TW201533414A - Refrigerator - Google Patents

Abstract

The embodiment of the invention relates to a refrigerator. The purpose of the invention is to provide a refrigerator, whereby a user determines a position of an ice making unit in a chill room or an amount of ice producible by the ice making unit according to her/his preferences. The refrigerator of the embodiment is characterized by having the ice making unit which may produce and store ice and having installation sections in a plurality of parts in the chill room for detachably mounting the ice making unit.

Description

refrigerator

This application is based on Japanese Patent Application No. 2014-31804 (filed on February 21, 2014) and enjoys a priority interest based on the application. This application contains all of the contents of this application by reference to this application.

An embodiment of the present invention relates to a refrigerator.

In general, the ice making unit of the refrigerator is fixed at a predetermined position in the freezing chamber. In addition, the number of the ice making units provided in one refrigerator is one (see, for example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. Hei 8-75330).

However, users of refrigerators have their own hobbies for refrigerators. Moreover, there is also a user's preference for the position of the ice making unit in the freezing chamber or the number of ice that can be made by the ice making unit.

The problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide a refrigerator which can determine the position of the ice making unit in the freezing chamber or the amount of ice that can be made according to the preference of the user.

The refrigerator according to the embodiment is characterized in that it includes an ice making unit that manufactures and stores ice, and has a mounting portion that can detach the ice making unit at a plurality of locations in the freezing chamber.

According to the refrigerator of this configuration, the user of the refrigerator can determine the position of the ice making unit in the freezing chamber according to his or her own preference, or determine the amount of ice that can be produced.

1, 101‧‧‧ refrigerator

2‧‧‧ top board

3, 103‧‧‧Loading shelves

4‧‧‧Ice unit

10, 110‧‧‧ freezer

11‧‧‧Refrigerator

12, 13, 112, 113‧‧‧ space

20, 30‧‧‧ Installation Department

21, 24, 31, 35‧‧‧ fixing parts

22, 25, 44‧ ‧ vertical

23, 26, 43‧ ‧ horizontal

32‧‧‧Box components

33‧‧‧The upper end of the frame member

34‧‧‧Loading surface

40‧‧‧ bracket

41‧‧‧Ice Department

42‧‧‧ ice storage container

45, 46‧‧‧ slots

47‧‧‧ ice box

48‧‧‧Rotary axis

49‧‧‧The lower end of the bracket

50‧‧‧Clock Department

51, 57‧‧‧Clamping shape

52‧‧‧ Hole Department

53‧‧‧ claws

54‧‧‧Rectangle

55‧‧‧Slots

56‧‧‧ Protrusion

A, B‧‧ arrows

L1, L2‧‧‧ height

Fig. 1 is a front view of the refrigerator 1 with the door removed.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view as seen from the lower side of the top plate 2 of the freezing compartment 10.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view as seen from below the mounting shelf 3.

4 is a front elevational view of the ice making unit 4.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view as seen from below the holder 40.

6(a), 6(b), and 6(c) are views showing a state in which the bracket 40 is attached to the top plate 2.

FIG. 7 is a front view of the refrigerator 101 in the embodiment in which the position where the shelf 103 is placed is changed.

Fig. 8 (a) is a front view of the refrigerator 1 on which the ice storage container 42 is placed on the placing shelf 3, and Fig. 8 (b) is a cross-sectional view as seen from the left side.

The refrigerator 1 of the embodiment will be described based on the drawings.

