JP7456853B2 - refrigerator - Google Patents

Description

Embodiments of the present invention relate to refrigerators.

In a refrigerator, a pull-out storage container that can be pulled out forward is sometimes placed in a conspicuous position inside the refrigerator, such as in the lower part of the refrigerator compartment (for example, see Patent Document 1 below).

In such refrigerators, it is possible to improve usability by placing a pull-out container in a location where stored items can be easily taken out and put in, but since it is placed in a conspicuous location, it is desirable to improve the design of the storage container. ing.

Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2015-55452

The embodiments of the present invention have been made in consideration of the above circumstances, and improve the design of a refrigerator provided with a pull-out storage container.

In one embodiment, a refrigerator includes a refrigerator main body that is provided with a storage chamber that opens to the front, and a storage container that is provided in the storage chamber and that is open to the top and that can be pulled out forward. comprises a bottom, a peripheral wall projecting upward from the left and right ends and a rear end of the bottom, and a front wall projecting upward from the front end of the bottom, and the front wall is connected to the bottom and the peripheral wall. A peripheral wall engaging part that is separate and is provided at the front upper end of the peripheral wall, a front wall engaging part that is provided at both left and right ends of the front wall and engages with the peripheral wall engaging part, and a hanging wall provided at intervals in front of the front wall so as to cover the front of the wall engaging part, and a connecting part that projects forward from the front wall and connects the hanging wall and the front wall. The connecting portion overlaps at least a portion of the front wall engaging portion in the front-rear direction.
Further, in one embodiment, the refrigerator includes a refrigerator main body provided with a storage chamber that opens forward, and a storage container that opens at the top and is provided in the storage chamber so as to be able to be drawn forward. The storage container includes a bottom, a peripheral wall projecting upward from the left and right ends and a rear end of the bottom, and a front wall projecting upward from the front end of the bottom, and the front wall is connected to the bottom and the rear end. The front wall includes a shelf board that is separate from the peripheral wall and is provided above the storage container to partition the storage chamber into upper and lower parts, and the front wall includes a protrusion that protrudes forward and upward from the upper end, and the protrusion The upper end is arranged in front of the shelf board so as to overlap with the shelf board in the front-back direction, and the lower side of the front end of the shelf board is inclined upward toward the front end.

A vertical cross-sectional view showing a schematic configuration of a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention Front view of the refrigerator body AA cross-sectional view of FIG. Front view of a cold storage room with a water tank and storage container BB sectional view in Figure 4 Exploded perspective view of storage container Exploded perspective view of storage container

EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION Hereinafter, the refrigerator 1 of one embodiment of this invention is demonstrated based on drawing. Note that the following embodiments are merely examples, and the scope of the invention is not limited thereto. Various omissions, substitutions, and changes can be made to the following embodiments without departing from the gist of the invention. The following embodiments and their modifications are included within the scope of the invention described in the claims and its equivalents.

In the following description, the left-right direction, the front-back direction, and the up-down direction indicate directions when the refrigerator is viewed from the front, and the left-right direction corresponds to the width direction of the refrigerator. In addition, right, left, top, bottom, back, back, and front refer to the position or side when looking at the refrigerator from the front, unless otherwise specified. Further, in the inner box 4 of the refrigerator 1, the side facing the storage room is defined as the inside of the refrigerator, and the side facing the outer box 3 via the heat insulating material is defined as the heat-insulating space side.

(1) Configuration of refrigerator 1 The configuration of refrigerator 1 will be explained with reference to the drawings. As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the refrigerator 1 includes a refrigerator main body 2 that is open at the front. The refrigerator main body 2 includes an outer box 3 made of a steel plate and an inner box 4 made of synthetic resin, and a heat insulating space is provided between the outer box 3 and the inner box 4 to store a heat insulating material such as a foam heat insulating material or a vacuum heat insulating panel. 5 is formed. The refrigerator main body 2 is provided with a plurality of storage chambers inside an inner box 4. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 1, a refrigerator compartment 6 and a vegetable compartment 7 are provided in this order from the top, and a freezing compartment 10 is provided below.

