JPH07239176A - Hinge device for refrigerator - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve the strength of a door cap by a method wherein a recessed part is formed in the periphery of the axle hole of a door cap and the recessed part is surrounded with a side wall gently inclined rearward from the front wall of the door cap to the rear surface thereof. CONSTITUTION:An axle hole 29 to support a rotary axle 27 of a hinge fitment 11 is formed on one side of a door cap 5 and a recessed part 31 in which the front of the hinge fitment 11 is contained is formed in the periphery of the axle hole 29. The recessed part 31 has four sides surrounded with a front wall 33 having the same height as that of the front of the door cap 5, a side wall 35 continued to the front wall 33 and having height gradually decreased in succession toward the rear, a rear wall 37 connected to the lowermost part of the side wall 35, and an inner side 39 respectively continued to the upper surface and the front and the rear surface of the door cap 5, the front wall 33, and the rear wall 37 and paralleling one side of a hinge cover 25 during closing of a door 3. This constitution improves the strength of the door cap 5.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a hinge device for opening and closing a refrigerator door.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, a rotatable door of a refrigerator is pivoted at the right (or left) side of its upper and lower ends by a pair of upper and lower hinge devices provided on the upper surface and / or front surface of the refrigerator body (insulating box). It is supported and rotatably supported with respect to the refrigerator body. The hinge device located on the lower side of the hinge device can be stored in the gap between the upper and lower doors and is not so conspicuous when viewed from the front of the refrigerator. On the other hand, the hinge device located on the upper side is one that protrudes above the door when viewed from the front of the refrigerator, and a recess is formed on the upper surface of the refrigerator main body so that it does not protrude beyond the door and the right side (or left side) of the door cap. (See Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2-146490) in which a hinge device is housed by forming a recess in the bracket). However, according to this technique, when viewed from the front of the refrigerator, there is a problem that a line that is a boundary between the hinge device and the recess of the door cap is visible.

On the other hand, a technique in which this boundary line is hidden from the front of the refrigerator is described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-297774 (FIGS. 7 and 8). This technique is applied to the upper surface 5A of the door cap 5 of the door 3 of the refrigerator 1 and the hinge device 7
The upper surface 7A is substantially flush with the upper surface 7A, and the boundary between the door cap 5 and the hinge device 7 cannot be seen from the front direction 9 of the door 3. However, when the door cap 5 is rotated along with the rotation of the door 3, the hinge fitting 1 of the hinge device 7 is prevented from contacting the hinge device 7 on the side surface.
1 is formed with a notch groove 13, and this notch groove 13
A part 5B of the door cap 5 can enter the inside. Then, the part 5B of the door cap 5 that penetrates is
The notch step portion 15 is formed. That is, the notch step portion 15
The front portion 17 penetrates into the cut groove 13, and the rear portion 19 of the notch step portion 15 sinks under the hinge fitting 11.

[0004]

However, according to the above-mentioned conventional technique (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-297774), the notch step portion 15 is formed in the door cap 5, which reduces the strength of the door cap 5. Will end up. Further, since the notch groove 13 is formed in the hinge fitting 11 to lower the strength, the flange 21 is provided to improve the strength. Since the notch groove 13 and the flange 21 are required, the hinge fitting 11 has a complicated shape, requires a special processing step, and is apt to waste material removal. The present invention provides a hinge device for a refrigerator that suppresses the strength reduction of the door cap and the hinge fitting so that the hinge cover cannot be seen from the front of the refrigerator, is easy to manufacture, and does not waste the material removal of the hinge fitting. To aim.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, the invention of claim 1 is a hinge fitting attached to an upper surface of a refrigerator main body and having a tip protruding forward from the refrigerator main body, and this hinge fitting. A pivot shaft provided downward on the lower surface of the front end of the door, a hinge cover that covers the hinge fitting, a door cap that is attached to the upper end of the door that opens and closes the front opening, and has a top surface, front and rear surfaces, and left and right side surfaces, and this door cap. In a hinge device that pivotally supports the door to the refrigerator body, the hinge device being provided on either one of the left and right sides of the door cap. On the other hand, a recess is formed around the shaft hole,
This recess is a front wall continuous with the front surface of the door cap,
It is characterized in that it is surrounded by a side wall which is continuous with the front wall and gradually becomes shorter toward the rear, and a rear wall which is continuous with the shortest part of the side wall.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the hinge fitting is planar and has an L-shape, and the tip of the L-shape is directed to the outside in the left or right direction, and the side wall of the door cap is hinged as the door rotates. It is characterized in that it goes under the metal fittings. The invention according to claim 3 is characterized in that the hinge fitting has a triangular shape in a plan view, a tip thereof is directed leftward or rightward, and a side wall of the door cap wraps around the hinge fitting as the door rotates. And The invention of claim 4 is characterized in that the hinge fitting and the hinge cover are integrally molded.