(1) Structure of the refrigerator 1

The refrigerator 1 of the embodiment has a freezer compartment 10 at the upper portion and a cold portion at the lower portion. Library 11 (Figure 1). The main body of the refrigerator 1 is formed inside an outer box of a substantially rectangular parallelepiped, and an inner box having a shape of the freezing compartment 10 and the refrigerating compartment 11 is combined. An evaporator that generates cold air is disposed behind the freezing compartment 10 and the refrigerating compartment 11 respectively. The cold air generated by the evaporator is introduced into the freezing compartment 10 and the refrigerating compartment 11 by the action of a fan provided near the evaporator or a damper provided in the cold air passage. As a result, the freezing compartment 10 and the refrigerating compartment 11 are cooled to a predetermined temperature. The front opening of the freezing compartment 10 and the refrigerating compartment 11 is closed by a split type door or a draw-out type door. In the refrigerator compartment 11, a plurality of shelves for placing the storage or a withdrawal type container for accommodating vegetables are disposed.

(2) Structure in the freezing compartment 10

The freezer compartment 10 is divided vertically by placing the shelf 3 .

In the present embodiment, the ice making unit 4 can be attached to and detached from the left side of the space 12 on the shelf 3 and the left side of the space 13 below the shelf 3 . Therefore, the specific structure will be described below.

On the left side of the top plate 2 of the freezing compartment 10, a mounting portion 20 (FIG. 2) including four fixing members 21, 21, 24, and 24 is formed. Two fixing members 21 and 21 are provided in front of the refrigerator, and two fixing members 24 and 24 are provided at the rear of the refrigerator, and the fixing members 21, 21, 24, and 24 adjacent to each other in the front, rear, left, and right directions are connected in a rectangular shape by a straight line. Configuration. The fixing member 21 has a vertical portion 22 that extends vertically downward from the top plate 2, and a horizontal portion 23 that protrudes from the lower front end portion of the vertical portion 22 toward the front of the refrigerator. Similarly, the fixing member 24 has a vertical portion 25 that extends vertically downward from the top plate 2, and a horizontal portion 26 that protrudes from the lower front end portion of the vertical portion 25 toward the rear of the refrigerator.

On the lower surface of the mounting shelf 3, a mounting portion 30 (FIG. 3) having the same structure as the mounting portion 20 of the top plate 2 and having the fixing members 31, 31, 35, 35 is also formed.

(3) Structure of the ice making unit 4

The ice making unit 4 has a structure in which the ice making portion 41 and the ice storage container 42 (Fig. 4) for storing the ice produced by the ice making portion 41 are held up and down in the holder 40.

The holder 40 includes a horizontal portion 43 that is substantially rectangular in plan view, and vertical portions 44 and 44 that extend vertically downward from the left and right ends of the horizontal portion 43 (FIG. 5). On the inner surface side of the vertical portions 44, 44, two pairs of upper and lower grooves 45, 46 are formed. The groove 45 on the upper side is a groove into which the left and right end portions of the ice making portion 41 are inserted. The groove 46 on the lower side is a groove into which the left and right end portions of the ice storage container 42 are inserted.

The ice making portion 41 has a structure in which three well-known ice making boxes 47 are arranged in the horizontal direction. The ice making box 47 can be reversed around the rotation axis 48 at the center in the left-right direction.

The ice storage container 42 is a container having a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape and an upper portion.

When the ice making portion 41 is inserted into the groove 45 on the upper side of the holder 40, and the ice storage container 42 is inserted into the lower side groove 46, the ice making unit 4 is completed. The water placed in the ice making box 47 becomes ice, and if the ice making box 47 is reversed, the ice falls into the ice storage container 42. This step is repeated to store ice in the ice storage container 42. The user can withdraw the ice storage container 42 from the holder 40 to take out the ice.