The refrigerator compartment 6 and the vegetable compartment 7 are storage compartments that are cooled to a refrigeration temperature range (for example, 1 to 4° C.) based on the temperature detected by a refrigerator temperature sensor 36 provided on the rear surface. The space between the refrigerator compartment 6 and the vegetable compartment 7 is vertically partitioned by a synthetic resin partition plate 11, and the air in the refrigerator compartment 6 is passed through a communication hole 17 provided at the rear end of the partition plate 11. It flows into the vegetable compartment 7. The front opening of the refrigerator compartment 6 is provided with a pivotable heat insulating door 6a supported by a hinge.

The rear surface of the refrigerator compartment 6 is defined by a rear wall member 40 provided at a distance in front of the inner box rear surface 4e. The rear wall member 40 forms a first flow path portion 24b and a second flow path portion 24c, which constitute a part of the refrigerator side flow path 24 through which cold air supplied to the refrigerator compartment 6 flows, between the rear wall member 40 and the inner box rear surface 4e. do. The rear wall member 40 also includes an operation panel 39 for the user to perform various settings such as temperature settings for the refrigerator compartment 6, the freezer compartment 10, etc., and a refrigerator compartment temperature sensor 36 for detecting the temperature inside the refrigerator compartment 6. is provided.

The interior space of the refrigerator compartment 6 is provided with multiple shelves 12 spaced apart vertically. The space partitioned vertically by the partition plate 11 and the lowest shelf 12a forms a lower storage chamber 6b for storing pull-out containers such as a water tank 30 and a storage container 14, and the space partitioned above the lowest shelf 12a forms an upper storage chamber 6c in which shelves 12 are provided.

The upper storage chamber 6c is a storage chamber disposed at the top of the refrigerator 1, and when no stored items are stored, the rear wall plate 41 of the rear wall member 40 disposed at the rear of the upper storage chamber 6c is exposed. It is visible from the front.

The rear wall plate 41 is made of a plate-shaped body that constitutes the front part of the rear wall member 40, and is provided over almost the entire width of the upper storage chamber 6c to partition the rear surface of the upper storage chamber 6c. The rear wall plate 41 is provided with notches on both left and right sides below the lowest shelf board 12a, and the water supply device 31 and the housing case 38 are disposed in the notch on one side, and the notch on the other side is disposed in the notch on the other side. A communication hole 17 is provided below.

The lower storage chamber 6b is divided in the width direction of the refrigerator by a vertical partition wall 13 disposed near one side wall (left side wall) of the refrigerator compartment 6 (see FIG. 4). A water supply tank 30 and a water supply device 31 are provided in a space between the left side wall of the refrigerator compartment 6 and the vertical partition wall 13 (hereinafter also referred to as a tank room).

In the space between the vertical partition wall 13 and the other side wall (right side wall) of the refrigerator compartment 6 (hereinafter also referred to as the chilled compartment), a pull-out storage container 14 that can be pulled out forward is stored. ing. The vertical partition wall 13 is arranged so as to be hidden behind the front part of the storage container 14, as shown in FIG.

The water tank 30 and the storage container 14 are pull-out containers that are stored at predetermined positions in the front-rear direction by a positioning section (not shown) provided on the partition plate 11.

In the lower storage chamber 6b, the rear wall member 40 and housing case 38 disposed at the rear thereof are covered and hidden from the front by the water supply tank 30 and the storage container 14.

As shown in FIG. 5, it is preferable that the lowermost shelf board 12a has an inclined part 12a1 formed at the lower side of its front end, which slopes upward so that the plate thickness becomes thinner toward the front end. Further, the lowermost shelf board 12a may be fixed to the left and right sides 4a and 4b of the inner box 4, or may be detachably attached to the left and right sides 4a and 4b of the inner box 4. .

A lighting device 80 for illuminating the inside of the refrigerator compartment 6 is housed inside the ceiling wall of the refrigerator main body 2, which forms the ceiling surface of the refrigerator compartment 6.

A pull-out heat insulating door 7a is provided at the front opening of the vegetable compartment 7. A storage container 15 constituting a storage container is connected to the back side of the heat insulating door 7a, and the storage container 15 is configured to be pulled out of the refrigerator when the door is opened.

The freezer compartment 10 is a storage compartment that is cooled to a freezing temperature range (for example, -10 to -20°C) based on the temperature detected by a freezer compartment temperature sensor 37 provided on the rear surface. The vegetable compartment 7 and the freezer compartment 10 are vertically partitioned by a heat insulating partition wall 16 provided with a heat insulating material inside. A pull-out heat insulating door 10a is provided at the front opening of the freezer compartment 10.

