KR100267241B1 - Door hinge of refrigerator - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A hinge device of door of refrigerator is provided to selectively install a door to be opened and closed to a direction appropriate to coupling condition of a refrigerator without a separate tool. CONSTITUTION: A middle hinge device is installed between doors of a cabinet(1), installed on an upper side and a lower side of a refrigerator, to guide opening and closing of the door. Coupling grooves(10,11) are formed on both sides of a middle partition(1a). A middle hinge bracket is fixed to one of the coupling grooves selected. A coupler(20) fix the middle hinge bracket to the coupling groove through coupling hole(31). A middle hinge axis(40) is inserted into one of hinge holes(33a,34a) formed on the middle hinge bracket to act as a rotary axis of the door. The middle hinge bracket comprises a vertical fixing part(32) and horizontal supporting parts(33,34). The vertical fixing part fixes the middle hinge bracket to the middle partition and has the coupling holes. The horizontal supporting parts are formed on both sides of the vertical fixing part perpendicularly with the vertical fixing part and have the hinge holes formed thereon. A protrusion(41) is formed on the middle of the middle hinge axis dividing the middle hinge axis to support the middle hinge axis in the hinge hole and to hingedly connect the middle hinge axis to the upper and lower doors.

Description

Door hinge device of refrigerator {DOOR HINGE OF REFRIGERATOR}

The present invention relates to a refrigerator, and more particularly, to a door hinge device of a refrigerator so that the operation for changing the opening and closing direction of the door can be made conveniently and easily.

In general, the cabinet, which is the main body of the refrigerator, is largely divided into a freezer compartment and a refrigerating compartment so that the convenience of work for storing food in the refrigerator and the separation of the stored foods can be easily distinguished.

In addition, the refrigerator compartment is provided with a multi-stage shelf to increase its effectiveness, in particular, the lower portion of the refrigerator compartment is provided with a vegetable compartment for storing vegetables or fruits separately from meat and processed foods, vegetables stored in the vegetable compartment is stored in the vegetable case do. Vegetable cases are usually installed to open and close drawers.

The door is provided on the front of the freezer compartment and the refrigerating compartment in the cabinet so that the door can be opened and closed. The door is rotatably installed in the cabinet by a door hinge device.

Referring to the conventional door hinge device installed in the door as follows.

As shown in Figure 1, the upper hinge device is mounted on the upper end of the upper door (2) of the door (2) (3), which is mounted up and down respectively with the intermediate space (1a) of the cabinet (1) in between, A lower hinge device is mounted on the lower end of the door 3, and a heavy hinge device is installed between the upper and lower doors 2 and 3.

The upper hinge device includes a fixing part 4 formed on the upper surface of the cabinet 1, and an upper end of which is fitted into a hinge groove (not shown) formed at an upper end of the upper door 2 by being fitted into the fixing part 4. It consists of an upper hinge bracket (6) having a shaft (5), and a fixing bracket (not shown) fitted to an upper portion of the upper hinge bracket (6) to perform a function of tightening.

The lower hinge device is detachably mounted to the cabinet side fastener 7 which is bolted to the lower end of the cabinet 1 and has a predetermined space 7a therein, and the space 7a of the cabinet side fastener 7. And a hinge shaft fixture 8 in which a hinge shaft 8a is integrally formed, and the hinge shaft fixture 8 includes a front plate 8b and side walls 8c integrally formed on the left and right sides of the front plate 8b. The front support plate 8b is formed to protrude forward from the top and is formed of a horizontal support portion 8d having a hinge shaft 8a formed thereon, so that the lower door 3 is not opened at a side of the horizontal support portion 8d more than a predetermined angle. A stopper (not shown) is formed.

The heavy hinge device is formed in one of the intermediate hinge bracket (9) which is bolted to one side of the intermediate space (1a), the central hinge bracket (9) and a hinge groove formed on the upper door (2) and the lower door (3), respectively It is comprised by the intermediate hinge shaft 9a fitted to (not shown).

The door hinge device configured as described above supports the doors 2 and 3 while being the center of rotation of the doors 2 and 3 when the doors 2 and 3 are opened and closed.

On the other hand, the door hinge device of the refrigerator is provided with a closed state holding means so that the door does not open when a force other than the force applied by the user is applied.

