JPH0551838B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to an opening/closing device for a door of a refrigerator or the like, and relates to a door opening/closing device for a refrigerator or the like, which allows the door to be opened and closed from any left or right direction.

[Prior art]

Generally, the door of a refrigerator or the like can be opened and closed only from one direction on both the left and right sides, and is determined at the time of manufacture to either open to the right or to the left.

Therefore, users have to choose between a right-hand door and a left-hand door depending on the layout of their kitchen, handedness, etc. When purchasing a refrigerator, etc., if they change the location of the refrigerator after purchase, it may hit the wall or the door. There are inconveniences such as making it difficult to open and close, or limiting the place where it can be placed. Additionally, if the device is used by many people with different handedness, it may be difficult for some people to open and close it.

In order to eliminate this inconvenience, many door opening/closing devices, so-called double doors, which can be opened and closed from any left or right direction have been proposed. However, as shown in FIG. 6, in most of them, the hinge pin 2 that pivotally connects the left and right sides of the door 1 is configured to be removable in the vertical direction with respect to the bearing 4 provided on the main body 3 side. By operating one of the operating handles 5 provided on the side, the hinge pin 2 on the side can be moved to the bearing 4.
An attempt was made to open and close the door 1 by pulling it out from the holder.

Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 7, an intermediate frame 6 is provided between the door 1 and the main body 3, and one side of the intermediate frame 6 is pivotally connected to the main body 3, and the other side is pivotally connected to the door 1. The opening/closing direction can be selected by opening and closing only the door 1 or the door 1 and the intermediate frame 6 at the same time.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

However, in the case of Figure 6, an operating handle is required to open and close the door, which limits the mounting position and design of the door handle, and if a child is trapped inside a refrigerator, etc., it cannot be opened or closed from the inside. Therefore, there is a risk of a so-called entrapment accident occurring. Furthermore, the door is difficult to assemble due to the complex mechanism incorporated inside the door, and there is also the problem of poor insulation performance due to the influence of the heat conduction of the mechanism itself or because it is difficult to incorporate heat insulating material inside the door. There is.

In the case of Fig. 7, double gaskets (not shown) for sealing cold air are required between the door and the intermediate frame, and between the intermediate frame and the main body. However, there are problems in that the thickness of the door becomes thicker and the insulation performance deteriorates.

The present invention was made in order to solve the above problems, and its purpose is to be able to open and close in either the left or right direction without operating the operating handle, etc., and to have a simple structure and thermal insulation performance. To provide an excellent door opening/closing device for refrigerators, etc.

[Means to solve the problem]

The means employed by the present invention to achieve the above object is to provide hinge pins at predetermined intervals on both left and right ends of either the door or the main body to which the door is attached, and engage the hinge pins on the other side. A fixing plate is provided, the fixing plate has a latch groove that intersects with the engagement groove and locks the hinge pin, and the latch groove rotates to engage and disengage the hinge pin. A locking groove is provided in the latch plate so that when one of the left and right latch plates is in the unlocked state, the other latch plate will not be in the unlocked state. and a connecting rod having a locking pin that slidably engages with a slide groove provided in the fixed plate and prevents rotation of the latch plate, and is connected to each of the left and right latch plates, and the pair of hinge pins and the fixing rod are connected to each left and right latch plate. It has a structure in which plates, latch plates, connecting rods, etc. are provided at the top and bottom of the door and main body, respectively.

[Function] By configuring as above, the door can be opened and closed.
By pulling the door from either the left or right side of the door,
The hinge pin on the side side rotates the latch plate and escapes from the engagement groove of the fixed plate and the latch groove of the latch plate, and the connecting rod connected to the latch plate moves as the latch plate rotates and connects. The lock pin at the other end of the rod moves to the stopper part of the slide groove, and the rotation of the latch plate is restrained by the lock groove of the latch plate and the slide groove of the fixed plate. As a result, the hinge pin on the opposite side of the door is rotatably locked in the groove formed by the engagement groove of the fixed plate and the latch groove of the latch plate, and the door rotates around the hinge pin. You will be able to open and close the door.

Conversely, when closing the door, the hinge pin enters the engagement groove of the fixed plate, rotates the latch plate and engages with the latch groove of the latch plate, and the engagement groove of the fixed plate and the latch groove of the latch plate close the hinge pin. is locked. At the same time, the rotation of the latch plate returns the connecting rod to its initial position, releases the rotation inhibition state of the other latch plate, and prepares for the next door opening/closing operation.

