CN112902546A

CN112902546A - Shelf assembly and refrigerator

Info

Publication number: CN112902546A
Application number: CN202110336129.XA
Authority: CN
Inventors: 张翱翔; 孙哲; 王立国; 黄珊珊
Original assignee: Gree Electric Appliances Inc of Zhuhai
Current assignee: Gree Electric Appliances Inc of Zhuhai
Priority date: 2021-03-29
Filing date: 2021-03-29
Publication date: 2021-06-04

Abstract

The invention provides a shelf assembly and a refrigerator. The shelf assembly comprises a shelf mounting mechanism, a height adjusting mechanism and a locking mechanism, wherein the height adjusting mechanism is in driving connection with the shelf mounting mechanism, the height adjusting mechanism is used for driving the shelf mounting mechanism to move in the height direction, and the shelf mounting mechanism is used for mounting a shelf. The locking mechanism comprises a fixing plate and a locking piece, and the fixing plate is fixedly arranged. A plurality of locking structures are arranged on the fixing plate along the height direction, and the locking piece is arranged on the shelf mounting mechanism. By applying the technical scheme of the invention, after the height adjustment is finished, the locking piece is matched with the locking structure to lock the shelf mounting mechanism on the fixing plate, so that the shelf mounting mechanism and the shelf mounted on the shelf mounting mechanism have stronger pose holding capacity, and the shelf is prevented from easily falling due to self gravity and the gravity of a load.

Description

Shelf assembly and refrigerator

Technical Field

The invention relates to the technical field of refrigerators, in particular to a shelf assembly and a refrigerator.

Background

The traditional refrigerator shelf form is mainly characterized in that glass or metal partition plates are inserted into grooves on two sides of a refrigerator liner, a refrigerator compartment is further subdivided to form an interlayer with a certain height, a user can select corresponding slots to install the shelf according to distribution of height space, and the shelf in the form is simple and reliable in structure and can be used for many years. With the continuous expansion of electromechanical control technology and intelligent technology to the field of household appliances, consumers seek higher and higher usability, intelligence and aesthetic feeling in the use experience of household appliances. Some of the disadvantages of the conventional refrigerator shelves are gradually reflected.

For example, when a user has different requirements for the height of a space when storing new items, it becomes troublesome to change the height of the space of the shelf since the items are already placed on the shelf, resulting in inconvenience in use for the user.

In order to solve the above problems, shelves with automatically adjustable height are also available on the market, and the height of the shelves is generally driven to be increased or decreased by a moving mechanism to meet the use requirement. It is relatively easy to keep the shelf in one position in a relatively short time. However, as time goes on, the moving mechanism is difficult to keep in a posture all the time, so that the shelf is easy to descend due to the self-gravity and the gravity of the carried object, and therefore, a user may need to readjust the height of the shelf subsequently.

Disclosure of Invention

The embodiment of the invention provides a shelf assembly and a refrigerator, and aims to solve the technical problem that the shelf has poor pose maintaining capability in the automatic height adjusting technology of refrigerator shelves in the prior art.

Embodiments of the present invention provide a shelf assembly comprising: the rack mounting mechanism is used for mounting a rack; the height adjusting mechanism is in driving connection with the shelf mounting mechanism and is used for driving the shelf mounting mechanism to move in the height direction; the locking mechanism comprises a fixing plate and a locking piece, the fixing plate is fixedly arranged, a plurality of locking structures are arranged on the fixing plate along the height direction, the locking piece is arranged on the shelf mounting mechanism, and when the height adjusting mechanism drives the shelf mounting mechanism to move, the locking piece is separated from the locking structures; when the height adjusting mechanism stops driving the shelf mounting mechanism to move, the locking piece is matched with the locking structure to lock the shelf mounting mechanism on the fixing plate.

