JPH0341260Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed explanation of the invention] (a) Industrial application field This invention divides the inside of the refrigerator into upper and lower sections using a front partition member at the edge of the opening and a partition member behind it, and stores containers with an opening on the top in the lower chamber. The present invention relates to an improved configuration of a refrigerator used as a vegetable compartment, for example.

(b) Prior Art A conventional refrigerator of this kind is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 58-35981. In the configuration shown here, the refrigerator compartment is divided into upper and lower sections by a partition front member installed at the front opening and a partition plate attached to the rear of the partition, and containers with an opening on the top are stored in the lower storage compartment. However, the front opening of this part was closed off with a special door. The opening on the top of the container is almost sealed by the packing on the bottom of the partition plate coming into close contact with the edge of the opening, and a cold air passage is formed between the wall around the container and the wall of the refrigerator, into which cold air is introduced from the upper rear. The inside of the container is cooled indirectly. This prevents the humidity inside the container from decreasing due to the inflow of cold air, making it suitable for storage in vegetable compartments where dryness is a concern.

(c) Problems to be solved by the invention Cold air is introduced into the cold air passage around the container from the rear part of the container because the cold air is normally supplied to the refrigerator above from the back. This cold air must be returned to the refrigerator compartment above after exchanging heat with the container wall, but it is preferable to return it from the front of the container in order to ensure smooth circulation of cold air in the cold air passage. Here, the opening of the container must be sealed by packing, so in order to return the container from the front as described above, conventionally, the front end of the container is set back from the rear end of the front partition member, and the front end of the container is moved back from the rear end of the front partition member, and the front end of the container is moved back from the rear end of the front partition member. It formed a hole. However, with such a configuration, the internal volume is significantly reduced because the front end of the container is moved back. In order to improve this problem, in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 58-35981, a cold air return path is formed through the partition front member, and the cold air is returned from this path. However, since this return path opens at the lower surface of the partition front member and simply passes through the heat insulating material, the front end of the container cannot be positioned in front of this lower surface opening. In addition, if this opening is located at the front of the lower surface of the partition front member, the front end of the container can be brought as close as possible to the front door, but in that case, the insulation of the partition front member itself from outside the refrigerator will be incomplete, and the front condensation is more likely to occur. Therefore, in any case, there was a limit to the expansion of the internal volume of the container.

(d) Means for solving the problem In order to solve the problem, the present invention consists of the partition front member 6 consisting of an exterior body 30 and an internal heat insulating material 34, and the exterior body 30 has a lower end. The opening 35 is opened to the front and an opening 37 is formed on the upper surface communicating with the opening 35. The opening 35 communicates with a cold air passage 49 in front of the container 11, and a sealing material 45 is provided at the lower edge of the container 11 in close contact with the opening edge of the container 11. It has been established.

(E) Effect According to the present invention, the opening of the partition front member communicating with the cold air passage at the front of the container does not open downward, but opens forward, and the sealing material at the lower edge abuts the edge of the opening of the container. Therefore, even if the front end of the container is brought close to the door, as long as there is a cold air passage in front of the container, it is possible to secure a cold air return path without blocking the opening.

(f) Examples Examples will be explained with reference to the drawings. FIG. 2 shows a side sectional view of the refrigerator 1. The inside of a heat insulating box body 2 opened at the front of the refrigerator 1 is divided into upper and lower parts by a heat insulating partition wall 3, and the upper part is a freezer compartment 4. The space below the partition wall 3 is provided across the opening from left to right, and is provided with partition front members 5 and 6 located above and below, and partition plates 7 and 8 located behind each of them as partition members that partition the inside of the refrigerator. It is divided into three parts, the upper part being the first refrigerating compartment 9 and the middle part being the second refrigerating compartment 10. In the space below the partition plate 8, a container 11 with an open top is removably stored with a space between it and the wall of the insulating box 2. A cold air passage 12 is formed around the container 11, and the inside is used as a vegetable compartment 13. There is. 1
Reference numerals 4, 15, 16, and 17 designate heat insulating doors that open and close the openings of the heat insulating box 2 in front of the chambers 4, 9, 10 and the container 11.

A cooling chamber 18 is formed within the partition wall 3.
A refrigeration cycle cooler 19 is housed here, and air cooled here is supplied to each chamber 4, 9 by a blower 20. That is, the first refrigerator compartment 9 is discharged from a discharge port 21 opened at the upper part of the back wall, and the discharge amount is adjusted by a damper thermostat 23 provided on the rear wall of the dedicated chamber 22 at the upper part of the chamber 9. Ru. A portion of the cold air blown into the chamber 9 is transferred to the second refrigerator compartment 1 below the through hole 24 at the rear of the partition plate 7.
0, and a part of it also flows into the cold air passage 12 around the container 11 through the through hole 25 at the rear of the partition plate 8. The cold air that has circulated through the cold air passage 12 is transferred to the partition front member 6.
Returns to the chamber 10 above from the return path 26 inside, and returns to the chamber 1
The cold air in the chamber 9 returns to the upper chamber 9 through the through hole 27 in the front of the partition plate 7, and the cold air in the chamber 9 returns to the cooling chamber 18 through the inlet 28 in the front of the partition wall 3. In other words, it circulates as shown by the arrow in the figure. In addition, container 11
A sealing material (not shown) provided on the lower surface of the partition plate 8 is in close contact with the rear edge and left and right edges of the opening, and a sealing material (described later) provided in the lower end of the partition front member 6 is in close contact with the front edge, thereby sealing the opening. Therefore, the inside of the vegetable compartment 13 is indirectly cooled by the cold air circulating through the cold air passage 12 through its wall surface, and is configured to be suitable for cooling vegetables and the like.

