JPH11132639A - Refrigerator - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To restrict a drain return as caused by the suction of outside air from a drain pipe during the cooling period in a refrigerator with a structure of two chambers, upper freezing chamber and lower refrigerating chamber by arranging an air return path to the freezing chamber from the refrigerating chamber at a connection part where a drain pipe is connected to a drip plate to discharge a drain outside the storage from the refrigerating chamber as coming from the drip plate below a cooler. SOLUTION: Radial ribs and a vertical slit 54 are provided on a coupling cylinder 42 protruding into a refrigerating chamber of a drip plate at a lower part of a cooler and a cylindrical connection port 55 at the tip of a drain pipe is fitted into the outside of the ribs to form an air return path to a freezing chamber from the refrigerating chamber through a space 56 and the slit 54 between both the members during the connection period. The length is set shorter in dimension in the order of the coupling cylinder 42, the slit 54 and the connection port 55 (length D of coupling cylinder 42 > length H of slit 54 > length L of connection port 55). This achieves a reduction in the number of parts of a connector for a drain pipe with easier connection to the coupling cylinder 42 and a smooth return of air.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a refrigerator having a freezer compartment at an upper portion and a refrigerator compartment at a lower portion, and more particularly to a drainage structure for draining defrost water from a cooler in a freezer compartment through a drain pipe.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a small refrigerator-freezer (hereinafter, generally referred to as a refrigerator) used for a single person or the like, a cooler and a blower are arranged at the back of a freezer compartment.
The cool air cooled by the cooler is blown out to the freezer compartment and sent to the refrigerator compartment by the duct to cool the refrigerator compartment.

[0003] Here, the frost that grows in the cooler in the freezer compartment during the cooling operation is defrosted by a defrost heater that is periodically energized. The drainage of the defrost water is described in, for example,
As shown in JP-A-249568, it fell on a gutter-shaped dew receiving plate located below the cooler, and was connected to a drain / connection joint (tube) extending from the dew receiving plate so as to penetrate the heat insulating partition wall. It was configured to be discharged outside the refrigerator by a drain pipe in the refrigerator compartment.

[0004] With such a drainage structure, the air in the freezer compartment and the external air are in circulation via the drain pipe. For this reason, particularly, the external warm air that has entered for a moment due to the opening and closing of the freezing chamber is cooled and contracts due to cooling, which causes a pressure difference between the freezing chamber and the outside, and the outside air is sucked in through the drain pipe. The U-trap was used to store water so that the freezer compartment did not communicate with the outside. However, when the air passed through the U-trap where water had accumulated due to the pressure difference, an unpleasant sound was heard. Or had occurred.

Conventionally, in order to solve this problem, a plurality of holes communicating with the refrigerator compartment are provided in the connecting portion, and during cooling, much more air is returned from the refrigerator compartment than warm air flowing from outside the refrigerator through a drain pipe. This problem has been dealt with by adopting a method of sucking air from the hole of the connecting portion.

[0006]

However, such a structure for returning air requires a part called a connecting part for connecting the dew receiving part and the drain pipe, so that the number of parts is large and a complicated structure is required. In addition to the drainage part, the connection part also has a process of forming several holes for return air,
There were problems such as disadvantages in terms of cost.

[0007] The present invention has been made in view of the above problems,
A drain with a simple structure that can be achieved simply and securely by connecting the drain pipe and the dew receiving part without the need for a connecting part, reducing the number of parts, etc. An object of the present invention is to provide a drainage structure of a refrigerator in which the formation of a return air passage, which suppresses the inflow by returning air from the inside of the refrigerator, can be easily configured with the assembly of the drainage portion.

In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, a cooler is provided in a deep part of an upper freezer compartment defined by a heat insulating wall, and a dew receiving plate is provided below the cooler. In a refrigerator in which dew received by a receiving plate is discharged to a lower refrigerator compartment through a drainage passage passing through the heat insulating wall, and then discharged outside the refrigerator by a drain pipe, the refrigeration is performed from the bottom of the dew receiving plate. A connecting cylinder extending below the top surface of the chamber is provided, and a plurality of vertically extending ribs protruding radially are provided on the outer peripheral surface of the connecting cylinder, and a vertical slit having a lower end opened in the cylindrical part peripheral wall. On the other hand, at the end of the drain pipe connected to the connecting cylinder, a cylindrical connecting port is provided at the distal end which is connected to the rib by contacting the inner diameter portion, and the connecting port and the connecting pipe are fitted to each other. When the drain pipe is connected, A drain device in which an air return passage for returning air in the refrigeration compartment to the freezer compartment through the coupling cylinder is formed by the space and the slit between the connection port formed by the rib and the coupling cylinder and the slit. is there.