In one embodiment, the height adjustment mechanism comprises: the height driving part is used for driving the shelf mounting mechanism to move in the height direction; the clutch piece is arranged on the shelf mounting mechanism, and is matched with the height driving piece when the height driving piece drives the shelf mounting mechanism to move; the clutch member is disengaged from the height drive member when the height adjustment mechanism ceases to drive the movement of the shelf mounting mechanism.

In one embodiment, the height drive comprises: a belt pulley; the belt is arranged on the belt pulley, and a matching structure is arranged on the belt; the motor is in driving connection with the belt pulley; the clutch piece is matched with or separated from the matching structure.

In one embodiment, two sets of belt pulleys are arranged at intervals along the horizontal direction, two belts are arranged on the two sets of belt pulleys respectively, two shelf mounting mechanisms and two clutch pieces are arranged, and the two shelf mounting mechanisms are separated from the two belts respectively through the two clutch pieces.

In one embodiment, the height driving member further comprises a driving shaft, the driving shaft is respectively connected with the two groups of belt pulleys in a driving mode, and the motor and the driving shaft are in gear transmission.

In one embodiment, the height drive further comprises: a rail extending in a height direction; the slider is installed on the track, and shelf installation mechanism installs on the slider.

In one embodiment, rolling elements are mounted between the track and the slider.

In one embodiment, the rolling components include a mounting plate and balls mounted on the mounting plate.

In one embodiment, the track is provided with a T-shaped protrusion, the slider is provided with a T-shaped groove matched with the T-shaped protrusion, and the rolling component is installed between the T-shaped protrusion and the T-shaped groove.

In one embodiment, the locking structure is a locking hole formed on the fixing plate, and the locking member is formed with a locking catch which is matched with the locking hole.

In one embodiment, the lock catch is provided in plurality, and the plurality of lock catches are arranged at intervals along the height direction of the locking piece.

In one embodiment, the pulley has drive teeth formed thereon and the clutch member has driven teeth formed thereon that mate with the drive teeth.

In one embodiment, the drive teeth are formed on the inside of the belt and the outside of the pulley is formed with meshing teeth that mate with the drive teeth.

In one embodiment, the locking mechanism includes a lock actuator mounted on the shelf mounting mechanism for actuating the lock member to disengage or engage the locking structure.

In one embodiment, the height adjustment mechanism further comprises a clutch drive mounted on the shelf mounting mechanism for driving the clutch member into and out of engagement with the drive member.

In one embodiment, the locking drive and the clutched drive are comprised of one composite drive; the composite driving piece drives the clutch piece to be matched with the driving piece while driving the locking piece to be separated from the locking structure; the composite driving piece drives the clutch piece to be separated from the driving piece when the locking piece is driven to be matched with the locking structure.

In one embodiment, the shelf assembly further comprises a shelf mounted on the shelf mounting mechanism.

In one embodiment, the shelf mounting mechanism is removably mounted to the height adjustment mechanism by a bayonet mount.

In one embodiment, the plug-in structure includes a plug formed on the shelf mounting mechanism and a socket formed on the height adjustment mechanism.

In one embodiment, the shelf assembly further comprises a face cover, the face cover is arranged between the shelf mounting mechanism and the height adjusting mechanism, an avoiding sliding groove is formed in the face cover, and the plug penetrates through the avoiding sliding groove and is plugged in the height adjusting mechanism.

The invention also provides a refrigerator comprising the shelf assembly.

In the above embodiment, when the height of the shelf needs to be adjusted, the operation height adjusting mechanism drives the shelf mounting mechanism to move in the height direction. After the height adjustment is finished, the locking piece is matched with the locking structure to lock the shelf mounting mechanism on the fixing plate, so that the shelf mounting mechanism and the shelf mounted on the shelf mounting mechanism have strong pose holding capacity, and the shelf is prevented from falling easily due to self gravity and the gravity of a load. In addition, when the height of the shelf is required to be adjusted, the locking piece is operated to be separated from the locking structure, so that the shelf mounting mechanism can be driven to move by the height adjusting mechanism.

