JPH0120714B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a refrigerator equipped with a container that can be sealed off from the interior of the refrigerator to store vegetables, fruits, and the like.

Such containers in refrigerators are often larger for vegetables and fruits than other stored items.
Therefore, the volume of this container also tends to increase.
Due to the installation space of the refrigerator, this increase in volume is often dealt with by extending it in the height direction rather than the width direction. Due to this inconvenience, the upper space of the container cannot be used, and even if the volume of the container is increased, it is often wasted.

Therefore, the first object of the present invention is to provide a container structure that can be used effectively.

On the other hand, as a means for multi-purpose use of the above-mentioned containers, containers have also been proposed that can be switched between sealed storage, such as preserving vegetables, and refrigerated storage, such as cooling fruits. In other words, sealed storage cools the container indirectly from the outside without introducing cold air into the container, while refrigerated storage cools the container by introducing cold air into the container. etc. are formed.

Therefore, the second object of the present invention is to provide a configuration in which a container designed for effective use can be independently stored in a sealed container and stored in a refrigerator.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a refrigerator body consisting of an outer box 2, an inner box 3, and a heat insulating material 4 filled between these two boxes. This main body 1 is configured with a freezer compartment (not shown), a refrigerator compartment 5, and a vegetable compartment 6 capable of refrigerated storage or sealed storage in order from the top.The refrigerator compartment 5 and the vegetable compartment 6 are arranged on shelves formed in the inner box 3 It is divided by a lid body 8 placed on the section 7 and a cold air adjustment device 9, which will be described later. 1
0 is a heat insulating door of the refrigerator compartment 5, 11 is a heat insulating door of the vegetable compartment 6, and gaskets 12, which seal the inside of the refrigerator, are provided on the end faces facing the inner periphery of both 10 and 11, respectively.
13 are provided. The insulating door 11 has a U-shaped angle 14 fixed to it extending toward the back.
This angle 14 is slidably provided on a rail 15 installed on the inside wall of the refrigerator, and the heat insulating door 11 is provided so as to be freely drawn out. Reference numeral 16 denotes a large capacity container (hereinafter referred to as a large container) that partitions the vegetable compartment 6, and is detachably attached to the U-shaped angle 14 and can be pulled out when the heat insulating door 11 is pulled out. When this large container 16 is attached to the angle 14, there is a slight gap between the back wall, the bottom wall, and the inner wall of the heat insulating door 11 in the refrigerator, and the cold air passage 1
7 has been secured. The upper surface of the large container 16 is open, and the opening flange 16a has a cold air passage 17.
A hole 18 is bored through which the refrigerator compartment 5 and the refrigerator compartment 5 communicate with each other.
Reference numeral 19 denotes a small container (hereinafter referred to as a small container) provided at the top opening of the large container 16, and is slidably provided on a rail 20 formed on the inside wall of the refrigerator, so that it can be pulled out independently of the large container 16. It is possible. This small container 19 has an opening at the top like the large container 16,
The upper end of the rear wall 19a is sealed with a seal piece 21 hanging from the lid 8, and the lower end is provided with a seal portion 19 that contacts the upper end of the rear wall of the large container 16 to seal the large container 16.
b is integrally formed. Further, the upper end of the front wall 19c extends close to the inside of the front wall 16b of the large container 16 to form a handle portion 19d.
A large number of through holes 22 are bored in the hole.

Next, a cold air adjustment device 9 placed in front of the lid body 8
I will explain about it. Reference numeral 23 denotes a shielding body that is continuous with the lid body 8 and partitions the vegetable compartment 6 and the refrigerator compartment 5, and has an upper part 23a facing the inside of the small container 19, and
It consists of a handle part 19d of 9 and a lower part 23b facing the handle part 19d. A large number of cold air inlets 24 communicating with the small container 19 are drilled at equal intervals in the upper part 23a, and cold air inlets 25 communicating with the large container 16 through the through holes 22 are similarly provided in the lower part 23b. Many holes are drilled at intervals. 26 is a shutter for a small container that is slidably installed in the upper part 23a;
A large number of holes 27 are drilled at the same intervals as the cold air inlet 24 of. That is, the hole 27 and the cold air inlet 24
When they match, the flow of cold air is enabled, and when the hole 27 and the cold air introduction port 24 are slid to be shifted from each other, the flow of cold air is reduced or blocked. 2
A large container shutter 8 is slidably installed in the lower part 23b, and has a large number of holes 29 formed at the same intervals as the cold air inlets 25 in the lower part 23b, and also serves to cut off the conduction of cold air. Both shutters 26 and 28 have operating portions 26a and 28a protruding forward. 30 is a chevron-shaped decorative board that covers the upper surfaces of the shielding body 23 and the shutters 26 and 28;
A large number of openings 31 are formed on the inner side of the refrigerator, and operation holes 3 are provided on the outer side of the refrigerator through which the operation parts 26a and 28a are exposed.
2 and 33 are installed side by side. On the other hand, on the lower surface of the shielding body 23, a mounting part 23c for mounting the seal member 34 is formed at the front part of the lower stage part 23b, and a mounting part 23d for mounting the seal member 35 between the lower stage part 23b and the upper stage part 23a. There is. The sealing member 34 contacts the inside of the front wall 16b with the large container 16 housed therein. Further, the sealing member 35 is attached to the small container 1.
9 is housed, it comes into contact with the inside of the front wall 19c.

