JP7139480B2 - refrigerator - Google Patents

Description

Embodiments of the present invention relate to refrigerators.

Conventionally, a refrigerator is composed of a cabinet filled with a foam insulation material between an outer box and an inner box, and forms a storage room inside the cabinet. In order to reduce the volume, or to reduce the wall thickness of the cabinet and improve the internal volume efficiency, vacuum insulation panels are installed instead of part of the foam insulation filling between the outer and inner boxes. It is

This type of vacuum insulation panel includes a core material and a bag body, as disclosed in Patent Document 1, for example. The core material is made of glass wool, which is a cotton-like material of thin glass fibers, and the bag is made of a laminate film having aluminum foil or the like. This vacuum insulation panel is constructed by housing a core material in a bag, reducing the pressure in the bag, closing the opening, and maintaining the pressure in the bag.

However, if the bag of the vacuum insulation panel is damaged during panel manufacturing or assembly into a cabinet, outside air enters the bag and the heat insulation performance is significantly deteriorated. In particular, when a hole is formed due to damage to the bag, even if the hole is a minute hole of less than several μm, the amount of outside air entering the inside of the bag is small. Although it depends on the size, a slow leak occurs in which the insulation performance of the vacuum insulation panel gradually deteriorates over a long period of time, for example, from several tens of days to several months, and finally the inside of the bag reaches atmospheric pressure. Thermal insulation performance deteriorates remarkably. Therefore, even if a sufficient heat insulating performance is confirmed at the time of manufacturing the vacuum heat insulating panel, the heat insulating performance gradually deteriorates thereafter, which makes it difficult to ensure the reliability of the heat insulating performance over a long period of time.

JP 2005-106094 A

Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a refrigerator using a vacuum insulation panel that can maintain heat insulation performance for a long period of time.

The refrigerator of this embodiment is a refrigerator having a vacuum insulation panel in a heat insulation space provided between an inner box and an outer box, wherein the vacuum insulation panel has a core material and a gas barrier layer containing metal. a plurality of bags whose interiors are vacuum-sealed in a state in which the core material is accommodated; and an adhesive layer for bonding the bag bodies to each other is provided in a partial area of the planar portion of the core material, and the bag The body has surfaces facing each other with the adhesive layer interposed therebetween and is made of the same material .

It is a sectional view of a refrigerator concerning a 1st embodiment. FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a main part of a vacuum insulation panel used in the refrigerator shown in FIG. 1;

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below based on the drawings.

As shown in FIG. 1, a refrigerator 10 of the present embodiment is provided with an insulating space between an outer box 12 made of steel and an inner box 14 that is housed inside the outer box 12 and forms a storage space. A refrigerating cycle (not shown) and the like are incorporated in this cabinet 18.

A thermoplastic adhesive is applied to the side of the heat insulating space of the outer box 12 and the inner box 14 forming the heat insulating space so that the vacuum heat insulating panel 50 is not bent and becomes substantially flat along the outer box 12 and the inner box 14. (hot melt) or other adhesive. In addition, the cabinet 18 may have a gap outside the vacuum insulation panel 50 in the insulation space. If necessary, a foamed heat insulating material 20 made of urethane foam or the like and a refrigerant pipe such as a heat radiation pipe that constitutes a part of the refrigeration cycle are disposed in this gap, and the outer box 12 and the inner box 14 are integrated. be done. In particular, a part of the refrigerant pipe such as the heat radiation pipe is arranged by forming a groove on the side of the outer case 12 of the vacuum insulation panel 50 and housing the refrigerant pipe in the groove. Therefore, in the vacuum insulation panel 50 arranged on the rear surface and the side surface of the refrigerator 10, the refrigerant pipe and the vacuum insulation panel 50 are configured to be in contact with each other.

A storage space provided inside the cabinet 11 is divided into an upper refrigerating space and a lower freezing space by a heat insulating partition wall 22 . The refrigerating space is further partitioned into upper and lower parts by a partition wall 24. The upper space is provided with a refrigerating chamber 26 having a plurality of shelves, and the lower space is provided with a vegetable chamber 28 in which a drawer-type storage container is arranged. ing. In the freezer space, an ice-making compartment 30 equipped with a relatively small-capacity automatic ice-making machine and a small freezer compartment 32 are arranged side by side, and a freezer compartment 34 is provided below them.

FIG. 2 shows a cross-section of an end portion of the vacuum insulation panel 50. The vacuum insulation panel 50 includes a rectangular plate-like core material 52 molded to match the shape of the wall to which it is attached, and a second core material 52 that accommodates the core material 52. 1 bag body 54 and a bag-like second bag body 56 that houses the first bag body 54 containing the core material 52 .

