EP2735827A1 - Refrigerator - Google Patents
Refrigerator Download PDFInfo
- Publication number
- EP2735827A1 EP2735827A1 EP12816996.8A EP12816996A EP2735827A1 EP 2735827 A1 EP2735827 A1 EP 2735827A1 EP 12816996 A EP12816996 A EP 12816996A EP 2735827 A1 EP2735827 A1 EP 2735827A1
- Authority
- EP
- European Patent Office
- Prior art keywords
- door
- heat insulation
- compressor
- insulation box
- compartment
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Granted
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Classifications
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- F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
- F25—REFRIGERATION OR COOLING; COMBINED HEATING AND REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS; HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS; MANUFACTURE OR STORAGE OF ICE; LIQUEFACTION SOLIDIFICATION OF GASES
- F25D—REFRIGERATORS; COLD ROOMS; ICE-BOXES; COOLING OR FREEZING APPARATUS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- F25D23/00—General constructional features
- F25D23/006—General constructional features for mounting refrigerating machinery components
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- F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
- F25—REFRIGERATION OR COOLING; COMBINED HEATING AND REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS; HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS; MANUFACTURE OR STORAGE OF ICE; LIQUEFACTION SOLIDIFICATION OF GASES
- F25D—REFRIGERATORS; COLD ROOMS; ICE-BOXES; COOLING OR FREEZING APPARATUS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- F25D23/00—General constructional features
- F25D23/02—Doors; Covers
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- F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
- F25—REFRIGERATION OR COOLING; COMBINED HEATING AND REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS; HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS; MANUFACTURE OR STORAGE OF ICE; LIQUEFACTION SOLIDIFICATION OF GASES
- F25B—REFRIGERATION MACHINES, PLANTS OR SYSTEMS; COMBINED HEATING AND REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS; HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS
- F25B2500/00—Problems to be solved
- F25B2500/13—Vibrations
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- F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
- F25—REFRIGERATION OR COOLING; COMBINED HEATING AND REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS; HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS; MANUFACTURE OR STORAGE OF ICE; LIQUEFACTION SOLIDIFICATION OF GASES
- F25B—REFRIGERATION MACHINES, PLANTS OR SYSTEMS; COMBINED HEATING AND REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS; HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS
- F25B2600/00—Control issues
- F25B2600/02—Compressor control
- F25B2600/021—Inverters therefor
Definitions
- the present invention relates to a refrigerator, and more particularly, to structures of a heat insulation box, a door, and the like of the refrigerator.
- a concave portion is provided in a back portion of an uppermost portion of the storage compartment of a heat insulation box, and constituent devices of a refrigeration cycle are stored in the concave portion (e.g., see PTL 1).
- FIG. 7 is a sectional side view showing a structure of conventional refrigerator 180.
- Refrigerator 180 includes outer box 102 forming an outer wall of heat insulation box 101, inner box 103 forming a refrigerator inner wall of heat insulation box 101, and urethane heat insulation material 104 which is foamed and charged between outer box 102 and inner box 103.
- Refrigerator 180 includes refrigerating compartment 105, freezing compartment 106, and vegetable compartment 107 in this order from above, and refrigerating compartment pivoted door 108 is provided at an opening of a front surface of refrigerating compartment 105.
- Freezing compartment 106 and vegetable compartment 107 located lower than a central portion of heat insulation box 101 are respectively provided with freezing compartment drawer door 109 and vegetable compartment drawer door 112 in consideration of storage properties and usability.
- Freezing compartment drawer door 109 and vegetable compartment drawer door 112 are drawer-type doors from which items can be easily taken out.
- Heat insulation box 101 is provided with concave portion 120.
- Concave portion 120 is provided by denting a top surface and a back portion extending from outer box upper surface 121 to outer box back surface 122 such that a back portion of refrigerating compartment 105 is lowered.
- concave portion 120 As viewed from front, left and right sides of concave portion 120 are closed with left and right walls of heat insulation box 101, but the left and right sides are opened upward and backward.
- the opened portion of concave portion 120 is covered with concave portion cover 125 which is formed from upper plate 123 and back plate 124 which is substantially perpendicular to upper plate 123.
- Concave portion cover 125 is detachably fixed to heat insulation box 101 by screws or the like.
- Compressor 131 and condenser 132 configure the refrigeration cycle.
- Compressor 131 and condenser 132 are disposed so as to be housed inside concave portion 120 together with machine compartment fan 133, and are covered with concave portion cover 125.
- Upper plate 123 and back plate 124 of concave portion cover 125 are provided with a plurality of ventilation holes 134 for dissipating heat.
- Evaporator 135 serving as a device which configures the refrigeration cycle is disposed on a back portion of freezing compartment 106 together with cooling fan 136.
- vegetable compartment 107 which is a lowermost storage compartment has a larger depth than other storage compartments.
- compressor 131, condenser 132, and the like are housed in an upper portion of a back surface of heat insulation box 101. Accordingly, as compared with a case where compressor 131 and condenser 132 are housed in a lower portion of the back surface of heat insulation box 101, a larger capacity of vegetable compartment 107 can be secured, and vegetable compartment 107 can be made to have a larger depth. Even if a high pressure device is disposed on an upper portion of heat insulation box 101, it is possible to lower a barycenter of the entire heat insulation box 101 to stabilize heat insulation box 101 by increasing a storage weight in vegetable compartment 107 which is the lowermost storage compartment.
- compressor 131 which is one of vibration-generating sources of refrigerator 180 is provided on the uppermost portion of the heat insulation box. Accordingly, there is a problem that refrigerating compartment pivoted door 108, which is the uppermost door that is most frequently used, is likely to be vibrated by vibration of compressor 131.
- compressor 131 is provided in a lower portion of heat insulation box 101, since the uppermost door disposed at an uppermost position is located higher than the other doors, there is a problem that the uppermost door is likely to swing. If compressor 131 is disposed in an upper portion of heat insulation box 101, there is a possibility that vibration of refrigerating compartment pivoted door 108 remarkably appears as compared with a case where compressor 131 is disposed in a lower portion of heat insulation box 101.
- the present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and provides a refrigerator capable of suppressing vibration of a door against vibration of a compressor without adding an anti-vibration member, and capable of preventing resonance.
- a refrigerator of the present invention includes a heat insulation box having a heat-insulated and defined storage compartment, a door which closes the storage compartment, and a compressor.
- the door is configured such that a natural frequency of the door per unit time is lower than a lowest frequency at which the compressor is operated.
- the refrigerator of the present invention it is possible to suppress vibration of the door against vibration of the compressor without having to add an anti-vibration member, and prevent resonance.
- FIG. 1 is a front view of refrigerator 10 according to a first embodiment of the present invention
- FIG. 2 is a side sectional view showing an internal structure of refrigerator 10
- FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of heat insulation box 51 of refrigerator 10.
- Refrigerator 10 includes heat insulation box 51 having a heat-insulated and defined storage compartment, a door which closes the storage compartment, and compressor 80.
- the doors are configured such that a natural frequency per unit time is lower than a lowest frequency at which compressor 80 is operated.
- Refrigerator 10 includes heat insulation box 51 in refrigerator body 50.
- Heat insulation box 51 includes inner box 52 made of resin, outer box 53 made of a metal magnetic material such as a steel plate, and a heat insulation wall formed by charging heat insulation material 54 between inner box 52 and outer box 53.
- Heat insulation box 51 includes front surface opening 51a.
- a plurality of heat-insulated and partitioned storage compartments, i.e., refrigerating compartment 56 and freezing compartment 57 are formed in this order from above by partition wall 55.
- Refrigerating compartment 56 is cooled and held within a cooling temperature range
- freezing compartment 57 is cooled and held within a freezing temperature range.
- inner box 52 is configured by upper inner box 52a and lower inner box 52b.
- Upper inner box 52a integrally forms upper, lower, left, right, and far surfaces in refrigerating compartment 56, a front surface of upper inner box 52a is opened, and upper inner box 52a is formed into a substantially box-shape.
- Lower inner box 52b integrally forms upper, lower, left, right, and far surfaces of freezing compartment 57, a front surface of lower inner box 52b is opened, and lower inner box 52b is formed into a substantially box-shape.
- partition wall 55 is configured by a lower surface of upper inner box 52a, an upper surface of lower inner box 52b, and partition plate 55a.
- Partition plate 55a is provided at a front surface of partition wall 55, and is made of a metal magnetic material such as a steel plate.
- Heat insulation material 54 of heat insulation box 51 is integrally foamed and charged into an internal space of partition wall 55.
- Partition plate 55a is provided at the same position as a frontmost surface of outer box 53 in a longitudinal direction of heat insulation box 51, and forms a part of front surface opening 51a.
- Refrigerating compartment 56 and freezing compartment 57 are respectively provided with refrigerating compartment door 56a and freezing compartment door 57a (storage compartment doors) which close front surface opening 51a when the doors are closed.
- right upper and lower ends of refrigerating compartment door 56a and freezing compartment door 57a as viewed from front are turnably connected to heat insulation box 51 by upper hinge 60, middle hinge 61, and lower hinge 62, each having a rotation axis.
- Upper hinge 60 is mounted on an upper end of heat insulation box 51
- lower hinge 62 is mounted on a lower end of heat insulation box 51
- middle hinge 61 is mounted on partition plate 55a.
- each of the storage compartment doors is mounted such that a surface thereof on the side of heat insulation box 51 has space 63 of about 5 mm in the longitudinal direction between the storage compartment door and front surface opening 51a when the door is closed.
- gaskets 64 having magnets are disposed on four upper, lower, left, and right sides of a surface of the storage compartment door on the side of heat insulation box 51. Gasket 64 can be attracted to front surface opening 51a, and brought into close contact with front surface opening 51a by a magnetic force of gasket 64. Therefore, it is possible to substantially hermetically seal the storage compartment.
- Gasket 64 is a hollow elastic member made of a soft material such as rubber. Hence, even if a distance of space 63 in the longitudinal direction is slightly varied, it is possible to seal and hold the storage compartment by expansion and contraction of gasket 64 and attracting and holding force of the magnet.
- sizes of refrigerating compartment door 56a and freezing compartment door 57a are equal to each other in a width direction of heat insulation box 51.
