JPH03170782A - Rack device for refrigerator - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To permit the smooth sliding of a sliding member by a method wherein an upper roller is arranged so as to be abutted against the surface of this side of a sliding groove white a lower roller is arranged so as to be abutted against the surface of the other side of the sliding groove at lower part than the upper roller. CONSTITUTION:An upper roller 3a, a lower roller 3b and a spur gear 5 are arranged on a left frame 2a and a right frame 2b so that the upper roller 3a is abutted against the surface of this side of a sliding groove 15, the lower roller 3b is abutted against the surface of the other side of the sliding groove 16 at a lower part than the upper roller 3a, the spur gear 5 is meshed with a rack 17 at an upper part than the lower roller 3b and is positioned so as to come to this side than the rotating shaft of the upper roller 3a or a roller shaft 3c. On the other hand, a frame 2 is configured so as to cover the spur gear 5, a driving gear 8 and a rolling gear 9 from the upper, lower and inside sides of a refrigerator. According to this method, the inclination of the rack in horizontal direction may be prevented, the rack 1 may be moved with comparatively small force and a rack device, which will never hinder the reception of food into the lower part of the refrigerator, may be obtained.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of Industrial Application The present invention relates to a shelf device for a refrigerator, which is used inside a refrigerator and whose vertical position can be changed in various ways.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION A conventional refrigerator shelving system of this type is shown, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 2,841,459.

This conventional refrigerator shelf device includes a shelf arranged in the refrigerator, a frame that holds the shelf, and two rails that slide and hold rollers supported on the left and right sides of the frame.
and a screw jack for fixing the frame at an arbitrary position.

The frame rotatably held a nut fitted into the screw jack and a shaft with a handle for rotating the nut. The enclosed rails were installed vertically at the left and right sides of the interior of the refrigerator, and the screw jack was installed vertically at the center of the interior of the refrigerator. Then, the shaft with the handle is turned to rotate the nut that is fitted into the screw jack, thereby changing the position of the nut and changing the position of the frame that holds the shelf.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention The above-mentioned conventional refrigerator shelf device has a structure in which the position of the frame holding the shelves is moved up and down by a screw jack attached to the center of the interior of the refrigerator, and food is placed on the shelves. If the shelf is tilted toward the side where most of the food is placed, especially if the shelf is placed off to the left or right, the rollers will contact the rail diagonally and rotate smoothly. The shaft with the handle had to be turned with great force. In addition, a shaft with a handle and a screw jack fit in the center of the shelf.
Since the structure is relatively large, it gets in the way of placing food on the lower shelf or the lower food placement surface, which poses a problem in terms of food storage.

The present invention improves the above-mentioned problems of the conventional refrigerator shelving device, thereby preventing the shelves from tilting from side to side, and allowing the shelves to be moved with a relatively small force without interfering with food storage at the bottom. The purpose is to provide refrigerator shelf equipment.

Means for Solving the Problems For the above-mentioned purpose, the refrigerator shelf device of the present invention includes a shelf disposed inside the refrigerator, a frame shaped like a letter U for holding the shelf, and a frame located at the rear left and right of the frame. a sliding member attached to the frame, a gear shaft with spur gears fixed to the left and right ends attached to the back of the frame, a dial rotatably supported on either the left or right front side of the frame, and connected to this dial. a dial shaft, a driving gear fixed to the dial shaft, a rolling gear meshing with the driving gear and fixed to the gear shaft, and a sliding member formed in the horizontal and vertical directions at the back of the refrigerator. A sliding groove in which at least a portion of the sliding groove is accommodated and slidably held; a vertical lip that faces the sliding member and its sliding range and is formed on the inner surface of the sliding groove; and a vertical lip that is adjacent to the sliding groove. A rack is disposed that meshes with the spur gears formed in the horizontal and vertical directions in the refrigerator, and the sliding member is formed of a roller consisting of a metal roller shaft and a ring rotatably attached to the roller shaft. , an upper roller and a lower roller are fixed to the rear left and right sides of the frame, respectively, the upper roller is in contact with the front side surface of the sliding groove, and the lower roller is also in contact with the upper roller. It is arranged so as to come into contact with the inner surface of the sliding groove at the bottom.

