JPH1194432A - Refrigerator - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve assembling property while obtaining high sealing property between an insulating partitioning wall and the surrounding part thereof, in a refrigerator wherein a cooler or the like is provided at a height across the insulating partitioning wall separating upper and lower chambers. SOLUTION: An insulating partitioning wall 11 is mounted previously in the forming process of an insulating box body and both side rim parts of the insulating partitioning wall 11 are contacted strongly and closely with the inside wall of an inner box 3 by the foaming pressure of expandable insulating material. A cooler 19 and a cold air flowing mechanism 20 are incorporated into an opening part 34, formed behind the insulating partitioning wall 11. In this case, a fan device 26 is attached to an air cover 23 and a damper unit 24 is constituted previously by fitting an insulating body 31, constituted of a damper device 32 and a rear insulating material 33, which are incorporated into a damper cover 30, while the assembled unit of these instruments is fitted from the upper side of the insulating partitioning wall 11 to incorporate the same. The engaging projection 36 of the insulating partitioning wall 11 is engaged with the engaging recess 37 of the damper unit 24. Then, a freezing chamber side fore cover 25 is incorporated into the back surface of a freezing chamber 8.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a refrigerator which is suitable for, for example, a so-called bottom freezer type in which a freezing room is arranged at the lowermost portion in an insulated box body and has an improved structure for assembling components around a cooler.

[0002]

In a home refrigerator, a freezer compartment is generally provided in the middle or upper stage, but in recent years, a freezer compartment is provided in the lower stage. The so-called bottom freezer type, which has a vegetable room, is also being offered. In this case, in the refrigerator, the cooler and its peripheral components (fan device,
Cold air distribution mechanism consisting of cold air supply duct, damper device, etc.)
Is arranged on the inner wall of the freezer (the inner side of the inner box). In the above-mentioned bottom freezer type refrigerator, a machine room for installing a compressor and the like is provided at a lower part on the back side of the main body. Since they are provided, it is necessary to shift their arrangement positions upward by that much. For this reason, a situation has arisen in which a cooler and its peripheral components must be provided at a height that extends over and below a heat-insulating partition wall that vertically separates the vegetable compartment and the freezing compartment.

[0003] For this reason, in a conventional bottom freezer type refrigerator, as shown in, for example, JP-A-8-247638, a heat insulating partition wall for partitioning a vegetable compartment and a freezing compartment is divided into two front and rear portions. The first partition wall on the front side is attached to the heat-insulating box in advance, and the work of assembling the cooler and its peripheral components is performed by utilizing the space of the part where the second partition wall is removed. The second partition wall on the rear side is attached to form the entire heat insulating partition wall.

[0004] Incidentally, since the temperature zone differs greatly between the vegetable room and the freezing room, there is a situation in which a high sealing property is required between the peripheral portion of the heat insulating partition wall that separates them and the inner wall surface of the heat insulating box. However, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 8-24763 describes
According to the technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 8 (1996) -1995, the first partition wall among the heat insulating partition walls is attached in advance during the foaming operation of the foamed heat insulating material of the heat insulating box, so that the side of the first partition wall is formed by the foaming pressure. Although high adhesion and adhesion between the edge and the heat insulating box can be obtained, the second partition wall is detachably attached after the foaming operation of the foamed heat insulating material. Adhesion with the heat insulating box body is naturally reduced, and sufficient sealing properties cannot be obtained as it is. For this reason, there is a disadvantage that measures such as providing a sealing material separately and tightly sealing are required.

[0005] Furthermore, in the above-mentioned conventional apparatus, the heat insulating partition wall is divided into two parts and a part thereof is detachably attached, so that the structure is relatively complicated and the assemblability is not necessarily good. In addition, even during the service, it is necessary to once remove the second partition wall to check the cooler and the cool air distribution mechanism, replace parts, etc.
The service was also poor.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and has as its object to provide a cooler and a cool air supply duct located at a height extending vertically above and below a heat insulating partition wall.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a refrigerator capable of ensuring a high sealing property between a heat insulating partition wall and a peripheral portion thereof, while improving assemblability and serviceability.

[0007]

According to the refrigerator of the present invention, a plurality of upper and lower heat-insulating boxes having different temperature zones are provided inside an insulating box formed by filling a foam insulating material between an inner box and an outer box. In addition to providing a heat insulating partition wall for partitioning the storage room, a cooler and a cool air supply duct for sending cool air from the cooler are provided at a depth straddling up and down on the inner side of the heat insulating partition wall. The heat-insulating partition wall is assembled in advance in the inner box before foaming of the foamed heat-insulating material in a state where an opening for assembling is formed between a rear end portion and the inner box. In a state where the heat insulating partition wall is attached to the heat insulating box, the cooler is positioned at the inner side of the opening and is mounted, and the damper device is mounted on the thermal insulator. And a damper unit forming a cool air supply duct at the front of the cooler The heat insulating partition wall is configured to be installed at an upper portion of the opening, and further, a gap between a lower end portion of the damper unit and an upper surface rear portion of the heat insulating partition wall has a fitting structure by unevenness. The present invention is characterized in that the sealing is performed by the sealing (the invention of claim 1).

