CN113027247A

CN113027247A - Door lock and household appliance

Info

Publication number: CN113027247A
Application number: CN201911354621.9A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 章传; 许耀国; 吕萍
Original assignee: BSH Home Appliances Co Ltd; Bo Xihua Electric Jiangsu Co Ltd
Current assignee: BSH Home Appliances Co Ltd; Bo Xihua Electric Jiangsu Co Ltd
Priority date: 2019-12-24
Filing date: 2019-12-24
Publication date: 2021-06-25
Anticipated expiration: 2039-12-24
Also published as: CN113027247B

Abstract

A door lock and a home appliance, the door lock comprising: a handle member adapted to pivot in a first direction; a latch hook member including a latch hook adapted to be latched with or unlatched from a latch portion; and the transmission mechanism is respectively connected with the handle part and the lock hook and is driven by the handle part pivoted along the first direction to drive the lock hook to pivot along the second direction so as to unlock the lock hook and the lock part. The invention can provide an improved door lock, the movement direction of the handle piece is not limited by the movement direction of the locking hook, so that a user can open the household appliance provided with the door lock in a more ergonomic mode.

Description

Door lock and household appliance

Technical Field

The embodiment of the invention relates to the technical field of locks, in particular to a door lock and a household appliance.

Background

Locks have been widely used in the field of household appliances, for enabling the opening and closing operations of the household appliances to be performed by manipulating the locks.

Disclosure of Invention

It is an object of embodiments of the present invention to provide an improved door lock and household appliance.

Accordingly, an embodiment of the present invention provides a door lock, including: a handle member adapted to pivot in a first direction; a latch hook member including a latch hook adapted to be latched with or unlatched from a latch portion; and the transmission mechanism is respectively connected with the handle part and the lock hook and is driven by the handle part pivoted along the first direction to drive the lock hook to pivot along the second direction so as to unlock the lock hook and the lock part.

The embodiment provides an improved door lock, which plays a role of transmitting driving force through a transmission mechanism, and under the action of the transmission mechanism, the force application direction when the driving force is transmitted to a lock hook is different from the direction of the initial force application of a handle piece, so that the lock hook and the handle piece pivot towards different directions under the driving of the handle piece to complete the unlocking action.

With the home appliance having the door lock of the present embodiment, the movement direction of the door handle is no longer limited by the movement direction of the hook member when the hook member is decoupled from the latch portion mounted to the coupling object, such that the user can open the door of the home appliance in a more ergonomic and more convenient operation manner, wherein the coupling object is a cabinet of the home appliance and/or an inner door of the home appliance having a door-on-door structure.

Optionally, the second direction is opposite to the first direction. Therefore, when the lock hook moves along the direction towards the door to be decoupled from the coupling object, reverse force application is realized through the transmission mechanism, so that a user can still complete the door opening action in a mode of pulling the handle outwards when opening the door, and the whole door opening process is ensured to be more in line with the human engineering.

Optionally, the door lock further includes: a first shaft, the handle member and the latch member being pivotally secured to the first shaft. From this, handle spare and the latch hook spare of coaxial setting do benefit to the whole compactness that improves the lock structure, reduce the lock size. Further, the handle piece and the locking hook can be rotated coaxially but in different directions by the intermediate transition of the transmission mechanism.

Optionally, the pivoting angle of the handle member ranges from 0 ° to 30 °. From this, through the rotatable stroke of rational design handle spare for the user need not to stimulate the door handle by a wide margin and can accomplish the action of opening the door, makes to open the door more laborsaving.

Optionally, the handle member comprises a gripper portion and a pair of pivot portions adapted to receive and pivot about a first axis, the transmission mechanism being located at least partially between the pair of pivot portions. Therefore, the position relation among all parts of the door lock is more compact, the whole size of the door lock is favorably reduced, and the force transmission is more efficient and timely.

Optionally, the latch hook member is pivotally connected to the first shaft. Therefore, the pivot part of the handle piece and the locking hook piece are coaxially arranged, the integral compactness of the door lock structure is improved, and the size of the door lock is reduced. Further, the handle piece and the locking hook can be rotated coaxially but in different directions by the intermediate transition of the transmission mechanism.

Optionally, the transmission mechanism includes a lever having opposite first and second ends, the lever being rotatable about a second axis between the first and second ends, the handle member being adapted to drive the first end to rotate and the second end to pivot the shackle in the second direction. Therefore, reverse force application is realized based on the lever principle, so that the driving force applied by the handle piece along the first direction can be converted into the driving force along the second direction and then transmitted to the lock hook.

Alternatively, the handle member is coupled to a first end of the lever, and a second end of the lever is coupled to the latch member to ensure efficient transmission of the actuating force.

Optionally, the first end of the lever has a first boss, one side of the handle close to the first end of the lever has a second boss, the second end of the lever has a third boss, and one side of the latch hook close to the lever has a fourth boss, wherein the second boss is adapted to abut against the first boss, and the third boss is adapted to abut against the fourth boss, so as to transmit the driving force of the handle to the latch hook.

Optionally, the handle member is adapted to rotate about a first axis, the first axis and the second axis being perpendicular. Thereby, the driving force of the handle member rotating about the first axis can be efficiently transmitted to the lever rotating about the second axis.

Optionally, the first shaft is located below the lever along a direction in which the handle member points to the lock portion, so that the overall structure of the door lock is more compact through an avoidance design, and the size of the door lock is reduced. Furthermore, the design that the first shaft is positioned below the lever enables the handle piece to be effectively abutted to the lever only by pivoting a small angle, the outward pulling amplitude of the handle when the door is opened is reduced, and the operation of a user is facilitated. Wherein a direction in which the handle member is directed to the lock portion is parallel to a direction in which the door of the home appliance is directed to the cabinet of the home appliance.

Optionally, the door lock further includes: the lever is located within the receiving cavity and at least a portion of the first axis is located within the receiving cavity, wherein the handle piece is adapted to rotate about the first axis, the handle piece defining at least a portion of a boundary of the receiving cavity. Therefore, the accommodating cavity can play a role in protection, and the lever is prevented from being damaged by external force collision due to direct exposure. Further, the side of the receiving cavity facing the handle member may be unsealed for convenient assembly.