FIG. 1 shows an enlarged side sectional view of a portion of the front partition member 6. As shown in FIG. The front partition member includes a hollow, elongated box-shaped exterior body 30 as shown in FIG.
1 and 32, and a molded heat insulating material 34 inserted into the back side of the front plate 33 inside the exterior body 30. The exterior body 30 is integrally molded from synthetic resin, and its lower surface has a step shape in which the rear part is lower than the front part, and a plurality of openings 35 that open to the front are bored in this step part. . Further, a plurality of hook-shaped engagement claws 36 protruding forward are formed on the lower edge of the opening 35.
Further, a plurality of openings 37 are provided on the rear upper surface of the exterior body 30.
is drilled. Further, 38 is a mounting hole for fixing the side surface of the exterior body 30 to the heat insulating box body 2. Furthermore, 39 is a rib formed on the rear surface of the exterior body 30, and the front end of the partition plate 8 is supported by this rib 39. The molded heat insulating material 34 has a small depth dimension, and the outer body 3
0, and is inserted between the upper and lower front portions of the exterior body 30 at a distance from the rear surface thereof. As a result, a cold air return path 26 having a substantially inverted L-shaped cross section is formed within the front partition member 6. Further, 40 is a dew condensation prevention pipe provided on the back surface of the front plate 33.

A sealing member 45 made of soft rubber or the like is attached to the engaging claw 36 and has a length spanning the entire width of the front partition member 6, and is engaged from the front, and the sealing member 45 further extends downward. A thin fin piece 46 is integrally formed. When the container 11 is stored in the refrigerator, the fin piece 46 comes into close contact with the inner surface of the upper edge of the front wall 47 of the container 11 to seal the front edge of the opening. A handle portion 48 is formed to protrude forward from the upper edge of this front wall 47.
In addition, a plurality of through holes 50 are bored. Container 11
A cold air passage 49, which is a part of the cold air passage 12, is formed between the front wall 47 of the door 17 and the inner surface of the door 17. This cold air passage 49 communicates with the opening 35 through a through hole 50, and is further connected to a cold air return path. 26, and communicates with the upper second refrigerator compartment 10 through the opening 37. As a result, the cold air in the cold air passage 12 returns to the second refrigerator compartment 10 from the cold air passage 49 via the cold air return path 26.

At this time, it is sufficient that the front wall 47 of the container 11 has the minimum distance necessary to form a cold air passage 49 between it and the inner surface of the door 17, and the lower edge of the opening 35 is extended as far forward as possible to seal it. By positioning the material 45 forward, the front wall 47 of the container 11 can be brought as far forward as possible. Therefore, the internal volume of the container 11 can be expanded and the internal volume of the refrigerator 1 can be effectively utilized. Also,
At this time, there is no need to modify the molded heat insulating material 34, so the heat insulating performance of the partition front member 6 is not impaired.

Here, if this kind of partition front member does not require a cold air return path, but the temperature inside the refrigerator is low and it is necessary to improve the insulation performance of the partition front member itself, the depth dimension as shown in the partition front member 5 in FIG. large molded insulation material 55
This can be achieved by inserting it into a similar exterior body 30. Therefore, according to the present application, the exterior body 30 can be used for both the front partition members 5 and 6, which facilitates mass production.

(g) Effects of the invention As detailed above, according to the invention, the lower opening that communicates the space formed at the rear of the front partition member with the cold air passage in front of the container opens forward, and also opens toward the front of the container. Since it is located behind the opening edge of the container, it does not impair the insulation performance of the front partition member, and it is possible to get as close to the door as possible while forming a cold air passage between the front wall of the container and the door. Therefore, expansion of the internal volume of the container and effective use of the lower chamber volume can be achieved at the same time. In addition, the means for dividing the interior of the refrigerator into an upper chamber and a lower chamber is composed of a front partition member and a partition member. It is possible to easily organize and clean the room and the lower room.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Each figure shows an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 1 is an enlarged sectional view of the front partition member, FIG. 2 is a side sectional view of the refrigerator, and FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the exterior body. 6... Partition front member, 8... Partition plate, 11... Container, 12... Cold air passage, 17... Door, 26... Cold air return path, 34... Insulating material, 35, 37... Opening, 49 ...Cold air passage, 45...Sealing material.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] The interior of the refrigerator is divided into an upper chamber and a lower chamber by a front partition member located at the front opening edge of the insulating box body and a partition member behind the partition member, and a container with an opening on the top and a lower chamber are stored in the lower chamber. In a refrigerator in which a cold air passage is formed around the container by a door body that closes a front opening of the chamber and the heat insulating box body, the front partition member includes an exterior body and a portion of the exterior body that is housed within the exterior body. a heat insulating material forming an L-shaped space in the rear part, and the exterior body has an upper opening communicating the space with an upper chamber, and an upper opening communicating with the space and an upper chamber, and a heat insulating material located below the heat insulating material and rearward from the edge of the front opening of the container. A refrigerator comprising: a forward-facing lower opening that communicates the space with a cold air passage; and a sealing member that seals a gap between the container opening edge and the lower opening edge.