Transmitting door device for refrigerator

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD [Detailed description of the invention]

【0001】

[Industrial application field]

The present invention relates to a refrigerator door, and more particularly to a refrigerator transmissive door device having a structure capable of directly visually observing the inside of the refrigerator without opening the door.

【0002】

[Conventional technology]

Conventional refrigerators are made of opaque material for both the housing and door. Therefore, the only way to directly visually check the items stored in the refrigerator is to open the door and look inside each time. On the other hand, in recent years, as the size of refrigerators has increased, the amount of storage thereof has also increased, and along with this, it tends to take a lot of time to find the target storage items in the refrigerator. For this reason, the refrigerator door tends to be left open for a long time.

【0003】

Here, the cooling capacity of the refrigerator is greatly affected by the number of times the door is opened and closed and the opening time. If these increase, the cooling capacity thereof will be significantly reduced, and it may be difficult to store the quality of the stored article in an appropriate state. Furthermore, the power consumption also greatly depends on the number of times the door is opened and closed and the time thereof. For example, opening and closing the door 50 times a day will increase power consumption by about 15 percent. This is known from the experimental results of refrigerator manufacturers. However, such experimental results are values assuming that the opening and closing time of one door is extremely short. Therefore, it is clear that the longer the door opening time is for searching for the desired article, the greater the increase in power consumption.

【0004】

Such a decrease in cooling capacity and an increase in power consumption due to the opening and closing of the door are particularly remarkable in a freezer used for storing frozen foods having a significant temperature difference between the inside of the refrigerator and the outside air.

【0005】

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention]

In order to avoid such an adverse effect, it is conceivable that a part of the door is made of a transparent material so that the inside can be visually observed without opening the door. However, such a refrigerator is unsuitable for storing articles that dislike light during storage. Therefore, a refrigerator having such a structure is not versatile because it is limited to a very small part of use such as for soft drinks.

【0006】

Therefore, conventionally, there is no other way but to reduce the number of times the door is opened and closed and the opening time. In order to do this, it is necessary to always put a list of the currently stored items on the door and add the contents one by one when taking in and out the items. However, such a method requires a great deal of labor and patience and cannot be expected to be generally performed.

【0007】

As described above, conventionally, no effective means for preventing the temperature inside the refrigerator from rising due to the opening and closing of the refrigerator door and the accompanying increase in power consumption has been proposed. In view of this point, an object of the present invention is to realize a refrigerator door device capable of reducing the number of times the refrigerator door is opened and closed and the opening time.

【0008】

[Means for solving problems]

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention employs a configuration in which at least a part of the refrigerator door is formed of liquid crystal dimming glass and a voltage is applied to the liquid crystal dimming glass by a voltage applying means. .. This liquid crystal dimming glass has a structure in which a liquid crystal layer is sandwiched between transparent electrodes, and the light transmittance can be changed by applying a constant voltage between the transparent electrodes.

【0009】

Here, in the door portion formed of the liquid crystal dimming glass, at least one more transparent lining material and the liquid crystal dimming glass are arranged at intervals from the viewpoint of heat insulation, and at least one layer is arranged between them. It is preferable to form an airtight hollow layer. From the viewpoint of strength, it is preferable to install a door reinforcing material in the hollow layer to secure the strength of this portion. Further, in order to enhance the heat insulating effect of the hollow layer, it is preferable to reduce the pressure in this portion or to enclose a fluid such as a gas or a liquid having high heat insulating properties therein.

【0010】

On the other hand, the above-mentioned voltage applying means has a configuration provided with a switch for controlling the supply and stop of the voltage to the liquid crystal dimming glass, and the voltage application is controlled by opening and closing this switch to control the liquid crystal dimming. It is desirable to switch the glass between opaque and transparent as needed. Further, it is desirable that the lighting fixture in the refrigerator is turned on when the liquid crystal dimming glass becomes transparent. Furthermore, it is desirable to incorporate a timer function to prevent the liquid crystal dimming glass from being unnecessarily left in a transparent state.

【0011】

Furthermore, it is preferable to install a reflector at a position in the refrigerator that can be seen from the outside through the liquid crystal dimming glass so that the entire inside can be easily seen.

【0012】

Next, from an aesthetic point of view, it is desirable to cover the liquid crystal dimming glass portion with an outer door made of the same material as the surrounding refrigerator wall material. In such a case, it is convenient to control the supply and stop of the voltage to the liquid crystal dimming glass according to the opening and closing of the outer door.

【0013】

[Action]

When it is desired to visually check the inside of the refrigerator from the outside, a voltage is applied to the liquid crystal dimming glass by the voltage applying means. As a result, the transmittance of the liquid crystal dimming glass changes, the state is switched from the opaque state (light-shielding state) to the transparent state, and the inside of the refrigerator can be visually observed through this transparent portion. After checking the inside, the supply of voltage to the liquid crystal dimming glass is stopped. As a result, the portion of the liquid crystal dimming glass returns to an opaque state. Therefore, since the inside can be visually observed without opening the door, the position of the article stored inside can be known through this part, and the target article can be taken out immediately when the door is actually opened. Opening time is reduced. In addition, the presence or absence of the target object can be confirmed by visually observing the inside. Therefore, it is not necessary to open the door to confirm the presence or absence of the target object, and the number of times the door is opened and closed and the opening time are reduced accordingly.

