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(11) | EP 2 789 953 A1 |
| (12) | EUROPEAN PATENT APPLICATION |
| published in accordance with Art. 153(4) EPC |
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| (54) | REFRIGERATOR ASSEMBLY SYSTEM AND REFRIGERATOR |
| (57) A basic wall 315, connecting walls 311 to 314 connected to the basic wall 315 and
a fixing portion 51 connecting the connecting wall 314 to the basic wall 315 are included,
in which the connecting walls 311 to 314 selected from plural kinds of connecting
walls 311 to 314 with different sizes are connected to the basic wall 315 by the fixing
portion 51 to thereby assemble heat insulating box bodies 12 with different volumes. |
Technical Field
Background Art
[0002] In a refrigerator, a heat insulating box body for constructing a casing of a refrigerator is formed by arranging a heat insulating member between an inner box and an outer box.
[0003] However, the inner box has a three-dimensional shape with a size corresponding to a volume of the heat insulating box body in the refrigerator having the above structure, and inner boxes with different sizes will be necessary with respect to heat insulating box bodies with different volumes, therefore, it is necessary to prepare inner boxes with different sizes as intermediate members according to the volume and to secure a wide stock space and intermediate inventories, which causes a problem that it is difficult to allow the refrigerator to respond to the manufacture of plural kinds of products.
[0004] As the inner box is a resin molded article formed by vacuum molding and so on, a draft angle for the removal from a molding tool exists in the inner box. In the refrigerator having the above structure, when all or part of a space between the outer box and the inner box is filled with a foam heat insulating material, a jig for supporting an inner surface of the inner box in a state of surface contact will be necessary. It is difficult to use the jig in common in inner boxes with different sizes when the draft exists in the inner box, therefore, jigs will be necessary with respect to respective volumes. Accordingly, as the kinds of products with different volumes increase, equipment costs relating to jigs and the space in which the jigs are stocked are increased and it may become difficult to allow the refrigerator to respond to the manufacture of plural kinds of products.
Citation List
Patent Literature
Summary of Invention
Technical Problem
[0006] In view of the above, an object of the present invention is to provide a refrigerator assembly system and a refrigerator capable of manufacturing plural kinds of products with different volumes efficiently.
Solution to Problem
[0007] According to an embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a refrigerator assembly system including a basic wall, connecting walls connected to the basic wall and a fixing portion connecting the connecting wall to the basic wall, in which wherein the connecting walls selected from plural kinds of connecting walls with different sizes are connected to the basic wall by the fixing portion to thereby assemble heat insulating box bodies with different volumes.
[0008] According to the embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a refrigerator including a basic wall, connecting walls connected to the basic wall, and a fixing portion connecting the connecting walls selected from plural kinds of connecting walls with different sizes to the basic wall to thereby assemble heat insulating box bodies with different volumes.
Brief Description of Drawings
[0009]
[Fig. 1] Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a heat insulating box body and a fixing means forming a refrigerator according to a first embodiment.
[Fig. 2] Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a refrigerator.
[Fig. 3] Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the inside of the refrigerator seen from a right direction.
[Fig. 4] Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the inside of the refrigerator seen from a left direction.
[Fig. 5] Fig. 5 is a longitudinal-sectional side view of a heat insulating box body.
[Fig. 6] Fig. 6 is a cross-sectional plan view schematically showing a refrigerating compartment inside the heat insulating box body.
[Fig. 7] Fig. 7 is an exploded perspective view of a divided heat insulating wall.
[Fig. 8] Fig. 8 is a cross-sectional plan view schematically showing a right portion on the front side of the heat insulating box body.
[Fig. 9] Fig. 9 is a cross-sectional plan view schematically showing a corner portion on a left back side of the heat insulating box body.
[Fig. 10] Fig. 10 is a perspective view showing a state of attaching a fixing means provided at the corner portion on the left back side of the heat insulating box body.
[Fig. 11] Fig. 11 is a perspective view showing a state before the fixing means is attached to the corner portion on the left back side of the heat insulating box body.
[Fig. 12] Fig. 12 is a perspective view of the fixing means attached to the corner portion on the left back side of the heat insulating box body.
[Fig. 13] Fig. 13 is a front view of the fixing means attached to the corner portion on the left back side of the heat insulating box body.
[Fig. 14] Fig. 14 is an exploded perspective view of the fixing means attached to the corner portion on the left back side of the heat insulating box body.
[Fig. 15] Fig. 15 is a cross sectional view taken along A-A line of Fig. 13.
[Fig. 16] Fig. 16 is a cross sectional view taken along B-B line of Fig. 13.
[Fig. 17] Fig. 17 is a cross sectional view taken along C-C line of Fig. 13.
[Fig. 18] Fig. 18 is a cross sectional view taken along D-D line of Fig. 13.
[Fig. 19] Fig. 19 is a cross sectional view taken along E-E line of Fig. 13.
[Fig. 20] Fig. 20 is a cross-sectional plan view (No. 1) showing a state of attaching the fixing means provided at the corner portion on the left back side of the heat insulating box body.
[Fig. 21] Fig. 21 is a cross-sectional plan view (No. 2) showing a state of attaching the fixing means provided at the corner portion on the left back side of the heat insulating box body.
[Fig. 22] Fig. 22 is a cross-sectional plan view schematically showing a corner portion on a right back side of the heat insulating box body.
[Fig. 23] Fig. 23 is a perspective view showing a state of attaching a fixing means provided at the corner portion on the right back side of the heat insulating box body.
[Fig. 24] Fig. 24 is a perspective view showing a state before the fixing means is attached to the corner portion on the right back side of the heat insulating box body.
[Fig. 25] Fig. 25 is a perspective view of the fixing means attached to the corner portion on the right back side of the heat insulating box body.
[Fig. 26] Fig. 26 is a front view of the fixing means attached to the corner portion on the right back side of the heat insulating box body.
[Fig. 27] Fig. 27 is an exploded perspective view of the fixing means attached to the corner portion on the right back side of the heat insulating box body.
[Fig. 28] Fig. 28 is a cross sectional view taken along F-F line of Fig. 26.
[Fig. 29] Fig. 29 is a cross sectional view taken along G-G line of Fig. 26.
[Fig. 30] Fig. 30 is a cross sectional view taken along H-H line of Fig. 26.
[Fig. 31] Fig. 31 is a cross sectional view taken along I-I line of Fig. 26.
[Fig. 32] Fig. 32 is a longitudinal-sectional front view showing a vicinity of a right end portion of a second partition member.
[Fig. 33] Fig. 33 is a perspective view showing a state of attaching the fixing means to a left-face divided heat insulating wall.
[Fig. 34] Fig. 34 is a perspective view showing a fixing means according to a second embodiment.
[Fig. 35] Fig. 35 is a cross sectional view showing the fixing means according to the second embodiment.
[Fig. 36] Fig. 36 is a cross sectional view showing a fixing means according to a third embodiment.
Description of Embodiments
[0010] Plural embodiments will be explained with reference to the drawings. When indicating directions with reference to the drawings, the explanation will be given by taking a refrigerator door's side as a "front side" and taking a right side seen from the front of the refrigerator as a "right side" for convenience.
(First Embodiment)
[0012] First, a refrigerator 11 shown in Fig. 2 includes a heat insulating box body 12 shown in Fig. 1 to Fig. 6 and a not-shown refrigeration cycle for cooling the inside of the heat insulating box body 12.
[0013] The heat insulating box body 12 includes an outer box 13, an inner box 14 and a heat insulating member 15 provided between the outer box 13 and the inner box 14 as shown in Fig. 5 and Fig. 6. The heat insulating box body 12 is formed in a box shape with an opening in the front face, having an accommodating space, for example, a storage compartment, a space in which a duct can be provided according to need can be formed inside the inner box 14.
[0014] The outer box 13 is made of stainless steel and is formed in a box shape with an opening in the front. The outer box 13 is formed by combining walls made by plural outer plates obtained by dividing the outer box 13 into plural plates as shown in Fig. 1, Fig. 3 to Fig. 6. Specifically, the outer box 13 includes a plate-shaped upper face wall 16, a flat-plate shaped bottom face wall 17, a flat-plate shaped right face wall 18, a flat-plate shaped left face wall 19 and a flat-plate shaped back face wall 20. The upper face wall 16 has a stepped shape in the front and back direction, in which a front portion has a flat-plate shape parallel to the bottom face wall 17 and a rear portion is positioned lower than the front portion and has a flat-plate shape parallel to the bottom face wall 17. The right face wall 18 and the left face wall 19 have shapes symmetrical to each other. A machine room 21 is formed above the rear portion of the upper face wall 16 as shown in Fig. 3 to Fig. 5. The machine room 21 is provided with a not-shown compressor included in the above refrigeration cycle and so on. On a floor of the machine room 21, a spaced portion 211 is formed as shown in Fig. 5. The spaced portion 211 is an opening formed by providing a gap between adjacent heat insulating members 15. In the embodiment, the heat insulating member 15 positioned on the upper surface of the heat insulating box body 12 and the heat insulating member 15 positioned on the back surface are arranged with a gap, thereby forming the spaced portion 211. Additionally, a parts accommodating room 212 accommodating parts, a condenser and so on used for refrigerating, freezing or controlling is formed at a lower part in a rear portion of the heat insulating box body 12. Furthermore, a spaced portion 213 is formed on an upper surface of the parts accommodating room 212. The spaced portion 213 is formed by arranging the heat insulating member 15 positioned in the bottom surface of the heat insulating box body 12 and the heat insulating member 15 positioned in the back surface thereof so as to be apart from each other.
