CN112081480B

CN112081480B - Hinge assembly for household appliance and household appliance

Info

Publication number: CN112081480B
Application number: CN201910508836.5A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 刘勤超; 胡春; 章传
Original assignee: BSH Electrical Appliances Jiangsu Co Ltd; BSH Hausgeraete GmbH
Current assignee: BSH Electrical Appliances Jiangsu Co Ltd; BSH Hausgeraete GmbH
Priority date: 2019-06-12
Filing date: 2019-06-12
Publication date: 2023-06-16
Anticipated expiration: 2039-06-12
Also published as: CN112081480A

Abstract

A hinge assembly for a household appliance and a household appliance, the hinge assembly comprising: a hinge shaft; a sleeve sleeved on the hinge shaft; and an anti-rotation mechanism to prevent rotation of the sleeve relative to the hinge axis, the anti-rotation mechanism comprising: the spacer is arranged in the opening of the hinge shaft and is at least partially positioned in the opening; the spacer is arranged on the anti-rotation part of the sleeve, and the spacer is used for separating the hinge shaft from the anti-rotation part at least along the circumferential direction of the hinge shaft. According to the scheme provided by the invention, the noise generated when the hinge assembly operates can be reduced, so that the design of mute furniture is possible, meanwhile, the strength of the hinge assembly can be improved, and the stress deformation of the hinge shaft is avoided.

Description

Hinge assembly for household appliance and household appliance

Technical Field

The invention relates to the technical field of household appliances, in particular to a hinge assembly for a household appliance and the household appliance.

Background

At present, for a household appliance which connects a door and a main body through a hinge, the door is rotated mainly through a hinge assembly, thereby achieving the effect of opening and closing the door.

Existing hinge assemblies are generally made of metal materials, and during opening and closing of the door, some of the components of the hinge assembly rotate synchronously with the door, while the remainder of the components of the hinge assembly are stationary. This results in metal impact noise generated by moving and fixed parts in the hinge assembly during opening and closing of the door, which negatively affects the user experience.

On the other hand, the whole intensity of current hinge subassembly is weaker, and the hinge pin is very easy to become under the application of force of door, influences the normal switch of door.

Disclosure of Invention

It is an object of an implementation of the present invention to provide an improved hinge assembly for a household appliance and a household appliance.

Accordingly, an embodiment of the present invention provides a hinge assembly for a home appliance, including: a hinge shaft; a sleeve sleeved on the hinge shaft; and an anti-rotation mechanism to prevent rotation of the sleeve relative to the hinge axis, the anti-rotation mechanism comprising: the spacer is arranged in the opening of the hinge shaft and is at least partially positioned in the opening; the spacer is arranged on the anti-rotation part of the sleeve, and the spacer is used for separating the hinge shaft from the anti-rotation part at least along the circumferential direction of the hinge shaft.

By the scheme provided by the embodiment of the invention, the noise of the hinge assembly during operation can be reduced, the strength of the hinge assembly is improved, and the stress deformation of the hinge shaft is avoided. In particular, the arrangement of the spacer makes the rotation of the anti-rotation part not be the hinge shaft slot but the spacer, so that on one hand, the frequent collision of the anti-rotation part and the hinge shaft can be avoided to be worn, and on the other hand, the noise generated when the anti-rotation part is collided by the spacer can be reduced by selecting proper materials, so that the reduction of collision noise is possible. Further, the spacer is also suitable for improving the strength of the hinge shaft, and can effectively solve the problems of uneven door, poor sealing of door sealing strips and the like caused by deformation of the hinge shaft due to external force such as weight of the door.

Optionally, the spacer has a hardness less than that of the anti-rotation portion and the hinge shaft. Thus, even if noise is generated when the rotation preventing part and/or the hinge shaft collides with the spacer during rotation of the door, the noise generated when the rotation preventing part collides with the two metal members of the hinge shaft is significantly smaller, so that noise reduction is possible.

Optionally, the spacer includes a main body portion inserted into the hinge shaft and a spacer portion extending into the opening. Therefore, the whole strength of the hinge shaft is improved through the main body part, and the effect of separating the hinge shaft from the anti-rotation part through the separation part to reduce noise is achieved.

