MXPA99010967A - Bottom structure for refrigerators - Google Patents

Abstract

A bottom structure for refrigerators containing a base plate made of a synthetic resin through an injection molding process and having a cavity filled with foam, a machine compartment casing engages with the top surface of the base plate and defines a machine compartment of a refrigerator, a fitting elements for engaging the lower edge of an exterior casing with the top surface of the base plate is provided, the base plate may have a plurality of fitting slits on its top surface, while the machine compartment casing may have a plurality of fitting projections at positions corresponding to the fitting slits, the fitting elements may include a fitting groove formed on the top surface of the base plate and a fitting rail formed on the lower edge of the external plate.

Description

LOWER STRUCTURE FOR REFRIGERATORS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates, in general, to refrigerators and, more particularly, to a lower structure for refrigerators.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART Referring to Figure 1, the structure for conventional refrigerators is described hereinafter. As shown in the drawing, the structure includes an outer cover 2 and an inner cover 4. The outer cover 2 consists of a top plate and two side plates, and is made of metal plates and defines the exterior of the refrigerator. The Interior cover 4 is disposed on the outer cover 2, is made of a synthetic resin plate and defines a freezer compartment and a refrigerator compartment. The gap between the outer and inner covers 2 and 4 is made of insulating urethane foaming liquid, thus forming a foam layer. In order to form the foam layer, after the inner cover 4 is placed on the outer cover 2, a front center box 7 is provided in front of the outer cover 2, a lower plate 8 is provided in the lower part of the cover. outer cover 2 and a back plate 6 is provided on the rear part of the outer cover 2. Thus, the gap between the outer and inner covers 2 and 4 is blocked, through which the insulating urethane foaming liquid is able to drain. . Incidentally, a base plate 10 for compressor is positioned low from the rear of the lower plate 8, in order to define a machine compartment and support a compressor (not shown) mounted in the machine compartment. In summary, according to the conventional structure of the refrigerator, the lower structure of the refrigerator consists of the lower plate 8 and the base plate 10 for the compressor. In the conventional structure of the refrigerator, the outer cover 2, the lower plate 8 and the base plate 10 for the compressor are made of metal plates. When the conventional structure is made of metal plates, the solidity of the connection between the parts of the structure is missing, thus easily damaging with the external impact. In particular, when an external impact to the structure is applied, as may occur in the case in which the refrigerator is transported or the refrigerator sits on the floor, the connection portion between the outer cover 2 and the outer cover 2 may be broken or deformed. the lower part 8, thus showing a solidity defect. Such a defect is also found in the connection portion between the outer cover 2 and the base plate 10 for the compressor.