[0007]

According to the invention of claim 1, the side wall of the door cap has no notch step portion, and the front wall to the rear wall is formed with a recess surrounded by a continuous wall which is smoothly inclined rearward by the side wall. The strength of the recessed portion of the door cap is improved.
According to the second and third aspects of the present invention, since the side wall of the door cap wraps under the hinge metal fitting, it is not necessary to provide the hinge metal with a notch groove for avoiding contact with the side wall of the door cap, and the hinge is hinged. There is no reduction in the strength of the metal fittings. According to the invention of claim 4, since the number of parts of the hinge device is reduced, the assembling work of the hinge device and the parts management are facilitated.

[0008]

EXAMPLES Examples of a refrigerator according to the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.
It will be explained based on. 1 is a perspective view of the upper part of the refrigerator, FIG.
Is a perspective view showing an embodiment of the hinge device of the refrigerator of the present invention, FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the hinge device of FIG. 2, and FIG. 4 is a plan view illustrating the position of the hinge device according to the movement of the door. 5 is a perspective view corresponding to FIG. 3 showing a second embodiment of the hinge device, and FIG. 6 is a perspective view corresponding to FIG. 3 showing a third embodiment of the hinge device. The refrigerator 1 includes a refrigerator main body 1A as a heat insulating box body having a front opening, and a plurality of doors that close the opening of the main body 1A. At least the uppermost door 3 is rotatably supported by the pair of upper and lower hinge devices on one of the left and right sides (the right side in front view in this embodiment) with respect to the refrigerator body. Among the upper and lower hinge devices, one embodiment of the upper hinge device is shown in FIGS. 2 to 4.

As shown in FIG. 3, the hinge device 7 is attached to the upper surface of the refrigerator main body 1A having a front opening, and is made of metal hinge metal fitting 11 whose tip projects forward from the refrigerator main body.
A rotary shaft 27 provided downward on the lower surface on the tip side of the hinge fitting 11, a hinge cover 25 made of synthetic resin for covering the hinge fitting 11, and a door 3 for opening and closing the front opening.
And a shaft hole 29 that is attached to the upper end of the door cap 5 and that is formed on either one of the left and right sides (the right side when viewed from the front in the embodiment) of the door cap 5 including the upper and lower surfaces and the left and right side surfaces and that supports the rotating shaft 27.

The hinge 11 has an L-shape in plan view, and the rear side is fixed to the right side of the upper surface of the refrigerator main body by four screws 23 or screws which are fixing members, and the front side (almost front half in FIG. 3). ) Protrudes forward from the front of the refrigerator body. This protruding length may be as long as the sum of the thickness of the door 3 and the thickness of the gasket 41 for sealing. Further, the door 3 is attached so that a part of the door cap 5 protrudes above the upper surface of the refrigerator body 1A, and the front and rear portions of the hinge fitting 11 are flush with each other without a step. The rotation shaft 27 is provided on the lower surface of the L-shaped tip portion. The hinge cover 25 is attached so as to cover the hinge fitting 11 attached to the refrigerator body. On the right side of the door cap 5, there is a pivot shaft 2 of the hinge fitting.
A shaft hole 29 for supporting 7 is formed, and a recess 31 for housing the front part of the hinge fitting 11 is formed around the shaft hole 29.

The recess 31 is at the same height as the front surface of the door cap 5, a front wall 33, a side wall 35 which is continuous with the front wall 33 and gradually becomes shorter toward the rear, and the side wall 35. Back wall 37 continuing to the shortest part of the door, the upper surface of the door cap 5, the front and rear surfaces, the front wall 33 and the rear wall 37.
And the hinge cover 25 when the door 3 is closed.
The four sides are surrounded by an inner side wall 39 that is parallel to the left side surface of the.

In order to cover the front part of the L-shaped hinge fitting 11 deeply and the rear part shallowly, the hinge cover 25 sets the height P of the side surface of the front part of the hinge cover 25 to the rear part. R> P, (P−Q)> S, where R is the height of the front wall 33 of the door cap 5 and S is the height of the rear wall 37. It is preferable. Further, if the height of the point A of the side wall 35 is made substantially equal to the dimension between the lower end of the rear side surface of the hinge cover 25 and the bottom surface of the recess 31 in the state where the door 3 is rotated to the maximum angle. good.