Function: Since the refrigerator shelf device of the present invention has the above-mentioned structure, rotating the dial rotates the drive gear, which rotates the rolling gear and gear shaft that mesh with it, thereby rotating the flat gear shaft at both ends. It can be moved up and down on the rack as the gear rotates. Therefore, the shelves and frames were kept horizontal by spur gears that simultaneously rotated up and down on the left and right racks.
! ．． The trench can be raised and lowered. Therefore, the sliding member moving up and down within the sliding groove can also slide smoothly without being tilted diagonally. By providing a vertical lip on the back surface of the sliding groove, facing the sliding member and its sliding range, even if the shelf is shifted to the left or right, the sliding grooves of the upper roller and lower roller can be contact area becomes smaller. This reduces the friction with the sliding groove when the upper roller and lower roller 9 move up and down. Furthermore, by configuring the sliding member with a roller, the roller rotates within the sliding groove, allowing for smooth movement of the shelf.

EXAMPLE Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described based on the drawings of FIGS. 1 to 6.

In the figure, button 1 is a shelf on which food is placed. 2. A frame that holds the shelf 1. A left frame 2a, a right frame 2b, and a rear frame 2C that connects the left and right frames 2a and 2b.
It is well formed. Reference numeral 3 denotes sliding members attached to the rear left and right sides of the frame 2, and 3a and 3b are an upper roller and a lower roller that constitute the sliding member 3. Also, upper and lower rollers 3
A and 3b are respectively formed by a metal row shaft 3C and a ring 3d which is rotatably attached to the roller shaft 1-3c and has a metal ball fitted therein. Note that the rings 3d of the upper roller 3a and the lower roller 3b are the same. A gear shaft 4 is rotatably attached to the back of the frame 2, and fixed flat gears 6 are attached to both left and right ends of the gear shaft. 6 is a dial rotatably attached to the dial hole 2d in the front part of the right frame 2b, 7 is a dial shaft connected to this dial 6, and 8
is fixed to this dial shaft 7 and has a threaded tooth profile 8a.
This is a drive gear commonly called a worm gear. 9
is fixed to the gear shaft 4 adjacent to the flat gear 6 on the right side by using a tooth profile 9a machined obliquely with respect to the rotating shaft, that is, the gear shaft 4, so as to mesh along the thread-like tooth profile 8a of the drive gear 8. It is a rolling gear usually called a worm wheel.

1o is the inside of the refrigerator. 11 is an outer box made of iron plate of the refrigerator body. Reference numeral 12 denotes an inner box molded from resin, and rail grooves 12a are formed on the left and right sides of the inside of the refrigerator. 13 is a foamed heat insulating material filled between the outer box 11 and the inner box 12.

14 This is a rail fixed to the rail groove 12a of the inner box 12 with screws or the like. Reference numeral 16 denotes a sliding groove formed in the tray A/14, which accommodates at least a portion of the sliding member 3, that is, the upper roller 3&, and the lower roller 3b, and slidably holds them. Reference numeral 16 denotes a vertical rib formed on the back surface of the sliding groove 15, facing the sliding member and its sliding range. Furthermore, the width of the left and right sliding grooves 15 is set larger than the width of the left and right upper and lower rollers 3a, 3b. Reference numeral 17 denotes a rack that meshes with a spur gear 5 formed toward the front next to the sliding groove 15 of the V-ru 14. The width dimension H of the button sliding groove 16 is determined by the outer diameter of the ring 3d of the upper roller 3a and lower roller 3b. 11ff~1f
It is increased by about f. Grooved upper roller 3a and lower roller 3
b and the spur gear 5, the upper roller 3a is in contact with the front surface of the sliding groove 16, the lower roller 3b is in contact with the back surface of the sliding groove 15 below the upper roller 3, and the flat gear 5 is flat. Gear 6 is lower roller 3
upper roller 3 so as to engage with rack 17 above b.
They are disposed on the left frame 2a and the right frame 2b, respectively, so as to be located in front of the rotation axis of a, that is, the roller shaft 3C. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4, the frame 2 is shaped to cover the spur gear 5, drive gear 8, and rolling gear 9 from above and below and from inside the refrigerator. Next, 18 is a control panel provided with an air passage etc. inside to cool the inside of the refrigerator.