Further, in the present invention, the length of the connection port of the drain pipe is shorter than the length of the connection pipe, and the connection port is connected to the lower end of the connection pipe at a predetermined distance from the top surface of the refrigerator. That's what I did.

Further, according to the present invention, the length of the slit is made longer than the length of the connection port of the drain pipe so that the upper portion of the slit is exposed above the connection port connected to the connecting cylinder. It is.

According to the present invention, an elastically deformable arc-shaped cylindrical wall piece for facilitating insertion of a connection port of a drain pipe is formed by the slit in the coupling cylinder. .

[0012]

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

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of the refrigerator, FIG. 2 is a front view of the refrigerator for explaining how cold air is supplied to the refrigerator compartment by a cool air discharge duct, and FIG. FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of a refrigerating compartment or an inner box partitioned and formed, and a middle cutting material used for the upper and lower compartments.

In each of the drawings, first, a refrigerator 10 is filled with a heat insulating material 16 such as urethane foam, and the inside of a heat insulating box 17 opened forward is vertically divided by a heat insulating partition wall 18 so that the heat insulating partition wall 18 is formed. And a refrigerator compartment 5 below. The front openings of the refrigerator compartment 1 and the refrigerator compartment 5 are closed by pivotable heat insulating doors 19a and 19b so as to be openable and closable.

The heat-insulating box 17 is made of a metal outer box 20 such as a coated steel plate, a freezer compartment 1B and a refrigerator compartment 5.
B is integrally formed with an inner box 21 made of a synthetic resin such as ABS, as shown in FIG. 3, with a required space therebetween, and the urethane foam 1 is inserted into a space formed between the inner and outer boxes.
6 is formed by foam filling. In this case, the heat-insulating partition wall 1 existing between the freezer compartment 1B and the refrigerator compartment 5B.
In the inside 8, an intermediate partitioning heat material 22 formed of styrofoam or the like that performs an insulating function is stored together with urethane foam or the like filled in the heat insulating partition wall 18.
Is inserted as one member for forming.
In addition, as will be described later, the intermediate cut heat material 22 is formed with a cool air passage for sending cool air to the refrigerator compartment 5 and a drainage passage for discharging defrost water from the cooler.

A cooling chamber 2 is defined at the rear of the freezing chamber 1, in which a cooler 3 is provided at a lower portion and a blower 4 is provided at an upper portion. An upper dew receiving portion 19 for receiving defrost water dropped from the cooler 3 at the time of defrosting is provided below the lower portion.

In the freezer compartment 1, the cool air cooled by the cooler 3 is supplied to the cool air outlet 1 as shown by an arrow in FIG.
The air is circulated by the blower 4 so as to blow out from the outlet 5a and return to the cooling chamber 2 from the suction port 15b, so that the freezing chamber 1 is cooled.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 2, the cool air cooled by the cooler 3 is separated from the cool air blown into the freezing room 1 and is fed into the cool room 5 through a cool air supply duct 23. Is also sent to the refrigerator compartment 5. The cool air supply duct 23 opens to a cool air outlet 26 provided in the refrigerator 5, and cool air is blown into the refrigerator 5 from the lower outlet 27 a and the front outlet 27 b. In this case, the cool air discharge duct 23 and the cool air blowing part 26 are communicated with each other by a cool air blowing passage formed in the intermediate heat cutting material 22. The cooling air return passage 28 is formed to return to the cooling chamber 2.
Thereby, the cool air from the cooling chamber 2 is blown out and circulated to the refrigerating chamber 5 as shown by an arrow, and is cooled.