The rotation operation of the door of the first embodiment will be described below with reference to FIG. As the door 3 rotates in the counterclockwise direction, the front wall 33 and the side wall 35 of the recess 31 of the door cap in front of A wrap around to the rear of the tip of the hinge fitting, and the remaining side wall (back of A). Part) goes under into the space below the hinge fitting 11 and the hinge cover 25. As a result, it is possible to avoid contact between the side wall 35, the hinge fitting 11 and the hinge cover 25 before the door is rotated to the maximum angle.

By making the rear side portion of the hinge cover 25 shallow as described above, the rear wall 3 of the door cap 5 is formed.
7 and the rear side portion of the side wall 35 sunk into the lower side of the hinge cover 25 as well as the hinge fitting 11 so that the door cap 5 does not contact the hinge fitting 11 even when the door is opened to the maximum angle. The cut groove of the hinge fitting 11 can be eliminated. In addition, since the hinge metal fitting 11 does not have a cut groove, the strength of the hinge metal fitting 11 is prevented from being reduced, and it is not necessary to provide a reinforcing flange to the hinge metal fitting as in the conventional case. Therefore, there is no waste of material for the metal fittings. Of course, since the hinge fitting is housed in the hinge cover and the front part of the hinge cover is housed in the recess 31 of the door cap, both of them are excellent in design hidden when the door is viewed from the front.

The hinge fitting 11 in the first embodiment described above
Is not limited to the L-shaped shape,
For example, as shown in FIG. 5, the same effect can be obtained even if the hinge fitting 11 has a triangular shape in plan view. That is, the substantially triangular hinge metal fitting 11 has the apex angle on the tip side,
Moreover, the tip side is facing outward to the right. A rotary shaft 27 is provided on the front end side, and the rear end side is fixed to the upper surface of the refrigerator main body with screws 23. A hinge cover 25 having the same shape as this hinge fitting is attached to the hinge fitting. In addition, the recess 31 of the door cap 5 has a substantially triangular shape when the inner side wall 39 is tilted according to the tilt of the left side surface of the hinge fitting 11 and is viewed from above, and the side surface of the hinge cover 25 and this inner side wall 39. And are parallel. Also in this second embodiment, a space can be formed behind the hinge fitting 11 housed in the recess 31 to allow the front portion of the side wall 35 of the door cap 5 to wrap around, and the side wall below the hinge fitting. Since the rear side portion of 35 penetrates, the side wall of the door cap does not come into contact with the hinge fitting when the door 3 is opened to the maximum angle, and it is necessary to form a cut groove for avoiding the contact with the hinge fitting. There is no waste of material for the hinge fittings. In addition, in the second embodiment, since the hinge fitting and the hinge cover can be formed in a bilaterally symmetrical shape, they can be used as common parts for both right-opening and left-opening doors.

On the other hand, in both the first and second embodiments, the hinge fitting and the hinge cover are formed separately and the hinge cover is attached to the hinge fitting. For example, as in the third embodiment shown in FIG. The metal hinge fitting 11 may be integrally formed on the hinge cover made of synthetic resin by insert molding. In this case, the screw holes for fixing to the refrigerator main body 1A must be formed not only in the hinge fitting but also in the hinge cover. By integrating the two parts in this way, the number of parts is reduced, the assembling work becomes easy when assembling the hinge device 7, and the parts management as the hinge device becomes easy.

On the other hand, in the above embodiments, the right-opening door having the hinge device 7 at the right end of the door 3 has been described, but the shape of the left-opening door in which the hinge device is located on the left side of the door is appropriately changed. This is applicable. For example, in the first embodiment, the L-shaped hinge fitting may have a shape in which the tip is directed to the left outside, and in the second embodiment, the fitting may be fixed so that the tip is directed to the left outside. Moreover, the shape of the hinge fitting and the hinge cover is not limited to the L-shape or the triangle, and may be a dogleg shape or an arc shape.

[0018]

According to the invention of claim 1, the side wall of the door cap does not have a notch step portion, and a recess surrounded by a continuous wall inclined rearward smoothly by the side wall from the front wall to the rear wall is formed. When the hinge cover is formed and is formed in the door cap, the strength of the concave portion is improved as compared with the conventional one, and when the hinge cover is housed in the concave portion, the hinge cover is not visible from the front of the door. According to the inventions of claims 2 and 3, since the side wall of the door cap wraps around the lower side of the hinge metal fitting, it is not necessary to provide a cut groove for avoiding contact with the side wall of the door cap in the hinge metal fitting. There is no decrease in strength and there is no waste in material removal for the hinge fitting. Claim 4
According to the invention, since the number of parts of the hinge device is reduced, the assembling work of the hinge device and the parts management are facilitated, and the cost of the hinge device can be reduced.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an upper portion of a refrigerator showing a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of a main part of FIG.

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a plan view showing the operation of FIG.

FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view showing a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view showing a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is an external perspective view showing a hinge device of a conventional refrigerator.

FIG. 8 is a horizontal sectional view showing the operation of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Refrigerator 3 Door 5 Door cap 7 Hinge device 11 Hinge metal fitting 13 Notch groove 15 Notch step 17 Front part 19 Rear part 21 Flange 23 Screw 25 Hinge cover 27 Rotating shaft 29 Shaft hole 31 Recess 33 33 Front wall 35 Side wall 37 Rear wall

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Yoshitaka Ishizaki 2-5-5 Keihan Hon-dori, Moriguchi-shi, Osaka Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Yoshieko Tani 2 Keihan-hondori, Moriguchi-shi, Osaka 5-5-5 Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Takahiro Sugiura 2-5-5 Keihan Hondori, Moriguchi-shi, Osaka Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd.

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A hinge fitting attached to an upper surface of a refrigerator main body having a front opening, a tip of which protrudes forward of the refrigerator main body, a rotating shaft provided downward on a lower end of the tip of the hinge fitting, and the hinge fitting. A hinge cover for covering, a door cap that is attached to the upper end of the door that opens and closes the front opening, and has a top surface, front and rear surfaces, and left and right side surfaces, and a shaft hole that is formed on either the left or right side of the door cap and supports the rotating shaft. In the hinge device pivotally supporting the door on the refrigerator body, a recess is formed on either the left or right of the shaft hole of the door cap and around the shaft hole. Surrounded by a front wall that is continuous with the front surface of the door cap, a side wall that is continuous with the front wall and gradually becomes shorter toward the rear, and a rear wall that is continuous with the shortest part of the side wall. To Refrigerator hinge apparatus according to symptoms. 2. A hinge metal fitting attached to the upper surface of the refrigerator main body having a front opening, the tip of which protrudes forward from the refrigerator main body, a rotary shaft provided downward on the lower surface of the tip of the hinge metal fitting, and the front opening. A door cap that is attached to the upper end of the door that opens and closes and consists of an upper surface, front and back surfaces, and left and right side surfaces,
A hinge device for pivotally supporting the door to the refrigerator body, comprising a shaft hole formed in either one of the right and left sides of the door cap, the shaft hole supporting the pivot shaft. A recess is formed on either one of the left and right sides and around the shaft hole, and the recess is a front wall that is continuous with the front surface of the door cap, and a side wall that is continuous with this front wall and gradually becomes shorter toward the rear. The hinge metal fitting is surrounded by a rear wall that is continuous with the shortest part of the side wall, and the hinge fitting has an L-shape in a plan view, and the tip of the L-shape is directed to the left or right direction outside, and the hinge of the door is rotated. A hinge device for a refrigerator, characterized in that the side wall of the door cap wraps around the hinge fitting as it moves. 3. A hinge fitting attached to the upper surface of the refrigerator main body having a front opening, the tip of which protrudes forward of the refrigerator main body, a rotary shaft provided downward on the lower end of the tip of the hinge fitting, and the front opening. A door cap that is attached to the upper end of the door that opens and closes and consists of an upper surface, front and back surfaces, and left and right side surfaces,
A hinge device for pivotally supporting the door to the refrigerator body, comprising a shaft hole formed in either one of the right and left sides of the door cap, the shaft hole supporting the pivot shaft. A recess is formed on either one of the left and right sides and around the shaft hole, and the recess is a front wall that is continuous with the front surface of the door cap, and a side wall that is continuous with this front wall and gradually becomes shorter toward the rear. Surrounded by the rear wall that is continuous with the shortest part of the side wall, the hinge metal fitting has a triangular shape in a plan view, the tip is directed to the left or right direction outside, and the hinge of the door cap is rotated as the door rotates. A hinge device for a refrigerator characterized in that a side wall goes under the hinge fitting. 4. A hinge fitting attached to an upper surface of a refrigerator main body having a front opening and having a tip protruding forward from the refrigerator main body, a rotary shaft provided downward on a lower end of the tip of the hinge fitting, and the hinge fitting. A hinge cover for covering, a door cap that is attached to the upper end of the door that opens and closes the front opening, and has a top surface, front and rear surfaces, and left and right side surfaces, and a shaft hole that is formed on either the left or right side of the door cap and supports the rotating shaft. In the hinge device pivotally supporting the door on the refrigerator body, a recess is formed on either the left or right of the shaft hole of the door cap and around the shaft hole. Surrounded by a front wall that is continuous with the front surface of the door cap, a side wall that is continuous with the front wall and gradually becomes shorter toward the rear, and a rear wall that is continuous with the shortest part of the side wall, Sai Refrigerator hinge apparatus characterized by being integrally molded with the brackets and hinge cover.