[0008] According to this, in a state where the heat insulating partition wall is mounted in the heat insulating box, the cooler is mounted on the opening portion for assembly between the rear end of the heat insulating partition wall and the inner box. And the damper unit can be assembled. In this case, since the damper unit is unitized by incorporating the damper device into the thermal insulator, the assembling property is excellent.

At this time, in order to assemble the components of the cooler and the cool air supply duct which are provided at a height extending above and below the heat insulating partition wall, the heat insulating partition wall is divided into two parts or retrofitted. This eliminates the necessity, and the foaming operation can be performed after the heat-insulating partition wall is assembled in the heat-insulating box body in advance. Therefore, the foaming pressure at the time of foaming of the foamed heat insulating material makes the side edge portion of the heat insulating partition wall and the heat insulating box tightly adhere to each other, so that a high sealing property can be obtained. Also, a sufficient sealing property can be obtained between the rear side of the upper surface of the heat insulating partition wall and the lower end of the damper unit because of the fitting structure by the unevenness.

In addition, since the central portion is not fixed between the lower end portion of the damper unit and the rear portion of the upper surface of the heat insulating partition wall in order to secure the detachability, compared with the left and right end portions, The seal tends to be sweet at the center. Therefore, at least the central portion of the lower end portion of the damper unit can have a fitting structure with multiple irregularities in the front-rear direction between the upper end portion and the rear side portion of the heat insulating partition wall (invention of claim 2). Thus, the sealing performance can be further improved.

Further, a cool air passage separate from the cool air supply duct may be provided at a rear side portion of the heat insulating partition wall, that is, at a side portion of the opening portion. It is necessary to ensure high sealing performance with the damper unit also at the edge portion. Therefore, a heat insulating partition wall is provided with a seal wall that rises up along the side edge of the opening, and at the lower end of the side wall of the damper unit,
By providing a side seal portion that is in close contact with the upper end of the seal wall portion (the invention of claim 3), it is possible to enhance the sealing performance at the side edge portion of the opening.

By the way, the above-mentioned heat-insulating partition wall is generally constructed by arranging a heat-insulating material between an upper plate and a lower plate. In addition, it is necessary to prevent water such as defrost water from entering between the upper and lower plates of the heat insulating partition and the heat insulating material.

Therefore, an inclined surface is formed at the rear end of the upper surface of the heat insulating partition wall so as to be inclined downward and rearward, and the rear end edge of the lower plate is located forward of the rear end of the heat insulating material. Thus, it is possible to adopt a form that bites into the heat insulating material (the invention of claim 4). According to this, the inclined surface of the rear end of the upper surface of the heat insulating partition wall can prevent water droplets and the like flowing down the damper unit from entering between the rear end of the upper plate and the heat insulating material. The form in which the rear edge of the lower plate bites into the insulating material can prevent water from entering between the rear edge of the lower plate and the heat insulating material.

Further, the rear end of the heat insulating partition may be located forward of the rear end of the lower end of the thermal insulator constituting the damper unit (the invention of claim 5). Even if water drops such as defrost water flow down the inner wall of the thermal insulator constituting the cold air supply duct, water drops falling from the rear edge of the lower end of the thermal insulator adhere to the rear end of the heat insulating partition wall. Is eliminated, so that the water droplets can be prevented from entering the heat insulating partition wall. In addition, conduction of the cool air to the upper plate in the cool air supply duct can be suppressed.

Further, the storage room in the heat-insulating box body can be constituted by a freezing room below the heat-insulating partition wall, and a refrigerator room and a vegetable room provided above and below the heat-insulating partition wall. Item 6)). According to this, since the vegetable room is located almost in the middle of the heat insulation box, it is possible to provide a vegetable room in which vegetables can be easily taken in and out.

[0016]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Some embodiments in which the present invention is applied to a so-called bottom freezer type refrigerator will be described below with reference to the drawings. (1) First Embodiment First, a first embodiment (corresponding to claims 1, 5 and 6) of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 2 schematically shows the configuration of the main body 1 of the refrigerator according to this embodiment. Here, the main body 1 is configured to have storage chambers in three upper and lower stages in a vertically long rectangular box-shaped heat insulating box 2 having an open front surface. As is well known, the heat insulating box 2 is formed by filling a foam heat insulating material 5 such as urethane foam between a plastic inner box 3 and a steel plate outer box 4 by a so-called in-situ foaming method. I have.