As shown in Fig. 2, the closed state holding means is provided on one side of the closed state holding protrusion 2a and the closed state holding protrusion 2a installed at the lower portion of the upper door 2, and the closed state holding protrusion. A coil spring 2b for elastically supporting (2a) in the direction of the middle hinge shaft 9a, and formed at a predetermined position of the middle hinge bracket 9, and when the upper door 2 is closed, the closed state holding protrusion 2a. Is formed in front of the seating portion (9b) and the seating portion (9b) is seated before the predetermined amount of force is applied to the upper door (2) curved portion for restraining the departure of the retaining projection (2a) for maintaining the state ( 9c).

According to such a closed state holding means, when the upper door 2 is closed, the closed state holding protrusion 2a is rotated along the outer circumferential surface of the heavy hinge bracket 9 and is positioned at the curved portion 9c. When the closed state holding projection (2a) passes through the curved portion (9c) is returned to its original state by the elasticity of the coil spring (2b) is seated on the seating portion (9b) to close the top door (2) Will be maintained.

However, according to the conventional door hinge device, since the opening and closing direction of the doors 2 and 3 is determined during the production of the refrigerator, when the obstacle occupies the space required for opening and closing the doors 2 and 3, the door 2 (3) could not be opened completely, so it was very inconvenient to store or use food.

In addition, when the interior of the doors 2 and 3 is exposed to the living room when the doors 2 and 3 are opened due to the kitchen structure in which the refrigerator is installed, there is a problem in appearance.

In order to solve this problem, there is provided a method for opening and closing the door (2) (3) can be made in both directions, this method is the door (2) ( 3) and the opening and closing direction of the door (2) (3) is determined according to the installation environment of the refrigerator, so that the door (2) (3) can be opened and closed in one of the left and right directions. There is a method of fixing the doors 2 and 3.

However, in the former case, the device for bidirectional opening and closing of the doors 2 and 3 is very complicated, and thus the cost increases and the workability is deteriorated. In the latter case, the doors 2 and 3 are fixed. In order to use a separate tool, there was a problem that the work is cumbersome.

On the other hand, the distance between the closed state retaining projection 2a for maintaining the closed state of the upper door 2 and the heavy hinge shaft 9a for guiding the fixing and rotation of the upper door 2 is equal to that of the upper door 2. It is closely related to the closed state, that is, the farther away from the heavy hinge shaft 9a, which is the center of the upper door 2, the closer to maintain the closed state of the upper door 2, Strength is to increase. However, since the conventional closed state holding projection 2a is close to the middle hinge shaft 9 and has a weak force to maintain the closed state of the upper door 2, the air pressure generated when the lower door 2 is closed is There was a problem that the upper door 2, which is not related to the lower door 3 to be transferred to the storage space in which the upper door 2 is installed, is opened.

The present invention was created to solve the problems described above, the opening and closing direction of the door can be changed in accordance with the installation environment of the refrigerator to improve the user's convenience, the interior of the door when opening the door to the living room side An object of the present invention is to provide a door hinge device for bidirectional opening and closing of a refrigerator door that is not exposed.

At this time, the refrigerator is not a product that frequently moves its installation position, and maintains its installation position except in the case of moving, so when the opening / closing direction of the door is determined during installation of the refrigerator, separate the door so as to correspond to the opening / closing direction. The purpose is to reduce the cost and improve the convenience of work by allowing installation through simple operation without tools.

In addition, another object of the present invention is to increase the force for maintaining the closed state of the door when a constant force applied through the user is not applied to maintain the closed door to keep the closed state in the refrigerator refrigerator when closing the door The purpose is to prevent the malfunction of opening the door in the closed state by the generated air pressure.

1 is a perspective view of a refrigerator showing a conventional door hinge device.

Figure 2 is a plan view of the door showing the operating state of the closed state holding means applied to the conventional door.

Figure 3 is an exploded perspective view of the heavy hinge device according to the present invention.

Figure 4 is a front view showing a coupling state of the heavy hinge bracket applied to the embodiment according to the present invention.

Figure 5 is a partially cutaway perspective view of the refrigerator showing the installation state of the heavy hinge bracket according to the present invention.

Figure 6 is a perspective view of the upper door showing the installation state of the closed state holding means applied to an embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 7 is a plan view of the door showing the operating state of the door closed state holding means applied to the present invention.

Figure 8 is a plan view showing a bidirectional opening and closing state of the door by the heavy hinge device of the present invention.

