JPH03175254A - Shelf device for refrigerator - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To smoothly move a shelf and a frame by a method wherein plain gears on both right and left sides are simultaneously rotated by a driving device, which rotates a gear shaft or the plain gears, so as to move racks up or down. CONSTITUTION:When a shelf 1 of a shelf device in a refrigerator is moved up or down, a dial 6 is turned to rotate a dial shaft 7 and a driving gear 8. A driven gear 9 engaging with the driving gear 8 is rotated, causing a gear shaft 4 and plain gears 5 on both sides to be rotated. At this time, although the plain gears 5 on both right and left sides are moved by the gear shaft 4 while they engage with racks 14b in guide grooves 14a on the front side, the plain gears 5 are identically rotated as they are fixed on the gear shaft 4. As a result, the frame 2, that is, the shelf 1 is evenly moved up and down without a tilt to the right or left side. As roller shaft 3c of upper and lower rollers 3a and 3b are made of metal, the upper and lower rollers are prevented from tilting and smoothly rotated with a minimal operating force of the dial 6 even when a lot of food is loaded on the shelf 1.

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.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, this type of refrigerator shelf apparatus has been disclosed, for example, in US Pat. No. 2,841,459.

This conventional refrigerator shelf device includes a shelf disposed inside the refrigerator, a frame that holds the shelf, two rails that slide and hold rollers supported on the left and right sides of the frame, and a frame that supports the frame. Equipped with screws and jacks for fixing in any position. The frame rotatably held a nut fitted into the screw jack and a shaft with a handle for rotating the nut. Further, the rails were installed vertically at the left and right sides of the back of the refrigerator, and the screws were installed vertically at the center of the inside of the refrigerator. Then, the shaft with the handle is turned to rotate the nut fitted into the screw jack, thereby changing the position of the nut and changing the position of the frame holding the shelf.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention The conventional refrigerator shelf device described above has a structure that allows the shelves to be moved up and down.
This is due to the frame fixed by screws installed in the center of the interior of the refrigerator, so if food is placed on either the left or right side of the shelf, the shelf with the most food will be The troublesome roller came into contact with the rail at an angle and did not rotate smoothly, so the shaft with the handle had to be turned with great force. In addition, there is a shaft with a handle and a screw jack in the center of the shelf, and the structure is relatively large, so
There were also problems with the lower shelf or the food storage area on the lower shelf.

However, installing the shelf device inside the refrigerator took time because it had to be done after assembling the frame, rails, and screws.

The present invention improves the problems of the conventional refrigerator shelf device, and
The purpose is to prevent the shelves from tilting from side to side, to move the shelves with a relatively small amount of force, and to make it possible to easily install a refrigerator shelf device in a short time without interfering with food storage at the bottom. shall be.

Means for Solving the Problems For the above-mentioned purpose, the refrigerator shelf device of the present invention comprises a shelf disposed in the refrigerator, a substantially U-shaped frame for holding the shelf, and a frame mounted on the left and right sides at the rear of the frame. a gear shaft with spur gears fixed to the left and right ends attached to the back of the frame, a drive device for rotating the gear shaft or the spur gear, and a sliding groove formed in the rail member that accommodates and slidably holds at least a portion of the sliding member; A rack that meshes with the gear formed in the rail, a positioning groove formed in a part of the rail, and a piece rail member that fits into the positioning groove and forms the sliding groove and a part of the rack. It is what was done.

Function Since the refrigerator shelf device of the present invention has the above-described configuration, the spur gears at both left and right ends can be rotated simultaneously by the drive device that rotates the gear shaft or spur gear, and the rack can be moved up and down. Therefore, the shelf and frame can be smoothly rotated up and down on the left and right racks at the same time. This allows the sliding member moving up and down within the sliding groove to slide smoothly without being obliquely inclined.

Further, since the sliding member of the frame can be attached to the positioning groove, the shelf device can be easily attached in a short time.

EXAMPLE Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be explained based on the drawings of FIGS. 1 to 13.

In the figure, 1 is a shelf on which food is placed. 2 is a frame that holds the shelf 1, and includes a left frame 2a and a right frame 2b.
and a rear frame 2C that connects the left and right frames 2a and 2b.

Reference numeral 3 designates sliding members attached to the rear left and right sides of the frame 2, and reference numerals sa and 3b designate upper and lower rollers constituting the sliding member 3, as well as upper and lower rollers 3a.