Optionally, the rotation preventing part includes a protrusion, and the interval part includes a groove adapted to the protrusion, the protrusion being located in the groove and being restricted from rotating in a circumferential direction of the hinge shaft. Therefore, through the cooperation of the protruding part and the groove, the rotatable angle of the anti-rotation mechanism in the circumferential direction of the hinge shaft is limited in a reasonable error range, and the anti-rotation mechanism always collides with the groove of the spacing part during rotation, so that the anti-rotation mechanism is effectively prevented from directly colliding with the hinge shaft to generate metal collision noise.

Optionally, the spacer has a protrusion protruding out of the opening, and the anti-rotation part has a groove adapted to the protrusion, the protrusion being located in the groove and being restricted from rotating in a circumferential direction of the hinge shaft. Therefore, through the cooperation of the protruding part and the groove, the rotatable angle of the anti-rotation mechanism in the circumferential direction of the hinge shaft is limited in a reasonable error range, and the protruding part of the spacing part is always collided by the anti-rotation mechanism during rotation, so that the phenomenon that the anti-rotation mechanism directly collides with the hinge shaft to generate metal collision noise is effectively avoided. For example, the sleeve may be grooved by increasing the wall thickness of the sleeve, with the protrusions of the spacer extending from within the hinge axis through the openings into the grooves of the sleeve.

Optionally, the spacer portion includes a pair of ribs spaced apart and extending from the body portion into the aperture, and the anti-rotation portion is located within the pair of ribs and is adapted to move axially along the hinge axis between the pair of ribs. Thereby, the rotation preventing portion and the opening hole are partitioned in the circumferential direction of the hinge shaft by the pair of ribs, and the rotation preventing portion is movable in the axial direction of the hinge shaft between the pair of ribs so as to adjust the relative height of the door and the main body.

Optionally, the end of the protruding rib is matched with the inner wall of the inner hole of the sleeve. Therefore, the radian of the free end of the protruding rib is matched with the radian of the inner wall, and the damage to parts caused by frequent collision of the protruding rib and the sleeve during the rotation of the door is avoided.

Optionally, a top end flange of the spacer is supported on a top end of the hinge shaft to limit movement of the spacer in an axial direction of the hinge shaft. For example, the spacer is restricted from falling off the hinge shaft.

Optionally, the top end flange of the spacer is connected with one end of the spacer close to the top end of the spacer, so as to beautify the overall appearance of the spacer, and the spacer is easy to manufacture and reduce the die opening difficulty.

Optionally, the hinge assembly includes an adjustment mechanism including the sleeve and an adjustment member threadedly engaged with the sleeve, the sleeve being adapted to move up and down along an axis of the hinge shaft. Thus, by the cooperation of the sleeve and the adjusting member, the purpose of adjusting the relative height of the door and the main body can be achieved with less interference.

Optionally, the anti-rotation portion is located at the hinge axis, the aperture is located at the sleeve, and the spacer is received in the aperture. Accordingly, the spacer may also separate the hinge shaft and the rotation preventing part along the circumference of the hinge shaft to play a role in reducing noise. Further, as the hinge shaft is not perforated, the overall strength of the hinge shaft is improved, which is beneficial to prolonging the service life of the component.

The embodiment of the invention also provides a household appliance, which comprises: a main body; a door; and the hinge assembly is suitable for connecting the main body and the door. By adopting the hinge assembly with better silencing effect, the design of the silencing furniture is possible.

Optionally, a gap is formed between the top end of the spacer and the bottom of the shaft hole formed in the door, and the shaft hole is adapted to accommodate the hinge shaft. Therefore, external forces such as the weight of the door and the like can be prevented from directly acting on the spacer, the spacer is prevented from being deformed under the force, and the service life of the component is prolonged.

