JPH0327835B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] (a) Industrial Application Field The present invention relates to an insulating box in which the space between an outer box and an inner box is filled with a foam insulation material, and this insulating box prevents the inside of the refrigerator from freezing. It is applied to refrigerated cases and freezers that cool the interior to a temperature slightly higher than the freezing point, or to refrigerated cases and refrigerators that cool the interior to a temperature slightly higher than the freezing point.

(b) Prior art A heat insulating box body is provided with a connecting member extending between the upper end of the front wall of the outer box and the upper end of the front wall of the inner box, and the space between the inner box and the outer box is filled with foam insulation material. For example, there are Japanese Utility Model Application Publication No. 60-33183, Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 60-8625, and Japanese Unexamined Utility Model Publication No. 60-169076. Among these, a structure in which air between the inner box and the outer box is released from a connecting member during the foaming process is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 169076/1983. According to this, air escape holes are provided on the flat upper surface of the connecting member. If this hole is extremely small in diameter, the insulation material will hardly leak out, but the amount of air escaping will be small and a cavity will be created in this area that will not be filled with insulation material, so this hole should be enlarged to some extent. There is a need to. In this case, the heat insulating material leaks from this hole, and it is necessary to remove the leaked heat insulating material after the foaming process. Therefore, a breathable material such as that disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 60-15236 is usually pasted on the back side of this hole to prevent leakage of the heat insulating material and to vent air effectively.

(c) Problems to be solved by the invention As mentioned above, in the invention of JP-A-60-169076, since air escape holes are provided on the top surface of the connecting member, moisture from outside the refrigerator comes into contact with the top surface of the connecting member. When the air condenses into water droplets, it enters the foam insulation material through the air escape holes, deteriorating the insulation material and reducing its insulation effect.Also, in the freezer, the water droplets that have entered the freezer freeze and damage the insulation material. This may cause defects such as damage.
Further, as mentioned above, in order to improve air escape and prevent leakage of the heat insulating material, there is a drawback that it is necessary to provide a special structure to prevent leakage of the heat insulating material, such as attaching a breathable member to the back surface of the air escape hole.

In view of these drawbacks, the present invention provides an air escape hole in the connecting member between the inner box and the outer box so that the foam insulation material can be properly filled between the inner box and the outer box. The member has a specific shape to achieve connection with the outer box, making it difficult for condensed water droplets to enter the insulation material, and even if water droplets do enter, they can be released by promoting evaporation. Furthermore, the present invention provides a structure that does not require a special ventilation member to prevent leakage of heat insulating material.

(d) Means for Solving the Problems In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention provides a connecting member that spans the upper end of the front wall of the outer box and the upper end of the front wall of the inner box, and connects the inner box and the outer box. A space between the outer box and the box is filled with a foam insulation material, and the upper part of the front wall of the outer box is provided with a shoulder bent inward and a flange rising upward from the rear end of the shoulder, The connecting member has a portion that covers the shoulder portion and an upper bottomed groove into which the flange is loosely inserted, and a front wall or a rear wall of the groove has a portion facing the flange that is filled with the heat insulating material. The device is characterized in that an exhaust hole is provided to release air from the space, and a heating element is provided at the upper end of the front wall of the outer box to heat the shoulder and the flange.

(E) Action As the insulation material filled in the space between the inner box and the outer box grows, air in this space passes through the gap between the upright flange of the outer box and the inner surface of the groove of the connecting member. It gradually escapes from the exhaust hole. For this reason, the insulation material is well filled up to the vicinity of the connecting member and does not leak from the exhaust hole through the groove of the connecting member, and this groove prevents leakage, making it possible to prevent leakage of special insulation material. There is no need to provide additional members. Further, the groove also functions as a connecting portion with the outer box. In addition, even if water droplets enter through the exhaust hole, the shoulder and flange on the front wall of the outer box are heated and the surrounding area is heated, so the water droplets evaporate and are released from the exhaust hole and evaporate when they move into the refrigerator. It sticks to the container. Furthermore, by this heating, it is possible to prevent moisture from entering through the normal exhaust hole, thereby preventing deterioration of the heat insulating material.