As shown in FIG. 1, the freezer compartment 10 is provided with three storage containers arranged vertically, each consisting of a lower container 100, a middle container 101, and an upper container 102. A lower container 100 is connected to the back side of the heat insulating door 10a, and the lower container 100 and the middle container 101 supported on the upper surface of the lower container 100 are pulled out of the refrigerator when the door is opened. There is.

An ice making device 105 including an ice making tray and an ice removal mechanism is provided above the upper container 102 , and ice produced by the ice making device 105 is dropped into the upper container 102 and stored there. The ice making device 105 constitutes an automatic ice making device together with a water supply tank 30 and a water supply device 31 provided in the refrigerator compartment 6, and water from the water tank 30 sucked up by the water supply device 31 is supplied to an ice tray. There is.

A cooler 21 that generates cold air to cool the storage compartments 6, 7, and 10, and a cooler chamber 23 that houses a cooler fan 22 are provided at the back of the freezer compartment 10. The cooler chamber 23 includes a refrigerator side flow path 24 that supplies cold air generated in the cooler 21 to the refrigerator compartment 6, a freezing side flow path 26 that supplies cold air generated in the cooler 21 to the freezer compartment 10, and A return duct 19 is connected that returns the air that has flowed through the storage chambers 6, 7, and 10 to the cooler chamber 23. A refrigeration damper 25 is provided at the connection between the cooler chamber 23 and the refrigeration side flow path 24, and a refrigeration damper 27 is provided at the connection between the cooler chamber 23 and the refrigeration side flow path 26.

The refrigeration side channel 24 connects a vegetable compartment channel 24a provided at the rear of the vegetable compartment 7 and a first channel section 24b and a second channel section 24c provided at the rear of the refrigerator compartment 6 in order from below. It is formed by

The vegetable compartment flow path 24a is arranged so that its widthwise center is closer to one side in the width direction (in this embodiment, on the right side) from the widthwise center of the vegetable compartment 7. The vegetable compartment channel 24a is connected to the lower end of the first channel section 24b, and the channel width increases as it goes upward from the refrigerating damper 25.

The first flow path section 24b extends upward from the lower end of the lower storage chamber 6b, extends to a position above the lowest shelf board 12a, and is located at the rear of the lower storage chamber 6b and at the lower rear of the upper storage chamber 6c. It is provided. The first flow path portion 24b is arranged such that its widthwise center is closer to one side in the width direction (in this embodiment, on the right side) from the widthwise center of the refrigerator compartment 6.

The upper end of the first flow path portion 24b is connected to the second flow path portion 24c via an inclined portion 24d that slopes diagonally inward in the width direction (to the left in this embodiment) with respect to the vertical direction. There is. The second flow path portion 24c is arranged such that its widthwise center is closer to the widthwise center of the refrigerator compartment 6 than the widthwise center of the first flow path portion 24b.

The front surface of the first flow path section 24b is provided with an outlet 18b that opens into the lower storage chamber 6b, and the front surface of the second flow path section 24c is provided with an outlet 18c that opens into the upper storage chamber 6c.

The cooler 21 constitutes a refrigeration cycle together with a compressor 29 and a condenser housed in a machine room 28 formed at the lower back of the refrigerator body 2, and is cooled by the refrigerant discharged from the compressor 29. The cooler 21 cools the air in the cooler chamber 23 to generate cold air for cooling each of the storage chambers 6, 7, and 10.

As shown in FIG. 1, a board housing section 60 that retracts forward is provided at the upper rear surface of the refrigerator body 2, and a control board 70 for controlling the refrigerator 1 and electrical components 71 such as a reactor are provided inside the board storage section 60. ing.

The control board 70 opens and closes the refrigerator damper 25 and freezing damper 27 and rotates the cooler fan 22 based on detection signals input from various sensors 36 and 37 and the operation panel 39 and a control program stored in memory in advance. The overall operation of the refrigerator 1 is controlled by controlling the speed, the operating frequency of the compressor 29, and the lighting device 80.