Next, when opening and closing the door from the opposite direction, it can be done by repeating the above operation in the same way with the left and right sides reversed.

〔Example〕

Embodiments embodying the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings to provide an understanding of the present invention. It should be noted that the following examples are examples embodying the present invention, and are not intended to limit the technical scope of the present invention.

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing the configuration of a door opening/closing device according to an embodiment of the present invention, in which figure a shows the door closed, and figure b shows the door opened from the right side. Figure c shows the door opened from the left side.

FIG. 2 is the same side view as FIG. 1, and corresponds to FIG.

FIG. 3 is an exploded view of the components shown in FIG.
Figure a is a plan view of the fixed plate, Figure b is an enlarged view of the main part of Figure a, Figure c is a plan view of the right latch plate, Figure d is a plan view of the left latch plate, Figure c is a plan view of the connecting rod.

In addition, in Figures 1, 2, and 3, the door is thin in the thickness direction and wide in the width direction, so it would be difficult to see if the drawings were shown to scale vertically and horizontally, so some of the fixing plates, connecting rods, etc. It is shown shrunk in the width direction.

FIG. 4 is an external perspective view of a refrigerator incorporating a door opening/closing device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 4, 11 is a refrigerator door, which is provided corresponding to the refrigerator and the cold room, respectively.
12 is the main body of the refrigerator to which the door 11 is attached, and 13 is a handle of the door 11. 14 is a hinge pin provided on the door 11, and 15 is a fixing plate attached to the main body 12 side corresponding to the top and bottom of the door 11.

In FIG. 1a, 16a and 16b are fixed plates 1
5, hinge pins 14a and 14b provided at both left and right ends of the door 11 are removably engaged. Reference numerals 17a and 17b are rotating shafts provided at a predetermined distance inward from both the left and right engaging grooves 16a and 16b, and 18a and 18b are rotating shafts provided on both sides of the straight line connecting the rotating shafts 17a and 17 from each of the rotating shafts 17a and 17b. These are slide grooves provided on opposite sides of the openings of the engagement grooves 16a and 16b.

FIG. 3b is an enlarged view of the slide groove 18a, and 19a is an enlarged view of the slide groove 18a.
This is a stopper part provided diagonally inside the rotating shafts 17a and 17b, and 20a is a sliding part with an end portion closer to the rotating shafts 17a and 17b extending outward. Although not shown, 19b and 20b are the slide portion and stopper portion of the slide groove 18b on the opposite side, respectively.

Figures 3c and d show latch plates 21a and 21b.
In the figure, 22a and 22b are rotation shaft holes, and the rotation shafts 17a and 17 of the fixed plate 15 are
b and is rotatably locked. 2
3a and 23b are latch grooves provided for detachably locking the hinge pins 14a and 14b, and 24a and 24b are lock grooves. The lock grooves 24a, 24b are connected to the latch grooves 23a, 2
3b and the engagement grooves 16a, 16b of the fixing plate 15 intersect and the latch plates 21a, 21b are in the position to lock the hinge pins 14a, 14b, the slide grooves 18a, 18b provided in the fixing plate 15 intersect
It is provided at a position that coincides with the stopper portions 19a and 19b.

FIG. 3e shows a connecting rod 25, in which reference numerals 26a and 26b are lock pins provided at both ends of the connecting rod 25.

Each of these parts is constructed as shown in FIG. 1a, FIG. 2, and FIG. 4. Hinge pins 14a and 14b are provided at the upper, lower, left, and right ends of the door 11 at a predetermined interval, that is, between the engagement grooves 16a and 16b provided at the left and right ends of the fixing plate 15, and the door 1 of the main body 12 is
Fixing plates 15 are provided at corresponding positions above and below 1, respectively.

The latch plates 21a and 21b are connected to the fixing plate 1.
The latch plate 21a,
It is rotatably attached by fitting into the rotation shaft holes 22a, 22b of 21b.

A connecting rod 25 is provided between each latch plate 21a and 21b.
, the slide grooves 18a and 18b of the fixed plate 15
and the lock grooves 24 of the latch plates 21a, 21b.
a, 24b, the lock pin 26a of the connecting rod 25,
26b, it is slidably attached.