The core material 52 is a laminated material 52a made of a material with high heat insulation, such as inorganic fibers such as glass wool and silica alumina, or inorganic powder such as silica powder, and an inner bag 52b made of a synthetic resin film such as polyethylene. After being housed, it is compressed and hardened into a rectangular plate shape.

The first bag body 54 comprises a laminated film having a three-layer structure in which a surface protective layer 54a, a gas barrier layer 54b, and a thermal adhesive layer 54c are laminated in order from the outside to the inside. The surface protective layer 54a is made of a synthetic resin, such as polyethylene terephthalate, which is relatively resistant to heat. The gas barrier layer 54b is formed of a metal deposit (for example, an aluminum deposit obtained by depositing aluminum on a resin film) or a metal foil (for example, aluminum foil). The heat-sealable layer 54c is made of a heat-sealable synthetic resin such as high-density polyethylene.

The first bag body 54 is formed by overlapping the heat-sealed layers 54c of the two laminated films facing each other and applying pressure and heat to the peripheral portion, thereby heat-sealing the two laminated films and sealing the opening. It is formed in a bag shape having After the core material 52 is housed inside the first bag 54 through the opening, the opening of the first bag 54 is sealed by heat welding while the inside is evacuated and decompressed.

The peripheral portion of the first bag body 54 protrudes from the core material 52 in order to heat-weld the two laminated films, and the protruding portion is bent at the edge of the core material 52 to form one laminated film. The folded portion 62 is superimposed on the .

The second bag body 56 comprises a laminated film having the same configuration as the laminated film constituting the first bag body 54, in which a surface protection layer 56a, a gas barrier layer 56b, and a thermal adhesive layer 56c are sequentially laminated from the outside to the inside. , The heat-sealed layers 56c of the two laminated films are placed facing each other, and the peripheral portion is pressurized and heated, so that the two laminated films are heat-sealed and sealed to form a bag having an opening. It is

The second bag body 56 accommodates the first bag body 54 whose interior is vacuum-sealed while containing the core material 52 , and then the opening of the second bag body 56 is opened while the interior is evacuated and decompressed. It is sealed by heat welding.

The peripheral portion of the second bag 56 protrudes from the first bag 54 containing the core material 52 for heat-sealing the two laminated films. It is folded at the edge to form a folded portion 64 overlaid on one of the laminated films. In this embodiment, the folded portion 64 provided in the second bag body 56 overlaps the folded portion 62 provided in the first bag body 54 so as to cover the folded portion 62 provided in the first bag body 54 from the outside.

The heat sealing layer 56c located on the inner surface of the second bag 56 is adhered and fixed by the surface protection layer 54a located on the outer surface of the first bag 54 housed inside the second bag 56 and the adhesive layer 58. It is At this time, the adhesive layer 58 is provided in a region where the folded portions 62 and 64 do not overlap.

Specifically, when housing the first bag body 54 inside the second bag body 56 , a thermal barrier such as an olefin-based, polyester-based, or urethane-based heat is placed between the first bag body 54 and the second bag body 56 . Two thermal adhesive sheets containing a plastic adhesive (hot melt) are inserted so as to sandwich the first bag, and the opening of the second bag 56 is sealed by heat welding while the pressure inside is reduced as described above. After that, by heating the second bag body 56, the adhesive layer 58 that bonds the first bag body 54 and the second bag body 56 together can be formed.
It should be noted that the adhesive layer 58 need not be provided on all of the facing surfaces of the first bag body 54 and the second bag body 56, and if the second bag body 56 can be fixed to the first bag body 54, the adhesive layer 58 is partially attached. may be provided.

Further, the adhesive layer 58 that bonds the first bag 54 and the second bag 56 is not limited to the above-described thermal adhesive sheet. It may be formed by welding, ultrasonic welding, laser welding, high-frequency welding, or the like.

Further, in this embodiment, after the first bag 54 is accommodated inside the second bag 56, the first bag 54 and the second bag 56 are adhered with double-sided adhesive tape, and then the inside is decompressed. By sealing the opening of the second bag body 56 in this state, the inside of the second bag body 56 containing the first bag body 54 is vacuum-sealed, and the first bag body 54 and the second bag body 56 are separated. An adhesive layer 58 may be provided between.

In addition, in this embodiment, when the first bag 54 and the second bag 56 are adhered, the second bag 56 is attached to the adhesive layer 58 provided between the first bag 54 and the second bag 56 from the outside. You can also press it toward it.

