JPS6042864B2 - Manufacturing method for refrigerator inner box - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to the manufacture of an inner box for a refrigerator, and particularly to the manufacture of an inner box having a partition wall that divides the inside of the refrigerator body into a plurality of storage chambers.

Conventionally, in this type of refrigerator, in order to divide the inside of the refrigerator body 1 into a freezer compartment and a refrigerator compartment as shown in FIG. After forming an inner box 3 from a plastic sheet using a vacuum forming method and fitting it into the outer box 2, polyurethane foam is injected into the space between the inner box 3 and the outer box 2 and solidified to form a cabinet. , a method of inserting a partition wall member has been used.

In the case of a structure in which the partition wall member is inserted into the inner box later as in this method, a gap is created between the joining surfaces of the partition wall member and the inner box after insertion due to the relative dimensional difference between the partition wall member and the inner box.

This gap not only makes it impossible to maintain airtightness between each storage room separated by a partition wall, but also allows leakage from stored food and water to flow in, making the room unclean. Depending on the settings, there was a fear that the liquid flowing into this gap would freeze and cause volumetric expansion, deforming or damaging the partition wall member 5 and the inner box 3.

In order to solve this problem, for example, JP-A-53-10
As shown in Publication No. 77, a method has been proposed in which an inner box is formed by disposing a separately formed partition wall in a female mold for vacuum forming as a part of the mold, and the partition wall is a part of the inner box. Since it is wrapped and molded on the back side, there are no gaps, so there is no risk of water or the like flowing in.

However, since the partition wall is covered with the inner box material, the shape of the partition wall is significantly inferior, and the product value, such as color and gloss, is lower than that of the above-mentioned partition wall member insertion method.

This invention was made in order to eliminate such drawbacks, and when forming the inner box that forms the inner wall of the refrigerator using a vacuum forming method using a single plastic sheet, the inside of the refrigerator is divided into a plurality of storage chambers. A partition wall member having a side wall with an outer peripheral surface higher than its upper surface for the purpose of forming the mold was set in advance in the notch formed in the male mold for vacuum forming.
By molding the inner box using the side wall of the partition wall member as part of the vacuum molding mold, the inner box inner wall and the partition wall member are more tightly fixed by heat shrinkage of the inner box during molding, and It is an object of the present invention to provide a method for manufacturing an inner box in which a partition wall can be formed at the same time.

The present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the illustrated embodiments.

FIG. 2 is a side sectional view of a refrigerator cabinet according to the present invention, in which 1 is a refrigerator main body, 2 and 3 are outer and inner boxes forming this main body, 4 is a storage chamber formed within the main body,
5 is a partition wall for dividing this storage room into a plurality of storage rooms, and 6 is a part for assembling the outer box 2 and inner box 3, and injecting and hardening a polyurethane foam foaming solution into the space formed between these two boxes. This is an insulated wall made up of FIG. 3 shows a side sectional view of the vacuum forming mold, and FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the partition wall member. In the figure, reference numeral 7 denotes a vacuum forming male mold for molding the inner box 3 by vacuum forming, etc., and a notch 8 is provided in the middle for detachably arranging the partition wall 5 member. There is. Reference numeral 9 denotes side walls provided on both sides and the rear side of the partition wall 5, the upper part of which is formed into a saw body by injection molding or the like so as to rise above the upper surface 10 of the partition wall, that is, the surface on which foods and the like are placed.

Note that the hollow portion of this partition wall is filled with a heat insulating material 11. Next, the manufacturing procedure of the refrigerator cabinet according to the present invention will be explained. First, the inner box 3 is vacuum formed.

That is, as shown in FIG. 5, the partition wall 5 member is inserted into the notch 8 of the male mold 7 for vacuum forming. At this time, the thickness of the side wall 9 of the partition wall 5 is positioned so as to protrude from the outer surface of the male mold 7 for vacuum forming, and this side wall portion is formed as a part of the vacuum mold. Next, a plastic sheet 12 is temporarily placed above the male die 7 for vacuum forming at a distance. Then, the plastic sheet is heated to 100 to 160° C. to soften it and molding is started by the well-known vacuum forming method. Note that the upper end of the side wall of the partition wall is
Even if a gap is created between the partition wall 5 member and the cutout portion 8 due to processing errors, there is no risk that the plastic sheet will be damaged by the vacuum pressure during vacuum forming. FIG. 6 shows the state in which the inner box 3 has been molded by the vacuum forming method, and the inner box is in close contact with the male die 7 for vacuum forming and the side wall 9 of the partition wall member.

In this state, the plastic sheet, ie, the inner box 3, hardens while being thermally contracted during the cooling process, and is released from the male mold 7 for vacuum forming after hardening. At this time, the side wall portion 9 of the partition wall member is in contact with the inner wall surface of the inner box 3 formed from a plastic sheet, and remains in close contact with the inner wall surface of the inner box 3 due to thermal contraction during cooling. The inner box assembly 13 is constructed as shown in FIG. Then, this inner box assembly is fitted into the outer box 2, and polyurethane foam is injected and solidified into the gap formed between both boxes to form a heat insulating wall 6, thereby completing the refrigerator cabinet that constitutes the refrigerator main body 1. . Since the present invention is configured as described above, the inner wall of the inner box and the partition wall member are brought into close contact with each other to a higher degree. In addition, since the side wall is integrally molded with the partition wall member and has a double structure with the inner box formed by vacuum forming, it has strength, and even if the foaming pressure from urethane foaming is high, the partition wall member will not be damaged. If the part is supported with urethane foam mold, it will be able to withstand the pressure sufficiently.
Manufacturing costs can be reduced without requiring the precision of urethane foam molds. Furthermore, since there is no gap between the partition wall member and the inner box due to the mutual dimensional difference, even if food soup or water is accidentally spilled on the top surface of the partition, it will not flow between the partition wall and the inner box. There is no risk of seepage through the rising side walls of the partition wall. Furthermore, since a male mold is used as the vacuum molding mold, the partition wall member, which has a shape, color, gloss, etc. that has been molded in advance by injection molding etc., can be assembled as an inner box while the dough is still in place. Therefore, the product value can be increased without damaging the aesthetic appearance.

Note that the vacuum forming method 1 in the above explanation is a method in which the vacuum is drawn from the vacuum forming mold side, but conversely, the 0-pressure air forming method applies pressure from the outside of the plastic sheet toward the vacuum forming mold. A similar effect can also be obtained.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Figure 1 shows a side cross-section of a conventional refrigerator cabinet;
7 to 7 relate to an embodiment of the present invention, in which FIG. 2 is a side sectional view of a refrigerator cabinet, FIG. 3 is a side sectional view of a vacuum forming mold, and FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a partition wall member. Fifth
6 and 6 are explanatory diagrams showing the state before and after the vacuum forming process with the partition wall member mounted in the vacuum mold, and FIG. 7 is a side sectional view of the inner box assembly. Note that the same reference numerals in the figures indicate the same or equivalent parts. 1 is the refrigerator body, 3 is the inner box, 4 is the storage room, 5 is the partition wall,
7 is a male mold for vacuum forming, and 9 is a side wall.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. In manufacturing an inner box that is integrally molded from a plastic sheet using a vacuum forming method and that divides the interior of the inner box into a plurality of storage chambers using a partition wall, a notch part is provided in which the partition wall member is set in the male die for vacuum forming. A partition wall member having a side wall in which the outer peripheral surface of the partition wall in contact with the inner wall of the inner box is higher than the upper surface thereof is set in this notch, and the outer peripheral surface of this partition wall member is used as a part of the vacuum forming mold. By molding the inner box, the partition wall member holds the side wall of the partition wall due to heat contraction of the inner box during molding, and the inner box inner wall and the partition wall member A method for producing a refrigerator inner box, characterized in that the inner box is closely fixed.