CN110873494A

CN110873494A - A kind of refrigerator

Info

Publication number: CN110873494A
Application number: CN201811023406.6A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 徐朝阁; 吴光瑞; 王宁; 丁晓; 李鹏辉
Original assignee: Qingdao Haier Co Ltd
Current assignee: Qingdao Haier Refrigerator Co Ltd; Haier Smart Home Co Ltd; Chongqing Haier Refrigeration Electric Appliance Co Ltd
Priority date: 2018-09-03
Filing date: 2018-09-03
Publication date: 2020-03-10
Anticipated expiration: 2038-09-03
Also published as: CN110873494B

Abstract

The invention provides a refrigerator. The refrigerator includes: the foaming layer is arranged between the refrigerating chamber and the freezing chamber and is provided with a vent hole which is communicated with the refrigerating chamber and the freezing chamber; a seal movably disposed within the vent; the first elastic element is arranged to release the first elastic acting force when the sealing element is not acted by external force, so that the sealing element moves towards the refrigerating chamber along the vent hole; an external force applying and releasing mechanism which is set to apply external force to the sealing member when the freezing chamber door body is closed so as to make the sealing member move to the initial position along the vent hole towards the direction of the freezing chamber, and release the external force when the freezing chamber door body is opened so as to make the sealing member in a state of not receiving the external force; the sealing member is configured to allow gas in the refrigerating chamber to flow to the freezing chamber through the vent hole when moving in a direction of the refrigerating chamber along the vent hole, and to seal the vent hole when the sealing member moves to an initial position. The scheme of the invention can reduce the air pressure difference between the freezing chamber and the external environment, thereby easily opening the door body of the freezing chamber.

Description

A kind of refrigerator

Technical Field

The invention relates to the field of household appliances, in particular to a refrigerator.

Background

In normal refrigeration operation of the refrigerator, air in the freezing chamber contracts after being refrigerated, and the pressure is lower than the atmospheric pressure of the external environment, so that the door body of the freezing chamber is not easy to open.

In order to solve the above-mentioned technical problems, an air pressure valve is generally provided through which external air is introduced into the freezing chamber to balance an air pressure difference between the freezing chamber and the external environment, but this causes heat loss in the freezing chamber and consumes electric power.

Disclosure of Invention

It is an object of the present application to reduce the pressure differential between the freezer compartment and the external environment so that a user can easily open the door of the freezer compartment.

A further object of the present application is to avoid cold leakage from the freezer compartment in situations where the pressure differential between the freezer compartment and the external environment can be reduced.

Particularly, the present invention provides a refrigerator including a refrigerating chamber, a freezing chamber, and a freezing chamber door for opening or closing the freezing chamber, the refrigerator further including:

the foaming layer is arranged between the refrigerating chamber and the freezing chamber and is provided with a vent hole which is communicated with the refrigerating chamber and the freezing chamber;

a seal movably disposed within the vent;

the first elastic element is arranged to release a first elastic acting force when the sealing element is not acted by an external force so as to enable the sealing element to move towards the refrigerating chamber along the vent hole;

an external force applying and releasing mechanism which is set to apply external force to the sealing member when the freezing chamber door body is closed so as to make the sealing member move to the initial position along the vent hole towards the direction of the freezing chamber, and release the external force when the freezing chamber door body is opened so as to make the sealing member in a state of not receiving the external force; wherein

The sealing member is configured to allow gas in the refrigerating chamber to flow to the freezing chamber through the vent hole when moving in a direction of the refrigerating chamber along the vent hole, and to seal the vent hole when the sealing member moves to an initial position to prohibit gas in the refrigerating chamber from flowing to the freezing chamber through the vent hole.

Optionally, the external force applying and releasing mechanism comprises:

the pushing piece is movably arranged in the door body of the freezing chamber;

a conversion member provided between the pushing member and the sealing member and configured to convert a pushing force of the pushing member into an external force applied to the sealing member; wherein

The pushing piece is arranged to move towards the direction close to the conversion component when the refrigerator door is closed so as to apply pushing force to the conversion component, and move towards the direction far from the conversion component when the refrigerator door is opened so as to cancel the pushing force, so that the conversion component releases external force.

