JPH11325701A - Drain pipe of refrigerator - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To contrive the reduction of manufacture cost and the improvement of setup work efficiency, and prevent the freezing without providing a heater, and further, prevent defrosted water from remaining and fur from adhering to it. SOLUTION: A drain pipe 31 is composed of a tubular body 32 embedded in a heat insulating box, and an exhaust port body 33 provided to project in a machine room. This drain pipe is provided with an upper flange 34 which has a pair of screw holes 34a and 34b at the periphery a little to the lower part from the top end of the tubular body 32. This is provided with a lower flange 35 which has a pair of screw bosses 35a and 35a projecting upward at the periphery of the lower end of the tubular body 32. Then, the drain pipe 31 is fixed to a partition part 21 a by inserting the exhaust port body 33 into the opening 22d of an outer box 22b and screwing the lower flange 35 to the top side of the outer box 22b.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention is suitable for a so-called bottom freezer type in which a freezing room is arranged at the lowermost part in an insulated box, and a refrigerator for discharging defrost water from a cooler into a machine room. Related to drainage pipes.

[0002]

Conventionally, a refrigerator for cooling a refrigerator has been provided with a defrosting heater for defrosting the cooler, and the refrigerator is heated and removed at an appropriate time. It is configured to perform a frost operation. At this time, the defrost water dropped from the cooler is configured to be discharged into the machine room via a drain pipe.

More specifically, as shown in FIG. 8, a machine room 4 in which a compressor 2, a cooling fan (not shown), an evaporating dish 3 and the like are disposed is provided at a lower portion of a rear portion of the refrigerator body 1. Is provided. The back wall of the freezer compartment 5 and the refrigerator body 1
A cooler room 7 in which a cooler 6 and the like are disposed is provided between the two. The drain pipe 9 is provided in a part (hereinafter, a partition part) 8 of the refrigerator main body 1 that partitions the machine room 4 from the cooler room 7. In addition, as is well known, the refrigerator body 1 includes a foam insulation material 1 between an inner box 1a and an outer box 1b.
It is composed of a heat-insulating box body filled with c.

As shown in FIG. 9, the drain pipe 9 is composed of a tubular body 10 buried in a partition 8 and a discharge port body 11 connected to a lower end of the tubular body 10. .
In this case, after the tubular body 10 is buried in the partition 8, the discharge body 11 is provided on the ceiling of the machine room 4, that is, on the lower surface of the outer box 1 b.
Of the tubular body 10 placed on the upper surface of the outer box 1b and the flange 11a of the discharge port body 11 are fastened together. The body 10 and the outlet body 11 are connected.

Therefore, when filling the foamed heat insulating material 1c,
It is necessary to prevent a screw hole (not shown) provided in the flange portion 10a of the tubular body 10 from being displaced, and the workability is poor. Further, when the screw is screwed while pressing the outlet body 11 against the lower surface of the outer box 1b, there is a possibility that the on-off valve 12 provided at the tip of the outlet body 11 may come off.

Further, since the drain pipe 9 is composed of two parts, the tubular body 10 and the discharge port body 11, there is also a problem that the number of steps for forming the drain pipe 9 is increased and the manufacturing cost is increased.

Further, conventionally, since there is a possibility that the drain pipe 9 freezes during the operation of the compressor 2, a heater 13 for preventing freezing is disposed on the outer peripheral surface of the tubular body 10.
Therefore, there is a problem that power consumption is increased, and when the tubular body 10 is attached to the partition 8, wiring processing of the heater 13 and the like must be performed. Furthermore, the conventional drain pipe 9 has a problem that the drainage path is bent such that the discharge port body 11 has a U-shape, and the defrosted water remains in the bent portion and scale is attached.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to reduce the manufacturing cost and improve the workability of assembly, to prevent icing without providing a heater, and to prevent defrost water from remaining and to attach scale. An object of the present invention is to provide a drain pipe of a refrigerator capable of preventing the drainage.