In addition, since the lower portion of the refrigerator is made of metal, the total weight of the refrigerator is not only high, but the manufacturing cost of the refrigerator is high. Additionally, the assembly of the refrigerator is difficult because screws are required to assemble together the metal plates, such as the outer cover 2 and the lower plate 8. Further, after the outer plate 2 is connected to the lower plate 8, it is necessary to seal the gap between the outer portion 2 and the lower plate 8. When the interstitium between the outer portion 2 and the lower plate 8 is filled with foaming liquid, in order to connect the connecting portion, the foaming liquid can escape through the gap, thus causing a defect in the product.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION According to the above, the present invention has been made taking into account the above problems that occur in the prior art and an object of the present invention is to provide a lower structure of a refrigerator having improved impact resistance. Another object of the present invention is to provide a lower structure of a refrigerator that allows its parts to be simplified, thereby reducing manufacturing cost and achieving assembly efficiency.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a lower structure for refrigerators, comprising the base plate made of a synthetic resin by means of an injection molding process and having a cavity filled with foam, a cover of machine compartment that splices with the upper surface of the base plate and that defines a machine compartment of a refrigerator and adjustment means for splicing the bottom edge of an outer plate with the upper surface of the base plate. In another embodiment, the base plate may have a plurality of adjustment slits on the upper surface, while the cover of the machine compartment may have a plurality of adjustment projections at positions corresponding to the adjustment slits. In a further embodiment, the adjustment means may comprise an adjustment groove formed on the upper surface of the base plate and an adjustment rail formed on the lower edge of the outer plate. In still another embodiment, the base plate may be partially made of metal in a seating portion of the machine. In a still further embodiment, the cover of the machine compartment can be formed of synthetic resin. In a further embodiment, the base plate may be formed with an inlet for foaming liquid on its upper surface, the inlet for foaming liquid being communicated with the cavity of the base plate and a gap between the outer and inner covers. In another embodiment, the corners or edges of the cover of the machine compartment can be rounded.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The foregoing and other objects, features and other advantages of the present invention will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is an exploded perspective view showing the structure of a conventional refrigerator; Figure 2 is an exploded perspective view showing the structure of a refrigerator according to an embodiment of this invention; Figure 3 is a vertical sectional view showing the structure of a refrigerator according to an embodiment of this invention; and Figure 4 is the base plate of the structure of a refrigerator according to another embodiment of this invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED MODALITIES Figure 2 is an exploded perspective view showing a structure of a refrigerator according to an embodiment of this invention. As shown in the drawing, a base plate 20 is made of synthetic resin by means of an injection molding process, the base plate 20 being assembled together with the lower end of an outer cover 40 and forming the lower part of the fridge. That is, a part of the plate manufactured by the injection molding process forms the lower part of the refrigerator. This characteristic structure of the embodiment differs from the lower structure of a conventional refrigerator because the lower part of a conventional refrigerator is formed by two pieces of metal plates consisting of a lower plate and a base plate for compressor. Since the base plate 20 is formed of synthetic resin by an injection molding process, the base plate 20 is formed of a single piece of plate, thus allowing the construction of the part to be simplified and improving the impact resistance . As shown in Figure 3, the base plate 20 has a cavity 28 in its middle portion, the cavity 28 being capable of being filled with foam in the process of foaming the insulating material of the refrigerator. Therefore, the base plate 20 is made, which has the cavity 28 filled with foam, filling the cavity 28 with foaming liquid through the inlet 22 for foaming liquid formed on the upper surface of the base plate 20. It is desired that the process for filling the cavity 28 with foaming liquid be integrated with the process for filling the gap between the outer and inner covers 40 and 42. Therefore,, in the process of filling the gap between the outer and inner shells 40 and 42, the foaming liquid flows to the base plate 20 through the inlet 22 for foaming liquid, thus forming a single foam body P. As shown in Figure 2, a cover of the machine compartment 30, which defines a machine compartment, is also made of synthetic resin by an injection molding process, a compressor and a condenser (not shown) being mounted within the compartment of machine. In detail, when assembling the cover of the machine compartment 30 together with the base plate 20, the cover of the machine compartment 30 defines the machine compartment in the lower rear portion of the refrigerator. Since the cover of the compartment 30 is made of synthetic resin, the impact strength of the cover of the machine compartment 30 is improved. The base plate 20 has a plurality of adjustment slits 24a, 24b and 24c on its upper surface, while the cover of the machine compartment 30 has a plurality of adjustment projections 32a, 32b and 32c and positions corresponding to the adjustment slits 24a, 24b and 24c. Accordingly, when the cover of the machine compartment 30 is assembled together with the base plate 20, the adjustment projections 32a, 32b and 32c are adjusted to the adjustment slots 24a, 24b and 24c, thus making it easy to assemble. of the base plate 20 and the cover of the machine compartment 30. In this embodiment, the cover of the machine compartment is made of a synthetic resin material. However, it should be understood that the cover 30 may be made of metal without affecting the operation of this invention. Of course, it should also be understood that such a cover of the machine compartment, made of metal, has the same construction as that described above. According to this embodiment, the corners 34 of the cover of the machine compartment 30 are rounded. By this, vortices are avoided in the cover of the machine compartment 30 when air flows to the cover of the machine compartment 30, in order to cool the compressor and the condenser in the cover of the machine compartment 30, thus helping to make the air flow smoothly through the cover of the machine compartment 30. The inner vertical edges 35a and 35b of the cover of the machine compartment 30 are shown acute in Figure 2, but it is preferred that they be rounded. The base plate 20 is provided with two adjustment slots 26a and 26b on its upper surface, while the external plate 40 is provided with two adjustment rails 40a and 40b on its lower edge. The base plate 20 and the outer plate 40 are assembled together by inserting the adjusting rails 40a and 40b of the outer plate 40 into the adjustment slits 26a and 26b of the base plate 20. Consequently, the splice structure it allows the outer plate 40 to be easily assembled with the base plate 20. The assembly procedure and the foaming procedure of the lower structure for refrigerators are described below, according to this embodiment. As shown in Figures 2 and 3, the cover of the machine compartment 30 is assembled together with the base plate 20. In such case, the cover of the machine compartment 30 is fixed to the base plate 20, splicing the projections of adjustment 32a, 32b and 32c of the cover of the machine compartment 30 to the adjustment slots 24a, 24b and 24c of the base plate. The outer plate 40 is fixed to the base plate 30, while the cover of the machine compartment 30 is fixed to the base plate 20. In the fixing of the external plate 10 to the base plate 10, the rails of adjustment 40a and 40b of the outer plate 40 to the adjustment slots 26a and 26b of the base plate 20. The structure for mounting the inner plate 42 to the interior of the outer plate 40 and the structure for mounting a rear plate (not shown) ) on the cover of the machine compartment 30 coincide with the corresponding conventional structures. If necessary, to secure the inner plate 42 to the base plate 20, the base plate 20 is provided with one or more adjustment slots on its upper surface, while the inner plate 42 is provided with one or more rails of Adjust on its bottom edge. When all the aforementioned parts are assembled together, the space between the inner cover 40 and the outer cover 42 is filled with polyurethane foaming liquid. When the space between the inner cover 40 and the outer cover 42 is filled with polyurethane foaming liquid, the interior of the base plate 20 is filled with foaming liquid, so that the foam P is formed as shown in Figure 3 As described above, the inside of the base plate 20 is provided with the cavity 28 and the cavity 28 is communicated with the gap between the inner and outer cover 40 and 42 through the inlet for foaming liquid 22. it is therefore natural that when the space between the inner cover 40 and the outer cover 42 is filled with polyurethane foaming liquid, the cavity 28 of the base plate 20 is filled with foaming liquid through the inlet for foaming liquid 22, thus forming the foam P. In Figure 4, the base plate of the structure of a refrigerator according to another embodiment of this invention is illustrated. When a heavy machine is mounted, such as a heavy compressor, in the base plate 20, it is possible for the machine seating portion of the base plate 20 to be made of high strength metal and fixed to the remaining portion of the base plate 20 made of synthetic resin, thus forming a complete base plate 20. The present invention has the following characteristics. The lower part of a refrigerator consists of a single piece of the base plate 20 made of synthetic resin. The interior of the base plate 20 is provided with the cavity 28, the cavity 28 being filled with an insulating material. The cover of the machine compartment 30, which defines a machine compartment that is connected to the base plate 20, can be selectively made of synthetic resin. As shown in Figure 4, it is possible to make a certain portion of the base plate 20 from metal. It is to improve the strength of the base plate 20 that the portion of the base plate 20 is made. base 20 is provided with the adjustment grooves 26a and 26b and the adjustment grooves 24a, 24b and 24c. In accordance with the present invention, the effects mentioned below are obtained. In this invention, a single piece of a base plate constitutes the lower part of the refrigerator. Therefore, the solidity of the lower part of the refrigerator is improved. In addition, since making the base plate of synthetic resin decreases the weight of the lower part, it is easy to transport the parts and products manufactured. The impact strength of the base plate is improved because the synthetic resin base plate is made not only of synthetic resin, but has a cavity filled with synthetic resin. That is, the lower structure of this invention absorbs the external impact exerted on the structure during transport and installation of the refrigerator. Since this improved impact resistance prevents damage to the refrigerator, it improves the reliability of the refrigerator. In addition, since the lower structure has simple and compact adjustment constructions, the lower structure is easily assembled and prevents the leakage of foaming liquid. In the injection molding process of a machine compartment cover, the corners or the edges of the cover of the machine compartment can be rounded. This avoids vortices that are generated by the air flow, entering the air flow to the cover of the machine compartment, in order to cool the compressor and the condenser installed in the cover of the machine compartment. By this, the cooler noise is minimized, while the thermal dissipation effect is maximized. Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been set forth for illustrative purposes, those skilled in the art will appreciate that several modifications, additions and substitutions, without deviating from the scope and spirit of the invention as set forth in the accompanying claims.

Claims (7)

NOVELTY OF THE INVENTION CLAIMS

1. - A lower structure for refrigerators, comprising: a base plate made of synthetic resin by an injection molding process and having a cavity filled with foam; a cover of the machine compartment spliced with an upper surface of said base plate and defining the machine compartment of a refrigerator; and adjustment means for splicing a lower edge of an outer plate with an upper surface of this base plate.

2. The lower structure according to claim 1, further characterized in that said base plate has a plurality of adjustment slots on its upper surface, while said cover of the machine compartment has a plurality of adjustment projections in corresponding positions. to said adjustment slits.

3. The lower structure according to claim 1, further characterized in that the adjustment means comprise: an adjustment groove formed on the upper surface of said base plate; and an adjusting rail formed on the lower edge of said outer plate.

4. The lower structure according to claim 1, further characterized in that said base plate is partially made of metal in a portion for seating the machine.

5. - The lower structure according to any of claims 1 to 4, further characterized in that said cover of the machine compartment is formed of a synthetic resin material.

6. The above structure according to claim 5, further characterized in that said base plate is formed with an inlet for foaming liquid on its upper surface, said inlet for foaming liquid being communicated with said cavity of the base plate and the gap between the outer and inner covers.

7. A lower structure according to claim 5, further because the corners or edges of the cover of the machine compartment are rounded.