JPH03225185A - Rack device for refrigerator - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent the left-and-right inclination of a rack and permit the movement of the rack with a comparatively small force by a method wherein the title device is equipped with racks, meshed with spar gears formed in left and right vertical direction in a sliding groove or neighbored to the same sliding and retaining a sliding member formed on a right side rail and a left side rail, and a piece rail formed on one part of the rack. CONSTITUTION:Spar gears 5 at both left and right ends are turned simultaneously by a driving device 6 rotating a rolling gear 9 and the rack 7 can be moved up-and- down. Accordingly, the rack 1 and the frame 2 can turn and move the left and right racks simultaneously and smoothly up-and-down and a sliding member 3, moved up-and- down in a sliding groove 16, can be slid smoothly without being slanted. An assembly, in which the driving device 6, spar gears 5, sliding member and the like are incorporated into the frame 2, is attached to the inside of a refrigerator by inserting it into the refrigerator through attaching openings 18, 19 of left and right rails 14, 15, which are attached to the inside of the refrigerator. Accordingly, the rack device can be attached within a short period of time. Further, the inclination of the rack due to clearance between the gear shaft 4 and the spar gears 5 can be eliminated after attaching the rack device by lowering the height of the side of the rolling gear in the height of left and right mounting ports.

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 the Nano 1 fitted into the threaded jack and a shaft with a handle for rotating the mJ nut.

The rails were still installed vertically on the left and right sides at the back of the refrigerator, and the screw jacks were installed vertically at the center of the interior. Then, by turning the shaft with the handle and rotating the nut fitted into the screw jack, the position of the nand was changed and the position of the frame holding the shelf was changed.

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 based on a frame fixed by screws attached to the back center of the refrigerator.If food is placed on either the left or right side of the shelf, the shelf with the most food will tilt and the rollers will move against the rails. The shaft with the handle did not rotate smoothly as it came into contact with the handle at an angle, and the shaft with the handle had to be turned with great force. In addition, since there is a shaft with a handle and a screw jack in the center of the shelf, and the structure is relatively large, there is also a problem with the food storage surface on the lower shelf or lower tier.

In addition, when installing the shelf device in the refrigerator, the frame, rail, and screw jacks must be assembled and then assembled using screws, etc., so it takes time to adjust the parallelism of the shelves.

The present invention improves the above-mentioned problems of the conventional refrigerator shelf device, prevents the shelves from tilting from side to side, allows the shelves to be moved with a relatively small force, and does not interfere with food storage in the lower part of the refrigerator. The purpose of this invention is to make it possible to easily install a shelf device in a short time.

Means for Solving the Problems For the above-mentioned purpose, the refrigerator shelf device of the present invention includes a shelf disposed in the refrigerator, a substantially U-shaped frame for holding the shelf, and a shelf on the rear left and right sides of the frame. an attached sliding member, a gear shaft attached to the back of the frame, a spur gear attached to both ends of the gear shaft, and a rolling gear connected to either the left or right side of the spur gear;
A drive device that rotates this rolling gear, a right rail formed in the vertical direction at the back right of the refrigerator, a left rail formed vertically at the rear left inside the refrigerator, and a slider formed on the right rail and the left rail. A sliding groove in which at least a portion of the moving member is accommodated and slidably held; a rack that engages with the flat gear formed in the left and right vertical directions in the refrigerator inside or adjacent to the sliding groove; and the right side rail. a positioning groove having a right side attachment port for the sliding member formed in the left rail; a positioning groove having a left side attachment port for the sliding member formed in the left rail; It is composed of a sliding groove and a vinyl rail forming a part of the rack, and the mounting side of the rolling gear is lowered at the height of the right mounting port and the left mounting port.

Function Since the refrigerator shelf device of the present invention has the above-mentioned configuration, the flat gears at both left and right ends are simultaneously rotated by the drive device that rotates the rolling gear, and the rank can be moved up and down. Therefore, the left and right racks of the shelf and frame can be rotated up and down smoothly at the same time, and the sliding members that move up and down in the sliding groove can also be slid smoothly without being obliquely oblique. Drive still on the frame.

The shelving device can be installed in a short time because the spur gear, sliding member, etc. are assembled in advance and the assembled product is inserted into the mounting openings of the left and right rails installed inside the refrigerator. Furthermore, by lowering the height of the left and right mounting openings on the rolling gear side, it is possible to eliminate the inclination of the left and right shelves due to backlash between the gear shaft and the spur gear after the shelf device is installed.

EXAMPLE Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be explained based on the drawings of FIGS. 1 to 16.

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 2.
b, and a rear frame 2C that connects the left and right V-frames 2a, 2b.

Reference numeral 3 denotes sliding members attached to the rear left and right sides of the frame 2, and sa and sb are an upper roller and a lower roller that constitute the sliding member 3. Also, upper and lower rollers 3a.

3b is formed of a metal shirt 3c. Note that the upper roller 3a and the lower roller 3b are the same. 4 is a gear shaft 9 rotatably attached to the back of the frame 2, and flat gears 6 fixed at both left and right ends.
is installed.