The three storage compartments formed in the main body 1 are, in order from the top, a refrigerator compartment 6, a vegetable compartment 7, and a freezer compartment 8, of which the refrigerator compartment 6 has the largest volume (height). (Directional dimension). In this case, the refrigerating room 6 and the vegetable room 7 are both set to a temperature zone of, for example, about 3 ° C., and the space between the two rooms is vertically divided by a partition 9. As shown in FIG. 3 and the like, the partition portion 9 is composed of a front-side partition member 9a and a rear-side plastic bottom plate 9b. Various types of switches and the like are provided in the partition member 9a. Electrical components, wiring, dew-proof pipes, and the like are provided. A water supply unit 10 (see FIGS. 3 and 4) for supplying water to an automatic ice making device (not shown) provided in the freezing compartment 8 is provided on the partition 9. ing.

The freezing compartment 8 is, for example, about -18
It is set to a temperature zone of ° C., and the vegetable compartment 7 and the freezing compartment 8 are vertically partitioned by a heat insulating partition wall 11. As shown in FIG. 1, the heat-insulating partition wall 11 is provided with a heat-insulating material 11c such as styrene foam in a plastic outer shell composed of an upper plate 11a and a lower plate 11b and the like in a substantially thin rectangular box shape. It is configured. A partition cover 12 in which a dew-proof pipe or the like is disposed is attached to the front end of the heat-insulating partition wall 11.

Further, as shown in FIG. 4, in this embodiment,
The V partition return duct 13 for returning cool air from the vegetable compartment 7 to the lower side of a cooler 19 described later is integrally provided on the heat insulating partition wall 11 at a portion extending rearward from the rear right end. ing. Therefore, the heat-insulating partition wall 11 has a form in which a horizontally long rectangular notch is formed at a portion other than the right end of the rear side when viewed from above, and the notch portion is used for assembling as described later. An opening 34 is provided. As will be described later, the heat insulating partition 1
A fitting protrusion 36 with which the damper unit 24 is fitted is integrally formed on the upper surface of the rear side (the front edge of the opening) of the first side.

Although not described in detail, doors 14 for opening and closing the storage rooms 6, 7, 8 are provided on the front surface of the main body 1.
15 and 16 are provided. Further, a machine room 17 is provided at a lower portion on the back side of the main body 1, and a compressor 18, a cooling fan, a defrost water evaporating dish (all shown in FIG. Zu) etc. are arranged. A portion such as an inclined heat-insulating wall on the front side of the machine room 17 and a bottom portion of the main body 1 are separately formed and attached to the heat-insulating box 2.

Now, on the inner wall surface side (the inner surface side of the inner box 3) in the main body 1 (insulated box 2), there is a high and lower part of the heat insulating partition wall 11, that is, a height extending over the vegetable room 7 and the freezing room 8. A cooler 19 and a cool air circulation mechanism 20 for sending out cool air from the cooler 19 are provided at the position. At this time, the cooler 19 is disposed along the inner surface of the inner box 3 of the heat-insulating box 2, and the cool air distribution mechanism 20 extends from a front side to an upper part of the cooler 19 to supply a cool air supply duct to be described later. 29 are formed.

On the inner wall surface side of the refrigeration room 6, a refrigeration room duct for supplying refrigeration air into the refrigeration room 6 so as to be continuous with the upper end of the refrigeration room 20 (the refrigeration supply duct 30). 21 and the cool air outlet 22
A duct forming member 22 having a (see FIGS. 3 and 4) is provided. Hereinafter, the configuration of the cold air distribution mechanism 20 will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 1 and 3 to 6.

As shown in FIG. 1, FIG. 4, etc., the cool air distribution mechanism 20 is roughly composed of an air cover 23, a damper unit 24, and a freezer compartment side front cover 25. Among them, the evaporator cover 23 is made of plastic and has a substantially rectangular shape as a whole, and a substantially lower half thereof has a plate shape arranged so as to cover the front surface of the cooler 19, and an upper half continuous therewith. It has a lid-like shape that swells forward to form a space between itself and the inner surface of the inner box 3.

As shown in FIG. 5, a bell mouth 23a is provided on the left side of the upper half of the evaporator cover 23.
The fan mounting part 27 (refer to FIG. 1) to which is mounted is provided. Further, in this embodiment, several engaging claws 23c to which the damper unit 24 is detachably connected are provided on the front surface of the flange portion 23b around the upper half portion (upper and left and right) of the evaporator cover 23. ing. As will be described later, the evaporator cover 23 is attached to the inner surface of the inner box 3 in a state of being integrated with the damper unit 24. At this time, the inner box 3 is attached to the fan mounting portion 27. Corresponding concave portions 3a (see FIGS. 4 and 6) are provided.

Thus, a cooler chamber for accommodating the cooler 19 is formed between the evaporator cover 23 and the inner surface of the inner box 3, and the fan device 26 is driven. This allows the air to pass through the cooler 19 from below to be cooled, and then blown forward.