[0009]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, a drain pipe for a refrigerator is provided in a partition for separating a cooler room and a machine room, and communicates with the cooler room and the machine room. And a discharge port body provided at a lower portion of the tubular body so as to protrude into the machine room, for discharging defrost water from a cooler into the machine room, wherein the tubular body And the discharge port body are integrally formed.

According to such a configuration, the number of molding steps can be reduced, and the operation of attaching the drainage pipe to the partition portion becomes easy, so that the manufacturing cost can be reduced. Further, since the tubular body and the discharge port body are integrated, the heat conductivity is good, and freezing can be prevented without providing a heater.

[0011] In this case, if the tubular body and the drainage body are configured as a straight tube as a whole, it becomes difficult for defrost water to accumulate in the drainage pipe, and it is possible to minimize the adhesion of scale to the drainage pipe. (Invention of claim 2). Further, since the defrost water is less likely to accumulate in the drain pipe, it is possible to further prevent the drain pipe from freezing.

[0012] An opening and closing device is configured such that the opening at the tip of the discharge port body is normally closed, and the opening is rotated by defrost water accumulated in the drainage pipe to open the opening. A valve may be provided (the invention of claim 3). According to such a configuration, it is possible to prevent dust and the like from entering the drain pipe.

In this case, the opening / closing valve is provided with a shaft inserted through a shaft hole provided in the discharge port body, and the discharge port body is provided with a step having a large-diameter portion on the tubular body side and a small-diameter portion on the distal end side. It is preferable that the shaft hole is provided at a boundary between the large-diameter portion and the small-diameter portion (the invention of claim 4).

When a shaft is provided in the discharge port body, a slide die must be used as a molding die for that part. On the other hand, if a shaft hole is provided at the boundary of the discharge port body as in the above configuration, a two-piece mold can be used, and the molding process can be simplified.

Further, it is preferable that a surrounding portion configured to surround the discharge port body is provided at a lower end portion of the tubular body (the invention of claim 5). According to such a configuration, warm air in the machine room enters the space between the discharge port body and the surrounding portion, and the discharge pipe is heated by this air layer. Therefore, the icing prevention effect of the drain pipe is improved.

[0016]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. First, in FIG. 3 schematically showing a refrigerator to which the present embodiment is applied, a refrigerator main body 21 has a vertically long rectangular box-shaped heat insulating box 22 having an open front surface.
Inside, for example, three upper and lower storage rooms (in FIG. 3, only the freezing room 23 which is the lower storage room is shown) are arranged. The heat-insulating box 22 is formed by filling a foam heat-insulating material 22c such as urethane foam between a plastic inner box 22a and a steel plate outer box 22b by a so-called in-situ foaming method.

The refrigerator body 21 (insulated box 2)
2) A cooler 2 is provided between the inner rear wall portion and the freezing compartment 23.
4 and a cooler room 2 in which a fan device (not shown) and the like are disposed.
5 are provided. In the cooler chamber 25, a heater 26 for defrosting is provided below the cooler 24, and a drain gutter 27 is provided below the heater 26 for defrosting. The bottom surface of the drain gutter 27 is configured to be inclined downward toward the center, and a drain port (not shown) is formed in the center. The drain gutter 27 is fixed to a predetermined position of the inner box 22a. Therefore, the inner box 22a has an opening (not shown) corresponding to the bottom of the drain gutter 27. I have.

On the other hand, a machine room 28 is provided at a lower portion on the back side of the refrigerator main body 21. In the machine room 28, a compressor 29, a cooling fan (not shown),
0 and the like are provided.

A portion of the refrigerator main body 21 that separates the cooler room 25 and the machine room 28 (hereinafter, a partitioning portion 21)
In (a), a drain pipe 31 for discharging the defrost water of the cooler 24 to the evaporating dish 30 in the machine room 28 is attached. The drain pipe 31 communicates with a drain port of the drain gutter 27, and is configured to discharge defrost water accumulated in the drain gutter 27 to the evaporating dish 30. Hereinafter, a specific configuration of the drain pipe 31 will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.