【0014】

[Example]

Hereinafter, examples of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

【0015】

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the upper half of the refrigerator of this example. As shown in the figure, in the refrigerator 1 of this example, the door 2 for the freezing room is attached to the upper side in the front surface thereof, and the door 3 for the normal refrigerating room is attached to the lower side thereof. A rectangular window 4 is incorporated in the door 2 for the freezing room. A switch 5 is attached to the lower part of the door 2. This switch 5 is for switching the window 4 between the opaque state shown in the figure and the transparent state shown in FIG. It is desirable that the switch 4 in this example is a non-contact type or touch sensor type switch.

【0016】

FIG. 3 shows the cross-sectional configuration of the window 4 of the door 2. As shown in this figure, grooves 23 and 24 having a rectangular cross section are formed on the inner peripheral wall 22 of the frame 21 of the door 2 at positions close to the outside and the inside, respectively. A packing 25 is attached to the outer groove 23 by an adhesive such as double-sided adhesive tape, and a liquid crystal dimming glass 41 is fitted and fixed therein in an airtight state. Similarly, a packing 26 is also attached to the inner groove 24, and a transparent lining material 42 is fitted and fixed therein in an airtight state. The inner peripheral wall 22 of the frame 21 and the liquid crystal dimming glass 41 and the lining material 42 form an airtight hollow portion 43. Air is sealed in the hollow portion 43 to form a hollow layer 43a, and the hollow layer 43a functions as a heat insulating layer for cushioning the difference between the outside air temperature and the freezing room temperature. A magnetic rubber 28 is attached to the inner side wall 27 of the frame 21, and a suction force that attracts the door 2 to the main body side by a magnetic force acts.

【0017】

Next, the drive system of the liquid crystal dimming glass 41 will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in the figure, the liquid crystal dimming glass 41 is composed of transparent electrode plates 41a and 41b and a liquid crystal layer 41c sandwiched between them. These transparent electrode plates are connected to the power supply 6 via the switch 5. Reference numeral 7 denotes a dimming glass drive circuit, which controls the state of the liquid crystal dimming glass 4. A timer 8 is connected to the dimming glass drive circuit 7. Further, in this example, the illumination lamp 10 for illuminating the freezing chamber is connected to the voltage supply path 9 for the liquid crystal dimming glass 41. The wiring cable for forming the voltage supply path 9 can be routed toward the dimming glass drive circuit 7 arranged in the refrigerator main body through, for example, the connecting pipe in the hinge of the door.

【0018】

Next, the operation of the door 2 of this example configured in this way will be described. Switch 5 is normally open. In this state, the dimming glass drive circuit 7 and the liquid crystal dimming glass 41 are in an inactive state because power is not supplied from the power source 6. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 1, the liquid crystal dimming glass 4 is in an opaque state, that is, in a light-shielded state, and the freezing chamber cannot be visually observed from the outside through the window 4. Similarly, no power is supplied to the lighting lamp 10 arranged in the freezing room, and the lamp is in the extinguished state.

【0019】

When the switch 5 is closed in this state, the power supply path 9 from the power supply 6 to the liquid crystal dimming glass 41 is formed, and a voltage is applied between the transparent electrode plates of the liquid crystal dimming glass 41. As a result, the liquid crystal dimming glass 41 transitions from the light-shielded state to the transparent state. The time for this transition is a very short time of about one-hundredth of a second. As a result, the window 4 becomes transparent as shown in FIG. 2, and the freezing chamber can be visually observed from the outside through the window 4. At the same time, since electric power is also supplied to the lamp 10, this is turned on and the freezing room becomes bright. Therefore, the freezing room can be easily seen from the outside. In this way, by turning on the switch 5, the freezing chamber can be visually observed from the outside through the window 4 which has been switched to the transparent state without opening the door 2 itself.

【0020】

Here, the operation when the window 4 is left in the transparent state in this way will be described. In this case, under the control of the dimming glass drive circuit 7, the time after switching to the transparent state by the timer 8 is counted. When this count reaches a preset value (for example, when 10 seconds are counted), the dimming glass drive circuit 7 operates to forcibly turn off the switch 5. After this, the window returns to the light-shielded state shown in FIG. 1, and the illumination lamp 10 is also turned off.

【0021】

As described above, in the door 2 of this example, a window 4 having a liquid crystal dimming glass 41 is configured, and the state of the glass 41 is composed of a switch 5, a power supply 6, and a dimming glass drive circuit 7. It is controlled by a voltage applying means.

【0022】

Therefore, according to this example, it is not necessary to open the door 2 to check the freezing room, and it is only necessary to switch the window 4 to transparent. For example, keep the door 2 closed to check how many more beers are cold, how many eggs are left, or what kind of frozen foods are currently in stock. be able to. Therefore, the number of times the door 2 is opened and closed can be reduced. Further, by checking the inside through the window 4 in this way, the position of the target preserved object can be confirmed, so that the opening time of the door 2 is shortened. As described above, according to this example, since the number of times the door is opened and closed and the opening time can be reduced, it is possible to minimize the decrease in refrigerating capacity and the increase in power consumption caused by the opening and closing of the door. become.