At this time, the cool air which has contributed to the cooling of the food and the like in each of the storage rooms 6, 7, 8 is returned to the return duct including the V-room return duct 13 (not shown in the whole).
Thereby, it is returned to the lower part of the cooler 19 (cooler room). Further, a heater 28 (see FIGS. 1 and 2) for defrosting is provided below the cooler 19, and a further lower portion thereof receives defrost water and receives the defrost water.
A water distribution gutter 35 for flowing down to the defrosted water evaporating dish in 7 is provided.

The freezer compartment side front cover 25 is shown in FIGS.
As shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 5, the air conditioner has a cool air outlet 25a to the freezing room 8. This freezer front cover 25 is provided with
Is located slightly forward of the lower half, and is mounted between the lower surface of the rear end of the heat insulating partition wall 11 and the drain gutter 35 in a vertically extending manner. Thus, the freezer compartment-side front cover 25 constitutes the back surface of the freezer compartment 8 and also constitutes the lower part of the cool air supply duct 29 with the evaporator cover 23.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 5, the damper unit 24 includes a damper cover 30 and a heat insulator 3.
1, a damper device 32, and a rear heat insulating material 33. The heat insulator 31 is made of a heat insulating material such as polystyrene foam, and as shown in FIG. 5, covers the upper half of the evaporator cover 23 from the front and supplies cold air between the evaporator cover 23 and the upper half of the evaporator cover 23. A base portion 31a constituting an upper portion of the duct 29, and a damper storage portion 31b extending upward from an upper left portion of an upper side portion of the base portion 31a.
On the back side, a concave portion for forming the cool air supply duct 29 is formed extending vertically.

In the damper storage section 31b, the damper device 3
2 is fitted and fixed from the back side. Further, the rear heat insulating material 33 is press-fitted and fixed to the concave portion of the damper storage portion 31b so as to press the rear side of the damper device 32. With this, the damper device 3
2 is provided in a form inserted in the middle (upper end portion) of the cool air supply duct 29.

Although not shown and described in detail, the damper device 32 is constructed by incorporating a damper plate 32a (see FIG. 1) and a motor for driving the same in a case, and opening and closing the damper plate 32a. Cold air supply duct 2
The supply amount of the cool air supplied from above 9 is controlled.

On the other hand, the damper cover 30 is made of plastic in a shape that covers the front surface of the thermal insulator 31 and the upper, lower, left and right peripheral portions. As shown in FIG. 5, the damper cover 30 is formed with a flange portion 30a that is in close contact with the flange portion 23b of the evaporator cover 23, and the flange portion 30a engages with the engaging claw 23c. Engagement hole 30b is formed.

Thus, the heat insulator 31 with the damper device 32 and the rear heat insulator 33 assembled in the damper cover 30 is provided.
However, the damper unit 24 is configured by being fitted from the rear side, and the damper unit 24 is configured such that the flange portion 30 a of the damper cover 30 is detachably engaged with the flange portion 23 b of the evaluation cover 23. It can be attached by. As a result, FIG.
As shown in FIG. 5, the damper cover 30 constitutes the back of the vegetable compartment 7, and the
The upper portion of the cool air supply duct 29 is formed between the heat exchanger 31 and the heat insulator 31, and the upper end of the cool air supply duct 29 is connected to the lower end of the refrigerator compartment duct 21 (the duct forming member 22). I have.

At this time, as shown in FIG. 1, a fitting projection 36 extending in the left-right direction along the front edge of the opening 34 is formed at the rear end of the upper surface of the heat insulating partition wall 11. .
The upper surface of the fitting projection 36 is formed in an inclined shape that descends forward. On the other hand, on the lower end surface of the damper unit 24 (thermal insulator 31), a fitting concave portion 37 is formed to fit with the fitting convex portion 36. Further, a soft tape 38 for air sealing is interposed between the fitting projection 36 and the fitting recess 37. Further, the rear end of the heat insulating partition wall 11 from which the heat insulating material 11 c is exposed is connected to the heat insulator 3 of the damper unit 24.
1 is located forward of the rear edge of the lower end.

In this embodiment, the height of the upper end of the damper unit 24 is lower than the partition 9 (bottom plate 9b) by a predetermined dimension. Thus, the damper unit 24 can be removed in the vegetable compartment 7 by an operation such as pulling it slightly to the front side. Of course, the damper unit 24 can be mounted in the reverse order.

As will be described later in the description of the assembling process, in the present embodiment, in order to assemble the cooler 19 and the cool air circulation mechanism 20 having the above-described configuration with respect to the refrigerator main body 1 (insulated box 2), In a state where the heat insulating partition plate 11 is attached to the heat insulating box 2 in advance, for example, freezing is performed on an assembling opening 34 (see FIG. 6 and the like) formed between the heat insulating partition plate 11 and the inner box 3. A cooler 19 is assembled from the chamber 8 side, and then the evaporator 2
3 to which a damper unit 24 is attached is inserted from the refrigerator compartment 6 through the vegetable compartment 7 and assembled.
The procedure is performed such that the freezer compartment side front cover 25 is assembled from the side.

