JPH03225187A - Rack device for refrigerator - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent spur gears from levitating from a rack and eliminate the danger of dropping of the rack by a method wherein the spar gears at both left and right ends are rotated simultaneously on the rack by a driving device, rotating a gear shaft or the spur gears, to permit the up-and-down movement of the rack and a frame while retaining them horizontally while a projection, proximated to the gear shaft, is formed at the inside of the section of a rear frame. CONSTITUTION:Spur gears at both left and right ends are rotated simultaneously on a rack 14b by a driving device 6, rotating a gear shaft 4 or the spur gears 5, whereby a rack 1 and a frame 2 can be moved up-and-down while keeping them horizontally. When much food is put on the rack, a load is transmitted from the rack 1 to the frame 2, the gear shaft 4 and the spur gears 5. Accordingly, the gear shaft 4 is deflected and the spur gears 5 are levitated from the rack. The deflection of the gear shaft 4 is pushed by a projection 2d formed on the rear frame 2c whereby the levitation of the spur gears from the rack is suppressed. On the other hand, an interval between the left and right frames 2 can be set arbitrarily by cutting the rear frame by a proper size. Accordingly, the left and right frames 2 can be arranged easily in a different refrigerator.

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 In the past, there have been five refrigerator shelving apparatuses of this type, such as those 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 are supported on the left and right sides of the frame and that slide and hold rollers, and the frame. It was equipped with a screw jack for fixing it in any 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 porcelain.

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 a frame fixed by screws installed in the center of the interior of the refrigerator.If food is placed on either the left or right side of the shelf, the shelf with the most food will tilt and the rollers will move against the rails. The shaft with the handle did not rotate smoothly as it came into contact with the handle at an angle, and the shaft with the handle had to be turned with great force. In addition, since the structure is relatively large and complicated, manufacturing costs are high, and it is difficult to adapt to models with different internal widths.

1. In the case of a combination of a spur gear and a rack as a vertical mechanism, if a large load is applied to the spur gear, due to the nature of its tooth profile, the spur gear will receive a force in the direction of lifting from the rank, and there is a danger that the extraction will fall. .

The present invention improves the problems of the conventional refrigerator shelf device, prevents the shelf from tilting from side to side, allows the shelf to be moved with a relatively small force, and is inexpensive to manufacture. To provide a shelf device for a refrigerator that is easily compatible with different models and has no risk of falling.

Means for Solving the Problems For the above-mentioned purpose, the refrigerator shelf device of the present invention includes a shelf disposed inside the refrigerator, a pair of left and right frames holding the shelf, and a substantially U-shaped frame extending over the entire length. a rear frame that has the same cross-sectional shape and has a protrusion formed inside the cross-section and connects the left and right sides of the frame; a sliding member that is attached to the back of each of the left and right sides of the frame; and a rear frame that has the protrusion inside the rear frame. A gear shaft with spur gears fixed to the left and right ends stored in close proximity to the refrigerator, a drive device that rotates the gear shaft or the spur gear, and a drive device that is formed in the left and right vertical directions at the back of the refrigerator and that rotates at least one of the sliding members. It is provided with a sliding groove in which a portion of the refrigerator is accommodated and slidably held therein, and a rack that engages with the spur gear formed inside or adjacent to this sliding groove in the horizontal and vertical directions at the back of the refrigerator.

Function: Since the refrigerator shelf device of the present invention has the above structure, the spur gears at both left and right ends are simultaneously rotated on the rack by the drive device that rotates the gear shaft or spur gear, so that the shelf and frame can be kept horizontal. Can go up and down 1. Therefore, the sliding member moving up and down within the sliding groove can slide smoothly without tilting diagonally, and the driving force required to move the shelf up and down can be small.

Also, when a lot of food is placed on the rack, the load is transmitted sequentially from the shelf to the frame, gear shaft, and spur gear.
Since the gear shaft or the spur gear is stopped from rotating by the drive device, a large load is applied to the gear shaft and the spur gear, and as a result, the gear shaft becomes deflected and the spur gear tends to rise from the top of the rank. By suppressing this deflection of the gear shaft with a protrusion formed in the rear frame, it is possible to prevent the spur gear from floating up from the rack. In addition, the rear frame that connects the left and right frames has the same cross-sectional shape over its entire length, making extrusion molding possible and reducing molding mold costs. The interval can be set arbitrarily, and therefore, this device can be easily installed even in refrigerators with different internal widths.