- a height of refrigerating compartment 56 is higher than that of freezing compartment 57. That is, an area of refrigerating compartment door 56a which is the uppermost door is larger than that of freezing compartment door 57a.
- refrigerating compartment door 56a and freezing compartment door 57a are heat insulation walls into which heat insulation materials are charged. Although freezing compartment door 57a is thicker than refrigerating compartment door 56a, refrigerating compartment door 56a is heavier than freezing compartment door 57a.
- a surface of refrigerating compartment door 56a on the side of refrigerating compartment 56 is provided with a plurality of door shelves in which storage items can be stored. More specifically, small article shelf 70 for storing small articles such as seasoning material, beverage shelf 71 for storing beverage can, and bottle shelf 72 for storing large beverage such as PET bottles are disposed in this order from above at appropriate distances from one another in the vertical direction.
- Refrigerator 10 is configured such that a natural frequency per unit time including a door shelf of refrigerating compartment door 56a (hereinafter, also simply referred to as natural frequency) becomes 33 Hz.
- freezing compartment door 57a does not have a door shelf, and a natural frequency of freezing compartment door 57a is 40 Hz.
- Heat insulation box 51 has a refrigeration cycle which cools and holds each of the storage compartments at a predetermined temperature, and compressor 80 forms a part of the refrigeration cycle.
- Compressor 80 is a reciprocating-type compressor in which a piston reciprocates in a cylinder to compress a refrigerant.
- a refrigerant of the refrigeration cycle including compressor 80 it is possible to use a hydrocarbon-based refrigerant, e.g., isobutane.
- compressor 80 is operated in such a manner that it is inverter-controlled to switch operation frequency of compressor 80 into a plurality of levels by controller 90. Controller 90 controls operation of compressor 80.
- the lowest frequency at which compressor 80 is operated is set to 35 Hz, which is lower than a household power supply frequency (50 Hz).
- Compressor 80 and controller 90 are disposed in machine compartment 100.
- Machine compartment 100 is provided in lower concave portion 51b on a far side of a lower portion of heat insulation box 51.
- compressor 80 and the hinges of the storage room doors are provided on the same side in a lateral direction of heat insulation box 51 as viewed from front (right side in the example in FIG. 1 , but the present invention is not limited to this example, and it is only necessary that compressor 80 and the hinges are provided on the same side).
- controller 90 controls to switch from a plurality of levels so that the operation frequency of compressor 80 becomes an optimal value in accordance with situations of the storage compartments. Controller 90 controls the operation of compressor 80 such that an amount of consumed power of refrigerator body 50 becomes low.
- controller 90 operates compressor 80 at a maximum frequency. Thereafter, the temperature in the storage compartment is gradually reduced, controller 90 switches the operation frequency of compressor 80 to a lower level and eventually, controller 90 operates compressor 80 at 35 Hz which is the lowest operation frequency.
- the user can open refrigerating compartment door 56a and freely take storage items in and out from the door shelf. If an amount of storage items stored in the door shelf increases, the natural frequency of entire refrigerating compartment door 56a is continuously changed to a lower direction. On the other hand, if the amount of storage items stored in the door shelf is reduced, the natural frequency of entire refrigerating compartment door 56a is continuously changed to a high direction. However, since a natural frequency in a state where the storage items are not stored in the door shelf is 33 Hz, the natural frequency of entire refrigerating compartment door 56a does not reach 35 Hz, which is the lowest frequency of compressor 80.
- a natural frequency of freezing compartment door 57a becomes greater than that of refrigerating compartment door 56a.
- the natural frequency of freezing compartment door 57a is 40 Hz, which is greater than 35 Hz that is the lowest frequency of compressor 80.
- controller 90 operates compressor 80 at 40 Hz.
- the lowest frequency when compressor 80 is operated is 35 Hz.
- the present invention is not limited to this example. If the operation frequency of compressor 80 is set to a lower value, it is possible to further reduce an amount of consumed power of refrigerator body 50.
- the lowest frequency when compressor 80 is operated can be set to 34 Hz. Further, if a weight of refrigerating compartment door 56a can be increased by increasing refrigerating compartment door 56a in size, a natural frequency of refrigerating compartment door 56a can be lowered. This can further lower the lowest frequency when compressor 80 is operated.
- partition wall 55 and inner box 52 are integrally formed, a gap between partition wall 55 and heat insulation box 51 can be eliminated completely. If there is a gap between partition wall 55 and heat insulation box 51, vibration is generated in the fine gap when heat insulation box 51 is vibrated by compressor 80 or the like, and a chattering noise is generated in some cases. However, in the configuration of refrigerator 10 in this embodiment, there is no possibility that the chattering noise is generated.
- partition wall 55 and inner box 52 are integrally formed, and heat insulation material 54 in partition wall 55 and heat insulation material 54 of heat insulation box 51 are integrally foamed and charged. Accordingly, rigidity of heat insulation box 51 is increased, propagation of vibration to refrigerating compartment door 56a is suppressed, and it is possible to obtain strength and endurance with respect to storing of the storage items in the door shelf of refrigerating compartment door 56a.
- inner box 52 is divided into upper inner box 52a and lower inner box 52b, there is a possibility that rigidity of heat insulation box 51 is deteriorated. However, if upper inner box 52a and lower inner box 52b are brought into close contact with heat insulation material 54, it is possible that rigidity is not deteriorated.
- compressor 80 and the hinges of refrigerating compartment door 56a are disposed on the same side in the lateral direction as viewed from front of heat insulation box 51. Accordingly, since vibration of compressor 80 is propagated from the hinge side of refrigerating compartment door 56a to refrigerating compartment door 56a, vibration of refrigerating compartment door 56a can be suppressed.
- refrigerator 10 of this embodiment there is no seam between partition wall 55 and inner box 52, and it is possible to eliminate a fine gap between connected portions of members. Thus, it is possible to suppress generation of vibration of heat insulation box 51 caused by vibration of compressor 80.
- heat insulation material 54 in heat insulation box 51 and heat insulation material 54 of partition wall 55 are integrally formed, rigidity of heat insulation box 51 increases, and it is possible to suppress propagation of vibration of compressor 80.
- refrigerating compartment 56a which is the uppermost door provided on the uppermost portion is lower than the lowest frequency at which compressor 80 is operated, even when the operation frequency of compressor 80 is switched by inverter control or the storage items are stored in the door shelves, it is possible to prevent refrigerating compartment door 56a from resonating.
- upper and lower ends of a right side of refrigerating compartment door 56a can be turnably opened by upper hinge 60 and middle hinge 61, and lower middle hinge 61 is fixed to partition wall 55.
- a gap between connecting portions of heat insulation box 51 and refrigerating compartment door 56a can be set narrower as compared with a case where refrigerating compartment door 56a is configured to be capable of being drawn out, generation of vibration at the connecting portions can be suppressed.
- gasket 64 which is the elastic member, it is possible to suppress the propagation of vibration from heat insulation box 51 to refrigerating compartment door 56a, and vibration of refrigerating compartment door 56a can be suppressed.
- refrigerator 20 in a second embodiment of the present invention will be described.
- FIG. 4 is a front view of refrigerator 20 in the second embodiment of the present invention
- FIG. 5 is a side sectional view showing an internal structure of refrigerator 20
- FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view of heat insulation box 201 of refrigerator 20.
- Refrigerator 20 of this embodiment is different from refrigerator 10 described in the first embodiment in that refrigerator 20 has three storage compartments, and compressor 230 is stored on a far side of an upper portion in heat insulation box 201.
- Refrigerator 20 has refrigerator body 200 including heat insulation box 201.
- Heat insulation box 201 includes inner boxes 202 made of resin, outer box 203 made of a metal magnetic material such as a steel plate, and a heat insulation wall formed by charging heat insulation material 204 between inner box 202 and outer box 203.
- Heat insulation box 201 includes front surface opening 201a.
- Upper partition wall 205 and lower partition wall 206 form a plurality of heat-insulated and partitioned storage compartments, i.e., refrigerating compartment 207, vegetable compartment 208, freezing compartment 209 in this order from above.
- Refrigerating compartment 207 and vegetable compartment 208 are cooled and held within a cooling temperature range, and freezing compartment 209 is cooled and held within a freezing temperature range, respectively.
- inner boxes 202 integrally form upper, lower, left, and right surfaces and a far surface in each of the storage compartments, front surfaces of inner boxes 202 are opened, and inner boxes 202 are formed into substantially box shapes.
- Inner boxes 202 are configured by upper inner box 202a, middle inner box 202b, and lower inner box 202c in this order from above.
- upper partition wall 205 is configured by a lower surface of upper inner box 202a, an upper surface of middle inner box 202b and upper partition plate 205a.
- Upper partition plate 205a is provided on a front surface of upper partition wall 205, and is made of metal magnetic material such as steel plate.
- Lower partition wall 206 is configured by a lower surface of middle inner box 202b, an upper surface of lower inner box 202c and lower partition plate 206a.
- Lower partition plate 206a is provided on a front surface of lower partition wall 206, and is made of a metal magnetic material such as a steel plate.
- Heat insulation material 204 of heat insulation box 201 is integrally foamed and charged into interior spaces of upper partition wall 205 and lower partition wall 206.
- Upper partition plate 205a and lower partition plate 206a are provided at the same positions as a frontmost surface of outer box 203 in a longitudinal direction of heat insulation box 201, and form a part of front surface opening 201a.
- refrigerating compartment 207 is provided with refrigerating compartment right door 207a and refrigerating compartment left door 207b which close front surface opening 201a when the doors are closed.
- Vegetable compartment 208 is provided with vegetable compartment door 208a which closes front surface opening 201a when the door is closed, and freezing compartment 209 is provided with freezing compartment door 209a which closes front surface opening 201a when the door is closed.
- Refrigerating compartment right door 207a and refrigerating compartment left door 207b are disposed at the same height in a height direction of heat insulation box 201. Refrigerating compartment right door 207a and refrigerating compartment left door 207b are divided on a left side of a center in a lateral direction of heat insulation box 201 as viewed from front. Hence, an area of refrigerating compartment right door 207a is larger than that of refrigerating compartment left door 207b.