(F) Embodiment Figures 1 to 7 show an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, 1 is an insulated box body such as a low-temperature show case used for selling ice cream, etc., and there are two on the left and right on the front half of the upper surface. Front and back sliding transparent doors 3A, 3
The main body is composed of a heat insulating box 4 equipped with
is formed. The heat insulating box includes an inner box 8 made of metal with an open top that defines the interior 7 of the refrigerator, and an outer box made of metal with an open top that stores this inner box and forms a space between the inner box and the inner box. 9 and a foamed heat insulating material 10 such as hard polyurethane which is foamed and filled into the space between the inner and outer boxes, and an opening 11 for loading and unloading products on one wall surface, and a protruding wall extending in the direction of this opening. 12. The inner box has front, back,
It consists of left, right, and bottom walls 8A to 8E, and has a main cooler 13 consisting of meandering low-temperature refrigerant pipes provided on its outer circumferential surface, and a main cooler 13 formed in the rear half of the upper surface, formed by a so-called roll bonding method, and attached to its periphery. The interior 7 of the refrigerator is cooled by a plate-shaped auxiliary cooler 14 provided with rising pieces 14A on the front, back, left, and right sides. Further, the outer box has a front wall 9A on the inner surface of which a heat exchanger 15 made of a meandering medium pipe through which a high temperature gas-liquid mixed refrigerant or liquid refrigerant in a refrigeration cycle, which will be described later, flows, is attached with an aluminum tape 60;
A bent side 16 is formed at the upper end extending upward from this front wall.
A back wall 9B having a forward groove 17 defined by this bent side, and both left and right walls 9C and 9D, which are gently sloped upward at the rear and have an injection hole 18 for the foamed heat insulating material at the rear edge. , a bottom wall 9E having an appropriate number of exhaust holes 19 on the front edge, and each rising edge 20 on the front, back, left, and right edges on the periphery.
A, the upper wall 20 is located directly above the auxiliary cooler and slopes gently downward to prevent dew condensation on the front wall 9A in the heat exchanger 15. Even if an electric heater is disposed in place of the heat exchanger 15 as a heating element, the same dew condensation prevention effect can be obtained.

The foamed heat insulating material 10 has both back walls 8B and 9 opposite to the injection hole 18, considering its foaming rising speed.
The wall thickness between the two front walls 8 facing the exhaust hole 19 is
It is thinner than the wall thickness between A and 9A, and also has a heat insulating partition material 21 placed between the auxiliary cooler 14 and the top wall 20 and a heat insulating partition material placed between the bottom walls 8E and 9E. The blocks 22 are integrated by their adhesive action.

The machine room 5 includes a lower part of the front wall 9A of the outer box, lower parts of both left and right walls 9C and 9D, a bottom wall 9E, an exhaust passage 31 that opens vertically at the upper edge, and is located below this exhaust passage. A removable cover 33 covers a rear opening in which an exhaust passage 32 is formed and opens in the front and rear directions.
and a base 35 that is located at the rear of the lower surface and forms an intake passage 34 between the lower end of the front wall 9A of the outer box, and constitutes a refrigeration cycle together with the main and auxiliary coolers. 36 on the base 35, and a pair of supports 38, 3 with wire finch tube condensers 37 provided on both front and rear edges of the intake passage.
They are fixed at 9 respectively.