FIG. 4 shows structural parts forming a cool air blowing passage and a cool air return passage 28 formed in the intermediate cutting heat material 22. Above the intermediate cutting heat material 22,
At one end at the rear end, a rectangular hole-shaped cold air inlet 30 penetrating vertically is provided.
And the lower end of the duct 23 for supplying cool air. Also, a gutter-shaped dew receiving portion 31 having a bottom surface inclined so as to become lower from both sides toward the center so as to receive drain water from the cooler 3 along with the cool air inlet 30.
A square hole 32 is formed in the center of the dew receiving portion 31 to serve as an outlet for dew, and also serves as an upper cold air return port for returning cool air from the refrigerating compartment 5 to the cooling compartment 2. In addition, the upper surface of the dew receiving portion 31 is provided so as to cover the dew receiving plate 33 made of aluminum.

Reference numeral 35 designates a styrofoam made of the same material as that of the intermediate heat cutting material 22. The upper opening is a cold air inlet 36 communicating with the cold air inlet 30, and the cool air is supplied to the refrigerator compartment 5 downward and forward. Lower outlet 3
7a and a blow-out duct provided with a front blow-out port 37b, and the blow-out duct 35 is fitted from below into a recess provided at a lower portion corresponding to the cold air inlet 30 of the intermediate cutting heat material 22 so as to be attached thereto. It has become. As a result, as a result, when the intermediate cut heat material 22 is inserted into the space 29 between the freezer compartment 1B and the refrigerator compartment 5B of the inner box 21 before foam molding, the cool air blowing duct 35 generates the intermediate cut heat. As shown in FIG. 3, the front side of the refrigerating compartment 5B is stepped toward the inner box 21 so as to be able to receive the projecting blow-off duct 35 since the projecting portion is present as a protruding portion below the material 22. Receiving portion 4 having a shape matching the above-mentioned blow-out duct 35 provided in a recessed shape.
6 is integrally formed so as to protrude inside the refrigerator compartment 5. Note that, in the intermediate cut heat material 22, the upper surface portion corresponding to the bottom surface of the freezer compartment 1B of the inner box 21 is recessed at a uniform depth to form a concave portion 44. When the concave portion 44 is provided in this manner, when the space between the inner box 21 and the outer box 20 is filled with the urethane foam 16 to foam the main body of the refrigerator, the urethane foam is also filled in the concave portion 44 and solidified after filling. Then, a robust structure can be provided in which the bottom surface of the freezing compartment 1 can be firmly supported from behind.

Further, 38 is also made of styrene foam or the like, is fitted from below into a mounting recess formed in the lower part in the front-rear direction, and returns the cool air from the refrigeration chamber 5 to the cooling chamber 2 in the intermediate cutting heat material 22. Cold air return duct insulation forming the return duct 28. And cold air return duct insulation 3
8 has a cool air suction port 28a from the refrigerator compartment 5 at its front end and a lower cool air return port (square hole) 32 at its rear end which communicates with an upper cool air return port (square hole) 32 provided in the middle cutting material 22. The opening 39 is formed to be concave in a gutter shape. The lower cool air return port 39 is a square hole having an opening area larger than that of the upper cool air return port 32, and a synthetic resin dew receiving plate 40 is fitted therein. Also in this case, the upper opening of the dew receiving plate 40 is a defrosting water receiving port, and also serves as a cool air return port for returning the cool air from the refrigerator compartment 5 from the upper cool air return port 32 to the cooling chamber 2.

Here, the dew receiving plate 40 has a drain hole 41 on the inner bottom surface thereof, and a drain pipe connecting tube 42 (hereinafter abbreviated as a connecting tube) to which the tip of the drain pipe 50 is connected from the bottom. The connecting cylinder 42 is connected to the lower cool air return port 39 in the cool air return duct heat insulator 38.
Is inserted into a receiving hole 43 formed in the center of the hole.

Now, the drain pipe 50 is connected to the heat insulating box 17.
During foam molding, most of the material is buried in the heat insulating material 16 between the inner and outer boxes, and the upper end portion is pulled out into the refrigerator compartment 5 and connected to the connecting cylinder 42 of the dew receiving plate 40 in the refrigerator compartment 5. Thereby, the drainage structure of the defrost water of the present invention is formed as shown in FIG.