The drain pipe 31 is composed of a tubular body 32 embedded in the partition 21a and a discharge port 33 provided to project into the machine room 28. Each of the tubular body 32 and the discharge port body 33 has a straight tubular shape, so that the drain pipe 31 as a whole has a straight tubular shape.

An upper flange portion 34 having a pair of screw holes 34a, 34a is provided on the outer peripheral portion slightly lower than the upper end portion of the tubular body 32. The upper flange 34 is fixed to the lower surface of the drain gutter 27 by screwing. At this time, the upper end of the tubular body 32 is configured to be inserted into the outlet of the drain gutter 27. I have.

A lower flange 35 having a pair of screw bosses 35a, 35a projecting upward is provided on the outer periphery of the lower end of the tubular body 32. This lower flange 35
Is fixed to the upper surface of the outer box 22b by screwing. At this time, the discharge port 33 is configured to be inserted through an opening 22d provided in the outer box 22b. Thus, the tubular body 32 is fixed between the drain gutter 27 and the outer box 22b.

On the other hand, the discharge port body 33 has a stepped shape including a large-diameter portion 33a on the upper end side and a small-diameter portion 33b on the lower end side, and includes the large-diameter portion 33a and the small-diameter portion 33b.
A part of the outer peripheral surface from the step portion 33c between the small-diameter portion 33b to the small-diameter portion 33b becomes a flat surface portion 33d. The distal end of the discharge port 33 is configured to be inclined downward from the flat portion 33d. Therefore, the opening 33e at the tip of the discharge port body 33
Has a substantially semicircular shape.

The opening 3 at the tip of the outlet 33
An opening / closing valve 36 having a substantially circular shape is provided at 3e. The on-off valve 36 has a pair of arm portions 36a, and a shaft hole 36b is formed at the tip of the arm portion 36a. A pair of shafts 33f project outward from the distal end portion of the discharge port body 33, and the opening / closing valve 36 can be rotated by inserting the shaft holes 36b into the shafts 33f. It is supported by.

The opening / closing valve 36 is usually provided with the opening 33.
When the predetermined amount of defrost water accumulates in the drain pipe 31, the opening 33 e is rotated and the opening 33 e is opened. Specifically, as shown in FIG.
The portion on the right side in FIG. 2 of the arm portion 36a is formed thicker, so that the center of gravity of the on-off valve 36 is on the opposite side (left side in FIG. 2) from the rotation center with respect to the opening 33e. It is configured to be located. Therefore, normally, a force for rotating the on-off valve 36 in the direction of the arrow A acts.
The opening 33e is closed by the on-off valve 36. And
When the defrost water accumulates in the drain pipe 31, the weight of the defrost water causes the opening / closing valve 36 to rotate in the direction indicated by the arrow A and open the opening 33.
e is opened, so that the defrost water in the drain pipe 31 is discharged.

According to such a configuration, since the tubular body 32 and the discharge port body 33 are integrally formed, the number of molding steps is reduced as compared with the conventional case where the tubular body 10 and the discharge port body 11 are separate bodies. And manufacturing costs can be reduced.

Further, the tubular body 32 and the discharge port body 33 can be collectively attached to the partition 21a. for that reason,
After the tubular body 10 is fixed in the partition 8, the mounting work becomes easier as compared with the related art in which the discharge port body 11 is fixed to the lower surface of the outer box 1b. In addition, unlike the related art, the problem that the on-off valve comes off during the mounting operation is eliminated.

The temperature inside the machine room 28 is relatively high because heat is generated as the compressor 29 operates.
Therefore, the discharge port body 33 protruding into the machine room 28 is
The temperature in the machine room 28 rises by removing heat. However, conventionally, since the outlet body 11 and the tubular body 10 are separate bodies, heat of the outlet body 11 is hardly transmitted to the tubular body 10.
On the other hand, in the present embodiment, the discharge port body 33 and the tubular body 3
2 and 1 have good thermal conductivity. Therefore, freezing of the drainage pipe 31 can be prevented as much as possible without disposing the heater 13 as in the related art, and power saving can be achieved.

