JPH1030877A - Waterproofing mechanism for doors of refrigerators, etc. - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [PROBLEMS] To significantly prevent water leakage from a door by drastically improving the waterproofness of the door, to enable easy and low-cost implementation, and to enable retrofitting. Increase versatility. A water W is prevented from entering below a lower surface of an inner surface 2i of the door 2 while the door 2 is closed.
Cooling room (accommodation room) 3 such as cooling cabinet 1 for water W flowing down i
Is provided. Further, when the door 2 is closed, it is elastically deformed and fills the gaps S... Formed between the end of the water guiding skirt 4 and the inner surface 3i of the cooling chamber 3 to prevent water W from penetrating downward, and Water guiding packings 6x and 6y are provided to guide water W flowing down on the inner surface 2i of the cooling water 2 to the cooling chamber 3.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a waterproof mechanism for a door such as a refrigerator having an accommodation room provided with a door that opens and closes.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A refrigerator for cooling (frozen) foods and the like (see, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 6-307756) prevents the propagation of various bacteria and keeps the inside of the refrigerator constantly clean.
After use or before use, the interior of the refrigerator is cleaned.

[0003] As a conventional cleaning method, a method in which an operator discharges water from a hose connected to a water pipe into a refrigerator and performs manual cleaning is common, but requires labor and insufficient cleaning. Or a problem associated with human work such as inability to wash uniformly.

[0004] For this reason, a cleaning method using a sprinkler is also known in other technical fields. In this method, water is supplied to the water sprinkler and water is sprinkled by the water sprinkler, and washing is performed by changing the water sprinkling direction while rotating the water sprinkler by the water flow. As a result, the washing is performed automatically without manual intervention.

[0005]

Incidentally, the refrigerator has a door that opens and closes, and a door packing is usually attached to the inner surface of the door to seal when the door is closed.

For this reason, when the door is closed, a gap is formed between the inner surface (lining) of the door and the housing of the cooling chamber due to the interposition of the door packing, and a water sprinkler for washing is installed inside the cooling box. In this case, scattered tap water (waste water) accumulates in the gap, and the accumulated waste water falls when the door is opened. Further, there is a problem that the existing structure is insufficient in waterproofness, for example, a part of wastewater leaks even when the door is closed.

[0007] The present invention has solved the problems existing in the prior art as described above. By dramatically improving the waterproofness of the door, it is possible to reliably prevent water from leaking from the door, and furthermore, it is easy and easy to use. An object of the present invention is to provide a waterproofing mechanism for a door such as a cooling box which can be implemented at low cost and can be retrofitted to increase versatility.

[0008]

The present invention relates to a cooling chamber provided with a door 2 which opens and closes, for example, a cooling chamber 3.
When the waterproofing mechanism M for a door such as the cooling cabinet 1 having the door 2 is constructed, the water W is prevented from entering below the inner surface 2i of the door 2 while the door 2 is closed, and the inner surface 2i of the door 2 is closed. A water guiding skirt 4 for guiding water W flowing down to the cooling chamber 3 is provided.

In this case, according to a preferred embodiment, the water guiding skirt 4 is constituted by a plate member 5 attached to the inner surface 2i of the door 2 and projected obliquely downward. Further, when the door 2 is closed, it is elastically deformed and fills the gaps S... Formed between the end of the water guiding skirt 4 and the inner surface 3i of the cooling chamber 3 to prevent water W from penetrating downward, and The water packings 6x and 6y for guiding the water W flowing down on the inner surface 2i of the second 2 to the cooling chamber 3 are provided, and the water packings 6x have an inclined surface 7x on the upper surface. It is desirable that the end of the water guiding skirt 4 and the water guiding packings 6x slightly overlap each other.

Thus, even if the inside of the refrigerator is cleaned by a cleaning sprinkler provided inside the cooling cabinet 1 or the like, the scattered water W is displaced downward due to the presence of the water guiding skirt 4 and the water guiding packings 6x, 6y. Intrusion is prevented, and the water is guided by the water guide skirt 4 and the water guide packings 6x, 6y to reach the cooling chamber 3. As a result, it does not enter the gap between the cooling chamber 3 and the door 2 that exists below the water guiding skirt 4 and the water packings 6x and 6y, and the waterproofness of the door 2 is dramatically improved. In addition, three necessary components that can be retrofitted are sufficient.

[0011]

Next, preferred embodiments according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

First, the structure of the cooling cabinet 1 provided with the door waterproofing mechanism M according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.