Optionally, the door is supported on the top of external member through a axle sleeve, the axle sleeve stretches into in the shaft hole, the flange limit of axle sleeve with the door offsets. Therefore, the bearing of the flange edge of the shaft sleeve can prevent the hinge shaft and the spacer from being deformed under stress, and the service life of the component is prolonged.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic view of a home appliance according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a partial cross-sectional view of the hinge assembly of FIG. 1 assembled with a door;

FIG. 3 is a schematic view of the hinge assembly of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an exploded view of the hinge assembly of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the hinge assembly shown in FIG. 3;

in the accompanying drawings:

100-household appliances; 110-a body; 120-door; 121-shaft holes; 121 a-the bottom of the shaft hole; 130-a hinge assembly; 131-hinge axis; 131 a-the top end of the hinge shaft; 131 b-the bottom end of the hinge shaft; 132-hinge brackets; 133-kit; 133 a-top end of the kit; 134-anti-rotation mechanism; 135-an adjustment mechanism; 136-an adjusting member; 137-first stop; 138-a second stop; 139-a door closing unit; 140-mounting part; 141-fixing holes; 142-a support; 143-inner holes; 144-a platform section; 150-opening holes; 151-spacers; 151 a-the top end of the spacer; 152-anti-rotation portion; 153-a body portion; 154-spacers; 155-a central aperture; 156-groove; 157-protrusions; 158-protruding ribs; 158 a-the ends of the ribs; 159-top flange; 160-shaft sleeve; 161-flange edges; 162-via; 163-barrel; 164-an adjustment section; 165-base; 166-upper door closure; 167-lower door closing member; an axial direction of the alpha-hinge axis; a circumference of the beta-hinge axis; gap-gap.

Detailed Description

As described in the background art, the existing hinge assembly for a household appliance has a plurality of unreasonable structural designs, which cause problems of loud noise during the door opening and closing process, weak strength, easy deformation and damage of the hinge assembly, and the like.

To solve the above technical problems, an embodiment of the present invention provides a hinge assembly for a home appliance, including: a hinge shaft; a sleeve sleeved on the hinge shaft; and an anti-rotation mechanism to prevent rotation of the sleeve relative to the hinge axis, the anti-rotation mechanism comprising: the spacer is arranged in the opening of the hinge shaft and is at least partially positioned in the opening; the spacer is arranged on the anti-rotation part of the sleeve, and the spacer is used for separating the hinge shaft from the anti-rotation part at least along the circumferential direction of the hinge shaft.

By the scheme provided by the embodiment of the invention, the noise of the hinge assembly during operation can be reduced, the strength of the hinge assembly is improved, and the stress deformation of the hinge shaft is avoided. In particular, the arrangement of the spacer makes the rotation of the anti-rotation part not be the hinge shaft slot but the spacer, so that on one hand, the frequent collision of the anti-rotation part and the hinge shaft can be avoided to be worn, and on the other hand, the noise generated when the anti-rotation part is collided by the spacer can be reduced by selecting proper materials, so that the reduction of collision noise is possible. Further, the spacer which at least partially stretches into the open hole is also suitable for improving the strength of the hinge shaft, and the problems of uneven door, poor sealing of door sealing strips and the like caused by deformation of the hinge shaft due to external force such as weight of the door can be effectively solved.

In order that the above-recited objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more readily apparent, a more particular description of the invention briefly described above will be rendered by reference to specific embodiments thereof which are illustrated in the appended drawings.

Fig. 1 is a schematic view of a home appliance according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 2 is a partial cross-section of the hinge assembly of FIG. 1 assembled with a door; FIG. 3 is a schematic view of the hinge assembly of FIG. 1; FIG. 4 is an exploded view of the hinge assembly of FIG. 3; fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the hinge assembly shown in fig. 3. Wherein the upper closure member 166 and sleeve 160 are not shown in fig. 3.

The home appliance 100 according to the present embodiment may include a home appliance in which a door body and a main body are connected in a hinge type, such as a refrigerator, a wardrobe, or the like.

Specifically, referring to fig. 1, a home appliance 100 may include: a main body 110; a door 120; and a hinge assembly 130 connecting the main body 110 and the door 120.

More specifically, the body 110 may have a chamber adapted to hold a storage item. The door 120 is adapted to open or close the chamber. Shown in fig. 1 is a schematic view of the combination of the door 120 closing the chamber.

Further, the hinge assembly 130 may include a hinge shaft 131, the hinge shaft 131 being adapted to define a rotation axis of the door 120.

For example, referring to fig. 1 and 2, the hinge shaft 131 defines a rotation axis (i.e., an axial direction α of the hinge shaft), and the hinge shaft 131 protrudes into the door 120 such that the door 120 can rotate about the rotation axis α to open or close the chamber.

