JP7197975B2 - refrigerator - Google Patents

Description

Embodiments of the present invention relate to refrigerators.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a refrigerator, it has been considered to provide a lighting device at an end portion of a shelf that partitions the inside of the refrigerator (see Patent Document 1, for example). However, in this case, sufficient light cannot reach the area facing the end where the lighting device is arranged, and the visibility of stored food, ingredients, etc., stored in the refrigerator cannot be sufficiently improved. is difficult. In order to improve visibility, it is conceivable to place a lighting device in the center of the shelf, etc., but this reduces the storage height of the stored items at the location where the lighting device is placed, reducing the storage capacity of the stored items. Another problem arises.

JP 2016-61453 A

Therefore, the present invention provides a refrigerator capable of enhancing the visibility of stored items without lowering the storability of the stored items.

A refrigerator according to an embodiment includes a main body, a door that opens and closes a front opening of the main body, a lighting device that is provided inside the main body and is lit when the door is opened, and controls the operation of the lighting device. and a shelf that partitions the inside of the refrigerator. The shelf is composed of a transmissive member that transmits light. The lighting device includes a plurality of LEDs arranged side by side so as to irradiate the interior of the shelf with light from the side surface of the shelf on the back side of the main body. The shelf is formed with a diffuse reflection region that diffusely reflects light, and the lighting device is configured to selectively turn on and off the plurality of LEDs. The irregular reflection area is formed by unevenness representing one or both of characters and figures. The characters and graphics are for representing information about the operation of the refrigerator.

The figure which shows typically the structure of the refrigerator which concerns on 1st Embodiment. A diagram schematically showing the electrical configuration of the refrigerator according to the first embodiment. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing a specific configuration of the lighting device and the shelf according to the first embodiment; The perspective view which shows typically the specific structure of the illuminating device and shelf board which concern on 1st Embodiment. FIG. 4 is a diagram schematically showing a display mode of a diffused reflection area in a state where light is emitted from the lighting device according to the first embodiment; FIG. 4 is a diagram schematically showing a display mode of a diffused reflection area in a state where no light is emitted from the lighting device according to the first embodiment; Sectional drawing which shows typically the specific structure of the illuminating device which concerns on 2nd Embodiment, and a shelf board FIG. 1 schematically shows a mode of display by the irregular reflection area according to the second embodiment; FIG. 2 schematically shows a mode of display by the irregular reflection area according to the second embodiment; The figure which shows typically the structure of the refrigerator which concerns on 3rd Embodiment. The perspective view which shows typically the specific structure of the illuminating device and shelf board which concern on 3rd Embodiment.

A plurality of embodiments will be described below with reference to the drawings. In addition, the same code|symbol is attached|subjected to the substantially same structure in each embodiment, and description is abbreviate|omitted.
(First embodiment)
As shown in FIG. 1, the refrigerator 1 of the present embodiment includes, in order from the top of the main body 2, a refrigerating chamber 3, which is a storage chamber for storing stored items such as food and ingredients, a vegetable chamber 4, an ice making chamber 5, An upper freezer compartment 6 and a lower freezer compartment 7 are provided.

The refrigerator compartment 3 and the vegetable compartment 4 are separated from the ice making compartment 5 and the upper freezer compartment 6 by a heat insulating partition wall (not shown). The refrigerator compartment 3 is opened and closed by a so-called double-opening left door 3a and a right door 3b. and a door 7a, respectively. The left door 3 a and the right door 3 b correspond to doors for opening and closing the front opening of the main body 2 .

Each door is provided with a sensor (switch) for detecting its open/closed state (see FIG. 2. However, in FIG. 2, left door switch 21 for left door 3a and right door switch 21 for right door 3b are shown.) only switch 22 is shown). Note that the configuration of the refrigerator 1 shown in FIG. 1 is an example, and the order of arrangement of the storage compartments may be different. good.

The left door 3a of the refrigerator compartment 3 is provided with a door pocket 8a, a door pocket 9a, and a door pocket 10a in order from the top, and the right door 3b is provided with a door pocket 8b, a door pocket 9b, and a door pocket 10b in order from the top. is provided. Further, in the refrigerator compartment 3, a plurality of shelf boards 11a, 11b, 11c, and 11d made of a transparent material such as glass or transparent resin (for example, acrylic resin) are provided. In addition, a chilled room 12 is arranged at the bottom.