Drawings

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate an embodiment of the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the invention and not to limit the invention. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a schematic overall structural view of an embodiment of a shelf assembly according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the height adjustment mechanism of the shelf assembly of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the height adjustment mechanism and locking member of the shelf assembly of FIG. 1 and a partial view thereof;

FIG. 4 is a partial schematic structural view of the height adjustment mechanism of the shelf assembly of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional structural schematic view of the locking mechanism of the shelf assembly of FIG. 1;

fig. 6 is an exploded view of the shelf assembly of fig. 1.

Detailed Description

In order to make the objects, technical solutions and advantages of the present invention more apparent, the present invention will be described in further detail with reference to the following embodiments and accompanying drawings. The exemplary embodiments and descriptions of the present invention are provided to explain the present invention, but not to limit the present invention.

Fig. 1 shows an embodiment of the shelf assembly of the present invention, which comprises a shelf mounting mechanism 10, a height adjusting mechanism 20 and a locking mechanism 30, wherein the height adjusting mechanism 20 is in driving connection with the shelf mounting mechanism 10, the height adjusting mechanism 20 is used for driving the shelf mounting mechanism 10 to move in the height direction, and the shelf mounting mechanism 10 is used for mounting a shelf. The locking mechanism 30 includes a fixing plate 31 and a locking member 32, and the fixing plate 31 is fixedly disposed. The fixing plate 31 is provided with a plurality of locking structures in the height direction, and the locking member 32 is provided on the shelf mounting mechanism 10. When the height adjustment mechanism 20 drives the shelf mounting mechanism 10 to move, the locking member 32 disengages from the locking structure; when the height adjustment mechanism 20 stops driving the shelf mounting mechanism 10, the locking members 32 engage with the locking structures to lock the shelf mounting mechanism 10 to the mounting plate 31.

By applying the technical scheme of the invention, when the height of the shelf needs to be adjusted, the operation height adjusting mechanism 20 drives the shelf mounting mechanism 10 to move in the height direction. After the height adjustment is completed, the locking member 32 is matched with the locking structure to lock the shelf mounting mechanism 10 on the fixing plate 31, so that the shelf mounting mechanism 10 and the shelf mounted thereon have strong pose holding capability, and the shelf is prevented from easily falling due to the self-gravity and the gravity of the load. Furthermore, when the height of the shelf is to be adjusted, the shelf mounting mechanism 10 can be driven to move at the height adjustment mechanism 20 by operating the locking member 32 separately from the locking structure.

As shown in fig. 2, 4 and 5, in the solution of the present embodiment, the height adjusting mechanism 20 includes a height driving member and a clutch member 21, the clutch member 21 is mounted on the rack mounting mechanism 10, and the height driving member is used for driving the rack mounting mechanism 10 to move in the height direction. When the height driving piece drives the shelf mounting mechanism 10 to move, the clutch piece 21 is matched with the height driving piece; when the height adjustment mechanism 20 stops driving the shelf mounting mechanism 10 to move, the clutch 21 disengages from the height driving member. In this way, relative independence of operation of the height adjustment mechanism 20 and the locking mechanism 30 may be ensured.

As a preferred embodiment, as shown in fig. 2, in the solution of this embodiment, the height driving member includes a pulley 22, a belt 23 and a motor 24, the belt 23 is mounted on the pulley 22, the belt 23 is provided with a matching structure, the motor 24 is in driving connection with the pulley 22, and the clutch member 21 is matched with or separated from the matching structure. As an alternative embodiment, a motor and gear train may be used to drive the clutch member 21 to move the rack mounting mechanism 10.

