JPH0633332Y2 - Door opening and closing device for refrigerators - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Industrial field of application) The present invention relates to a door opening / closing device for a refrigerator or the like having a door that can be opened and closed centering around a fulcrum.

(Prior Art) An article storage, a refrigerator, or the like is provided with a door that can be opened and closed about a fulcrum. In particular, in the case of a refrigerator that needs to be kept cool, a rubber seal is provided on the entire inner peripheral edge of the door, and the closed position of the door is held by a locking means such as a magnet. Further, the closed door is designed to be opened after the finger is hung on a handle portion such as a handle provided on the door to release the lock action of the lock means.
There is also known a door opening / closing device in which a spring is provided between the door and a main body supporting the door, and when the locking means interlocking with the handle is released, the door is opened by the stored force of the spring. Has been.

(Problems to be solved by the invention) Conventionally, a door of a refrigerator or the like is designed to be opened by pulling a handle, and there is a problem that the door cannot be opened when the hand is closed. There are also doors that are designed to be opened by inserting fingers into the recesses for holding without the handle, but like the system kitchen, the front of various storage groups including refrigerators is composed of doors and When arranging the doors so that they are flush with each other, there is no space to provide a sufficient size for the handholding recess, so the operability of opening and closing the door is poor, and protrusions such as handles are supposed to be flush. Objects are protruding and look bad.

Also, when providing a spring for opening, by selecting a spring that has characteristics that match the weight of the door, it has the advantage of automatically opening with the stored force of the spring, but like the door of a refrigerator, It is not possible to provide a simple opening spring for a door whose type has a substantial weight that varies depending on the mass and presence of the contents stored in the pocket. This is because, for example, if you select a spring for opening that is suitable for a heavy door,
This is because there is a problem that the door opens unnecessarily and vigorously when the weight is small.

(Means for Solving the Problem) The present invention is intended to provide a door opening / closing device for a refrigerator or the like which solves the problems that the conventional door opening / closing device still has, and unlocks the lock by an external operation. Locking means for locking the openable and closable door in the closed position around the fulcrum, accumulating means for accumulating the door opening force in the door opening direction when the door is rotated in the closing direction, and the lock. Speed control means for speed controlling the energy storage force of the energy storage means and transmitting it to the door when the means is released.

(Operation) When the lock operation of the lock means is released from the outside, the door opening force of the energy storage means is speed-controlled by the speed-control means and transmitted to the door, and the door is opened at the speed controlled. When the door is rotated in the closing direction, the energy storage means stores the door opening force.

(Embodiment) Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail based on the illustrated embodiment.

In FIGS. 1 and 2, the refrigerator 1 is provided with doors 2 and 3 which can be opened and closed about respective fulcrums 2a and 3a (only one of which is shown in FIG. 2) as a rotation center. As is well known, rubber for heat insulating seals and door pockets are provided inside the doors 2 and 3, but these are not shown. Locking means 4 and opening device 5 are arranged at the front surface 1a of the refrigerator main body, which is in contact with the inner surface of the lower edge of the door 2. The lock means 4 is provided at a position facing the front end portion 2b of the door 2 and is a well-known push / push using a magnet or a heart cam.
It is a push-type locking means. When the door 2 is closed and pushed, the push-push type locking means 4 attracts and engages the locking means with a magnetic body and a lock pin (neither shown) provided at the tip of the door. This is a system in which it is locked, and when the door placed in the closed position is pushed once again, the locking action of the locking means is released. Since the door is in contact with the refrigerator body via the rubber for sealing, the door can be pushed in by bending the rubber.

The opening device 5 is arranged so as to face the door inner surface 2c near the fulcrum 2a, and the operating pin 10 thereof is projected from the surface of the main body. The outline of the opening device 5 will be described with reference to FIG. 3. This device includes a storage means 11 for storing a door opening force toward the door opening direction when the door is rotated in a closing direction, and the locking means. When the lock action of No. 4 is released, a speed adjusting means 12 that speed-controls the stored energy of the energy storing means 11 and transmits it to the door, and a case 13 that houses these and is fixed inside the refrigerator main body. It consists of

The energy storage means 11 is provided so as to be movable back and forth with respect to the case 13.
The operation pin 10 whose tip 10a is projected outside the case and is positioned so as to be able to collide with the inner surface 2c of the door, and the one end 14a of the operation pin 10 is engaged with the base end 10b of the operation pin, and the other end 14b is connected to the case. And an extensible energy storage spring 14 engaged with the spring receiving portion 13a. Reference numeral 15 indicates a guide roller which is one of guide members for guiding the operating pin 10. Working pin
The tip 10a of 10 is a door inner surface 2c near the fulcrum 2a of the door 2.
When the door is closed, it is pushed by the inner surface of the door and pushed into the case.
Press to compress the door opening force. When the locking action of the locking means 4 is released, the actuating pin 10 projects by the door opening force of the energy storage spring 14 to open the door.