Optionally, the distance from the first end of the lever to the second shaft is smaller than the distance from the second end of the lever to the second shaft, so that the torque of the lever is optimized by adjusting the force arm, and a user can complete the door opening action by applying a small acting force to the handle piece.

Optionally, the door lock further includes: the fixing seat is used for movably arranging the handle piece on a door body so as to firmly assemble the door lock of the embodiment to the household appliance.

Optionally, the plane of the fixing seat is substantially perpendicular to the plane of the handle member. Therefore, the door lock can be arranged on the side edge of the door body, the door lock does not need to be installed on the surface of the door body through holes, and optimization of the overall attractiveness of a household appliance, particularly a door, is facilitated.

Optionally, the door lock further includes: and the resetting mechanism is suitable for driving the locking hook unlocked by the locking part to return to be locked by the locking part. From this, can realize automatic locking when closing the door, need not additionally to exert effort, convenient operation.

Optionally, the door lock further includes: an accommodation cavity adapted to accommodate the reset mechanism and at least a portion of a first shaft, wherein the handle piece is adapted to rotate about the first shaft. Therefore, the accommodating cavity can play a role in protection, and the reset mechanism is prevented from being damaged due to exposure in the use process.

Optionally, the reset mechanism includes: and one end of the torsional spring is abutted against the locking hook, and the other end of the torsional spring is abutted against the accommodating cavity. Therefore, the accommodating cavity can play a supporting role while playing a protecting role, and the accommodating cavity is used as a fixing point of the torsion spring to ensure that the locking hook which is unlocked with the locking part can be restored to the original position under the action of the torsion spring so as to be automatically locked with the locking part again when the door is closed.

Optionally, the handle member comprises: the supporting part is used for bearing the transmission mechanism; and the fixing part is suitable for movably arranging the transmission mechanism on the supporting part. Thus, the transmission mechanism and the handle member are assembled together through the support portion and the fixing portion, so that the driving force of the handle member can be effectively transmitted to the transmission mechanism.

Optionally, the latch hook includes: a shaft portion pivotably secured to a first shaft, wherein the first shaft extends in a direction parallel to the pivot axis of the handle member; and the hook part is connected with the shaft part and is suitable for being locked or unlocked with the locking part. Thereby, pivoting in the second direction is achieved by the shaft portion, and the hook portion is coupled with or decoupled from the lock portion as pivoting. The first shaft and the pivot shaft can be the same shaft, so that the overall structure of the door lock is more compact. Alternatively, the first axis and the pivot axis may be two parallel axes to adapt to the application scenario in which the thickness of the door is large.

Optionally, a protruding portion protruding toward the transmission mechanism is disposed on one side of the shaft portion facing the transmission mechanism, and the transmission mechanism abuts against the protruding portion to drive the latch hook to pivot along the second direction. Therefore, the driving force of the handle piece can be effectively transmitted to the lock hook through the transmission mechanism through the matching of the protruding part and the transmission mechanism.

Optionally, the door lock further includes: a coupling piece comprising the lock portion, the coupling piece further comprising a mounting portion adapted to secure the lock portion to a coupling object. Therefore, through the matching of the handle piece, the locking hook piece and the transmission mechanism which are arranged on the door and the coupling piece which is arranged on the coupling object, the door adopting the door lock of the embodiment can open and close the coupling object in a more ergonomic mode.

An embodiment of the present invention further provides a home appliance, including: a body; a first door pivotably provided at a front side of the body, the first door having an opening; a second door pivotably provided at a front side of the first door, the second door opening or closing the opening; in the door lock, the handle part, the lock hook part and the transmission mechanism are arranged on the second door, and the lock part is arranged on the first door.

Compared with the prior art, the door of the household appliance is provided with the improved door lock, when the user opens the outer door, the user can open the door in an outward pulling mode, and the operation mode is more in line with the human engineering. Further, the door lock can be directly installed to the second door in an integral assembly mode, the assembly is simple, the door lock is installed without opening a hole in the outer door, the integral attractiveness of the household appliance is improved, and the material cost and the labor cost are saved.

Optionally, the transmission mechanism drives the latch hook to pivot in a rotation plane, and the rotation plane is parallel to the plane of the second door. Thereby, the overall thickness of the door lock can be minimized, so that the door lock of the present embodiment can be applied to a door having a small thickness.

Optionally, the household appliance is a freezer/refrigerator, so that the heat insulation effect is further optimized by the door body of the door on the door, and the opening and closing of the outer door adopting the door lock structure are more in line with human engineering.

Drawings

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

FIG. 2 is an exploded view of a door body in the appliance of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a schematic view of a door lock in the household appliance of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an exploded view of the door lock shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a partial cross-sectional view along direction AA of the area where the door lock and door body are joined in FIG. 1;

in the drawings:

1-a household appliance; 10-a body; 11-a door body; 110 — a first door; 111-opening; 112-a second gate; 113-a hinge axis; 114-a handle portion; 115-notch; 116-a decorative panel; 2-door lock; 20-a door handle assembly; 200-a handle piece; 201-a latch hook member; 202-a latch hook; 203-a transmission mechanism; 204-a first axis; 205-gripper portion; 206-a pivot portion; 207-a support; 208-a fixed part; 209-lever; 210-a second axis; 211-a first boss; 212-a second boss; 213-a third boss; 214-a fourth boss; 215-a receiving cavity; 216-a fixed seat; 217-mounting holes; 218-a connecting portion; 219-a coupling part; 220-a locking portion; 221-avoiding the notch; 222-a reset mechanism; 223-torsion spring; 224-a fifth boss; 225-shaft portion; 226-hook portion; 227-a boss; 228-a pivot axis; 29-a coupling element; 290-lock part; 291-an installation part; 3-a coupled object; a 1-first direction; a 2-second direction; a 3-third direction; a 4-fourth direction; x-width direction of the household appliance; y-the depth direction of the household appliance; z-the height direction of the household appliance; l1-distance of first end of lever to second shaft; l2-distance of the second end of the lever from the second shaft.

Detailed Description

An embodiment of the present invention provides a door lock, including: a handle member adapted to pivot in a first direction; a latch hook member including a latch hook adapted to be latched with or unlatched from a latch portion; and the transmission mechanism is respectively connected with the handle part and the lock hook and is driven by the handle part pivoted along the first direction to drive the lock hook to pivot along the second direction so as to unlock the lock hook and the lock part.