The latch plates 21a and 21b are connected to the fixing plate 15.
The engagement grooves 16a, 16b and the latch plates 21a, 2
The hinge pin 14 rotates between a locking position where the latch grooves 23a and 23b of 1b intersect, and a release position where the openings of both grooves coincide, and the hinge pin 14 is rotated at the locking position.
a, 14b are locked, and the locking with the hinge pins 14a, 14b is released at the same release position.

Lock pins 26 provided at both ends of the connecting rod 25
a, 26b slide in the slide grooves 18a, 18b of the fixed plate 15 as the latch plates 21a, 21b rotate between the locking position and the release position, and the latch plates 21a, 21b slide in the slide grooves 18a, 18b of the fixed plate 15. When the lock pins 26a and 2 provided at both ends of the connecting rod 25 connected to the latch plates 21a and 21b are in the locking position.
6b is located in the slide portions 20a, 20b of each slide groove 18a, 18b, and when either latch plate 21a or 21b is in the released position, the connecting rod 25 is moved by rotation of the latch plate 21a, 21b. moves, and lock pin 26b at the other end
Alternatively, each part is configured so that the slide groove 26a moves into the stopper parts 19b, 19a of the slide grooves 18b, 18a.

Next, the operation of the embodiment configured as above will be explained.

For example, when trying to open the door 11 from the right, as shown in Figure 1b, the handle 13 on the right side of the door 11
When pulled, the hinge pin 14a engaged with the engagement groove 16a on the right side of the fixing plate 15 and the latch groove 23a of the latch plate 21a on the same side moves into the latch plate 21.
A is rotated clockwise about the rotating shaft 17a while sliding in the engagement groove 16a, and the engagement groove 16a of the fixed plate 15 and the latch groove 23 of the latch plate 21a are
Insert hinge pin 1 in the released position where both openings of a match.
The engagement with 4a is released.

At the same time, due to the rotation of the latch plate 21a, the lock pin 26a, which is slidably engaged with the lock groove 24a of the latch plate 21a and the slide groove 18a of the fixed plate 15, is moved into the slide groove 18.
a to the right in the slide portion 20a, and move the connecting rod 25 to the right. The lock pin 26b at the other end of the connecting rod 25 slides in the stopper portion 19b of the slide groove 18b on the left side of the fixed plate 15 and the lock groove 24b of the latch plate 21b on the same side in a direction away from the rotating shaft 17b. do. As a result, the latch plate 21b is prevented from rotating by the lock pin 26b, and the door 11 can be opened and closed by rotating around the hinge pin 14b on the same side.

Conversely, when closing the door 11, the hinge pin 14a on the right side first aligns with the engagement groove 1 on the right side of the fixing plate 15.
6a and begins to engage with the latch groove 23a of the latch plate 21a on the same side. Furthermore, the door 11 is
2, the latch plate 21a rotates counterclockwise, and at the locking position where the latch groove 23a of the latch plate 21a and the engagement groove 16a of the fixed plate 15 intersect, the hinge pin 14a is The engagement groove 16a of the fixing plate 15 and the latch groove 23a of the latch plate 21a are engaged. At the same time, the rotation of the latch plate 21a returns the connecting rod 25 to its initial position, releases the rotation inhibition state of the other latch plate 21b, and prepares for the next door opening/closing operation.

Next, when opening and closing the door 11 from the opposite direction, as shown in FIG.

Also, when trying to open the door 11 from the left and right sides at the same time, the left and right hinge pins 14a and 14b are connected to the fixing plate 1.
Trying to get out of the engagement grooves 16a, 16b of 5,
Although an attempt is made to rotate each latch plate 21a, 21b clockwise and counterclockwise, the connecting rod 25 is locked on the left and right sides by the lock pins 26a, 26b engaged in the lock grooves 24a, 24b of the latch plates 21a, 21b, respectively. However, unless the connecting rod 25 is deformed, the lock pins 26a, 26
Since b cannot be moved, the latch plates 21a and 21b
cannot rotate.

Therefore, the hinge pins 14a, 14b do not come out of the latch grooves 23a, 23b of the latch plates 21a, 21b, and therefore the door 11 does not come off from the main body 12.