Optionally, the conversion member comprises:

the conversion component body comprises an insertion part inserted in the sealing piece, a contact part used for contacting with the pushing piece to receive pushing force applied by the pushing piece and a connecting part used for connecting the insertion part and the contact part, and the connecting part defines a shaft hole;

the pin shaft penetrates through the shaft hole and is fixedly arranged on the foaming layer; wherein

The conversion component body is arranged to rotate integrally after the contact part receives the thrust, and converts the thrust into an external force applied to the sealing element by the plug part.

Optionally, the sealing member has a plug hole matching with the plug part, the plug hole is selected as a through hole, and a gap is formed between the plug part and the through hole.

Optionally, the pushing piece is configured to be a rod shape, and the freezing chamber door body is provided with a containing space for containing the pushing piece; wherein

The pushing member is arranged to be movable along the accommodating space.

Optionally, the pusher has a first end portion of increased size and the receiving space has an increased size space to receive the first end portion of increased size.

Optionally, the pushing member further has a second end opposite to the first end, the second end is connected with a stopper,

the external force applying and releasing mechanism also comprises a supporting piece, the supporting piece is provided with a through hole penetrating through the supporting piece and is sleeved at the position, close to the second end part, of the pushing piece through the through hole, and the supporting piece limits to form a concave cavity communicated with the through hole; wherein

The limiting block is arranged in the concave cavity, and the size of the limiting block is larger than that of the through hole, so that the moving stroke of the pushing piece in the door body of the freezing chamber is limited.

Optionally, the external force applying and releasing mechanism further comprises:

and a second elastic element abutting between the first end and the freezing chamber door body defining the space with the increased size, the second elastic element being configured to apply a second elastic acting force to the pushing piece when the refrigerator door body is closed, so that the pushing piece moves towards the direction approaching the conversion component.

Alternatively, the sealing member is constructed in a cone shape, and a size of a side adjacent to the refrigerating chamber is larger than a size of a side adjacent to the freezing chamber.

Optionally, both end faces of the sealing member are flush with two opposite surfaces of the foaming layer, respectively.

According to the scheme of the invention, the vent hole is formed in the foaming layer, so that the gas in the refrigerating chamber can flow to the freezing chamber, and the sealing piece, the first elastic element and the external force applying and releasing mechanism are arranged, so that the gas in the refrigerating chamber flows to the freezing chamber only when the door body of the freezing chamber is opened, and the sealing piece is blocked in the vent hole when the door body of the freezing chamber is closed, so that the gas in the refrigerating chamber and the gas in the freezing chamber cannot flow mutually. Like this, realized on the one hand in the twinkling of an eye that the freezer door body was opened, the atmospheric pressure difference between freezer and the external environment reduces to make the user can open the freezer door body easily, improve user experience, on the other hand can prevent that the freezer from leaking cold to the walk-in when freezer door body is closed.

In addition, the external force applying and releasing mechanism of the present invention achieves the effect of applying an external force to the seal member by simple components. And the adopted parts have wide sources, lower cost and good wear resistance.

The above and other objects, advantages and features of the present invention will become more apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description of specific embodiments thereof, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Drawings

Some specific embodiments of the invention will be described in detail hereinafter, by way of illustration and not limitation, with reference to the accompanying drawings. The same reference numbers in the drawings identify the same or similar elements or components. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale. In the drawings:

fig. 1 is a schematic structural view of a refrigerator according to one embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 2 is a schematic top view of a refrigerator according to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view taken along section line A-A in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a schematic enlarged partial view at A shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a schematic cross-sectional view taken along section line B-B in FIG. 2;

fig. 6 is a schematic structural view of a refrigerator after removing a refrigerator body and a freezing chamber door according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

Fig. 1 shows a schematic configuration diagram of a refrigerator 1 according to one embodiment of the present invention. As shown in fig. 1, the refrigerator 1 includes a cabinet 10, a refrigerating compartment 20, a freezing compartment 30 (see fig. 3 and 5), and a freezing compartment door 40 for opening or closing the freezing compartment 30. In this embodiment, the freezing chamber door 40 is to pull the freezing chamber 30 to open or close, but the claimed invention is not limited thereto, and may be pivotally connected to the cabinet 10 to open or close the freezing chamber 30.