- Upper and lower ends of right sides of refrigerating compartment right door 207a, vegetable compartment door 208a, and freezing compartment door 209a are turnably connected to heat insulation box 201 in this order from above by upper right hinge 210, middle right hinge 211, middle hinge 212, and lower hinge 213.
- Upper and lower ends of a left side of refrigerating compartment left door 207b are turnably connected to heat insulation box 201 by upper left hinge 214 and middle left hinge 215.
- Upper right hinge 210 and upper left hinge 214 are mounted on an upper end of heat insulation box 201, and lower hinge 213 is mounted on a lower end of heat insulation box 201, respectively.
- Middle right hinge 211 and middle left hinge 215 are mounted on upper partition plate 205a, and middle hinge 212 is mounted on lower partition plate 206a, respectively.
- each of the storage compartment doors is mounted such that a surface of the storage compartment door on the side of heat insulation box 201 has space 216 of about 5 mm between the storage compartment door and front surface opening 201a in the longitudinal direction when the door is closed.
- gaskets 217 having magnets are disposed on four upper, lower, left, and right sides of surfaces of the storage compartment doors on the side of heat insulation box 201. Since each of gaskets 217 can be attracted and brought into close contact with front surface opening 201a by a magnetic force of gasket 217, each of storage compartments can be sealed substantially hermetically.
- Gasket 217 is a hollow elastic member made of a soft material such as rubber. Hence, even if a longitudinal distance of space 216 is slightly varied, the storage compartment can be sealed and held by expansion and contraction of gasket 217 and attracting and holding force of the magnet.
- an area of refrigerating compartment right door 207a is the largest among the storage compartment doors when refrigerator body 200 is viewed from front.
- each of the storage compartment doors is a heat insulation wall into which a heat insulation material is charged.
- vacuum heat insulation material 207c having greater specific gravity and smaller thermal conductivity than the heat insulation material of other storage compartment doors.
- refrigerating compartment right door 207a is configured to be heaviest.
- a surface of refrigerating compartment right door 207a on the side of refrigerating compartment 207 is provided with a plurality of door shelves capable storing storage items.
- small article shelf 220 for storing small articles such as a seasoning material, beverage shelf 221 for storing beverage can, and bottle shelf 222 for storing large beverage such as PET bottles are disposed in this order from above at appropriate distances from one another in the vertical direction.
- a width of each of the door shelves in this embodiment as viewed from front of heat insulation box 201 is smaller than that of each of door shelves of refrigerator 10 described in the first embodiment.
- a natural frequency of refrigerating compartment right door 207a including the door shelf is 33 Hz.
- other storage compartment doors of refrigerating compartment right door 207a do not include door shelves, and a natural frequency of the storage compartment door is 40 Hz to 45 Hz.
- Heat insulation box 201 includes a refrigeration cycle for cooling and holding each of the storage compartments at predetermined temperature, and compressor 230 forms a part of the refrigeration cycle.
- Compressor 230 is a reciprocating-type compressor in which a piston reciprocates in a cylinder to compress a refrigerant.
- a refrigerant of the refrigeration cycle including compressor 230 it is possible to use hydrocarbon-based refrigerant, e.g., isobutane.
- compressor 230 is operated by controller 240 such that it is inverter-controlled to switch an operation frequency of compressor 230 into a plurality of levels. Controller 240 controls operation of compressor 230.
- a lowest frequency at which compressor 230 is operated is set to 35 Hz, which is lower than the household power supply frequency (e.g., 50 Hz).
- Compressor 230 and controller 240 are disposed in machine compartment 250 which is provided in upper concave portion 201b on a far side of an upper portion of heat insulation box 201.
- Compressor 230 is disposed on the side of refrigerating compartment right door 207a (right side) in the lateral direction as viewed front of heat insulation box 201.
- controller 240 performs control to switch from a plurality of levels so that the operation frequency of compressor 230 becomes an optimal value in accordance with situations of the storage compartments. Controller 240 also controls compressor 230 such that an amount of consumed power of refrigerator body 200 becomes low.
- controller 240 operates compressor 230 at a maximum frequency. Thereafter, temperature in the storage compartment is gradually reduced, controller 240 switches the operation frequency of compressor 230 to a lower level, and eventually, controller 240 operates compressor 230 at 35 Hz which is the lowest operation frequency.
- the user can open refrigerating compartment right door 207a to freely take items in and out from the door shelf. If an amount of storage items stored in the door shelf increases, the natural frequency of entire refrigerating compartment right door 207a is continuously changed to a lower direction. On the other hand, if the amount of storage items stored in the door shelf is reduced, the natural frequency of entire refrigerating compartment right door 207a is continuously changed to a high direction. However, since a natural frequency in a state where the storage items are not stored in the door shelf is 33 Hz, the natural frequency of entire refrigerating compartment right door 207a does not reach 35 Hz, which is the lowest frequency of compressor 230.
- the natural frequency of the other storage compartment doors becomes greater than that of refrigerating compartment right door 207a.
- the natural frequency of the other storage compartment doors is 40 Hz to 45 Hz, which is greater than 35 Hz that is the lowest frequency of compressor 230. Since the other storage compartment doors are not provided with door shelves, the natural frequency of the other storage compartment doors does not change. Hence, resonance of the other storage compartment doors is not generated unless controller 240 operates compressor 230 at 40 Hz to 45 Hz. That is, controller 240 causes compressor 230 to operate at an operation frequency other than the natural frequency of the other storage compartment door per unit time.
- the lowest frequency when compressor 230 is operated is 35 Hz.
- the present invention is not limited to this example. If the operation frequency of compressor 230 is lowered, it is possible to further reduce the amount of consumed power of refrigerator body 200.
- the lowest frequency when compressor 230 is operated can be set to 34 Hz.
- the weight of refrigerating compartment right door 207a can be increased by increasing refrigerating compartment right door 207a in size or the like, it is possible to lower the natural frequency of refrigerating compartment right door 207a. Accordingly, the lowest frequency when compressor 230 is operated can be reduced.
- the weight of refrigerating compartment right door 207a is increased to lower the natural frequency of refrigerating compartment right door 207a.
- an area of refrigerating compartment right door 207a is the largest. Accordingly, when vacuum heat insulation material 207c having smaller thermal conductivity than the heat insulation material of the other storage compartment doors is used, if the material is applied to refrigerating compartment right door 207a, it is possible to most reduce an amount of heat entering into heat insulation box 201 as compared with a case where the material is applied to the other storage compartment doors. If the amount of heat entering into heat insulation box 201 is reduced, a ratio of time during which compressor 230 is operated at the lowest frequency is increased. Thus, if the natural frequency of refrigerating compartment right door 207a is lowered, this is extremely effective for reducing the amount of consumed power of refrigerator body 200.
- refrigerator 20 of this embodiment since upper partition wall 205, lower partition wall 206, and inner box 202 are integrally formed, it is possible to completely eliminate the gap between upper partition wall 205, lower partition wall 206, and heat insulation box 201. If there is a gap between upper partition wall 205 and lower partition wall 206, and inner box 202, vibration is generated in the fine gap when heat insulation box 201 is vibrated by compressor 230 or the like, and a chattering noise is generated in some cases. However, in the configuration of refrigerator 20 in this embodiment, there is no possibility that the chattering noise is generated.
- upper partition wall 205 and inner box 202 are integrally formed, and heat insulation material 204 in upper partition wall 205 and heat insulation material 204 of heat insulation box 201 are integrally foamed and charged. Accordingly, with the increase in rigidity of heat insulation box 201, not only propagation of vibration to refrigerating compartment right door 207a is suppressed, but also strength and endurance with respect to storing of the storage items in the door shelf of refrigerating compartment right door 207a can be obtained.
- inner box 202 is divided into upper inner box 202a, middle inner box 202b, and lower inner box 202c, there is a possibility that the rigidity of heat insulation box 201 is deteriorated.
- inner boxes and heat insulation material 204 are brought into close contact with each other, a configuration can be obtained in which the rigidity is not deteriorated.
- lower partition wall 206 may be formed from a member which is different from that of inner box 202.
- the number of inner boxes 202 is reduced (middle inner box 202b and lower inner box 202c can be formed from one inner box), and it is possible to improve factory productivity and to suppress generation of failure such as leaking of heat insulation material 204 from lower partition wall 206 when heat insulation material 204 is foamed and charged.
- compressor 230 is disposed on the side of refrigerating compartment right door 207a in the lateral direction as viewed from front of heat insulation box 201 ( FIG. 4 ). Accordingly, since vibration of compressor 230 is preferentially propagated toward refrigerating compartment right door 207a, it is possible to suppress vibration at refrigerating compartment left door 207b which is lighter in weight than refrigerating compartment right door 207a. Note that the present invention is not limited to this example, and compressor 230 may only be disposed on the side of the heavier door in the lateral direction as viewed from front of heat insulation box 201.
- compressor 230 is disposed on the far side of the upper portion of heat insulation box 201, a depth of a lower storage compartment, e.g., vegetable compartment 208 can be widened as compared with refrigerator 10 of the first embodiment.
- a depth on the far side of an upper portion of refrigerating compartment 207 becomes narrow, but usability for the user is not deteriorated since the user's hand cannot easily reach this space and usability is poor.
- refrigerator 20 of this embodiment there is no seam between upper partition wall 205 and inner box 202, and a fine gap at the connecting portions of the parts can be eliminated. Therefore, it is possible to suppress generation of vibration of heat insulation box 201 caused by vibration of compressor 230.
- heat insulation material 204 in heat insulation box 201 and heat insulation material 204 of upper partition wall 205 are integrally formed, the rigidity of heat insulation box 201 is increased, and it is possible to suppress the propagation of vibration of compressor 230.
- the natural frequency, per unit time, of refrigerating compartment right door 207a which is the uppermost door provided at the uppermost portion is lower than the lowest frequency at which compressor 230 is operated. Accordingly, even when the operation frequency of compressor 230 is switched by inverter control or when the storage items are stored in the door shelves, it is possible to prevent refrigerating compartment right door 207a from resonating.
- compressor 230 Since compressor 230 is disposed on the far side of the upper portion of heat insulation box 201, the depth of vegetable compartment 208 which is the lower storage compartment can be widened.
- the upper and lower ends of the right side of refrigerating compartment right door 207a as viewed from front can be turnably opened by upper right hinge 210 and middle right hinge 211, and middle right hinge 211 on the lower side is fixed to upper partition wall 205.