Next, the drainage structure will be described with reference to FIGS.
It will be described according to. As shown in FIG. 6, a plurality of vertically extending ribs 53 projecting radially are formed on the outer peripheral surface of the coupling cylinder 42 projecting from the lower part of the dew receiving plate 40. In addition, slits 54, 54 are formed in the cylinder wall facing each other, the lower ends of which are open, and the slits 54, 54 are formed by notching upward to a certain height H.

On the other hand, the drain pipe 50 is provided with a cylindrical connection port 55 having a diameter larger than that of the bellows portion 51 at the end thereof by an amount corresponding to the protrusion size of the rib 53.
An inner diameter portion 55 a of the connection port 55 is fitted and coupled to the rib 53 of the coupling cylinder 42.

Therefore, when the connection port 55 is fitted into the connection cylinder 42 and the drain pipe 50 is connected, a space 56 is formed between the connection port 55 and the connection cylinder 42 by the rib 53, Since this space 56 communicates with the slit 54, the air in the refrigerating room 5 is passed through the connecting cylinder 42 and
, An air return path 58 that can be returned to the air is formed. The air return path 58 is connected to the connection port 55 and the connecting cylinder 42.
Can be formed simply by joining together, and can be easily achieved without using a connecting cylinder having a through hole for air flow as in the related art.

Here, the length L of the connecting cylinder 55 is shown in FIGS.
As shown in (2), the dimensions are set so as to be shorter than the length D of the coupling cylinder 42 (D <L), and a constant distance E is secured between the connection port 55 and the top surface 5d of the refrigerator compartment 5. Like that. By doing so, the connection port 55 does not hit the top surface 5d of the refrigerator compartment 5 when the drain pipe 50 is connected, and the top surface 5d is not damaged.

The length H of the slit 54 and the connection port 55
The length relationship of the slit 54 is longer than the length L of the connection port 55 (H> L). By doing so, the slit 54 is not completely hidden by the connection tube 55, and the slit 54
Is exposed, and the air slit 54 in the refrigerator compartment 5 is exposed.
Can be easily entered.

Further, by providing the slits 54, 54, two split and elastically deformable arc-shaped wall pieces 42b, 42b are formed in the connecting cylinder 42, so that the connecting cylinder 55 of the drain pipe 50 can be formed. When inserting into the connecting cylinder 42,
Since the arc-shaped wall pieces 42b, 42b are bent inward and the diameter of the coupling cylinder 42 is reduced, the connection port 55 can be easily inserted, and the connection work of the drain pipe 50 can be easily performed. . Therefore, the length H of the slit is dimensioned so as to have such a length that the elastic force is sufficiently generated.

Further, the connecting port 55 is connected to the drain pipe 50 at the bellows portion 51. With the bellows portion 51, the movement of the connecting port 55 becomes free, and the narrow refrigerating room 5 forms the end of the drain pipe 50 near the drain pipe 50. It becomes easy to connect the connection port 55 to the coupling cylinder 42.

As described above, the drain pipe 50 is
2, when connected with the connecting cylinder 55, the rib 53
5 formed between the connecting cylinder 42 and the connecting cylinder 55
6 and the slit 54, an air return path 58 is formed, so that the air in the refrigerator compartment 5 can be returned to the freezer compartment 1 as shown by the arrow in FIG. The outside air inflow through 50 can be suppressed.

[0032]

As described above, according to the present invention, a radial rib and a vertical slit are provided in the connecting cylinder projecting into the refrigerator compartment of the dew receiving plate, and the rib is provided in the drain pipe. A cylindrical connection port is provided, the inner diameter of which is in contact with and connected to
If this connection port is connected to the connecting cylinder, the space formed between both members and the slit communicate with each other, and an air return path for returning the air in the refrigerator compartment to the freezer compartment can be formed simultaneously with the connection. As a result, the connection between the drain pipe and the dew receiving plate can be performed with only two components, the connecting cylinder on the dew receiving plate side and the cylindrical connection port on the drain pipe side. Can also be easily performed.

In this way, the connection portion of the drain pipe can be easily formed, and an air return path for returning the air in the refrigerator compartment to the freezer compartment first before the outside air is sucked from the drain pipe at the time of cooling. By doing so, it is possible to prevent the unpleasant sound that is generated due to the occurrence of bubbles in the defrosting water that has conventionally occurred

The length of the connection port is shorter than the length of the connecting cylinder, and when the drain pipe is connected, a certain distance is maintained between the connection port and the top surface of the refrigerator. The connection port can be prevented from hitting the top surface of the refrigerator during work so as not to damage the refrigerator.