When moving the shelf device 1 of the refrigerator according to this embodiment upward or downward, the dial shaft 7 and the drive gear 8 are rotated when the dial/I/6 is first rotated. Therefore, the rolling gear 9 that meshes with the drive gear 8 rotates, and the gear shaft 4 and the spur gears 5 on both sides rotate. At this time, the spur gear 5 moves while meshing with the rack 17 via the gear shaft 4, but since the left and right spur gears 6 are fixed to the gear shaft 4 and rotate in the same manner, the upper and lower sides of the frame 2, that is, s1, are fixed to the gear shaft 4 and rotate in the same manner. However, no horizontal positional deviation occurs. Because of this
Since the sliding member 3 moving up and down within the sliding groove 15 can also slide smoothly without being tilted diagonally, the operating force for the dial 6 can be reduced.

Furthermore, although there is a left and right gap between the sliding groove 15 and the sliding member 3, when the shelf 1 moves to one side, even if the sliding groove 16 and the sliding member 3 come into contact, the vertical rib 17 Since the contact surface is small and it can slide smoothly, the operating force for dial e can be reduced.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, the roller shafts 3C of the upper and lower rollers 3a and 3b are made of metal, so that even if a large number of foods are placed on the shelf 1, the upper and lower rollers 3a and 3b do not tilt, and one metal ball can be fitted into the roller shafts 3C of the upper and lower rollers. The ring 3d, which is inserted in the ring 3d, rotates more smoothly and its frictional force can be reduced, so the operating force for the dial 6 can be extremely small. Next, when the shelf 1 moves 9 degrees according to the dial 6 at the desired position and then stops, vtA1, that is, the frame 2 tends to fall down due to the weight of the shelf 1 and frame 2 and the weight of the food on the shelf 1. As a result of this force, the spur gear 5 tries to rotate. Therefore gear shaft 4
The rolling gear 9 tries to rotate, but the rolling gear 9 meshes with the driving gear 8. Although it is mechanically easy to rotate the rolling gear 9 by rotating the driving gear 8, the rolling gear 9 is engaged with the driving gear 8. The force of rotating the screw-shaped tooth profile 8a of the drive gear 8 by the tooth profile 9a of the rolling gear 9 is due to the tooth profile 9a of the rolling gear 9 meshing with the tooth profile 8a of the drive gear 8 in a direction substantially perpendicular to the tooth profile 9a, so that the frictional force is extremely high. It is impossible to rotate the drive gear 8 by the large rolling gear 9. Therefore, when the shelf 1 is in a stopped state, the drive gear 8 and the rolling gear 9 play the role of a nutopper mechanism, and even when food is placed on the shelf 1, the shelf 1 does not go down and is held at its inclined position. Furthermore, in this embodiment, since the upper roller 3a, the lower roller 3b, and the spur gear 6 are located at the back of the frame 2, the larger the load applied to 81, the closer the upper roller 3a is to the front side of the sliding groove 15. The lower roller 3b makes stronger contact with the inner surface of the sliding groove 15, the spur gear 6 meshes with the rack 17 more strongly, and the rotational frictional force between them increases, so the shelf 1 is held. The frame 2 is firmly held in that position, and the shelf 1 is prevented from falling and tilting from side to side. Also, sliding groove 1
Since a vertical lip 16 is provided on the back surface of the shelf 5 facing the sliding range, when the shelf 1 moves to one side of the left and right, the upper roller 3a
, the contact area of the lower roller 3b with the sliding groove 15 is small, and the operating force of the diamond/1/6 is also small.

As described above, the refrigerator shelf device of this embodiment does not require a large force to move the shelf 1 even when food is placed on the shelf 1, and the shelf 1 does not tilt.

In this embodiment, the right frame 2b is the dial shaft 7.
, drive gear 8, rolling gear 9, spur gear 6, rear frame 2
Since the gear shaft 4 is covered by the left frame 2a and the spur gear 5 is covered by the left frame 2a at c, there is no problem of food hitting each gear etc. and damaging it, and there is no problem of it getting in the way of storing food on the lower shelf. Encased upper roller 3a and lower roller 3
The width of the sliding groove for slidingly holding roller b is only slightly larger than the outer diameters of the upper roller 3a and lower roller 3b. Therefore, even if food is pushed up on the lower surface of the shelf 1, the upper roller 3a will come into contact with the back surface of the sliding groove 16, and the lower roller 3b will come into contact with the front surface of the sliding groove 15. , the displacement of the shelf 1 is so slight that it does not pose a problem.