Fig. 2 shows a schematic top view of the refrigerator 1 according to one embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 3 shows a schematic cross-sectional view taken along section line a-a in fig. 2. Fig. 4 shows a schematic partial enlarged view at a shown in fig. 3. Fig. 5 shows a schematic cross-sectional view taken along section line B-B in fig. 2. As shown in fig. 2 to 5, the refrigerator 1 further includes a foaming layer 50, a sealing member 60, a first elastic member 70, and an external force applying and releasing mechanism 80.

The foaming layer 50 is disposed between the refrigerating chamber 20 and the freezing chamber 30, and the foaming layer 50 has a vent hole passing through the refrigerating chamber 20 and the freezing chamber 30. A seal 60 is movably disposed within the vent hole. The first elastic member 70 is connected at both ends thereof to the sealing member 60 and the foaming layer 50, respectively, and the first elastic member 70 is configured to release a first elastic force when the sealing member 60 is not applied with an external force, so that the sealing member 60 moves toward the refrigerating compartment 20 along the vent hole. The external force applying and releasing mechanism 80 is configured to apply an external force to the sealing member 60 when the freezing chamber door 40 is closed, so as to move the sealing member 60 to an initial position in a direction toward the freezing chamber 30 along the vent hole, and release the external force when the freezing chamber door 40 is opened, so as to keep the sealing member 60 in a state where the external force is not applied. Wherein the sealing member 60 is configured to allow gas in the refrigerating compartment 20 to flow to the freezing compartment 30 through the vent hole when moved in a direction toward the refrigerating compartment 20 along the vent hole, and to seal the vent hole when the sealing member 60 is moved to the initial position, to inhibit gas in the refrigerating compartment 20 from flowing to the freezing compartment 30 through the vent hole.

According to the present invention, the ventilation hole is formed in the foam layer 50, so that the gas in the refrigerating chamber 20 can flow to the freezing chamber 30, and the sealing member 60, the first elastic member 70, and the external force applying and releasing mechanism 80 are provided, so that the gas in the refrigerating chamber 20 flows to the freezing chamber 30 only when the freezing chamber door 40 is opened, and the sealing member 60 is blocked in the ventilation hole when the freezing chamber door 40 is closed, so that the gas in the refrigerating chamber 20 and the gas in the freezing chamber 30 cannot flow to each other. Thus, on the one hand, the pressure difference between the freezing chamber 30 and the external environment is reduced at the moment that the freezing chamber door body 40 is opened, so that a user can easily open the freezing chamber door body 40, user experience is improved, and on the other hand, the freezing chamber 30 can be prevented from leaking cold to the refrigerating chamber 20 when the freezing chamber door body 40 is closed.

Fig. 6 shows a schematic configuration view of the refrigerator 1 after removing the body 10 and the freezing compartment door 40 of the refrigerator 1 according to one embodiment of the present invention. Referring to fig. 3 to 6, the external force applying and releasing mechanism 80 includes a pusher 81 and a switching member 82. Wherein, the pushing piece 81 is movably arranged in the freezing chamber door body 40. The conversion member 82 is provided between the pusher 81 and the seal 60, and is provided to convert the pushing force of the pusher 81 into an external force applied to the seal 60. Among them, the pushing piece 81 is configured to move in a direction close to the switching member 82 when the door of the refrigerator 1 is closed to apply a pushing force to the switching member 82, and move in a direction away from the switching member 82 when the door of the refrigerator 1 is opened to cancel the pushing force, so that the switching member 82 releases the external force.

In this embodiment, the conversion member 82 includes a conversion member body 821. The conversion member body 821 includes a socket portion 8211, a contact portion 8212, and a connection portion 8213 for connecting the socket portion 8211 and the contact portion 8212. The insertion portion 8211 is inserted into the sealing member 60. The contact portion 8212 is used for contacting with the pushing member 81 to receive the pushing force applied by the pushing member 81. In one embodiment, the contact portion 8212 and the insertion portion 8211 have an angle therebetween, such as 70 °, 80 °, or 90 °, but not limited thereto. The connecting portion 8213 defines an axial hole. The converting member 82 further includes a pin 822, the pin 822 extending through the axial hole and being secured to the foam layer 50. The switching member body 821 is configured to be integrally rotated after receiving a thrust at the contact portion 8212, and converts the thrust into an external force applied to the sealing member 60 by the insertion portion 8211. The sealing element 60 has a plug-in hole 61 for mating with a plug-in unit. The insertion hole 61 is preferably a through hole. When the mating portion 8211 is mated with the mating hole 61, a gap is formed between the mating portion and the mating hole 61. As described above, when the sealing member 60 moves in the direction of the refrigerating chamber 20, the gas in the refrigerating chamber 20 can flow not only through the gap between the sealing member 60 and the wall forming the vent hole but also to the freezing chamber 30 through the gap, thereby increasing the gas flow rate and allowing the freezing chamber door 40 to be opened more easily.

