JPH0445386A - Shelf device in refrigerator - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent a rightward or a leftward inclination of a shelf, enable the shelf to be moved with a low force and further prevent a shelf device from hindering a food storing operation below the shelf by a method wherein the shelf is comprised of a U-shaped frame for slidably holding the shelf in a forward or a leftward direction, a sliding member, a geared shaft, a spur gear, a rotating gear, a driving gear, an electric motor and racks engaging with spur gears at the right and left ends formed along inner wall surfaces of a groove in the sliding groove rail. CONSTITUTION:A driving gear 10 connected to a shaft for an electric motor 7 is rotated. Engaging rotating gear 11 and a geared shaft are rotated, spur gears 5 at both ends of the geared shaft engaging with a rack 16b are rotated. A shelf 1 and a frame 2 are moved up or down by the spur gears concurrently rotated and moved up or down on the right and left racks while being kept horizontal. Since a sliding member 3 moving up or down in a sliding groove 16a can slide smoothly without being inclined, no high load is applied to the electric motor. Due to this fact, the shelf can be moved only with a driving operation of the electric motor stored in the frame and thus the shelf device can be made small. Accordingly, the shelf device does not hinder the storing of food below the shelf.

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 is capable of moving the vertical position of the shelf in various ways.

[Prior Art] As a conventional refrigerator shelf device of this type, there is one shown in, for example, US Pat. No. 2,841,459.

This conventional refrigerator shelf device includes a shelf disposed inside 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 a frame that supports the frame. Equipped with screws and jacks for fixing 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, by turning the shaft with the handle and rotating the nut fitted into the screw jack, the position of the nut was changed, and the position of the frame holding the shelf was changed.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] The above-mentioned conventional refrigerator shelf device has a structure in which the position of the frame holding the shelf can be moved up and down by a screw jack attached to the center of the interior of the refrigerator, and food is placed on the shelf. If the shelf is tilted toward the side with the most food, especially if it is placed off to the left or right of the shelf, the rollers may come into contact with the rails at an angle, preventing them from rotating smoothly and causing large I had to use force to turn the shaft with the handle.

In addition, there is a shaft with a handle and a screw jack 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 the lower food placement surface, causing problems in terms of food storage. .

The present invention solves the problems of the conventional refrigerator shelf device described above,
This prevents the shelves from tilting from side to side, allows the shelves to be moved with a relatively small force, the device for moving the shelves does not interfere with the storage of food at the bottom, and the drawers can be pulled out while sliding back and forth. The purpose is to provide a refrigerator shelf device that can be used.

[Means for Solving the Problems] For the above purpose, a refrigerator shelf device of the present invention has the following configuration.

(1) A shelf installed inside the refrigerator so that it can be taken in and taken out back and forth, a roughly U-shaped frame that holds this shelf so that it can be slid back and forth, and a left and right side at the back of this roughly U-shaped frame. a sliding member attached to the vicinity of the corner end for vertically movably holding the frame; a gear shaft passing through the rear frame member of the substantially U-shaped frame and rotatably attached; a spur gear attached to the left and right ends of the shaft in close proximity to the sliding member; and a left frame of the substantially U-shaped frame fixed to the gear shaft at a position inside of either of the flat gears at the left and right ends. or the right frame member, and a rolling gear that is housed in a frame member in which the rolling gear is housed and meshes with the rolling gear in a direction substantially perpendicular to the rolling gear. A drive gear for driving a moving gear, an electric motor for driving the drive gear housed in a frame member on the side where the drive gear is housed, and a vertical direction near the left and right corners at the back of the refrigerator. a sliding groove rail for housing a small portion (or a portion) of the sliding member and for holding and guiding the frame in a vertically slidable manner; A shelf device for a refrigerator comprising a rack that meshes with spur gears at the left and right ends formed by the above.

(2) The refrigerator shelf device according to item (1) above, wherein a control switch for controlling the drive of the electric motor is installed on the outer surface of the left frame member or the right frame member.

(3) Item (1) or (2) above, in which the power supply device for the electric motor is housed in the left frame member or the right frame member.
Refrigerator shelf device according to any of paragraphs.