The embodiment provides an improved door lock, which plays a role of transmitting driving force through a transmission mechanism, and under the action of the transmission mechanism, the force application direction when the driving force is transmitted to a lock hook is different from the direction of the initial force application of a handle piece, so that the lock hook and the handle piece pivot towards different directions under the driving of the handle piece to complete the unlocking action. Thus, with the home appliance having the door lock of the present embodiment mounted thereon, the movement direction of the door handle is no longer limited by the movement direction of the latch hook member when decoupled from the latch portion mounted on the coupling object, such as the cabinet of the home appliance and/or the inner door of the home appliance having the door-on-door structure, so that the user can open the door of the home appliance in a more ergonomic and more convenient operation manner.

The embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Fig. 1 is a schematic view of a household appliance according to an embodiment of the present invention; fig. 2 is an exploded view of a door body in the household appliance shown in fig. 1.

In particular, with reference to fig. 1, the household appliance 1 may comprise: a body 10. The body 10 may include at least one compartment (not shown), each compartment having an access opening (not shown), and the compartment is adapted to receive a storage object.

Further, the household appliance 1 may further comprise: the door body 11 is pivotally disposed at the front side of the body 10 to open or close the compartment access opening. For example, the door bodies 11 may correspond to the compartments one by one, and each door body 11 is adapted to open or close the access opening of the corresponding compartment. For another example, the same door 11 may be adapted to open or close access ports of a plurality of compartments at the same time.

In one embodiment, referring to fig. 1 and 2, the door 11 may include: a first door 110 pivotably provided at a front side of the body 10, the first door 110 having an opening 111; and a second door 112 pivotably provided at a front side of the first door 110, the second door 112 opening or closing the opening 111. Wherein, the front side refers to the side facing the user when in use.

In a modification, the door 11 of the household appliance 1 according to the present embodiment may be a single door system, such as only including the second door 112.

In a specific implementation, with continuing reference to fig. 1 and 2, the household appliance 1 may further comprise: the door lock 2 is suitable for enabling the door body 11 to lock or release the body 10.

In the door-on-door scenario, referring to fig. 2, the door lock 2 may include: a door handle assembly 20 and a coupling 29, wherein the door handle assembly 20 is disposed on the second door 112 and the coupling 29 is disposed on the first door 110.

When the door handle assembly 20 and coupling 29 are locked, the second door 112 locks with the first door 110 to close the opening 111.

When the door handle assembly 20 and coupling 29 are unlocked, the second door 112 releases the first door 110 to open the opening 111.

In a single door scenario, door handle assembly 20 may be disposed on door body 11 and coupling 29 may be disposed on body 10.

When the door handle assembly 20 and the coupling piece 29 are locked, the door body 11 is locked with the body 10 to close the access opening of the corresponding compartment.

When the door handle assembly 20 and the coupling piece 29 are unlocked, the door body 11 releases the body 10 to open the access opening of the corresponding compartment.

In the application scenario that the household appliance 1 is a freezer/refrigerator, the door body 11 of the door on the door can further optimize the heat insulation effect, and the opening and closing of the outer door (i.e., the second door 112) adopting the door lock 2 structure is more ergonomic.

In one implementation, with continued reference to fig. 1 and 2, an exterior surface of second door 112 may be provided with trim panel 116 and door handle assembly 20 may be provided on a first side of second door 112. Here, the first side of the second door 112 refers to a side distant from the hinge shaft 113 in a width direction (illustrated x direction) of the home appliance 1. The hinge shaft is a hinge shaft where the second door 112 is hinged to the first door 110, and the first door 110 is hinged to the body 10. The second door 112 can be controlled to pivot about the hinge shaft 113 by applying a force to the first side of the second door 112.

Specifically, most of the structure of the door handle assembly 20 may be located behind the trim panel 116 in the depth direction (illustrated y-direction) of the household appliance 1, as shown in fig. 5. Further, only the end of handle member 200 of door handle assembly 20 may extend from the first side of second door 112. The door handle assembly 20 is thus substantially invisible to the user, optimizing the overall appearance of the household appliance 1. When opening the door, the user can position the door handle assembly 20 according to the extended handle member 200, and the door opening operation is completed by pulling the handle member 200 outward.

In one implementation, the trim panel 116 may be made of a glass material.

In one implementation, a first side of the first door 110 may be provided with a handle portion 114 adapted to be conveniently held by a user to pull the first door 110 so as to open or close the access opening of the corresponding compartment. Here, the first side of the first door 110 refers to a side distant from the hinge shaft 113 in a width direction (illustrated x direction) of the home appliance 1. The first door 110 can be controlled to pivot about the hinge shaft 113 by applying a force to the first side of the first door 110.

In particular, the handle portion 114 may have a notch 115, the coupling element 29 being mounted in the notch 115. The specific opening position of the notch 115 may be determined according to the installation position of the door handle assembly 20 on the second door 112.

Since the door handle assembly 20 is provided at the side of the second door 112, the door lock 2 can be directly mounted to the second door 112 in an integral assembly form, and the assembly is simple. The door lock 2 does not need to be installed on the outer door (i.e., the second door 112) through a hole, which is beneficial to improving the overall beauty of the household appliance 1 and saving the material cost and the labor cost. Furthermore, the door lock 2 mounted on the side of the door body 11 makes the movement of the user when pulling the door body 11 more ergonomic and convenient to operate.

In a variation, the door lock 2 may also be provided at upper/lower sides of the first door 110 and the second door 112. Here, the upper side and the lower side refer to upper and lower ends in the height direction (the illustrated z direction) of the home appliance 1.

Fig. 3 is a schematic view of the door lock 2 in the household appliance 1 shown in fig. 1; figure 4 is an exploded view of the door lock 2 shown in figure 3; fig. 5 is a partial sectional view of the coupling area of the door lock 2 and the door body 11 in fig. 1 along the direction AA. Of these, fig. 3 and 4 mainly show a specific structure of the door handle assembly 20.

Specifically, referring to fig. 3 to 5, the door lock 2 may include a handle member 200, the handle member 200 being adapted to pivot in a first direction a 1.

The door lock 2 may comprise a latch hook member 201, the latch hook member 201 comprising a latch hook 202, the latch hook 202 being adapted to be locked or unlocked with a latch portion 290.