6a is a dial rotatably attached to the dial hole 2d in the front part of the right frame 2b, 7b is a dial shaft connected to this dial 6a, and 8 is fixed to this dial shaft 7 and normally This is a drive gear called a worm gear. 9 is a rolling 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 diamond v6a, dial shaft 7, and drive gear 8 are referred to as a drive device 6. Also, frame 2. Sliding member 3. Gear shaft 4° Spur gear 6, Rolling gear 9. The assembled drive device 6 is called a shelf device 1a.

10 is the inside of the refrigerator. 11 is an outer box made of iron plate of the refrigerator body. 12 is an inner box molded from resin. 13 is a foamed heat insulating material filled between the outer box 11 and the inner box 12. Reference numeral 14 denotes a right side rail fixed to the rail grooves 12a on the left and right sides of the inner box 12 with screws or the like. 15 is the left rail paired with the right rail /L/14. 16 is the right side) v14 and the left side /L/
16, the spur gear 5 and the sliding member 3, that is, the upper roller 3a.
, which is a sliding groove that accommodates at least a portion of the lower roller 3b and slidably holds the lower roller 3b.

17 is a rack that meshes with the spur gear 6 formed (in the vertical direction) of the sliding groove 16 of the right rail /l/14 and the left rail /l/15. 18, the shelf device 1a is placed on the right side rack/l.
This is the right side installation port for the spur gear 5 and sliding member 3 when installing the /14. Reference numeral 19 denotes a left side attachment port for the spur gear 6 and the sliding member 3 when similarly attaching the shelf device 1a to the left side tray/L/16. 20 is right side le/l/
These positioning grooves are formed integrally with the right side mounting hole 018 and the left side mounting hole 19 formed on the left side rail 14 and the left side rail 018, respectively. Reference numeral 21 denotes a heath rail attached to this positioning groove. 21a is a piece rail sliding groove formed in the piece rail 21;
b is a piece rail rack formed on the piece rail 21. 21C021d is a claw for attaching the piece rail 21 to the positioning groove 20, and corresponds to the attachment parts 20a and 20b of the positioning groove 2o, respectively. Note that the piece rail 21 has a vertically symmetrical shape when viewed from a part of the center, and is attached upside down to the positioning grooves 20 of the right rail/L'14 and the left rail 16, respectively. The width W of the sliding groove 16 is approximately 0.1 mm larger than the outer diameter of the upper roller 3a and lower roller 3b. Further, the upper roller 3a, the lower roller 3b, and the spur gear 5 are located on the same line, and the upper roller 3a is in contact with the front surface of the sliding groove 16, and the lower roller 3b is in contact with the front surface of the sliding groove 16.
The flat gear 5 is arranged on the left frame 2a and the right frame 2b so as to be in contact with the rear surface of the rack 17 and mesh with the rack 17, respectively.

Further, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5, the frame 2 is equipped with a spur gear 5, a drive gear 8. The shape is such that the rolling gear 9 is covered from the inside of the refrigerator. In addition, a flange 2e formed at the upper end of the frame 2 and provided with a sliding groove 16 and a narrow gap is used to connect the upper roller 3.
a. Covers the spur gear 6. Next, 22 is the inside of the refrigerator 1
This is a control panel that has an internal air passage etc. to cool the 0.

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 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 gear shaft 4
The spur gear 6 is inserted into the sliding groove 16 and the rack 17 on the front side.
However, since the left and right spur gears 6 are fixed to the gear shaft 4 and rotate in the same manner, the frame 2, that is, the shelf 1, moves up and down in the same manner as the left and right sides, and no deviation in height between the left and right sides occurs. Moreover, in this embodiment, the upper and lower rollers 3a.

Since the roller shaft 3C of 3b is made of metal, shelf 1
Even if a lot of food is placed on top of the upper and lower rollers 3a.

Since 3b rotates smoothly without tilting and the frictional force can be reduced, the operating force for tire/L/6 can be extremely small. Next, when shelf 1 moves to the desired position using Diamond/I/6 and then stops, the weight of shelf 1 and frame 2 and shelf 1
Due to the weight of the food on top, the shelf 1 or frame 2 tends to fall down. As a result of this force, the spur gear 6 first tries to rotate. Therefore, the gear shaft 4 and the rolling gear 9 try to rotate, but the rolling gear 9 is meshed with the drive gear 8, and it is mechanically impossible to rotate the rolling gear 9 by rotating the drive gear 8. Although it is easy to say, the force that causes the tooth profile 9a of the rolling gear 9 to rotate the screw-shaped tooth profile 8a of the drive gear 8 is that the tooth profile 9a of the rolling gear 9 meshes with the tooth profile 8a of the drive gear 8 in a substantially perpendicular direction. As a result, the frictional force becomes extremely large, making it impossible for the rolling gear 9 to rotate the drive gear 8. Therefore, when the shelf 1 is in the stopped state ■, the drive gear 8 and the rolling gear 9 act as a nutopper mechanism, and even when food is placed on the shelf 1, the shelf 1 does not go down and is held in that position. Ru.

Next, a method of attaching the shelf device to the inside of the refrigerator will be explained based on FIGS. 12 to 14.