In the following, when there is no need to distinguish between the shelves 11a to 11d, they are collectively referred to as the shelf 11 as well. Of the plurality of shelves 11 , the lowest shelf 11 d constitutes the ceiling of the chilled compartment 12 . The shelf board 11 corresponds to a shelf that defines the inside of the refrigerating chamber 3, that is, the inside of the main body 2, and is made of a transmissive member that transmits light, as described above.

A ceiling light 13 as a lighting means is provided in the upper part of the refrigerator compartment 3 . A side light (not shown) provided on the side surface is also provided in the refrigerator compartment 3 . Among them, the ceiling light 13 is provided to illuminate the upper part of the inside of the refrigerator, and the side lights are provided to illuminate specific positions in the refrigerator, such as the central part and the lower part of the inside of the refrigerator.

Further, a lighting device 14 is provided inside the refrigerator compartment 3, that is, inside the refrigerator. Specifically, the lighting device 14 is provided on the back wall portion of the refrigerator compartment 3 (main body 2 ) at a position facing the shelf plate 11 d that constitutes the ceiling portion of the chilled compartment 12 . A lighting device 14 is provided to illuminate the vicinity of the chilled room 12 . In addition, the ceiling light 13, the side light, and the illumination device 14 are turned on when at least one of the left door 3a and the right door 3b is opened.

The left door 3a and the right door 3b of the refrigerating chamber 3 are covered with a glass plate 3b1 made of an insulating glass material on the front surface thereof, and the interior thereof is filled with urethane, which is a heat insulating material, as a filler. As is well known, the inner side thereof is provided with an inner plate 15 and a vertical plate 16 made of non-metallic resin. That is, the front sides of the left door 3a and the right door 3b are made of a glass plate 3b1, which is a non-metallic material that transmits radio waves.

The door pockets 8 to 10 described above are provided on the inner plate 15 . Further, the left door 3a is provided with a pivotable vertical partition 17 for filling the gap with the right door 3b. The front surface of the door 4a of the vegetable compartment 4 and the like is covered with a glass plate like the right door 3b, and the interior is filled with urethane as a heat insulating material.

The refrigerator 1 has a control section 20 that controls the entire operation. As shown in FIG. 4, the control unit 20 is configured by a microcomputer having a CPU, ROM, RAM, etc., and controls the entire refrigerator 1 by executing a computer program stored in the ROM, for example. .

The control unit 20 is connected with a left door switch 21, a right door switch 22, a ceiling light 13, an illumination device 14, and the like. Based on the signals given from the left door switch 21 and the right door switch 22, the control unit 20 detects opening and closing of the left door 3a and the right door 3b. When the control unit 20 detects that the left door 3a or the right door 3b has been opened, the control unit 20 controls the operation of the ceiling light 13, the lighting device 14, and the like so as to illuminate the inside of the refrigerator.

Also connected to the control unit 20 are an in-chamber temperature sensor 23, an outside air temperature sensor 24, a compressor 25, a fan 26, an operation unit 27, a display panel 28, and the like. The internal temperature sensor 23 measures the internal temperature of the storage compartment, specifically, the temperature of the storage compartment. In FIG. 2, one inside temperature sensor 23 is shown for the sake of simplification of explanation, but the inside temperature sensor 23 is, for example, for each storage compartment, or for storage compartments in the refrigeration temperature range and freezing A plurality of temperature zone storage chambers are provided. The outside air temperature sensor 24 measures the temperature outside the refrigerator 1 (outside the refrigerator). The compressor 25 constitutes a known refrigeration cycle (not shown). The fan 26 is a blower fan for circulating the air cooled by the refrigerating cycle inside the storage compartment.

The operation unit 27 is for setting the operation mode of the refrigerator 1, and is configured by an operation panel provided outside or inside the refrigerator. The user can set the operation mode of the refrigerator 1 by operating the operation unit 27 . The display panel 28 displays various information such as the operating state and operation mode of the refrigerator 1 .