The storage chamber 6 also includes a resin shade plate 40 located on the front, an upper part of the back wall 9B of the outer box located on the back, and a pair of left and right resin side connecting members 41 located on both left and right sides. , a metal ceiling wall 43 located on the upper surface, and the upper wall 2 of the outer box located on the lower surface.
0, and includes lighting 44 such as a straight tube fluorescent light that illuminates the inside and outside of the refrigerator, and a ballast 45 that is a part of the lighting circuit for this lighting, and when the transparent doors 3A and 3B are opened. Store this door. Reference numeral 47 denotes a center rail that crosses the opening and the center of the storage chamber in the front-rear direction, and its rear end is supported by a hanger 48 suspended in the groove 17 of the back wall 9B of the outer box 9. 64
is a front connecting member made of synthetic resin heat insulating material that connects the upper ends of each front wall 8A, 9A of the inner box 8 and outer box 9, and is the length spanning the left and right side walls of the heat insulating box body 1. have. The connecting member 64 has a groove 66 on its rear side into which the upper end of the front wall 8A of the inner box 8 is inserted, and a portion on its upper side that covers a shoulder 61 bent rearward at the upper end of the outer box front wall 9A. A groove 65 with an upper bottom is formed in the middle portion of the upper side and extends over its length. The groove 65 maintains an overall forward leaning position so that the upper part is located forward than the lower part, and the shoulder 61 of the front wall of the outer box 9 is located inside the groove 65.
The rising flange 68 at the rear end is loosely inserted into the inner surface of the groove with a slight gap, and at the forward position of the groove 65, the shoulder portion 61 of the front wall 9A is arranged along the upper side of the connecting member 64 and the inner surface of the front side. ing. Reference numeral 67 denotes an exhaust hole that is provided through the front or rear wall of the groove 65 and is located at a position facing the flange 68 at an appropriate interval. As will be described later, in order to properly vent air during the foaming process, the flange 68 is placed below the exhaust hole 67 on the inner surface of the front or rear wall of the groove 65 or in front of the flange 68 so that the flange 68 does not block the exhaust hole 67. A protrusion 69 is provided to limit the movement of the flange 68 so that the flange 68 is located in the middle of the groove 65.
As one example, the protrusion length of this protrusion 69 is
0.5 mm, the distance t between the flange 68 and the rear wall of the groove 65 is approximately 1 mm, and the length of the connecting member 64 is approximately 1200 mm.
mm, six exhaust holes 67 with a diameter of 3 mm were provided at approximately equal intervals, and good exhaust could be achieved.

Next, a method for manufacturing the heat insulating box 1 will be explained based on each figure. After the inner box 8 with the main cooler 13 attached thereto is assembled into the outer box 9 with the heat exchanger 15 attached, the upper wall 20 of the outer box 9 is fixed to form the protruding wall 12, and both sides A space 70 in which both the inner and outer boxes 8, 9 are connected by the connecting members 41, 41, the front connecting member 64, etc., and the partition material 21 and the insulation block 22 are accommodated.
Assemble the box 4A that has been formed. Next, with the nest 71 placed in this box, turn it over so that the opening 11 and the projecting wall 12 are facing downward, and insert both the inner and outer jigs 72, 7.
3, the upper area 7 of the space 70 is fixed by fixing the box 4A.
0E is located below and the lower area 70F is located above.
After fixing the box 4A, a foaming solution 10A such as hard polyurethane is poured into the rear area 70B of the space 70 through the injection hole 18.
Inject into. This injected stock solution passes through the states of cream, gel, and foam and grows as shown by the arrow in FIG. The foamed heat insulating material 10 is filled into the space 70 and solidified, but at the initial stage of foaming, it rises upward from the rear area 70B and from both the left and right areas 70 of the space 70.
C, 70D, and part of the stock solution 10A that has flowed to both the left and right areas is connected to both side connecting members 41, 41.
While gradually flowing from the window 59 to the upper area 70E,
Most of the remaining material grows upward and forward and flows into the front area 70A and the lower area 70F, which is the final area of foaming, and after joining with the stock solution 10A from the rear area 70B, foaming is completed and becomes the foamed insulation material 10. , the desired insulation box 4 is obtained. Reference numeral 75 denotes a decorative plate provided to cover the upper side of the connecting member 64, and serves as a front end abutting portion of the doors 3A, 3B.

According to this manufacturing method, the partition material 21 can also prevent the foamed heat insulating material 10 from flowing from the rear region 70B to the upper region 70E at the initial stage of foaming, so that an appropriate foaming pressure can be obtained for the foamed heat insulating material 10. At the same time, the rear area 70B and both left and right areas 70C,
It is possible to improve the rise to 70D, and the foam insulation material 10 that flows into both the left and right areas 70C and 70D
Since a portion of the foamed heat insulating material 10 is guided through the window 59 of the left and right connecting members 41, 41 to the upper area 70E, filling of the foamed heat insulating material 10 in the upper area 70E can be performed in accordance with the rise of other areas, and as a result, the space 70 The density of the foamed heat insulating material 10 in each area 70A to 70F can be maintained substantially uniform, and foaming defects can be prevented.