In one or more embodiments, the hinge assembly 130 may further include a hinge bracket 132, the hinge bracket 132 being adapted to fix the hinge shaft 131, and a surface of the hinge bracket 132 to which the hinge shaft 131 is fixed is fitted to the bottom surfaces of the door 120 and the main body 110.

In a variation, the hinge bracket 132 may be coupled to a front surface of the main body 110 and a surface of the door 120 facing the main body 110, and the hinge assembly 130 may be a middle hinge, accordingly. Wherein the front surface refers to the side of the household appliance 100 that faces the user when in use

In one or more embodiments, the hinge bracket 132 can include a mounting portion 140 secured to the body 110. The mounting part 140 may be provided with a plurality of fixing holes 141, each fixing hole 141 being adapted to pass a fixing member (not shown) to fix the hinge bracket 132 to the main body 110. For example, the fixing may be a screw.

Further, the hinge bracket 132 may further include a support portion 142 coupled to the mounting portion 140, adapted to fix the hinge shaft 131. The support part 142 is disposed perpendicular to the front surface of the main body 110, and the hinge shaft 131 is disposed perpendicular to the extension plane of the support part 142.

In one or more embodiments, the support portion 142 and the mounting portion 140 may be integrally formed.

In one or more embodiments, the hinge shaft 131 may be firmly fixed to the support 142 by welding or the like.

In a variation, the hinge shaft 131 and the support 142 may be integrally formed.

In one or more embodiments, the hinge assembly 130 may further include a sleeve 133 that fits over the hinge shaft 131.

In particular, the socket 133 may have an inner hole 143 penetrating the socket 133 on the rotation axis α, and the socket 133 is coupled to the hinge shaft 131 through the inner hole 143.

Further, the door 120 may be supported by an upper end surface of the kit 133. The sleeve 133 may further have a land portion 144 to increase the area of the upper end surface of the sleeve 133.

Further, the socket 133 is non-rotatably connected to the hinge shaft 131 with respect to the hinge shaft 131.

In one or more embodiments, the hinge assembly 130 can further include an anti-rotation mechanism 134 to prevent rotation of the sleeve 133 relative to the hinge shaft 131.

In particular, referring to fig. 3-5, the anti-rotation mechanism 134 may include: an opening 150 provided at the hinge shaft 131, a spacer 151, the spacer 151 being at least partially positioned within the opening 150; the spacer 151 is provided at the anti-rotation portion 152 of the socket 133 to space the hinge shaft 131 and the anti-rotation portion 152 at least along the circumferential direction β of the hinge shaft 131.

For example, the opening 150 may be a hinge shaft slot having an extension direction parallel to the axial direction α and communicating the top and bottom ends 131a and 131b of the hinge shaft 131, so that the socket 133 may move up and down along the axial direction α of the hinge shaft 131, reducing assembly complexity.

In practical applications, for easy assembly, the anti-rotation portion 152 and the hinge shaft slot may have a certain gap in the circumferential direction β, and during the process of opening and closing the door 120, the sleeve 133 where the anti-rotation portion 152 is located inevitably generates a certain rotation in the circumferential direction β with respect to the hinge shaft 131 along with the door 120. This results in noise generated by the anti-rotation portion 152 inevitably striking the hinge shaft slot.

In this embodiment, the spacer 151 is disposed such that the rotation of the rotation preventing part 152 is not performed by the hinge shaft slot but by the spacer 151, so that the rotation preventing part 152 is prevented from being worn by frequent impacts with the hinge shaft 131, and the noise generated when the rotation preventing part 152 is impacted by the spacer 151 is reduced by selecting a proper material, thereby making it possible to mute the household appliance 100.

Thus, with the scheme of the present embodiment, noise during opening and closing of the door of the home appliance 100 can be reduced, strength of the hinge assembly 130 can be improved, and stress deformation of the hinge shaft 131 can be prevented. Further, the spacer 151 is further adapted to enhance the strength of the hinge shaft 131, so as to effectively solve the problems of uneven door 120 and poor sealing of the door seal caused by deformation of the hinge shaft 131 due to external force such as weight of the door 120.

In one or more embodiments, the spacer 151 may have a hardness less than that of the anti-rotation portion 152 and the hinge shaft 131.

For example, the socket 133 having the rotation preventing portion 152 and the hinge shaft 131 may be made of a metal material, and the spacer 151 may be made of a plastic material.

Thus, when the rotation preventing part 152 and/or the hinge shaft 131 collides with the spacer 151 during the rotation of the door 120, even if noise is generated, the noise generated when the rotation preventing part 152 collides with the two metal members of the hinge shaft 131 is significantly smaller, so that it is possible to reduce the noise.

In practical applications, other suitable materials may be used by those skilled in the art to obtain the rotation preventing part 152, the hinge shaft 131 and the spacer 151 as required.

In one or more embodiments, the spacer 151 may include a body portion 153 inserted into the hinge shaft 131 and a spacer portion 154 protruding into the aperture 150.

For example, the hinge shaft 131 may be a hollow cylinder, a central hole 155 is opened in a direction parallel to the axial direction α, and the shape and size of the body portion 153 may be adapted to the central hole 155 to function as a support for the hinge shaft 131 to prevent the hinge shaft 131 from being deformed.

Thus, the body 153 improves the overall strength of the hinge shaft 131, and the spacer 154 separates the hinge shaft 131 from the rotation preventing portion 152 to reduce noise.

Further, the central bore 155 may be in communication with the aperture 150.

In one or more embodiments, the anti-rotation portion 152 can include a protrusion 157, the spacer 154 can include a recess 156 that mates with the protrusion 157, and the protrusion 157 can be positioned within the recess 156 and limited to rotate in the circumferential direction β of the hinge shaft 131.

For example, the protrusion 157 and the opening 150 of the hinge shaft 131 have a gap in the circumferential direction β, the spacer 154 is adapted to fill the gap, and the spacer 154 is provided with a groove 156 in the axial direction α to accommodate the protrusion 157 for the purpose of restricting the rotation angle of the sleeve 133 in the circumferential direction β.

In practice, the recess 156 and the protrusion 157 may have a small gap in the circumferential direction β as well, due to limitations of the manufacturing process and for convenience of assembly, so that a small rotatable range of the sleeve 133 remains during opening and closing of the door 120. Since in the present embodiment, the protrusion 157 is only collided with both side groove walls of the groove 156 in the circumferential direction β, so that the protrusion 157 is not directly collided with the hinge shaft 131, it is possible to reduce noise.

Thus, the rotatable angle of the anti-rotation mechanism 134 in the circumferential direction β of the hinge shaft 131 is limited to a reasonable error range by the engagement of the protrusion 157 and the groove 156, and the anti-rotation mechanism 134 always collides with the groove 156 of the spacer 154 during rotation, thereby effectively preventing the anti-rotation mechanism 134 from directly colliding with the hinge shaft 131 to generate metal collision noise.

In practice, there may also be a gap between the protrusion 157 and the bottom of the recess 156 in the radial direction of the hinge shaft 131 to avoid frequent friction of the spacer 151 during rotation of the anti-rotation mechanism 134 in the circumferential direction β causing wear of the spacer 151, extending the useful life of the component.

Further, the protrusion 157 may extend over the entire axial length of the sleeve 133.

In one variation, the spacer 154 may have a protrusion 157 extending out of the aperture 150 and the anti-rotation portion 152 may have a recess 156 that mates with the protrusion 157, the protrusion 157 being located within the recess 156 and being constrained from rotating in the circumferential direction β of the hinge shaft 131.

For example, the socket 133 may be grooved by increasing the wall thickness of the socket 133 in the radial direction of the hinge shaft 131, and the protrusion 157 of the spacer 151 may extend from within the hinge shaft 131 through the opening 150 into the groove of the socket 133.

Thus, the rotatable angle of the anti-rotation mechanism 134 in the circumferential direction β of the hinge shaft 131 is limited to a reasonable error range by the engagement of the protrusion 157 and the groove 156, and the protrusion 157 of the spacer 154 is always collided with by the anti-rotation mechanism 134 during rotation, thereby effectively preventing the anti-rotation mechanism 134 from directly colliding with the hinge shaft 131 to generate metal collision noise.

In one or more embodiments, the spacer 154 may include a pair of ribs 158 spaced apart from each other and extending from the body portion 153 into the aperture 150, with the anti-rotation portion 152 being located within the pair of ribs 158 and adapted to move between the pair of ribs 158 along the axial direction α of the hinge shaft 131.

For example, the pair of ribs 158 may be disposed at intervals along the circumferential direction β, and the gap between the pair of ribs 158 is the groove 156.

At the time of assembly, the body portion 153 may be inserted into the center hole 155 of the hinge shaft 131, and the pair of ribs 158 may be respectively fitted to both side slot walls of the hinge shaft slot of the hinge shaft 131. Then, the inner hole 143 of the socket 133 is passed through the hinge shaft 131 to socket the socket 133 on the hinge shaft 131, and the protrusion 157 is moved from the top end 131a of the hinge shaft 131 to a proper position in the axial direction α along the groove 156 formed by the pair of ribs 158.

The sleeve 133 may be moved up and down in the axial direction α when the height of the door 120 is adjusted, and at this time, the protrusion 157 is moved up and down in the axial direction α within the groove 156 to control the door 120 supported on the upper end surface of the sleeve 133 to be moved up and down synchronously.

Thereby, the rotation preventing portion 152 and the opening 150 are spaced apart in the circumferential direction β of the hinge shaft 131 by the pair of ribs 158, and the rotation preventing portion 152 can be moved along the axial direction α of the hinge shaft 131 between the pair of ribs 158 so as to adjust the relative heights of the door 120 and the main body 110.

In one or more embodiments, referring to fig. 5, the ends 158a of the ribs 158 are adapted to the inner wall of the inner bore 143 of the sleeve 133. Thus, the curvature of the free end (i.e., the distal end 158 a) of the bead 158 coincides with the curvature of the inner wall, avoiding frequent collisions of the bead 158 with the sleeve 133 during rotation of the door 120, resulting in component damage.

In one or more embodiments, referring to fig. 2, a top end flange 159 of the spacer 151 is supported on a top end 131a of the hinge shaft 131 to limit movement of the spacer 151 in an axial direction α of the hinge shaft 131. For example, the restriction spacer 151 is detached from the hinge shaft 131.

For example, the tip flange 159 may be formed by flanging the tip 151a of the spacer 151.

For example, the tip flange 159 may be provided to the tip 151a of the spacer 151 continuously one turn in the circumferential direction β.

For another example, the tip flange 159 may be discontinuously disposed at different positions of the tip 151a of the spacer 151 in the circumferential direction β.

For another example, the tip flange 159 may be disposed at a localized region of the tip 151a of the spacer 151.

In one or more embodiments, referring to fig. 4, a top flange 159 of the spacer 151 is connected to an end of the spacer 154 near the top 151a of the spacer 151 to beautify the overall appearance of the spacer 151, facilitate manufacturing, and reduce mold opening difficulty.

For example, the end of the top flange 159 adjacent to the top 151a of the spacer 154 may be rounded.

In one or more embodiments, a gap is provided between the top end 151a of the spacer 151 and the bottom 121a of the shaft hole 121 opened in the door 120, and the shaft hole 121 is adapted to receive the hinge shaft 131. Thus, external forces such as the weight of the door 120 can be prevented from directly acting on the spacer 151, the spacer 151 can be prevented from being deformed by force, and the service life of the component can be improved.

In one or more embodiments, the door 120 may be supported on the top end 133a of the sleeve 133 by a sleeve 160, the sleeve 160 extending into the shaft bore 121, and a flange 161 of the sleeve 160 abutting the door 120. Therefore, the flange 161 of the shaft sleeve 160 bears the load, so that the hinge shaft 131 and the spacer 151 are prevented from being deformed under stress, and the service life of the component is prolonged.

Wherein the tip 133a of the sleeve 133 is one end adjacent to the tip 131a of the hinge shaft 131 and the tip 151a of the spacer 151 in the axial direction α.

In one or more embodiments, referring to fig. 2 and 4, the hinge assembly 130 may further include an adjustment mechanism 135 to adjust the height of the door 120.

In particular, the adjustment mechanism 135 may include a sleeve 133 and an adjustment member 136 threadedly engaged with the sleeve 133, the sleeve 133 being adapted to move up and down along the axial direction α of the hinge shaft 131.

The regulating member 136 may be hollow, and an inner circumferential surface of the through hole 162 opened in the axial direction α of the regulating member 136 is formed with an internal thread. Accordingly, the sleeve 133 includes a hollow cylindrical portion 163 extending downward in the axial direction α from the upper end surface, and an outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical portion 163 is formed with an external thread adapted to the internal thread. The hollow portion of the cylindrical portion 163 is a portion of the inner bore 143.

In the radial direction of the hinge shaft 131, the barrel 163 is inserted into the adjuster 136 and is located between the hinge shaft 131 and the adjuster 136.

The outer peripheral surface of the adjustment member 136 may be configured like a nut to accommodate operation of a standard tool such as a wrench.

When the height of the door 120 relative to the main body 110 needs to be increased, the adjusting member 136 rotates to drive the sleeve 133 in threaded connection with the adjusting member 136 to move upwards so as to move the door 120 upwards, and the adjusting member 136 can be kept (at least basically kept) in place, so that the interference probability between the adjusting member 136 and the bottom of the door 120 is reduced, and the difficulty in adjusting the height of the door 120 is reduced.

Thus, by the cooperation of the sleeve 133 and the adjustment member 136, the purpose of adjusting the relative height of the door 120 and the main body 110 can be achieved with less interference.

In one or more embodiments, referring to fig. 2 and 4, the hinge assembly 130 may further include a first stopper 137 connected to the lower end of the sleeve 133, the first stopper 137 protruding outwardly from the outer circumferential surface of the sleeve 133 and overlapping with a second stopper 138 located at the adjuster 136 in the direction of the axial direction α. Thus, the sleeve 133 with the first stop 137 is not accessible to the through-hole 162 of the adjustment member 136 at the adjustment portion 164, but is movable in the axial direction a within the through-hole 162 of the adjustment member 136 at the base 165.

Specifically, the inner circumferential surface of the adjustment portion 164 is formed with the female screw, and the base portion 165 is connected to the lower end of the adjustment portion 164 and has an inner diameter larger than that of the adjustment portion 164. Correspondingly, a connection surface formed between the base 165 and the adjusting portion 164 and connecting the inner peripheral surfaces thereof is the second stop portion 138.

By the cooperation of the first stopper 137 and the second stopper 138, the maximum movement stroke of the adjustment mechanism 135 in the axial direction α can be limited to limit the maximum height at which the door 120 can move relative to the main body 110.

In one or more embodiments, the hinge assembly 130 may further include: the door closing unit 139 between the kit 133 and the bottom of the door 120, the door closing unit 139 may include an upper door closing piece 166 immovably fixed to the bottom of the door 120 and a lower door closing piece 167 connected to the top end 133a of the kit 133.

Specifically, the upper and

lower gate members

166 and 166 may each have a cam curve surface, with the cam curves of each being in face-to-face contact.

Further, the lower shutter 167 is fixed to the sleeve 133 in a non-rotatable manner with respect to the sleeve 133. For example, the upper end surfaces of the lower shutter 167 and the sleeve 133 may be correspondingly formed with holes, respectively, through which a fixing member passes to fix the lower shutter 167 and the sleeve 133 together. Wherein, the fixing piece can be a screw.

In a variation, the lower closure 167 may be integrally formed with the sleeve 133.

In one or more embodiments, the upper door closer 166 may be integrally formed with the collar 160, the upper door closer 166 being adapted to form a flange 161 of the collar 160.

Specifically, the upper closing member 166 and the door 120 may be respectively formed with holes through which fixing members pass to fix the upper closing member 166 and the door 120 together. Wherein, the fixing piece can be a screw.

In one or more embodiments, the spacer 151 may be provided with a hole penetrating the spacer 151 in the axial direction α.

In a variation of the present embodiment, the opening 150 may be a via hole of any shape opened at the outer circumferential surface of the hinge shaft 131 and communicating with the center hole 155, and the partition 154 may be extended or retracted from the main body 153. When assembled, after the main body 153 is inserted into the center hole 155 of the hinge shaft 131 with the spacer 154 retracted into the main body 153, the control spacer 154 is extended from the main body 153 and positioned in the opening 150.

Similarly, the anti-rotation portion 152 is also telescopically fixed to the inner wall of the sleeve 133, and after the sleeve 133 is sleeved on the hinge shaft 131, the anti-rotation portion 152 extends out of the sleeve 133 and into the groove 156 of the spacer 154, so as to achieve the effect of separating the anti-rotation portion 152 from the hinge shaft 131 by the spacer 154.

In another variation of the present embodiment, the anti-rotation portion 152 may be positioned at the hinge shaft 131, the opening 150 may be positioned at the sleeve 133, and the spacer 151 may be received in the opening 150. Thereby, the spacer 151 can also separate the hinge shaft 131 and the anti-rotation part 152 along the circumferential direction β of the hinge shaft 131 to play a noise reducing effect. Further, since the hinge shaft 131 is not perforated, the overall strength of the hinge shaft 131 is improved, which is advantageous for prolonging the service life of the component.

Although the present invention is disclosed above, the present invention is not limited thereto. Various changes and modifications may be made by one skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, and the scope of the invention should be assessed accordingly to that of the appended claims.

Claims

1. A hinge assembly (130) for a household appliance (100), comprising:

a hinge shaft (131);

a sleeve (133) sleeved on the hinge shaft (131); and

an anti-rotation mechanism (134) to prevent rotation of the sleeve (133) relative to the hinge shaft (131), the anti-rotation mechanism (134) comprising:

an opening (150) provided to the hinge shaft (131),

-a spacer (151), the spacer (151) being at least partially located within the aperture (150);

an anti-rotation part (152) provided to the sleeve (133), the spacer (151) separating the hinge shaft (131) and the anti-rotation part (152) at least along a circumferential direction (β) of the hinge shaft (131); the spacer (151) includes a main body portion (153) inserted into the hinge shaft (131) and a spacer portion (154) extending into the opening (150), the spacer portion (154) separating the hinge shaft (131) and the anti-rotation portion (152).

2. The hinge assembly (130) of claim 1, wherein the spacer (151) has a hardness less than a hardness of the anti-rotation portion (152) and the hinge shaft (131).

3. The hinge assembly (130) of claim 1, wherein the anti-rotation portion (152) includes a protrusion (157), the spacer (154) includes a groove (156) that mates with the protrusion (157), and the protrusion (157) is positioned within the groove (156) and is constrained from rotating in a circumferential direction (β) along the hinge axis (131).

4. The hinge assembly (130) of claim 1, wherein the spacer (154) has a protrusion (157) extending out of the aperture (150), the anti-rotation portion (152) has a recess (156) that mates with the protrusion (157), and the protrusion (157) is located within the recess (156) and is constrained from rotating in a circumferential direction (β) along the hinge axis (131).

5. The hinge assembly (130) of claim 1, wherein the spacer portion (154) includes a pair of ribs (158), the pair of ribs (158) being spaced apart and extending from the body portion (153) into the aperture (150), the anti-rotation portion (152) being located within the pair of ribs (158) and adapted to move along an axial direction (a) of the hinge shaft (131) between the pair of ribs (158).

6. The hinge assembly (130) of claim 5, wherein the distal end (158 a) of the bead (158) mates with an inner wall of the inner bore (143) of the sleeve (133).

7. The hinge assembly (130) of claim 1, wherein the top end flange (159) of the spacer (151) is supported to the top end (131 a) of the hinge shaft (131).

8. The hinge assembly (130) of claim 7, wherein the top end flange (159) of the spacer (151) is connected to an end of the spacer (154) proximate the top end (151 a) of the spacer (151).

9. The hinge assembly (130) of claim 1, wherein the hinge assembly (130) comprises an adjustment mechanism (135), the adjustment mechanism (135) comprising the sleeve (133) and an adjustment member (136) threadedly engaged with the sleeve (133), the sleeve (133) being adapted to move up and down along an axial direction (a) of the hinge shaft (131).

10. A household appliance (100), characterized by comprising:

a main body (110);

a door (120); and

the hinge assembly (130) of any one of the above claims 1 to 9, the hinge assembly (130) being adapted to connect the main body (110) and the door (120).

11. The household appliance (100) according to claim 10, wherein a gap is provided between a top end (151 a) of the spacer (151) and a bottom (121 a) of a shaft hole (121) open to the door (120), the shaft hole (121) being adapted to accommodate the hinge shaft (131).

12. The household appliance (100) according to claim 11, wherein the door (120) is supported at the top end (133 a) of the sleeve (133) by a bushing (160), the bushing (160) extending into the shaft hole (121), a flange edge (161) of the bushing (160) abutting the door (120).