WO2015125415A1

WO2015125415A1 - Refrigerator

Info

Publication number: WO2015125415A1
Application number: PCT/JP2015/000352
Authority: WO
Inventors: 雅秀守谷; 正治乾
Original assignee: 株式会社東芝; 東芝ライフスタイル株式会社
Priority date: 2014-02-21
Filing date: 2015-01-27
Publication date: 2015-08-27
Also published as: TWI560416B; CN106030226B; CN106030226A; TW201533414A; MY178706A; JP2015158284A

Abstract

[Problem] To provide a refrigerator that allows a user to decide, based on user preference, the location of an ice-making unit in the freezer chamber and how much ice to make. [Solution] A refrigerator according to an embodiment is characterized by comprising an ice-making unit to make and store ice and by having mounting units to which the ice-making unit can be attached and detached in a plurality of locations in the freezer chamber.

Description

refrigerator

Embodiment of this invention is related with a refrigerator.

Generally, the ice making unit of the refrigerator is fixed at a predetermined position in the freezer compartment. And the number of ice making units with which one refrigerator is provided is one (for example, refer patent document 1).

JP-A-8-75330

However, refrigerator users have their own preference for refrigerators. Each user has his / her preference for the position of the ice making unit in the freezer and the number of ice pieces that can be made by the ice making unit.

The problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide a refrigerator in which the user can decide the position of the ice making unit in the freezer compartment and the number of ice that can be made according to his / her preference.

The refrigerator of the embodiment includes an ice making unit that manufactures and stores ice, and has attachment portions to which the ice making unit can be attached and detached at a plurality of locations in the freezer compartment.

The front view of the refrigerator 1 which removed the door. The perspective view from the downward direction of the ceiling 2 of the freezer compartment 10. The perspective view from the downward direction of the mounting shelf 3. FIG. The front view of the ice making unit 4. FIG. The perspective view from the lower part of the holder 40. FIG. The figure which shows the mode of the attachment to the ceiling 2 of the holder 40. FIG. The figure which shows the mode of the attachment to the ceiling 2 of the holder 40. FIG. The figure which shows the mode of the attachment to the ceiling 2 of the holder 40. FIG. The front view of the refrigerator 101 of embodiment which changed the position of the mounting shelf 103. FIG. The (a) front view of the refrigerator 1 in which the ice storage container 42 is mounted in the mounting shelf 3, (b) Sectional drawing seen from the left.

The refrigerator 1 according to the embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings.

(1) Structure of Refrigerator 1 The refrigerator 1 according to the embodiment includes a freezer compartment 10 at the top and a refrigerator compartment 11 at the bottom (FIG. 1). The main body of the refrigerator 1 is formed by combining an inner box having the shape of the freezer compartment 10 and the refrigerator compartment 11 inside a substantially rectangular parallelepiped outer box. Behind the freezer compartment 10 and the refrigerator compartment 11, evaporators for generating cold air are arranged. Cold air generated in the evaporator is introduced into the freezer compartment 10 and the refrigerator compartment 11 by the operation of a fan provided in the vicinity of the evaporator and a damper provided in the cold air passage. As a result, the freezer compartment 10 and the refrigerator compartment 11 are cooled to a predetermined temperature. The front openings of the freezer compartment 10 and the refrigerator compartment 11 are closed with a kannon door or a drawer door. In the refrigerator compartment 11, a plurality of shelves for storing stored items and a drawer-type container for storing vegetables are arranged.

(2) Structure in the freezer compartment 10 The freezer compartment 10 is divided up and down by the mounting shelf 3.

In this embodiment, the ice making unit 4 can be attached to and detached from the left side of the space 12 above the mounting shelf 3 and the left side of the space 13 below the mounting shelf 3. A specific structure for this will be described below.

On the left side of the ceiling 2 of the freezer compartment 10, there is formed a mounting portion 20 including four

fixtures

21, 21, 24, 24 (FIG. 2). Two

fixtures

21, 21 are provided in the front of the refrigerator, two

fixtures

24, 24 are provided in the rear of the refrigerator, and the

fixtures

21, 21, 24, 24 adjacent to the front, rear, left and right are connected to form a rectangle. It is arranged to become. The fixture 21 includes a vertical portion 22 that extends vertically downward from the ceiling 2, and a horizontal portion 23 that protrudes from the lower front end portion of the vertical portion 22 to the front of the refrigerator. Similarly, the fixture 24 includes a vertical portion 25 that extends vertically downward from the ceiling 2 and a horizontal portion 26 that protrudes from the lower tip of the vertical portion 25 to the rear of the refrigerator.