- a gap at the connecting portions between heat insulation box 201 and refrigerating compartment right door 207a can be set narrow as compared with a case where refrigerating compartment right door 207a is configured to be drawn out, and it is possible to suppress generation of vibration at the connecting portions.
- Gaskets 217 which are elastic members seal space 216 between refrigerating compartment right door 207a and heat insulation box 201. Accordingly, it is possible to suppress propagation of vibration from heat insulation box 201 to refrigerating compartment right door 207a, and it is possible to suppress vibration of refrigerating compartment right door 207a which is the uppermost door.
- the storage compartment door of refrigerating compartment 207 which is the uppermost door is divided into refrigerating compartment right door 207a and refrigerating compartment left door 207b in the lateral direction as viewed from front of heat insulation box 201, and compressor 230 is disposed on the side of heavier refrigerating compartment right door 207a. Accordingly, since the vibration of compressor 230 is preferentially propagated to heavier refrigerating compartment right door 207a to which the vibration is less likely to be transmitted, it is possible to suppress vibration of lighter refrigerating compartment left door 207b.
- the refrigerator of the present invention is not limited to this example.
- the present invention can also be applied to a refrigerator provided with a heat insulation box having only one heat insulated and defined storage compartment. In this case, the same resonance preventing effect can be obtained if a natural frequency, per unit time, of a door which closes this storage compartment is set lower than a lowest frequency at which the compressor is operated.
- compressor 80, 230 is disposed on the far side of the lower portion or the upper portion of heat insulation box 51, 201, but the present invention is not limited to this example. No matter which position of heat insulation box 51, 201 compressor 80, 230 is disposed, the same resonance preventing effect can be obtained if a natural frequency, per unit time, of a door which closes a storage compartment is set lower than a lowest frequency at which a compressor 80, 230 is operated.
- the partition wall and the inner box are not integrally formed, it is possible to prevent the door from resonating if a relation between a natural frequency of a door and a lowest operation frequency of a compressor is satisfied.
- the present invention it is possible to suppress vibration of a door against vibration of a compressor and to prevent resonance without adding an anti-vibration member or the like, and without increasing costs and the number of assembling processes. Therefore, the present invention can be applied not only to a refrigerator but also to a freezer, a heat insulating compartment, and the like.
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Abstract
Description
- The present invention relates to a refrigerator, and more particularly, to structures of a heat insulation box, a door, and the like of the refrigerator.
- In recent years, energy saving is in progress from a standpoint of protection of the global environment, and further improvement in usability and storage properties are demanded.
- For example, there is such a method that, in order to improve a storage capacity of a storage compartment disposed in a lowermost portion, a concave portion is provided in a back portion of an uppermost portion of the storage compartment of a heat insulation box, and constituent devices of a refrigeration cycle are stored in the concave portion (e.g., see PTL 1).
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FIG. 7 is a sectional side view showing a structure ofconventional refrigerator 180. -
Refrigerator 180 includesouter box 102 forming an outer wall ofheat insulation box 101,inner box 103 forming a refrigerator inner wall ofheat insulation box 101, and urethaneheat insulation material 104 which is foamed and charged betweenouter box 102 andinner box 103. -
Refrigerator 180 includes refrigeratingcompartment 105,freezing compartment 106, andvegetable compartment 107 in this order from above, and refrigerating compartment pivoteddoor 108 is provided at an opening of a front surface of refrigeratingcompartment 105. - Freezing
compartment 106 andvegetable compartment 107 located lower than a central portion ofheat insulation box 101 are respectively provided with freezingcompartment drawer door 109 and vegetablecompartment drawer door 112 in consideration of storage properties and usability. Freezingcompartment drawer door 109 and vegetablecompartment drawer door 112 are drawer-type doors from which items can be easily taken out. -
Heat insulation box 101 is provided withconcave portion 120.Concave portion 120 is provided by denting a top surface and a back portion extending from outer boxupper surface 121 to outerbox back surface 122 such that a back portion of refrigeratingcompartment 105 is lowered. - As viewed from front, left and right sides of
concave portion 120 are closed with left and right walls ofheat insulation box 101, but the left and right sides are opened upward and backward. The opened portion ofconcave portion 120 is covered withconcave portion cover 125 which is formed fromupper plate 123 andback plate 124 which is substantially perpendicular toupper plate 123.Concave portion cover 125 is detachably fixed toheat insulation box 101 by screws or the like. -
Compressor 131 andcondenser 132 configure the refrigeration cycle.Compressor 131 andcondenser 132 are disposed so as to be housed insideconcave portion 120 together withmachine compartment fan 133, and are covered withconcave portion cover 125.Upper plate 123 andback plate 124 ofconcave portion cover 125 are provided with a plurality ofventilation holes 134 for dissipating heat. -
Evaporator 135 serving as a device which configures the refrigeration cycle is disposed on a back portion offreezing compartment 106 together withcooling fan 136. - According to this configuration,
vegetable compartment 107 which is a lowermost storage compartment has a larger depth than other storage compartments. - That is, according to the above-described configuration,
compressor 131,condenser 132, and the like are housed in an upper portion of a back surface ofheat insulation box 101. Accordingly, as compared with a case wherecompressor 131 andcondenser 132 are housed in a lower portion of the back surface ofheat insulation box 101, a larger capacity ofvegetable compartment 107 can be secured, andvegetable compartment 107 can be made to have a larger depth. Even if a high pressure device is disposed on an upper portion ofheat insulation box 101, it is possible to lower a barycenter of the entireheat insulation box 101 to stabilizeheat insulation box 101 by increasing a storage weight invegetable compartment 107 which is the lowermost storage compartment. - In the conventional configuration, however,
compressor 131 which is one of vibration-generating sources ofrefrigerator 180 is provided on the uppermost portion of the heat insulation box. Accordingly, there is a problem that refrigerating compartment pivoteddoor 108, which is the uppermost door that is most frequently used, is likely to be vibrated by vibration ofcompressor 131. - Conventionally, even when
compressor 131 is provided in a lower portion ofheat insulation box 101, since the uppermost door disposed at an uppermost position is located higher than the other doors, there is a problem that the uppermost door is likely to swing. Ifcompressor 131 is disposed in an upper portion ofheat insulation box 101, there is a possibility that vibration of refrigerating compartment pivoteddoor 108 remarkably appears as compared with a case wherecompressor 131 is disposed in a lower portion ofheat insulation box 101. - Here, assume that an amount of consumed power of
refrigerator 180 is reduced by using inverter-control which controls operation by switching an operation frequency ofcompressor 131 into a plurality of levels. In such a case, if a lowest frequency ofcompressor 131 is made lower than a household power supply frequency, e.g., 50 Hz, the operation frequency ofcompressor 131 becomes equal to a natural frequency per unit time of refrigerating compartment pivoteddoor 108 in some cases. In this case, refrigerating compartment pivoteddoor 108 is likely to resonate. - Further, if storage items can be stored in the side of refrigerating
compartment 105 of refrigerating compartment pivoteddoor 108, since the natural frequency of refrigerating compartment pivoteddoor 108 including the storage items is changed to a smaller frequency in accordance with the weight of storage items, a possibility of generation of resonance increases. - PTL 1: Unexamined Japanese Patent Publication No.
2001-99552 - The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and provides a refrigerator capable of suppressing vibration of a door against vibration of a compressor without adding an anti-vibration member, and capable of preventing resonance.
- A refrigerator of the present invention includes a heat insulation box having a heat-insulated and defined storage compartment, a door which closes the storage compartment, and a compressor. The door is configured such that a natural frequency of the door per unit time is lower than a lowest frequency at which the compressor is operated.
- According to this configuration, since the natural frequency per unit time of the door which closes the storage compartment is lower than the lowest frequency at which the compressor is operated, resonance of the door can be prevented even when an operation frequency of the compressor is switched by the inverter-control or the storage items are stored in the door, for example.
- Hence, according to the refrigerator of the present invention, it is possible to suppress vibration of the door against vibration of the compressor without having to add an anti-vibration member, and prevent resonance.
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FIG. 1 is a front view of a refrigerator according to a first embodiment of the present invention. -
FIG. 2 is a side sectional view showing an internal structure of the refrigerator in the first embodiment of the present invention. -
FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of a heat insulation box of the refrigerator in the first embodiment of the present invention. -
FIG. 4 is a front view of a refrigerator in a second embodiment of the present invention. -
FIG. 5 is a side sectional view showing an internal structure of the refrigerator in the second embodiment of the present invention. -
FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view of a heat insulation box of the refrigerator in the second embodiment of the present invention. -
FIG. 7 is a side sectional view showing a structure of a conventional refrigerator. - Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. Note that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments.