3b are each made of a metallic shirt 3c. Among them, 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. 6a is a dial rotatably attached to the dial hole 2d in the front part of the right frame 2b;
is a dial shaft connected to this diamond/l/6a, and 8 is a drive gear fixed to this dial shaft 7 and usually called a worm gear. Reference numeral 9 denotes a transfer gear, usually called a helical gear, which is fixed to the gear shaft 4 adjacent to the spur gear 5 on the right side.

In this embodiment, the V6a, dial shaft 7, drive gear 8, and transfer gear 9 are referred to as a drive device 6.

10 is inside the refrigerator. 11 is an outer box made of iron plate of the refrigerator body. 12 is an inner box whose bottom is made of resin. 1
3 is a foamed heat insulating material filled between the outer box 11 and the inner box 12. 14 is a rail fixed to the rail groove 12a of the inner 'FjA12 with a screw or the like, 14a is a rail/l.
/14, and is a sliding groove that accommodates at least a portion of the spur gear 5 and the sliding members 3, that is, the upper roller 3a and the lower roller 3b, and slidably holds them. 14b is a rack that meshes with the spur gear 6 formed in the sliding groove 14a of the rail 14 (in the vertical direction).

16 is a beasley/shidechi which can be removed from the le/l/14. 15a is a sliding groove of the piece rail formed in B-sley/l'15, and 15b is a slide groove of B-sley)
This is a piece rail rack formed in v16. 1s
c, 1sd are the claws for attachment.

16 is a positioning groove for the piece rail 15 formed in the rail/L'14. Piece rail 15 claw 15C915
d is a section 16a provided in the positioning groove.

16b, respectively. When the B-SLEY/l/15 housing is attached, the sliding groove 14a and rack 14b of the rail 14, the sliding groove 15a of the piece rail and the rack 16b of the piece rail are on the same plane, and the sliding groove 14a and the rack 14b of the piece rail are on the same plane, and the sliding groove 14a and the rack 14b of the rail 14 are on the same plane. The moving member 3 can move smoothly. The 1p'rA dimension W of the sliding groove 14a is approximately 0.1 to 1 mm larger than the outer diameters of the upper roller 3a and lower roller 3b. The housing upper roller 3a, lower roller 3b, and spur gear 6 are located on the same line, and the upper roller 3a is in contact with the manually measured surface of the sliding groove 14a, and the lower roller 3b is in contact with the sliding groove 1.
The spur gears 6 are arranged on the left frame 2a and the right frame 2b, respectively, so as to be in contact with the rear surface of the frame 4a and mesh with the rack 14b.

Further, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4, the frame 2 is shaped to cover the spur gear 5, drive gear 8, and transfer gear 9 from the inside of the refrigerator. Further, the upper roller 3a and the spur gear 5 are covered by a flange 2e formed at the upper end of the frame 2 and provided with a sliding groove 14a of the rail/v14 and a narrow gap. Next 17
is a control panel provided with an air passage or the like inside to cool the interior 10 of the refrigerator.

When moving the shelf 1 of the refrigerator shelf device of this embodiment upward or downward, the dial shaft 7 and the drive gear 8 are rotated by rotating the housing diamond/L/6. Therefore, the transfer gear 9 that meshes with the drive gear 8 rotates, and the gear shaft 4
and the spur gears 6 on both sides rotate. At this time, gear shaft 4
The spur gear 5 is connected to the rack 1 on the front side in the sliding groove 14a through the
4b, but since the left and right spur gears 6 are fixed to the gear shaft 4 and rotate in the same way, the frame 2
In other words, the vertical and horizontal height deviations on the left and right sides of shelf 1 are as follows:
Does not occur. Further, in this embodiment, the upper and lower rollers 3a, 3
Since the roller shaft 3C of b is made of metal, even if many foods are placed on the shelf 1, the upper and lower rollers 3a and 3b rotate smoothly without tilting, and the M vibration force can be reduced.
The operating force for I/6 is extremely small. Next, when the shelf 1 moves to the desired position of the dial 6 and then stops, the shelf 1, that is, the frame 2, is moved downward due to the weight of the shelf 1 and frame 2 and the weight of the food on the shelf 1. trying to fall.

As a result of this force, the flat gear 6 attempts to rotate.