On the lower surface of the mounting shelf 3, a mounting portion 30 including the

fixtures

31, 31, 35, and 35 having the same structure as the mounting portion 20 of the ceiling 2 is formed (FIG. 3).

(3) Structure of the ice making unit 4 The ice making unit 4 has a structure in which an ice making part 41 and ice storage containers 42 in which ice produced by the ice making part 41 are stored are arranged in a holder 40 and are arranged vertically. (FIG. 4).

The holder 40 includes a horizontal portion 43 having a substantially rectangular shape in plan view, and

vertical portions

44 and 44 extending vertically downward from the left and right ends of the horizontal portion 43 (FIG. 5). Two pairs of

grooves

45 and 46 are formed on the inner surface side of the

vertical portions

44 and 44. The upper groove 45 is a groove into which the left and right ends of the ice making part 41 are inserted. The lower groove 46 is a groove into which the left and right ends of the ice storage container 42 are inserted.

The ice making section 41 has a structure in which three well-known ice trays 47 are arranged side by side. The ice tray 47 can be reversed about the rotation shaft 48 at the center in the left-right direction.

The ice storage container 42 is a substantially rectangular parallelepiped container that is open at the top.

When the ice making unit 41 is inserted into the upper groove 45 of the holder 40 and the ice storage container 42 is inserted into the lower groove 46, the ice making unit 4 is completed. When the water placed in the ice tray 47 becomes ice and the ice tray 47 is inverted, the ice falls into the ice storage container 42. This is repeated and ice is stored in the ice storage container 42. The user can take out the ice by pulling out the ice storage container 42 from the holder 40.

In the horizontal portion 43 of the holder 40, an engagement portion 50 including four

engagement shape portions

51, 51, 57, 57 is formed (FIGS. 5 and 6). The engaging shape portion 51 includes a hole portion 52 penetrating the horizontal portion 43 and a claw portion 53 provided adjacent to the hole portion 52. The hole portion 52 has a rectangular portion 54 having a size that allows the horizontal portion 23 of the fixture 21 provided on the ceiling 2 to pass therethrough, and a narrow groove portion 55 extending rightward from a corner portion on the right side of the refrigerator rear side of the rectangular portion 54. . The claw portion 53 protrudes from the right side of the rectangular portion 54 to the inside of the rectangular portion 54. The claw portion 53 has a protrusion 56 protruding downward. The structure of the engagement shape portion 57 is symmetrical to the structure of the engagement shape portion 51 in the front-rear direction of the refrigerator. Two engagement shape portions 51 are provided at the front of the refrigerator and two engagement shape portions 57 are provided at the rear of the refrigerator. When the engagement shape

portions

51, 51, 57, and 57 adjacent to each other in the front, rear, left, and right are connected by a straight line, a rectangular shape is obtained. Are arranged as follows. The rectangle formed by the four

engagement shape portions

51, 51, 57, 57, the four

fixtures

21, 21, 24, 24 on the ceiling 2 and the four

fixtures

31, 31, 35, 35 on the mounting shelf 3. The shape is the same as the rectangle formed by.

(4) Mounting the ice making unit 4 in the freezer compartment 10 The user can attach the holder 40 to the ceiling 2 by engaging the engaging portion 50 with the attaching portion 20. The manner in which the holder 40 is attached to the ceiling 2 will be described with reference to FIGS. 6, 7, and 8. First, the holder 40 is lifted from below to the ceiling 2 (in the direction of arrow A) so that the positions of the

engagement shape portions

51 and 57 of the holder 40 coincide with the positions of the

fixtures

21 and 24 of the ceiling 2 ( FIG. 6). Then, the fixture 21 of the ceiling 2 passes through the rectangular portion 54 of the engagement shape portion 51 of the holder 40 and protrudes below the horizontal portion 43 of the holder 40 (FIG. 7). From this state, the holder 40 is slid leftward (arrow B direction). Then, the horizontal portion 23 of the fixture 21 hits the projection 56 of the claw portion 53 of the engagement shape portion 51, pushes up the claw portion 53 toward the ceiling 2, and finally fits rightward from the projection 56. Further, the vertical portion 22 of the fixture 21 is accommodated near the tip of the narrow groove portion 55 of the engagement shape portion 51 (FIG. 8). The engaging shape part 57 and the fixture 24 on the rear side of the refrigerator are engaged in the same manner. Thus, the holder 40 is attached to the ceiling 2. At this time, the vertical portion 44 on the left side of the holder 40 is close to the left side wall of the freezer compartment 10.

The user can remove the holder 40 from the ceiling 2 by moving the holder 40 in the direction opposite to the above description. However, first, the user pushes up the claw portion 53 of the engagement shape portion 51 to the ceiling 2 side, removes the hook between the projection 56 of the claw portion 53 and the horizontal portion 23 of the fixture 21, and in this state the holder 40 is removed. Need to slide to the right.