<Description of the symbols used in the main parts of the drawing>

1: cabinet 1a: intermediate space

10,11: fastening groove 20: fastener

21: insertion portion 22: support portion

23: head 30: heavy hinge bracket

31: fastener 31a: key ball

32: vertical fixation 33,34: horizontal support

33a, 34a: hinge hole 35: stopper

36: pin ball 40: heavy hinge shaft

41: engaging jaw 42: fixed pin

50: exposure prevention cap

The present invention for achieving the above object is an upper hinge device mounted on the upper end of the upper door of at least two doors mounted on at least two cabinets, a lower hinge device mounted on the lower end of the lower door, In the door hinge device of the refrigerator consisting of a heavy hinge device mounted between the guide to guide the opening and closing of each door,

The heavy hinge device forms a fastening groove on both sides of the intermediate space, and a heavy hinge bracket fixed to the fastening groove selected from the fastening grooves, and a fastening hole formed in the heavy hinge bracket. A fastener for fixing the fastener, and a support shaft forming a rotation center axis of the three-folded rear door in the hinge hole in which the hinge hinge body is formed; The middle hinge bracket has a vertical fixation in which the middle hinge bracket is fixed to the intermediate space, and the hinge hole is formed on the horizontal support portions formed on both sides in the orthogonal direction of the vertical fixing portion, and the middle support shaft has a middle hinge shaft at the middle portion. In addition to supporting in the hinge hole is characterized in that the locking jaw is formed to separate the hinge hinge to the upper and lower doors, respectively.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

3 and 5, the heavy hinge device according to the door hinge device of the present invention, a plurality of fastening grooves 10, 11 on the left and right sides of the intermediate space (1a) between the upper and lower doors (2) (3). Are each formed, the fastening groove 20 is fixedly installed in the fastening groove 10 of any one of the fastening grooves 10 and 11, the one side of the intermediate space (1a) is fitted to the fastener (20) The heavy hinge bracket 30 having the fastening hole 31 is fixed in a fitting manner, and the middle hinge bracket 30 is fitted to the upper and lower doors 2 and 3 to open and close the doors 2 and 3. The guided hinge shaft 40 is coupled.

The exposure preventing cap 50 is coupled to the fastening groove 11 of the other side, on which the fastener 20 is not installed.

The fastener 20 has a diameter larger than that of the insertion portion 21 and the insertion portion 21 to be inserted into the fastening groove 10 on one side and the insertion portion 21 and the same diameter as the fastening hole 31 of the middle hinge bracket 30. It is made of a contact portion 22 and the support portion 22 for supporting the middle hinge bracket 30, while being in contact with the fastening hole 31 of the middle hinge bracket 30, a diameter slightly larger than the support portion 22 to prevent the separation of the heavy hinge bracket 30 It consists of a head 23 for.

The middle hinge bracket 30 is composed of a vertical fixing part 32 and horizontal supporting parts 33 and 34 formed integrally with a predetermined distance on both sides of the vertical fixing part 32, respectively, and vertical fixing part 32 The lower side of the fastening hole 31 drilled in the larger diameter than the fastening hole 31 and the key hole 31a having a diameter equal to or greater than the head 23 of the fastener 20 is drilled, and each horizontal support portion 33 (34) are formed with hinge holes (33a) and (34a), each of which the intermediate hinge shaft (40) is selectively fitted, and when the upper door (2) is opened at a predetermined position of the horizontal support (33) (34). In order to limit the opening angle, stoppers 35 are formed to restrain the locking projections 2c formed at the lower portion of the upper door 2.

Although not shown, the lower portion of the fastening hole 31 into which the fastener 20 is fitted may be formed to communicate with the outside for the installation of the middle hinge bracket 30.

The middle hinge shaft 40 is divided into two upper and lower portions through a locking jaw 41 protruding from an outer circumferential surface of the central height, and the divided upper and lower portions are respectively fitted into hinge grooves (not shown) of the upper and lower doors 2 and 3. do.

The heavy hinge device according to the present invention door hinge device is formed with a rotation preventing means for preventing idle rotation of the heavy hinge shaft 40 during the rotation of the door (2) (3), the rotation preventing means is a horizontal hinge bracket horizontal support ( The pin hole 36 formed at a predetermined position of the 33, and the fixing pin 42 is formed integrally with the lower portion of the heavy hinge shaft engaging jaw 41 corresponding to the pin hole 36 and fitted into the pin hole 36.