The horizontal portion 43 of the holder 40 is formed with an engaging portion 50 including four engaging shape portions 51, 51, 57, 57 (Fig. 5, Fig. 6 (a)). The engagement shape portion 51 includes a hole portion 52 that penetrates the horizontal portion 43 and a claw portion 53 that is provided adjacent to the hole portion 52. The hole portion 52 has a rectangular portion 54 that is sized to pass through the horizontal portion 23 of the fixing member 21 provided on the top plate 2, and a thin groove portion 55 that extends in the right direction from the corner portion on the right side of the rear side of the refrigerator portion of the refrigerator portion 54. The claw portion 53 protrudes from the right side of the rectangular portion 54 toward the inside of the rectangular portion 54. The claw portion 53 has a projection 56 that protrudes downward. The structure of the engaging shape portion 57 and the structure of the engaging shape portion 51 are symmetrical in the front-rear direction of the refrigerator. The engagement shape portion 51 is provided in front of the refrigerator, and the engagement shape portion 57 is provided at the rear of the refrigerator, and the engagement shape portions 51, 51, 57, and 57 adjacent to each other in the front, rear, left, and right directions are connected in a rectangular shape by a straight line. Configured by way. a rectangular shape formed by the four engaging shape portions 51, 51, 57, 57, and four fixing members 21, 21, 24, 24 of the top plate 2 or four fixing members 31, 31, 35 for placing the shelf 3, The rectangles formed by 35 are identical in shape.

(4) Installation of the ice making unit 4 into the freezing compartment 10

The user can attach the bracket 40 to the top plate 2 by engaging the engaging portion 50 of the bracket 40 with the mounting portion 20. The mounting of the bracket 40 on the top plate 2 will be described based on Fig. 6 (a), Fig. 6 (b), and Fig. 6 (c). First, the bracket 40 is lifted from the lower side toward the top plate 2 (arrow A direction) so that the positions of the engaging shape portions 51, 57 of the bracket 40 coincide with the positions of the fixing members 21, 24 of the top plate 2 (Fig. 6(a) ). Then, the fixing member 21 of the top plate 2 is separated from the rectangular portion 54 of the engaging shape portion 51 of the bracket 40 and protrudes below the horizontal portion 43 of the bracket 40 (Fig. 6(b)). From this state, the bracket 40 is slid to the left (in the direction of the arrow B). Then, the horizontal portion 23 of the fixing member 21 abuts against the projection 56 of the claw portion 53 of the engaging portion 51, pushes the claw portion 53 up to the side of the top plate 2, and finally receives the projection 56 to the right. Further, the vertical portion 22 of the fixing member 21 is housed in the vicinity of the front end of the narrow groove portion 55 of the engaging shape portion 51 (Fig. 6(c)). The engagement shape portion 57 at the rear of the refrigerator is also engaged with the fixing member 24 in the same manner. By the above steps, the bracket 40 is mounted to the top plate 2. At this time, the vertical portion 44 on the left side of the bracket 40 approaches the side wall on the left side of the freezing compartment 10.

The user can detach the bracket 40 from the top plate 2 by moving the bracket 40 in a direction opposite to the above description. However, the user must first push the claw portion 53 of the engaging portion 51 to the top plate 2 side, and release the hook 56 of the claw portion 53 from the horizontal portion 23 of the fixing member 21, and the bracket is made in this state. 40 slides to the right.

The holder 40 can be attached and detached in the same manner as described above with respect to the mounting shelf 3.

In the refrigerator 1, the ice making unit 4 may be attached to either the top plate 2 or the mounting shelf 3, or may be attached to either one. Further, when the ice making unit 4 is attached to both the top plate 2 and the placing shelf 3, the shapes and the like of the two may be the same or different.

(5) Effect

The refrigerator 1 of the embodiment includes the mounting portions 20 and 30 of the ice making unit 4 on the top plate 2 and the placing shelf 3 of the freezing compartment 10. Therefore, the user of the refrigerator 1 can select from below the top plate 2 of the freezing compartment 10 or below the mounting shelf 3 according to his own preference, and install the ice making unit 4 thereto. Moreover, a user who wants to manufacture a large amount of ice can mount the ice making unit 4 to both the top plate 2 of the freezing compartment 10 and the mounting shelf 3, thereby increasing the amount of ice that can be manufactured.

In the refrigerator 1 of the embodiment, since the mounting portion 20 of the top plate 2 has the same configuration as the mounting portion 30 on which the shelf 3 is placed, one ice making unit 4 can be attached to the mounting portion 20 of the top plate 2 and the mounting shelf 3 Either of the mounting portions 30.