An example of the operation mode of the refrigerator 1 that can be set by operating the operation unit 27 is the mode of the chilled compartment 12 . The chiller compartment 12 has, as its modes, a "chilled cooling" mode and a rapid "thawing" mode. The user can switch the mode of the chilled room 12 according to the operation of the operation unit 27 .

When the user operates the operation unit 27 to set the "chilled cooling" mode, the control unit 20 controls the compressor 25 and the airflow so that the temperature and air volume of the air sent into the chilled chamber 12 are suitable for the mode. It controls the operation of the fan 26 and also controls the operation of the display panel 28 to display that the mode of the chilled room 12 is set to the "chilled cooling" mode.

Further, when the user operates the operation unit 27 to set the "defrosting" mode, the control unit 20 controls the compressor 25 so that the temperature and air volume of the air sent into the chilled chamber 12 are suitable for the mode. and the fan 26, and also controls the operation of the display panel 28 to display that the chilled room 12 is set to the "thaw" mode.

Next, specific configurations of the lighting device 14 and the shelf board 11d will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4. FIG. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the illumination device 14 includes a plurality of LEDs 31, an LED board 32 on which the LEDs 31 are mounted, an LED board fixture 33, a board fixing tape (not shown), and a wire bundle (not shown). and the like. In addition, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the lighting device 14 is configured separately from the shelf plate 11d.

The LED board fixture 33 and the board fixing tape are for fixing the LED board 32 to the back wall of the refrigerator compartment 3 . The LED board fixture 33 is made of metal as a countermeasure against heat generated from the LEDs 31 . In this case, the LED board fixture 33 is formed by bending a metal plate so that the cross section is U-shaped.

As shown in FIG. 4, in the illumination device 14 of the present embodiment, a plurality of, specifically, six LEDs 31 are arranged in a row at regular intervals. The number and arrangement of the LEDs 31 may be optimally set according to the performance of the illumination device 14 such as the irradiation distance and irradiation angle of the LEDs 31 and the specifications such as the desired illumination range.

In this case, the illumination device 14 collectively turns on (turns on) and extinguishes (turns off) the plurality of LEDs 31 . Note that the illumination device 14 may selectively turn on/off the plurality of LEDs 31 . By doing so, it is possible to select and illuminate only a desired portion of the irradiation range of the lighting device 14 .

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the lighting device 14 irradiates the inside of the shelf 11d with light from the side of the shelf 11d, specifically, the side on the back side of the refrigerator compartment 3 (body 2). are arranged as Further, in this case, on the upper surface of the shelf plate 11d, a diffused reflection region 34 that diffusely reflects light is formed near the center of the refrigerator 1 in the front-rear direction (horizontal direction in FIG. 3). The irregular reflection area 34 is formed of unevenness representing characters (for example, “COOL”), and the distance between the unevenness becomes narrower as the distance from the illumination device 14 increases.

The irregular reflection area 34 can be formed by attaching the sticker or sheet having the unevenness to the shelf board 11d. Further, the diffused reflection area 34 can be formed by subjecting the shelf plate 11d to processing (for example, texturing) that imparts unevenness. Note that the irregular reflection region 34 may be formed on the lower surface of the shelf 11d instead of or in addition to the upper surface of the shelf 11d. Further, the irregular reflection region 34 may be formed by unevenness representing a figure instead of or in addition to the unevenness representing a character.

In this case, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, reflective members 35 for reflecting light are arranged on three side surfaces of the four side surfaces of the shelf board 11d excluding the side surface on which the lighting device 14 is arranged. It is The reflecting member 35 is, for example, an aluminum tape or the like, and is attached so as to cover only the three side surfaces of the shelf board 11d.

Next, illumination by the illumination device 14 having the above configuration will be described.
According to the above configuration, the light emitted from the illumination device 14 is guided (light-guided) into the shelf board 11d, which is a transparent member. The light guided into the shelf board 11d is irregularly reflected in the irregular reflection area. In this case, since the diffused reflection area 34 is formed on the upper surface of the shelf 11d, the diffusely reflected light uniformly illuminates the upper part of the shelf 11d, that is, the entirety of the stored items placed on the shelf 11d. can be done. When the irregular reflection area 34 is formed on the lower surface of the shelf 11d, the area below the shelf 11d, that is, the inside of the chilled compartment 12 can be uniformly illuminated over a wide area by the irregularly reflected light.