The door lock 2 may comprise a transmission 203, the transmission 203 being connected to the handle member 200 and the latch hook 202, respectively. The transmission mechanism 203 is arranged to drive the latch hook 202 to pivot in the second direction a2 to unlatch the latch hook 202 from the latch 290, driven by the handle member 200 pivoting in the first direction a 1.

In one implementation, the handle member 200, the latch hook member 201, and the transmission mechanism 203 may be pre-assembled into the door handle assembly 20 and integrally mounted to the second door 112 shown in fig. 1 and 2.

Alternatively, for a single-door household appliance 1, the door handle assembly 20 may be modularly mounted to the door body 11 of the household appliance 1.

From the above, the door lock 2 according to the embodiment functions to transmit the driving force through the transmission mechanism 203, and the force applying direction when the driving force is transmitted to the latch hook 202 by the transmission mechanism 203 is different from the initial force applying direction of the handle member 200, so that it is possible to pivot the latch hook 202 in a different direction from the handle member 200 to complete the unlocking action by the driving of the handle member 200.

Thus, with the household appliance 1 mounted with the door lock 2 of the present embodiment, the movement direction of the door handle is no longer limited by the movement direction when the latch hook 201 is decoupled from the latch part 2 mounted on the coupling object 3, so that the user can open the door body 11 of the household appliance 1 in a more ergonomic and more convenient operation manner. The coupling object 3 may be, among other things, a cabinet (i.e., the body 10) of the household appliance 1 and/or an inner door (i.e., the first door 110) of the household appliance 1 having an on-door structure.

In one implementation, the second direction a2 is opposite the first direction a 1. Therefore, when the latch hook 202 moves in the direction toward the door (e.g., the second door 112) to be decoupled from the coupling object 3, the transmission mechanism 203 applies a reverse force, so that the user can still complete the door opening operation by pulling the handle (i.e., the handle member 200) outward when opening the door, thereby ensuring that the whole door opening process is more ergonomic.

In a typical application scenario, referring to fig. 5, the locking portion 290 is disposed on the first door 110, and the locking portion 290 is bent toward the body 10 to form a hook shape, and the locking hook 202 is adapted to pivot in a clockwise or counterclockwise direction on a plane formed by the illustrated x and y directions to lock or unlock with the hook-shaped locking portion 290. Specifically, when pivoting in the clockwise direction, the latch hook 202 is latched with the latch portion 290 provided to the first door 110. When pivoting in the counterclockwise direction, the locking hook 202 is unlocked from the locking portion 290, and a moving direction (the counterclockwise direction is exemplified in the present embodiment) in which the locking hook 202 is unlocked from the locking portion 290 is referred to as a second direction a 2.

Further, when the user pulls the handle member 200 in a direction away from the body 10, the handle member 200 is forced to pivot in the clockwise direction. Accordingly, the latch hook 202 pivots in the counterclockwise direction to complete the unlocking from the latch portion 290. The movement direction when the handle member 200 is moved in the direction away from the body 10 is shown as the clockwise direction in this embodiment) is referred to as a first direction a 1.

It can be seen that, with the door lock 2 of the present embodiment, under the action of the transmission mechanism 203, the latch hook 202 and the handle member 200 can move in opposite directions to complete the door opening operation. Therefore, when the user opens the door, the acting force for pulling the door outwards is applied, the acting force habit during opening the door is met, and the door lock design which is more in line with the human engineering is possible.

It should be noted that the clockwise direction and the counterclockwise direction are both explained with reference to the perspective shown in fig. 5 in the present embodiment.

In one implementation, with continued reference to fig. 3-5, the door lock 2 may further include: the first shaft 204, the handle member 200 and the latch hook member 201 are pivotally secured to the first shaft 204. Therefore, the handle part 200 and the locking hook part 201 which are coaxially arranged are beneficial to improving the integral compactness of the structure of the door lock 2 and reducing the size of the door lock 2. Further, the handle piece 200 and the shackle 202 are enabled to rotate coaxially but not in the same direction by the intermediate transition of the transmission 203.

In a variation, the handle member 200 and the latch member 201 may not be coaxially disposed to adapt to an application scenario where the thickness of the door body 11 is large. For example, the handle member 200 may be pivotally secured to a pivot shaft 228 and the shackle 202 may be pivotally secured to the first shaft 204. Wherein the pivot shaft 228 and the extension direction of the first shaft 204 may be parallel. Also, in the y-direction, the first shaft 204 may be closer to the first door 110 than the pivot shaft 228. Thus, for the second door 112 having a large thickness, the latch hook 202 can be effectively coupled to the latch portion 290 provided to the first door 110 without extending the length of the latch hook 202 in the y-direction.

When the handle member 200 and the shackle member 201 are coaxially disposed, the pivot axis 228 is the first axis 204.

In one implementation, the pivoting angle of the handle member 200 may range from 0 ° to 30 °. Therefore, the door opening action can be completed without greatly pulling the door handle by reasonably designing the rotatable stroke of the handle piece 200, so that the door opening is more labor-saving.

Specifically, the pivoting angle of the handle member 200 refers to an angle between the extending direction of the handle member 200 when the handle member 200 is pivoted to the specific position in the first direction a1 and the extending direction when the handle member 200 is at the initial position. The initial position refers to the position of the handle member 200 when the locking hook 202 is locked with the locking portion 290, and as shown in fig. 5, the pivoting angle of the handle member 200 is 0 °.

Further, 30 ° may be the maximum pivoting angle of the handle member 200, when the handle member 200 is in this position, the locking hook 202 has been pivoted in the second direction a2 to unlock the locking portion 290.

The pivoting angle range of the handle member 200 may be determined according to the gap between the different door bodies 11, and is preferably not more than 15 °. For example, the maximum pivoting angle range of the handle member 200 may be 10 °.

The limitation of the maximum pivoting angle of the handle member 200 may be achieved by a limiting structure provided to the first shaft 204.

In practical applications, the pivoting angle range of the handle member 200 may be determined according to the angle of pivoting required for the locking hook 202 and the locking portion 290 from locking to unlocking.