In the refrigerator 1 having such a configuration, the rotation of the cooler fan 22 and the opening/closing of the refrigerator damper 25 and the freezing damper 27 are controlled, and the cold air generated by the cooler 21 is distributed to the refrigerator compartment 6, the vegetable compartment 7, and the freezer compartment. By switching the supply to 10, each of the storage compartments 6, 7, and 10 is cooled so that the temperatures detected by the refrigerator compartment temperature sensor 36 and the freezer compartment temperature sensor 37 satisfy predetermined temperature conditions.

Specifically, when cooling the refrigerator compartment 6 and the vegetable compartment 7, the temperature of the cooler 21 is lowered by driving the compressor 29, and the cooler fan is turned on while the refrigerator damper 25 is opened and the freezer damper 27 is closed. 22. Thereby, the air cooled by the cooler 21 flows upward through the vegetable compartment flow path 24a, the first flow path section 24b, the inclined section 24d, and the second flow path section 24c, and is cooled from the air outlet 18b, 18c. It is supplied to the compartment 6 and cools the refrigerator compartment 6. The air flowing through the refrigerator compartment 6 flows into the vegetable compartment 7 through the communication hole 17 provided in the partition plate 11, cools the inside of the vegetable compartment 7, and then flows through the suction port 19a provided on the back side of the vegetable compartment 7. It is taken into the return duct 19, returns to the cooler chamber 23, and exchanges heat with the cooler 21 again to be cooled.

When cooling the freezer compartment 10, the compressor 29 is driven to lower the temperature of the cooler 21, while the freezer damper 27 is opened and the refrigeration damper 25 is closed, and the cooler fan 22 is driven. As a result, the air cooled by the cooler 21 passes through the freezer side flow path 26 and is supplied to the freezer compartment 10 from the outlet 34, cooling the freezer compartment 10. The air that flows through the freezer compartment 10 is taken into the return duct 19 from the suction port 19b provided on the back of the freezer compartment 10, returns to the cooler compartment 23, and is cooled again by heat exchange with the cooler 21.

In addition, in the refrigerator 1, when the door 6a of the refrigerator compartment 6 is opened, the control board 70 supplies driving power to the lighting device 80 to illuminate the interior of the refrigerator compartment 6.

(2) Storage container 14
Next, the storage container 14 housed in the chilled compartment sandwiched between the vertical partition wall 13 and the right side wall of the refrigerator compartment 6 will be described. As shown in FIGS. 3 to 7, the storage container 14 includes a bottom 141, a left wall 142 and a right wall 143 that protrude upward from the left and right ends of the bottom 141, and a rear wall 142 and a right wall 143 that protrude upward from the rear end of the bottom. It includes a wall 144 and a front wall 145 that projects upward from the front end of the bottom portion 141 .

In the storage container 14, the left wall 142, the right wall 143, and the rear wall 144 constitute a continuous peripheral wall that is provided integrally with the bottom portion 141. That is, the left wall 142 and the rear wall 144 are smoothly connected through the curved surface, the right wall 143 and the rear wall 144 are smoothly connected through the curved surface, and the bottom part 141 and the peripheral walls 142, 143, 144 are connected smoothly through the curved surface 142a. , 143a, 144a.

The bottom portion 141, the left wall 142, the right wall 143, and the rear wall 144 are made of an integrally molded resin body, and are made of, for example, an opaque white resin material.

The front wall 145 is made of a resin molded body that is molded separately from the bottom part 141 and the surrounding walls 142, 143, 144, and is made of, for example, a transparent resin material with a different color or transparency from the bottom part 141 and the surrounding walls 142, 143, 144. Molded from resin material. The front wall 145 is fixed to the left wall 142, the right wall 143, and the front ends of the bottom 141, forming a substantially rectangular parallelepiped-shaped container that is open at the top.

Note that the types of resin materials forming the bottom portion 141, left wall 142, right wall 143, and rear wall 144 and the resin materials forming the front wall 145 are not particularly limited, but they are preferably the same resin materials, for example, Polystyrene resin (GPPS) or the like can be used.