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FIG. 1 is a front view ofrefrigerator 10 according to a first embodiment of the present invention,FIG. 2 is a side sectional view showing an internal structure ofrefrigerator 10, andFIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view ofheat insulation box 51 ofrefrigerator 10. -
Refrigerator 10 includesheat insulation box 51 having a heat-insulated and defined storage compartment, a door which closes the storage compartment, andcompressor 80. The doors are configured such that a natural frequency per unit time is lower than a lowest frequency at whichcompressor 80 is operated. -
Refrigerator 10 includesheat insulation box 51 inrefrigerator body 50. -
Heat insulation box 51 includesinner box 52 made of resin,outer box 53 made of a metal magnetic material such as a steel plate, and a heat insulation wall formed by chargingheat insulation material 54 betweeninner box 52 andouter box 53. -
Heat insulation box 51 includesfront surface opening 51a. A plurality of heat-insulated and partitioned storage compartments, i.e., refrigeratingcompartment 56 and freezingcompartment 57 are formed in this order from above bypartition wall 55. - Refrigerating
compartment 56 is cooled and held within a cooling temperature range, andfreezing compartment 57 is cooled and held within a freezing temperature range. - As shown in
FIG. 3 ,inner box 52 is configured by upperinner box 52a and lowerinner box 52b. Upperinner box 52a integrally forms upper, lower, left, right, and far surfaces in refrigeratingcompartment 56, a front surface of upperinner box 52a is opened, and upperinner box 52a is formed into a substantially box-shape. Lowerinner box 52b integrally forms upper, lower, left, right, and far surfaces offreezing compartment 57, a front surface of lowerinner box 52b is opened, and lowerinner box 52b is formed into a substantially box-shape. - As shown in
FIG. 2 ,partition wall 55 is configured by a lower surface of upperinner box 52a, an upper surface of lowerinner box 52b, andpartition plate 55a.Partition plate 55a is provided at a front surface ofpartition wall 55, and is made of a metal magnetic material such as a steel plate.Heat insulation material 54 ofheat insulation box 51 is integrally foamed and charged into an internal space ofpartition wall 55. -
Partition plate 55a is provided at the same position as a frontmost surface ofouter box 53 in a longitudinal direction ofheat insulation box 51, and forms a part offront surface opening 51a. - Refrigerating
compartment 56 and freezingcompartment 57 are respectively provided with refrigeratingcompartment door 56a and freezingcompartment door 57a (storage compartment doors) which closefront surface opening 51a when the doors are closed. - As shown in
FIG. 1 , right upper and lower ends of refrigeratingcompartment door 56a and freezingcompartment door 57a as viewed from front are turnably connected to heatinsulation box 51 byupper hinge 60,middle hinge 61, andlower hinge 62, each having a rotation axis. -
Upper hinge 60 is mounted on an upper end ofheat insulation box 51,lower hinge 62 is mounted on a lower end ofheat insulation box 51, andmiddle hinge 61 is mounted onpartition plate 55a. - As shown in
FIG. 2 , each of the storage compartment doors is mounted such that a surface thereof on the side ofheat insulation box 51 hasspace 63 of about 5 mm in the longitudinal direction between the storage compartment door andfront surface opening 51a when the door is closed. Inspace 63,gaskets 64 having magnets are disposed on four upper, lower, left, and right sides of a surface of the storage compartment door on the side ofheat insulation box 51.Gasket 64 can be attracted to front surface opening 51a, and brought into close contact with front surface opening 51a by a magnetic force ofgasket 64. Therefore, it is possible to substantially hermetically seal the storage compartment. -
Gasket 64 is a hollow elastic member made of a soft material such as rubber. Hence, even if a distance ofspace 63 in the longitudinal direction is slightly varied, it is possible to seal and hold the storage compartment by expansion and contraction ofgasket 64 and attracting and holding force of the magnet. - As shown in
FIG. 1 , in this embodiment, sizes of refrigeratingcompartment door 56a and freezingcompartment door 57a are equal to each other in a width direction ofheat insulation box 51. However, in a height direction ofheat insulation box 51, a height of refrigeratingcompartment 56 is higher than that of freezingcompartment 57. That is, an area of refrigeratingcompartment door 56a which is the uppermost door is larger than that of freezingcompartment door 57a. - As shown in
FIG. 2 , refrigeratingcompartment door 56a and freezingcompartment door 57a are heat insulation walls into which heat insulation materials are charged. Although freezingcompartment door 57a is thicker than refrigeratingcompartment door 56a, refrigeratingcompartment door 56a is heavier than freezingcompartment door 57a. - A surface of refrigerating
compartment door 56a on the side of refrigeratingcompartment 56 is provided with a plurality of door shelves in which storage items can be stored. More specifically,small article shelf 70 for storing small articles such as seasoning material,beverage shelf 71 for storing beverage can, andbottle shelf 72 for storing large beverage such as PET bottles are disposed in this order from above at appropriate distances from one another in the vertical direction. -
Refrigerator 10 is configured such that a natural frequency per unit time including a door shelf of refrigeratingcompartment door 56a (hereinafter, also simply referred to as natural frequency) becomes 33 Hz. - In this embodiment, freezing
compartment door 57a does not have a door shelf, and a natural frequency of freezingcompartment door 57a is 40 Hz. -
Heat insulation box 51 has a refrigeration cycle which cools and holds each of the storage compartments at a predetermined temperature, andcompressor 80 forms a part of the refrigeration cycle. -
Compressor 80 is a reciprocating-type compressor in which a piston reciprocates in a cylinder to compress a refrigerant. As a refrigerant of the refrigerationcycle including compressor 80, it is possible to use a hydrocarbon-based refrigerant, e.g., isobutane. - To reduce an amount of consumed power of
refrigerator body 50,compressor 80 is operated in such a manner that it is inverter-controlled to switch operation frequency ofcompressor 80 into a plurality of levels bycontroller 90.Controller 90 controls operation ofcompressor 80. - In this embodiment, the lowest frequency at which
compressor 80 is operated is set to 35 Hz, which is lower than a household power supply frequency (50 Hz). -
Compressor 80 andcontroller 90 are disposed inmachine compartment 100.Machine compartment 100 is provided in lowerconcave portion 51b on a far side of a lower portion ofheat insulation box 51. As shown inFIG. 1 ,compressor 80 and the hinges of the storage room doors are provided on the same side in a lateral direction ofheat insulation box 51 as viewed from front (right side in the example inFIG. 1 , but the present invention is not limited to this example, and it is only necessary thatcompressor 80 and the hinges are provided on the same side). - Operation and effect of
refrigerator 10 having the above-described configuration will be described below. - First, if a user turns on a household power supply of
refrigerator body 50, a high temperature and high pressure refrigerant discharged by compression action ofcompressor 80 circulates through the refrigeration cycle, and in this state, the storage compartments are cooled and held within a predetermined set temperature range. - At this time,
controller 90 controls to switch from a plurality of levels so that the operation frequency ofcompressor 80 becomes an optimal value in accordance with situations of the storage compartments.Controller 90 controls the operation ofcompressor 80 such that an amount of consumed power ofrefrigerator body 50 becomes low. - For example, if the temperature in the storage compartment is considerably higher than the predetermined temperature such as when the user first turns on the household power supply or when many storage items are stored in the storage compartment at once,
controller 90 operatescompressor 80 at a maximum frequency. Thereafter, the temperature in the storage compartment is gradually reduced,controller 90 switches the operation frequency ofcompressor 80 to a lower level and eventually,controller 90 operatescompressor 80 at 35 Hz which is the lowest operation frequency. - The user can open refrigerating
compartment door 56a and freely take storage items in and out from the door shelf. If an amount of storage items stored in the door shelf increases, the natural frequency of entirerefrigerating compartment door 56a is continuously changed to a lower direction. On the other hand, if the amount of storage items stored in the door shelf is reduced, the natural frequency of entirerefrigerating compartment door 56a is continuously changed to a high direction. However, since a natural frequency in a state where the storage items are not stored in the door shelf is 33 Hz, the natural frequency of entirerefrigerating compartment door 56a does not reach 35 Hz, which is the lowest frequency ofcompressor 80. - On the other hand, since freezing
compartment door 57a has a lighter weight than refrigeratingcompartment door 56a, a natural frequency of freezingcompartment door 57a becomes greater than that of refrigeratingcompartment door 56a. In this embodiment, the natural frequency of freezingcompartment door 57a is 40 Hz, which is greater than 35 Hz that is the lowest frequency ofcompressor 80. Further, since freezingcompartment door 57a is not provided with a door shelf, the natural frequency of entire freezingcompartment door 57a does not change, and resonance of freezingcompartment door 57a is not generated unlesscontroller 90 operatescompressor 80 at 40 Hz. - When freezing
compartment door 57a is also provided with the door shelf, the natural frequency of freezingcompartment door 57a when a storage amount of storage items is maximum is measured, andcompressor 80 is not operated in a range from that frequency to 40 Hz which is the natural frequency when the storage items are not stored in the door shelf of freezingcompartment door 57a. Accordingly, it is possible that resonance is not generated at freezingcompartment door 57a. - In this embodiment, the lowest frequency when
compressor 80 is operated is 35 Hz. However, the present invention is not limited to this example. If the operation frequency ofcompressor 80 is set to a lower value, it is possible to further reduce an amount of consumed power ofrefrigerator body 50. - That is, if a variation range of a weight of refrigerating
compartment door 56a can be narrowed, the lowest frequency whencompressor 80 is operated can be set to 34 Hz. Further, if a weight of refrigeratingcompartment door 56a can be increased by increasing refrigeratingcompartment door 56a in size, a natural frequency of refrigeratingcompartment door 56a can be lowered. This can further lower the lowest frequency whencompressor 80 is operated. - In
refrigerator 10 of this embodiment, sincepartition wall 55 andinner box 52 are integrally formed, a gap betweenpartition wall 55 andheat insulation box 51 can be eliminated completely. If there is a gap betweenpartition wall 55 andheat insulation box 51, vibration is generated in the fine gap whenheat insulation box 51 is vibrated bycompressor 80 or the like, and a chattering noise is generated in some cases. However, in the configuration ofrefrigerator 10 in this embodiment, there is no possibility that the chattering noise is generated. - Further, if there is a gap between
partition wall 55 andheat insulation box 51, this also means thatheat insulation box 51 is easily deformed. In particular, when refrigeratingcompartment door 56a disposed at the uppermost position is provided with a door shelf as inrefrigerator 10 of this embodiment, it is necessary to take into consideration not only deformation immediately afterheat insulation box 51 is produced but also deformation caused when the user stores the storage items in the door shelf. - In this embodiment,
partition wall 55 andinner box 52 are integrally formed, andheat insulation material 54 inpartition wall 55 andheat insulation material 54 ofheat insulation box 51 are integrally foamed and charged. Accordingly, rigidity ofheat insulation box 51 is increased, propagation of vibration to refrigeratingcompartment door 56a is suppressed, and it is possible to obtain strength and endurance with respect to storing of the storage items in the door shelf of refrigeratingcompartment door 56a. - In this embodiment, since
inner box 52 is divided into upperinner box 52a and lowerinner box 52b, there is a possibility that rigidity ofheat insulation box 51 is deteriorated. However, if upperinner box 52a and lowerinner box 52b are brought into close contact withheat insulation material 54, it is possible that rigidity is not deteriorated. - Due to the same reason as above, it is necessary to reduce the fine gap also in an opening/closing mechanism of refrigerating