The pusher 81 is configured as a rod. In this embodiment, the freezing chamber door 40 has an inner surface 41 and an outer surface 42. The freezing chamber door 40 also has an accommodating space extending from the inner surface 41 to the outer surface 42 thereof, which is adapted to the shape of the pushing member 81. A door handle 43 is provided on an outer surface 42 of the freezing chamber door body 40. The pusher 81 includes a first end 811, a second end 813 opposite the first end 811, and a body portion 812 between the first and second ends 811 and 813. The first end 811 extends from the inner surface 41 of the freezing chamber door 40, and the second end 813 extends to the door handle 43. In a preferred embodiment, the first end 811 is of an increased size, i.e., a size greater than the size of the body portion 812. as can be seen in FIG. 3, the size of the first end 811 is abruptly increased compared to the size of the body portion 812. The accommodation space corresponding portion is also an enlarged-size space for accommodating the first end portion 811 which is enlarged in size. Wherein the first end 811 at least partially protrudes out of the increased size space. The first end 811 has a first end surface and a second end surface opposite to the first end surface. The first end face is close to the body portion 812 of the pusher 81, and the second end face may interfere with the contact portion 8212 of the transition member 82. In the preferred embodiment, a second elastic member 83 is connected between the first end surface and the freezing chamber door body 40 for forming the size-increased space. When the door body of the refrigerator 1 is closed, the second elastic element 83 applies a second elastic force to the pushing member 81, so that the pushing member 81 moves in a direction approaching the switching member 82, and the second end surface abuts against the contact portion 8212 and applies a force to the contact portion 8212. The second elastic element 83 may be, for example, a spring, but is not limited thereto as long as it is an elastically deformable element.

A support member 84 is sleeved on the pushing member 81 near the second end 813 thereof. The supporting member 84 has a through hole passing through it, and the supporting member 84 is sleeved on the pushing member 81 through the through hole. The support member 84 has a cavity 841 communicating with the through hole. The second end 813 of the pushing member 81 is further connected to a stop block 814. The stopper 814 is disposed in the cavity 841, and the size of the stopper 814 is larger than that of the through hole to limit the travel of the pushing member 81 moving in the freezing chamber door 40. In this way, the pushing piece 81 can be restricted from coming out of the accommodating space of the freezing chamber door body 40 when the freezing chamber door body 40 is opened. In addition, since the second end 813 of the pushing member 81 extends to the door handle 43, so that the second end 813 is at least partially exposed to the outside of the freezing chamber door body 40, the support is added to the second end 813, on one hand, the second end 813 can be protected from the outside, and on the other hand, the appearance is more beautiful.

The external force applying and releasing mechanism 80 achieves the effect of applying an external force to the seal 60 by a simple component. And the adopted parts have wide sources, lower cost and good wear resistance.

The sealing member 60 is preferably constructed in a tapered shape, and has a size larger at a side adjacent to the refrigerating compartment 20 than at a side adjacent to the freezing compartment 30. With such a design, when the sealing member 60 moves toward the refrigerating compartment 20 along the vent hole, the gas in the refrigerating compartment 20 can flow into the freezing compartment 30 along the gap between the sealing member 60 and the vent hole. The end faces of the sealing member 60 are flush with the opposite surfaces of the foam layer 50. This makes it possible to beautify the interior of the refrigerator 1 and to increase the firmness of the seal 60.

In one embodiment, the seal 60 includes a first surface 62 and a second surface 63 opposite the first surface 62. The first surface 62 is adjacent to the refrigerator compartment 20 and the second surface 63 is adjacent to the freezer compartment 30. The seal 60 includes at least one engaging lug 64 extending outwardly from a first side thereof, each engaging lug 64 being connected to a support post 65 extending at an angle to the engaging lug 64 and in a direction toward the second surface 63. The number of first elastic elements 70 is kept the same as the number of the support columns 65. In this embodiment, the number of the supporting columns 65 is two, and the number of the corresponding first elastic elements 70 is also two, but the invention is not limited thereto, and may be, for example, one, three, four, five or more. One end of the first elastic element 70 can be sleeved on the supporting column 65, and the other end abuts against the foaming layer 50. The first elastic element 70 may be, for example, a spring, but is not limited thereto, and any element that can be elastically deformed may be used.