At the front end portions of the left wall 142 and the right wall 143, peripheral wall engaging portions 146 are provided that expand outward in the left-right direction so as to increase the wall thickness. Furthermore, a bottom engaging portion 147 is provided at the front end of the bottom portion 141 and extends downward to increase the wall thickness. The peripheral wall engaging portion 146 and the bottom engaging portion 147 engage with the front wall engaging portion 148 and the lower engaging portion 149 provided on the back surface of the front wall 145, and the left wall 142, the right wall 143, and the bottom portion 141 A front wall 145 is fixed to the front side of.

The peripheral wall engaging portion 146 includes a hook-shaped locking portion 146a provided at the upper end portions of the left wall 142 and the right wall 143, and a clamping plate 146b provided below the locking portion 146a. The holding plate 146b is a wall surface extending upward from the bottom portion 141 provided on the left-right direction outer side of the inner surfaces of the left wall 142 and the right wall 143. The holding plate 146b forms a narrow slit extending in the vertical direction between the holding plate 146b and the outer wall surface of the peripheral wall engaging portion 146 in the left-right direction.

The upper surface of the bottom part 141 has a storage area 141a partitioned between a curved surface 142a and a curved surface 143a provided at the lower ends of the left wall 142 and right wall 143, and a storage area 141a provided at the front end of the left wall 142 and right wall 143. It includes a front end region 141b sandwiched between plates 146b, 146b.

The storage area 141a is an area where stored items are mainly placed, and is sloped so that it becomes lower toward the rear. The front end area 141b is a wider area that is longer in the left-right direction than the storage area 141a provided on the front side of the storage area 141a. A bottom engaging portion 147 having a narrow slit extending in the left-right direction is provided on the lower side of the front region 141b.

A protrusion 150 that protrudes upward is provided at the front end of the upper surface of the bottom portion 141 . The protrusion 150 extends in the left-right direction so as to connect the front end of the curved surface 142a of the left wall 142 and the front end of the curved surface 143a of the right wall 143, and defines a storage area 141a on the rear side of the protrusion 150. A front region 141b is defined on the front side of the front side.

The front wall 145 has front wall engaging portions 148 provided at both left and right ends of the back surface, and a lower engaging portion 149 provided at the lower end portion of the back surface.

The front wall engaging portion 148 includes a claw portion 148a that protrudes rearward from the upper end of the back surface of the front wall 145 and engages with a locking portion 146a of the peripheral wall engaging portion 146, and left and right claw portions 148a that protrude rearward from the back surface of the front wall 145. An insertion plate 148b is provided. The left and right insertion plate 148b has a plate shape that is provided along the vertical direction so as to connect the lower side of the claw part 148a and the lower engagement part 149, and is formed by the holding plate 146b of the peripheral wall engagement part 146. inserted into the slit.

The lower engaging portion 149 has a plate shape that protrudes rearward from the back surface of the front wall 145 provided along the left-right direction so as to connect the lower ends of the left and right insertion plates 148b. In other words, the left and right insertion plates 148b and the lower engaging portion 149 are continuously connected in an upwardly open U-shape when viewed from the back. The lower engaging portion 149 is inserted into a slit provided in the bottom engaging portion 147 of the bottom portion 141 .

Furthermore, a flange portion 151 that protrudes outward in the left-right direction is provided at the upper end of the left wall 142 and the right wall 143. The flange portion 151 is set to have the same outward protrusion amount in the left-right direction as the peripheral wall engaging portion 146 provided at the front end portions of the left wall 142 and the right wall 143. is hidden by the flange portion 151.

A container protrusion 160 that protrudes upward and forward is provided at the upper end of the front wall 145 over the entire width of the front wall 145 . The container protruding portion 160 includes a container front portion 161 provided at an interval in front of the front wall 145, a connecting portion 162 extending in the left-right direction connecting the container front portion 161 and the front wall 145, and a container front portion 161. and a side surface portion 163 that connects the left and right side portions of the connecting portion 162 and the front wall 145.

The container front section 161 constitutes a vertically extending hanging wall provided at a distance in front of the front wall 145. As shown in FIG. 5, the container front section 161 extends upward from a position below the claw section 148a provided on the front wall 145 to the same height as the lowest shelf board 12a. That is, the lower end of the container front part 161 is located below the claw part 148a, and the upper end of the container front part 161 is so arranged that it overlaps the lowermost shelf board 12a in the front-rear direction when the storage container 14 is stored in the chilled chamber. is arranged in front of the shelf board 12a.