At this time, the heat insulating partition plate 11 is attached to the inside of the inner box 3 in advance when forming (foaming) the foam heat insulating material 5 constituting the heat insulating box 2. Also,
The total length (length) in the height direction of the one in which the damper unit 24 is attached to the evaporator cover 23 is slightly longer than the height of the vegetable compartment 7 (smaller than the height of the refrigerator compartment 6).
Therefore, the assembling is performed in a state where at least the bottom plate 9b of the partition 9 is not attached.

Then, when the damper unit 24 is assembled, the air seal is performed between the heat insulating partition plate 11 and the fitting convex portion 36 and the fitting concave portion 37 and the soft tape 38. At this time, the damper unit 24 is attached with a pressing force rearward (in the direction of arrow A in FIG. 1).

Next, the operation of the above configuration will be described. When assembling the refrigerator main body 1 having the above-described configuration, first, in the step of forming the heat-insulating box 2, the heat-insulating partition wall 11 is attached in advance. Specifically, in order to manufacture the heat-insulating box 2, the inner box 3 and the outer box 4 are assembled, and for example, a urethane stock solution is injected into a space formed between the inner box 3 and the outer box 4. By curing, the foamed heat insulating material (urethane foam) 5 is filled. At the time of the foaming, the heat insulating partition wall 11 is previously placed inside the inner box 3.
Is attached.

Then, by the foaming pressure of the foam insulating material 5,
The inner box 3 receives a force in a direction in which the inner box 3 expands inside, so that both side edges of the heat insulating partition wall 11 and the inner side wall of the inner box 3 come into close contact with a strong force, and a high sealing property therebetween. Therefore, it is not necessary to perform strict sealing in post-processing by using an expensive sealing material. At this time, the rear end portion of the heat insulating partition wall 11 (the V-chamber return duct 1 at the right end portion).
3 is formed between the inner box 3 and the cooler 19.
And an opening 3 for assembling the cool air distribution mechanism 20
4 is secured.

The step of assembling the cooler 19 and the members constituting the cool air distribution mechanism 20 into the opening 34 at the back of the heat insulating partition wall 11 in the inner box 3 is performed as follows. Done. That is, first, the cooler 19 is assembled along the inner surface of the inner box 3. The cooler 19 is assembled from the freezer compartment 8 below the heat insulating partition wall 11 or the upper vegetable compartment 7 depending on the size of the opening of the freezer compartment 8 and the vegetable compartment.

Next, the assembling of the evaporator cover 23 and the damper unit 24 is performed.
The fan device 26 is mounted on the fan mounting portion 27 of the evaporator cover 23, and the damper unit 24 is configured by fitting the damper device 32 and the thermal insulator 31 in which the rear thermal insulating material 33 is assembled into the damper cover 30. deep. Then, as shown in FIG. 6, those obtained by attaching the damper unit 24 to the evaporative covers 23 are fitted and assembled from the refrigerator compartment 6 and the vegetable compartment 7 above the heat insulating partition wall 11.

At this time, although the size in the height direction is large when the damper unit 24 is mounted on the evaporator cover 23, the work can be easily performed in a state where the partition 9 is not yet mounted in the inner box 3. Can be. Then, with the soft tape 38 attached to the upper surface (inclined surface) of the fitting convex portion 36 at the rear side of the upper surface portion of the heat insulating partition wall 11, the damper unit 24 The fitting recess 37 on the lower surface is fitted so as to fit into the fitting projection 36.

Thus, a high sealing property between the rear side of the upper surface of the heat insulating partition wall 11 and the lower end of the damper unit 24 is obtained by the fitting structure of the fitting projection 36 and the fitting recess 37. Can be In this assembled state, the damper unit 24
Is pressed rearward (in the direction of arrow A in FIG. 1), the force acts in a direction in which the inner surface of the fitting concave portion 37 comes into tight contact with the inclined surface of the fitting convex portion 36, and the seal is made stronger. Become so.

Thereafter, the freezer compartment side front cover 25 is assembled from the freezer compartment 8 side, and thereafter, the duct forming member 22 and the partition 9 are assembled in the inner box 3. Thus, FIG.
As shown in FIG. 3, the cooler 19 and the cooler 19 for sending out cool air from the cooler 19 are located at a height straddling the upper and lower sides of the heat insulating partition wall 11 on the inner wall surface side in the heat insulating box 2. The cool air distribution mechanism 20 including the fan device 26, the cool air supply duct 29, the damper device 32, and the like can be easily assembled.

