side surface 99 that faces the third side surface 98, and detects the position of the rotating member 36. And a connector 70 that electrically connects the motor 37 and the rotation detection means 73 to the outside of the drive mechanism 24, and the speed reduction means 93 is a gear that connects the output gear 67 connected to the rotation member 36 and the worm 61. The output gear 67 is disposed near the first side surface 96 and the third side surface 98, and the motor 37 and the worm 61 are disposed near the fourth side surface 99, and the worm 61 is disposed on the first side surface 96. Arranged in close proximity, the gear train is closer to the first side 96 The connector 70 is disposed near the second side surface 97, and the wiring cable 71 that connects the motor 37 and the connector 70 and the wiring cable 71 that connects the rotation detection means 73 and the connector 70 are connected to the speed reduction means 93. Placed apart. Thereby, the wiring cable 71 is not caught in each gear constituting the speed reduction means 93, and the reliability is high. Since one end of the motor terminal 75 of the motor 37 and the detection board 72 to which the wiring cable 71 is connected is disposed adjacent to the connector 70, the wiring cable 71 is short, wiring is easy, and reliability is improved. high.

  Seventh, a piece-like portion 88 formed by dividing the circumference with a plurality of slits 87 is provided integrally with the inner circumference of the output gear 67, fitted with the drive shaft 32, and tightened with a ring spring 89. Thereby, the torque limiting means 68 can be configured with an inexpensive configuration.

  In this embodiment, the drive mechanism 27 is provided on the heat insulating partition wall 12b between the freezer compartment 5b and the vegetable compartment 6 to open and close the lower freezer compartment 5. However, the drive mechanism 27 is not limited to the lower freezer compartment 5. Absent. For example, even when the drive mechanism 27 opens and closes the lowermost vegetable compartment 6 and is disposed on the bottom wall 92 of the refrigerator main body, the drive mechanism 27 can have the same configuration, and an equivalent effect can be obtained.

<Motor and worm fixing means>
Next, the configuration of the motor 37 and the case (upper case 59, lower case 60) will be further described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 22 is a perspective view of the motor and motor support means. FIG. 23 is a side sectional view showing a state in which the motor is incorporated in the case.
The motor 37 and the worm 61 connected to the rotation shaft of the motor 37 are arranged so as to be concentric with the motor support member 105, and the motor 37 is connected by a fastening means 107 (screw as an example) for motor fastening. Fastened to the motor support member 105.

  Further, a worm wheel shaft portion 110 for worm wheel arrangement is provided on a side portion of the worm 61 installation portion of the motor support member 105, and the worm wheel 62 is disposed around the worm wheel shaft portion 110.

  The motor support member 105 is configured so that the motor 37 and the worm 61 have a lead angle of the worm 60 with respect to the horizontal direction of the lower case 60 (left and right direction on the paper surface), as indicated by an arrow from the one-dot chain line to the chain line direction in FIG. It is supported so as to be inclined by a minute. Then, after the motor 37 and the worm 61 are assembled in the motor support member 105 in advance, they are collectively arranged in the case (upper case 59, lower case 60). The cylindrical worm wheel shaft 110 is arranged in a vertical direction with respect to the horizontal direction of the lower case 60, and the worm wheel 61 uses spur teeth.

  Further, the cylindrical portion 108 is disposed vertically upward from the horizontal direction of the lower case 60, and the cylindrical portion 109 is disposed vertically downward from the horizontal direction of the upper case 59. The cylindrical portion 108 and the cylindrical portion 109 are provided at positions facing each other in the vertical direction, and the fastening hole 106 of the motor support member 105 is positioned between the cylindrical portion 108 and the cylindrical portion 109. In this state, the three parts of the upper case 59, the lower case 60, and the motor support member 105 are fastened by fastening means 111 (screws as an example). The fastening holes 106 are provided at three locations, that is, a front portion, a rear portion, and a side portion of the motor 37, and suppress vibrations caused by the rotation operations of the motor 37 and the worm 61.

  The rotating shaft of the motor 37 (the rotating shaft into which the worm 61 is fitted) is inclined so that the direction in which the rotating member 36 pushes the connecting member 29 is lowered, and faces the opposite end of the rotating shaft of the motor 37. The upper case 59 has an inclined surface. Thereby, thickness reduction of the height direction of the whole door opening apparatus can be achieved. Further, an axial reaction force acts when the motor 37 and the worm 61 are rotated. The reaction force is received by the inclined surface of the upper case 59, so that rigidity can be maintained even when the door opening / closing device is thinned. Moreover, the vibration resulting from the reaction force can be suppressed.

  In addition, the cylindrical portion 108 and the cylindrical portion 109 are disposed below the inclined surface, and the three parts of the upper case 59, the lower case 60, and the motor support member 105 are fastened by fastening means 111 (for example, screws). . In this configuration, the inclined surface, the cylindrical portion 108, the cylindrical portion 109, and the fastening means 111 receive the reaction force that the motor 37 tries to move in the direction opposite to the rotational axis with respect to the force that the rotating member 36 presses the connecting member 29. Thereby, even if it is the structure which made the height direction of the door opening apparatus thin, sufficient rigidity can be acquired.