[Function] Since the refrigerator shelf device of the present invention has the above configuration,
When the electric motor is driven, the drive gear connected to the shaft of the electric motor rotates, and the rolling gear and gear shaft that mesh with it rotate, thereby rotating the spur gears at both ends of the gear shaft that mesh with the rack, and the shelf and frame rotate. The flat gear rotates up and down on the left and right racks at the same time, keeping it level. Further, since the sliding member moving up and down within the sliding groove can slide smoothly without being tilted diagonally, there is no great burden on the electric motor. Therefore, the shelf can be moved simply by driving an electric motor housed in the frame, and the device for moving the shelf can be made small, so it does not interfere with food storage in the lower part. Also, by pulling the shelf forward, it can slide on the frame and be pulled out. .

[Embodiment] An embodiment of the present invention will be described below based on the drawings of FIGS. 1 to 8.

In the figure, 1 is a shelf on which food is placed. Reference numeral 2 denotes a substantially U-shaped frame that holds the shelf 1, and includes a left frame member 2a, a right frame member 2b, and the left and right frame members 2a, 2b.
It is formed by a rear frame member 2C that connects the two.

Reference numeral 2e denotes a flange formed to protrude from the left and right sides of the upper end of the frame 2.

Reference numeral 3 denotes a sliding member attached near the end of each rear left and right corner of the frame 2, and 3a and 3b are an upper roller and a lower roller constituting the sliding member 3.

Further, the upper and lower rollers 3a and 3b are each rotatably attached to a metal roller shaft 3C. Reference numeral 4 denotes a gear shaft rotatably attached to the rear frame member 2C passing through the rear frame member 2C at the back of the frame 2, and fixed flat gears 5 are attached to both left and right ends of the gear shaft. Reference numeral 6 denotes a control switch for the electric motor attached to the switch hole 2d on the front side of the right frame member 2b. 7 is an electric motor that serves as a driving source for moving the shelves up and down. Reference numeral 8 denotes a power supply device which constitutes a circuit together with a control switch 6 for switching between forward rotation, reverse rotation, and stop of the electric motor, and the electric motor 7, and is composed of a battery 8a and a battery box 8b. Reference numeral 9 represents a drive shaft connected to the electric motor 7, and reference numeral 10 represents a drive gear, usually called a worm gear, which is fixed to the drive shaft 9 and has a threaded tooth profile 10a. 11 is drive gear 1
A tooth profile 11a machined obliquely with respect to the rotating shaft, that is, the gear shaft 4, so as to mesh along the thread-like tooth profile 10a of 0.
This is a rolling gear, usually called a worm wheel, which is fixed to the gear shaft 4 adjacent to the spur gear 5 on the right side. In addition, 2f is in the opening direction of the left and right frame members 2as2b,
Each gear is attached to a cover frame that covers the rear.

12 is inside the refrigerator. 13 is the outer box of the refrigerator body, which is usually made of iron plate. Reference numeral 14 denotes an inner box usually made of resin, and grooves 14a for sliding groove rails (hereinafter abbreviated as rail grooves 14a) are formed in the vertical direction near the left and right corners at the back of the chamber 12. . 15 is a foamed heat insulating material filled between the outer box 13 and the inner box 14.

16 is a sliding groove rail fixed to the rail groove 14a of the inner box 14 with screws or the like. 14b is a reinforcing plate to which the rail 16 is attached, and is attached via the inner box 14. Reference numeral 16a denotes a sliding groove formed by the rail 16, which accommodates at least a portion of the spur gear 5 and the sliding members 3, that is, the upper roller 3a and the lower roller 3b, and slidably holds them. 16b is a rack that meshes with a flat gear 5 formed vertically along the front inner wall surface in the sliding groove 16a of the rail 16. Note that the width dimension W of the sliding groove 16a is the same as that of the upper roller 3a.
The outer diameter of the lower roller 3b is approximately 0.1 to 1 mm larger than the outer diameter of the lower roller 3b. In addition, the upper roller 3a, the lower roller 3b and the spur gear 5
The upper roller 3a is located almost on the same line as the sliding groove 16.
The lower roller 3b comes into contact with the front surface of a, and the lower roller 3b moves into the sliding groove 16a.
The spur gears 5 are arranged on the left frame member 2a and the right frame member 2b, respectively, so as to be in contact with the inner surface of the rack 16b and mesh with the rack 16b. Further, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG.
1 in a shape that covers it from the inside of the refrigerator. Further, the upper roller 3a and the spur gear 5 are covered by a flange 2e formed at the upper end of the frame 2 and having a narrow gap with the sliding groove 16a of the rail 16. Next, reference numeral 17 is a control panel provided with an air passage or the like inside to cool the interior 12 of the refrigerator.