The speed adjusting means 12 is for adjusting the speed of the door when it is opened by being pushed by the operating pin 10, and includes a braking means 17 for braking the moving speed of the operating pin 10, the operating pin 10 and the braking means 17 And a gear train 18 disposed between and. Braking means
Reference numeral 17 denotes a worm shaft 19 rotatably supported by bearings 13b, 13c provided on the case 13, and a worm shaft 19 press-fitted into this shaft, which elastically deforms when the shaft rotates at a rotation speed higher than a predetermined value. The friction member (20) expands, and the cup member (21) having a peripheral wall against which the friction material when expanded spreads and rubs against it. The friction member 20 is made of an elastic material such as rubber, but other methods such as a windbreak method and an eddy current method may be used.

The gear train 18 is a rack portion formed on one side edge of the operating pin 10.
22, a gear 23 having a pinion portion 23a meshing with the rack portion and a large-diameter partial tooth portion 23b, a worm shaft 19,
Large diameter worm teeth 24a and small diameter teeth 24b that mesh with this shaft
And a small diameter tooth portion 2 that meshes with the partial tooth portion 23b.
It consists of a two-stage gear 25 composed of 5a and a small-diameter tooth portion 25b. The gears 23, 24, 25 are rotatably supported on the case 13 by support shafts 23c, 24c, 25c, respectively. A well-known one-way rotation clutch (not shown) such as a spring clutch may be interposed between the small-diameter tooth portion 24b of the gear 24 and the worm tooth portion 24a. This clutch has a gear train of 18
The rotation of the small diameter tooth portion 24b when the door is opened is transmitted to the worm tooth portion 24a, while the rotation of the small diameter tooth portion 24b in the direction opposite to the arrow (when the door is closed) is transmitted to the worm tooth portion 24a. It acts so as not to do it.

Then, the door is rotated in the direction of opening and the operating pin 10 is moved to the arrow a.
When moving in the direction indicated by, the moving speed of the pin is transmitted to the worm shaft 19 via the gear train 18 by increasing the moving speed of the rack portion 22 integrated therewith.

The operation of the embodiment configured as described above will be described. First
The door 3 shown in the figure shows a closed state. At this time,
The door is held in the closed position by the locking means 4. On the other hand, when the door is closed, the opening device 5 operates so that the operating pin 10 has an inner surface 2c of the door as shown by a chain line in FIG.
The spring 14 is pushed in by means of which the accumulator spring 14 is placed in a compressed state. In other words, the actuating pin 10 biases the door in the opening direction, but this action is prevented by the locking means holding the door in the closed position.

Now, when the door in the closed state is pushed in the closing direction, the locking action of the locking means 4 is released. Then, the actuating pin 10 biased by the accumulating spring 14 is pushed out in the direction indicated by the arrow a in FIG. 3, and the tip 10a pushes the inner surface 2c of the door, so that this door automatically moves. It will open. When the locking action of the locking means 4 is released, the operating pin 10
Open the door at a slow speed instead of popping out vigorously. That is, in FIG.
Starts to move in the direction of arrow a, the gear train 18 rotates the worm shaft 19 at the end thereof at high speed. When the rotation of the worm shaft exceeds a predetermined speed, the friction member 20 fixed to the worm shaft is expanded to rub against the inner peripheral surface of the cup portion 21 to brake the rotation of the shaft. When the worm shaft is braked, the movement of the rack portion 22, that is, the movement of the operation pin 10 is braked, and the opening speed of the door to be pushed out is adjusted by this. When the rotational speed of the worm shaft decreases due to braking, the frictional contact force between the friction member 20 and the cup portion 21 decreases, and the rotation of the shaft increases. The force with which the friction member 20 slides on the cup portion 21 is proportional to the centrifugal force that acts on the friction member 20, and the sliding contact force between the two that are in constant contact changes, thereby rotating the worm shaft, that is, the door. Will keep the opening speed within a predetermined range. Therefore, when the door is in a light state, since the load applied to the operating pin 10 is small, a large centrifugal force acts on the friction member 20, but the friction member exerts a braking force commensurate with this. Also, when the door is heavy, the load applied to the operating pin is large at the beginning of opening the door, but as the door is opened, its inertia gradually decreases, so the centrifugal force acting on the friction member also changes accordingly. Then, the force of rubbing the cup portion is changed to make the opening speed of the door constant. That is, the door opens at a substantially constant speed regardless of the weight of the door.