compartment door 56a and a sealing structure. - First, concerning the opening/closing mechanism, there is a drawer-type door in addition to a rotation-type door, but in the case of the drawer-type door, a fine gap is generally provided between
heat insulation box 51 and refrigeratingcompartment door 56a in many cases. The rotation-type door is desirable because hinges and refrigeratingcompartment door 56a can be connected to each other with almost no gap at all. Since refrigeratingcompartment door 56a which is the uppermost door is used most frequently, usability is high for the users if the rotation-type door is employed. - In this embodiment,
compressor 80 and the hinges of refrigeratingcompartment door 56a are disposed on the same side in the lateral direction as viewed from front ofheat insulation box 51. Accordingly, since vibration ofcompressor 80 is propagated from the hinge side of refrigeratingcompartment door 56a to refrigeratingcompartment door 56a, vibration of refrigeratingcompartment door 56a can be suppressed. - Next, concerning a sealing structure, it is necessary to seal and hold
space 63 substantially hermetically, while absorbing production variation and shrinkage ofheat insulation box 51 and storage compartment doors at the time of cooling operation. Therefore, it is desirable that an elastic member is used asgasket 64. If the elastic member is used, it is possible to suppress propagation of vibration fromheat insulation box 51 to storage compartment doors at the same time, - As described above, in
refrigerator 10 of this embodiment, there is no seam betweenpartition wall 55 andinner box 52, and it is possible to eliminate a fine gap between connected portions of members. Thus, it is possible to suppress generation of vibration ofheat insulation box 51 caused by vibration ofcompressor 80. - Since
heat insulation material 54 inheat insulation box 51 andheat insulation material 54 ofpartition wall 55 are integrally formed, rigidity ofheat insulation box 51 increases, and it is possible to suppress propagation of vibration ofcompressor 80. - Further, since the natural frequency, per unit time, of refrigerating
compartment 56a which is the uppermost door provided on the uppermost portion is lower than the lowest frequency at whichcompressor 80 is operated, even when the operation frequency ofcompressor 80 is switched by inverter control or the storage items are stored in the door shelves, it is possible to prevent refrigeratingcompartment door 56a from resonating. - Since the weight of refrigerating
compartment door 56a which is the uppermost door is made heavier than that of freezingcompartment door 57a, it is possible to easily lower the natural frequency of the uppermost door. - In this embodiment, upper and lower ends of a right side of refrigerating
compartment door 56a can be turnably opened byupper hinge 60 andmiddle hinge 61, and lowermiddle hinge 61 is fixed topartition wall 55. According to this configuration, a gap between connecting portions ofheat insulation box 51 and refrigeratingcompartment door 56a can be set narrower as compared with a case where refrigeratingcompartment door 56a is configured to be capable of being drawn out, generation of vibration at the connecting portions can be suppressed. - Since
space 63 between refrigeratingcompartment door 56a andheat insulation box 51 is sealed bygasket 64 which is the elastic member, it is possible to suppress the propagation of vibration fromheat insulation box 51 to refrigeratingcompartment door 56a, and vibration of refrigeratingcompartment door 56a can be suppressed. - Next,
refrigerator 20 in a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. -
FIG. 4 is a front view ofrefrigerator 20 in the second embodiment of the present invention,FIG. 5 is a side sectional view showing an internal structure ofrefrigerator 20, andFIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view ofheat insulation box 201 ofrefrigerator 20. -
Refrigerator 20 of this embodiment is different fromrefrigerator 10 described in the first embodiment in thatrefrigerator 20 has three storage compartments, andcompressor 230 is stored on a far side of an upper portion inheat insulation box 201. -
Refrigerator 20 hasrefrigerator body 200 includingheat insulation box 201. -
Heat insulation box 201 includesinner boxes 202 made of resin,outer box 203 made of a metal magnetic material such as a steel plate, and a heat insulation wall formed by chargingheat insulation material 204 betweeninner box 202 andouter box 203. -
Heat insulation box 201 includesfront surface opening 201a.Upper partition wall 205 andlower partition wall 206 form a plurality of heat-insulated and partitioned storage compartments, i.e., refrigeratingcompartment 207,vegetable compartment 208, freezingcompartment 209 in this order from above. - Refrigerating
compartment 207 andvegetable compartment 208 are cooled and held within a cooling temperature range, and freezingcompartment 209 is cooled and held within a freezing temperature range, respectively. - As shown in
FIG. 6 ,inner boxes 202 integrally form upper, lower, left, and right surfaces and a far surface in each of the storage compartments, front surfaces ofinner boxes 202 are opened, andinner boxes 202 are formed into substantially box shapes.Inner boxes 202 are configured by upperinner box 202a, middleinner box 202b, and lowerinner box 202c in this order from above. - As shown in
FIG. 5 ,upper partition wall 205 is configured by a lower surface of upperinner box 202a, an upper surface of middleinner box 202b andupper partition plate 205a.Upper partition plate 205a is provided on a front surface ofupper partition wall 205, and is made of metal magnetic material such as steel plate. -
Lower partition wall 206 is configured by a lower surface of middleinner box 202b, an upper surface of lowerinner box 202c andlower partition plate 206a.Lower partition plate 206a is provided on a front surface oflower partition wall 206, and is made of a metal magnetic material such as a steel plate. -
Heat insulation material 204 ofheat insulation box 201 is integrally foamed and charged into interior spaces ofupper partition wall 205 andlower partition wall 206. -
Upper partition plate 205a andlower partition plate 206a are provided at the same positions as a frontmost surface ofouter box 203 in a longitudinal direction ofheat insulation box 201, and form a part offront surface opening 201a. - As shown in
FIG. 4 , refrigeratingcompartment 207 is provided with refrigerating compartmentright door 207a and refrigerating compartment leftdoor 207b which closefront surface opening 201a when the doors are closed. -
Vegetable compartment 208 is provided withvegetable compartment door 208a which closesfront surface opening 201a when the door is closed, and freezingcompartment 209 is provided with freezingcompartment door 209a which closesfront surface opening 201a when the door is closed. - Refrigerating compartment
right door 207a and refrigerating compartment leftdoor 207b are disposed at the same height in a height direction ofheat insulation box 201. Refrigerating compartmentright door 207a and refrigerating compartment leftdoor 207b are divided on a left side of a center in a lateral direction ofheat insulation box 201 as viewed from front. Hence, an area of refrigerating compartmentright door 207a is larger than that of refrigerating compartment leftdoor 207b. - Upper and lower ends of right sides of refrigerating compartment
right door 207a,vegetable compartment door 208a, and freezingcompartment door 209a are turnably connected to heatinsulation box 201 in this order from above by upperright hinge 210, middleright hinge 211,middle hinge 212, andlower hinge 213. - Upper and lower ends of a left side of refrigerating compartment left
door 207b are turnably connected to heatinsulation box 201 by upperleft hinge 214 and middleleft hinge 215. - Upper
right hinge 210 and upperleft hinge 214 are mounted on an upper end ofheat insulation box 201, andlower hinge 213 is mounted on a lower end ofheat insulation box 201, respectively. Middleright hinge 211 and middleleft hinge 215 are mounted onupper partition plate 205a, andmiddle hinge 212 is mounted onlower partition plate 206a, respectively. - As shown in
FIG. 5 , each of the storage compartment doors is mounted such that a surface of the storage compartment door on the side ofheat insulation box 201 hasspace 216 of about 5 mm between the storage compartment door andfront surface opening 201a in the longitudinal direction when the door is closed. Inspace 216,gaskets 217 having magnets are disposed on four upper, lower, left, and right sides of surfaces of the storage compartment doors on the side ofheat insulation box 201. Since each ofgaskets 217 can be attracted and brought into close contact withfront surface opening 201a by a magnetic force ofgasket 217, each of storage compartments can be sealed substantially hermetically. -
Gasket 217 is a hollow elastic member made of a soft material such as rubber. Hence, even if a longitudinal distance ofspace 216 is slightly varied, the storage compartment can be sealed and held by expansion and contraction ofgasket 217 and attracting and holding force of the magnet. - As shown in
FIG. 4 , in this embodiment, an area of refrigerating compartmentright door 207a is the largest among the storage compartment doors whenrefrigerator body 200 is viewed from front. - As shown in
FIG. 5 , each of the storage compartment doors is a heat insulation wall into which a heat insulation material is charged. In the heat insulation wall of refrigerating compartmentright door 207a, there is disposed vacuumheat insulation material 207c having greater specific gravity and smaller thermal conductivity than the heat insulation material of other storage compartment doors. Among the storage compartment doors, refrigerating compartmentright door 207a is configured to be heaviest. - A surface of refrigerating compartment
right door 207a on the side of refrigeratingcompartment 207 is provided with a plurality of door shelves capable storing storage items. Specifically,small article shelf 220 for storing small articles such as a seasoning material,beverage shelf 221 for storing beverage can, andbottle shelf 222 for storing large beverage such as PET bottles are disposed in this order from above at appropriate distances from one another in the vertical direction. - Note that a width of each of the door shelves in this embodiment as viewed from front of
heat insulation box 201 is smaller than that of each of door shelves ofrefrigerator 10 described in the first embodiment. - A natural frequency of refrigerating compartment
right door 207a including the door shelf is 33 Hz. - In this embodiment, other storage compartment doors of refrigerating compartment
right door 207a do not include door shelves, and a natural frequency of the storage compartment door is 40 Hz to 45 Hz. -
Heat insulation box 201 includes a refrigeration cycle for cooling and holding each of the storage compartments at predetermined temperature, andcompressor 230 forms a part of the refrigeration cycle. -
Compressor 230 is a reciprocating-type compressor in which a piston reciprocates in a cylinder to compress a refrigerant. As a refrigerant of the refrigerationcycle including compressor 230, it is possible to use hydrocarbon-based refrigerant, e.g., isobutane. - To reduce an amount of consumed power of
refrigerator body 200,compressor 230 is operated bycontroller 240 such that it is inverter-controlled to switch an operation frequency ofcompressor 230 into a plurality of levels.Controller 240 controls operation ofcompressor 230. - In this embodiment, a lowest frequency at which
compressor 230 is operated is set to 35 Hz, which is lower than the household power supply frequency (e.g., 50 Hz). -
Compressor 230 andcontroller 240 are disposed inmachine compartment 250 which is provided in upperconcave portion 201b on a far side of an upper portion ofheat insulation box 201.Compressor 230 is disposed on the side of refrigerating compartmentright door 207a (right side) in the lateral direction as viewed front ofheat insulation box 201. - Operation and effect of
refrigerator 20 having the above-described configuration will be described below. - First, when the user turns on a household power supply of
refrigerator body 200, a high temperature and high pressure refrigerant discharged by compression action ofcompressor 230 circulates through the refrigeration cycle, and in this state, the storage compartments are cooled and held within a predetermined set temperature range. - At this time,
controller 240 performs control to switch from a plurality of levels so that the operation frequency ofcompressor 230 becomes an optimal value in accordance with situations of the storage compartments.Controller 240 also controlscompressor 230 such that an amount of consumed power ofrefrigerator body 200 becomes low. - For example, if the temperature in the storage compartment is considerably higher than the predetermined temperature such as when the user first turns on the household power supply or when many storage items are stored in the storage compartment at once,
controller 240 operatescompressor 230 at a maximum frequency. Thereafter, temperature in the storage compartment is gradually reduced,controller 240 switches the operation frequency ofcompressor 230 to a lower level, and eventually,controller 240 operatescompressor 230 at 35 Hz which is the lowest operation frequency. - The user can open refrigerating compartment