EXAMPLE Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described based on the drawings of FIGS. 1 to 8.

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.

The rear frame 2C is a molded product with a raised height, and a projection 2d is formed on the inside of the substantially U-shaped cross section.

Reference numeral 3 denotes sliding members attached to the rear left and right sides of the frame 2, and 3a and 3b are an upper roller and a lower roller that constitute the sliding member 3. Also, upper and lower rollers 3a.

3b is formed of a metallic shirt 3c. Note that the upper roller 3a and the lower roller 3b are the same. A gear shaft 4 is rotatably mounted at the back of the frame 2, and fixed flat gears 5 are attached to both left and right ends. 6a is a dial rotatably attached to the dial hole 2e in the front part of the right frame 2b, 7 is a dial shaft connected to this dial 6a, and 8 is fixed to this dial shaft 7 and is usually called a worm gear. It is a driving 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. 1
3 is a foamed heat insulating material filled between the outer box 11 and the inner box 12. 14 is a rail fixed to the rail groove 12a of the inner box 12 with screws or the like. 14a is a sliding groove formed in the rail 14, which accommodates at least a portion of the spur gear 6 and the sliding members 3, that is, the upper roller 3a and the lower roller 3b, and slidably holds them. 14b is a rank that meshes with the spur gear 5 formed in the vertical direction of the sliding groove 14a of the V-ru 14.

Note that the width dimension W of the sliding groove 14a is approximately 0.1 to 11 RM larger than the outer diameters of the upper roller 3a and lower roller 3b. The trench upper roller 3a, the lower roller 3b, and the spur gear 5 are located on the same line, and the upper roller 3a is in contact with the front surface of the sliding groove 14a.

The lower roller 3b is placed in contact with the inner surface of the sliding groove 14a, and the spur gear 5 is arranged on the left frame 2a and the right frame 2b so as to mesh with the rack 14b. 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. Further, the upper roller 3a and the spur gear 5 are covered by a flange 2f formed at the upper end of the frame 2 and having a narrow gap with the sliding groove 14a of the rail 14. Next, reference numeral 15 denotes a control panel provided with an air passage etc. inside to cool the inside 1o of the refrigerator.

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

When moving the shelf 1 of the refrigerator shelf device of this embodiment upward or downward, first the dial 6a is rotated, and the dial shaft 7 and drive gear 8 are rotated. Therefore, the transfer gear 9 that meshes with the drive gear 8 rotates, and the gear shaft 4 and the spur gears 5 on both sides rotate. At this time, the spur gear 5 is inserted through the gear shaft 4 into the sliding groove 14a and into the rack 14 on the front side.
However, since the left and right spur gears 6 are fixed to the gear shaft 4 and rotate in the same manner, the frame 2, that is, the shelf 1, moves up and down in the same manner as the left and right sides, and no deviation in height between the left and right sides occurs. As a result, the sliding member 3 moving up and down within the sliding groove 14a can slide smoothly without being tilted diagonally, so that the operating force for the dial etc. can be reduced. In this embodiment, the roller shafts 3c of the upper and lower rollers 3a and 3b are made of metal, so even if many foods are placed on the shelf 1, the upper and lower rollers 3a and 3b do not tilt and rotate smoothly, reducing friction. Since it can be reduced, the operation force required for operating the dial 6 can be extremely small. Next, when the tfIAl is moved to a desired position using the dial 6a and then stopped, the shelf 1, ie, 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. First, a downward force is applied to the gear shaft 4, causing the spur gear 5 to rotate.

Therefore, the gear shaft 4 and the transfer gear 9 try to rotate, but the transfer gear 9 is meshed with the drive gear 8, and it is mechanically easy to rotate the transfer gear 9 by rotating the drive gear 8. However, the tooth profile 9a of the rolling gear 9
The force that rotates the screw-shaped tooth profile 8a of the drive gear 8 is caused by the tooth profile 9a of the rolling gear 9 meshing with the tooth profile 8a of the drive gear 8 in a substantially perpendicular direction, resulting in an extremely large frictional force. It is not possible to rotate the drive gear 8 by. Therefore, when the shelf 1 is in a stopped state, the drive gear 8 and the transfer gear 9 serve as a stopper mechanism, and the shelf 1
Even if food is placed on top, the shelf 1 does not go down and is held in that position.