In addition, when it is desired to remove the door 11 from the main body 12 for cleaning or after-sales service, open the door 11 in one direction, for example from the right side, and insert the hinge pin 14a into the engagement groove 16a of the fixing plate 15 and the latch groove 23a of the latch plate 21a. release from engagement. Then, by inserting a thin round rod or the like into the latch groove 23a on the same side and pushing the rod toward the main body 12, the latch plate 23a will rotate counterclockwise, returning the connecting rod 25 to its initial position and fixing it. The lock pin 26b, which had been engaged with the stopper portion 19b of the slide groove 18b on the left side of the plate 15, returns to the slide portion, releasing the rotation inhibiting state of the latch plate 21b.

By doing this, the latch plate 21b on the left side becomes rotatable again. Therefore, by pulling the entire door 11 toward you, the latch plate 21b on the left side rotates counterclockwise, and the hinge pin 14b on the same side rotates.
are the engagement groove 16b of the fixed plate 15 and the latch plate 21b.
Since the door 11 is released from the engagement of the latch groove 23b, the door 11 can be removed. Moreover, when reattaching the door 11 to the main body 12 of the refrigerator, the procedure for removing the door 11 may be reversed.

In the embodiment described above, the fixing plate 15 and the like are placed on the side of the main body 12 of the refrigerator, and the pair of hinge pins 14a,
14b is placed on the door 11 side, but conversely, the hinge pins 14a and 14b are placed on the main body 12 side, and the fixing plate 15
etc. may be arranged on the door 11 side.

Further, in this embodiment, the fixed plate 15 is made long, and the engagement grooves 16a, 16b are provided at both ends, but this is divided and a pair of fixed plates 15 with the engagement grooves 16a, 16b, etc. are formed on the left and right hinge pins. The intermediate portion of the fixing plate 15 may be omitted so as to be provided corresponding to the fixing plates 14a and 14b.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, the latch plates 21a, 21b, etc. are arranged on one side of the single fixing plate 15, but a structure in which two fixing plates 15 are used and the latch plates 21a, 21b, etc. are sandwiched between them is also possible. It's good as well.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, the rotating shafts 17a and 17b are provided on the fixed plate 15 side, and the rotating shaft holes 22a and 22b are provided on the latch plates 21a and 21b, but conversely, the rotating shafts are provided on the latch plate side. It's okay.

Further, in this embodiment, the slide portions 20a, 20b of the slide grooves 18a, 18b are provided in a linear shape, but as shown in FIG. 5, they may be provided in a circular arc shape centered on the rotating shaft holes 22a, 22b.

Also, the stopper portions 19a, 19b of the slide grooves 18a, 18b and the lock grooves 24a, 24b are connected to the rotation shafts 17a, 17b of the latch plates 21a, 21a.
This is because when the lock pins 26a, 26b are used to prevent the rotation of the latch plates 21b, 21a, no force is applied to the lock pins 26a, 26b in the direction of sliding them in the slide grooves 18b, 18a. Although it is desirable, it is not possible to provide both grooves on a radial line due to restrictions due to the shape of the door 11 and other reasons, and even if they are provided at slightly shifted positions, the effects of the present invention will not change.

In addition, the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments, but can be widely applied to general door devices other than refrigerators, and can be implemented with various modifications without departing from the gist thereof. be.

〔effect〕

As described above, according to the present invention, the switching of the opening/closing direction of the door is automatically performed by rotating the latch plate. Therefore, when opening/closing the door, it is only necessary to pull any one side, and there is no need for any switching operation when opening/closing the door. does not require.

Also, when one side of the door is pulled when opening the door, the latch plate on this one side rotates and the connecting rod moves toward this latch plate, and the lock pin on the other end of the connecting rod moves into the slide groove of the other latch plate. The lock moves to the stopper part of the door and the locking groove of the fixing plate, and instantly prevents the rotation of the other latch plate, so just by slightly opening the door from one side, the rotation of the other latch plate can be suppressed. Therefore, it is possible to reliably prevent the opening from occurring.

When the door is opened, the rotation of the latch plate is prevented by simply moving the lock pin of the connecting rod into the stopper part of the slide groove and into the lock groove, so the door can be opened and closed smoothly, and the door can be opened and closed with strong force. Even if the latch plate is rotated too much, the lock pin of the connecting rod comes into contact with the end of the stopper part of the lock groove and the slide groove, stopping the rotation of the latch plate. Without,
Moreover, since the other latch plate does not move and remains in the position where the door is closed, the connecting rod can easily move through the stopper part and lock groove when the door is closed, reliably and smoothly. The door can be closed.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a plan view showing the configuration of a door opening/closing device according to an embodiment of the present invention, in which Fig. 1a shows a state in which the door is closed, and Fig. 1b shows a state in which the door is opened from the right side. Figure c shows the door opened from the left side. FIG. 2 is the same side view as FIG. 1, and corresponds to FIG. Fig. 3 is an exploded view of the components shown in Fig. 1, in which Fig. 3a is a plan view of the fixing plate, Fig. 3b is an enlarged view of the main part of Fig. 1a,
Figure c is a plan view of the right latch plate, figure d is a plan view of the left latch plate, and figure c is a plane view of the connecting rod. FIG. 4 is an external perspective view of a refrigerator incorporating a door opening/closing device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 shows another embodiment of the present invention, and corresponds to FIG. 3b. FIG. 6 is a sectional view showing the structure of a conventional door opening/closing device, and FIG. 7 is an external perspective view showing another conventional example. [Explanation of symbols], 11...Door, 12...Main body,
14a, 14b...hinge pin, 15...fixing plate, 16a, 16b...engaging groove, 17a, 17b
... Rotating shaft, 18a, 18b ... Slide groove, 1
9a, 19b...Stopper part, 20a, 20b
...Slide part, 21a, 21b...Latch plate,
23a, 23b...Latch groove, 24a, 24b...
...Lock groove, 25...Connection rod, 26a, 26b...
...Lock pin.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. Hinge pins 14a and 14b are provided at both left and right ends of either the door 11 or the main body 12 to which the door 11 is attached, and the other is removably engaged with the hinge pins 14a and 14b, respectively. A fixing plate 15 having engaging grooves 16a and 16b that engage with each other is provided, and latch plates 21a and 21b each having outwardly facing latch grooves 23a and 23b that releasably engage with the hinge pins 14a and 14b are provided on the left and right sides. The center of rotation is set inside the left and right engagement grooves 16a, 16b of the fixing plate 15, and the fixing plate 15 is rotatably engaged with the rotating shafts 17a, 17b, and the engagement groove of the fixing plate 15 is rotatably engaged. 16a, 16b and the latch grooves 23a, 23 of the latch plates 21a, 21b.
The latch plate 21a,
21b is configured to rotate, lock the hinge pins 14a, 14b at the locking position, and release the engagement with the hinge pins 14a, 14b at the release position; Slide grooves 18a and 18b are provided in the plate 15, respectively, inwardly from the rotating shafts 17a and 17b and on the opposite side of the openings of the engagement grooves 16a and 16b across the rotating shafts 17a and 17b. 18a, 18b are the respective rotating shafts 17a,
Slide parts 20a and 20b are formed at the ends of the slide parts 17b in parallel with the straight line connecting both ends, and the slide parts 20a and 20b are formed diagonally backward from the inner ends of the slide parts 20a and 20b on the opposite side to the respective rotating shafts 17a and 17b. The latch plates 21a, 21b are provided with stopper portions 19a, 19b, and the latch plates 21a, 21b are provided with
1a, 21b are in the locking position, locking grooves 24a, 24b are provided at positions corresponding to the stopper portions 19a, 19b of the slide grooves 18a, 18b of the fixing plate 15, respectively, between the left and right latch plates 21a, 21b. A connecting rod 25 having lock pins 26a, 26b at both ends thereof is provided, and each lock pin 26a, 26b can freely slide in the slide grooves 18a, 18b of the fixed plate 15 and the lock grooves 24a, 24b of the latch plates 21a, 21b. When the latch plates 21a and 21b are in the locking position, the lock pins 26 provided at both ends of the connecting rod 25
a, 26b are the slide grooves 18a of the fixed plate 15,
18b, and when one of the latch plates 21a or 21b is in the release position, the lock pins 26a, 26b engaged with the lock grooves 24a, 24b are moved by the rotation of the latch plates 21a, 21b. Slide grooves 18a, 18
b, move the connecting rod 25 through the sliding parts 20a and 20b, and move the locking pin 26b on the opposite side.
26a moves to the stopper portions 19b, 19a of the other slide grooves 18a, 18b, and these pair of hinge pins 14a, 14b, each fixing plate 15, latch slopes 21a, 21b, connecting rod 25, etc. are connected to the door 11. and a door opening/closing device characterized by being provided at the top and bottom of the main body 12, respectively.