right door 207a to freely take items in and out from the door shelf. If an amount of storage items stored in the door shelf increases, the natural frequency of entire refrigerating compartmentright door 207a is continuously changed to a lower direction. On the other hand, if the amount of storage items stored in the door shelf is reduced, the natural frequency of entire refrigerating compartmentright door 207a is continuously changed to a high direction. However, since a natural frequency in a state where the storage items are not stored in the door shelf is 33 Hz, the natural frequency of entire refrigerating compartmentright door 207a does not reach 35 Hz, which is the lowest frequency ofcompressor 230. - On the other hand, since other storage compartment doors are lighter in weight than refrigerating compartment
right door 207a, the natural frequency of the other storage compartment doors become greater than that of refrigerating compartmentright door 207a. In this embodiment, the natural frequency of the other storage compartment doors is 40 Hz to 45 Hz, which is greater than 35 Hz that is the lowest frequency ofcompressor 230. Since the other storage compartment doors are not provided with door shelves, the natural frequency of the other storage compartment doors does not change. Hence, resonance of the other storage compartment doors is not generated unlesscontroller 240 operatescompressor 230 at 40 Hz to 45 Hz. That is,controller 240 causescompressor 230 to operate at an operation frequency other than the natural frequency of the other storage compartment door per unit time. - When the other storage compartment doors are also to be provided with door shelves, the following procedure should be employed. That is, a natural frequency of each of the storage compartment doors per unit time when a storage amount of storage items is maximum is measured, and
compressor 230 is not operated in a range from that frequency to 40 Hz to 45 Hz, which is the natural frequency when the storage items are not stored in the door shelf of each storage compartment door. Accordingly, it is possible that resonance of the other storage compartment door is not generated. - In this embodiment, the lowest frequency when
compressor 230 is operated is 35 Hz. However, the present invention is not limited to this example. If the operation frequency ofcompressor 230 is lowered, it is possible to further reduce the amount of consumed power ofrefrigerator body 200. - For example, if a variation range of the weight of refrigerating compartment
right door 207a can be narrowed, the lowest frequency whencompressor 230 is operated can be set to 34 Hz. Further, if the weight of refrigerating compartmentright door 207a can be increased by increasing refrigerating compartmentright door 207a in size or the like, it is possible to lower the natural frequency of refrigerating compartmentright door 207a. Accordingly, the lowest frequency whencompressor 230 is operated can be reduced. In this embodiment, by using vacuumheat insulation material 207c, the weight of refrigerating compartmentright door 207a is increased to lower the natural frequency of refrigerating compartmentright door 207a. - Further, in this embodiment, an area of refrigerating compartment
right door 207a is the largest. Accordingly, when vacuumheat insulation material 207c having smaller thermal conductivity than the heat insulation material of the other storage compartment doors is used, if the material is applied to refrigerating compartmentright door 207a, it is possible to most reduce an amount of heat entering intoheat insulation box 201 as compared with a case where the material is applied to the other storage compartment doors. If the amount of heat entering intoheat insulation box 201 is reduced, a ratio of time during whichcompressor 230 is operated at the lowest frequency is increased. Thus, if the natural frequency of refrigerating compartmentright door 207a is lowered, this is extremely effective for reducing the amount of consumed power ofrefrigerator body 200. - In
refrigerator 20 of this embodiment, sinceupper partition wall 205,lower partition wall 206, andinner box 202 are integrally formed, it is possible to completely eliminate the gap betweenupper partition wall 205,lower partition wall 206, andheat insulation box 201. If there is a gap betweenupper partition wall 205 andlower partition wall 206, andinner box 202, vibration is generated in the fine gap whenheat insulation box 201 is vibrated bycompressor 230 or the like, and a chattering noise is generated in some cases. However, in the configuration ofrefrigerator 20 in this embodiment, there is no possibility that the chattering noise is generated. - Further, if there is a gap between
upper partition wall 205 andlower partition wall 206, andinner box 202, this also means thatheat insulation box 201 is easily deformed. - In particular, when refrigerating compartment
right door 207a which is the uppermost door disposed at the uppermost position is provided with a door shelf as inrefrigerator 20 of this embodiment, it is necessary to take, into consideration, not only deformation immediately afterheat insulation box 201 is produced but also deformation caused when the user stores the storage items in the door shelf. - In this embodiment,
upper partition wall 205 andinner box 202 are integrally formed, andheat insulation material 204 inupper partition wall 205 andheat insulation material 204 ofheat insulation box 201 are integrally foamed and charged. Accordingly, with the increase in rigidity ofheat insulation box 201, not only propagation of vibration to refrigerating compartmentright door 207a is suppressed, but also strength and endurance with respect to storing of the storage items in the door shelf of refrigerating compartmentright door 207a can be obtained. - In this embodiment, since
inner box 202 is divided into upperinner box 202a, middleinner box 202b, and lowerinner box 202c, there is a possibility that the rigidity ofheat insulation box 201 is deteriorated. However, if inner boxes andheat insulation material 204 are brought into close contact with each other, a configuration can be obtained in which the rigidity is not deteriorated. - When levels of vibration and rigidity can be admissible,
lower partition wall 206 may be formed from a member which is different from that ofinner box 202. In this case, the number ofinner boxes 202 is reduced (middleinner box 202b and lowerinner box 202c can be formed from one inner box), and it is possible to improve factory productivity and to suppress generation of failure such as leaking ofheat insulation material 204 fromlower partition wall 206 whenheat insulation material 204 is foamed and charged. - Concerning the above-described fine gap, it is necessary to reduce the gap due to the same reason also in the opening/closing mechanism of refrigerating compartment
right door 207a and the sealing structure. - First, concerning the opening/closing mechanism, there is a drawer-type door in addition to the rotation type door, but in the case of the drawer-type door, generally, there is a fine gap between
heat insulation box 201 and refrigerating compartmentright door 207a in many cases. The rotation type door is desirable because the hinge and refrigerating compartmentright door 207a can be connected to each other with almost no gap. Further, since refrigerating compartmentright door 207a and refrigerating compartment leftdoor 207b which are the uppermost doors at the uppermost portions are frequently used, usability is high for the users if these doors are formed as rotation-type doors. - Concerning
vegetable compartment door 208a and freezingcompartment door 209a, if these doors do not have a problem of vibration, it may be preferable, in terms of usability, to employ drawer-type doors depending on a size ofheat insulation box 201. - In this embodiment,
compressor 230 is disposed on the side of refrigerating compartmentright door 207a in the lateral direction as viewed from front of heat insulation box 201 (FIG. 4 ). Accordingly, since vibration ofcompressor 230 is preferentially propagated toward refrigerating compartmentright door 207a, it is possible to suppress vibration at refrigerating compartment leftdoor 207b which is lighter in weight than refrigerating compartmentright door 207a. Note that the present invention is not limited to this example, andcompressor 230 may only be disposed on the side of the heavier door in the lateral direction as viewed from front ofheat insulation box 201. - Next, concerning a sealing structure, it is necessary to seal and hold
space 216 substantially hermetically while absorbing production variation and shrinkage ofheat insulation box 201 and the storage compartment doors at the time of cooling operation. Hence, it is desirable to use an elastic member asgasket 217. If an elastic member is used, it is possible to suppress propagation of vibration fromheat insulation box 201 to the storage compartment doors at the same time. - In this embodiment, since
compressor 230 is disposed on the far side of the upper portion ofheat insulation box 201, a depth of a lower storage compartment, e.g.,vegetable compartment 208 can be widened as compared withrefrigerator 10 of the first embodiment. On the other hand, inrefrigerator 20, a depth on the far side of an upper portion of refrigeratingcompartment 207 becomes narrow, but usability for the user is not deteriorated since the user's hand cannot easily reach this space and usability is poor. - As described above, in
refrigerator 20 of this embodiment, there is no seam betweenupper partition wall 205 andinner box 202, and a fine gap at the connecting portions of the parts can be eliminated. Therefore, it is possible to suppress generation of vibration ofheat insulation box 201 caused by vibration ofcompressor 230. - Since
heat insulation material 204 inheat insulation box 201 andheat insulation material 204 ofupper partition wall 205 are integrally formed, the rigidity ofheat insulation box 201 is increased, and it is possible to suppress the propagation of vibration ofcompressor 230. - Further, the natural frequency, per unit time, of refrigerating compartment
right door 207a which is the uppermost door provided at the uppermost portion is lower than the lowest frequency at whichcompressor 230 is operated. Accordingly, even when the operation frequency ofcompressor 230 is switched by inverter control or when the storage items are stored in the door shelves, it is possible to prevent refrigerating compartmentright door 207a from resonating. - Since
compressor 230 is disposed on the far side of the upper portion ofheat insulation box 201, the depth ofvegetable compartment 208 which is the lower storage compartment can be widened. - Since the weight of refrigerating compartment
right door 207a is heavier than that of the other storage compartment doors, a natural frequency of a door on the uppermost side and on the side wherecompressor 230 is disposed can easily be lowered. - In this embodiment, the upper and lower ends of the right side of refrigerating compartment
right door 207a as viewed from front can be turnably opened by upperright hinge 210 and middleright hinge 211, and middleright hinge 211 on the lower side is fixed toupper partition wall 205. According to this configuration, a gap at the connecting portions betweenheat insulation box 201 and refrigerating compartmentright door 207a can be set narrow as compared with a case where refrigerating compartmentright door 207a is configured to be drawn out, and it is possible to suppress generation of vibration at the connecting portions. -
Gaskets 217 which are elastic members sealspace 216 between refrigerating compartmentright door 207a andheat insulation box 201. Accordingly, it is possible to suppress propagation of vibration fromheat insulation box 201 to refrigerating compartmentright door 207a, and it is possible to suppress vibration of refrigerating compartmentright door 207a which is the uppermost door. - The storage compartment door of refrigerating
compartment 207 which is the uppermost door is divided into refrigerating compartmentright door 207a and refrigerating compartment leftdoor 207b in the lateral direction as viewed from front ofheat insulation box 201, andcompressor 230 is disposed on the side of heavier refrigerating compartmentright door 207a. Accordingly, since the vibration ofcompressor 230 is preferentially propagated to heavier refrigerating compartmentright door 207a to which the vibration is less likely to be transmitted, it is possible to suppress vibration of lighter refrigerating compartment leftdoor 207b. - In each of the embodiments, the description has been made of the example in which the heat insulation box is heat insulated and partitioned into a plurality of storage compartments, but the refrigerator of the present invention is not limited to this example. For example, the present invention can also be applied to a refrigerator provided with a heat insulation box having only one heat insulated and defined storage compartment. In this case, the same resonance preventing effect can be obtained if a natural frequency, per unit time, of a door which closes this storage compartment is set lower than a lowest frequency at which the compressor is operated.
