JPH05141853A - Method and device for opening refrigerator door - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To introduce a device for opening a refrigerator door which, only when the door is open, can be actuated in the auxiliary function and enables easily switching to the automatic or manual control. CONSTITUTION:A device 11 for the opening of a refrigerator door comprises a drive device 17, a stop switch 24, and a door switch; the drive device 17 is composed of a driven part 19 which is capable of being moved frontward and rearward, a position detector which detects the position of the driven part 19 and outputs a detection signal accordingly, and a drive part 21 which moves the driven part 19 frontward and rearward; the stop switch 26 outputs a stop signal when it detects contact of the driven part 19 with the door 6; the door switch outputs a standby signal when it detects closure of the door.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an opening device and an opening method for assisting the opening operation of a rotary door.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art JP-A-3-8438 prior to the present invention
Japanese Patent Publication No. 4 discloses a refrigerator having a vegetable storage chamber itself as a drawer type and a mechanism for pulling out and storing the vegetable storage chamber, that is, a drawer / storing mechanism. The drawer / storing mechanism described in this publication controls the rotation of the motor by a gear,
It is configured to be transmitted to the storage chamber via the pinion and the rack. That is, the rack and the pinion are arranged in a rack provided on the side of the storage chamber so that the pinion, which is driven to rotate according to the rotation of the motor, meshes with each other, and the storage chamber is automatically pulled out and stored. ..

Further, JP-A-2-157 prior to the present invention.
In Japanese Patent No. 581, the door is pushed out with a short stroke in the initial stage, that is, in the stage before the packing is separated from the opening edge, and the door is pushed out with a long stroke in the subsequent stages. A drawer type door opening device is disclosed. In particular, a high torque output is provided during a short stroke operation, and a low torque output is provided during a long stroke operation.

[0004]

However, since the rack and the pinion are always in mesh with each other in the drawer mechanism described in the above publications, when the vegetable storage chamber is manually put in and taken out, the user has to use this rack. Since an extra force is required to rotate the motor associated with the meshing of the pinion with the pinion, there is a problem that it is difficult to put the vegetable storage chamber in and out by manual work. In particular,
In the drawer device shown in the publication, the motor rotates at a constant speed, so even if you want to open and close the storage room immediately,
Since it is necessary to wait for the operation of the automatic opening / closing mechanism to be completed, it is convenient that the automatic opening / closing operation can be performed, but it is difficult to perform the manual opening / closing. On the other hand, the drawer door disclosed in the above publication has both a short stroke door pushing means and a long stroke door pushing means, so that the construction of the door opening device itself is likely to be complicated and there is a problem that assembly workability is poor. In addition, in order to always engage the rack and the pinion, there must be no dimensional error during assembly, there are many restrictions in terms of manufacturing, and measures have been taken to absorb the error when there is a dimensional error. Absent.

On the other hand, it is conceivable to provide a switching member capable of switching the engagement of the rack and the pinion so that the manual operation and the automatic opening operation can be selectively used, but the structure is more complicated as well as the number of parts is increased. However, there is a problem in that the space for disposing the door opening device becomes wider and the storage volume is reduced. In addition, it is possible to keep the door and the door opening device from contacting each other by providing a gap between the door and the opening device. Is not suitable for

Therefore, in the present invention, in addition to providing a door opening device for assisting the door opening device to operate during opening and facilitating the door opening in combination with a manual operation, the door opening device operates effectively. The purpose is to present a method for opening the door to allow it.

[0007]

According to the present invention, there is provided a heat-insulating box having a front opening, and a door pivotally supported by the heat-insulating box so as to be rotatable back and forth.
The present invention relates to a refrigerator provided with a drive device having a non-driving portion which is arranged at a distance from the non-pivotal side surface of the door and pushes out the door, and a door opening switch which operates the drive device. After moving backward, the valve is moved forward at a first speed, brought into contact with the surface on the non-pivot side and stopped, and the driven portion is moved at a second speed higher than the first speed based on the operation of the door opening switch. It presents a method of opening the door of the refrigerator that is designed to move forward.

Further, according to the present invention, there is provided a heat-insulating box having a front opening, a door pivotally supported by the heat-insulating box so as to be rotatable back and forth, a drive device for pushing out a non-pivot side surface of the door, and a drive device. In a refrigerator equipped with a door opening switch for outputting an opening signal to be operated, the drive device includes a driven part that can move forward and backward, and a position detection part that detects a position of the driven part and outputs a detection signal. And a drive unit that moves the driven unit forward or backward, and detects a contact between the driven unit and a surface of the door on the non-pivotal side and outputs a signal to stop the driven unit. A switch and a door switch for detecting a closing of the door and outputting a standby signal, wherein the drive unit advances the driven unit at a first speed by the standby signal of the door switch, and the stop switch. Stop signal to stop the driven part. Provided is a door opening device for a refrigerator that advances the driven part at a second speed higher than a first speed by an opening signal of the door opening switch and retracts the driven part by a detection signal of the position detecting part. It is a thing.