By the way, when the refrigerator body 1 is defrosted, the refrigeration cycle is stopped and the defrosting heater 28 is turned off.
Is operated to dissolve the frost adhering to the cooler 19 and the like and discharge the same through the drain gutter 35. In this case, FIG.
As shown in FIG. 7, the frost adhering to the inner wall surface or the like of the cool air supply duct 29 is also melted and becomes a water droplet W and flows down. In the present embodiment, since the rear end of the heat insulating partition wall 11 is located forward of the rear end edge of the lower end of the thermal insulator 31 constituting the damper unit 24, water droplets are formed on the heat insulating partition wall 11. The heat insulating partition wall 11 is not adhered.
It is possible to prevent the water droplet W from entering the inside.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the cooler 19 and the cool air circulation mechanism 20 are provided at the height extending over and below the heat insulating partition wall 11, and are provided in the inner box 3 in advance. Since the components of the cooler 19 and the cool air distribution mechanism 20 can be assembled in a state where the heat insulating partition wall 11 is attached, the heat insulating partition wall 11 does not need to be divided or retrofitted. 11, the foaming operation of the heat insulating box 2 can be performed. Therefore, even if the temperature zone is significantly different between the upper and lower chambers (vegetable compartment 7 and freezing compartment 8) of the heat insulating partition wall 11, there is no need to provide a separate sealing material and perform strict sealing later. Thus, a high sealing property between the heat insulating partition wall 11 and the inner wall surface of the heat insulating box 2 can be ensured.

Further, due to the fitting structure between the fitting protrusion 36 and the fitting recess 37 and the slope structure of the upper surface of the fitting protrusion 36, the rear edge of the upper surface of the heat insulating partition wall 11 and the lower end of the damper unit 24 are formed. Therefore, the air seal between the vegetable compartment 7 and the cool air supply duct 29, which also has a large temperature difference, can be sufficiently achieved.

The cooling air distribution mechanism 20 is constituted by an evaporator cover 23 to which a fan device 26 is mounted, and a damper unit 24 in which a damper device 32 is incorporated into a thermal insulator 31 to form a unit. Partition wall 1
Since it is configured so that it can be fitted and attached from above, a great improvement in assemblability can be achieved. In particular, in this embodiment,
Since the structure in which the damper unit 24 is attached to the evaluation cover 23 can be assembled at a time, the assemblability can be extremely improved.

Further, the damper unit 24 and the evaporator cover 23 can be easily removed without removing the heat insulating partition wall 11, and the work such as inspection of the cooler 19 and the cool air distribution mechanism 20 and replacement of parts can be facilitated. Serviceability can be improved. In this case, particularly in this embodiment,
Since the damper unit 24 is configured to be detachable from the vegetable compartment 7 without removing the partition 9, the serviceability can be further improved.

Further, particularly in the present embodiment, the heat insulating partition 1
1 is a thermal insulator 3 constituting the damper unit 24 at the rear end.
Since it is configured to be located forward of the rear end edge of the lower end portion of 1, the water droplets such as defrost water can be effectively prevented from entering the heat insulating partition wall 11.

(2) Second to Fourth Embodiments Next, second to fourth embodiments of the present invention will be described in order. Incidentally, also in the second to fourth embodiments, the overall configuration of the refrigerator main body 1 and the cooler 19 and the cold air supply duct 2
Since the basic configuration of the nine parts is the same as that of the first embodiment, the common parts will not be illustrated or described in detail, and only different points will be described below.

FIG. 7 shows a second embodiment of the present invention.
). The difference between the second embodiment and the first embodiment lies in the sealing structure between the rear side of the upper surface of the heat insulating partition wall 41 and the lower end of the damper unit 42. It has a fitting structure with heavy unevenness. That is, on the rear side of the upper surface of the heat insulating partition wall 41, a rear fitting projection 43 is formed on the rear side, and a front fitting recess 44 is formed so as to be continuous with the front. I have. In contrast, at the lower end of the damper unit 42,
A rear fitting concave portion 45 that fits into the rear fitting convex portion 43 is formed, and a front side (up to a front edge portion) of the front fitting convex portion that fits into the front fitting concave portion 44. 46.

Further, a rib 47a protruding forward is integrally provided at a position slightly higher than the upper surface of the heat insulating partition wall 41 on the lower front side of the damper cover 47 on the front surface of the damper unit 42. On the upper surface of the upper plate 48 of the heat-insulating partition wall 41, a rib 48a that is located on the lower surface side of the rib 47a and protrudes upward is integrally provided. The rear end of the heat insulating partition wall 41 is located forward of the rear end of the lower end of the thermal insulator 49 constituting the damper unit 42.

According to such a configuration, the damper unit 42
The central portion is not fixed between the lower end portion and the rear end portion of the upper surface portion of the heat insulating partition wall 41 in order to secure the detachability. However, since the seal is doubled, the sealability can be further improved. Further, the provision of the ribs 47a and the ribs 48a can prevent water droplets W and the like from entering and accumulating in the front fitting concave portion 44 on the upper surface of the heat insulating partition wall 41.