FIG. 12 shows the state before the frame 2 is attached with the pinure/l/21 removed. To attach the frame 2, as shown in FIG. 13, the drive device 6. The spur gear 6, sliding member 3, etc. are assembled in advance, and the right side rail/
Insert from L'14 and the positioning groove 20 part of the left rail 16. Then, with the sliding member 3 portion of the frame 2 firmly inserted into the sliding groove 16, as shown in FIG. 18 and left side mounting port 19
Insert each one and pull it up to attach it. After this, the Besley/v21 is fitted into the positioning groove 20.

Next, the fitting portion between the gear shaft 4 and the spur gear 5 is shown in FIGS. 15 to 17. As shown in the figure, when the gear shaft 4 and the spur gear 6 are combined, the spur gear 6 is misaligned with respect to the gear shaft 4 due to gaps in the fitting portion. This misalignment occurs when the spur gears 5 are installed at both ends of the gear shaft 4, and when force is applied to the spur gear 6 side connected to the rolling gear 9, the left and right spur gears 5 become misaligned. . Further, if h is the difference in height between the right side attachment hole 18 and the left side attachment hole 19, and h=o, the frame 2 will be tilted by the positional deviation of the spur gear. For this purpose, set the mounting side of the rolling gear 9 lower in b, and set the frame 2 to the right -) V 14 +
When attached to the left rail 16, the frame 2 can be attached without tilting.

As explained above, the refrigerator shelf device of this embodiment does not require a large force to move the rack 1 even when food is placed on the shelf 1, and the shelf 1 does not tilt, and at the same time, the shelf device can be easily installed. be able to.

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 attached to the back of the frame, a spur gear attached to both ends of this gear shaft, a rolling gear connected to either the left or right side of this spur gear, and this rolling gear. a drive device that rotates a gear; a right rail formed in the vertical direction at the far right of the refrigerator; a left rail formed in the longitudinal direction at the rear left of the refrigerator; and the sliding member formed on the right rail and the left rail. a sliding groove that accommodates and slidably holds at least a portion of the sliding groove; a rank that meshes with the spur gear formed in or adjacent to the sliding groove in the left and right vertical directions in the refrigerator; A positioning groove having a right side mounting opening for the sliding member formed therein, a positioning groove having several left side mounting openings for the sliding member formed in the left rail, and fitting into the left and right positioning grooves. The shelf and the frame are made up of the sliding groove and a piece rail formed as a part of the rack, and the mounting side of the rolling gear is lowered at the height of the right side mounting port and the left side mounting port, and the shelf and frame are The flat gears that simultaneously rotate up and down on the left and right ranks can move up and down while remaining horizontal, and the sliding member that moves up and down in the sliding groove can also slide smoothly. In addition, the drive device, spur gear, sliding member, etc. are pre-assembled into the frame, and the assembled product is inserted into the left and right holes of the positioning groove of the left and right rails installed in the refrigerator. Therefore, the shelf device can be easily installed in a short time. Furthermore, since the height of the left and right mounting holes is lower on the side where the rolling gear is mounted, it is possible to absorb misalignment caused by missing the fitting part of the gear shaft and gear, allowing the shelves to be mounted in parallel. .

[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 a front view of this embodiment, Fig. 3 is an exploded perspective view of a frame used in this embodiment, and Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a refrigerator to which an embodiment of the present invention is applied. FIG. 6 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the main parts of this embodiment, FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of the main parts as seen from the side of the right frame, FIG. A sectional view taken along the line C-C in FIG. 8, FIG. 11 a sectional view taken along the line D-D in FIG. 8,
FIGS. 12, 13, and 14 are exploded views of frame attachment, and FIGS. 16, 16, and 17 are side views of the fitting portion of the gear shaft and spur gear. 1...Shelf, 2...Frame, 3...
...Sliding member, 4...Gear shaft, 5...
... Spur gear, 6 ... Drive device, 9 ...
・Rolling gear, 10... Inside the refrigerator, 14...
Right rail, 15...Left rail, 16...
...Sliding groove, 17...Rack, 18...Right side mounting port, 19...Left side mounting port, 20.
...Positioning groove, 21...Piece rail

Claims (1)

[Claims] A shelf disposed in the refrigerator, a substantially U-shaped frame holding the shelf, sliding members attached to the left and right rear of the frame, and a gear shaft attached to the rear of the frame; A spur gear attached to both ends of this gear shaft, a rolling gear connected to either the left or right side of this spur gear, a drive device that rotates this rolling gear, and a a left rail formed in the vertical direction at the back left of the refrigerator; and a sliding groove formed in the right rail and the left rail that accommodates and slidably holds at least a portion of the sliding member. , a rack that engages with the flat gear formed inside or adjacent to the sliding groove in the horizontal and vertical directions in the refrigerator; a positioning groove having a right side mounting port for the sliding member formed on the right side rail; consisting of a positioning groove formed in the left rail and having a left side mounting opening for the sliding member, and a piece rail that fits into the left and right positioning grooves and forms a part of the sliding groove and the rack, A shelf device for a refrigerator, characterized in that the mounting side of the rolling gear is lowered by the height of the right mounting port and the left mounting port.