As a result, when the storage container 14 is stored in the chilled chamber, the container front portion 161 covers the claw portion 148a provided on the front wall 145 and at least a portion of the front end of the lowermost shelf board 12a from the front when viewed from the front. The gap formed between the upper end of the front wall 145 and the lowermost shelf board 12a is closed from the front.

In this embodiment, a container inclined portion 161d is provided at the upper end of the container front portion 161, and the container inclined portion 161d is inclined backward as it goes upward, and the upper end of the container inclined portion 161d is arranged in front of the lowermost shelf board 12a. has been done.

The container front section 161 is inclined backward as it goes upward, and has substantially the same inclination angle as the tank front section 134 forming the front section of the water tank 30 . In this embodiment, the container front section 161 of the storage container 14 and the tank front section 134 of the water supply tank 30 are very slightly inclined backward from the vertical direction as they go upward.

A first emphasis section 161a is provided at the lower end of the container front section 161 in the form of a band extending in the left-right direction and having a constant dimension in the up-down direction. The first emphasized portion 161a is a region that is visually distinguishable from other portions of the container front portion 161, and is a region that is different in material, color, pattern, member thickness, etc., for example. The first emphasized portion 161a is preferably provided thicker than other portions of the container front portion 161, or is a portion that is less transparent than other portions due to coloring, surface treatment, metal vapor deposition, or the like. When a colored layer is provided on the first emphasis section 161a, it is preferable that the surface on which the colored layer is formed is provided thickly so as to protrude from the other portion of the container front section 161. By providing the colored layer thickly in this way, the colored layer can be provided neatly without protruding from the first emphasis portion 161a.

The connecting portion 162 projects approximately horizontally forward from the upper end of the front wall 14a and is connected to the lower portion of the container front portion 161. The connecting portion 162 is preferably arranged to overlap at least a portion of the front wall engaging portion 148 in the front-back direction, and in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. The connecting portions 162 are provided so as to overlap in the direction.

Below the connecting portion 162, a container handle portion 164 that opens downward is formed between the container front portion 161 and the front wall 145. The container handle part 164 functions as a handle when a user's finger is inserted from below and the storage container 14 is put in and taken out.

Further, the back surface of the container protrusion 160 is provided with a back surface opening 165 at least at the upper end. In this embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 7, a back opening 165 is provided over the entire width of the container protruding part 160 above the connecting part 162 so as to open the back surface of the container protruding part 160.

Such a front wall 145 locks the claw portion 148a to the locking portions 146a of the left wall 142 and the right wall 143, and inserts the insertion plate 148b into the slit formed by the clamping plate 146b of the peripheral wall engaging portion 146. By inserting the lower engaging part 149 into the slit of the bottom engaging part 147, it is fixed to the front ends of the bottom part 141, the left wall 142, and the right wall 143, thereby forming the storage container 14.

(3) Water tank 30
As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the water tank 30 includes a container body 131 that opens at the top, and a lid 132 that closes the top opening of the container body 131. The water supply tank 30 stores water (ice-making water) to be supplied to the ice-making device 105 via the water supply device 31 in a container body 131, and prevents the ice-making water from spilling from the container body 131 with a lid 132.

The container body 131 is a roughly rectangular parallelepiped container made of synthetic resin that is long in the front-to-rear direction and has a larger gap between the front and rear walls than between the left and right side walls.

Further, the container body 131 includes a front protrusion 133 that is provided over substantially the entire width of the front wall so as to protrude forward and upward from the upper end of the front wall.

The front protruding part 133 includes a tank front part 134 provided at a distance in front of the front wall, and side parts 135 provided at both left and right ends of the tank front part 134.

In the front protruding part 133, a tank handle part that opens downward is formed between the tank front part 134 and the front wall of the container body 131. The tank handle portion functions as a handle when a user's finger is inserted from below and the water supply tank 30 is pulled out.

The tank front section 134 is inclined backward as it goes upward, and has substantially the same inclination angle as the container front section 161 of the storage container 14 .

