JPH03213981A - Shelf device of refrigerator - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide satisfactory support strength to a rail and prevent any gap from being produced between the rail and an inner box owing to the deformation of the inner box by fixing the rail including a slide groove and a rack to a reinforcement plate cut into an expandable heat insulating material putting the inner box therebetween. CONSTITUTION:Spur gears 5 located at both left and right ends are simultaneously rotated by a driving device for rotating a gear shaft 4 or the spur gear 5 to move vertically, a rack 14b. Further, a rail 14 including a slide groove 14a and the rack 14b is fixed to a reinforcement plate 12a cut into an expandable heat insulating material 13 putting an inner box 12 therebetween, so that satisfactory support strength ensured for the rail 14 and any gap is prevented from being produced between the rail 14 and the inner box 12 owing to the deformation of the inner box 12.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of Industrial Application The present invention relates to a shelf device for a refrigerator, which is used inside a refrigerator and whose vertical position can be changed in various ways.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, this type of refrigerator shelf device has been known, for example, as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,841,459.

This conventional refrigerator shelf device includes a shelf disposed in the refrigerator, a frame that holds the shelf, two rails that slide and hold rollers supported on the left and right sides of the frame, and an arbitrary It was equipped with screws to fix it in position. The frame rotatably held a nut fitted into the screw jack and a shaft with a handle for rotating the nut. Further, the rails were installed vertically on the left and right sides of the interior of the refrigerator, and the screws were installed vertically at the center of the interior of the refrigerator. Then, the shaft with the handle is turned to rotate the nut fitted into the screw jack, thereby changing the position of the nut and changing the position of the frame holding the shelf.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention The conventional refrigerator shelf device described above has a structure that allows the shelves to be moved up and down.
This is due to the frame fixed by screws attached to the back center of the refrigerator, and if the shelf is placed on either the left or right side, the shelf will tilt toward the side where most of the food is placed. The shaft came into contact with the rail diagonally and did not rotate smoothly, so the shaft with the handle had to be turned with great force. In addition, there is a shaft with a handle and screws in the center of the shelf, and the structure is relatively large, so it gets in the way of placing food on the lower shelf or on the lower food placement surface, which poses a problem in terms of food storage.

Furthermore, when the load on the shelf is large, such as when the food on the shelf is heavy, a large force acts on the rail via the sliding member, so the rail requires a large supporting force. Furthermore, since the rails are exposed inside the refrigerator, if a gap is created between the inner box and the rail, not only will the appearance deteriorate, but dirt and debris will enter the gap.

The present invention improves the above-mentioned problems of conventional refrigerator shelf devices, prevents the shelves from tilting to the left and right, allows the shelves to be moved with a relatively small force, and provides sufficient support strength for the rails inside the refrigerator. To provide a shelf device for a refrigerator which gives the same characteristics and which does not interfere with food storage at the lower part, such that gaps do not occur when rails and inner boxes are opened.

Means for Solving the Problems For the above purpose, the refrigerator shelf device of the present invention comprises a shelf disposed inside the refrigerator, a substantially U-shaped frame for holding the shelf, and a rear part of the frame. The inside of the refrigerator is formed by sliding members attached to the left and right sides, a gear shaft with spur gears fixed to the left and right ends attached to the back of the frame, and a drive device that rotates this gear shaft or spur gear. A sliding groove is disposed on the left and right sides in the rear direction of the inner surface of the inner box, and the sliding groove accommodates at least a part of the sliding member and is slidably held therein, and the sliding groove is formed on one side or adjacent to the sliding groove, and the spur gear The reinforcing plate is disposed on the outer surface of the inner box located on the back side of the rail μ, and a reinforcing plate is partially embedded in the foam heat insulating material.

Function: Since the shelf device of the present invention has the above-mentioned configuration, the spur gears at both left and right ends are simultaneously rotated by the gear shaft or the driving device that rotates the spur gears, so that the rack can be moved up and down.

In addition, by fixing the rail with sliding grooves and ranks by sandwiching the inner box between reinforcing plates cut into the foam insulation material, sufficient support strength is given to the rail, and the inner box is deformed and the rail is fixed. It is possible to prevent a gap from forming between the inner box and the inner box.