Next, how to use and operate the vegetable compartment 6 having the above configuration will be explained.

First, when storing or taking out vegetables or the like in the large container 16, by pulling the heat insulating door 11, the top opening of the container 16 directly faces the outside and can be used. and small container 1
9, when the large container 16 is pulled out and the handle 19d is pulled toward the user, the top opening faces outside and can be used. As a use of the large container 16,
Since the stored items are not stored in an extremely heavy manner, the small container 19 does not become bulky. Rather, the small container 19 acts as a utilization part of the ineffective space of the large container 16, and the actual storage capacity is reduced. Improvement is possible. Also, with the large container 16 pulled out, the small container 1
9, the handle part 19d regulates the maximum pullout position, that is, the tip of the handle part 19d is placed in the large container 1.
By contacting the inner surface of the front wall 16b of the large container 16, a deep space is always formed below the handle portion 19d. This space therefore makes it possible to store tall items such as beer bottles.

When storing the large container 16 inside the refrigerator, the insulation door 11 can be pushed in. At this time, even if the small container 19 is in the pulled out state, the handle portion 19d is pushed against the front wall 16b and pushed in at the same time. Both containers 1 like this
When 6 and 19 are pushed in, the rear wall 1 of the small container 19
9a contacts the seal piece 21, the front wall 19c contacts the seal member 35, and the large container 16 is sealed, the rear wall contacts the seal portion 19b, and the front wall 16b contacts the seal member 34, and is sealed. Note that the containers 16 and 19 are sealed only when the cold air conditioning device 9 is closed.

On the other hand, in the cold air adjustment device 9, the shutter 2
6 to align the hole 27 with the cold air inlet 24, cold air starts flowing into the small container 19 through the opening 31, and refrigerated storage is performed instead of sealed storage. At this time, the cold air is separated from the large container 16 side by the sealing member 35, so there is no influence on the large container 16 side, that is, there is no cold air intrusion when the large container 16 side is sealed.

Further slide the shutter 28 into the hole 29.
When the cold air inlet port 25 is aligned with the cold air inlet 25, the cold air entering from the opening 31 starts to flow into the large container 16 through the through hole 22 of the handle portion 19d, and refrigerated storage is performed. At this time, the cold air flowing through the opening 31, the hole 29, and the cold air inlet 25 is removed from the seal members 34, 3.
5, there is no leakage to other parts. Moreover, at this time, due to the presence of the handle portion 19d, both containers 16,1
In the storage state 9, the small container 19 is firmly pushed into the predetermined position, and the through hole 22 is always located below the cold air inlet 25. For example, there is no handle and the small container is placed inside the front wall of the large container. The cold air coming from the cold air inlet in the vicinity of the small container can be scooped up by the small container to prevent it from flowing to the large container. As described above, when beer bottles and the like are stored in the large deep space of the large container 16, efficient cooling can be performed because this space is the part through which cold air flows directly (falls).

In the above embodiment, the lid 8 and the shielding body 23 are described as separate bodies, but the rear end of the shielding body 23 may be extended to form a lid.

As is clear from the above description, according to the present invention, the large container and the small container can be pulled out independently, and the small container is located at the top opening of the large container, so that difficult to use space can be used effectively. The independently operable shutter allows each of the above containers to be stored refrigerated or sealed, greatly expanding the scope of use.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of essential parts of a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the same refrigerator, and FIG.
FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line 2--' in FIG. 2, and FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of the cold air conditioning device. 8... Lid body, 16... Large container, 19... Small container, 23... Closing body, 24, 25... Cold air inlet, 26, 28... Shutter.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A large container with an open top that can be pulled out inside the main body, a small container that can be pulled out independently of the large container so as to cover the opening on the top of the large container, and A lid that closes the top opening, and a cold air inlet to the large container that communicates with the small container through a through hole located in the front of the lid and provided in the small container. What is claimed is: 1. A refrigerator comprising a shielding body having a cold air inlet into a small container, and shutters attached to the shielding body and independently operable to open and close each of the cold air inlets.