In the present embodiment, the tubular body 32 and the discharge port body 33 are formed in a straight tubular shape, and the drain pipe 31 is formed.
It was configured to form a straight tube as a whole. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the defrost water from accumulating in the middle of the drain pipe 31 and attaching scale to the water as much as possible. Further, since the defrost water does not remain in the middle of the drain pipe 31, it is possible to further prevent the drain pipe 31 from freezing.

Further, in this embodiment, the discharge port 33
The opening / closing valve 36 is provided in the opening 33e at the tip of the. Therefore, it is possible to prevent foreign substances such as dust and dirt from entering the drain pipe 31. Particularly, in the present embodiment, the center of gravity of the on-off valve 36 is configured to be located on the side opposite to the opening 33e from the center of rotation. Therefore, normally, the opening 33e is closed, and when the defrost water accumulates, the opening 33e is opened to discharge the defrost water, so that the configuration of the on-off valve 36 can be completed with a relatively simple configuration. .

Next, FIGS. 4 and 5 show a second embodiment of the present invention, and the points different from the first embodiment will be described. The same parts as those of the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals. In the second embodiment, the structure of the mounting portion of the on-off valve 36 with respect to the outlet 33 is different. That is, the discharge port body 33 is provided with a pair of shaft holes 41 located at the step portion 33c, and the open / close valve 36 is provided with a pair of arm portions 42 and the arm portions 42.
A shaft 43 inserted into the shaft hole 41 is provided at a tip end of the shaft 43.

According to such a configuration, the discharge port body is formed by using a two-part type consisting of a male type and a female type in which a parting line P (shown by a broken line in FIG. 5) is formed in the shaft hole 41. 3
Part 3 can be molded. On the other hand, when the shaft 33f is provided in the outlet 33 as in the first embodiment, the portion of the outlet 33 must be formed using a slide die. In the case of molding using a slide mold, the molding process is complicated, for example, a mechanism for sliding the mold is required. Therefore, according to the above-described second embodiment, the molding process can be simplified, and the manufacturing cost can be reduced.

In this embodiment, the on-off valve 36 has a substantially semicircular shape. However, similar to the first embodiment, the on-off valve 36
The center of rotation is located closer to the opening 33e than the center of gravity.

FIGS. 6 and 7 show a third embodiment of the present invention, and the points different from the second embodiment will be described.
The same parts as those in the second embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals. In the third embodiment, a surrounding portion 51 surrounding the drain opening 33 is provided at the lower end of the tubular body 32.
A flange 52 extending outward is provided at a lower end of the surrounding portion 51. At this time, the lower end of the surrounding portion 51 is
The discharge port 33 is configured to be located slightly above the lower end.

On the other hand, an opening 53 having a shape corresponding to the shape of the lower end of the surrounding portion 51 is formed in the outer box 22b. Then, the surrounding portion 5 is provided on the periphery of the opening 53.
The flange 52 is fixed to the outer box 22b by placing the flange 52 on the upper surface of the outer box 22b so that the lower ends of the flanges 1 coincide with each other, and screwing the screws 54 from the lower side of the outer box 22b. It is configured to:

As shown in FIG. 7, the drainage pipe 31 having such a configuration is attached to the partition 21a with a part of the discharge opening 33 located above the outer box 22b. Then, the outer peripheral portions of the tubular body 32 and the surrounding portion 51 are filled with the foamed heat insulating material 22c. As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7,
The upper flange 34 is fixed to the lower surface of the drain gutter 27 with a screw 55. At this time, the upper end of the tubular body 32 is
Is inserted into the discharge port 27a.