Next, if there is a lot of food on the shelf, the load will be transferred from the shelf to the frame 2. Gear shaft 4. The load is sequentially transmitted to the spur gear 5, but since the rotation of the gear shaft 4 or the spur gear 6 is stopped by the drive device 6, a large load is applied to the gear shaft 4 and the spur gear 5, and therefore the gear shaft 4
As the deflection occurs, the spur gear 6 tends to lift off from above the rack 14b. By suppressing this deflection of the gear shaft 4 with a protrusion 2d formed in the rear frame 2C, it is possible to prevent the spur gear 5 from lifting off from the rack 14b.

The gear shaft 4 and the protrusion 2d formed on the inside of the rear frame 2C have a gap of about 0.5 to INN, so that they do not come into contact when the amount of food loaded is small and the load is small. , does not affect the operating force of the dial 6c.

The rear frame 2C is a pressed-height molded product, and its both ends are inserted into the joint holes of the left and right frames 2a and 2b, and it has a simple assembly structure that is fixed with screws etc. By simply cutting the frame 2C and gear shaft 4 to appropriate dimensions, the spacing between the left and right frames 2a and 2b can be arbitrarily set, making it easy to arrange this device even in refrigerators with different interior widths. Is possible.

Details of the invention As explained above, the refrigerator shelf device of the present invention is as follows.

A shelf disposed in the refrigerator and a pair of left and right frames holding the shelf have the same substantially U-shaped cross-sectional shape over the entire length, and a protrusion is formed on the inside of the cross-section to connect the left and right frames. a rear frame, a sliding member attached to the back of the left and right sides of the frame, a gear shaft having a spur gear fixed to the left and right ends stored in the rear frame so as to be close to the protrusion; a drive device for rotating a gear shaft or a spur gear; a sliding groove formed in the left and right vertical directions at the back of the refrigerator to accommodate at least a portion of the sliding member and slidably hold the sliding member; and an interior of the sliding groove. Or, since it is equipped with a rack that meshes with the flat gears formed adjacently in the horizontal and vertical directions at the back of the refrigerator, the flat gears at both left and right ends are simultaneously rotated on the rack by a gear shaft or a drive device that rotates the flat gears. Therefore, the shelf and frame can be raised and lowered while remaining horizontal. Therefore, since the sliding member moving up and down within the sliding groove can slide smoothly without being tilted diagonally, the driving force required to move the shelf up and down can also be small. Furthermore, since a protrusion close to the gear shaft is formed on the inner side of the cross section of the rear frame, it is possible to suppress the deflection of the gear shaft when a large amount of food is loaded on the rack. This prevents the shelf from floating up, eliminating the risk of the shelf falling. In addition, since the rear frame that connects the left and right frames has the same cross-sectional shape over its entire length, it can be extruded and manufactured at low cost. The interval can be set arbitrarily, and therefore, the present device can be easily installed even in refrigerators with different internal widths, and thus the present device can be provided to a wide range of consumers.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a sectional perspective view of the main parts 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 the main parts of this embodiment. , Fig. 4 is an enlarged perspective view of the main part, Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken along line A-A of Fig.
FIG. 8 is a sectional view taken along line C--C in FIG. 1; FIG. 9 is a sectional view of the main parts of the right frame viewed from the side. 1...Shelf, 2...Frame, 2a...
...Left frame 2b...Right frame, 2C...
... Rear frame 2d ... Protrusion, 3 ...
...Sliding member, 4...Gear shaft, 6...
... Spur gear, 6... Drive device, 1o...
...Inside the refrigerator, 14a...Sliding groove, 14b...
··rack.

Claims (1)

[Claims] A shelf disposed inside the refrigerator and a pair of left and right frames holding the shelf have the same cross-sectional shape of a substantially U-shape over the entire length, and a protrusion is formed on the inside of the cross-section to connect the left and right frames. a rear frame, a sliding member attached to the back of each of the left and right sides of the frame, a gear shaft having a spur gear fixed to the left and right ends stored in the rear frame so as to be close to the protrusion; A drive device that rotates a gear shaft or a spur gear, a sliding groove formed in the left and right vertical directions at the back of the refrigerator, in which at least a portion of the sliding member is accommodated and slidably held therein, and an inside of the sliding groove or A shelf device for a refrigerator, comprising a rack that engages with the spur gears formed adjacent to each other in the horizontal and vertical directions at the back of the refrigerator.