[0009]

According to the door opening method of the first aspect of the present invention, the driven portion of the drive device stands by while being in contact with the non-pivot side surface of the door unless the door opening switch is operated. In this state, the driven part only comes into contact with the surface on the non-pivotal side, and when the door is manually opened, it can be moved regardless of the drive device, so that the operation is easy.

Further, since the driven portion advances at the second speed which is faster than the first speed based on the operation of the door opening switch, the door is not pivoted with a force larger than that of the forward movement when reaching the standby state. The support side can be pushed out, and the door can be pulled away from the opening edge of the heat insulating box simply by operating the door opening switch during the door opening operation.

On the other hand, according to the door opening device of the second aspect, the driven unit moves forward at the first speed until the stop signal is output from the stop switch based on the standby signal of the door switch. Even if there is a dimensional error such as a displacement of the mounting position or a difference in the operation stroke of the driven part, the driven part can be reliably placed in the standby state in contact with the surface on the non-pivotal side.

Further, since the driven part moves at the second speed higher than the first speed in response to the opening signal and retracts in response to the detection signal, the driven part is involved in the opening operation only in the initial stage of door opening, and the door is opened. When the door is closed, the door is retracted so that the non-pivot side surface of the door does not collide with the driven part.

[0013]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

Reference numeral 1 denotes a household refrigerator, which includes a heat insulating box 2 having a front opening, a partition wall for partitioning the inside of the heat insulating box into upper and lower parts, and a partition plate 4 for further partitioning a lower space partitioned by the partition wall into upper and lower parts.
It consists of doors 5, 6, and 7 that close up the space partitioned into upper, middle, and lower stages. In this embodiment, the upper stage is a freezing room, the middle stage is a refrigerating room,
The lower stage is a vegetable compartment, the doors 5 and 6 are pivotable doors pivotally supported on the right side so as to be pivotable forward and backward, and the door 7 is a drawer type door.

Reference numeral 11 denotes a door opening device for opening the door 6 of the refrigerating room, which comprises the following: That is, 13 is a door opening switch provided near the handle 12 of the door 6,
In this example, when a user touches this switch, the electrostatic capacitance changes and a touch sensor that outputs an ON signal as a door opening signal is adopted, and is hereinafter referred to as a touch sensor.
Reference numeral 14 is an alarm lamp as an alarm display section for displaying that there is some abnormality in the door opening device 11, and 15 is a reset switch for ending the display of the display section 14, which outputs an ON signal when pressed.

Reference numeral 16 denotes a door switch which detects that the door 6 is closed and outputs an ON signal as a standby signal for waiting a driven portion to be described later at a predetermined position. The switch is provided on the front part of the side wall of the heat insulating box so as to be pushed and retracted by a part thereof and hereinafter referred to as a switch D.

Reference numeral 17 denotes a drive device for assisting the opening of the door 6 by pushing out the surface of the door 6 on the non-pivotal side. The case 1 is attached to the inner surface of the left side wall of the heat insulation box and stores the parts described later.
8, a driven part 19 which is arranged in this case so as to be able to move forward and backward, a position detection part 20 which detects the position of the driven part 19 and outputs a detection signal, and the driven part 19 is moved forward. Alternatively, it includes a drive unit 21 for retracting.

The drive unit 21 is composed of a motor (not shown), a cam for converting the rotational movement of the motor into forward and backward reciprocating movement, and a control member for controlling the operation of the motor. Driven part 1
9 is a rod-shaped member whose rear end projects rearward from the case 18 by a backward movement and whose front end projects forward from the case 18 by a forward movement, and its movable range is shown in FIG.

In this embodiment, the position detecting section 20 detects that the driven section 19 has retracted to the maximum and outputs an ON signal as a first detection signal, which is a backward detection switch (hereinafter referred to as switch A) 20A. And a forward detection switch (hereinafter referred to as switch B) that detects that the driven portion 19 has advanced to the maximum extent and outputs an ON signal as a second detection signal.
It consists of 20B. When the switches 20A and 20B are retracted to the maximum (see the position of the broken line in FIG. 4), the switch 20
When A is ON and switch 20B is OFF and the vehicle has advanced to the maximum extent (see the position indicated by the alternate long and short dash line in FIG. 4), switch A20A
Is OFF and switch B20B is ON, and both switches A and B are O when they are in the middle position (see the position shown by the solid line in FIG. 4).
It is attached to the case 18 so as to be an FF. Reference numeral 22 is a fixing portion for fixing the drive device 17 to the left side wall of the heat insulating box 2. In addition, at the time of fixing, a predetermined gap G is provided between the tip of the driven part and the retracted position of the stop switch.