Optionally, in the technical solution of this embodiment, as shown in fig. 3, two sets of belt pulleys 22 are arranged at intervals in the horizontal direction, two belts 23 are respectively installed on the two sets of belt pulleys 22, two shelf installation mechanisms 10 and two clutch members 21 are both provided, and the two shelf installation mechanisms 10 are respectively spaced from the two belts 23 by the two clutch members 21. Since the shelf is generally horizontally installed, the shelf can move more smoothly by installing two shelf installation mechanisms 10 on both sides of the shelf respectively. As a preferred embodiment, as shown in fig. 3, in the solution of this embodiment, the height driving member further includes a driving shaft 25, the driving shaft 25 is respectively connected with the two sets of pulleys 22, and the motor 24 and the driving shaft 25 are in gear transmission. Thus, the synchronized movement of the two shelf mounting mechanisms 10 can be better achieved by one motor 24.

As shown in fig. 1 and fig. 6, in the solution of the present embodiment, optionally, the height driving member further includes a rail 26 and a slider 27, the rail 26 extends along the height direction, the slider 27 is mounted on the rail 26, the rack mounting mechanism 10 is mounted on the slider 27, and the stability of the movement of the rack mounting mechanism 10 can be improved by the rail 26 and the slider 27. Optionally, in the technical solution of the present embodiment, a rolling component 28 is installed between the track 26 and the slider 27, so as to reduce the friction force between the track 26 and the slider 27. As a preferred embodiment, as shown in fig. 4, in the solution of the present embodiment, the rolling member 28 includes a mounting plate 281 and balls 282 mounted on the mounting plate 281.

Optionally, a T-shaped protrusion is disposed on the track 26, a T-shaped groove adapted to the T-shaped protrusion is formed on the slider 27, and the rolling member 28 is installed between the T-shaped protrusion and the T-shaped groove. Through the cooperation of the T-shaped protrusion and the T-shaped groove, the track 26 and the sliding block 27 can be tightly matched, so that the movement precision is higher.

As shown in fig. 5, in the solution of the present embodiment, the locking structure is a locking hole 311 formed on the fixing plate 31, and the locking element 32 is formed with a lock catch 321 matching with the locking hole 311. Whenever the locking member 32 is required to be matched with the locking structure, the lock catch 321 of the locking member 32 is inserted into the lock hole 311 on the fixing plate 31; when the locking member 32 needs to be separated from the locking structure, the lock catch 321 of the locking member 32 is separated from the lock hole 311 of the fixing plate 31. More preferably, the lock catch 321 is provided in plurality, and the plurality of lock catches 321 are arranged at intervals along the height direction of the locking member 32. In this way, the locking member 32 can be allowed to stay at any position in the height direction together with the shelf mounting mechanism 10.

Preferably, as shown in fig. 3, two position switches 312 are provided on the fixed plate 31, and function to limit the movement of the slider 27 on the rail 26.

As shown in fig. 5, in the present embodiment, the pulley 22 is formed with driving teeth 221, the clutch member 21 is formed with driven teeth 211 engaged with the driving teeth 221, and the driven teeth 211 are engaged with the driving teeth 221. Preferably, in the solution of the present embodiment, the driving teeth 221 are formed on the inner side of the belt 23, and the outer side of the pulley 22 is formed with engaging teeth that cooperate with the driving teeth 221. As other alternative embodiments, a driving hole or other driving structure with driving function may be formed on the pulley 22, so as to be easily adapted to the pulley 22 or the clutch member 21.

As shown in fig. 2 and 4, as a preferred embodiment, in the technical form of the present embodiment, the lock-up driver and the clutch driver are constituted by one composite driver 50. The composite driver 50 drives the clutch member 21 into engagement with the driver while driving the locking member 32 out of engagement with the locking structure; the composite driver 50 drives the clutch member 21 out of engagement with the driver while driving the locking member 32 into engagement with the locking structure.