Further, among the components of the ice making unit 4, the bracket 40 is attached to the top plate 2 or the mounting shelf 3, and the ice making portion 41 or the ice storage container 42 is not directly attached to the top plate 2 or the mounting shelf 3. Therefore, the ice making portion 41 or the ice storage container 42 held by the holder 40 can be taken out to the front or detached.

In the refrigerator 1 of the embodiment, the mounting portion 20 of the top plate 2 and the mounting portion 30 on which the shelf 3 is placed are arranged in the vertical direction on the left side in the freezer compartment 10, so that the ice making unit 4 is attached to the mounting portions 20 and 30. In both cases, the two ice making units 4 will be arranged in the vertical direction. Therefore, the user can easily specify the position of the ice making unit 4, so that the freezing compartment 10 can be easily used.

When two ice making units 4 are attached to the freezing compartment 10, if the sizes of the two are different, the design of the freezing compartment 10 is improved.

In the refrigerator 1 of the embodiment, the ice making unit 4 can be attached to the top plate 2 or the mounting shelf 3 or detached by sliding the bracket 40, so that the user can easily change the position or number of the ice making unit 4. . In particular, in the case of the refrigerator 1 of the embodiment, the ice making unit 4 can be attached and detached by sliding the bracket 40 in one direction, so that the operation is easy.

(6) Change example

In the above-described embodiment, the top plate 2 and the placing shelf 3 in the freezing compartment 10 are provided with mounting portions 20 and 30 for attaching and detaching the ice making unit 4, but the positions of the mounting portions are not limited to the positions. . For example, a mounting portion to which the ice making unit 4 can be attached or detached may be provided on any of the side walls of the freezing compartment 10 except the top plate 2 and the mounting shelf 3. The number of mounting portions can also be three or more. At this time, it is ideal that The structure of the mounting section is the same. In addition, the detachable means means that the ice making unit 4 can be attached or detached without damaging the refrigerator 1, in particular, without destroying the wall surface of the ice making unit 4 or the freezing compartment 10.

The configuration of the mounting portion of the ice making unit 4 provided on the wall surface or the like in the freezing compartment 10 is not limited to the above embodiment. As another aspect, for example, the fixing members 21, 24, 31, and 35 of the above embodiment are rotated by 90 degrees in the horizontal direction. At this time, when the bracket 40 is formed with a portion that rotates the engaging portions 51 and 57 in the horizontal direction by 90°, the bracket 40 can be detached from the freezer compartment 10 by sliding the bracket 40 in the front-rear direction. The wall and so on. As the mounting portion, various mounting portions such as hook-shaped hooks and magic tapes may be used. The structure of the engaging portion that is engaged with the ice making unit 4 on the mounting portion may be configured to be engageable with a mounting portion such as a wall surface in the freezing chamber 10. In addition, the engagement means that the ice making unit 4 can be attached to the wall surface or the like in the freezing compartment 10 without applying an external force, and the user can not damage the ice making unit. 4 or the mounting portion to remove the ice making unit 4.

The placement shelf may be provided such that the space above the shelf on the shelf in the freezer compartment 10 is different from the length of the space below the shelf placed in the vertical direction. This form is shown in Fig. 7. In the refrigerator 101 shown in FIG. 7, the space 112 on the shelf 103 is narrower in the vertical direction than the space 113 below the mounting shelf 103. In the refrigerator 101, when the ice making unit 4 of the same size is attached to both the upper space 112 and the lower space 113, the space below the ice making unit 4 is narrow in the upper space 112, and on the lower side. The space 113 becomes wider. Therefore, in storage of various sizes of storage In the case of the object, a small storage can be placed under the ice making unit 4 of the upper space 112, and a large storage is placed under the ice making unit 4 of the lower space 113, so that the freezing can be effectively utilized. The space within the chamber 110.