Reference numeral 24 denotes a stop switch provided on the surface of the door 6 on the non-pivotal side and facing the driven part within the operating range of the driven part. The stop switch 24 is always in the protruding position. Yes When it is pressed against a driven part, it is in the retracted position and detects that the driven part and the non-pivot side surface of the door come into contact and outputs an ON signal as a stop signal. Called.

The operation of the door opening device 11 will be described based on the above configuration.

When the plug of the refrigerator 1 is inserted into an outlet (both not shown), the door opening device 11 executes the following operations.

That is, in step S1, it is determined whether or not the switch A as the backward movement detection switch outputs an ON signal. If the switch A does not output an ON signal, the control member determines in step S9 the driven part ( The actuator (hereinafter referred to as an actuator) 19 is moved backward and returns to step S1. This operation moves the actuator 19 to the maximum retracted position. As a result, since the switch A detects this position and outputs the ON signal as the first detection signal, the output of the ON signal is determined in step S1.
In step S3, the actuator 19 is stopped. Therefore, the actuator 19 once stops at the maximum retracted position (the operation up to this point is the operation of (A) in FIG. 4).

Next, in step S4, it is judged whether or not the switch D, which is a door switch, outputs an ON signal indicating a closed state, and the stop is continued until the ON signal is output.
If the N signal is output, the actuator 1 is output in step S5.
9 is slowly moved forward at the first speed. This first
Normally, when the vehicle moves forward at the speed of 1, the next stop position is reached within 1 second, so a waiting time of 1 second is taken in step S6, and an ON signal as a stop signal is sent from switch E as a stop switch in step S7. Is output, and if an ON signal is output, step S8
The actuator is stopped at (the operation up to this is the operation of (a) in FIG. 4), and if not output, step S
Move to 10.

In step S9, the switch D is turned on again.
It is determined whether or not a signal is output, and if the ON signal is output, the process proceeds to step S11. If the ON signal is not output, the process returns to step S1.

In step S10, it is judged whether or not the switch B as the forward movement detection switch outputs the ON signal as the second detection signal, and if so, the door is released during the slow forward movement of the actuator 19. Is determined to have been released, and the process returns to step S1. This return causes the actuator to move backward, so that the door does not collide with the actuator protruding forward from the case due to the door closing, and damage to the actuator or the door can be prevented. If the ON signal is not output, it is determined that the drive device 17 is locked or the switch E or the switch B is abnormal, and the process proceeds to step S23.

In step S11, the touch sensor 13
Of the actuator 19 (that is, whether the ON signal is output) is determined. If there is no response, the process returns to step S10, and if there is a response, the actuator 19 is determined in step S12.
Is moved forward at a second speed that is faster than the first speed.
Switching between the first speed and the second speed can be easily dealt with by utilizing the characteristic that the torque is normally increased by increasing the voltage applied to the motor. It should be noted that when the actuator advances at the second speed, the actuator usually reaches the maximum stroke (the maximum advanced position) within 1 second.
In step 3, a waiting time of 1 second is taken, and in step S14, it is determined whether or not the switch B is outputting an ON signal, and if so, the actuator is stopped in step S16 (operations in steps S11 to S16 This is the operation of (c) in FIG. 4).

Next, in step S17, it is made to wait for 1.5 seconds, and in step S18, the actuator is retracted. In step S19, it is determined whether or not the switch A outputs the ON signal, and the backward movement is continued until the ON signal is output, and if the ON signal is output, the actuator is stopped in step S20 (operations of steps S17 to S20). Is the operation of (d) in FIG. 4). In step S21, it is determined whether or not the switch D outputs the ON signal, and the stop is continued until the ON signal is output. If the ON signal is output, the switch D waits for 3 seconds in step S22, and then the step S4 is performed. Return.

On the other hand, the switch B is turned on in step S14.
If no signal is output, it is determined in step S15 whether or not the switch E, which is a stop switch, outputs an ON signal, and if it is output, the process proceeds to step S16.
If it is not output, it is determined that the drive device 17 is locked or the switch B or the switch E is abnormal, and step S23
Move to.

In step S23, the warning lamp 14 is turned on, and in step S24 it is determined whether or not the reset switch 15 is outputting an ON signal. This lighting is continued until the ON signal is output, and the reset switch is pressed. When the ON signal is output, the warning lamp 14 is turned off in step S25, and the process returns to step S1.