Effects of the Invention As explained above, the refrigerator frame device of the present invention consists of a shelf disposed inside the refrigerator, a substantially U-shaped frame that holds the shelf, and slides attached to the rear left and right sides of the frame. A moving member, a gear shaft with a spur gear fixed to the left and right ends attached to the back of the frame, a dial rotatably supported on either the left or right front face of the frame, a dial shaft connected to this dial, and this A drive gear fixed to the dial shaft, a rolling gear meshed with the drive gear and fixed to the gear shaft, and a sliding member formed in the horizontal and vertical directions at the back of the refrigerator to accommodate at least a part of the sliding member. a vertical lip formed on the inner surface of the sliding groove and facing the sliding member and its sliding range; A rack is disposed that meshes with a flat gear formed in the vertical direction, and the sliding member is formed of a roller consisting of a metal roller shaft and a ring rotatably attached to the roller shaft, and It consists of an upper roller and a lower roller fixed on the left and right sides, respectively, the upper roller making contact with the front side surface of the sliding groove, and the lower roller contacting the sliding groove below the upper roller. Because it is placed so that it touches the back surface,
When the dial is rotated, the drive gear rotates, which rotates the rolling gear and gear shaft that mesh with it, which allows the rack to be moved up and down by the rotation of the spur gears at both ends of the gear shaft. Therefore, the shelf and frame can be moved up and down by 1"l1, which is kept horizontal by flat gears that simultaneously rotate up and down on the left and right racks. This means that the sliding members that move up and down in the sliding grooves also tilt diagonally. Since the dial can slide smoothly without any friction, the operating force required to operate the dial is small.

Furthermore, since the friction between the sliding member and the inner surface of the sliding groove is reduced by the vertical ribs, the shelf moves up and down smoothly, and the dial can be easily operated with little force. In addition, the dial, dial shaft, drive gear, rolling gear, and spur gear are located near the side of the refrigerator for a simple structure, so they do not get in the way when placing food on the food surface at the bottom of the shelf. Nor.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a cross-sectional perspective view of the essential parts of a refrigerator to which an embodiment of the present invention is applied, Fig. 2 is an exploded perspective view of a frame used in this embodiment, and Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional view of the main parts of this embodiment. , Fig. 4 is an enlarged perspective view of the main part, Fig. 5 is an enlarged sectional view of the main part, and Fig. 6 is an enlarged perspective view of the main part.
The figure is a sectional view of the main part. 1...Shelf, 2...Frame, 3...
...Sliding member, 3a... Upper roller, 3b...
...Lower roller, 3c...Roller shaft,
3d...Ring, 4...Gear shaft, 5...Spur gear, 6...Dial, 7
...Dial shaft, 8...Driving gear, 9...Rolling gear, 10...Inside the refrigerator,
16...Sliding groove, 1A...Rack, 1
6...Vertical reply.

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) A shelf installed inside the refrigerator, a substantially U-shaped frame that holds this shelf, sliding members attached to the back left and right of this frame, and a sliding member attached to the back of the frame. a gear shaft with a flat gear fixed to the left and right ends; a dial rotatably supported on either the left or right front surface of the frame; a dial shaft connected to the dial; a drive gear fixed to the dial shaft; a rolling gear that meshes with the drive gear and is fixed to the gear shaft; a sliding groove that is formed in the horizontal and vertical directions at the back of the refrigerator and that accommodates at least a portion of the sliding member and slidably holds the sliding member; A rack that faces the sliding member and its sliding range and engages with a vertical rib formed on the back surface of the sliding groove and the gear that is formed adjacent to the sliding groove in the horizontal and vertical directions at the back of the refrigerator. Refrigerator shelf device consisting of. (2) The sliding member is formed by a roller consisting of a metal roller shaft fixed to the frame and a ring rotatably attached to the roller shaft, and is fixed to the rear left and right sides of the frame. Consisting of an upper roller and a lower roller, the upper roller contacts the front surface of the sliding groove, and the lower roller contacts the rear surface of the sliding groove below the upper roller. The shelf device for a refrigerator according to claim 1, characterized in that: