JP4409414B2 - refrigerator - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a refrigerator, and more particularly to a refrigerator provided with a lighting device that illuminates a drawer-type storage room.

  Modern refrigerators are generally of the type that has a refrigerator room, vegetable room, and freezer room from the top. To improve the visibility of each storage room and improve usability, the refrigerator room and vegetable room are illuminated. A device equipped with a device has been proposed (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  Since the lighting device used in this type of refrigerator uses an incandescent bulb or the like as a light source, a large amount of heat is generated at the time of light emission, resulting in deterioration of cooling efficiency. In view of this, a light source using a semiconductor light emitting element such as a light emitting diode with little calorific value instead of an incandescent bulb has been proposed as a light source for the interior lighting device (see, for example, Patent Document 2).

  However, when a semiconductor light-emitting element is used as the light source of the interior lighting device, the problem of deterioration in cooling efficiency due to the heat generation can be solved, but it is an expensive member in order to sufficiently secure the illuminated area. Since a plurality of semiconductor light emitting elements are used, there is a problem that the manufacturing cost is increased.

Patent Document 3 below describes a refrigerator in which a semiconductor light emitting element is arranged on the ceiling surface of a vegetable room provided with a drawer-type door. The purpose of the refrigerator is one of storage containers provided in the vegetable room. The image is irradiated with red light having a wavelength of about 660 nm to maintain the freshness of the leaf vegetables stored in the storage container, and does not take into consideration the improvement of visibility in the vegetable compartment.
JP-A-11-132650 JP 11-159953 A JP 2002-267348 A

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and improves the visibility by sufficiently illuminating the area to be illuminated inside the storage container arranged in the drawer-type storage chamber, and the semiconductor. An object of the present invention is to provide a refrigerator that can be manufactured at low cost while suppressing the number of light emitting elements used.

The refrigerator of the present invention is a refrigerator having a storage room provided with a drawer-type door that pulls out a storage container disposed inside, and a lighting device that illuminates the inside of the storage container. The lighting device includes a semiconductor light emitting element. The semiconductor light emitting element is disposed as a light source with the optical axis inclined toward the center in the width direction of the storage container at a position shifted in the width direction from the center in the width direction of the storage container on the ceiling surface of the storage chamber. It is attached to.

  According to the refrigerator of the present invention, the semiconductor light-emitting element that is the light source of the lighting device is disposed at the center in the width direction of the storage container on the ceiling surface of the storage chamber, and has a light distribution angle θ that satisfies the above relational expression. Therefore, it is possible to irradiate the interior of the storage container arranged in the storage room with a single semiconductor light emitting element over a wide range, to obtain a refrigerator with excellent visibility, and to generate heat during light emission as a light source. Cooling efficiency can be improved by using a semiconductor light-emitting element that has almost no light.

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

  1 is a schematic longitudinal sectional view of a refrigerator 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a plan view of a storage container 26 in a state in which a vegetable compartment door 30 is pulled out, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line BB in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the refrigerator 10 of the present embodiment forms a storage space whose front surface is opened inside the heat insulating box 12, and the refrigerator compartment 14, the vegetable compartment 16, the ice making compartment 18, and the freezer compartment in order from the top. The front opening of each storage room is closed by a dedicated opening / closing door.

  The storage space is vertically divided by a heat insulating partition wall 22, and the upper part is a refrigerated space and the lower part is a refrigerated space. The refrigerated space is partitioned into a refrigerator compartment 14 and a vegetable compartment 16 by a partitioning section 24. A storage container 26 that is a space for storing food and the like is provided inside the vegetable compartment 16, and a light-transmissive property is provided above it. A small container 27 made of the above resin is provided and partitioned vertically. The freezing space is provided with an ice making room 18 and a temperature switching room (not shown), and a freezing room 20 divided into upper and lower stages is arranged below the ice making room 18.

  The front opening of the refrigerator compartment 14 is provided with a refrigerator compartment door 28 that is rotated by a hinge provided at one front end, and the vegetable compartment door 16 is provided with a drawer-type vegetable compartment door 30 at the front opening of the vegetable compartment 16. A pair of left and right support frames extending from the inside of the door to the back side are attached to the vegetable compartment door 30 to hold the storage container 26. By sliding on the bottom rail formed on the side wall, the vegetable compartment door 30 is shown in FIG. Thus, the storage container 26 is pulled out together with the vegetable compartment door 30 to the outside. Similar to the vegetable compartment 16, storage containers 32 and 34 are also provided inside the ice making compartment 18 and the freezing compartment 20, so that they can be pulled out together with the ice making compartment door 36 and the freezing compartment door 38. It has become.

  The refrigeration cooler 40, the refrigerating cooler 42, and the fans 44, 46 provided in the vicinity of the coolers 40, 42 and the ducts are circulated through the refrigeration space 40 and the refrigerating cooler 42 installed on the back surfaces of the refrigerating space and the freezing space. Each of the chambers is controlled to be cooled to a predetermined set temperature, and a compressor 48 that supplies refrigerant to each of the coolers 40 and 42 is disposed in a machine chamber 50 at the lower back of the refrigerator 10 body.

  In the refrigerator 10 having the above-described configuration, the partition portion 24 that partitions the inside of the refrigeration space includes a partition body 52 that is installed horizontally in order to partition the opening portions of the refrigerator compartment 14 and the vegetable compartment 16 on the front surface of the refrigerator 10, and this partition It consists of a partition plate 54 made of a resin plate extending from the body 52 to the back side. An illumination device 56 is attached to the front lower surface of the partition plate 54 constituting the ceiling surface 54a of the vegetable compartment 16 by appropriate locking means such as screws, and the vegetable compartment door is attached by a door switch attached to the partition 52. When the door is opened, the lighting device 56 is turned on to illuminate the inside of the storage container 26.

  Specifically, as shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, the illumination device 56 uses a single semiconductor light emitting element 58 formed of a surface-mounted white LED mounted on the surface of a printed circuit board 60 as a light source. The light-transmitting illumination cover 62 that protects the semiconductor light emitting device 58 and the printed circuit board 60 on which the semiconductor light emitting device 58 is mounted, and the width direction of the storage container 26 on the ceiling surface 54a of the vegetable compartment 16 It is a position shifted by a distance a from the central portion S1 in the width direction (for example, rightward in FIG. 2), and is shifted by a distance b from the central portion S2 in the front-rear direction of the storage container 26 when the vegetable compartment door 30 is pulled out. The semiconductor light emitting device 58 is attached at a predetermined position.

  Then, the semiconductor light emitting element 58 is tilted by an angle φ in the width direction with respect to the vertical direction so that the optical axis la is tilted toward the center portion S1 in the width direction (see FIG. 3), and the storage container 26 in the pulled out state. Is disposed in the illumination cover 62 in a state where the angle ψ is inclined in the front-rear direction with respect to the vertical direction so as to incline toward the center S2 in the front-rear direction (see FIG. 4).

  In other words, the semiconductor light emitting device 58 is disposed at a position shifted by a distance a in the width direction and a distance b in the front-rear direction from the central portion C of the inner low portion 26a of the storage container 26 in a state in which the vegetable compartment door 30 is pulled out. The optical axis la is inclined at an angle φ in the width direction and an angle ψ in the front-rear direction with respect to the vertical direction so as to illuminate the central portion C of the inner low portion 26a of the storage container 26 from this position. ing.

  The semiconductor light emitting device 58 arranged as described above has a light distribution angle θ such that the light beam reaches the both side portions and the front and rear side portions of the inner low portion 26 a of the storage container 26. That is, the lateral width of the storage container 26 is L, the depth is M, the vertical distance (ie, height) from the inner lower surface 26a of the container to the semiconductor light emitting element 58 is H, and the light rays of the semiconductor light emitting element 58 are stored in the storage container. Assuming that the light distribution angles necessary to reach both side portions and the front and rear side portions of the inner low portion 26a are 26 and 26, the light distribution angle θ1 is expressed by the following relational expressions (5) and (6). The light distribution angle θ2 satisfies the following relational expressions (7) and (8). Therefore, the light distribution angle θ of the semiconductor light emitting element 58 is the light distribution angle θ1 and the light distribution angle. It has an angle of θ2 or more.

θ1 ≧ 2 [tan ⁻¹ {(L + 2a) / 2H} −φ] (5)
θ1 ≧ 2 [tan ⁻¹ {(L−2a) / 2H} + φ] (6)
θ2 ≧ 2 [tan ⁻¹ {(M + 2b) / 2H} −ψ] (7)
θ2 ≧ 2 [tan ⁻¹ {(M−2b) / 2H} + ψ] (8)
Here, if an example of each dimension is given with reference to FIGS. 2 to 4, for example, the horizontal width L = 460 mm, the vertical distance H = 335 mm, the depth M = 340 mm, the center C to the semiconductor light emitting device 58. Distance a in the width direction a = 150 mm, distance b in the front-rear direction from the center C to the semiconductor light emitting element 58 = 145 mm, inclination angle φ of the optical axis la in the width direction with respect to the vertical direction = 24 °, and in the front-rear direction with respect to the vertical direction When the inclination angle ψ of the optical axis la is 40 °, it is necessary for the light rays to reach both sides and the front and rear sides of the inner low portion 26a of the storage container 26 from the above formulas (5) to (8). The light distribution angles θ1 and θ2 are 75 ° and 89 ° or more, respectively, so that the semiconductor light emitting element 58 has a light distribution angle θ of 89 ° or more.

  The semiconductor light emitting device 58 used in the present embodiment may be a single chip type white LED composed of a blue or purple LED chip and a phosphor. Alternatively, it may be a multi-chip type white LED composed of LED chips of a plurality of colors such as red, green and blue. Further, the semiconductor light emitting device 58 used in the present embodiment is a surface mount type that is directly mounted on the printed circuit board 60, but the present invention is not limited to this, and has the light distribution angle θ described above. If so, it may be a so-called bullet-shaped type in which the LED chip fixed to the stem is sealed in an epoxy resin molded into a bullet-shaped.

  As described above, in the refrigerator 10 of the present embodiment, both sides of the inner low portion 26a of the storage container 26 in the state where the vegetable compartment door 30 is pulled out by the lighting device 56 using one semiconductor light emitting element 58 as a light source, and Since it can illuminate evenly to the front and rear sides, it is possible to improve the visibility of food stored in the storage container 26 of the vegetable compartment 16 and to obtain an easy-to-use refrigerator. In addition, since the lighting device 56 uses one semiconductor light emitting element 58 as a light source, the amount of heat generated during light emission can be suppressed and refrigeration efficiency can be improved, and the lighting device 56 can be manufactured at low cost.

  Further, in the present embodiment, the optical axis la is inclined so that the central portion C of the inner low portion 26b of the storage container 26 is illuminated at a position where the semiconductor light emitting element 58 as a light source is shifted left and right from the central portion in the width direction. Therefore, the central portion C of the inner and lower portions 26a of the storage container 26 can be illuminated by strong light on the optical axis, the interior of the storage container 26 can be illuminated efficiently, and the small container 27 can be illuminated. It is possible to suppress the amount of light reflected to the front surface of the refrigerator 10 by the shelf surface and to prevent the user from feeling dazzling when the vegetable compartment door 30 is opened.

  The present invention can be used as an illumination configuration of a refrigerator provided with a drawer-type door.

It is a schematic longitudinal cross-sectional view of the refrigerator which concerns on 1 embodiment of this invention. It is a top view of the vegetable compartment in the state where the vegetable compartment door was pulled out. It is the sectional view on the AA line in FIG. It is the BB sectional view taken on the line in FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Refrigerator 14 ... Cold room 16 ... Vegetable room 26 ... Storage container 26a ... Inner bottom part 27 ... Mounting shelf 30 ... Vegetable room door 54 ... Partition plate 54a ... Ceiling surface 56 ... Illuminating device 58 ... Semiconductor light-emitting device 60 ... Printed circuit board 62 ... Lighting cover θ, θ1, θ2 ... Light distribution angle la ... Optical axis

Claims (3)

In a refrigerator having a storage room provided with a drawer-type door that pulls out a storage container arranged inside, and a lighting device that illuminates the inside of the storage container,
The lighting device uses a semiconductor light-emitting element as a light source, and tilts the optical axis toward the widthwise center of the storage container at a position shifted in the width direction from the widthwise center of the storage container on the ceiling surface of the storage chamber. A refrigerator characterized in that a semiconductor light emitting element is disposed. The lateral width of the storage container is L, the vertical distance from the inner lower surface of the storage container to the semiconductor light emitting element is H, and the center of the storage container in the width direction to the position where the semiconductor light emitting element is disposed. When the distance in the width direction is a and the inclination in the width direction of the optical axis with respect to the vertical direction is φ, the light distribution angle θ of the semiconductor light emitting element satisfies the following formulas (3-1) and (3-2). The refrigerator according to claim 1.
θ ≧ 2 [tan−1 {(L + 2a) / 2H} −φ] (3-1)
θ ≧ 2 [tan-1 {(L-2a) / 2H} + φ] (3-1) The lighting device is attached so that the semiconductor light emitting element is disposed by tilting the optical axis to the center in the front-rear direction of the storage container in a state where the door is pulled out,
The depth of the storage container is M, the distance in the vertical direction from the inner lower surface of the storage container to the semiconductor light emitting element is H, and the semiconductor light emitting element is viewed from the center in the front-rear direction of the storage container when the door is pulled out. Where b is the distance in the front-rear direction to the position where is disposed, and ψ is the tilt in the front-rear direction of the optical axis with respect to the vertical direction, the light distribution angle θ of the semiconductor light-emitting element is expressed by the following equations (4-1) and ( The refrigerator according to claim 1 or 2, characterized by satisfying 4-2).
θ ≧ 2 [tan−1 {(M + 2b) / 2H} −ψ] (4-1)
θ ≧ 2 [tan-1 {(M-2b) / 2H} + ψ] (4-2)

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