When the actuating pin 10 projects to the position shown by the solid line in FIG. 3, there is a gap between the free end edge 2d of the door 2 (see FIG. 2) and the refrigerator body so that a hand, an elbow or the like can be inserted. Occurs. Therefore, when trying to open the door with both hands closed, the door is automatically opened only by pushing a part of the door in the closing direction to release the locking action of the locking means. The open position of the door 2 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 shows a state in which the door opened to some extent by the operating pin 10 is opened by hand. The door can be opened greatly by increasing the protrusion length of the operating pin 10 or increasing the protrusion speed thereof. However, if the protruding length of the pin is increased, the device becomes bulky, and if the speed is increased, the substantial weight of the door, in other words, the load applied to the operating pin fluctuates according to the presence or absence of the contents in the door pocket and its lightness. Therefore, the opening speed of the door will change. Therefore, the projecting length of the operating pin is set so as to ensure the minimum opening angle of the door, and is set so that the opening speed does not become abrupt.

Next, when the open door is rotated in the closing direction, the inner surface 2c of the door abuts against the operating pin 10 and pushes it in the direction opposite to the arrow a in FIG. The actuating pin 10 pushed in compresses the energy storage spring 14 and stores the door opening force therein. When the operating pin 10 moves in the direction opposite to the arrow a, the gear trains connected to the rack portion 22 respectively rotate in the direction opposite to the arrow. When the small-diameter tooth portion 24b of the gear 24 rotates in the direction opposite to the arrow, a one-way rotation clutch (not shown) acts and this rotation is not transmitted to the worm tooth portion 24a. If the worm tooth portion does not rotate, the braking means 17 does not operate, so the braking force does not act on the movement of the gear train 18, that is, the operation pin. Therefore, the closing door can be rotated with a light force.

When the door pivoting in the closing direction is captured by the locking means 4 and held in the closed position, the operating pin 10 is pushed to the energy storage position shown by the chain line in FIG. 3 and held in this position.

In the illustrated embodiment, the refrigerator having the door provided with the flexible sealing rubber inside is cited, but the present invention is not limited to the refrigerator and can be opened and closed around the fulcrum. Of course, it can be applied to various storages equipped with doors. The portion that is pushed to release the locking action of the locking means may be a lock release button (see reference numeral 4A in FIG. 2) that can be pushed into the door body. It is preferably arranged so as to be flush with the surface of the. Also, as the locking means,
It is not limited to the mechanical system such as the heart cam system described above, and may be an electromagnetic system. Further, in the illustrated embodiment, the rack portion 22 is formed on the actuating pin 10 of the energy accumulating means 11, so that the speed controlling action of the speed controlling means 12 is transmitted to the door via the operating pin. In other words, the actuating pin also serves as a part of the structure of both means, but both means are configured separately by using a member for storing the energy storage spring 14 and a member for opening the door while adjusting the speed. May be The operating pin 10 shown
Reciprocates linearly, but may be reciprocally movable on an arc. Further, it goes without saying that the arrangement positions of the locking means 4 and the opening device 5 are not limited to the illustrated positions.

(Effect of the Invention) As described above, according to the present invention, the door is opened only by performing the lock release operation from the outside, so that the door can be opened even if both hands are closed. Usability is improved. Moreover, since the opening speed of the door is regulated and acts so as to open at a substantially constant speed without being influenced by the change in the weight of the door, it is particularly used for a door of a refrigerator or the like whose weight changes. Is suitable. Further, since the door can be made without a handle, there is an effect that the structure of the door is simplified and no protrusion is provided on the front surface.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a portion of a door opening and closing device showing an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view showing relative positions of a locking means and an opening device with respect to a door, and FIG. It is a schematic plan view showing an example of a speed control means. 2 ... Door, 4 ... Locking means, 5 ... Opening device, 11 ...
… Storing means, 12 …… Governing means.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. Locking means for unlocking the lock by an operation from the outside and locking a door that can be opened and closed centering around a fulcrum in a closed position; and a door opening direction when the door is rotated in a closing direction. A refrigerator or the like provided with a storing means for storing an opening door opening force and a speed adjusting means for controlling the stored force of the storing means and transmitting it to the door when the locking means is released. Door opening and closing device.