FIGS. 8 and 9 show a third embodiment (corresponding to claim 3) of the present invention. As shown in FIG.
As in the first embodiment, the heat insulating partition wall 51 in this embodiment has a portion (referred to as a protruding portion 51a) extending rearward from the right end of the rear portion of the heat insulating partition wall 51.
The V-chamber return duct 13 for returning the cool air from the inside is integrally formed. Therefore, the heat-insulating partition wall 51 has a horizontally-long rectangular opening 34 at a portion of the rear side portion other than the right end portion. I have. As shown in FIG. 8, the heat insulating partition 51
The rear part of the protruding portion 51a is attached so as to be in close contact with the inner box 3.

As shown in FIG. 8, on the upper surface of the heat insulating partition wall 51, a seal rising upward along the right edge of the opening 34 (to the left of the V-chamber return duct 13). A wall 52 is provided. The upper end of the seal wall portion 52 is located higher than the upper end opening of the V-chamber return duct 13 and is inclined downward and forward. In addition, the opening 3 is provided on the upper surface of the heat insulating partition 51.
4, a fitting recess 53 is formed at the front part (the front part of the seal wall part 52).

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 8, the damper unit 54 is also provided so as to cover the opening 34 from above.
Is provided with a fitting projection 55 that fits into the fitting. The lower end of the right side wall of the damper unit 54 has a sloped side seal portion 56 which is in close contact with the upper end of the seal wall portion 52.
Are formed. Further, a rib 54a projecting forward is provided on a lower side of the front surface of the damper unit 54, and a rib 51b projecting upward is provided on an upper surface of the heat insulating partition wall 51. Water droplets W and the like are prevented from entering the fitting recess 53.

According to this configuration, the upper surface of the heat insulating partition wall 51 on the front side of the opening 34 and the damper unit 24
Of course, high sealing performance with the lower end of
In addition, since the sealing wall portion 52 and the side sealing portion 56 are in close contact with each other, a high sealing property between the heat insulating partition wall 51 and the damper unit 54 can be obtained even at the right edge portion of the opening 34. Therefore, high sealing performance as a whole can be ensured.

FIG. 10 shows a fourth embodiment (corresponding to claims 4 and 5) of the present invention. The heat insulating partition wall 61 in this embodiment also includes an upper plate 61a and a lower plate 61b.
And a heat insulating material 61c such as styrofoam is accommodated between them, and a fitting concave portion 62 is formed in a rear side portion of an upper surface portion thereof. The rear end portion of the upper surface of the heat insulating partition wall 61, that is, the rear end portion of the bottom surface of the fitting concave portion 62 is formed as an inclined surface 62a that is gently downwardly inclined downward.
The rear edge of the upper plate 61a is located on the front side of the rear end of the heat insulating material 61c, that is, in the middle of the inclined surface 62a. Further, the rear edge 61d of the lower plate 61b is
In addition to being located forward of the rear end of the heat insulating material 61c,
It is formed in a shape that is bent upward in a hook shape, and cuts into the heat insulating material 61c.

On the other hand, the front end of the damper unit 63 has a fitting projection 63 a fitted into the fitting recess 62.
The lower surface is shaped to follow the inclined surface 62a. Further, the rear end of the heat insulating partition wall 61 (heat insulating material 61 c) is located forward of the rear end edge of the lower end of the thermal insulator 64 constituting the damper unit 63. Note that a soft tape 66 is attached to the upper surface of the fitting concave portion 62 and is sandwiched between the fitting convex portions 63a. further,
A rib 65a protruding forward is formed on the lower side of the front surface of the damper cover 65 of the damper unit 63, and a rib 61e protruding upward is provided on the upper surface of the upper plate 61a of the heat insulating partition wall 61. With these,
Water droplets W and the like are prevented from entering the fitting recess 62.

According to this, a high sealing property between the upper surface of the heat insulating partition wall 61 at the front side of the opening 34 and the lower end of the damper unit 63 can be obtained. Further, in addition to the above, the water drop W flowing down the inner wall surface of the damper unit 63 is formed by the inclined surface 62 a at the rear end of the upper surface of the heat insulating partition wall 51.
And the like can be prevented from entering between the rear end of the upper plate 61a and the heat insulating material 61c, and the rear end edge 61d of the lower plate 61b cuts into the insulating material 61c. Water can also be prevented from entering between the rear edge of the lower plate 61b and the heat insulating material 61c. In this case, the conduction of the cool air in the cool air supply duct 29 to the upper plate 61a can also be suppressed.

In the first embodiment described above, the structure in which the damper unit 24 is attached to the evaporator cover 23 is assembled at a time. However, the evaporator cover 23 to which the fan device 26 is attached and the damper unit 24 are separately provided. It is also possible to assemble them, and even with such a configuration, it is possible to sufficiently improve the assemblability. In addition, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, for example, a configuration may be configured such that a partitioning section for partitioning the refrigerator compartment and the vegetable compartment is located immediately above the damper unit, The configuration and the like can be variously modified, and can be appropriately changed and implemented without departing from the gist.