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

In the refrigerator 1, the ice making unit 4 may be attached to both the ceiling 2 and the mounting shelf 3, or may be attached to either one. In addition, when the ice making unit 4 is attached to both the ceiling 2 and the mounting shelf 3, the shapes such as the two sizes may be the same or different.

(5) Effect The refrigerator 1 according to the embodiment includes the

attachment portions

20 and 30 of the ice making unit 4 on the ceiling 2 and the mounting shelf 3 of the freezer compartment 10. Therefore, the user of the refrigerator 1 can select from below the ceiling 2 of the freezer compartment 10 or the mounting shelf 3 according to his / her preference, and can attach the ice making unit 4 there. Further, a user who wants to produce a lot of ice can attach the ice making unit 4 to both the ceiling 2 and the mounting shelf 3 of the freezer compartment 10 to increase the number of ice that can be produced.

In the refrigerator 1 of the embodiment, since the structure of the mounting part 20 of the ceiling 2 and the mounting part 30 of the mounting shelf 3 is the same, one ice making unit 4 is attached to the mounting part 20 of the ceiling 2 and the mounting part of the mounting shelf 3. It can be attached to any of 30.

Also, among the components of the ice making unit 4, the holder 40 is attached to the ceiling 2 and the mounting shelf 3, and the ice making unit 41 and the ice storage container 42 are not directly attached to the ceiling 2 and the mounting shelf 3. Therefore, the ice making part 41 and the ice storage container 42 held by the holder 40 can be pulled out and removed forward.

In the refrigerator 1 of the embodiment, since the mounting portion 20 of the ceiling 2 and the mounting portion 30 of the mounting shelf 3 are arranged in the vertical direction on the left side in the freezer compartment 10, the ice making unit 4 is placed on both the mounting

portions

20 and 30. When attached, the two ice making units 4 are arranged in the vertical direction. Therefore, the user can easily specify the position of the ice making unit 4 and can easily use the freezer compartment 10.

When two ice making units 4 are installed in the freezer compartment 10, the design of the freezer compartment 10 is enhanced if the two sizes are different.

In the refrigerator 1 according to the embodiment, the ice making unit 4 can be attached to or detached from the ceiling 2 or the mounting shelf 3 by sliding the holder 40, so that the user can easily determine the position and number of the ice making units 4. Can be changed. In particular, in the case of the refrigerator 1 of the embodiment, the ice making unit 4 can be attached and detached simply by sliding the holder 40 in one direction, so that the operation is easy.

(6) Modification Example In the above-described embodiment, the ceiling 2 and the mounting shelf 3 in the freezer compartment 10 are provided with mounting

portions

20 and 30 to which the ice making unit 4 can be attached and detached. It is not limited to the position. For example, the attachment part which can attach or detach the ice making unit 4 may be provided in any side wall other than the ceiling 2 in the freezer compartment 10, and the mounting shelf 3. FIG. The number of attachment parts may be three or more. In that case, it is desirable that the structure of the mounting part is the same. In addition, being able to attach or detach means that the ice making unit 4 can be attached or removed without destroying the refrigerator 1, particularly the ice making unit 4 or the wall surface of the freezer compartment 10.

The structure of the attachment part of the ice making unit 4 provided on the wall surface or the like in the freezer compartment 10 is not limited to that of the above embodiment. As another form, for example, the

fixtures

21, 24, 31, and 35 of the above-described embodiment are rotated by 90 ° in the horizontal direction. In that case, if the holder 40 is formed by rotating the

engagement shape portions

51 and 57 by 90 ° in the horizontal direction, the holder 40 is slid in the front-rear direction, so that the holder 40 is moved to the freezer compartment 10. It can be attached to and detached from the wall. There can be various other attachments such as hook-shaped hooks and magic tapes. The structure of the engaging part on the ice making unit 4 side that engages with the attaching part may be a structure that can engage with the attaching part such as the wall surface in the freezer compartment 10. The engagement means that the ice making unit 4 is kept attached to the wall surface or the like in the freezer compartment 10 unless an external force is applied, and the user does not destroy the ice making unit 4 or the attachment portion. Engage so that the ice making unit 4 can be removed.

The mounting shelf may be provided so that the length in the vertical direction of the space above the mounting shelf in the freezer compartment 10 and the space below the mounting shelf are different. One form thereof is shown in FIG. In the refrigerator 101 shown in FIG. 9, the space 112 above the mounting shelf 103 is narrower in the vertical direction than the space 113 below the mounting shelf 103. In the refrigerator 101, when the same size ice making unit 4 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 in the lower space 113. Become wider. Therefore, when storing various sizes of stored items, a small stored item is placed under the ice making unit 4 in the upper space 112, and a large stored item is put under the ice making unit 4 in the lower space 113 to freeze the stored item. The space in the room 110 can be used effectively.