- Concerning a refrigerator provided with a heat insulation box having a plurality of storage compartments, the same resonance preventing effect can be obtained if a natural frequency, per unit time, of a door other than the uppermost door which closes that storage compartment is set lower than a lowest frequency at which a compressor is operated.
- In each of the embodiments,
compressor heat insulation box heat insulation box compressor compressor - In each of the embodiments, the description has been made of the example in which at least the uppermost partition wall disposed at the uppermost position and the inner box are integrally formed, and the heat insulation material in the uppermost partition wall and the heat insulation material of the heat insulation box are integrally foamed and charged, but the present invention is not limited to this example. For example, even when the partition wall and the inner box are not integrally formed, it is possible to prevent the door from resonating if a relation between a natural frequency of a door and a lowest operation frequency of a compressor is satisfied.
- As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to suppress vibration of a door against vibration of a compressor and to prevent resonance without adding an anti-vibration member or the like, and without increasing costs and the number of assembling processes. Therefore, the present invention can be applied not only to a refrigerator but also to a freezer, a heat insulating compartment, and the like.
-
- 10, 20
- refrigerator
- 50, 200
- refrigerator body
- 51, 201
- heat insulation box
- 51a, 201a
- front surface opening
- 51b
- lower concave portion
- 52, 202
- inner box
- 52a, 202a
- upper inner box
- 52b, 202c
- lower inner box
- 53, 203
- outer box
- 54, 204
- heat insulation material
- 55
- partition wall
- 55a
- partition plate
- 56, 207
- refrigerating compartment
- 56a
- refrigerating compartment door
- 57, 209
- freezing compartment
- 57a, 209a
- freezing compartment door
- 60
- upper hinge
- 61, 212
- middle hinge
- 62, 213
- lower hinge
- 63, 216
- space
- 64, 217
- gasket
- 70, 220
- small article shelf
- 71, 221
- beverage shelf
- 72, 222
- bottle shelf
- 80, 230
- compressor
- 90, 240
- controller
- 100, 250
- machine compartment
- 201b
- upper concave portion
- 202b
- middle inner box
- 205
- upper partition wall
- 205a
- upper partition plate
- 206
- lower partition wall
- 206a
- lower partition plate
- 207a
- refrigerating compartment right door
- 207b
- refrigerating compartment left door
- 207c
- vacuum heat insulation material
- 208
- vegetable compartment
- 208a
- vegetable compartment door
- 210
- upper right hinge
- 211
- middle right hinge
- 214
- upper left hinge
- 215
- middle left hinge
Claims (9)
- A refrigerator comprising:a heat insulation box having a heat-insulated and defined storage compartment;a door which closes the storage compartment; anda compressor,wherein the door is configured such that a natural frequency of the door per unit time is lower than a lowest frequency at which the compressor is operated.
- The refrigerator according to claim 1, further comprising:a partition wall configured to heat-insulate and partition the heat insulation box into a plurality of the storage compartments in a vertical direction; anda plurality of the doors which respectively close the plurality of storage compartments,wherein a natural frequency, per unit time, of an uppermost one of the plurality of doors is lower than the lowest frequency at which the compressor is operated, the uppermost door closing the storage compartment.
- The refrigerator according to claim 2, further comprising a plurality of the partition walls,
wherein the heat insulation box is configured by foaming and charging a heat insulation material between an outer box and an inner box,
at least an uppermost one of the plurality of partition walls and the inner box are integrally formed, and
a heat insulation material in the uppermost partition wall and a heat insulation material in the heat insulation box are integrally foamed and charged. - The refrigerator according to claim 2 or 3, wherein
the compressor is disposed on a far side of an upper portion of the heat insulation box. - The refrigerator according to claim 2 or 3, wherein
the uppermost door is heavier than the other door. - The refrigerator according to claim 2 or 3, wherein
upper and lower portions of one of left and right ends of the uppermost door as viewed from front is turnably opened by a pair of hinges, and
a lower one of the pair of hinges is fixed to the uppermost partition wall. - The refrigerator according to claim 2 or 3, further comprising an elastic member for sealing a space between the uppermost door and the heat insulation box.
- The refrigerator according to claim 2 or 3, wherein
the uppermost door is divided into a left door and a right door in a lateral direction as viewed from front of the heat insulation box, and
the compressor is disposed adjacent to a heavier one of the left door and the right door. - The refrigerator according to claim 5, further comprising a controller which controls operation of the compressor,
wherein the controller operates the compressor at an operation frequency other than a natural frequency per unit time of the other door.
Applications Claiming Priority (2)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
JP2011160575A JP5899407B2 (en) | 2011-07-22 | 2011-07-22 | refrigerator |
PCT/JP2012/004123 WO2013014857A1 (en) | 2011-07-22 | 2012-06-26 | Refrigerator |
Publications (3)
Publication Number | Publication Date |
---|---|
EP2735827A1 true EP2735827A1 (en) | 2014-05-28 |
EP2735827A4 EP2735827A4 (en) | 2015-09-02 |
EP2735827B1 EP2735827B1 (en) | 2019-05-15 |
Family
ID=47600735
Family Applications (1)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
EP12816996.8A Not-in-force EP2735827B1 (en) | 2011-07-22 | 2012-06-26 | Refrigerator |
Country Status (4)
Country | Link |
---|---|
EP (1) | EP2735827B1 (en) |
JP (1) | JP5899407B2 (en) |
CN (1) | CN103717987B (en) |
WO (1) | WO2013014857A1 (en) |
Families Citing this family (5)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
JP6361020B2 (en) * | 2013-12-20 | 2018-07-25 | パナソニックIpマネジメント株式会社 | refrigerator |
US9841210B2 (en) * | 2014-04-22 | 2017-12-12 | Trane International Inc. | Sound level control in an HVAC system |
CN104359283B (en) * | 2014-11-14 | 2017-01-18 | 合肥美的电冰箱有限公司 | Control method and device for air cooling refrigerator and air cooling refrigerator |
JP6516296B2 (en) * | 2016-03-08 | 2019-05-22 | 日立グローバルライフソリューションズ株式会社 | refrigerator |
WO2018034665A1 (en) * | 2016-08-18 | 2018-02-22 | Whirlpool Corporation | Machine compartment for a vacuum insulated structure |
Family Cites Families (11)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
JP3441363B2 (en) * | 1998-04-28 | 2003-09-02 | 株式会社東芝 | Refrigerator partition wall |
JP2001099552A (en) * | 1999-09-29 | 2001-04-13 | Sanyo Electric Co Ltd | Cooler/refrigerator |
JP2003014357A (en) * | 2001-06-27 | 2003-01-15 | Mitsubishi Electric Corp | Refrigerator |
US7150604B2 (en) * | 2004-03-15 | 2006-12-19 | Carrier Corporation | Electric box for compressor assembly |
JP2005344961A (en) * | 2004-06-01 | 2005-12-15 | Matsushita Electric Ind Co Ltd | Refrigerator comprising door device |
JP2006084091A (en) * | 2004-09-15 | 2006-03-30 | Matsushita Electric Ind Co Ltd | Refrigerator |
TW200641315A (en) * | 2005-04-01 | 2006-12-01 | Matsushita Electric Ind Co Ltd | Refrigerator |
JP2006078174A (en) * | 2005-10-24 | 2006-03-23 | Hitachi Ltd | Refrigerator |
JP2008292096A (en) * | 2007-05-28 | 2008-12-04 | Hitachi Appliances Inc | Refrigerator |
US7895003B2 (en) * | 2007-10-05 | 2011-02-22 | Emerson Climate Technologies, Inc. | Vibration protection in a variable speed compressor |
CN201187928Y (en) * | 2008-03-21 | 2009-01-28 | 河南新飞电器有限公司 | Refrigerator refrigerated by automatic transmission adjustment |
-
2011
- 2011-07-22 JP JP2011160575A patent/JP5899407B2/en active Active
-
2012
- 2012-06-26 EP EP12816996.8A patent/EP2735827B1/en not_active Not-in-force
- 2012-06-26 CN CN201280036346.6A patent/CN103717987B/en active Active
- 2012-06-26 WO PCT/JP2012/004123 patent/WO2013014857A1/en active Application Filing
Also Published As
Publication number | Publication date |
---|---|
CN103717987A (en) | 2014-04-09 |
EP2735827B1 (en) | 2019-05-15 |
JP2013024492A (en) | 2013-02-04 |
JP5899407B2 (en) | 2016-04-06 |
WO2013014857A1 (en) | 2013-01-31 |
CN103717987B (en) | 2015-11-25 |
EP2735827A4 (en) | 2015-09-02 |
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