According to the above operation of the door opening device 11, if the touch sensor 13 is not operated,
The driven portion 19 is stopped with the stop switch 24 being immersed (this state is referred to as a standby state). When the touch sensor 13 is operated, the driven portion 19
Moves forward at the second speed, so that it is possible to push out the non-pivotal side of the door with higher energy (that is, stronger pushing force) than in the process of reaching the standby stage advanced at the first speed. However, when the door 6 is opened in the standby state without operating the touch sensor, the switch D detects this opening and outputs an OFF signal.
The actuator moves backward. Since the actuator does not project from the case by this backward movement, the problem that the door hits the actuator and one of them is damaged is avoided.

Further, according to the door opening device 11 of the present invention, the driven portion 19 is operated until the stop signal (ON signal) is output from the stop switch (switch E) based on the ON signal (standby signal) of the switch D. Since the vehicle slowly moves forward, even if the mounting position of the driving device 17 is displaced or the length of the driven portion 19 is varied, the variation can be absorbed by the stop switch, and the driven portion can be absorbed by the switch. 19 can be reliably stopped once. Moreover, since it slowly moves forward, it is easy to make it less than the torque for opening the door. Further, the driven portion advances at the second speed by the opening signal of the door opening switch 13, and the driven portion is stopped and then retracted by the detection signal of the forward movement detection switch 20B of the position detecting portion 20, so that the driven portion 19 Relates only to the first stage when the door is opened, and subsequent door opening / closing operations can be performed regardless of the drive device 17.

[0033]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, if the door opening switch is not operated, the driven part stands by in contact with the non-pivot side surface of the door. When the door is opened by operation, it is not necessary to release the engagement between the drive device and the door. Moreover, since the vehicle moves forward at the first speed until the standby state is reached, the door will not be opened if the speed is reduced. When the door opening switch is operated in this standby state, the driven part moves forward at the second speed higher than the first speed, so that the kinetic energy is increased and the door can be pushed out with a large force.

On the other hand, according to the door opening device of the second aspect, the driven unit moves forward at the first speed until the stop signal is output from the stop switch based on the standby signal of the door switch. Even if there is a dimensional error such as a displacement of the mounting position or an error in the operating stroke of the driven part, the driven part can be reliably stopped while being in contact with the surface on the non-pivotal side. Further, since the driven part is moved forward at the second speed by the opening signal of the door opening switch, the door can be pushed out with a larger energy than that before the stop. Furthermore, since the driven part is retracted by the detection signal of the position detection part, the door does not collide with the driven part when the door is opened by the door opening device and then the door is closed manually. Prevents damage to the door or drive unit.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a refrigerator.

FIG. 2 is a main part perspective view showing a door opening device of a refrigerator.

FIG. 3 is a side view showing a relationship between a drive device and a stop switch in a partially cutaway state.

FIG. 4 is an operation explanatory diagram illustrating an operation of the drive device.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an operation flow of the door opening device of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Refrigerator 2 Heat insulation box 6 Door 11 Door opening device 13 Door opening switch 16 Door switch 17 Drive device 19 Driven part 20A, 20B Position detection part 21 Drive part 24 Stop switch

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A heat-insulating box having a front opening, a door rotatably pivotally supported by the heat-insulating box to close the opening, and a door arranged to be spaced apart from a surface on the non-pivotal side of the door to push out the door. A drive device having a driven part and a door opening switch for operating the drive device are provided. After the driven part is retracted, it is advanced at a first speed and brought into contact with the surface on the non-pivotal side. A method for opening a door of a refrigerator, which comprises stopping and advancing a driven part at a second speed higher than a first speed based on an operation of a door opening switch. 2. A heat-insulating box having a front opening, a door rotatably pivotably supported by the heat-insulating box to close the opening, a drive device for pushing out a non-pivot side surface of the door, and the drive device is operated. In a refrigerator including a door opening switch that outputs an opening signal that causes the driving device, the driving device includes a driven part that can move forward and backward, and a position detection part that detects a position of the driven part and outputs a detection signal. A stop switch that detects the contact between the driven part and the surface of the door on the non-pivot side and outputs a stop signal for the driven part. A door switch that detects a closure of the door and outputs a standby signal, the drive unit advances the driven unit at a first speed by the standby signal of the door switch, and stops the stop switch. Stop the driven part by a signal and open the door. The driven signal is moved forward at a second speed higher than the first speed by the release signal of the discharge switch,
A door opening device for a refrigerator, characterized in that the driven part is retracted according to a detection signal of the position detection part.