The refrigerator 1 has a device housing 10 in which the main part of the refrigerator is disposed, and a cooling unit 11 above the device housing 10. The cooling unit 11 has a cooling chamber 3 provided in the left half and a cooling unit 13 provided in the right half. The front surface of the cooling chamber 3 is opened, and an openable door 2 whose one end is rotatably supported by a hinge is attached to the front surface.

The cooling unit 13 includes a pair of coolers (evaporators) 14f and 14r spaced apart from each other in the front and rear, and an in-compartment fan 15 disposed between the coolers 14f and 14r.
The cooling unit 13 has a heat-insulating shield 16, and the coolers 14 f and 14 r and the internal fan 15
Install. The internal fan 15 includes a pair of upper and lower fan units 15u and 15d.
And 15d are motors 17 mounted on the back side of the heat insulating shield 16.
u, 17d, and sirocco fans 18u, 18d attached to the rotating shafts of the motors 17u, 17d and arranged on the front side of the heat insulating shielding portion 16. By arranging the motors 17u and 17d on the back side of the heat-insulating shielding portion 16 as described above, the waterproofness of the cleaning function unit 20 described later is enhanced, and the heat generated by the motors 17u and 17d is transmitted to the cooling chamber 3. Is avoided. Sirocco fan 1
The ventilation path in the refrigerator due to the rotation of 8u, 18d is as shown by the dotted arrow A in FIG. In the figure, reference numeral 19 denotes a hood that covers the sirocco fans 18u and 18d.

On the other hand, the cooling unit 1 is provided with a cleaning function unit 20. First, a water sprinkler (sprinkler) 22 having a sprinkler port (nozzle) for sprinkling water in all directions and rotating by a water flow is provided on a ceiling 21 inside the cooling cabinet 1. The sprinkler 22 is connected to an outlet port of a three-way valve 24 disposed above the outside of the ceiling 21 via a water pipe 23. A water pipe 25 is connected to one inlet port of the three-way valve 24, and an intake port 26 is connected to the other inlet port of the three-way valve 24. The air inlet 26 has a filter 26f for preventing dust and the like from entering.

Further, the water supply pipe 23 has a branched water supply pipe 2.
The water supply pipe 27 extends vertically below the ceiling 21. Further, a watering pipe 28 is attached to the hood 19. The water sprinkling pipe 28 has a main pipe part 28m arranged in a vertical direction, and a sirocco fan 18 which is bent from the lower end of the main pipe part 28m.
d of the lower sprinkling pipe and the main pipe 2
It consists of an upper sprinkling pipe part 28u that branches off from the middle of 8m and reaches the inside of the sirocco fan 18u. Each sprinkling pipe portion 28u, 28d has a closed tip, has a plurality of sprinkling ports (nozzles) on the lower surface, and is inclined downward at the tip so that tap water does not remain. On the other hand, a large-diameter hopper 28s is provided at the upper end of the main pipe 28m. This hopper 2
8s is disposed below the lower end of the water supply pipe 27,
Accepts tap water supplied by In this case, a slight gap is provided between the lower end of the water supply pipe 27 and the upper end of the main pipe 28m. Thus, the hood 19 can be attached and detached without changing the water supply pipe 27 and the water sprinkling pipe 28.

On the other hand, a drain 31 is provided at the bottom of the cooling chamber 3. The drain unit 31 includes an odor trap unit 32, as shown in FIG. The odor trap portion 32 includes a water storage cup 34 for storing a fixed amount of water, a drainage cylinder 35 provided at the center of the water storage cup 34, and a drainage tube cover 36 that covers the upper side and the upper side of the drainage tube 35. The odor trap section 32 is detachable from the floor surface 33. As a result, a certain amount of wastewater always accumulates in the water storage cup 34, the inside and the outside of the cooling chamber 3 are shut off, and the wastewater overflowing from the water storage cup 34 is discharged through the drain cylinder 35 and the drain pipe 37. .
A check valve 38 is provided at the lower end of the drainage cylinder 35, and the floor surface 33 of the cooling chamber 3 is inclined toward the odor trap 32.

Next, the structure of the waterproofing mechanism M for a door according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.

First, as shown in FIG.
An elastic door packing 41 is attached along the peripheral edge in the vicinity of the peripheral edge. Door packing 41
As shown in FIG. 1, is a tube member having a hollow inside, and a rubber magnet 42 is housed in a pocket 41p provided inside. Thereby, as shown in FIG. 1, when the door 2 is closed, the door packing 41 is attracted to the front end face 3 s of the housing constituting the cooling chamber 3 by the rubber magnet 42, and the space between the door 2 and the cooling chamber 3 is sealed. I do.