The tank front part 134 is provided across the entire width of the front wall of the container body 131 in the left-right direction, and is provided in the vertical direction from the same height as the lower end of the container front part 161 of the storage container 14 to the same height as the upper end of the container front part 161. It is being

That is, a tank inclined part 134d is provided at the upper end of the tank front part 134, and the tank inclined part 134d is inclined backward as it goes upward. The tank front section 134 is arranged in front of the shelf board 12a so as to overlap with the shelf board 12a in the front-rear direction, and when viewed from the front, the tank front part 134 covers at least a part of the front end of the lowest shelf board 12a from the front.

A second emphasis section 134a is provided at the lower end of the tank front section 134. The second emphasis section 134a has a constant vertical dimension and extends in the left-right direction. The second emphasized portion 134a is a region that is visually distinguishable from other portions of the tank front portion 134, and is a region that is different in material, color, pattern, member thickness, etc., for example. The second emphasized portion 134a is preferably provided thicker than other portions of the tank front portion 134, or is a portion that is less transparent than other portions due to coloring, surface treatment, metal vapor deposition, or the like. When a colored layer is provided on the second emphasis portion 134a, it is preferable that the surface on which the colored layer is formed is provided thickly so as to protrude from the other portion of the tank front portion 134. By providing the colored layer thickly in this manner, the colored layer can be provided neatly without protruding from the second emphasis portion 134a.

The lower end 134b of the second emphasized portion 134a is located at the lower end of the tank front portion 134, and is located at the same height as the lower end 161b of the first emphasized portion 161a of the storage container 14. Further, the upper end 134c of the second emphasis part 134a is located at the same height as the upper end 161c of the first emphasis part 161a of the storage container 14.

When such a water supply tank 30 is stored in the tank chamber sandwiched between the left side wall of the refrigerator compartment 6 and the vertical partition wall 13 as shown in FIG. 2, and the storage container 14 is stored in the chilled chamber sandwiched between the vertical partition wall 13 and the right side wall of the refrigerator compartment 6, the container front portion 161 of the storage container 14 and the tank front portion 134 of the water supply tank 30 overlap in the left-right direction (the refrigerator width direction).

(4) Effect In the refrigerator 1 of this embodiment, the front wall 145 that constitutes the storage container 14 is provided separately from the bottom 141 and the peripheral walls 142, 143, and 144. This increases the freedom in the shape, color, and material of the front wall 145 of the storage container 14, which is likely to be noticeable when placed inside the refrigerator, thereby improving the design of the refrigerator in which the storage container is provided.

In this embodiment, if the front wall 145 is made of transparent resin and the bottom part 141 and the peripheral walls 142, 143, 144 are made of opaque resin, the stored items stored in the storage container 14 can be placed in front of the storage container 14. In addition, internal components such as the housing case 38 disposed at the rear of the storage container 14 can be hidden, and the design of the refrigerator can be improved while improving usability.

In the present embodiment, when the protrusion 150 that protrudes upward and extends in the left-right direction is provided at the front end of the upper surface of the bottom 141 of the storage container 14, even if liquid spills inside the storage container 14, the protrusion 150 dams it up and the bottom 141. This can prevent leakage from the joint with the front wall 145.

In this embodiment, a container front portion is provided in front of the front wall 145 so as to cover the front of the claw portion 148a of the front wall engaging portion 148 that engages with the locking portion 146a provided on the left wall 142 and the right wall 143. 161, the engaging portions between the front wall 145, left wall 142, and right wall 143 are less noticeable from the front, and the design of the refrigerator can be improved.

In this embodiment, when the connecting part 162 that connects the container front part 161 and the front wall 145 is arranged so as to overlap at least a part of the front wall engaging part 148 in the front-rear direction, the front wall engaging part 148 becomes less noticeable from the front, and the rigidity of the portion of the front wall 145 where the front wall engaging portion 148 is provided is increased, so that when the front wall 145 is attached to the bottom portion 141 and the peripheral walls 142, 143, 144, the front wall engaging portion 148 becomes less noticeable from the front. This can prevent the portion 148 from being damaged.

In this embodiment, when the upper end of the container protrusion 160 is arranged in front of the shelf board 12a so as to overlap the bottom shelf board 12a in the front-rear direction, contact between the shelf board 12a and the container protrusion 160 is prevented. The gap formed between the upper end of the front wall 145 and the lowermost shelf board 12a can be closed from the front while preventing this.