The internal structure is omitted from the drawings.

When moving the shelf 1 of the refrigerator shelf device of this embodiment up or down, first press the control switch 6, then the electric motor 7
, the drive shaft 9 and the drive gear 10 rotate. Therefore, the rolling gear 11 that meshes with the drive gear 10 rotates, and the gear shaft 4 and the spur gears 5 on both sides rotate. At this time, the spur gear 5 moves through the gear shaft 4 in the sliding groove 16a while meshing with the rack 16b 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 The shelf 1 installed thereon moves up and down in the same manner as on the left and right sides, and no deviation in height occurs between the left and right sides. This allows the sliding member 3 that moves up and down within the sliding groove 16a to slide smoothly without being tilted diagonally. In addition, in this embodiment, the upper and lower rollers 3
Since the roller shafts 3c of the rollers a and 3b are made of metal, the upper and lower rollers 3a and 3b do not tilt even when a large number of foods are placed on the shelf 1, and rotate smoothly and reduce frictional force, reducing the burden on the electric motor 7. small. Next, when the shelf 1 is moved to a desired position by the electric motor 7 and then stopped, the shelf 1 or 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 5 first tries to rotate. Therefore, the gear shaft 4 and the rolling gear 11 try to rotate, but the rolling gear 11 is meshed with the drive gear 10 so that its rotation axis is approximately perpendicular to the drive gear 10, and the rolling gear 11 is rotated by rotating the drive gear 1o. Although it is mechanically easy to rotate the gear 11, the force that causes the tooth profile 11a of the rolling gear 11 to rotate the screw-shaped tooth profile 10a of the drive gear 10 is
When the teeth 11a of the rolling gear 11 mesh with each other in a direction substantially perpendicular to the rotational angle, the frictional force becomes extremely large, making it impossible for the rolling gear 11 to rotate the driving gear 10.

Therefore, when the shelf 1 is stopped, the drive gear 10 and the rolling gear 11
serves as a stopper mechanism, and even when food is placed on the shelf 1, the shelf 1 is held at that position without going down. Furthermore, in this embodiment, the upper roller 3a, the lower roller 3b, and the flat gear 5 are located in the same vertical direction at the back of the frame 2, so that the lifting roller 3a, which has a large load on the shelf 1, is located in the sliding groove 16a. The lower roller 3b makes good contact with the wall on the front side.
comes into stronger contact with the back wall of the sliding groove 16a, and the spur gear 5 engages more strongly with the rack 16b, increasing their rotational frictional force, so that the frame 2 holding the shelf 1 is held in a predetermined position and the shelf 1 is held in place. There is no falling or tilting to the left or right.

When the shelf 1 is pulled out and moved forward as shown in FIG. 8, it is slid on the frame 2 and positioned by the stopper 2g. At this time, even if food is placed on the front part of the shelf 1, the upper flange 2h prevents the rear part of the shelf 1 from flying up. Conversely, when the shelf 1 is pushed in, it hits the rear frame stopper portion 2i (see FIG. 2) and is held in place.

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.

Also, the shelf 1 can be freely pulled out forward.