The door hinge device according to the present invention is provided with a closed state holding means for maintaining the closed state of the upper door 2, and the closed state holding means is shown in the lower part of the upper door 2, as shown in Figs. A coil spring 2b installed on one side of the closed state holding protrusion 2a and the closed state holding protrusion 2a to elastically support the closed state holding protrusion 2a to the opposite side of the middle hinge shaft 40. ), A seating portion 9b formed inside each of the horizontal support portions 33 and 34 of the middle hinge bracket 30 to which the closed state holding projection 2a is seated, and the front of the seating portion 9b. It is formed in the upper door (2) before a certain amount of force is applied to the curved state (9c) is formed to prevent the closing state holding projection (2a) is separated. At this time, the closed state holding protrusion 2a of the upper door 20 is seated on the seating portion 9b located at a distance among the seating portions 9b of the heavy hinge bracket 30.

The upper hinge device and the lower hinge device will be omitted the parts configured in the same manner as in the prior art, the stopper (not shown) is formed in each of the lower hinge device so that the lower door does not open more than a certain angle, the cabinet for bidirectional opening and closing of the door The left and right sides of the upper hinge device and the lower hinge device is provided with a mounting portion can be installed, both sides of the upper and lower doors (2) (3) are formed with a hinge groove for each hinge shaft is fixed, the hinge shaft is not fitted The other side of the hinge groove does not have an exposure preventing cap 50 is mounted.

Referring to the operation of the door hinge device according to the present invention configured as described above are as follows.

The refrigerator is installed such that the doors 2 and 3 are opened and closed based on one direction at the time of production.

3 to 8, the insertion portion 21 of the fastener 20 is inserted into and fixed to the fastening groove 10 on one side, respectively.

Accordingly, the exposure preventing cap 50 is fitted into the hinge groove of each of the doors 2 and 3 and the fastening groove 11 located on the other side of the intermediate space 1a on which the middle hinge bracket 30 is not mounted.

On the other hand, when the interior of the door (2) (3) is exposed to the living room when the door (2), (3) is opened or when it is necessary to change the opening and closing direction of the door (2) (3) due to obstacles located in the kitchen Remove the upper hinge device.

After removing the upper door 2 from the cabinet, the heavy hinge shaft 40 is pulled out of the horizontal support portion 33 of the heavy hinge bracket 30.

Then, the lower door 3 is separated from the lower hinge device.

As shown in FIG. 4 in the state that each door 2 and 3 were separated from the cabinet in this way, the fastener 20 is attached to the key hole 31a of the heavy hinge bracket 30 for removal of the heavy hinge bracket 30. The head 23 is raised. Since the head 23 of the fastener 20 is larger than or equal to the diameter of the key hole 31a, the middle hinge bracket 30 can be removed.

After removing the middle hinge bracket 30, the fastener 20 is separated from the fastening groove 10.

Then, the exposure preventing cap 50 covered by the fastening groove 11 on the other side is removed and inserted into the fastening groove 10 on which the fastener 20 is mounted, and the fastener on the other fastening groove 11. Combine 20 respectively.

The head 23 of each fastener 20 is matched with the key hole 31a of the heavy hinge bracket 30 and then lowered.

In this manner, the heavy hinge bracket 30 is mounted.

Then, the lower hinge device is removed and installed on the other side.

Thus, the hinge hole of the horizontal support part 34 fixed to the lower hinge shaft in the state in which the middle hinge bracket 30 and the lower hinge device are mounted, and located on the other side of the heavy hinge bracket 30 ( 34a) and the middle hinge shaft 40 is inserted through the hinge groove of the lower door (3). At this time, the fixing pin 42 of the middle hinge shaft 40 is fitted to the pin hole 36 of the horizontal support portion 34.

After the upper door 2 is fixed to the middle hinge shaft 40, an upper hinge device is installed to mount the upper door 2.

The operation of opening and closing the door by the door hinge device of the present invention is as follows.

When the upper door 2 is opened, the upper door 2 rotates about the middle hinge shaft 40 and the upper hinge shaft (not shown), and the locking protrusion 2c formed at the lower portion of the upper door 2 is When the opening angle limiting stopper 35 formed on the horizontal support part 33 of the hinge bracket 30 is caught, the upper door 2 is no longer opened.

In addition, even when the opening and closing of the upper door 2 is reversed, the opening angle limiting stopper 35 formed on the horizontal support part 34 is restricted, so that the predetermined angle or more is not opened.

Even when the lower door 3 is opened, the opening angle limiting stopper (not shown) formed in the lower hinge device does not open more than a predetermined angle.