In the present embodiment, the opening 165 may be provided at the upper end of the back surface of the container protrusion 160, or the opening 165 may be provided at the bottom of the front end of the lowermost shelf board 12a so that the plate thickness becomes thinner toward the front end. If the sloped portion 12a1 is formed to slope toward the bottom, even if the shelf board 12a bends downward due to the weight of the stored items placed on the lowest shelf board 12a, it will not contact the container protrusion 160. can be prevented.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Refrigerator, 2... Refrigerator main body, 6... Refrigerator room, 7... Vegetable compartment, 10... Freezer compartment, 12a... Shelf board, 14... Storage container, 30... Water supply tank, 131... Container main body, 132... Lid body, 133 ...Front protruding part, 134...Tank front part, 134a...Second emphasis part, 134b...Lower end, 134c...Upper end, 134d...Slope part, 141...Bottom part, 141a...Storage area, 141b...Front side area, 142...Left wall, 143... Right wall, 144... Rear wall, 145... Front wall, 146... Peripheral wall engaging portion, 146a... Locking portion, 146b... Clamping wall, 147... Bottom engaging portion, 148... Front wall engaging portion, 148a... Claw part, 148b...insertion plate, 149...lower engagement part, 150...projection, 151...flange part, 160...container protrusion part, 161...container front part, 161a...first emphasis part, 161b...lower end, 161c... Upper end, 161d... Slope part, 162... Connecting part, 163... Side part, 164... Hand grip part, 165... Back opening part

Claims (9)

A refrigerator comprising a refrigerator main body having a storage chamber therein that opens to the front, and a storage container that opens to the top and is provided in the storage chamber so as to be able to be pulled out to the front,
The storage container includes a bottom, a peripheral wall projecting upward from the left and right ends and a rear end of the bottom, and a front wall projecting upward from the front end of the bottom, and the front wall is connected to the bottom and separate from the peripheral wall ;
a peripheral wall engaging portion provided at the front upper end of the peripheral wall;
a front wall engaging portion provided at both left and right ends of the front wall and engaging with the peripheral wall engaging portion;
a hanging wall provided at intervals in front of the front wall so as to cover the front of the front wall engaging portion;
a connecting portion protruding forward from the front wall and connecting the hanging wall and the front wall;
In the refrigerator , the connecting portion overlaps at least a portion of the front wall engaging portion in the front-rear direction . A refrigerator comprising a refrigerator main body having a storage chamber therein that opens to the front, and a storage container that opens to the top and is provided in the storage chamber so as to be able to be pulled out to the front,
The storage container includes a bottom, a peripheral wall projecting upward from the left and right ends and a rear end of the bottom, and a front wall projecting upward from the front end of the bottom, and the front wall is connected to the bottom and separate from the peripheral wall;
A shelf board is provided above the storage container and partitions the storage room into upper and lower parts,
The front wall includes a protrusion that protrudes forward and upward from the upper end,
The upper end of the protrusion is arranged in front of the shelf so as to overlap with the shelf in the front-rear direction,
In the refrigerator, the lower side of the front end of the shelf board is inclined upward toward the front end. The refrigerator according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the front wall is made of transparent resin, and the bottom and the peripheral wall are made of opaque resin. The refrigerator according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the bottom portion includes a protrusion at the front end of the upper surface that protrudes upward and extends in the left-right direction. a peripheral wall engagement portion provided at a front upper end portion of the peripheral wall;
a front wall engaging portion provided at each of the left and right ends of the front wall and engaging with the peripheral wall engaging portion;
The refrigerator according to claim 2 , further comprising a vertical wall provided in front of the front wall at a distance so as to cover a front of the front wall engagement portion. a connecting portion protruding forward from the front wall and connecting the hanging wall and the front wall;
The refrigerator according to claim 5 , wherein the connecting portion overlaps at least a portion of the front wall engaging portion in the front-rear direction. A shelf board is provided above the storage container and divides the storage chamber into upper and lower parts,
The front wall includes a protrusion protruding forward and upward from an upper end thereof,
The refrigerator according to claim 1 , wherein an upper end of the protrusion is disposed in front of the shelf board so as to overlap with the shelf board in the front-rear direction. The refrigerator according to claim 7 , wherein an opening is provided at the upper end of the back surface of the protrusion. The refrigerator according to claim 7 or 8 , wherein the lower side of the front end of the shelf board is inclined upward toward the front end.

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