【0023】

Further, since the window 4 of the door is normally in an opaque state, the stored items stored in the freezer cannot be seen from the outside through the window 4. Therefore, especially when the articles are randomly stored in the freezer, they cannot be seen, which is preferable from the viewpoint of appearance.

【0024】

Further, in this example, even if the switch 5 is forgotten to be turned off, the switch is automatically turned off after a certain period of time, so that it is possible to avoid leaving the window in a transparent state unnecessarily. Furthermore, in this example, since the hollow layer 43a is formed in the window 4, the heat insulating property is not impaired in this window portion.

【0025】

Here, as the switch 5, a non-contact type switch can be adopted as described above. As a switch of this type, there are a photo switch that performs a switching operation by blocking light, a switch that detects a change in a physical quantity such as sound pressure, and the like. It is also possible to adopt a touch sensor type switch that performs a switching operation according to a change in capacitance. Furthermore, it goes without saying that a contact type switch may be used.

【0026】

Next, in order to enhance the heat insulating effect of the hollow layer 43a, a plurality of transparent lining materials may be arranged to form a multilayer structure having a plurality of hollow layers. Alternatively, the internal air pressure may be made lower than the external air pressure by removing the air inside the hollow layer 43a. Alternatively, a configuration in which a gas or liquid having high heat insulating properties is sealed may be adopted. It is desirable to reinforce the portion of the window 4 by arranging a reinforcing member such as a crosspiece in the hollow layer 43a.

【0027】

On the other hand, in the above example, the open area of the window 4 limits the visible region that can be directly seen from the outside. In order to remove this restriction, it is desirable to install a reflector in the freezing room so that parts that cannot be seen directly can be seen through the reflector. FIG. 5 shows an example of such a reflector. The reflector 12 shown in the figure is a wide-angle reflector, and is composed of a mirror body 12a and a clip portion 12b for attaching the mirror body 12a to a shelf board 13 or the like in a freezing room. Of course, a reflector having a structure other than this may be used.

【0028】

[Effect of the invention]

As described above, according to the present invention, the following effects are obtained.

【0029】

According to the apparatus of claim 1, since it is not necessary to open the door to check the article in the refrigerator, the opening and closing of the door is limited to the case of storing and collecting the article, and as a result, the number of times of opening and closing is reduced and the number of times of opening and closing is reduced. The opening and closing time of the door is also shortened in order to eliminate the wasted time of starting to search for the target object with the door open. As a result, the temperature rise in the refrigerator caused by the opening and closing of the door can be minimized, and as a result, the power consumption can be suppressed and the refrigerator can be operated economically.

【0030】

According to the device of claim 2, it is possible to avoid a decrease in the heat insulating effect of the door due to the arrangement of the dimming glass. Therefore, it is suitable for use in a freezer having a large difference from the outside air temperature.

【0031】

According to the device of claim 3, the structure is strong against the impact and bending moment generated when the door is opened and closed, and the window having the dimming glass can be arranged for a larger product.

【0032】

According to the devices of claims 4 and 5, the heat insulating effect of the window portion in which the dimming glass is arranged can be enhanced.

【0033】

According to the device of claim 6, since the lighting fixture in the refrigerator is turned on when the dimming glass is made transparent, there is an advantage that the inside becomes bright and can be easily seen.

【0034】

According to the device of claim 7, the operation of turning off the switch becomes unnecessary, and the operability is improved.

【0035】

According to the device of claim 8, there is an advantage that the blind spot in the refrigerator, which cannot be directly seen through the dimming glass, can be eliminated.

【0036】

According to the apparatus of claim 9, by covering the front surface of the dimming glass with an outer door made of the same material as the exterior material of the refrigerator body, the color of the dimming glass with the exterior material of the refrigerator body when the dimming glass is in a light-shielded state. The effect of eliminating the imbalance caused by the difference in materials can be obtained. Further, if the dimming glass is driven in conjunction with the opening and closing of the outer door, there is an advantage that the driving operability of the dimming glass is improved.

[Simple explanation of drawings]

[Figure 1]

It is a perspective view which shows the upper half part of the refrigerator which attached the transmissive door of this invention.

[Figure 2]

It is a perspective view which shows the state after the transmissive door of FIG. 1 shifts to a transparent state.

[Fig. 3]

It is a partial cross-sectional view which shows the part cut by the line III-III of FIG.

[Fig. 4]

It is a schematic block diagram which shows the drive system of the transmission type door of FIG.

[Fig. 5]

It is a perspective view which shows the example of the reflector which can be installed in the refrigerator of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Refrigerator 2 ... Door 4 ... window 5 Switch 6 Power supply 7 Dimming glass drive circuit 8 Timer 9 Power supply path 10 Lighting lamp 12 Reflector 41 Liquid crystal dimming glass 41a, 41b Transparent electrode plate 41c Liquid crystal layer 43a Hollow layer