On the other hand, when the open top door 3 is closed, the closed state holding protrusion 2a is rotated while contacting the outer circumferential surface of the horizontal support portion 34 located on the other side, and the closed state holding protrusion 2a protrudes. If it is located in the formed bent portion (9c) is rotated while contracting the coil spring (2b), when the closed state holding projection (2a) is beyond the curved portion (9c) is returned to its original state by the elasticity of the coil spring (2b) It is fixed to the seating part 9b.

The closed state holding means applied to the door hinge device according to the present invention works the same even if the opening and closing direction of the door is changed.

Therefore, the door hinge device according to the present invention can be changed so that the opening and closing directions of the doors 2 and 3 are suitable for the installation environment of the refrigerator, and the operation is performed by the manual operation of each operator without a separate tool. It can be removed and installed.

In addition, the distance between the hinge (40b) for maintaining the closed state of the door and the middle hinge shaft 40 for guiding the fixing and opening and closing of the upper door 2 is farther than the conventional one, so as to maintain the closed state of the upper door 2. Since the force becomes relatively larger than the conventional one, even when the air pressure generated when the lower door 3 is closed is transferred to the storage space in which the upper door 2 is installed, the closed upper door is not opened.

As described above, according to the present invention, the operation for installing so that the door can be selectively opened and closed in a direction suitable for the installation environment of the refrigerator can be performed without a separate tool can improve the convenience of the operation.

In addition, since the malfunction of opening the door in the closed state is not generated by the air pressure generated when the door is closed, it is possible to improve the reliability of the product.

Claims (9)

It consists of an upper hinge device mounted on the upper end of the upper door, at least two doors mounted on the cabinet at least two up and down, a lower hinge device mounted on the lower door, and a heavy hinge device mounted between the doors. In the door hinge device of the refrigerator for guiding the opening and closing of the door, The heavy hinge device Forming fastening grooves on both sides of the intermediate space, A heavy hinge bracket fixed to a fastening groove selected from the fastening grooves, fasteners for fixing the heavy hinge brackets to the fastening grooves through fastening holes formed in the heavy hinge brackets, and hinge holes formed in the heavy hinge brackets. A central hinge axis inserted to form a central axis of rotation of the door; The middle hinge bracket forms the fastening hole in the vertical fixing portion which is formed by the vertical fixing portion in which the middle hinge bracket is fixed to the intermediate space, and the horizontal support portions formed on both sides in the orthogonal direction of the vertical fixing portion, respectively. The hinge portion forms the hinge hole, The hinge hinge shaft is formed in the middle of the hinge hinge supporting the hinge shaft in the hinge hole and the hinge hinge to separate the upper and lower doors, respectively, characterized in that the door hinge device of the refrigerator. The door hinge device of claim 1, wherein an exposure preventing cap is inserted into a fastening groove on the other side to which the middle hinge bracket is not coupled. The method of claim 1, wherein the fastener is inserted into the fastening groove, a larger diameter than the insertion portion and the support portion is supported by the heavy hinge bracket, and formed at the end of the support portion and the separation of the heavy hinge bracket Door hinge device of the refrigerator, characterized in that consisting of a head for preventing. The door hinge device of the refrigerator of claim 1, wherein a lower portion of the fastening hole of the middle hinge bracket is formed to communicate with the outside. The door hinge device of claim 1, wherein a key hole having a diameter larger than that of the fastening hole is formed at one side of the fastening hole of the middle hinge bracket. According to claim 1, wherein the seating portion is formed on each side of the middle hinge bracket, the front of the seating portion is formed with a curved portion protruding, the lower portion of the upper door is closed to be seated on the seating spaced apart from the seating portion The state holding protrusion is installed, and one side of the closed state holding protrusion, the door hinge device of the refrigerator, characterized in that the elastic member for elastically supporting the closed state holding protrusion in the opposite direction of the middle hinge axis. The door hinge device of the refrigerator of claim 1, wherein a stopper for restraining the opening angle of the door is formed at a predetermined position of each horizontal support part. The door hinge device of the refrigerator of claim 1, wherein the heavy hinge device includes a rotation preventing means for preventing rotation of the heavy hinge shaft. The door of the refrigerator of claim 9, wherein the rotation preventing means comprises a fixing pin protruding downward at a predetermined position of the middle hinge shaft, and a pin hole formed at a predetermined position of the heavy hinge bracket corresponding to the fixing pin. Hinge device.

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