EXAMPLE Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be explained based on the drawings of FIGS. 1 to 9.

In the figure, 1 is a shelf on which food is placed. 2 is a frame that holds the shelf 1, and includes a left frame 2a and a right frame 2b.
and a rear frame 2c that connects the left and right frames 2a and 2b.

Reference numeral 3 designates sliding members attached to the rear left and right sides of the frame 2, and 3a and sb designate an upper roller and a lower roller that constitute the sliding members. Also, upper and lower rollers 3a.

3b are each made of a metallic shirt 3c. Note that the upper and lower rollers 3a and 3b are the same. A gear shaft 4 is rotatably attached to the back of the frame 2, and fixed flat gears 6 are attached to both left and right ends of the gear shaft. 6a is the dial hole 2d on the front side of the right frame 2b.
A dial is rotatably attached to the dial 6, and numeral 8 is a dial shaft connected to the dial 6, and 8 is a drive gear fixed to the dial shaft 7, which is usually called a worm gear. Reference numeral 9 denotes a transfer gear, usually called a helical gear, which is fixed to the gear shaft 4 adjacent to the spur gear 5 on the right side. 10 is inside the refrigerator. 11 is an outer box made of iron plate of the refrigerator body. 12 is an inner box molded from resin.

13 is a foamed heat insulating material filled between the outer box 11 and the inner box 12. Reference numeral 12a is a reinforcing plate and has a shape that abuts against the inner box 12. 12b is an end portion of the reinforcing plate, which bites into the foam heat insulating material 13. Further, a through hole is provided at the end of the reinforcing plate 12a. Reference numeral 14 denotes a rail fixed to the reinforcing plate 12a with the inner box 12 sandwiched therebetween by screws 12c.

14a is formed on the frame 14 and connects the spur gear 5 and the sliding member 3.
That is, it is a sliding groove that accommodates at least a portion of the upper roller 3a and the lower roller 3b and holds them in a sliding manner. 14b is a rack that meshes with a spur gear 6 formed in the sliding groove 14a of the rail 14 (in the vertical direction). Note that the width dimension W of the sliding groove 14a is 01 to 1 according to the outer dimensions of the upper roller 3a and lower roller 3b.
It should be about fi larger. Further, the upper roller 3a, the lower roller 3b, and the spur gear 6 are located on the same line, and the upper roller 3a is in contact with the front side surface of the sliding groove 14a, and the lower roller 3b
the left frame 2a and the right frame 2 so that
b, respectively. Further, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4, the frame 2 includes a spur gear 5, a drive gear 8. It is shaped so as to cover the transfer gear 9 from the inside of the refrigerator. Also, a sliding groove 14a formed at the upper end of the frame 2 (relay) V14
The upper roller 3a is connected to the flange 2e with a narrow clearance.

Covers spur gear 6. Next, reference numeral 16 is a control panel provided with an air passage or the like inside to cool the interior 10 of the refrigerator. When moving the shelf 1 of the refrigerator shelf device of this embodiment upward or downward, first rotate the dial/v6, and the dial shaft 7 and drive gear 8 will rotate. Therefore, the transfer gear 9 that meshes with the drive gear 8 rotates, and the gear shaft 4 and the spur gears 6 on both sides rotate. At this time, the spur gear 6 moves through the gear shaft 4 in the sliding groove 14a while meshing with the rack 14b on the front side, but since the left and right spur gears 5 are fixed to the gear shaft 4 and rotate in the same manner, the frame 2 Similar to the left and right sides of sl, vertical and horizontal positional deviations do not occur. Next, move shelf 1 to the desired position.
When stopped after moving by L'S, the shelf 1, that is, the frame 2, tends to fall down due to the weight of the shelf 1 and frame 2 and the weight of the food on the shelf 1. As a result of this force, the spur gear 6 first tries to rotate. Therefore, the gear shaft 4 and the transfer gear 9 try to rotate, but they mesh with the drive gear 8. Although it is mechanically easy to rotate the transfer gear by rotating the drive gear 8, the rolling gear 9
The force that rotates the screw-shaped tooth profile 8a of the drive gear 8 due to the tooth profile 9a of the driving gear 8 is due to the fact that the tooth profile 9a of the rolling gear 9 meshes with the tooth profile of the drive gear 8 in a direction substantially perpendicular to the tooth profile, resulting in an extremely large frictional force. It is not possible to rotate the drive gear 8 by means of the transfer gear 9. Therefore, when the shelf 1 is in a stopped state, the drive gear 8 and transfer gear 9 serve as a stopper mechanism, and even when food is placed on the shelf 1, the shelf 1 does not go down and is held at that position. Next, the reinforcing plate 12a is attached to the inner box 1.
Since the inner box 12 is sandwiched between the rail and the reinforcing plate 12a, the foam insulation material 13
The inner box 12 is not deformed even when pressure during zero foaming or other external force is applied. In addition, the end portion 12b of the reinforcing plate
Since it bites into the foam heat insulating material 13 and has a through hole, its adhesion to the foam heat insulating material is high.