On the other hand, a water guiding skirt 4 is mounted below the inner surface 2i of the door 2. The water guiding skirt 4 is, as shown in FIG.
One surface of the plate member 5 bent in an L shape is fixed to the inner surface 2i, and the other surface is configured to project obliquely downward from the inner surface 2i. In this case, the lateral length of the water guiding skirt 4 is
The length that both left and right ends of the water guide skirt 4 are located inside by a predetermined width from the door packings 41 arranged on the left and right is selected, and as shown in FIG. Are provided between the inner surfaces 3i. As shown in FIG. 6, the length of the water guiding skirt 4 protruding from the inner surface 2 i selects a length that can guide the water W flowing down the inner surface 2 i of the door 2 to the cooling chamber 3 with the door 2 closed. .

Further, a pair of water guide packings 6x and 6y are prepared. As shown in FIG. 4, the water guide packing 6x (same for 6y) is integrally formed in an inverted L shape with an elastic material such as foamed rubber, and has an inclined surface 7x on the upper surface. Then, the right-angled surface 8x of the water-conducting packing 6x is cooled by using an adhesive or the like at the lower left end (and the lower right end) of the front end surface 3s of the housing constituting the cooling chamber 3, specifically, as shown in FIG. A horizontal surface is fixed on the left end (and right end) of the drain pan 43 constituting the floor of the chamber 3, and when the door 2 is closed, when the door 2 is closed, between both ends of the water guide skirt 4 and the inner surface 3 i of the cooling chamber 3. The resulting gaps S are filled. In this case, it is desirable that the end of the water guiding skirt 4 and the water guiding packings 6x, 6y slightly overlap each other, so that when the door 2 is closed,
The water guide packings 6x and 6y are pushed by the ends of the water guide skirt 4 and are elastically deformed, so that the waterproofness is enhanced. Reference numeral 44 denotes an auxiliary plate that comes into contact with a part of the water packing 6x.

The above water guide skirt 4 and the pair of water guide packings 6x and 6y constitute a door waterproofing mechanism M.

Next, a method of cleaning the inside of the refrigerator 1 including the function of the waterproofing mechanism M for a door according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings.

Now, while the operation of the cooling cabinet 1 is stopped,
It is assumed that the empty chamber is to be cleaned.

First, the three-way valve 24 is switched to connect the sprinkler 22 and the sprinkler pipe 28 to the water pipe 25. As a result, water is sprinkled from the sprinkler 22, and the inside of the refrigerator is automatically cleaned. In this case, water is sprinkled in all directions from the water spout of the water sprinkler 22, and the water sprinkler 22 is rotated by the water flow, and the water sprinkling direction changes sequentially. In addition, fan 1
Activate 5

On the other hand, tap water is also supplied to the sprinkling pipe 28,
Water is sprinkled inside the sirocco fans 18u and 18d. Thus, the blades in the sirocco fans 18u and 18d are cleaned, and the tap water is cooled by the rotating sirocco fans 18u and 18d.
, And the coolers 14f and 14r are washed. The wastewater remaining in the coolers 14f and 14r is discharged from the coolers 14f and 14r by blowing air from the sirocco fans 18u and 18d. In FIG. 7, a solid arrow W indicates a path of sprinkled water (tap water).

Then, when a preset cleaning time has elapsed, the cleaning is terminated. That is, the water supply is stopped by switching the three-way valve 24, and the sprinkler 22 and the sprinkler pipe 28 are connected to the inlet 2
Connect to 6. In this case, the operation of the internal fan 15 stops.

Next, the refrigerator (not shown) is operated with the internal fan 15 stopped to cool the coolers 14f and 14r. When a preset cooling time has elapsed from the start of the operation of the refrigerator, the internal fan 15 is operated. Thereby, the air in the refrigerator is rapidly cooled, the volume of the air shrinks, and the interior of the refrigerator is reduced in pressure. As a result, the intake port 26
The outside air is forcibly sucked in, the remaining tap water inside the sprinkler 22 and the sprinkler pipe 28 is reliably discharged, and freezing during use of the cooling cabinet 1 is prevented. At this time, the drainage unit 31
In this case, since the check valve 38 closes the drain cylinder 35,
The intake of the outside air from 1 is prevented.

On the other hand, if a preset decompression time has elapsed after the operation of the in-compartment fan 15, the operation of the refrigerator is stopped. In addition, ozone is supplied from an ozone generator (not shown) into the storage, and sterilization and deodorization in the storage are performed. Then, when a preset sterilization time has elapsed, the supply of ozone is stopped and the operation of the internal fan 15 is stopped. Thus, a series of cleaning steps is completed.