According to such a configuration, since an air layer is formed between the surrounding portion 51 and the discharge port body 33, the heat retaining effect of the discharge port body 33 is improved, and the drain pipe 31 freezes. It can be further prevented. Moreover, in the present embodiment, the flange 52 is provided at the lower end of the surrounding portion 51, and a part of the discharge port body 33 is configured to be located in the partition 21a. Accordingly, the size (indicated by L in FIG. 7) of the discharge port 33 protruding toward the machine chamber 28 can be reduced while the mounting size of the on-off valve 36 is maintained. Therefore, at the time of assembling the refrigerator, the distal end portion of the discharge port body 33 does not become an obstacle, and it is possible to prevent the on-off valve 36 from coming off due to another component hitting the distal end portion of the discharge port body 33. Therefore, workability is improved.

In this embodiment, the surrounding portion 51 is provided at the lower end of the tubular body 32, and the flange 52 is provided at the lower end of the surrounding portion 51. However, as shown in the first and second embodiments. A surrounding portion may be provided on the lower surface of the lower flange 35 of the tubular body 32. In this case, the projecting dimensions of the outlet body 33 are the same as those in the first and second embodiments, but a heat retaining effect of the outlet body 33 can be obtained.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment. For example, the shape of the opening may be a semi-circular shape, a circular shape or a rectangular shape. And can be implemented by appropriately changing five.

[0040]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the drainage pipe of the refrigerator of the present invention, the drainage pipe is provided in the partition for separating the cooler room and the machine room, and connects the cooler room and the machine room. Since the tubular body to be formed and the discharge port body provided at the lower part of the tubular body so as to protrude into the machine chamber are integrally formed, the number of molding steps can be reduced, and the tubular body and the discharge port body are formed. Since it can be attached to the partition part at a time and the attachment work becomes easy, the manufacturing cost can be suppressed. Further, since the tubular body and the discharge port body are integrated, the heat conductivity is improved, and an excellent effect that ice formation can be prevented as much as possible without providing a heater is exhibited.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 shows a first embodiment of the present invention, and is an exploded perspective view of a drain pipe shown together with an outer box.

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view around a lower end portion of a drain pipe.

FIG. 3 is a side view showing the refrigerator main body with a part cut away.

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view showing a second embodiment of the present invention and showing a lower flange portion and a periphery of a discharge opening body;

FIG. 5 is a longitudinal sectional view of a discharge port body.

FIG. 6 shows a drain pipe, a drain gutter, and the like according to a third embodiment of the present invention.
Exploded perspective view of outer box

FIG. 7 is a longitudinal sectional view around a drain pipe.

FIG. 8 is a diagram corresponding to FIG. 3 showing a conventional example.

FIG. 9 is an exploded perspective view of a drain pipe.

[Explanation of symbols]

In the figure, 21 is a refrigerator body, 21a is a partition part, 24 is a cooler, 25 is a cooler room, 28 is a machine room, 31 is a drain pipe, 3
2 is a tubular body, 33 is an outlet body, 33a is a large diameter part, 33b
Is a small diameter portion, 33c is a step portion, 33e is an opening, 35 is an on-off valve, 41 is a shaft hole, 43 is a shaft, and 51 is a surrounding portion.

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A tubular body disposed in a partition for separating a cooler room and a machine room, and communicating with the cooler room and the machine room, and a lower portion of the tubular body protruding into the machine room. A drain port of a refrigerator for discharging defrost water from a cooler into the machine room, wherein the tubular body and the discharge port body are integrally formed. Drainage pipe for refrigerators. 2. The drainage pipe for a refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein the tubular body and the drainage body are in the form of a straight tube as a whole. 3. An opening at the tip of the discharge port body is configured to normally close the opening and rotate by the defrost water accumulated in the drain pipe to open the opening. The drain pipe of a refrigerator according to claim 2, further comprising an on-off valve. 4. An on-off valve is provided with a shaft inserted through a shaft hole provided in a discharge port body, and the discharge port body has a large-diameter portion on a tubular body side and a small-diameter portion on a distal end side. The drainage pipe for a refrigerator according to claim 3, wherein the shaft hole is provided in a stepped portion formed between the large-diameter portion and the small-diameter portion. 5. The drainage of a refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein a lower end portion of the tubular body is provided with a surrounding portion configured to surround the discharge opening body. tube.