  Further, the motor 37 is integrally supported on the case (upper case 59, lower case 60) by the motor support member 105. Thereby, even if it is the structure which inclined the motor 37 and the worm | warm 61 with respect to the horizontal direction of the lower case 60, a positional accuracy becomes favorable and an assembly becomes easy.

  Further, a convex portion for controlling the position of the connecting member 29 is provided on the side surface of the motor protruding portion 38 disposed on the upper case 59 when the door is opened and closed, and the rotating member 36 and the connecting member 29 are brought into contact with each other, so that the rotational motion is linearly moved. It is possible to suppress left and right positional fluctuations of the connecting member 29 when converted.

<Application to other devices>
In the present embodiment, the door opening device 24 is provided on the drawer door of the lower freezer compartment 5 or the vegetable compartment 6, but the present invention is not limited to this embodiment. For example, even if it is provided in a rotary door such as the refrigerator compartment door 2, the same effect can be obtained.

  Moreover, although the present Example demonstrated the structure provided with the door opener in the refrigerator, it is not limited to a refrigerator. For example, the present invention can be applied to all known drawer-type devices such as a file cabinet for storing documents and a sink built-in dishwasher that is pulled out to the front, and in this case, the same effect as in this embodiment can be obtained. It is done.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Refrigerator main body 5 Lower freezing room 6 Vegetable room 12, 12a, 12b Heat insulation partition wall 18 Vacuum heat insulating material 23 Door opening switch 24 Door opening device 25 Foam heat insulating material 26 Support frame 27 Drive mechanism 28 Connection reinforcement means 29 Connection plate (connection member )
30 Second door detection means 31 Control board 32 Drive shaft 36 Rotating plate (Rotating member)
37 Motor 38 Motor housing part (protruding part)
48 steps (pressing part)
49 Step (Pressed part)
50 First magnet 51 Second magnet 52 Retraction position 53 Opening amount 57 Tip portion 58 Contact portion 59 Upper case (housing member)
60 Lower case (storage member)
61 Worm 62 Worm wheel (first gear)
63 Pinion gear (second gear)
64 Worm wheel shaft 65 Idler gear (third gear)
66 Idler shaft 67 Output gear (fourth gear)
68 Torque Limiting Means 69 Wiring Space 70 Connector 71 Wiring Cable 72 Detection Board 73 Rotation Detection Means 74 First Door Detection Means 75 Motor Terminal 76 Engagement Portion 77 Connector Receptacle 78 Sealing Material 79 Warm Wheel Storage Portion 80 Rotation Center 81 Gear Tooth Trace 82 Plane portion 83 First sliding surface 84 Second sliding surface 85 Groove 86 Stopper 87 Slit 88 Piece portion 89 Ring spring 90 O-shaped ring 91 Screw (fastening means)
92 Refrigerator bottom wall 93 Deceleration means 94 Upper surface (first surface)
95 Bottom (second surface)
96 1st side surface 97 2nd side surface 98 3rd side surface 99 4th side surface 100 Power supply 101 Operation panel 102 Operation means 103 Display means 104 Notification means 105 Motor support member 106 Fastening hole 107 Fastening means (screw)
108 Cylindrical part 109 Cylindrical part 110 Worm wheel shaft part 111 Fastening means (screw)

Claims (3)

A motor, a speed reduction means for reducing the driving force from the motor, a case housing the motor and the speed reduction means, a rotating member that rotates by rotation of the motor, and a rotational motion of the rotating member is converted into a linear motion A door opening device comprising:
The speed reduction means includes a worm provided on a rotating shaft of the motor, a worm wheel meshing with the worm, and an output gear coupled to the rotating member,
The vertical projection of the worm wheel and the connecting member is arranged at a position where it overlaps,
A door opening device characterized in that the tip of the worm is inclined in a direction approaching the bottom surface . The case is divided into an upper case and a lower case, and the motor is supported between the upper case and the lower case via motor support means,
The door opening device according to claim 1, wherein the upper case and the lower case each have a cylindrical portion in the vertical direction, and the cylindrical portions are fastened by fastening means. In a refrigerator comprising a drawer door that can be pulled out in the front-rear direction and a door opening device that opens the drawer door,
The door opening device is
Mounted on the motor, a speed reduction means for reducing the driving force from the motor, a case for housing the motor and the speed reduction means, a rotating member that rotates by rotation of the motor, and the drawer door or the drawer door A connecting member provided on the lower surface of the container for converting the rotational motion of the rotating member into a linear motion,
The speed reduction means includes a worm provided on a rotating shaft of the motor, a worm wheel meshing with the worm, and an output gear coupled to the rotating member,
The vertical projection of the worm wheel and the connecting member is arranged at a position where it overlaps,
A refrigerator characterized in that a tip of the worm is inclined in a direction close to a bottom surface .