As a further alternative, the locking mechanism 30 comprises a locking actuator mounted on the shelf mounting mechanism 10 for actuating the locking member 32 to disengage or engage the locking structure. Correspondingly, the height adjusting mechanism 20 further comprises a clutch driving member mounted on the shelf mounting mechanism 10 for driving the clutch member 21 to engage with or disengage from the driving member. In this embodiment, the locking drive and the clutch drive can be moved by two actuating mechanisms.

As an alternative embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, in the technical mode of the present embodiment, the shelf assembly further comprises a shelf 40, and the shelf 40 is mounted on the shelf mounting mechanism 10.

As an alternative embodiment, as shown in FIG. 6, in the technical mode of the present embodiment, the shelf mounting mechanism 10 is detachably mounted on the height adjusting mechanism 20 by a plug-in structure. Preferably, in the technical mode of the present embodiment, the plug-in structure includes a plug 11 formed on the shelf mounting mechanism 10 and a slot 271 formed on the height adjusting mechanism 20. As another alternative embodiment, the positions of the plug 11 and the socket 271 may be exchanged with each other.

More preferably, as shown in fig. 6, in the solution of the present embodiment, the shelf assembly further comprises a mask 50, and the mask 50 is disposed between the shelf mounting mechanism 10 and the height adjusting mechanism 20. The face shield 50 is provided with an avoiding sliding groove 51, and the plug 11 passes through the avoiding sliding groove 51 and is inserted into the height adjusting mechanism 20. Through the structural design, the hidden installation of the power part of the shelf component can be realized. Specifically, the height driving member is mounted on the refrigerator body c, and the rail 26 is fixedly mounted by a fixing plate c1 on the refrigerator body c. Alternatively, the rail 26 is connected to the fixing plate c1 by screws.

The invention also provides a refrigerator comprising the shelf assembly, and the refrigerator adopting the shelf assembly can realize automatic adjustment of the shelves of the refrigerator, and simultaneously ensure that the shelf mounting mechanism 10 and the shelves mounted thereon have stronger pose holding capacity, thereby avoiding the phenomenon that the shelves are easy to fall down due to self gravity and the gravity of loaded objects.

The above description is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention, and is not intended to limit the present invention, and various modifications and changes may be made to the embodiment of the present invention by those skilled in the art. Any modification, equivalent replacement, or improvement made within the spirit and principle of the present invention should be included in the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A shelf assembly, comprising:

a shelf mounting mechanism (10) for mounting a shelf;

the height adjusting mechanism (20) is in driving connection with the shelf mounting mechanism (10) and is used for driving the shelf mounting mechanism (10) to move in the height direction;

the locking mechanism (30) comprises a fixing plate (31) and a locking piece (32), the fixing plate (31) is fixedly arranged, a plurality of locking structures are arranged on the fixing plate (31) along the height direction, the locking piece (32) is arranged on the shelf mounting mechanism (10), and when the height adjusting mechanism (20) drives the shelf mounting mechanism (10) to move, the locking piece (32) is separated from the locking structures; when the height adjusting mechanism (20) stops driving the shelf mounting mechanism (10) to move, the locking piece (32) is matched with the locking structure to lock the shelf mounting mechanism (10) on the fixing plate (31).

2. The shelf assembly according to claim 1, wherein the height adjustment mechanism (20) comprises:

a height driving member for driving the shelf mounting mechanism (10) to move in a height direction;

the clutch piece (21) is installed on the shelf installation mechanism (10), and when the height driving piece drives the shelf installation mechanism (10) to move, the clutch piece (21) is matched with the height driving piece; when the height adjusting mechanism (20) stops driving the shelf mounting mechanism (10) to move, the clutch piece (21) is separated from the height driving piece.

3. The shelf assembly of claim 2, wherein the height drive comprises:

a pulley (22);

the belt (23) is installed on the belt pulley (22), and a matching structure is arranged on the belt (23);

the motor (24) is in driving connection with the belt pulley (22);

the clutch piece (21) is matched with or separated from the matching structure.