In one implementation, with continued reference to fig. 3-5, the handle member 200 may include a grip portion 205 and a pair of pivot portions 206. The pivot portion 206 is adapted to receive the first shaft 204 and is pivotable about the first shaft 204. The transmission 203 is at least partially located between a pair of pivot portions 206. Therefore, the position relation among all parts of the door lock 2 is more compact, the whole size of the door lock 2 is favorably reduced, and the force transmission is more efficient and timely.

Specifically, a pair of pivot portions 206 may be provided at both ends of the gripper portion 205, respectively, in the axial direction of the first shaft 204. The gap defined by the pair of pivot portions 206 disposed at the two ends of the grip portion 205 and the grip portion 205 is suitable for disposing the transmission mechanism 203, so that the door handle assembly 20 has a more compact overall structure.

Further, the gap surrounded by the pair of pivot portions 206 disposed at both ends of the grip portion 205 and the grip portion 205 is also suitable for disposing at least a portion of the latch hook member 201, so that the driving force of the handle member 200 can be effectively transmitted to the latch hook 202 through the transmission mechanism 203.

Specifically, along the axial direction of the first shaft 204, the two ends of the transmission mechanism 203 are respectively one of a pair of pivot portions 206 and the latch hook 202. The latch hook 202 is on the side away from the actuator 203 in the other of the pair of pivot portions 206.

For example, the first shaft 204 may pass through one of the pair of pivot portions 206, the locking hook member 201, and the other of the pair of pivot portions 206 in order, such that the locking hook 202 is disposed coaxially with the handle member 200.

In one variation, the number of pivot portions 206 may be one and disposed at either end of the grip portion 205 in the axial direction of the first shaft 204. The end of the grip portion 205 not provided with the pivot portion 206 is adapted to be provided with the transmission mechanism 203. Further, the end of the hand grip 205 not provided with the pivot portion 206 is adapted to be provided with the transmission mechanism 203 and also adapted to be provided with the latch hook member 201.

Specifically, one end of the first shaft 204 in the axial direction may have a cap portion (not shown), and the other end of the first shaft 204 in the axial direction sequentially passes through the pivot portion 206, the locking hook 201 and is coupled with a fixing member (not shown), so as to prevent the first shaft 204 from being accidentally removed.

In one implementation, the pivot portion 206 may be a hollow structure to receive the first shaft 204.

In one implementation, the hand grip 205 and pivot portion 206 may be integrally formed to increase structural rigidity.

In one implementation, an end of the finger grip 205 remote from the pivot portion 206 may be bent away from the latch hook member 201, the bent portion adapted to extend from a first side of the second door 112 for easy gripping by a user.

Further, the grip portion 205 may be bent forward and extended to overlap an end surface of the second door 112 to shield a gap between the handle member 200 and the second door 112. Wherein the end face may refer to the decoration plate 116, forward refers to a direction away from the coupling object 3.

In one implementation, the handle member 200 may include a support portion 207 for carrying the transmission mechanism 203. The handle member 200 may comprise a fixing portion 208, the fixing portion 208 being adapted to movably arrange the transmission mechanism 203 to said supporting portion 207. Thereby, the transmission mechanism 203 and the handle member 200 are assembled together through the support portion 207 and the fixing portion 208, so that the driving force of the handle member 200 can be efficiently transmitted to the transmission mechanism 203.

Specifically, the supporting portion 207 may extend from a gap surrounded by the pair of pivot portions 206 disposed at both ends of the grip portion 205 and the grip portion 205 to a direction away from the handle member 200 to form a supporting surface. The transmission mechanism 203 may be provided with a through hole (not shown), one end of the fixing portion 208 is fixed on the supporting surface, and the other end of the fixing portion 208 extends out of the through hole of the transmission mechanism 203, so that the transmission mechanism 203 is fixed on the supporting portion 207 and can rotate around the fixing portion 208.

For example, the retainer 208 may be a pin.

In one implementation, the actuator 203 drives the latch hook 202 to pivot in a plane of rotation, which may be parallel to the plane of the second door 112. Thereby, the overall thickness of the door lock 2 in the y direction can be minimized, so that the door lock 2 according to the present embodiment can be applied to the door body 11 having a small thickness.

For example, the rotation plane may be defined by a support surface formed by the support portion 207, and when the support surface formed by the support portion 207 is parallel to the plane of the second door 112 and the fixing portion 208 fixes the transmission mechanism 203 to the support portion 207 in a direction perpendicular to the support surface, the transmission mechanism 203 may be rotated in the rotation plane parallel to the plane of the second door 112.

In one implementation, the first shaft 204 may extend in a direction parallel to the height direction (illustrated as the z-direction) of the household appliance 1.

Alternatively, the first axis 204 may extend at an angle different from zero with respect to the z-direction in the plane formed by the x-direction and the z-direction. Thus, the door lock 2 can be applied to the door body 11 having an irregular shape at the edge.

Alternatively, the extending direction of the first shaft 204 may be parallel to the width direction (illustrated x direction) of the household appliance 1, and accordingly, the door lock 2 may be disposed at the upper edge or the lower edge of the door body 11 and the coupling object 3 in the z direction.

In one implementation, with continued reference to fig. 3-5, the actuator 203 may include a lever 209, the lever 209 having opposing first and

second ends

209a, 209 b. The lever 209 is rotatable about a second axis 210 located between the first end 209a and the second end 209 b. The handle member 200 is adapted to drive the first end 209a to rotate so that the second end 209b carries the latch hook 202 to pivot along the second direction a 2. Thus, the reverse biasing is achieved based on the principle of leverage, so that the driving force in the first direction a1 applied by the handle piece 200 can be converted into the driving force in the second direction a2 and then transmitted to the latch hook 202.

Specifically, the second shaft 210 may be formed by the fixing portion 208.

In one implementation, the first end 209a of the lever 209 has a first boss 211. The side of the handle member 200 adjacent the first end 209a of the lever 209 has a second, mating boss 212. The second end 209b of the lever 209 has a third boss 213. The latch hook 202 has a fourth mating projection 214 on a side thereof adjacent the lever 209. Wherein the second boss 212 is adapted to abut against the first boss 211, and the third boss 213 is adapted to abut against the fourth boss 214, so as to transmit the driving force of the handle member 200 to the latch hook 202.

Specifically, the first boss 211 is located between the second boss 212 and the hand grip 205. Similarly, the third boss 213 is located between the fourth boss 214 and the hand grip 205.