The ice storage container 42 of the ice making unit 4 sometimes has to be detached from the holder 40 for use. Specifically, the ice storage container 42 is placed below the holder 40, and in this state, the ice dropped from the ice making portion 41 is stored. If ice is stored in the ice storage container 42, the user withdraws the ice storage container 42 to the front of the refrigerator to take out the ice.

For the structure used in this manner, the case where the bracket 40 is attached to the top plate 2 and the ice storage container 42 is placed on the mounting shelf 3 will be described as an example (Fig. 8(a), Fig. 8(b)). . In the example of FIGS. 8( a ) and 8 ( b ), the frame member 32 is provided in the front portion of the refrigerator on which the shelf 3 is placed, and the mounting surface 34 is disposed behind the frame member 32 (the ice storage container 42 is placed). The face is high. At this time, the height L1 of the ice storage container 42 is lower than the height L2 from the upper end portion 33 of the frame member 32 on which the shelf 3 is placed to the lower end 49 of the bracket 40 attached to the top plate 2. Further, there is a case where the frame member 32 is not provided on the placing shelf 3, and at this time, the height of the ice storage container 42 is also higher than the front portion of the refrigerator from which the shelf 3 is placed (specifically, the bracket 40 is positive In the lower front portion of the refrigerator, when there is a front end portion of the refrigerator on which the shelf 3 is placed directly under the bracket 40, the upper end portion of the front end portion of the refrigerator on which the shelf 3 is placed is attached to the bracket 40 attached to the top plate 2 The height from the lower end 49 is low. Thereby, the ice storage container 42 can be taken out between the lower end 49 of the bracket 40 and the upper end portion 33 of the frame member 32, and taken out to the front of the refrigerator on which the shelf 3 is placed. Further, the bracket 40 may be attached to the lower surface of the mounting shelf 3, and the ice storage container 42 may be placed below it.

The above embodiments are examples, and the scope of the invention is not limited thereto. The above embodiments can be implemented in various other forms, and various omissions, substitutions, and changes can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. The above embodiments and variations thereof are included in the invention described in the claims and their equivalents.

2‧‧‧ top board

10‧‧‧Freezer

20‧‧‧Installation Department

21, 24‧‧‧ fixing parts

22, 44‧‧‧ vertical section

23, 43‧‧‧ horizontal department

40‧‧‧ bracket

45, 46‧‧‧ slots

50‧‧‧Clock Department

51, 57‧‧‧Clamping shape

A‧‧‧ arrow

Claims (10)

A refrigerator having an ice making unit that manufactures and stores ice, and has a mounting portion that can detach the ice making unit at a plurality of locations in the freezing chamber. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein the refrigerator has a mounting shelf, and the mounting portion is provided on a wall surface of the freezing compartment and the mounting shelf. The refrigerator according to the second aspect of the invention, wherein the mounting shelf is provided at a position where the freezing compartment is vertically divided, and the length of each of the divided spaces is different in the vertical direction. The refrigerator according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the structure of the mounting portion in the freezing chamber is the same. The refrigerator according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the ice making unit includes an ice making portion for manufacturing ice and a holder for holding the ice making portion, the bracket having a snap fit An engaging portion of the mounting portion. The refrigerator according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the mounting portion is arranged in the vertical direction in the freezing chamber. The refrigerator according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the refrigerator has a plurality of the ice making units. The refrigerator according to claim 7, wherein the plurality of the ice making units are different in size. The refrigerator according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the ice making unit includes an ice making unit that manufactures ice, an ice storage container that stores ice that has fallen from the ice making unit, and And a bracket for holding the ice making portion and being mounted to the mounting portion, the ice storage container being mountable lower than the bracket, the height of the ice storage container being higher than a portion from which the bracket is mounted The height of the upper end portion of the front portion of the refrigerator up to the lower end of the bracket is low. The refrigerator according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the ice making unit is attached to the mounting portion by sliding.