[0064]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the refrigerator of the present invention, there is provided a refrigerator and a cool air supply duct which are located at a height straddling the upper and lower sides of the heat insulating partition wall. In a state in which the heat insulating partition wall is attached before the foaming in the heat insulating box, an assembling opening formed between the inner surface of the heat insulating box and the rear end of the heat insulating partition wall. In addition, the cooling device and the damper unit can be assembled, and the lower end portion of the damper unit and the heat insulating partition are air-sealed as a fitting structure with irregularities. While ensuring a high sealing property between the two, the present invention has an excellent practical effect that the assemblability and serviceability can be improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 shows a first embodiment of the present invention, and is a longitudinal sectional side view of a main part.

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional side view of a refrigerator.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a state in which a cool air distribution mechanism and the like are assembled to a heat insulating box.

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view showing a state when each member is assembled to the heat insulating box.

FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of a damper unit and an evaluation cover.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a main part showing a state when an evaporator cover and a damper unit are assembled.

FIG. 7 is a longitudinal sectional side view of a main part showing a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a longitudinal sectional side view of a main part showing a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a heat insulating partition wall portion.

FIG. 10 is a longitudinal sectional side view of a main part showing a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

In the drawings, 1 is a main body, 2 is a heat insulating box, 3 is an inner box, 4 is an outer box, 5 is a foamed heat insulating material, 6 is a refrigerator room, 7 is a vegetable room, 8 is a freezing room, 9 is a partition, 11 , 41, 51, and 61 are heat insulating partition walls, 11a, 48, and 61a are upper plates, 11b and 61b are lower plates, 11c and 61c are heat insulating materials, 19 is a cooler, 20 is a cool air circulation mechanism, 23 is an evaporator cover, and 24 , 42,54,6
3 is a damper unit, 25 is a freezer side front cover, 26 is a fan device, 27 is a fan mounting portion, 29 is a cool air supply duct, 30, 47, and 65 are damper covers, 31, 49, and 6
4 is a heat insulator, 32 is a damper device, 33 is a rear heat insulating material, 34 is an opening, 36, 55 and 63a are fitting projections, 3
7, 53, and 62 are fitting concave portions, 43 is a rear fitting convex portion, and 44 is a fitting concave portion.
Is a front fitting concave portion, 45 is a rear fitting concave portion, 46 is a front fitting convex portion, 52 is a sealing wall portion, 56 is a side sealing portion, 62a
Indicates an inclined surface.

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Takehisa Okamoto 1-6 Ota Toshiba-cho, Ibaraki-shi, Osaka Inside the Toshiba Osaka Plant Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Yoshichika Ishikawa 1-6 Ota-Toshiba-cho, Ibaraki-shi, Osaka Inside the Toshiba Osaka factory

Claims (6)

[Claims] A heat insulating partition wall is provided between an inner box and an outer box. The heat insulating box body is filled with a foamed heat insulating material and partitions the heat insulating box body into a plurality of upper and lower storage rooms having different temperature zones. A cooler and a cool air supply duct for sending out cool air from the cooler are provided at a height straddling up and down on the back side of the heat insulating partition wall. The partition wall is configured to be assembled to the inner box before foaming of the foamed heat insulating material in a state where an opening for assembly is formed between a rear end portion and the inner box. With the heat insulating partition attached to the
The damper unit is mounted on the inner side of the opening, and a damper unit that is configured by incorporating a damper device into a heat insulator and forms a cool air supply duct at a front portion of the cooler is provided with the heat insulating member. It is configured to be assembled at a position above the opening of the partition wall, and furthermore, between the lower end of the damper unit and the rear side of the upper surface of the heat insulating partition wall, a fitting structure by unevenness is provided. The refrigerator is characterized in that the refrigerator is sealed by being placed. 2. A structure in which at least a central portion of a lower end portion of the damper unit has a fitting structure with multiple irregularities in a front-rear direction between the upper end portion and a rear side portion of the heat insulating partition wall. Item 7. The refrigerator according to Item 1. 3. The heat-insulating partition wall is provided with a seal wall that rises upward along the side edge of the opening.
3. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein a side seal portion is provided at a lower end portion of a side wall portion of the damper unit, the side seal portion being in close contact with an upper end of the seal wall portion. 4. The heat insulating partition wall is formed by arranging a heat insulating material between an upper plate and a lower plate, and has an inclined surface which is inclined backward and downward at a rear end of an upper surface thereof. The rear end edge portion of the lower plate is located forward of the rear end portion of the heat insulating material and is configured to bite into the heat insulating material. The refrigerator as described. 5. The heat insulating partition according to claim 1, wherein the rear end of the heat insulating partition is located forward of the rear end of the lower end of the thermal insulator constituting the damper unit. The refrigerator as described. 6. The storage room in the heat-insulating box body comprises a freezing room below the heat-insulating partition, a refrigerator room and a vegetable room provided above and below the heat-insulating partition. Item 6. The refrigerator according to any one of Items 1 to 5.