Since the reinforcing plate 12a is fixed to the reinforcing plate 12a with screws or the like, the supporting strength of the reinforcing plate /l/14 is large.

Even when a heavy object is placed on the shelf 1, a large load is applied to the rail through the sliding member, but it can withstand it.

As explained above, the refrigerator shelf device of this embodiment does not require a large force to move the shelf 1 even when food is placed on the shelf 1, and the shelf 1 does not tilt.

The relay 1v14 has a large supporting strength, and there is no gap between the relay /l/14 and the inner box 12.

In this embodiment, the dial 6a, dial shaft end, drive gear 8. The transfer gear 9 is called a drive device 6.

As described in detail, the refrigerator shelf device of the present invention includes a shelf disposed inside the refrigerator, a substantially U-shaped frame that holds the shelf, and a frame attached to the rear left and right sides of the frame. a gear shaft with spur gears fixed to the left and right ends attached to the back of the frame, a drive device for rotating the gear shaft or the spur gear, and an inner box forming the inside of the refrigerator. A sliding groove disposed on the left and right sides in the depth direction of the inner surface and housing at least a portion of the sliding member and slidingly holding the sliding member, and a rack formed on one side of or adjacent to the sliding groove and meshing with the spur gear. The shelves and frames are composed of a rail with a shape of A spur gear that simultaneously rotates up and down allows it to be raised and lowered while remaining horizontal. Also,
By fixing the rail with sliding grooves and racks with the inner box sandwiched between reinforcing plates cut into the foam insulation material, sufficient support strength is given to the rail, and the inner box is deformed to prevent the rail and inner box from deforming. It becomes possible to supply a refrigerator shelf device that prevents the occurrence of gaps between the refrigerator and the refrigerator.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional perspective view of a refrigerator to which an embodiment of the present invention is applied, FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of a frame used in this embodiment, and FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view of essential parts of this embodiment. Figure 4 is an enlarged perspective view of the main part, Figure 5 is an exploded perspective view of the rail section, and Figure 8 is an exploded perspective view of the rail section.
The figure is a sectional view taken along the line B-B in FIG. 1, and FIG. 9 is a sectional view of the main part of the right frame viewed from the side. 1...Shelf, 2...Frame, 2e...
...Flange, 3...Sliding member, 4...
... Gear shaft, 5 ... Spur gear, 6 ...
...Drive device, 10...Inside the refrigerator, 11...
...Outer box, 12...Inner box, 12a...
Reinforcement plate, 12b...Reinforcement plate end, 13...
...Foam insulation material, 14...V-A/, 14a
...Sliding groove, 14b...Rack.

Claims (1)

[Claims] A shelf installed inside the refrigerator, a substantially U-shaped frame that holds the shelf, sliding members attached to the left and right rear of the frame, and left and right ends attached to the rear of the frame. A gear shaft having a spur gear fixed thereto, a drive device for rotating the gear shaft or the spur gear, and a drive device for rotating the gear shaft or the spur gear are disposed on the left and right sides of the inner surface of the inner box forming the inside of the refrigerator, and the sliding member is attached to at least a portion of the gear shaft. a sliding groove for storing and slidingly holding the sliding groove; a rail formed on one side or adjacent to this sliding groove to form a rack that meshes with the spur gear; and on the outer surface of the inner box located on the back side of the rail. A refrigerator shelf device consisting of a reinforcing plate that is installed and partially embedded in foam insulation material.