As described above, the irregular reflection area 34 is formed by unevenness representing, for example, the letters "COOL". Therefore, when light is emitted from the lighting device 14, the character "COOL" appears due to the light diffusely reflected in the diffuse reflection area 34, as shown in FIG. 5, and the user can recognize the character. .

On the other hand, when no light is emitted from the illumination device 14, the letters "COOL" do not appear as shown in FIG. 5 and 6, and FIGS. 8 and 9, which will be described later, are only diagrams for explaining the manner of display, and do not accurately represent the manner of actual display. In this case, in FIG. 5 and the like, the parts that are particularly emitting light are represented in black, and the other parts are represented in white.

As described above, in the refrigerator 1 of the present embodiment, the shelf board 11d forming the ceiling of the chilled compartment 12 is made of a permeable member. The illumination device 14 that lights up at times is provided so as to irradiate light from the side surface of the shelf 11d toward the inside of the shelf 11d. A diffused reflection area 34 for diffusely reflecting light is formed on the shelf board 11d.

According to such a configuration, when the irregular reflection area 34 is formed on the upper surface of the shelf board 11d, the whole of the storage items placed on the shelf board 11d is evenly distributed, regardless of the arrangement of the items placed on the shelf board 11d. can illuminate. Further, according to the above configuration, when the irregular reflection region 34 is formed on the lower surface of the shelf plate 11d, the inside of the chilled compartment 12 can be uniformly illuminated over a wide range. In this case, since the lighting device 14 is provided on the back side of the shelf plate 11d, the lighting device 14 does not reduce the storage height of the shelf plate 11d. Therefore, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to obtain the excellent effect of being able to improve the visibility of the stored items while maintaining the storability of the stored items in a favorable manner without deteriorating the storability.

The irregular reflection area 34 can be formed by unevenness representing one or both of characters and graphics. Here, if a character to be notified to the user is adopted as the character, when the user opens the doors 3a and 3b, the control unit 20 does not need to perform dedicated processing for notification, and the lighting device can be displayed in the conventional manner. The character or figure can be easily notified to the user simply by executing the processing for lighting 14 .

In this embodiment, the shelf board 11 including the shelf board 11d and the lighting device 14 are configured as separate bodies. According to such a structure, the shelf board 11 can be easily removed like a conventional refrigerator. Therefore, according to the configuration of this embodiment, the user can easily clean the shelf board 11 .

In this embodiment, reflecting members 35 that reflect light are arranged on three side surfaces of the four side surfaces of the shelf board 11d, excluding the side surface on which the lighting device 14 is arranged. According to such a configuration, of the light emitted from the illumination device 14, the light that passes through the irregular reflection area 34 without being diffusely reflected, the light that is emitted in a direction different from the irregular reflection area 34, and the like are reflected by the reflecting member 35. It is possible to reflect the light, and the reflected light can be diffusely reflected by the diffused reflection area 34 . Therefore, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to keep the output (input) of the lighting device 14 low while maintaining the same level of lighting effect as compared with a configuration in which the reflecting member 35 is not arranged. 1 power consumption can be reduced.

The reflecting member 35 is provided so as to cover only the side surface of the shelf board 11d. In other words, the reflecting member 35 is not provided so as to cover the upper surface and the lower surface of the shelf board 11d. According to such a configuration, when light is emitted from the lighting device 14, light is emitted along the outline (rectangular shape) of the upper surface and the lower surface of the shelf board 11d, so that the aesthetic appearance is improved. .

In the present embodiment, the intervals (coarse/dense) of the irregularities (grains) of the irregular reflection area 34 change according to the distance from the illumination device 14 . Specifically, the shorter the distance from the illumination device 14, the wider the unevenness interval ( rough ), and the longer the distance from the illumination device 14, the narrower the unevenness interval ( dense ). In this way, the intensity of the light diffusely reflected in the irregular reflection area 34 becomes uniform regardless of the distance from the illumination device 14, and the brightness of the characters that emerge due to the irregularly reflected light can be made uniform. can.