4. The shelf assembly according to claim 3, wherein the two sets of belt pulleys (22) are arranged at intervals in the horizontal direction, the two sets of belts (23) are respectively arranged on the two sets of belt pulleys (22), the two shelf mounting mechanisms (10) and the two clutch members (21) are respectively two, and the two shelf mounting mechanisms (10) are respectively separated from the two belts (23) through the two clutch members (21).

5. A shelf assembly according to claim 4, wherein the height driving member further comprises a driving shaft (25), the driving shaft (25) is in driving connection with two sets of the pulleys (22), respectively, and the motor (24) and the driving shaft (25) are in gear transmission.

6. The shelf assembly of claim 3, wherein the height drive further comprises:

a rail (26) extending in the height direction;

a slider (27) mounted on the track (26), the shelf mounting mechanism (10) being mounted on the slider (27).

7. A shelf assembly according to claim 6, characterized in that rolling members (28) are mounted between the track (26) and the slider (27).

8. A shelf assembly according to claim 7, characterised in that the rolling members (28) comprise a mounting plate (281) and balls (282) mounted on the mounting plate (281).

9. A shelf assembly according to claim 7, characterised in that the rail (26) is provided with a T-shaped projection, the slide (27) is formed with a T-shaped recess adapted to the T-shaped projection, and the rolling member (28) is mounted between the T-shaped projection and the T-shaped recess.

10. The shelf assembly according to claim 1, wherein the locking structure is a locking hole (311) formed on the fixing plate (31), and the locking member (32) is formed with a locking catch (321) engaged with the locking hole (311).

11. The shelf assembly according to claim 10, wherein the locking member (321) is provided in plurality, and a plurality of the locking members (32) are provided at intervals in a height direction of the locking member (321).

12. A shelf assembly according to claim 3, wherein the pulley (22) is formed with a driving tooth (221), and the clutch member (21) is formed with a driven tooth (211) cooperating with the driving tooth (221), the driven tooth (211) cooperating with the driving tooth (221).

13. A shelf assembly according to claim 12, characterized in that the drive tooth (221) is formed on the inner side of the belt (23) and the outer side of the pulley (22) is formed with an engaging tooth cooperating with the drive tooth (221).

14. A shelf assembly as defined in claim 2, wherein the locking mechanism (30) comprises a locking actuator mounted on the shelf mounting mechanism (10) for actuating the locking element (32) to disengage or engage the locking structure.

15. A shelf assembly as defined in claim 14, wherein the height adjustment mechanism (20) further comprises a clutch drive mounted on the shelf mounting mechanism (10) for driving the clutch member (21) into and out of engagement with the drive.

16. A shelf assembly according to claim 15, wherein the locking drive and the clutching drive are constituted by one composite drive (50);

the composite driving piece (50) drives the clutch piece (21) to be matched with the driving piece while driving the locking piece (32) to be separated from the locking structure;

the composite driving piece (50) drives the clutch piece (21) to be separated from the driving piece while driving the locking piece (32) to be matched with the locking structure.

17. The shelf assembly of claim 1, further comprising a shelf (40), the shelf (40) being mounted on the shelf mounting mechanism (10).

18. A shelf assembly as defined in claim 1, wherein the shelf mounting mechanism (10) is removably mounted on the height adjustment mechanism (20) by a bayonet arrangement.

19. The shelf assembly of claim 18, wherein the plug-in structure comprises a plug (11) formed on the shelf mounting mechanism (10) and a socket (271) formed on the height adjustment mechanism (20).

20. The shelf assembly as claimed in claim 19, further comprising a cover (50), wherein the cover (50) is disposed between the shelf mounting mechanism (10) and the height adjusting mechanism (20), the cover (50) is provided with a bypass chute (51), and the plug (11) is inserted into the height adjusting mechanism (20) through the bypass chute (51).

21. A refrigerator comprising a shelf assembly, wherein the shelf assembly is as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 20.