Therefore, the gear shaft 4 and the transfer gear 9 try to rotate, but the transfer gear 9 is meshed with the drive gear 8, and it is mechanically easy to rotate the transfer gear 9 by rotating the drive gear 8. However, the tooth profile 9a of the transfer gear 9
The force that rotates the screw-shaped tooth profile 8a of the drive gear 8 is generated by the tooth profile 9a of the transfer gear 9 meshing with the tooth profile 8a of the drive gear 8 in a direction substantially perpendicular to the tooth profile 8a of the drive gear 8, so that the frictional force is not extremely large. It is not possible to rotate the drive gear 8 by the gear 9. Therefore, when the shelf 1 is stopped, the driving gear 8 and the transfer gear 9 act as a stopper mechanism, and the shelf 1
Even if food is placed on top, the shelf 1 does not go down and is held in that position.

The method for installing the shelf device into the interior of the refrigerator will be explained based on the drawings in FIGS. 9 to 11.

Figure 9 shows the piece rail rack 14 from l/14.
The frame 2 is installed in the previous state with c removed. To attach salt 9 to the frame 2, as shown in FIG. 10, insert the frame 2 from the front side of the refrigerator interior 10 through the positioning groove 14a of the tray v14.

After the sliding member 3 of the frame 2 is securely inserted into the sliding groove f4a, the frame 2 is made parallel and pulled upward at 1, as shown in FIG. Thereafter, the piece rail rack 14c is attached to the positioning groove 14d of the rail 14 with nails or screws so that it will not easily come off.

In this embodiment, the piece rail rack 14c and the positioning groove 14d are provided on the left and right rails 14, respectively.
Other embodiments in which a two-piece rail rack 14G and a positioning groove 14d are provided on either the left or right side are also the same.

As explained above, the refrigerator shelf device of this embodiment places food on the shelf 1! ! 1 does not require a large force to move the shelf 1, does not cause the shelf 1 to tilt, and at the same time allows the shelf device to be easily installed in the refrigerator in a short time.

As described in detail, the refrigerator shelf device of the present invention includes a shelf disposed in the refrigerator, a substantially U-shaped frame that holds the shelf, and a frame attached to the rear left and right sides of the frame. A sliding member, a gear shaft with spur gears fixed to the left and right ends attached to the back of the frame, a drive device for rotating the gear shaft or the spur gear, and a rail member formed in the left and right vertical directions at the back of the refrigerator. and formed on this rail member,
a sliding groove in which at least a portion of the sliding member is accommodated and slidably held therein; and a rack that engages with the spur gear formed inside or adjacent to the sliding groove in the horizontal and vertical directions at the back of the refrigerator; , a shelf device for a refrigerator is provided with a positioning groove formed in a part of the rail, and a piece rail member that fits into the positioning groove and forms a part of the sliding groove and the rack. Installation can be done easily and in a short time. Furthermore, the shelves and frames are kept horizontal by means of spur gears that simultaneously rotate up and down on the left and right racks and can be raised and lowered.

This allows the sliding member that moves up and down within the sliding groove to slide smoothly.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a cross-sectional perspective view 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 main parts of this embodiment. 4 is an enlarged perspective view of the main part, FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along line A-A in FIG. A sectional view taken along line B, Fig. 8 is a sectional view of the main parts of the right frame viewed from the side, Fig. 9 is an exploded perspective view of the B-sley p and positioning groove, and Fig. 10 is a cross-section taken along line C-C in Fig. 8. Figure 11 is a sectional view taken along line D-D in Figure 8, and Figure 1
Figure 2 is a side lfi diagram showing the state before assembly of the shelf device, No. 13
The figure is a side view showing the state after the assembly shown in FIG. 12, and FIG. 14 is a side view showing the state in which the shelf has been moved. 1...Shelf, 2...Frame, 3...
...Sliding member, 6...Spur gear, 6...
・Drive device, 1o... Inside the refrigerator, 14...
Rail, 14 &...Sliding groove, 14b...
・Rack, 14c...Positioning groove, 16...
...Peace rail.

Claims (1)

[Claims] A shelf installed inside the refrigerator, a substantially U-shaped frame that holds the shelf, sliding members attached to the back left and right of the frame, and a flat frame attached to the left and right ends attached to the back of the frame. A gear shaft to which a gear is fixed, a drive device for rotating the gear shaft or the spur gear, a rail member formed in the horizontal and vertical directions at the back of the refrigerator, and at least a portion of the sliding member formed on the rail member. a sliding groove that accommodates and slides and holds the rack; a rack that engages with the spur gear formed in the horizontal and vertical directions in the refrigerator inside or adjacent to the sliding groove; and a positioning rack formed on a part of the rail. groove and
A shelf device for a refrigerator comprising a piece rail member that fits into the positioning groove and forms a part of the sliding groove and the rack.