Further, the second boss 212 may protrude from a side of the pivot portion 206 near the first end 209a of the lever 209 facing the lever 209, and extend in the direction of the lever 209.

Similarly, a fourth projection 214 may extend from a side of the latch hook 202 facing the lever 209 and extend in the direction of the lever 209.

In a typical application scenario, the gripper portion 205 is rotated by an external force along a first direction a1 around the first axis 204 according to the moving direction shown by the dotted arrow line in fig. 4. The pivot portion 206 integrally formed with the hand grip 205 rotates in the same direction about the first axis 204 in synchronism therewith. As the pivot portion 206 rotates, the second boss 212 moves in the first direction a1 against the first boss 211.

Further, under the abutting force of the second boss 212, the first boss 211 rotates around the second shaft 210 in the third direction a 3. Wherein the third direction a3 is a moving direction gradually approaching the gripper portion 205 in the rotation plane.

Further, according to the principle of lever, the first boss 211 rotates around the second shaft 210 along the third direction a 3. The third boss 213 at the second end 209b of the lever 209 is synchronously rotated in the fourth direction a4 about the second axis 210. Wherein the fourth direction a4 is a moving direction gradually away from the gripper portion 205 in the rotation plane.

Further, as the third boss 213 rotates in the fourth direction a4 about the second axis 210 against the fourth boss 214. Under the action of the holding force, the fourth protrusion 214 drives the locking hook 202 to rotate around the first shaft 204 along the second direction a2, so as to achieve the effect that the locking hook 202 moves reversely under the driving of the handle member 200.

In one embodiment, the handle member 200 is coupled to a first end 209a of the lever 209 and a second end 209b of the lever 209 is coupled to the latch member 201 to ensure efficient transfer of actuation forces.

For example, with the pivot portion 206 near the first end 209a of the lever 209, a side of the pivot portion 206 facing the lever 209 and the first end 209a of the lever 209 may be elastically connected to enable the driving force of the handle member 200 to be efficiently transmitted to the lever 209 while ensuring a sufficient pivoting space.

Similarly, a side of the latch hook member 201 facing the lever 209 and the second end 209b of the lever 209 may be elastically connected to enable the acting force of the lever 209 to be efficiently transmitted to the latch hook 202 while ensuring a sufficient pivoting space.

In one implementation, the first axis 204 may be perpendicular to the second axis 210. Thereby, the driving force of the handle member 200 rotating about the first shaft 204 can be efficiently transmitted to the lever 209 rotating about the second shaft 210.

In one implementation, with continued reference to fig. 3-5, the first shaft 204 may be located below the lever 209 in a direction that the handle member 200 points toward the lock portion 290 to make the overall structure of the door lock 2 more compact and reduce the size of the door lock 2 by a relief design. Further, the design that the first shaft 204 is located below the lever 209 enables the handle member 200 to effectively abut against the lever 209 only by pivoting a small angle, so that the outward pulling amplitude of the handle during door opening is reduced, and the operation of a user is facilitated. The direction of the handle member 200 pointing to the lock portion 290 is parallel to the direction of the door 11 of the household appliance 1 pointing to the cabinet (i.e., the body 10) of the household appliance 1, i.e., the illustrated y direction.

In one implementation, with continued reference to fig. 3-5, the door latch 2 may further include a receiving cavity 215, and the lever 209 is located within the receiving cavity 215. At least a portion of the first shaft 204 may be positioned within the housing 215. The handle member 200 may define at least a portion of a boundary of the receiving cavity 215. This is particularly advantageous in making the structure of the door lock 2 more compact. In addition, the accommodating cavity 215 can play a role in protection, and the lever 209 is prevented from being damaged by external impact due to direct exposure.

The side of the receiving cavity 215 facing the handle member 200 may be unsealed to facilitate assembly.

For example, the receiving cavity 215 may have a hollow structure, and a groove (not shown) exposing the hollow structure is formed on a side facing the grip portion 205, and an extending direction of the groove may be parallel to an axial direction of the first shaft 204.

After the lever 209 is mounted to the supporting portion 207 through the fixing portion 208, the receiving cavity 215 may be sleeved outside the lever 209 and the supporting portion 207 along the groove, so that the lever 209 and the supporting portion 207 are positioned in the receiving cavity 215 in an assembled manner.

The first shaft 204 may pass through one of the pair of pivot portions 206, the receiving cavity 215, the latch hook 201, and the other of the pair of pivot portions 206 in sequence to complete the modular assembly of the door handle assembly 20.

In one embodiment, the receiving cavity 215 may be located in a gap defined by the pair of pivot portions 206 disposed at two ends of the grip portion 205 and the grip portion 205.

In one implementation, a side of the receiving cavity 215 facing the grip portion 205 may be curved to provide a pivot space for the grip portion 205.

In one implementation, referring to fig. 4, the distance L1 from the first end 209a of the lever 209 to the second axis 210 may be less than the distance L2 from the second end 209b of the lever 209 to the second axis 210. Thus, the torque of the lever 209 can be optimized by adjusting the force arm so that the user can perform the door opening operation with a small force applied to the handle member 200.

In one implementation, with continued reference to fig. 3 and 4, the door lock 2 may further include a fixing seat 216, and the fixing seat 216 is used to movably dispose the handle member 200 on a door body 11, so as to firmly assemble the door lock 2 to the household appliance 1 according to the embodiment.

Further, the fixing base 216 includes a connecting portion 218. The receiving cavity 215 is correspondingly provided with a coupling part 219. The connecting portion 218 is coupled with the coupling portion 129 to connect the handle member 200 to the fixing base 216 through the receiving cavity 215.

For example, the connecting portion 218 may be a plurality of through holes opened in the axial direction of the first shaft 204. The coupling part 219 may be a plurality of coupling holes having internal threads opened in the axial direction of the first shaft 204. Wherein, the coupling holes correspond to the through holes one by one.

After the receiving cavity 215 is mounted to the handle member 200, the locking part 220 passing through the connecting part 218 is screwed with the coupling part 219 to fix the receiving cavity 215 to the fixing seat 216. For example, the locking portion 220 may be a screw.

Further, the fixing base 216 may have a mounting hole 217, and when assembled, the fixing base 216 may be fixed to the second door 112 by coupling a screw (not shown) with the mounting hole 217.