By the way, at the time of washing, tap water (water W) sprinkled from the sprinkler 22 and the sprinkler pipe 28 scatters throughout the inside of the refrigerator, and the water W scattered on the inner surface 2i of the door 2 is
It flows down along the inner surface 2i.

However, the water guiding skirt 4 and the water guiding packings 6x and 6y are present below the inner surface 2i.
As shown in FIG. 7, the elastic deformation due to the synergistic action of the projecting lining on the inner surface 2i of the door 2 and the auxiliary plate 44,
In order to completely fill the gap S between the both ends of the water guide skirt 4 and the inner surfaces 3i of the cooling chamber 3 in contact with the door packing 41, the scattered water W is moved downward by the water guide skirt 4 and the water guide packings 6x, 6y. The water W flowing down the inner surface 2i of the door 2 is guided by the water guiding skirt 4 and the inclined surfaces 7x of the water guiding packings 6x to reach the cooling chamber 3. In FIG. 1, the imaginary line 6xs indicates the shape of the water-guiding packing before deformation. Therefore, the waterproofness of the door 2 is greatly improved, and water leakage from the door 2 is reliably prevented.

The embodiment has been described in detail above.
The present invention is not limited to such an embodiment.
For example, although a cooling cabinet is illustrated, the present invention can be similarly applied to other similar products such as a warm storage cabinet and a storage cabinet. If necessary, the water-guiding skirt can be used alone, or the water-guiding skirt may be formed integrally with the inner surface of the door. Other details, shape, quantity,
The material can be arbitrarily changed without departing from the gist of the present invention.

[0033]

As described above, the waterproofing mechanism for a door of a refrigerator or the like according to the present invention prevents water from entering downward at the lower part of the inner surface of the door while the door is closed, and the inner surface of the door. A skirt that guides the water that flows down into the cooling room (storage room) such as a cooler, and elastically deforms when the door is closed to fill the gap between the end of the skirt and the inner surface of the cooling chamber Thus, since the water guiding packing is provided to prevent water from entering downward and to guide water flowing down on the inner surface of the door to the cooling chamber, the following remarkable effects are obtained.

[0034] The waterproofness of the door is dramatically improved, and in particular, it is possible to reliably prevent water leakage from the door at the time of cleaning the inside of the refrigerator.

Since only a small number of parts are required, it can be implemented easily and at low cost, and since it can be retrofitted, it is excellent in versatility.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing a part of a waterproofing mechanism for a door according to the present invention as viewed from a plane direction,

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a part of the door waterproofing mechanism;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the door provided with the door waterproofing mechanism as viewed from an inner surface direction.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a water guide used for the door waterproofing mechanism.

FIG. 5 is a front view in which a part of the cooling box is cut off,

FIG. 6 is a side view in which a part of the refrigerator is opened,

FIG. 7 is a principle plan view of the cooling box,

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view showing a drainage part of the refrigerator,

FIG. 9 is an external perspective view of the refrigerator,

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Cooling cabinet 2 Door 2i Door inner surface 3 Cooling room (accommodation room) 3i Cooling room inner surface 4 Water guiding skirt 5 Plate member 6x ... Water guiding packing 7x ... Inclined surface M Waterproof mechanism for door W Water

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A waterproofing mechanism for a door such as a refrigerator having a storage room provided with a door that opens and closes, wherein:
A waterproof mechanism for a door of a refrigerator or the like, wherein a water guiding skirt is provided for preventing water from entering downward when the door is closed and guiding water flowing down the inner surface of the door to the storage chamber. 2. The waterproofing mechanism for a door of a refrigerator or the like according to claim 1, wherein said water guide skirt is formed of a plate member attached to an inner surface of said door and projected obliquely downward. 3. When the door is closed, it is elastically deformed and fills a gap formed between an end of the water guiding skirt and an inner surface of the storage chamber, thereby preventing water from entering downward and the door. 2. A waterproofing mechanism for a door of a cooling cabinet or the like according to claim 1, further comprising a water-conducting gasket for guiding water flowing down an inner surface of the cooling chamber to the cooling chamber. 4. The waterproofing mechanism for a door of a refrigerator or the like according to claim 3, wherein the water guide packing has an inclined surface on an upper surface. 5. The waterproofing mechanism for a door of a refrigerator or the like according to claim 3, wherein the end of the water guide skirt and the water guide packing slightly overlap each other.