(Second embodiment)
The second embodiment will be described below with reference to FIGS. 7 to 9. FIG.
The shelf board 41 of this embodiment constitutes the ceiling portion of the chilled room 12, like the shelf board 11d of the first embodiment. In this case, on the upper surface of the shelf plate 41, a diffused reflection area 42 for diffusely reflecting light is formed at a position near the front opening of the main body 2, that is, the edge on the side of the doors 3a and 3b (right edge in FIG. 7). It is

The diffused reflection area 42 is formed of unevenness representing characters in the same manner as the diffused reflection area 34 , but the characters are for representing information about the operation of the refrigerator 1 . Specifically, the characters are used to indicate the setting status of the mode of the chilled room 12 . Therefore, in this embodiment, the mode of the chilled room 12 is not included in the various information displayed on the display panel 28 . Further, in this case, at least the operation unit 27 related to the mode setting of the chilled chamber 12 is provided inside the refrigerator.

In this embodiment, when the user operates the operation unit 27 to set the "chilled cooling" mode, the control unit 20 controls the temperature and air volume of the air sent into the chilled room 12 to be suitable for the mode. In addition to controlling the operation of the compressor 25 and the fan 26, the operation of the lighting device 14 is also controlled to display that the mode of the chilled room 12 is set to the "chilled cooling" mode.

Further, when the user operates the operation unit 27 to set the "defrosting" mode, the control unit 20 controls the compressor 25 so that the temperature and air volume of the air sent into the chilled chamber 12 are suitable for the mode. and the fan 26, and also controls the operation of the lighting device 14 to display that the chilled room 12 is set to the "thaw" mode.

As described above, the diffused reflection area 42 is formed by projections and depressions representing letters for representing the mode setting status of the chilled room 12 . Specifically, as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, the diffuse reflection area 42 has the words "chilled cooling" located in the left half of the diffuse reflection area 42 and the words "thaw" located in the right half. It is formed by unevenness representing letters. The left-right direction referred to here is the same direction as the left-right direction of the refrigerator 1 (the left-right direction in FIG. 1). Further, the diffused reflection area 42 may be formed by projections and depressions representing figures for representing the setting state of the mode of the chilled chamber 12 instead of or in addition to the projections and depressions representing characters.

In this case, when the chilled room 12 is set to the "chilled cooling" mode, the controller 20 operates the lighting device 14 so that only the LEDs 31 facing the left half of the irregular reflection area 42 are lit. Control. As a result of such control, as shown in FIG. 8, only the letters "chilled cooling" appear in the irregular reflection region 42 due to the irregularly reflected light. Then, the user can recognize the mode of the chilled room 12 by the characters that appear.

Further, when the mode of the chilled room 12 is set to the "thaw" mode, the control unit 20 controls the operation of the lighting device 14 so that only the LEDs 31 facing the right half of the irregular reflection area 42 are turned on. . As a result of such control, as shown in FIG. 9, only the characters "thaw" appear in the irregular reflection area 42 due to the diffusely reflected light. Then, the user can recognize the mode of the chilled room 12 by the characters that appear.

As described above, the irregular reflection area 42 formed on the shelf plate 41 of the present embodiment is formed of unevenness representing characters in the same manner as the irregular reflection area 34 of the first embodiment. effect is obtained. Furthermore, in this case, the characters are for representing information about the operation of the refrigerator 1 , specifically, for representing the mode of the chilled compartment 12 . Therefore, according to this embodiment, the mode of the chilled room 12 can be notified to the user by the illumination by the lighting device 14 instead of the display by the display panel 28 .

Further, in this case, an operation unit 27 for setting the mode of the chilled chamber 12 is provided inside the refrigerator. According to such a configuration, the user can open the doors 3a and 3b and operate the operation unit while confirming the characters appearing in the irregular reflection area 42 provided near the end on the front side of the shelf 41. By operating 27, the mode of the chilled room 12 can be switched to a desired mode.

(Third embodiment)
The third embodiment will be described below with reference to FIGS. 10 and 11. FIG.
As shown in FIG. 10, a refrigerator 51 of the present embodiment includes shelves 52a, 52b, and 52c in place of the shelves 11a, 11b, and 11c of the refrigerator 1 of each of the embodiments described above. The difference is that 53a, 53b, and 53c are added. The shelf boards 52a to 52c correspond to shelves that partition the inside of the refrigerator, and the specific configuration thereof will be described later. In the following description, the shelf boards 52a to 52c are collectively referred to as the shelf board 52 when there is no need to distinguish between them.