Further, the number of the mounting holes 217 may be two and located at both ends of the fixing base 216 in the axial direction of the first shaft 204, respectively.

In one embodiment, an escape notch 221 may be formed on a side of the fixing base 216 away from the second door 112 to escape the locking hook 202, so as to provide a movement space for the locking hook 202 to pivot along the second direction a 2.

In one embodiment, the plane of the mounting base 216 is substantially perpendicular to the plane of the handle member 200. Therefore, the door lock 2 can be arranged on the side edge of the door body 11 in the embodiment, and the door lock 2 does not need to be installed on the surface of the door body 11 through a hole, so that the overall attractiveness of the household appliance 1, particularly the door body 11, can be optimized.

For example, the plane of the fixing base 216 may be perpendicular to the width direction (illustrated x direction) of the household appliance 1. Accordingly, the plane in which the handle member 200 lies (e.g. the plane in which the hand grip 205 lies) may be substantially perpendicular to the depth direction (illustrated y-direction) of the household appliance 1, as illustrated in fig. 5.

In one implementation, with continued reference to fig. 4, the door lock 2 may further include: the reset mechanism 222 is adapted to drive the locking hook 202 unlocked from the locking portion 290 to return to being locked with the locking portion 290. From this, can realize automatic locking when closing the door, need not additionally to exert effort, convenient operation.

Specifically, the reset mechanism 222 may be located within the housing cavity 215. Therefore, the receiving cavity 215 can protect the reset mechanism 222 from being damaged due to exposure to the outside during use.

Further, the return mechanism 222 may include a torsion spring 223. One end of the torsion spring 223 abuts against the latch hook 202, and the other end of the torsion spring 223 abuts against the accommodating cavity 215. Thus, the receiving cavity 215 can also play a supporting role while playing a protecting role, and the locking hook 202 which is rotated to be unlocked from the locking portion 290 as a fixing point of the torsion spring 223 can be restored to the original position under the action of the torsion spring 223, so as to be automatically locked with the locking portion 290 again when the door body 11 is closed.

For example, for the torsion spring 223 located in the accommodating cavity 215, the other end of the torsion spring 223 abuts against the inner wall of the accommodating cavity 215 having a hollow structure.

For another example, a side of the latch hook member 201 facing the receiving cavity 215 may be provided with a fifth boss 224. The fifth boss 224 may be protruded toward the receiving cavity 215 in the axial direction of the first shaft 204.

Further, the fifth boss 224 may be located above the fourth boss 214 in a direction in which the hook portion 226 of the hook latch 202 is directed toward the shaft portion 225 thereof. A gap may exist between the fifth boss 224 and the fourth boss 214. One end of the torsion spring 223 protrudes from the receiving cavity 215 and into the gap, so that the torsion spring 223 can be elastically deformed along with the pivoting of the locking hook 202.

Further, the side of the fifth boss 224 away from the fourth boss 214 may be provided with a stiffener to increase structural rigidity.

In one implementation, with continued reference to fig. 4, the shackle 202 may include a shaft portion 225, the shaft portion 225 being pivotably secured to the first shaft 204. The first shaft 204 may extend in a direction parallel to the pivot axis 228 of the handle member 200. The shackle 202 may include a hook portion 226 coupled to the shaft portion 225. The hook portion 226 is adapted to be locked with or unlocked from the lock portion 290.

Thereby, pivoting in the second direction a2 is achieved by the shaft portion 225, and the hook portion 226 is coupled to or decoupled from the latch 290 as pivoting. The first shaft 204 and the pivot shaft 228 may be the same shaft, so that the overall structure of the door lock 2 is more compact, as shown in fig. 3 to 5. Alternatively, the first axis 204 and the pivot axis 228 may be two parallel axes to accommodate the application scenario in which the thickness of the door 2 is large.

For example, the hook 226 may be bent in a direction approaching the second door 112 to form a hook shape opposite to the lock portion 290, thereby ensuring that the hook 226 can be effectively locked with the lock portion 290.

For another example, the shaft portion 225 may be opened with a through hole along the axial direction of the first shaft 204 to accommodate the first shaft 204.

In one implementation, the hook 226 and the shaft 225 may be integrally formed.

In one implementation, a side of the shaft portion 225 facing the transmission mechanism 203 may be provided with a protrusion 227 protruding in a direction of the transmission mechanism 203, and the transmission mechanism 203 abuts against the protrusion 227 to drive the latch hook 202 to pivot along the second direction a 2. Thus, the driving force of the handle member 200 can be efficiently transmitted to the latch hook 202 through the transmission mechanism 203 by the engagement of the projection 227 with the transmission mechanism 203.

For example, the fourth boss 214 may be formed by a boss 227.

In one embodiment, the shaft portion 225 and the hook portion 226 may be respectively provided with square holes to reduce the wall thickness of the locking hook 202 and ensure that the wall thickness of the components is substantially uniform.

In one implementation, referring to fig. 2 and 5, the door lock 2 may further include a coupling 29, and the coupling 29 may include a lock portion 290. The coupling 29 may further comprise a mounting portion 291 adapted to fix the lock portion 290 to the coupling object 3. Thus, the door body 11 of the door lock 2 according to the present embodiment can open and close the coupling object 3 in a more ergonomic manner by the engagement of the handle member 200, the latch hook member 201, and the transmission mechanism 203 mounted on the door body 11 with the coupling member 29 mounted on the coupling object 3.

For example, the mounting portion 291 may be secured to the notch 115 of the first door 110 by a threaded connection, an interference fit, an adhesive, or the like.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, for the door on the home appliance 1 with the door lock 2 installed, the user can open the door by pulling the door outward (i.e., the second door 112), and the operation method is more ergonomic.

Although in the above embodiment, the door lock 2 is used to lock the first door and the second door. It should be understood, however, that the door lock 2 may also be used to lock any door, for example between a door and the body of a household appliance, or between a compartment located within a household appliance and a door to close the compartment.

Although specific embodiments have been described above, these embodiments are not intended to limit the scope of the disclosure, even if only a single embodiment is described with respect to a particular feature. The characteristic examples provided in the present disclosure are intended to be illustrative, not limiting, unless differently expressed. In particular implementations, features from one or more dependent claims may be combined with features of the independent claims and features from respective independent claims may be combined in any appropriate manner and not merely in the specific combinations enumerated in the claims.