In this embodiment, the right frame member 2b is the drive shaft 9.
, drive gear 10. The rolling gear 11 is connected to the sliding member 3 by the flanges 2e provided at the upper ends of the left and right frame members 2a and 2b, the gear shaft 4 is connected to the rear frame member 2c, and the flange 2e and the left and right frame members 2as2b are connected to each other.
Since the flat gear 5 is covered with the gears, there is no problem of food hitting the gears and damaging them, and there is also no problem of getting in the way of storing food on the lower shelf. Also sliding groove 16a
The inner rack 16b is formed so that it cannot be seen from the front of the refrigerator, giving it an excellent appearance, and since it is aligned with the rack 16b, the rail 16 can be made more compact. Furthermore, the upper roller 3a
The width of the sliding groove 16a that slides and holds the lower roller 3b is only slightly larger than the outer diameter of the upper roller 3a and the lower roller 3b, and the upper roller 3a and the lower roller 3b are separated vertically and cannot be slid. Since the upper roller 3a is inserted into the sliding groove 16a, even if food is pushed up from the bottom surface of the shelf 1, the upper roller 3a will not move into the sliding groove 16a.
Since the lower roller 3b comes into contact with the wall surface on the front side of the sliding groove 16a, the displacement of the shelf 1 is so small as to cause no problem.

In the above embodiments, the control switch is installed on the outer surface of the frame member on the side where the motor is housed (in this embodiment, the right frame member 2b), but if necessary, the control switch may be installed on the outer surface of the frame member on the opposite side (the right frame member 2b). That is, the left frame member 2a)
or any other suitable location.

In addition, although this embodiment shows a case where a battery is used as the power supply device, the power supply device including the battery may be installed in the frame member on the opposite side of the frame member in which the electric motor is housed. It is also possible to install

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, the refrigerator shelf device of the present invention can move the shelves up and down while keeping them almost horizontal, and the sliding members that move up and down in the sliding grooves can also smoothly move up and down without tilting diagonally. Because it can slide, it does not place a large burden on the electric motor. Therefore, the shelves can be moved by driving an electric motor housed in the frame, and the device for moving the shelves, such as the electric motor, can be made smaller, so that it does not interfere with food storage.

Furthermore, the shelf can be slid on the frame and can be pulled out forward, making it easy to take out food placed at the back of the shelf.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

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 of this embodiment, FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along the line A-A in FIG. 4, and FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional perspective view of the main part of the sliding groove rail part of this embodiment. , FIG. 7 is a sectional view of the right frame member taken along line BB in FIG. 1, and FIG. 8 is a mechanical explanatory diagram of the main parts of the shelf device of this embodiment when viewed from the right side direction. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Shelf, 2a... Left frame member, 2c... Rear frame member, 3... Sliding member, 3b... Lower roller, 5... Spur gear, 7... Electric motor, 9... Drive shaft, 11... Rolling gear, 16... Sliding groove rail, 16b... Rack. 2... Frame, 2b... Right frame member, 2e... Flange, 3a... Upper roller, 4... Gear shaft, 6... Control switch, 8... Power supply device, 10. ...Drive gear, 12...Inside the refrigerator, 16a...Sliding groove, 16a...Browsing shoulder 111+ 4a Fig. 2

Claims (3)

[Claims] (1) A shelf installed inside the refrigerator so that it can be taken in and taken out back and forth, a roughly U-shaped frame that holds this shelf so that it can be slid back and forth, and a left and right side at the back of this roughly U-shaped frame. a sliding member attached near the corner end to hold the frame movably up and down; a gear shaft rotatably attached to the rear frame member of the substantially U-shaped frame; a left frame member of the substantially U-shaped frame fixed to the gear shaft at a position inside the spur gear at either of the left and right ends; or A rolling gear housed in one of the frame members of the right frame member, and a rolling gear housed in the frame member in which the rolling gear is housed and meshing with the rolling gear in a direction substantially perpendicular to the rolling gear. A drive gear for driving, an electric motor for driving the drive gear housed in a frame member on the side where the drive gear is housed, and a drive gear formed in the vertical direction near the left and right corners at the back of the refrigerator. , a sliding groove rail for storing at least a portion of the sliding member and for holding and guiding the frame so as to be able to slide up and down; and the sliding groove rail formed along the inner wall surface of the groove of the sliding groove rail. A refrigerator shelf device consisting of racks that mesh with spur gears on the left and right ends. (2) The shelf device for a refrigerator according to claim (1), wherein a control switch for controlling the drive of the electric motor is installed on the outer surface of the left frame member or the right frame member. (3) Claim (1) or (2) in which the electric motor power supply device is housed in the left frame member or the right frame member.
Refrigerator shelf device as described in any of the above.