Also, the air return slit provided in the coupling cylinder is not hidden by the connection port connected to the coupling cylinder.
The connection port is made shorter than the slit, so that air from the refrigerator compartment can easily enter the slit, and the air returns smoothly.

Further, the connecting cylinder becomes an arc-shaped wall piece whose elasticity can be changed by the slit, so that the connection port can be easily inserted into the connecting cylinder, and the connection of the drain pipe is simplified. And the like.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional side view of a refrigerator according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view of a refrigerator in which cold air is sent to a refrigerator compartment by a duct to cool the refrigerator compartment, with a door of a refrigerator removed.

FIG. 3 is an inner box in which a freezer compartment and a refrigerating compartment are formed, and a cut-off material made of polystyrene foam interposed between the freezer compartment and the refrigerating compartment of the inner box before foam molding. FIG.

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of various components that constitute a drainage unit and the like that is combined with a middle-section cutting heat material, receives defrost water dew, and guides the defrosted water toward a refrigerator compartment.

FIG. 5 shows a connecting cylinder portion of a dew receiving plate provided on a middle cutting material,
FIG. 3 is a structural perspective view showing an aspect in which a drain pipe is connected.

FIG. 6 shows a connecting cylinder portion of a dew receiving plate provided on the intermediate cutting heat material,
FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of components and a structural diagram of a connecting portion showing a method of connecting a cylindrical connection port at the tip of a drain pipe to the connecting port.

FIG. 7 is a plan cross-sectional view of a main part of the connection part, which connects the connection cylinder part of the dew receiving plate and the connection port at the end of the drain pipe.

8 is a vertical sectional view of a main part of a drain pipe connection part having the same meaning as in FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a view showing the manner in which air returns from the refrigerator compartment to the freezer compartment by the air return path formed by the connection of the drain pipe having the same meaning as in FIG. 7; FIG. 4 is a structural diagram showing a dimensional relationship between a drain pipe and a connection port.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Freezer room 3 Cooler 4 Blower 5 Refrigerator room 18 Insulated partition wall 19 Dew receiving part 21 Inner box 22 Middle cutting heat material 32 Dew outlet 40 Dew receiving plate 42 Connecting cylinder 42a Arc-shaped wall piece 50 Drain pipe 51 Bellows Part 53 rib 54 slit 55 connection port 55a inner diameter part 56 space

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A cooling device is provided in a deep part of an upper freezer compartment defined by a heat insulating wall, and a dew receiving plate is provided below the cooling device. In the refrigerator, the water is discharged to the lower refrigerator compartment by a drainage passage passing through the heat insulating wall, and then discharged to the outside of the refrigerator by a drain pipe. The refrigerator projects from the bottom of the dew receiving plate to a lower surface of the refrigerator compartment. An extending coupling cylinder is provided, a plurality of vertically extending ribs protruding radially are provided on an outer peripheral surface of the coupling cylinder, and a vertical slit having a lower end opening in the peripheral wall of the cylinder is formed opposite to the coupling cylinder. At the end of the drain pipe connected to the, provided a cylindrical connection port is connected to the inner diameter portion is in contact with the rib, when the connection port and the connection pipe are fitted together and the drain pipe is connected, A connection port formed by the rib; Refrigerator, characterized in that the air of the refrigerating compartment and a drain device air return passage for returning to the freezer compartment through said coupling tube is formed by the space between the slit between the serial coupling tube. 2. A connection port of the drain pipe is made shorter than a length of the connection pipe so that the connection port is connected to a lower end of the connection pipe at a predetermined distance from a top surface of the refrigerator. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein: 3. The length of the slit is longer than the length of the connection port of the drain pipe, so that the upper portion of the slit is exposed above the connection port connected to the coupling cylinder. The refrigerator according to claim 1. 4. The connecting cylinder is provided with the slit,
The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein an arc-shaped tubular wall piece that is elastically deformable is formed to facilitate insertion of a connection port of the drain pipe.