The lighting devices 53 a to 53 c are provided inside the refrigerator compartment 3 . The lighting device 53a is provided on the rear wall portion of the refrigerator compartment 3 at a position facing the shelf plate 52a. The lighting device 53b is provided on the rear wall portion of the refrigerator compartment 3 at a position facing the shelf plate 52b. The lighting device 53c is provided on the rear wall portion of the refrigerator compartment 3 at a position facing the shelf plate 52c. The lighting devices 53a-53c are provided to illuminate the vicinity of the shelf plates 52a-52c, respectively. In the following description, the illumination devices 53a to 53c are also collectively referred to as the illumination device 53 when there is no need to distinguish between them.

Next, specific configurations of the lighting device 53 and the shelf board 52 will be described with reference to FIG. 11 . In addition, in FIG. 11, the shelf board 52 is shown in a state where each component is disassembled for convenience of explanation. As shown in FIG. 11, the illumination device 53 has the same configuration as the illumination device 14 in each of the above embodiments, that is, it is configured as an LED unit including a plurality of LEDs 31, LED substrates 32, LED substrate fixtures 33, and the like. . Also in this case, the lighting device 53 is arranged so as to irradiate the inside of the shelf 52 with light from the side of the shelf 52, specifically the side on the back side of the refrigerator compartment 3 (body 2). .

The shelf plate 52 is constructed by sandwiching an acrylic plate 54 , which is a transparent member that transmits light, between a diffusion sheet 55 and a reflection sheet 56 . The diffusion sheet 55 is a sheet having unevenness representing characters and the like, and is provided so as to cover the upper surface side of the acrylic plate 54 . As a result, a diffuse reflection region for diffusely reflecting light is formed over the entire upper surface of the acrylic plate 54 .

Also, the reflective sheet 56 is a sheet made of metal such as aluminum, for example, and is provided so as to cover the lower surface side of the acrylic plate 54 . As a result, a reflective area that reflects light is formed over the entire lower surface of the acrylic plate 54 . In this case, the reflective sheet 56 corresponds to a reflective member. Note that the arrangement of the diffusion sheet 55 and the reflection sheet 56 can be exchanged. In this way, a reflective area is formed over the entire upper surface of the acrylic plate 54 and a diffused reflection area is formed over the entire lower surface of the acrylic plate 54 .

According to the above configuration, the light emitted from the illumination device 53 is guided (light-guided) inside the acrylic plate 54 of the shelf board 52 . The light guided into the acrylic plate 54 is irregularly reflected by the diffusion sheet 55 forming the irregular reflection area. In this case, since the diffused reflection area is formed on the upper surface of the acrylic plate 54, the diffusely reflected light can evenly illuminate the upper part of the shelf board 52, that is, the entirety of the stored items placed on the shelf board 52. can. When the irregular reflection area is formed on the lower surface of the acrylic plate 54, the area below the shelf board 52 can be evenly illuminated over a wide area by the irregularly reflected light.

As described above, in the refrigerator 51 of the present embodiment, the shelf board 52 that partitions the interior of the refrigerator has the acrylic plate 54 that is a transparent member. One illumination device 53 that lights when opened is provided so as to irradiate the inside of the shelf 52 with light from the side surface of the shelf 52 . The shelf board 52 is formed with a diffused reflection region for diffusely reflecting light. Therefore, according to the present embodiment, as in the case of the first embodiment, etc., it is possible to obtain the excellent effect of being able to improve the visibility of the stored item while maintaining the storability of the stored item in a favorable manner without deteriorating it.

In this embodiment, a reflective sheet 56 is arranged so as to cover the lower surface of the shelf plate 52, thereby forming a reflective area that reflects light over the entire lower surface. According to such a configuration, of the light emitted from the lighting device 53, the light emitted toward the lower surface of the acrylic plate 54 can be reflected. Diffuse reflection can be caused by the diffuse reflection area formed on the side.