In addition, in the present embodiment described above, the case where the laminated film forming the first bag 54 and the laminated film forming the second bag 56 are made of the same film has been described. The surface protective layer 54a located on the outer surface of the second bag body 56 and forming a bonding surface with the second bag body 56, and the heat welding layer 56c located on the inner surface of the second bag body 56 and forming a bonding surface with the first bag body 54 are the same. Alternatively, the surface protective layer 54a of the first bag 54 and the heat-adhesive layer 56c of the second bag 56, which form the adhesive surfaces, may be subjected to corona treatment. The adhesiveness with the 2 bag body 56 can be improved.

In particular, when bonding the first bag 54 and the second bag 56 by heater heat welding, ultrasonic welding, laser welding, high frequency welding, etc., the surface protection of the laminated film forming the first bag 54 By forming the layer 54a from the same synthetic resin as the heat-sealable layers 54c and 56c, the layer 54a can be easily welded, and the adhesiveness between the first bag 54 and the second bag 56 can be improved.

In the refrigerator 10 of the present embodiment as described above, the vacuum insulation panel 50 provided in the heat insulation space of the cabinet 18 includes the first bag body 54 that houses the core material 52 and the second bag body 54 that houses the first bag body 54 . The interiors of the first bag 54 and the second bag 56 are vacuum-sealed, and the first bag 54 and the second bag 56 double vacuum-seal the core material 52. Therefore, even if one of the bags is damaged, the outside air will not enter the inside of the bag and the heat insulation performance will not deteriorate.

In addition, the vacuum insulation panel 50 has a core material 52 with relatively high rigidity by fixing the second bag body 56 constituting the outer surface thereof to the outer box 12 and the inner box 16 with an adhesive or the foamed heat insulating material 20 . is integrated with the cabinet 18 to increase the rigidity of the cabinet 18.

Moreover, if the second bag body 56 is not fixed to the first bag body 54 and the second bag body 56 is damaged and outside air enters the inside of the second bag body 56 , it will be accommodated in the first bag body 54 . The core material 52 is not fixed to the outer box 12 or the inner box 16, and the rigidity of the cabinet 18 may decrease. Therefore, even if external air enters the inside of the second bag 56, the first bag 54 and the core material 52 existing inside thereof remain integrated with the cabinet 18. and the rigidity of the cabinet 18 is not lowered.

Since the adhesive layer 58 is provided in a region that does not overlap with the folded portions 62 and 64, it is possible to prevent the thickness of the vacuum insulation panel 50 from partially increasing due to overlapping of the folded portions 62 and 64 and the adhesive layer 58. can.

Vacuum insulation panels placed on the back and sides of the refrigerator 10, which come into direct contact with members that may damage the vacuum insulation panel such as refrigerant pipes, are vacuum insulation panels that are double decompressed and sealed. is adopted, and a single-ply vacuum insulation panel is used for the vacuum insulation panel to be placed in a place such as the ceiling surface or the bottom surface where the vacuum insulation panel needs to be greatly bent when it is attached. As a result, the manufacturing cost of the refrigerator can be kept low compared to the case where all the vacuum insulation panels are double vacuum-sealed.

In addition, by double decompressing and sealing a single vacuum insulation panel, such as the rear and side surfaces of the refrigerator 10, which is larger than the ceiling surface and the bottom surface, the large size vacuum insulation panel that is more likely to be damaged is reduced. Damage can be prevented more reliably.

Although embodiments of the present invention have been described above, these embodiments are presented as examples and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. These embodiments can be implemented in various other forms, and various omissions, replacements, and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. These embodiments and their modifications are included in the scope and spirit of the invention, as well as the scope of the invention described in the claims and equivalents thereof.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10... Refrigerator, 12... Outer box, 14... Inner box, 18... Cabinet, 20... Foam insulation material, 22... Heat insulation partition, 50... Vacuum insulation panel, 52... Core material, 52a... Laminated material, 52b... Inner bag, 54 First bag 54a Surface protective layer 54b Gas barrier layer 54c Adhesive layer 56 Second bag 56a Surface protective layer 56b Gas barrier layer 56c Adhesive layer 58 Adhesive layer , 62... folding part, 64... folding part

Claims (1)

A refrigerator having a vacuum insulation panel in an insulation space provided between an inner box and an outer box,
The vacuum insulation panel comprises a core material, and a plurality of bags having a gas barrier layer containing a metal and having an interior vacuum-sealed while containing the core material,
An adhesive layer for bonding the bags together is provided in a partial region of the planar portion of the core material ,
A refrigerator in which the surfaces of the bag facing each other via the adhesive layer are made of the same material.

Images