During this foaming process, a portion of the air in the space 70 enters the groove 65, climbs over the flange 68, and is discharged from the exhaust hole 67 through the exhaust path 74 of the outer jig 73. For this reason, the connecting member 64 of the front section 70A
The heat insulating material 10 is fully filled up to the point where the heat insulating material 10 is filled.
Further, a part of this heat insulating material 10 enters the entrance of the groove 65, but because the distance between the flange 68 and the wall of the groove 65 is narrow, it is difficult to enter, and it solidifies in that part, forming the exhaust hole 67.
It does not leak from. Therefore, there is no need for a complicated structure such as providing a ventilation member or the like at the entrance of the groove 65 or the back surface of the exhaust hole 67 to prevent leakage of the heat insulating material 10.

The heating element 15 is provided on the inner surface of the upper end of the front wall 9A to heat the shoulder 61 and flange 68 of the outer box front wall 9A, and this heating prevents water droplets from entering from the exhaust hole 67. Also gradually evaporate and open the exhaust hole 6.
Let it be released from 7. This heating also prevents moisture from entering through the exhaust hole 67, which is preferable for preventing deterioration of the heat insulating effect.

Even if the exhaust hole 67 is provided in the rear wall 65B of the groove 65, the effect of preventing intrusion of water droplets is superior to that in the case where the exhaust hole 67 is provided vertically in the upper surface of the connecting member as in the prior art. Exhaust hole 6
7, by providing the outer end of the opening on the front wall 65A or rear wall 65B of the groove 65 so as to be lower than the inner end of the opening on the groove 65 side, the intrusion of water droplets can be further prevented.

In the present invention, the groove 65 of the connecting member 64 is
It is clear from the embodiment described above that it not only acts as a connecting part with the flange 68 but also as an exhaust path, and furthermore, in conjunction with the flange 68, also achieves the leakage prevention effect of the heat insulating material 10.

(G) Effects of the Invention In the present invention, the connecting member extending between the upper end of the front wall of the outer box and the upper end of the front wall of the inner box is an upper bottomed member into which a rising flange provided at the upper end of the front wall of the outer box is loosely inserted. A groove is provided in the front or rear wall of the groove facing the flange, and an exhaust hole is provided in the front or rear wall of the groove to allow air between the inner box and the outer box to escape as the foam insulation material is filled. Therefore, the groove acts not only as a connecting part with the outer box but also as an exhaust path,
Furthermore, since the leakage prevention effect of the insulation material occurs, it is possible to ensure that the insulation material is filled to the end of the front wall of the insulation box. is also unnecessary. Furthermore, since the exhaust holes are provided in the vertical plane, dew attached to the connecting member is difficult to enter the heat insulating material, which is effective in preventing deterioration of the heat insulating material.

In addition, in the present invention, since a heating element is provided at the upper end of the front wall of the outer box to heat the shoulder and flange of the front wall, not only the area near the shoulder but also the inside of the groove is heated by this heating. It works to prevent moisture from leaking from the outside, which is preferable for preventing deterioration of the insulation material. Furthermore, even if water droplets should enter through the exhaust hole, they can be gradually evaporated by this heating, and the entered water droplets or moisture will not freeze in the heat insulating material and damage the heat insulating material.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Each figure shows an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of a low-temperature show case, and FIG. 2 is a
A' sectional view, Figure 3 is a longitudinal sectional view of the foaming process, Figure 4 is a BB' sectional view of Figure 1, and Figure 5 is C of Figure 2.
-C' sectional view, Figure 6 is an enlarged view of P section in Figure 2, Figure 7
The figure is an enlarged view of the groove portion of the connecting member. 1...Insulated box body, 8...Inner box, 9...Outer box, 1
0... Foaming insulation material, 15... Heating element, 61...
...Shoulder, 64...Connecting member, 65...Groove, 67...
...exhaust hole, 68...flange.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A connecting member is provided that spans the upper end of the front wall of the outer box and the upper end of the front wall of the inner box, and the space between the inner box and the outer box is filled with a foam heat insulating material,
The upper part of the front wall of the outer box is provided with a shoulder bent inward and a flange rising upward from the rear end of the shoulder,
The connecting member has a portion that covers the shoulder portion and an upper bottomed groove into which the flange is loosely inserted, and a front wall or a rear wall of the groove has a portion facing the flange that is filled with the heat insulating material. An insulating box for cooling, comprising an exhaust hole through which air in the space escapes, and a heating element for heating the shoulder and the flange at the upper end of the front wall of the outer box.