Therefore, according to this embodiment, it is possible to keep the output (input) of the lighting device 53 low while maintaining the same degree of lighting effect as compared with a configuration in which the reflection sheet 56 is not arranged. 51 power consumption can be reduced. Also in this embodiment, the reflecting member 35 similar to the shelf 11 d in the first embodiment may be arranged on the side surface of the shelf 52 . By doing so, the above-described effect of reflection can be further enhanced.

(Other embodiments)
The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above and illustrated in the drawings, and can be arbitrarily modified, combined, or expanded without departing from the scope of the invention.
The numerical values and the like shown in each of the above embodiments are examples, and are not limited to them.

The irregular reflection area may be formed by unevenness representing only a figure such as a simple square. Even with such a configuration, the interior of the refrigerator can be brightly illuminated by diffusely reflecting the light emitted from the lighting device 14, and the visibility of stored items such as food and ingredients can be improved.

The reflecting member 35 in the first and second embodiments may be arranged on at least one of the three side surfaces of the four side surfaces of the shelf board 11d excluding the side surface on which the lighting device 14 is arranged. Even with such a configuration, at least part of the light emitted from the illumination device 14 can be reflected, so that the effect of suppressing the output of the illumination device 14 can be obtained. Moreover, the reflecting member 35 may be arranged so as to cover one or both of the upper surface and the lower surface in addition to the side surface of the shelf plate 11d. According to this configuration, although the effect of improving the aesthetic appearance described above cannot be obtained, the effect obtained by reflecting light is not impaired. Furthermore, the reflecting member 35 may be provided as required, and may be omitted.

As the LEDs 31 of the illumination devices 14 and 53, those capable of changing the emission color may be used. By doing so, it is possible to change the color of the illumination according to the temperature of the location illuminated by the illumination devices 14 and 53 . For example, depending on the temperature in the refrigerator compartment 3, the color of the illumination can be changed stepwise or continuously as follows.
Temperature inside refrigerating compartment 3: 20°C or more Emission color: red Temperature inside refrigerating compartment 3: 10°C or more and less than 20°C Emission color: Orange Temperature inside refrigeration chamber 3: 7°C or more and less than 10°C Luminous color: yellow Temperature inside the refrigerator compartment 3: less than 6° C. Luminous color: white In this manner, the user intuitively recognizes the difference in temperature of the illuminated portion from the difference in the color of the illumination. be able to.

While several embodiments of the invention have been described above, these embodiments are provided by way of example and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. These novel embodiments can be implemented in various other forms, and various omissions, replacements, and modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. These embodiments and modifications thereof are included in the scope and gist of the invention, and are included in the scope of the invention described in the claims and equivalents thereof.

In the drawings, 1 and 51 are a refrigerator, 2 is a main body, 3a is a left door (door), 3b is a door, 11, 41 and 52 are shelves (shelf), 14 and 53 are lighting devices, 20 is a control unit, and 34 , 42 denotes a diffuse reflection area, 35 denotes a reflection member, 55 denotes a diffusion sheet (irregular reflection area), and 56 denotes a reflection sheet (reflection member).

Claims (5)

the main body;
a door for opening and closing the front opening of the main body;
a lighting device provided in the interior of the main body and turned on when the door is opened;
a control unit that controls the operation of the lighting device;
a shelf that partitions the inside of the storage;
A refrigerator comprising
The shelf is composed of a transparent member that transmits light,
The lighting device comprises a plurality of LEDs arranged side by side so as to irradiate the inside of the shelf with light from the side surface of the main body on the back side of the shelf,
The shelf has a diffused reflection area that diffusely reflects light,
The lighting device is configured to selectively turn on and off the plurality of LEDs ,
The irregular reflection area is formed by unevenness representing one or both of characters and figures,
The refrigerator, wherein the characters and graphics are for representing information about the operation of the refrigerator. 2. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein a reflecting member that reflects light is arranged on at least one of the side surfaces of the shelf, excluding the side surface on which the lighting device is arranged. 3. The refrigerator according to claim 2 , wherein said reflecting member is provided so as to cover only side surfaces of said shelf. 4. The refrigerator according to any one of claims 1 to 3 , wherein the shelf and the lighting device are configured separately. 5. The refrigerator according to any one of claims 1 to 4 , wherein the irregular reflection area is formed of unevenness, and the distance between the unevenness is narrowed as the distance from the lighting device increases.

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