Although the present invention is disclosed above, the present invention is not limited thereto. Various changes and modifications may be effected therein by one skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

Claims

1. A door lock (2), characterized by comprising:

a handle piece (200), said handle piece (200) being adapted to pivot in a first direction (a 1);

a latch hook member (201), the latch hook member (201) comprising a latch hook (202), the latch hook (202) being adapted to be locked or unlocked with a latch portion (290); and

a transmission mechanism (203), wherein the transmission mechanism (203) is respectively connected with the handle member (200) and the lock hook (202), and the transmission mechanism (203) drives the lock hook (202) to pivot along a second direction (a2) under the drive of the handle member (200) pivoting along the first direction (a1) so as to unlock the lock hook (202) and the lock part (290).

2. A door lock (2) according to claim 1, characterized in that the second direction (a2) is opposite to the first direction (a 1).

3. A door lock (2) according to claim 1, characterized in that it further comprises: a first shaft (204), the handle member (200) and the latch hook member (201) being pivotably secured to the first shaft (204).

4. A door lock (2) according to claim 1, characterized in that the pivoting angle of the handle piece (200) ranges from 0 ° to 30 °.

5. A door lock (2) according to claim 1, wherein the handle member (200) comprises a grip portion (205) and a pair of pivot portions (206), the pivot portions (206) being adapted to receive a first shaft (204) and being pivotable about the first shaft (204), the transmission mechanism (203) being at least partially located between the pair of pivot portions (206).

6. A door lock (2) according to claim 5, wherein the latch hook member (201) is pivotally connected to the first shaft (204).

7. A door lock (2) according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that said transmission mechanism (203) comprises a lever (209), said lever (209) having a first end (209a) and a second end (209b) opposite to each other, said lever (209) being rotatable around a second axis (210) between said first end (209a) and said second end (209b), said handle member (200) being adapted to drive said first end (209a) in rotation so that said second end (209b) carries said locking hook (202) in pivoting along said second direction (a 2).

8. A door lock (2) according to claim 7, characterized in that the handle piece (200) is connected to a first end (209a) of the lever (209) and a second end (209b) of the lever (209) is connected to the latch hook piece (201).

9. A door lock (2) according to claim 7, characterized in that the first end (209a) of the lever (209) has a first boss (211), the side of the handle piece (200) close to the first end (209a) of the lever (209) has a adapted second boss (212), the second end (209b) of the lever (209) has a third boss (213), the side of the locking hook (202) close to the lever (209) has an adapted fourth boss (214), wherein the second boss (212) is adapted to abut against the first boss (211), and the third boss (213) is adapted to abut against the fourth boss (214).

10. A door lock (2) according to claim 7, characterized in that said handle member (200) is adapted to rotate around a first axis (204), said first axis (204) and said second axis (210) being perpendicular.

11. A door lock (2) according to claim 10, characterized in that the first shaft (204) is located below the lever (209) in the direction of the handle piece (200) pointing towards the lock part (290).

12. A door lock (2) according to claim 7, characterized in that it further comprises: a housing cavity (215), the lever (209) being located within the housing cavity (215) and at least part of the first axis (204) being located within the housing cavity (215), wherein the handle piece (200) is adapted to rotate around the first axis (204), the handle piece (200) defining at least part of a boundary of the housing cavity (215).

13. The door lock (2) according to claim 7, characterized in that the distance (L1) from the first end (209a) of the lever (209) to the second shaft (210) is smaller than the distance (L2) from the second end (209b) of the lever (209) to the second shaft (210).

14. A door lock (2) according to any of claims 1 to 6, characterized by further comprising:

the fixing seat (216) is used for movably arranging the handle piece (200) on a door body (11).

15. A door lock (2) according to any of claims 1 to 6, characterized by further comprising:

a reset mechanism (222) adapted to drive the latch hook (202) unlocked from the latch portion (290) to return to being latched with the latch portion (290).

16. A door lock (2) according to claim 15, further comprising: a housing cavity (215), the housing cavity (215) being adapted to house the reset mechanism (222) and at least part of the first shaft (204), wherein the handle member (200) is adapted to rotate around the first shaft (204).

17. A door lock (2) according to claim 16, characterized in that said return mechanism comprises: one end of the torsion spring (223) abuts against the locking hook (202), and the other end of the torsion spring (223) abuts against the accommodating cavity (215).

18. A door lock (2) according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that said handle piece (200) comprises:

a support (207) for carrying the transmission mechanism (203);

a fixing portion (208) adapted to movably arrange the transmission mechanism (203) to the support portion (207).

19. A door lock (2) according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that said locking hook (202) comprises:

a shaft portion (225), the shaft portion (225) being pivotably fixed to a first shaft (204), wherein the first shaft (204) extends in a direction parallel to a pivot axis (228) of the handle member (200);

and a hook portion (226) connected to the shaft portion (225), the hook portion (226) being adapted to be locked with or unlocked from the lock portion (290).

20. A door lock (2) according to claim 19, characterized in that the side of the shaft portion (225) facing the transmission mechanism (203) is provided with a projection (227) projecting in the direction of the transmission mechanism (203), the transmission mechanism (203) abutting against the projection (227) to drive the latch hook (202) to pivot in the second direction (a 2).

21. A door lock (2) according to any of claims 1 to 6, characterized by further comprising:

a coupling piece (29), the coupling piece (29) comprising the lock portion (290), the coupling piece (29) further comprising a mounting portion (291) adapted to secure the lock portion (290) to a coupling object (3).

22. A household appliance (1), characterized in that it comprises:

a body (10);

a first door (110) pivotably provided at a front side of the body (10), the first door (110) having an opening (111);

a second door (112) pivotably provided at a front side of the first door (110), the second door (112) opening or closing the opening (111);

the door lock (2) according to any of the preceding claims 1 to 21, wherein the handle member (200), the latch hook member (201) and the transmission mechanism (203) are arranged on the second door (112), and the lock portion (290) is arranged on the first door (110).

23. Household appliance (1) according to claim 22, characterized in that said transmission mechanism (203) drives said latch hook (202) to pivot in a rotation plane parallel to the plane of said second door (112).

24. The household appliance (1) according to claim 22, wherein the household appliance (1) is a freezer/refrigerator.