Thus, it should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that while a number of exemplary embodiments of the invention have been illustrated and described in detail herein, many other variations or modifications consistent with the principles of the invention may be directly determined or derived from the disclosure of the present invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the scope of the invention should be understood and interpreted to cover all such other variations or modifications.

Claims

1. A refrigerator, characterized by that, including walk-in, freezer and being used for opening or closing the freezer door body of freezer, the refrigerator still includes:

a seal movably disposed within the vent;

a first elastic element, both ends of which are respectively connected with the sealing element and the foaming layer, wherein the first elastic element is arranged to release a first elastic acting force when the sealing element is not acted by an external force so as to enable the sealing element to move towards the refrigerating chamber along the vent hole;

an external force applying and releasing mechanism configured to apply the external force to the sealing member when the freezing chamber door body is closed to move the sealing member to an initial position in a direction of the freezing chamber along the vent hole, and release the external force when the freezing chamber door body is opened to place the sealing member in a state where the external force is not applied; wherein

The sealing member is configured to allow gas in the refrigerating compartment to flow to the freezing compartment through the vent hole when moving in a direction of the refrigerating compartment along the vent hole, and to seal the vent hole when the sealing member moves to the initial position to inhibit gas in the refrigerating compartment from flowing to the freezing compartment through the vent hole.

2. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein the external force applying and releasing mechanism includes:

a pushing member movably disposed in the freezing chamber door body;

a conversion member provided between the pusher and the seal and configured to convert a thrust force of the pusher into the external force applied to the seal; wherein

The pushing piece is arranged to move in a direction close to the switching member when the refrigerator door is closed to apply the pushing force to the switching member, and to move in a direction away from the switching member when the refrigerator door is opened to cancel the pushing force, so that the switching member releases the external force.

3. The refrigerator according to claim 2, wherein the switching member comprises:

the conversion component body comprises an insertion part inserted in the sealing piece, a contact part used for contacting with the pushing piece to receive the pushing force applied by the pushing piece and a connecting part used for connecting the insertion part and the contact part, and the connecting part defines a shaft hole;

The conversion component body is arranged to rotate integrally after the contact part receives the thrust, and converts the thrust into the external force applied to the sealing element by the insertion part.

4. The refrigerator as claimed in claim 3, wherein the sealing member has a insertion hole engaged with the insertion part, the insertion hole being selected as a through hole;

a gap is formed between the insertion part and the through hole.

5. The refrigerator according to claim 2, wherein the pushing member is configured in a rod shape, and the freezing chamber door body has a receiving space for receiving the pushing member; wherein

The pushing member is arranged to move along the accommodating space.

6. The refrigerator according to claim 5, wherein the pusher has a first end portion of increased size, and the receiving space has a space of increased size to receive the first end portion of increased size.

7. The refrigerator of claim 6 wherein the pusher further has a second end opposite the first end, the second end being connected to a stop;

the external force applying and releasing mechanism also comprises a supporting piece, the supporting piece is provided with a through hole penetrating through the supporting piece and is sleeved at the position, close to the second end, of the pushing piece through the through hole, and the supporting piece limits and forms a cavity communicated with the through hole; wherein

The limiting block is arranged in the concave cavity, and the size of the limiting block is larger than that of the through hole, so that the stroke of the pushing piece moving in the freezing chamber door body is limited.

8. The refrigerator according to claim 6, wherein the external force applying and releasing mechanism further comprises:

a second elastic element abutting between the first end portion and a freezing chamber door body defining the size-increased space, the second elastic element being configured to apply a second elastic force to the pushing member when the refrigerator door body is closed, so that the pushing member is moved in a direction to approach the switching member.

9. The refrigerator according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the sealing member is configured in a tapered shape, and a size of a side adjacent to the refrigerating chamber is larger than a size of a side adjacent to the freezing chamber.

10. The refrigerator according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein both end surfaces of the sealing member are flush with two opposite surfaces of the foaming layer, respectively.