The ice storage container 42 of the ice making unit 4 may be used after being removed from the holder 40. Specifically, the ice storage container 42 is placed below the holder 40, and in this state, ice that has fallen from the ice making unit 41 is stored. When ice is stored in the ice storage container 42, the user pulls the ice storage container 42 forward of the refrigerator and takes out the ice.

The structure for use in this way will be described by taking as an example the case where the holder 40 is attached to the ceiling 2 and the ice storage container 42 is placed on the placement shelf 3 (FIG. 10). In the example of FIG. 10, the frame member 32 is provided in the front portion of the refrigerator of the placement shelf 3, and is higher than the placement surface 34 (the surface on which the ice storage container 42 is placed). In this case, 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 of the mounting shelf 3 to the lower end 49 of the holder 40 attached to the ceiling 2. In some cases, the frame member 32 is not provided on the mounting shelf 3. In this case, the height of the ice storage container 42 is the front part of the refrigerator of the mounting shelf 3 (specifically, directly below the holder 40. From the upper end of the refrigerator front end of the mounting shelf 3 (if there is a refrigerator front end of the mounting shelf 3 immediately below the holder 40), the lower end of the holder 40 attached to the ceiling 2 Lower than 49 height. Accordingly, the ice storage container 42 can be taken out from the mounting shelf 3 to the front of the refrigerator through the space between the lower end 49 of the holder 40 and the upper end portion 33 of the frame member 32. In addition, the holder 40 may be attached to the lower surface of the mounting shelf 3, and the ice storage container 42 may be mounted therebelow.

The above embodiment is an example, and the scope of the invention is not limited to this. 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 modifications thereof are included in the inventions described in the claims and their equivalents.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Refrigerator, 10 ... Freezer room, 11 ... Cold room, 12 ... Upper space, 13 ... Lower space, 2 ... Ceiling, 20 ... Mounting part, 21 ... Fixing tool, 22 ... Vertical part, 23 ... Horizontal part, 24 ... Fixing tool, 25 ... Vertical part, 26 ... Horizontal part, 3 ... Mounting shelf, 30 ... Mounting part, 31 ... Fixing tool, 32 ... Frame member, 33 ... Upper end part of the

frame member

32, 34 ... Mounting surface , 35 ... fixing tool, 4 ... ice making unit, 40 ... holder, 41 ... ice making part, 42 ... ice storage container, 43 ... horizontal part, 44 ... vertical part, 45 ... upper groove, 46 ... lower groove, 47 ... ice making Plate, 48 ... Rotating shaft, 49 ... Lower end of

holder

40, 50 ... engaging portion, 51 ... engaging shape portion, 52 ... hole portion, 53 ... nail portion, 54 ... rectangular portion, 55 ... narrow groove portion, 56 ... projection , 57 ... engagement shape part, 101 ... refrigerator of modified example, 103 ... mounting shelf, 110 ... freezer compartment, 112 ... space above, 113 ... bottom Between

Claims

A refrigerator having an ice making unit for producing and storing ice, and having attachment portions to which the ice making unit can be attached and detached at a plurality of locations in the freezer compartment.
The refrigerator according to claim 1, further comprising a mounting shelf in the freezer compartment, wherein the mounting portion is provided on the wall surface of the freezer compartment and the mounting shelf.
The refrigerator according to claim 2, wherein the storage shelf is provided at a position where the freezer compartment is divided vertically, and the lengths of the divided spaces in the vertical direction are different.
The refrigerator according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the structure of the mounting portion in the freezer compartment is the same.
The ice making unit includes an ice making part that produces ice and a holder that holds the ice making part, and the holder includes an engaging part that engages with the attachment part. Refrigerator.
The refrigerator according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the mounting portions are arranged vertically in the freezer compartment.
The refrigerator according to any one of claims 1 to 6, comprising a plurality of the ice making units.
The refrigerator according to claim 7, wherein the plurality of ice making units have different sizes.
The ice making unit includes an ice making unit for producing ice, an ice storage container for storing ice dropped from the ice making unit, and a holder that holds the ice making unit and is attached to the attachment unit. The ice storage container can be placed below the holder, and the height of the ice storage container is lower than the height from the upper end of the front part of the refrigerator where the holder is placed to the lower end of the holder. The refrigerator according to any one of 8.
The refrigerator according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein the ice making unit is attached to the attachment portion by sliding.