[0015] The inner box 14 is made of resin and has a box shape with an opening in the front surface, which is provided inside the outer box 13. The inner box 14 is formed by combining walls made by plural inner plates obtained by dividing the inner box 14 into plural plates as shown in Fig. 1, Fig. 3 to Fig. 6. Specifically, the inner box 14 includes a plate-shaped upper face wall 22, a flat-plate shaped bottom face wall 23, a flat-plate shaped right face wall 24, a flat-plate shaped left face wall 25 and a flat-plate shaped back face wall 26. The upper face wall 22 of the inner box 14 has also a stepped shape in the front and back direction in the same manner as the upper face wall 16 of the outer box 13, in which a front portion has a flat-plate shape parallel to the bottom face wall 23 and a rear portion is positioned lower than the front portion and has a flat-plate shape parallel to the bottom face wall 23. The right face wall 24 and the left face wall 25 have shapes symmetrical to each other.
[0016] Plural support members 27 protruding from an outer surface side of the inner box 14 toward the inner surface side of the inner box 14, namely, toward the storage compartment side are provided on the left face wall 25 and the back face wall 26 of the inner box 14 respectively as shown Fig. 1 and Fig. 11. Also on the right face wall 24 of the inner box 14, the similar support members 27 are provided as shown in Fig. 24.
[0017] Each support member 27 is, for example, a block made of resin, in which a base end portion is adhered and fixed to the heat insulating member 15 and a tip portion as the other end portion pierces an opening 28 formed in the wall of the inner box 14, for example, the left face wall 25 and the back face wall 26 as shown in Fig. 20 and Fig. 21. Furthermore, screw holes 271 are formed in the tip portions of the support members 27 provided on the left face wall 25 of the inner box 14 close to the back face wall 26 side by side in the vertical direction and support members 27 provided on the back face wall 26 of the inner box 14 close to the right face wall 24 as well as the left face wall 25 side by side in the vertical direction. The same screw holes are formed also in protruding tip portions of the support members 27 provided on the right face wall 24 of the inner box 14 close to the back face wall 26 side by side in the vertical direction, though not shown. It is also preferable that each support member 27 has a flange portion 272 in the base end portion and the flange portion 272 is sandwiched between the heat insulating member 15 and the outer surface of the inner box 14 as shown in Fig. 20 and Fig. 21. It is possible to prevent the support member 27 from falling off from the opening 28 to the storage compartment side as the support member 27 has the flange portion 272. The support member 27 is not formed as a member separated from the wall of the inner box 14 but can be formed integrally with the inner box 14.
[0018] As shown in Fig. 5 and Fig. 6, the upper face wall 16 of the outer box 13 and the upper face wall 22 of the inner box 14, the bottom face wall 17 of the outer box 13 and the bottom face wall 23 of the inner box 14, the right face wall 18 of the outer box 13 and the right face wall 24 of the inner box 14, the left face wall 19 of the outer box 13 and the left face wall 25 of the inner box 14, and the back face wall 20 of the outer box 13 and the back face wall 26 of the inner box 14 are respectively provided so as to face each other through the heat insulating member 15. Fig. 6 schematically shows a state in which the right face wall 18 of the outer box 13 faces the right face wall 24 of the inner box 14, the left face wall 19 of the outer box 13 faces the left face wall 25 of the inner box 14, and the back face wall 20 of the outer box 13 faces the back face wall 26 of the inner box 14.
[0019] The heat insulating member 15 has excellent heat insulating performance and has lower heat conductivity than foam heat insulating materials such as urethane, soft tape and so on, specifically, a flat-plate shaped common vacuum heat insulating panel, having a core member and an outer bag accommodating the core member. The core member is formed by accommodating a stacked body of materials having high heat insulating performance, for example, inorganic fibers such as glass wool into a not-shown inner bag made of a synthetic resin film such as polyethylene and then, compressing and curing the stacked body into a rectangular plate shape. The core member may be formed by other methods such as a papermaking method and a heat compression molding method. The outer bag is a bag having a gas barrier property, which is formed by appropriately combining and staking, for example, a polyethylene terephthalate film, a high-density polyethylene film, a vapor deposited aluminum film, an aluminum foil sheet into a bag shape. Then, the heat insulating member 15 is formed by reducing pressure inside the outer bag in the state of accommodating the core member in the outer bag and by sealing up an opening of the outer bag by thermal welding and so on while maintaining the reduced pressure.
[0020] In the heat insulating member 15, one surface of a thickness direction of a flat-shaped plate is adhered to the outer surface of the inner box 14 as well as the other surface opposite to one surface is adhered to an inner surface of the outer box 13. That is, the inside of the heat insulating box body 12 is formed by arranging the heat insulating member 15 so as to abut on the outer plate and the inner plate. As an example, Fig. 7 shows a structure in which the heat insulating member 15 is arranged in a state of being sandwiched between the left face wall 19 of the outer box 13 and the left face wall 25 of the inner box 14 provided so as to face the left face wall 19 of the outer box 13. In this structure, an adhesive 29 for adhering the heat insulating member 15 to the left face wall 19 is provided between the heat insulating member 15 and the inner surface of the outer box 13, namely, the left face wall 19 in this case. Furthermore, an adhesive 30 for adhering the heat insulating member 15 to the left face wall 25 is provided also between the outer surface of the inner box 14, namely, the left wall face 25 in this case. As the adhesives 29 and 30, a liquid-type adhesive, double-faced tape and so on can be used. The support members 27 are adhered to the heat insulating member 15 by the adhesive 30. It is also preferable that the support members 27 abut on the outer box 13 and the inner box 14 by being engaged with a fixing means 51.
[0021] As described above, the walls 16 to 20 of the outer box 13, the walls 22 to 26 of the inner box 14 provided so as to face the outer box 13 and heat insulating members 15 provided between the walls 16 to 20 of the outer box 13 and the walls 22 to 26 of the inner box 14 are adhered by the adhesives 29 and 30, thereby uniting one wall of the outer box 13, one wall of the inner box 14 corresponding to the outer box 13 and the heat insulating member 15 provided between these walls. The united object is called a heat insulating wall, that is, a divided heat insulating wall 31 in the embodiment.
[0022] The divided heat insulating wall 31 is formed by any one of the walls 16 to 20 of the outer box 13 and any one of the walls 22 to 26 of the inner box 14 and the vacuum heat insulating panel as the heat insulating member 15, in which one surface of the vacuum heat insulating panel is adhered to the outer plate and the other surface of the vacuum heat insulating panel is adhered to the inner plate, therefore, a heat insulating effect by the vacuum heat insulating panel can be obtained as well as the divided heat insulating wall 31 can be thin and the wall of the heat insulating box body 12 can be thin. As an example, a thickness of a related-art heat insulating wall in which the foam heat insulating member such as urethane is filled between the outer box and the inner box is approximately 40 mm, whereas in the heat insulating wall in which the outer plate and the inner plate are adhered to the vacuum heat insulating panel, the same degree of heat insulating performance as the related-art heat insulating wall can be obtained by a thickness of approximately 20 mm.
[0023] Note that the heat insulating wall and the divided heat insulating wall 31 can be called a divided heat insulating panel. That is, the heat insulating box body 12 is formed in the box shaped by combining plural divided heat insulating walls 31.
[0024] Specifically, as shown in Fig. 1, the heat insulating box body 12 is formed by combining five walls which are an upper-face divided heat insulating wall 311 forming the upper face wall of the heat insulating box body 12, a floor divided heat insulating wall 312 for forming the floor wall of the heat insulating box body 12, a right-face divided heat insulating wall 313 for forming a side wall which is the right face wall of the heat insulating box body 12, a left-face divided heat insulating wall 314 for forming a side wall which is the left face wall of the heat insulating box body 12 and a back-face divided heat insulating wall 315 for forming the back face wall of the heat insulating box body 12. The right-face divided heat insulating wall 313 and the left-face divided heat insulating wall 314 have shapes symmetrical to each other.
[0025] As described later, the heat insulating box body 12 is formed by setting the back-face divided heat insulating wall 315 as a basic wall and setting other divided heat insulating walls, namely, the upper-face divided heat insulating wall 311, the floor divided heat insulating wall 312, the right-face divided heat insulating wall 313 and the left-face divided heat insulating wall 314 as connecting walls to be connected to the basic wall 315. Plural kinds of divided heat insulating walls having different sizes exist in the respective connecting walls 311 to 314, and the connecting walls 311 to 314 selected from the plural kinds are connected to the basic wall 315 to thereby assemble the heat insulating box body 12.
[0026] Here, front end portions of the right-face divided heat insulating wall 313 and the left-face divided heat insulating wall 314 forming right and left walls of the heat insulating box body 12 will be explained with reference to Fig. 3, Fig. 4 and Fig. 8. As described above, the right-face divided heat insulating wall 313 and the left-face divided heat insulating wall 314 are symmetrical to each other, therefore, the front end portion of the right-face divided heat insulating wall 313 will be explained.
[0027] As shown in Fig. 3 and Fig. 4, folded portions 32 are formed at two places near the central portion and a lower portion in the vertical direction on the front end portion of the right-face divided heat insulating wall 313, which is the front end portion of the right face wall 18 of the outer box 13. As the folded portions 32 at two places have the same structure, the folded portion 32 provided on the central portion in the vertical direction of the front end portion of the right-face divided heat insulating wall 313 will be explained.
[0028] The folded portion 32 is folded from the front end portion of the right face wall 18 to the left direction, continuously folded to the backside in the front of the right face wall 24 of the inner box 14 and further, folded in the direction of the heat insulating member 15. That is, the folded portion 32 includes two flat portions 321 extending in the right and left direction and a curved portion 322 folded approximately 360 degrees, having a U-shape seen from the above. The two flat portions 321 approximately face each other and positioned in front of the heat insulating member 15. The curved portion 322 is positioned in front of the right face wall 24 of the inner box 14 and folded in a manner that an end portion of the folded portion 32 is positioned on the backside so that a tip surface of the flat portion 321 of the folded portion 32 is not positioned on the outer surface of the heat insulating box body 12. Furthermore, an opening 33 is formed between the curved portion 322 of the folded portion 32 and the front end portion of the right face wall 24 of the inner box 14 as well as an end portion entering room 34 is formed between the folded portion 32 and the front end portion of the heat insulating member 15. That is, the opening 33 functions as an entrance of the end portion entering room 34, and the front end portion of the right face wall 24 of the inner box 14 is formed apart from the folded portion 32 of the right face wall 18 of the outer box 13. The end portion entering room 34 is a space, and the folded portion 32 of the right face wall 18 is formed apart from the heat insulating member 15. Then, the end portion entering room 34 accommodates a partition plate 441 and a partition reinforcing plate 442. Additionally, in the two flat portions 321, through holes 35 piercing in the plate thickness direction are formed. The opening 33, the end portion entering room 34 and the through holes 35 will be described later.
[0029] The storage compartment as the inside of the inner box 14 of the heat insulating box body 12 is partitioned by a first partition member 37 provided in the center of the storage compartment and a second partition member 38 provided below the first partition member 37 as shown in Fig. 3 and Fig. 4. Accordingly, the storage compartment is divided into plural compartments, and plural rooms are formed inside the heat insulating box body 12. Specifically, a refrigerating compartment 39 is formed by being surrounded by the inner box 14 and the first partition member 37. A vegetable compartment 40 is formed by being surrounded by the inner box 14, the first partition member 37 and the second partition member 38. Furthermore, a space is formed at a lower part of the inner box 14 by being surrounded by the inner box 14 and the second partition member 38. In this space, there are provided an ice-making compartment 41, a first freezing compartment 42 and a second freezing compartment 43 arranged on the right side of the ice-making compartment 41. As shown in Fig. 2, a refrigerating compartment door 391 as a double door is provided in a front surface opening of the refrigerating compartment 39 and a pullout vegetable compartment door 401 is provided in a front surface opening of the vegetable compartment 40. Furthermore, a pullout ice-making compartment door 411 is provided in a front surface opening of the ice-making compartment 41, a pullout first freezing compartment door 421 is provided in a front surface opening of the first freezing compartment 42 and a pullout second freezing compartment door 431 is provided in a front surface opening of the second freezing compartment 43.
[0030] As the first partition member 37 has the same structure as the second partition member 38, the first partition member 37 will be explained with reference to Fig. 8. As the first partition member 37 has a symmetrical shape, a structure on the right side will be explained.
[0031] The first partition member 37 includes a front partition portion 44 and a surface partition portion 45.
[0032] The front partition portion 44 is provided in the front surface opening of the storage compartment, which is formed in a rectangular parallelepiped shape extending in a right and left direction of the storage compartment. The front partition portion 44 includes the partition plate 441, the partition reinforcing plate 442, a partition cover 443 and a partition heat insulating member 444.
[0033] The partition plate 441 is made of metal, which is a plate member forming a front face wall of the front partition portion 44, right and left both end portions of which are folded slightly backward. In the partition plate 441, a right end portion is arranged inside the end portion entering room 34 through the opening 33 formed in the front end portion of the right-face divided heat insulating wall 313. In the right end portion of the front partition portion 44, through holes 445 are formed at three places.
[0034] The partition reinforcing plate 442 is made of metal and is provided in the case where a tensile strength of the partition plate 441 is low and other cases, which is a plate member in which the size in the vertical direction is adjusted to the same as or to be shorter than the size in the vertical direction of the partition plate 441, and a size in the right and left direction is adjusted to be longer than the size of the right and left direction of the partition member 441, a plate thickness is adjusted to be equivalent to or to be thicker than the partition plate 441, and further, right and left both end portions of which are folded slightly backward. The partition reinforcing plate 442 is provided to be connected to the back surface of the partition plate 441.
[0035] Then, a right end portion of the partition plate 441 is arranged inside the end portion entering room 34 through the opening 33 formed in the front end portion of the right-face divided heat insulating wall 313. Accordingly, the right end portion of the partition plate 441 is sandwiched by the right end portion of the partition reinforcing plate 442 and the right face wall 18 of the outer box 13, namely, the folded portion 32 of the right-face divided heat insulating wall 313. The right and left both end portions of the right end portion of the partition plate 441 and the partition reinforcing plate 442 are folded backward, and the end portions thereof are inserted into the end portion entering room 34, therefore, the front surface of the folded portion 32 can be formed to be flush with the front surface of the partition plate 414.
[0036] The right end portion of the partition reinforcing plate 442 is positioned on the right side of the partition plate 441 and has an L-shape in cross section, which is folded backward so as to correspond to a corner shape of a front right portion of the right face wall 18 of the outer box 13. Furthermore, in the right end portion of the partition reinforcing plate 442, screw holes 446 are formed at three places so as to correspond to the through holes 445 at three places in the partition place 441. In the screw hole 446 positioned at the rightmost side in three places, a shaft portion of a screw 46 to be inserted into the through hole 35 formed in the folded portion 32 of the right face wall 18 of the outer box 13 is provided. Also in the screw holes 446 in remaining two places in the partition reinforcing plate 442, shaft portions of screws 47 to be inserted into the through holes 445 of the partition plate 441 are provided. Accordingly, the right end portion of the partition plate 441 and the right end portion of the partition reinforcing plate 442 are connected and fixed to the folded portion 32 of the right-face divided heat insulating wall 313. As described above, not shown in the drawings, but a left end portion of the partition plate 441 and a left end portion of the partition reinforcing plate 442 have the similar structure as the above right end portions, which are connected and fixed to the left face wall 19 of the outer box 13, namely, a not-shown folded portion of the left-face divided heat insulating wall 314. That is, the partition plate 441 functions as a connecting member connecting and fixing the right-face divided heat insulating wall 313 and the left-face divided heat insulating wall 314 in the front surface opening of the storage compartment, and the folded portion 32 functions as a connected member.
[0037] The partition cover 443 is made of metal and has a box shape with an opening in the front surface, which forms an outer periphery wall of the rectangular parallelepiped of the front partition portion 44 with the partition plate 441. Then, the partition heat insulating member 444 is provided in a space formed by the partition cover 443 and the partition plate 441. The partition cover 443 is supported by the support member 27. That is, the partition cover 443 has a not-shown attachment member at a lower part, and the attachment member is fixed to the support member 27 by a screw.
[0038] The partition heat insulating member 444 is made of a heat insulating member such as foamed polystyrene and urethane, which is formed in a rectangular parallelepiped shape.
[0039] The surface partition portion 45 is a rectangular plate member made of resin having a heat insulating property as shown in Fig. 3 and Fig. 4, which is formed by covering the circumference of the plate-shaped heat insulating member such as the vacuum heat insulating panel by a plate made of resin. The surface partition portion 45 is held by being placed on the support members 27 of the inner box 14 so that a front end portion abuts on a back surface of the front partition portion 44 and that the right and left both end portions abut on the right face wall 24 and the left face wall 25 of the inner box 14. A rear end portion of the surface partition portion 45 of the first partition member 37 is provided with a gap with respect to the back face wall 26 of the inner box 14. Accordingly, the refrigerating compartment 39 and the vegetable compartment 40 are communicated to each other. On the other hand, a rear end portion of the surface partition portion 45 of the second partition member 38 abuts on the back face wall 26 of the inner box 14. Accordingly, the vegetable compartment 40 and the ice-making compartment 41 are insulated by the second partition member 38 as well as the vegetable compartment 40 and the second freezing compartment 43 are also insulated by the second partition member 38.
[0040] The divided heat insulating wall 31 is connected and fixed to adjacent another divided heat insulating wall 31 through the fixing means 51 as shown in Fig. 1, Fig. 3 to Fig. 6. That is, the inner box 14 has a structure in which two walls are connected and fixed through the fixing means 51 at a corner portion formed by another wall adjacent to one wall in the walls 22 to 26 divided into plural walls.
[0041] The fixing means 51 is provided at a corner portion formed by the upper face wall 22 and the right face wall 24, a corner portion formed by the upper face wall 22 and the left face wall 25, a corner portion formed by the upper face wall 22 and the back face wall 26, a corner portion formed by the bottom face wall 23 and the right face wall 24, a corner portion formed by the bottom face wall 23 and the left face wall 25 and a corner portion formed by the bottom face wall 23 and the back face wall 26 in the inner box 14. In other words, the fixing means 51 are fixing portions for connecting and fixing separated two-divided heat insulating walls 31 which are adjacent and separated to each other.
[0042] In a corner portion at a rear part of the inner box 14, for example, the corner portion on the left back side formed by the left face wall 25 and the back face wall 26, an electric wire 52 is arranged as shown in Fig. 6 and Fig. 9. The electric wire 52 is, for example, an electric wire connecting between a controller as a not-shown control means and a not-shown component such as blower fan which drives by receiving a signal from the controller, or an electric wire connecting between the controller and various sensors, which extends along, for example, the corner portion. The electric wire 52 is formed by binding plural electric wires. In the drawing, the electric wire 52 in a circular shape in cross section with the plural electric wires being bound is shown.
[0043] In the corner portion different from the corner portion at the rear part of the inner box 14 where the electric wire 52 is provided, for example, the corner portion on a right back side formed by the left face wall 25 and the back face wall 26, pipes 53 are arranged as shown in Fig. 6 and Fig. 22. The pipes 53 are specifically pipes through which a refrigerant is circulated in the refrigeration cycle such as a suction pipe connecting a not-shown evaporator for refrigeration to the compressor and a suction pipe connecting a not-shown evaporator for freezing to the compressor, which extend along, for example, the corner portion. For example, there are provided two pipes 53 as a pipe through which a refrigerant used for refrigeration and a pipe through which a refrigerant used for freezing.
[0044] In the fixing means 51 provided in respective corner portions in the inner box 14, a fixing means 511 provided in the corner portion formed by the left face wall 25 and the back face wall 26 and a fixing means 512 provided in the corner portion formed by the right face wall 24 and the back face wall 26 in the inner box 14 are different from other fixing means provided integrally with the divided heat insulating walls 31 in a point that they are provided separately from the divided heat insulating walls 31, however, the fixing means 51 provided in respective corner portions in the inner box 14 have the similar structure in other points, therefore, the fixing means 511 and the fixing means 512 provided separately from the divided heat insulating walls 31 will be explained. In explanation of the fixing means 512, explanation relating to parts common to the fixing means 511 will be omitted. The structures of the above electric wire 52 and the pipes 53 will be also explained.
[0046] The fixing means 511 has a prismatic shape of a right-angle triangle in cross section as a whole, extending in the vertical direction along the corner portion formed by the left face wall 25 and the back face wall 26 of the inner box 14 as shown in Fig. 1, Fig. 9 and Fig. 10. Fig. 9 schematically shows a vicinity of the corner portion where the electric wire 52 is provided. Fig. 10 shows the corner portion after the fixing means 511 is provided in the corner portion. Fig. 11 shows the corner portion before the fixing means 511 is provided in the corner portion.
[0047] The fixing means 511 includes a fixing cover 54 and a reinforcing member 55 forming the tubular shape of the right-angle triangle in cross section and a corner heat insulating member 56 forming the inside of the tubular shape as shown in Fig. 12 to Fig. 14.
[0048] The fixing cover 54 is made of resin, which is a plate member having a rectangular shape extending in the vertical direction and arranged so as to cover the front side of the electric wire 52 provided in the corner portion. That is, the fixing cover 54 is arranged so that the electric wire 52 is not seen from the user's side of the refrigerator 11. In front of the fixing cover 54, through holes 58 for allowing shaft portions of screws 57 to pierce are formed as shown in Fig. 14 to Fig. 21. The through holes 58 in the fixing cover 54 are formed at plural positions on both end portions in a width direction orthogonal to the longitudinal direction. The through holes 58 are arranged in a manner in which the through holes 58 positioned in one end portion are shifted with respect to the through holes 58 positioned in the other end portion so that the through holes 58 in the other end portion are separated as far as possible. That is, the through holes 58 in the fixing cover 54 are arranged in a zigzag state along the longitudinal direction of the fixing cover 54 as shown in Fig. 13.
[0049] An axial direction of the through holes 58 positioned on the left side seen from the front in the through hole 58 of the fixing cover 54 is a direction orthogonal to the left face wall 25 of the inner box 14 when the fixing cover 54 is provided in the corner portion of the inner box 14 as shown in Fig. 15, Fig. 17, Fig. 19 and Fig. 20. An axial direction of the through holes 58 positioned on the right side seen from the front in the through holes 58 of the fixing cover 54 is a direction orthogonal to the back face wall 26 of the inner box 14 when the fixing cover 54 is provided in the corner portion of the inner box 14 as shown in Fig. 15, Fig. 16, Fig. 18 and Fig. 21.
[0050] The fixing cover 54 is configured by parts split into two pieces in the length of the extending direction of the corner portion where the fixing means 51 is provided as shown in Fig. 1, Fig. 12 and Fig. 13. According to the structure, the handling of the fixing cover 54 becomes easy and deformation such as torsion hardly occurs. Hereinafter, an upper part of the fixing cover 54 is referred to as an upper fixing cover 541 and a lower part is referred to as a lower fixing cover 542. The upper fixing cover 541 is arranged in the corner portion belonging to the refrigerating compartment 39 and the vegetable compartment 40 in the inner box 14, and the lower fixing cover 542 is arranged in the corner portion belonging to the ice-making compartment 41 and the first freezing compartment 42 of the inner box 14. A portion where the upper fixing cover 541 is coupled to the lower fixing cover 542 in the fixing cover 54, namely, a split portion protrudes to the corner portion on the left back side and abuts on the later-described reinforcing member 55 as shown in Fig. 15. An opening 59 opening in the end portion side is formed in the center of the longitudinal direction of the upper fixing cover 541, and an opening 60 opening to the end portion side is also formed in the center of the longitudinal direction of the lower fixing cover 542 as shown in Fig. 10, and Fig. 12 to Fig. 14.
[0051] The reinforcing member 55 is for reinforcing the strength of the fixing cover 54 of the fixing means 51, which is made of resin, including a cover forming remaining two edges of an isosceles triangle of the fixing means 511 in cross section, specifically, a plate member with an L-shape in cross section forming a corner of a right angle, in which a length of the longitudinal direction is adjusted to be the same as the length of the longitudinal direction of the fixing cover 54 as shown in Fig. 9, Fig. 12 and Fig. 14. In the reinforcing member 55, one edge in the two edges forming the L-shape in cross section is arranged so as to face the left face wall 25 of the inner box 14, that is, the left-face divided heat insulating wall 314, and the remaining one edge is arranged so as to face the back face wall 26 of the inner box 14, that is, the back-face divided heat insulating wall 315.
[0052] The right-angle portion of the reinforcing member 55 is arranged so as to correspond to the corner portion of the inner box 14. That is, the fixing means 511 is arranged in the corner portion so that the right-angle portion of the L-shape in cross section of the reinforcing member 55 is positioned closest to a corner of the corner portion of the inner box 14. Then, an opening in the opening side of the L-shape of the reinforcing member 55 in cross section is covered with the fixing cover 54. In other words, the reinforcing member 55 is arranged so as to traverse between end portions of adjacent divided heat insulating walls 31, namely, a separated portion of the adjacent divided heat insulating walls 31, which is a place where the heat insulating effect is low between the divided heat insulating walls 31.
[0053] Plural screw holes 61 and plural through holes 62 are formed on both end portions in a width direction of the reinforcing member 55, which is orthogonal to the longitudinal direction. The plural screw holes 61 and the plural through holes 62 are arranged in a zigzag shape along the longitudinal direction of the reinforcing member 55 so as to correspond to the through holes 58 of the fixing cover 54.
[0054] The through holes 62 of the reinforcing member 55 are formed in protruding portions 63 protruding to the fixing cover 54. That is, the protruding portions 63 are arranged in a zigzag shape along the longitudinal direction of the reinforcing member 55. An axial direction of the through holes 62 of the reinforcing member 55 corresponds to the axial direction of the through holes 58 of the fixing cover 54 when the fixing cover 54 is attached to the reinforcing member 55. The shaft portions of the screws 57 pierce the through holes 62 of the reinforcing member 55.
[0055] The screw holes 61 of the reinforcing member 55 have a cylindrical shape protruding to the fixing cover 54, in which screw threads are formed inside as shown in Fig. 14, Fig. 15, Fig. 16 and Fig. 19. The screw holes 61 of the reinforcing member 55 corresponds to the axial direction of the through holes 58 of the fixing cover 54 and screwed with the screws 57 when the fixing cover 54 is attached to the reinforcing member 55.
[0056] The reinforcing member 55 is also configured by parts split into two pieces in the length of the extending direction of the corner portion where the fixing means 511 is provided as shown in Fig. 14. The split position of the reinforcing member 55 is the same as the split position of the fixing cover 54. Hereinafter, an upper part of the reinforcing member 55 is referred to as an upper reinforcing member 551 and a lower part is referred to as a lower reinforcing member 552. According to the structure, the upper reinforcing member 551 is also arranged in the corner portion belonging to the refrigerating compartment 39 and the vegetable compartment 40, and the lower reinforcing member 552 is arranged in the corner portion belonging to the ice-making compartment 41 and the first freezing compartment 42 of the inner box 14.
[0057] The corner heat insulating member 56 is arranged in the corner portion so as to be covered with the fixing cover 54 of the fixing means 511, for example, as shown in Fig. 9, specifically, arranged so as to be surrounded by the fixing means 511 as described above. That is, the corner heat insulating member 56 is arranged so as to cover a separated portion between end portions of adjacent divided heat insulating walls 31. The corner heat insulating member 56 is formed so that a heat insulating member such as foamed polystyrene has a triangular prism shape as shown in Fig. 14. Plural notch portions 64 are formed on both end portions in a width direction orthogonal to the longitudinal direction of the corner heat insulating member 56. The notch portions 64 are arranged in a zigzag state along the longitudinal direction of the corner heat insulating member 56 so as not to interfere with the screws 57 provided in the through holes 58 of the fixing cover 54, the screw holes 61 and the through holes 62 of the reinforcing member 55. The corner heat insulating member 56 is also configured by parts split into two pieces in the length of the extending direction of the corner portion where the fixing means 511 is provided. The split position of the corner heat insulating member 56 is the same as the split position of the fixing cover 54. Hereinafter, an upper part of the corner heat insulating member 56 is referred to as an upper-corner heat insulating member 561 and a lower part is referred to as a lower-corner heat insulating member 562. In this case, the upper-corner heat insulating member 561 is sandwiched between the upper fixing cover 541 and the upper reinforcing cover 551. The lower-corner heat insulating member 562 is sandwiched between the lower fixing cover 542 and the lower reinforcing cover 552. According to the structure, the upper-corner heat insulating member 561 is also arranged in the corner portion belonging to the refrigerating compartment 39 and the vegetable compartment 40 and the lower-corner heat insulating member 562 is arranged in the corner portion belonging to the ice-making compartment 41 and the first freezing compartment 42 of the inner box 14.
[0058] According to the above structure, the fixing means 511 has a structure capable of being split into two pieces in the direction extending along the corner portion as a whole. The upper-corner heat insulating member 561 is provided with a gap with respect to the lower-corner heat insulating member 562. That is, a front surface of the split portion of the fixing member 511 has a concave shape to the corner portion side in the split portion of the fixing cover 54 as shown Fig. 15.
[0059] An opening 65 opening in the end portion side so as to correspond to the opening 59 of the fixing cover 541 is formed in the center of the longitudinal direction of the upper-corner heat insulating member 561, and an opening 66 opening in the end portion side so as to correspond to the opening 60 of the fixing cover 541 is also formed in the center of the longitudinal direction of the lower-corner heat insulating member 562.
[0060] A concave-shaped accommodating portion 67 extending in the longitudinal direction is formed at a right-angle portion of the corner heat insulating member 56 in a cross section orthogonal to the longitudinal direction, that is, a portion close to the corner of the corner portion of the inner box 14. The above-described electric wire 52 is accommodated in the accommodating portion 67 of the corner heat insulating member 56. That is, the fixing means 511 has a structure of accommodating the electric wire 52 inside the tubular shape. The electric wire 52 accommodated in the accommodating portion 67 is held so as not to be shifted from a given position by an inner peripheral surface of the accommodating portion 67 as a holding portion as well as held by a holding portion such as a not-shown hook. That is, the electric wire 52 and the fixing means 511 are integrated together. One part of the electric wire 52 protrudes from the opening 59 of the upper fixing cover 541 to the storage compartment side through the opening 65 of the corner heat insulating member 56, another part protrudes from the opening 60 of the lower fixing cover 592 to the storage compartment side through the opening 66 of the corner heat insulating member 56, and further another part protrudes from an upper end face of the fixing means 511 to the outside, being guided to the machine room 21 through the spaced portion 211. That is, the openings 59 and 60 in the fixing means 511 are provided for guiding part of the electric wire 52 accommodated inside the fixing means 511 to the storage compartment side. It is also preferable that part of the electric wire 52 is further guided from a lower end face of the fixing means 511 to the parts accommodating room 212 through the spaced portion 213.
[0061] The electric wire 52 has connecting portions 68 at the portions protruding from the openings 59 and 60 of the fixing cover 54 to the storage compartment side as shown in Fig. 13. The electric wire 52 also has the connecting portion 68 at a tip portion extending from the upper end face of the fixing means 511 to the outside. These connecting portions 68 are made of resin, having a plug-shaped structure capable of connecting to the connecting portions of other electric wires. The other electric wires are connected to components such as the controller and the blower fan.
[0062] A first sealing member 71 is provided between the fixing cover 54 and the reinforcing member 55, specifically between an end portion of the width direction of the fixing cover 54 and an end portion of the width direction of the reinforcing member 55 as shown in Fig. 14, Fig. 16 to Fig. 19. The first sealing member 71 is a member extending in the longitudinal direction of the fixing cover 54 and the reinforcing member 55, which is made of, for example, soft tape. Accordingly, a portion between the fixing cover 54 and the reinforcing member 55 is sealed with the first sealing member 71.
[0063] A second sealing member 72 is provided between the reinforcing member 55 and the wall of the inner box 14 close to the reinforcing member 55, specifically, between the reinforcing member 55 and the left face wall 25, namely, the left-face divided heat insulating wall 314, and between the reinforcing member 55 and the back face wall 26, namely, the back-face divided heat insulating wall 315 as shown in Fig 14 to Fig. 19. The second sealing member 72 is a member extending along the longitudinal direction of the fixing cover 54 and the reinforcing member 55, which is made of, for example, soft tape. Accordingly, a portion between the reinforcing member 55 and the divided heat insulating wall 31 close to the reinforcing member 55 is sealed with the second sealing member 72.
[0064] As shown in Fig. 9, a third sealing member 73 is provided at an end portion of the divided heat insulating wall 31, for example, a part where the left-face divided heat insulating wall 314 abuts against the back-face divided heat insulating wall 315. The third sealing member 73 is a member extending parallel to the longitudinal direction of the fixing cover 54 and the reinforcing member 55, which is made of, for example, soft tape. Accordingly, a portion between the left-face divided heat insulating wall 314 and the back-face divided heat insulating wall 315 is sealed with the third sealing member 73. In Fig. 20 and Fig. 21, the third sealing member is not shown.
[0065] The fixing means 511 is configured by sandwiching the corner heat insulating member 56 between the fixing cover 54 and the reinforcing member 55, accommodating the electric wire 52 in the accommodating portion 67 of the corner heat insulating member 56 and aligning the end portion of the width direction of the fixing cover 54 with the end portion of the width direction of the reinforcing member 55 as shown in Fig. 14 to Fig. 19. Then, the shaft portions of the screws 57 are inserted into the through holes 58 of the fixing cover 54 to be screwed into the screw holes 61 of the reinforcing member 55 in the state in which the fixing cover 54 is aligned with the reinforcing member 55, thereby fixing the fixing cover 54 to the reinforcing member 55. Additionally, the corner heat insulating member 56 is also fixed inside the fixing means 511 as well as the electric wire 52 is fixed inside the fixing means 511 by fixing the fixing cover 54 to the reinforcing member 55. Accordingly, the fixing member 54, the reinforcing member 55, the corner heat insulating member 56 and the electric wire 52 are integrated together.
[0066] In the split portion between the upper fixing cover 541 and the lower fixing cover 542, the fixing cover 54 is fixed to the reinforcing member 55 by a pair of screws 57, 57 as shown in Fig. 15. Then, a left part of the rear end portion of the second partition member 38 abuts on the split portion of the fixing means 511 to be arranged.
[0067] As shown in Fig. 20 and Fig. 21, the screws 57 are inserted to the through hole 58 of the fixing cover 54 and the through hole 62 of the reinforcing member 55 to be screwed into the screw holes of the support members 27 of the inner box 14, thereby fixing the fixing means 511 to the corner portion of the inner box 14.
[0068] At this time, the portion between the fixing cover 54 and the reinforcing member 55 is sealed with the sealing member 71, the portion between the fixing means 51 and the divided heat insulating wall 31 close to the fixing means 51 is sealed with the second sealing member 72 and the portion between the left-face divided heat insulating wall 314 and the back-face divided heat insulating wall 315 is sealed with the third sealing member 73.
[0069] Furthermore, the left-face divided heat insulating wall 314 and the back-face divided heat insulating wall 315 are arranged so as to face the reinforcing member 55 through the second sealing member 72. Accordingly, the left-face divided heat insulating wall 314 and the back-face divided heat insulating wall 315 which are adjacent to each other are coupled and fixed to each other by the fixing means 511, and an angle between the adjacent divided heat insulating walls 314 and 315 made by the left-face divided heat insulating wall 314 and the back-face divided heat insulating wall 315 is held at 90 degrees so as to correspond to a right angle portion of the reinforcing member 55. That is, the reinforcing member 55 is arranged so as to face the left-face divided heat insulating wall 314 and the back-face divided heat insulating wall 315 respectively, functioning as an angle holding portion holding the angle made by adjacent walls, namely, the divided insulating walls 31 at 90 degrees.
[0071] The fixing means 512 has a prismatic shape of a right-angle triangle in cross section, extending in the vertical direction along the corner portion formed by the right face wall 24 and the back face wall 26 of the inner box 14 as shown in Fig. 22 and Fig. 23. Fig. 22 schematically shows a vicinity of the corner portion where the pipes 53 are provided. Fig. 23 shows a structure obtained after the fixing means 512 is provided in the corner portion. Fig. 24 shows the structure before the fixing means 512 is provided in the corner portion.
[0072] The fixing means 512 includes a fixing cover 81 and a reinforcing member 82 forming the tubular shape of the right-angle triangle in cross section and a corner heat insulating member 83 forming the inside of the tubular shape as shown in Fig. 25 to Fig. 27.
[0073] The fixing cover 81 has almost the same structure as the fixing cover 54, which is a plate member having a rectangular shape extending in the vertical direction and arranged so as to cover the front side of the pipes 53 provided in the corner portion. That is, the fixing cover 81 is arranged so that the pipes 53 are not seen from the user's side of the refrigerator 11. The fixing cover 81 is also provided with through holes 84 similar to the through holes 58 of the fixing cover 54 at plural positions. Additionally, the fixing cover 81 is configured by parts split into two pieces in the length of the extending direction of the corner portion where the fixing means 512 is provided, including an upper fixing cover 811 forming the upper part of the fixing cover 81 and a lower fixing cover 812 forming the lower part. A portion where the upper fixing cover 811 is coupled to the lower fixing cover 812, namely, a split portion protrudes to the corner portion on the right back side as shown in Fig. 28. Furthermore, a first protruding portion 85 protruding and extending to the outside is provided in the center of the longitudinal direction of the upper fixing cover 811 as shown in Fig. 27, and an opening 86 is formed in the first protruding portion. As shown in Fig. 23, Fig. 25 to Fig. 27, a second protruding portion 87 protruding and extending to the outside is also provided in the center of the longitudinal direction of the lower fixing cover 812, and an opening 88 is formed in the second protruding portion 87.
[0074] The reinforcing member 82 has almost the same structure as the reinforcing member 82, which is a plate member with an L-shape in cross section, forming remaining two edges of an isosceles triangle of the fixing means 512 in cross section as shown in Fig. 27. The right-angle portion of the reinforcing member 82 is arranged so as to correspond to the corner portion of the inner box 14. Then, the fixing cover 81 is provided so as to cover an opening in the opening side of the L-shape of the reinforcing member 82 in cross section.
[0075] Plural screw holes 89 and plural through holes 90 are formed on both end portions in a width direction of the reinforcing member 55, which is orthogonal to the longitudinal direction. The screw holes 89 and the through holes 90 of the reinforcing member 82 have the same structures as the screw holes 61 and the through holes 62 of the reinforcing member 55. Additionally, the reinforcing member 82 is also configured by parts split into two pieces in the length of the extending direction of the corner portion where the fixing means 512 is provided, including an upper reinforcing member 821 forming the upper part of the reinforcing member 82 and a lower reinforcing member 822 forming the lower part. The upper reinforcing member 821 includes a first reinforcing protruding portion 91 protruding and extending to the outside in the center of the longitudinal direction of the upper reinforcing member 821, namely, at a position corresponding to the first protruding portion 85. The first reinforcing protruding portion 91 forms a tubular shape with the first protruding portion 85. The lower reinforcing member 822 also includes a second reinforcing protruding portion 92 protruding and extending to the outside in the center of the longitudinal direction of the lower reinforcing member 822, namely, at a position corresponding to the second protruding portion 87. The second reinforcing protruding portion 92 also forms a tubular shape with the second protruding portion 87.
[0076] The corner heat insulating member 83 has almost the same structure as the corner heat insulating member 56, which is arranged in the corner portion so as to be covered with the fixing cover 81 of the fixing means 512. That is, the corner heat insulating member 83 is also arranged so as to cover a separated portion between end portions of adjacent divided heat insulating walls 31. The corner heat insulating member 83 is formed so that a heat insulating member such as foamed polystyrene has a triangular prism shape as shown in Fig. 27, and plural notch portions 93 are formed on both end portions in a width direction. The notch portions 93 have the same structure as the notch portions 64 of the corner heat insulating member 56. The corner heat insulating member 83 is also configured by parts split into two pieces in the length of the extending direction of the corner portion where the fixing means 512 is provided, including an upper corner heat insulating member 831 forming the upper part of the corner heat insulating member 83 and a lower corner heat insulating member 832 forming the lower part. In this case, the upper-corner heat insulating member 831 is sandwiched between the upper fixing cover 811 and the upper reinforcing member 821. The lower-corner heat insulating member 832 is sandwiched between the lower fixing cover 812 and the lower reinforcing member 822.
[0077] According to the above structure, the fixing means 512 has a structure capable of being split into two pieces in the direction extending along the corner portion as a whole. The upper-corner heat insulating member 831 is provided with a gap with respect to the lower-corner heat insulating member 832. That is, a surface close to the corner portion of the fixing cover 81 contacts the reinforcing member 82, and a front surface of the split portion of the fixing portion 51 has a concave shape to the corner portion side in the split portion of the fixing cover 81 as shown Fig. 28.
[0078] The upper corner heat insulating member 831 includes a first-heat insulating protruding portion 94 protruding and extending to the outside in the center of the longitudinal direction of the upper corner heat insulating member 831, namely, at a position corresponding to the first protruding portion 85, and an opening 95 is formed in the first-heat insulating protruding portion 94. The first-heat insulating protruding portion 94 is accommodated in a tubular portion formed by the first reinforcing protruding portion 91 and the first protruding portion 85. Furthermore, the lower corner heat insulating member 832 also includes a second-heat insulating protruding portion 96 protruding and extending to the outside in the center of the longitudinal direction of the lower corner heat insulating member 832, namely, at a position corresponding to the second protruding portion 87, and an opening 97 is formed in the second-heat insulating protruding portion 96. The second-heat insulating protruding portion 96 is accommodated in a tubular portion formed by the second reinforcing protruding portion 92 and the second protruding portion 87.
[0079] A concave-shaped accommodating portion 98 extending in the longitudinal direction is formed at a right-angle portion of the corner heat insulating member 83 in a cross section orthogonal to the longitudinal direction, that is, a portion close to the corner of the corner portion of the inner box 14. The above-described pipes 53 are accommodated in the accommodating portion 98 of the corner heat insulating member 83. That is, the fixing means 512 has a structure of accommodating the pipes 53 inside the tubular shape. The pipes 53 accommodated in the accommodating portion 98 are held by an inner peripheral surface of the accommodating portion 98 as a holding portion as well as held by a holding portion such as a not-shown hook. That is, the pipes 53 and the fixing means 512 are integrated together. The plural pipes 53 are accommodated in the accommodating portion 98 according to portions in the corner portion.
[0080] One part of the pipes 53 protrudes from the opening 86 of the upper fixing cover 811 to the storage compartment side through the opening 95 of the corner heat insulating member 83, another part protrudes from the opening 88 of the lower fixing cover 812 to the storage compartment side through the opening 97 of the corner heat insulating member 83, and further another part protrudes from an upper end face of the fixing means 512 to the outside to be guided to the machine room 21 through the spaced portion 211. That is, the openings 86 and 88 are provided for guiding part of the pipes 53 accommodated inside the fixing means 512 to the storage compartment side. It is also preferable that part of the pipes 53 is further guided to the parts accommodating room 212 from a lower end face of the fixing means 512 through the spaced portion 213.
[0081] The pipes 53 have welding portions 99 at the portions protruding from the openings 86 and 88 of the fixing cover 81 to the storage compartment side as shown in Fig. 26. The pipe 53 also has the welding portion 99 at a tip portion extending from the upper end face of the fixing means 512 to the outside. These welding portions 99 have a structure capable of being welded to welding portions of other pipes, for example, a structure in which a diameter of the pipes 53 is larger than other pipes. Other pipes are connected to an evaporator for refrigeration, an evaporator for freezing and a compressor. In the embodiment, the welding portions 99 of the pipes 53 are welded to the welding portions of other pipes so that the pipe 53 extending from the opening 86 to the upper fixing cover 811 to the storage compartment side is connected to the evaporator for refrigeration, the pipe extending from the opening 88 of the lower fixing cover 812 to the storage compartment side is connected to the evaporator for freezing and a pipe extending from the upper end face of the fixing means 512 to the outside is connected to the compressor provided in the machine room 21.
[0082] A first sealing member 101 similar to the first sealing member 71 provided in the fixing means 511 is provided between the fixing cover 81 and the reinforcing member 82, specifically between an end portion of the width direction of the fixing cover 81 and an end portion of the width direction of the reinforcing member 82.
[0083] A second sealing member 102 similar to the second sealing member 72 is provided between the reinforcing member 82 and the wall of the inner box 14 close to the reinforcing member 82, specifically, between the reinforcing member 82 and the right face wall 24, namely, the right-face divided heat insulating wall 313, and between the reinforcing member 82 and the back face wall 26, namely, the back-face divided heat insulating wall 315 as shown in Fig 27 to Fig.31.
[0084] As shown in Fig. 22, a third sealing member 103 similar to a third sealing member 72 is provided at a part where the right-face divided heat insulating wall 313 abuts against the back-face divided heat insulating wall 315.
[0085] The fixing means 512 is configured by sandwiching the corner heat insulating member 83 between the fixing cover 81 and the reinforcing member 82, accommodating the pipes 53 in the accommodating portion 98 of the corner heat insulating member 83 and aligning the end portion of the width direction of the fixing cover 81 with the end portion of the width direction of the reinforcing member 82 as shown in Fig. 26 to Fig. 31. Then, the shaft portions of the screws 57 are inserted into the through holes 84 of the fixing cover 81 to be screwed into the screw holes 89 of the reinforcing member 82 in the state in which the fixing cover 81 is aligned with the reinforcing member 82, thereby fixing the fixing cover 81 to the reinforcing member 82. Additionally, the corner heat insulating member 83 is also fixed inside the fixing means 51 as well as the pipes 53 are fixed inside the fixing means 512 by fixing the fixing cover 81 to the reinforcing member 82. A right part of the rear end portion of the second partition member 38 abuts on the split portion between the upper fixing cover 811 and the lower fixing cover 812 to thereby cover the split portion.
[0086] In the split portion between the upper fixing cover 811 and the lower fixing cover 812, the fixing cover 81 is fixed to the reinforcing member 82 by a pair of screws 57, 57 as shown in Fig. 28. Then, the right part of the rear end portion of the second partition member 38 abuts on the split portion of the fixing means 512 to be arranged.
[0087] As shown in Fig. 30, not-shown shaft portions of the screws are inserted to the through hole 84 of the fixing cover 81 and the through hole 90 of the reinforcing member 82 to be screwed into the screw holes of not-shown support members of the inner box 14, thereby fixing the fixing means 512 to the corner portion of the inner box 14. The fixing means 512 is fixed also to the support members of the back face wall 26 by the similar structure though not shown.
[0088] At this time, the portion between the fixing cover 81 and the reinforcing member 82 is sealed with the sealing member 101, the portion between the fixing means 51 and the divided heat insulating wall 31 close to the fixing means 51 is sealed with the second sealing member 102 and the portion between the right-face divided heat insulating wall 313 and the back-face divided heat insulating wall 315 is sealed with the third sealing member 103.
[0089] Furthermore, the reinforcing member 82 is arranged so as to face the right-face divided heat insulating wall 313 and the back-face divided heat insulating wall 315 respectively through the second sealing member 102. Accordingly, the right-face divided heat insulating wall 313 and the back-face divided heat insulating wall 315 which are adjacent to each other are coupled and fixed to each other by the fixing means 512, and an angle between adjacent walls made by the right-face divided heat insulating wall 313 and the back-face divided heat insulating wall 315 is held at 90 degrees so as to correspond to a right angle portion of the reinforcing member 82. That is, the reinforcing member 82 functions as an angle holding portion holding the angle made by adjacent wall at 90 degrees.
[0090] Next, part of the pipes 53 guided from the opening 88 of the fixing cover 81 of the fixing means 512 to the storage compartment side will be explained with reference to Fig. 32. As shown in Fig. 32, a partition-portion heat insulating member 105 is provided inside the inner box 14 between the surface partition portion 45 of the second partition member 38 and the right face wall 24 of the inner box 14. The partition-portion heat insulating member 105 is an heat insulating member made of foamed polystyrene and so on, which is formed in a block shape extending in the front and back direction. A concave portion 106 opening to the inner box 14 side is formed in the partition-portion heat insulating member 105. Then, part of the pipes 53 protruding from the opening 88 of the fixing means 512 to the storage compartment side is provided inside the concave portion 106. That is, part of the pipes 53 protruding from the opening 88 of the fixing means 512 is provided along the front and back direction of an edge portion of the second partition member 38.
[0091] An upper surface, a front surface and a left surface of the partition-portion heat insulating member 105 are covered with a member extending from the surface partition portion 45 of the second partition member 38.
[0092] It is also preferable that the partition heat insulating member or the like is provided also between the surface partition portion 45 of the second partition member 38 and the left face wall 25 of the inner box 14 inside the inner box 14, and part of the electric wire 52 protruding from the opening 60 of the fixing means 512 is provided along the front and back direction of an edge portion of the second partition member 38, though not shown.
[0093] An assembly system of the refrigerator 11 according to the embodiment described above will be explained with reference to Fig. 1 and Fig. 33. Here, a case of assembling the heat insulating box bodies 12 having different volumes will be explained by setting one divided heat insulating wall (for example, the back-face divided heat insulating wall 315) as a basic wall in the divided heat insulating walls 31 forming the heat insulating box body 12, setting other divided heat insulating walls (for example, the upper face divided heat insulating wall 311, the floor divided heat insulating wall 312, the right-face divided heat insulating wall 313 and the left-face divided heat insulating wall 314) as connecting walls, preparing plural kinds of divided heat insulating walls having different sizes for each of connecting walls and changing the kind of the connecting walls to be connected to the basic wall through the fixing means 51.
[0094] First, the divided heat insulating walls 31 shown in Fig. 1 are fabricated. Namely, the back-face divided heat insulating wall 315 as the basic wall, the upper-face divided heat insulating wall 311, the floor divided heat insulating wall 312, the right-face divided heat insulating wall 313 and the left-face divided heat insulating wall 314 as the connecting walls are fabricated.
[0095] The connecting walls 311 to 314 can be connected to the base wall 315 through the fixing means 51 as fixing portions, divided heat insulating walls with plural kinds of depth sizes are fabricated for each of the connecting walls 311 to 314. Respective connecting walls 311 to 314 are connected not only to the base wall 315 but also to adjacent connecting walls 311 to 314, the depth sizes of respective connecting walls 311 to 314 are set so that divided heat insulating walls having the same depth size exist in the connecting walls 311 to 314.
[0096] As a specific example, four kinds of divided heat insulating walls are fabricated, in which the width size is the same 750 mm as the basic wall 315 and the depth sizes are 500 mm, 600 mm, 700 mm and 730 mm for the upper-face divided heat insulating wall 311 and the floor divided heat insulating wall 312, and four kinds of divided heat insulating walls are fabricated, in which the height size is 180 mm and the depth sizes are 500 mm, 600 mm, 700 mm and 730 mm for the right-face divided heat insulating wall 313 and a left-face divided heat insulating wall 314, which are the same as the upper-face divided heat insulating wall 311 and the floor divided heat insulating wall 312 with respect to the back-face divided heat insulating wall 315 as the basic wall in which the width size is 750 mm and the height size is 1200 mm.
[0097] Furthermore, the fixing means 51 provided separately from the basic wall 315 and the connecting walls 311 to 314, the fixing means 511 connecting the basic wall 315 to the connecting wall 314 and the fixing means 512 connecting the basic wall 315 to the connecting wall 313 are fabricated in the embodiment.
[0098] Specifically, the corner heat insulating member 56 accommodating the electric wire 52 in the accommodating portion 67 is sandwiched between the fixing cover 54 and the reinforcing member 55, and the fixing cover 54 is fixed to the reinforcing member 55 by the screws 57, thereby fabricating the fixing means 511 in which the fixing cover 54, the reinforcing member 55, the corner heat insulating member 56 and the electric wire 52 are integrated together as shown in Fig. 12. The fixing means 512 is formed in the same manner as the fixing means 511, and the corner heat insulating member 83 accommodating the pipes 53 in the accommodating portion 98 is sandwiched between the fixing cover 81 and the reinforcing member 82, and the fixing cover 81 is fixed to the reinforcing member 82 by the screws 57, thereby fabricating the fixing means 512 in which the fixing cover 81, the reinforcing member 82, the corner heat insulating member 83 and the pipes 53 are integrated together as shown in Fig. 25.
[0099] In this example, divided heat insulating walls having different depth sizes are fabricated for each of the connecting walls 311 to 314 for assembling heat insulating box bodies having different volumes, however, one kind of fixing means is fabricated for each of the fixing means 511 and 512. That is, even when the volume of the heat insulating box body 12 differs, the fixing means 511 for connecting the back-face divided heat insulating wall 315 to the right-face divided heat insulating wall 314 and the electric wire 52 integrated with the fixing means 511 having the same shapes respectively are used, and the fixing means 512 for connecting the back-face divided heat insulating wall 315 to the left-face divided heat insulating wall 313 and the pipes 53 integrated with the fixing means 512 having the same shapes respectively are used. Accordingly, the connecting portions 68 of the electric wire 52 and the welding portions 99 of the pipes 53 are arranged in the same height positions inside the heat insulating box bodies 12, even when the volume differs in the assembled heat insulating box bodies 12.
[0100] Next, divided heat insulating walls with one kind of the depth size, for example, the upper-face divided heat insulating wall 311, the floor divided heat insulating wall 312, the right-face divided heat insulating wall 313 and the left-face divided heat insulating wall 314 having the depth size 500 mm are selected from divided heat insulating walls with plural kinds of depth sizes fabricated for each of the connecting walls 311 to 314.
[0101] Next, the selected four connecting walls 311 to 314 are connected to the basic wall 315 by the fixing means 51 and adjacent connecting walls 311 to 314 are connected to one another. An example of a connecting structure between the basic wall 315 and the connecting walls 311 to 314 is shown in Fig. 33. The fixing means 511 is attached to the left-face divided heat insulating wall 314 by screws 57. Accordingly, the electric wire 52 arranged in the accommodating portion 67 of the fixing means 511 is attached to the left-face divided heat insulating wall 314 with the fixing means 511.
[0102] Next, the back-face divided heat insulating wall 315 is attached to the united object of the left-face divided heat insulating wall 314 and the fixing means 511. Accordingly, the back-face divided heat insulating wall 315 as the basic wall and the left-face divided heat insulating wall 314 as the connecting wall are connected and fixed, thereby forming the corner portion on the right back side of the inner box 14 as well as arranging the wiring 52 in the corner portion through the fixing means 511. At this time, an angle between adjacent walls formed by the left-face divided heat insulating wall 314 and the back-face divided heat insulating wall 315 is held at 90 degrees so as to correspond to the right angle portion of the reinforcing member 55.
[0103] Another corner portion of the inner box 14 is formed also by connecting and fixing the divided heat insulating wall 31 to the fixing means 51. Accordingly, the inner box 14 in which the angle between divided heat insulating walls 31 is 90 degrees is formed and a rectangular-parallelepiped heat insulating box body 12 is formed, and the pipes 53 arranged in the accommodating portion 98 of the fixing means 512 are arranged in the corner portion on the left back side of the inner box 14 by the fixing means 512 connecting between the right-face divided heat insulating wall 313 and the back-face divided heat insulating wall 315.
[0104] In the embodiment, when the connecting walls 311 to 314 having the depth size 500 mm are selected, the heat insulating box body 12 having an inside volume of approximately 440 L can be obtained, when the connecting walls 311 to 314 having the depth size 600 mm are selected, the heat insulating box body 12 having an inside volume of approximately 550 L can be obtained, when the connecting walls 311 to 314 having the depth size 700 mm are selected, the heat insulating box body 12 having an inside volume of approximately 670 L can be obtained, and when the connecting walls 311 to 314 having the depth size 730 mm are selected, the heat insulating box body 12 having an inside volume of approximately 708 L can be obtained, respectively.
[0105] At the time of assembling the heat insulating box body 12, the first partition member 37 and the second partition member 38 are provided at given positions, thereby forming the refrigerating compartment 39, the vegetable compartment 40, the ice-making compartment 41, the first freezing compartment 42 and the second freezing compartment 43 are formed, and the right-face divided heat insulating wall 313 and the left-face divided heat insulating wall 314 are connected and fixed together by the first partition member 37 and the second partition member 38 in the front-surface opening side of the storage compartment.
[0106] During the assembly or after the assembly of the heat insulating box body 12, the compressor, the condenser, the evaporator and the suction pipe forming the refrigeration cycle are arranged and connected to welding portions 99 provided in the pipes 53, and electrical components such as the controller, the blower fan and a generator 150 are connected to the connecting portions 68 provided in the electric wire 52.
[0108] The heat insulating box body 12 of the refrigerator 11 is formed by selecting connecting walls 311 to 314 with one kind of the depth size from the connecting walls 311 to 314 with plural kinds of depth sizes and connecting the selected connecting walls 311 to 314 to the basic wall 315 through the fixing means 51. Accordingly, as the heat insulating box bodies 12 with different volumes can be obtained by changing the depth size of the connecting walls 311 to 314 to be selected according to the embodiment, intermediate components for forming the heat insulating box body 12 are provided in an approximately flat shape to thereby save the stock space for the intermediate components as well as part of the intermediate components such as the basic wall 315 can be used in common, therefore, plural types of refrigerators with different volumes can be manufactured efficiently as compared with the structure of providing the three-dimensional inner box in advance as in the related art.
[0109] Additionally, as the inner box 14 is formed by connecting between the basic wall 315 and the connecting walls 311 to 314 in the embodiment, it is not necessary to provide a draft angle used in a resin molding in the inner face of the inner box 14, and the adjacent walls 22 to 26 in the inner box 14 can be provided in the vertical direction. Accordingly, for example, when a part between the inner box 14 and the outer box 13 is filled with a foam heat insulating material such as a case where end portions or the abutted portions between the basic wall 315 and the connecting walls 313 to 314 are filled with the foam heat insulating material, a jig supporting the inner face of the inner box 14 in a surface contact state can be used in common in the heat insulating box bodies 12 with different volumes, as a result, plural types of refrigerators can be manufactured efficiently.
[0110] As the fixing means 51 are provided separately from the basic wall 315 and the connecting walls 313 and 314, it is easy to connect and fix the connecting walls 313 and 314 to the basic wall 315 and the assembly workability of the heat insulating box body 12 can be improved. Moreover, the fixing means 51 holds the angle between adjacent divided heat insulating walls 31 at 90 degrees, therefore, the assembly workability of the heat insulating box body 12 can be facilitated.
[0111] Furthermore, the fixing means 511, 512, the electric wire 52 and the pipes 53 having the same shapes can be used even when the volume of the heat insulating box bodies 12 to be assembled differs, therefore, parts can be used in common, and plural types of refrigerators with different volumes can be manufactured efficiently.
[0112] Additionally, in the assembled heat insulating box bodies 12, the connecting portions 68 of the electric wire 52 and the welding portions 99 of the pipes 53 are arranged in the height positions inside the heat insulating box bodies 12 even when the volume differs, therefore, electronic parts to be connected to the connection portions 68 of the electric wire 52 such as the controller and the blower fan, and parts forming the refrigeration cycle to be welded to the welding portions 99 of the pipes 53 such as the evaporator can be easily used in common, as a result, plural types of refrigerators with different volumes can be manufactured efficiently.
[0113] The present invention is especially effective in a point that the inside volume can be increased in a limited installation space when the wall thickness of right and left walls is 35 mm or less, and a thickness of the vacuum heat insulated panel is approximately 20 mm, a thickness obtained by adding the inner plate to the outer plate is 1.5 mm and a wall thickness of the right and left walls is 21.5 mm in the embodiment, therefore, the thickness size of 25 mm or less is applied, which is further effective in increasing the volume of the refrigerator.
[0114] Though the embodiment has been explained by using the structure in which the electric wire and the pipes are provided in the corner portions of the inner box with the fixing means, parts other than the above, for example, parts such as a drain hose guiding water obtained by fusing frost adhered to the evaporator included in the refrigeration cycle to an evaporation device such as an evaporation plate can be integrated with the fixing means to be arranged on the corner portion of the inner box. In such case, parts such as the drain hose having the same shape may be used even when the volume of the heat insulating box bodies 12 to be assembled differs.
(Second Embodiment)
[0115] Next, a second embodiment will be explained with reference to Fig. 34 and Fig. 35. The components having the same structures as the first embodiment are denoted by the same numerals and explanation of components is omitted. In the second embodiment, the corner portion of the heat insulating box body 12 on the right back side will be explained, but the explanation may be applied to other corner portions.
[0116] In the embodiment, a fixing means 111 has a prismatic L-shape in cross section as a whole, which is a shape extending in the vertical direction along the corner portion formed by the right face wall 18 and the back face wall 20 of the outer box 13, connecting between adjacent divided heat insulating wall 31, for example, between the back-face divided heat insulating wall 315 as the basic wall and the right-face divided heat insulating wall 313 as the connecting wall from the outside (outside of the refrigerator) of the heat insulating box body 12.
[0117] The fixing means 111 includes a fixing cover 112 forming the space having the L-shape in cross section between the right face wall 18 and the back face wall 20 in the outer box 13 and a corner heat insulating member 113 filled inside the space having the L-shape in cross section.
[0118] The fixing cover 112 is fixed to the right face wall 18 and the back face wall 20 by fixing screws 114, and fixing positions with respect to the right face wall 18 and fixing positions with respect to the back face wall 20 are arranged so as to be shifted in the longitudinal direction (vertical direction) of the fixing cover 112.
[0119] The corner heat insulating member 113 is arranged in a space formed between the fixing cover 112 and the outer box 13 as shown in Fig. 35, which is arranged so as to cover an abutted portion between adjacent divided heat insulating walls 31, namely, a portion where the heat insulating member 15 is not provided.
[0120] A concave-shaped accommodating portion 115 extending along the longitudinal direction and opening to the outside 13 is formed at a portion close to the heat insulating member 15 of the divided heat insulating wall 31 in the corner heat insulating member 113. The electric wire 52 or the pipes 53 are accommodated in the accommodating unit 115.
[0121] The above fixing means 111 is fixed to the right face wall 18 and the back face wall 20 by the fixing screws 114 while the fixing cover 112 sandwiches the corner heat insulating member 113 with the right face wall 18 and the back face wall 20. Accordingly, the right-face divided heat insulating wall 313 and the back-face divided heat insulating wall 315 adjacent to each other are connected and fixed by the fixing means 111 as well as an angle between adjacent divided heat insulating walls 314 and 315 is held at 90 degrees so as to correspond to the L-shape of the fixing cover 112.
[0122] It is possible to connect and fix between the basic wall and the connecting walls which are adjacent to each other by using the fixing means 111 in the embodiment.
(Third Embodiment)
[0123] Next, a third embodiment will be explained with reference to Fig. 36. The components having the same structures as the first embodiment are denoted by the same numerals and explanation of components is omitted. In the second embodiment, the corner portion of the heat insulating box body 12 on the left back side will be explained, but the explanation may be applied to other corner portions.
[0124] In the embodiment, a rear flange portion 164 folded at right angles is integrally formed in a rear end portion of the left face wall 19 of the left-face divided heat insulating wall 314 as the connecting wall as shown in Fig. 36. An end portion (left edge portion) of the back face wall 20 of the back-face divided heat insulating wall 315 as the basic wall overlaps with the rear flange portion 164.
[0125] On the other hand, in the back face wall 26 of the back-face divided heat insulating wall 315 as the basic wall, a protruding portion 368 extending to the inside of the refrigerator (left side in the drawing) while abutting on the inner face of the left face wall 25 of the left-face divided heat insulating wall 314 is integrally formed, and a heat insulating material 367 formed by, for example, a molded article made of foamed polystyrene is accommodated inside the protruding portion 368. Additionally, a positioning portion 369 is provided in a protruding manner on the inner face of the left face wall 25.
[0126] Then, a tip of the protruding portion 368 protruding from the back-face divided heat insulating wall 315 is allowed to abut on the positioning portion 369 protruding from the left face wall 25 as well as the rear flange portion 164 provided at the rear end portion of the left face wall 19 is allowed to overlap the end portion of the back face wall 20 and is fastened by a fixing bolt 130. Accordingly, the left-face divided heat insulating wall 314 and the back-face divided heat insulating wall 315 adjacent to each other are connected and fixed by the fixing bolt 130, and an angle between the adjacent divided heat insulating walls 314 and 315 is held at 90 degrees. That is, in the embodiment, the fixing bolt 130 functions as a fixing portion connecting the connecting wall to the basic wall.
[0127] It is also possible to connect and fix between the adjacent basic wall and the connecting wall by using the fixing bolt 130 according to the embodiment.
[0128] Some embodiments of the present invention have been explained as the above, and these embodiments have been cited as examples and the limitation of claims of the invention is not intended. These novel embodiments can be achieved in other various modes, and various omissions, replacements and alternations may occur within a scope not departing from the gist of the invention. These embodiments and modifications thereof are included in the scope and the gist of the invention as well as included in inventions described in claims and in an equivalent range of the inventions.
Reference Signs List
[0129]
- 11
- refrigerator
- 12
- heat insulating box body
- 13
- outer box
- 14
- inner box
- 15, 120
- heat insulating member
- 31, 311, 312, 313, 314
- divided heat insulating wall (connecting wall)
- 315
- divided heat insulating wall (basic wall)
- 37, 38
- partition member (connecting member)
- 51, 511, 512, 111
- fixing means (fixing portion)
- 52
- electric wire
- 53
- pipe
- 67, 98, 116
- accommodating portion (holding portion)
- 68
- connecting portion
- 72, 102, 114
- sealing member
- 99
- welding portion
1. A refrigerator assembly system comprising:
a basic wall;
connecting walls connected to the basic wall; and
a fixing portion connecting the connecting wall to the basic wall,
wherein the connecting walls selected from plural kinds of connecting walls with different sizes are connected to the basic wall by the fixing portion to thereby assemble heat insulating box bodies with different volumes.
2. The refrigerator assembly system according to claim 1,
wherein the fixing portion is provided separately from the basic wall and the connecting walls to form a connecting means for connecting the basic wall to the connecting walls.
wherein the fixing portion is provided separately from the basic wall and the connecting walls to form a connecting means for connecting the basic wall to the connecting walls.
3. The refrigerator assembly system according to claim 1 or 2,
wherein the fixing portion holds an angle between the basic wall to the connecting wall at 90 degrees.
wherein the fixing portion holds an angle between the basic wall to the connecting wall at 90 degrees.
4. The refrigerator assembly system according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
wherein at least one of a pipe through which a refrigerant is circulated in a refrigeration cycle, a drain hose through which defrosting water from an evaporator flows and the fixing portion is included, and
the pipes, the drain hoses and the fixing portions provided in the heat insulating box bodies with different volumes have the same shapes.
wherein at least one of a pipe through which a refrigerant is circulated in a refrigeration cycle, a drain hose through which defrosting water from an evaporator flows and the fixing portion is included, and
the pipes, the drain hoses and the fixing portions provided in the heat insulating box bodies with different volumes have the same shapes.
5. The refrigerator assembly system according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
wherein the basic wall and the connecting walls are heat insulating walls in which a heat insulating panel provided between an inner plate and an outer plate is adhered to the inner plate and the outer plate by an adhesive.
wherein the basic wall and the connecting walls are heat insulating walls in which a heat insulating panel provided between an inner plate and an outer plate is adhered to the inner plate and the outer plate by an adhesive.
6. A refrigerator comprising:
a basic wall;
connecting walls connected to the basic wall; and
a fixing portion connecting the connecting walls selected from plural kinds of connecting walls with different sizes to the basic wall to thereby assemble heat insulating box bodies with different volumes.
7. The refrigerator according to claim 6,
wherein the fixing portion is provided separately from the basic wall and the connecting walls to form a connecting means for connecting the basic wall to the connecting walls.
wherein the fixing portion is provided separately from the basic wall and the connecting walls to form a connecting means for connecting the basic wall to the connecting walls.
8. The refrigerator according to claim 6 or 7,
wherein at least one of a pipe through which a refrigerant is circulated in a refrigeration cycle, a drain hose through which defrosting water from an evaporator flows and the fixing portion is included, and
the pipes, the drain hoses and the fixing portions provided in the heat insulating box bodies with different volumes have the same shapes.
wherein at least one of a pipe through which a refrigerant is circulated in a refrigeration cycle, a drain hose through which defrosting water from an evaporator flows and the fixing portion is included, and
the pipes, the drain hoses and the fixing portions provided in the heat insulating box bodies with different volumes have the same shapes.
REFERENCES CITED IN THE DESCRIPTION
This list of references cited by the applicant is for the reader's convenience only. It does not form part of the European patent document. Even though great care has been taken in compiling the references, errors or omissions cannot be excluded and the EPO disclaims all liability in this regard.
Patent documents cited in the description