CN113074490B

CN113074490B - A kind of refrigerator

Info

Publication number: CN113074490B
Application number: CN201911302191.6A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 张方友; 张延庆; 赵振雨; 张奎; 米波; 崔船
Original assignee: Qingdao Haier Refrigerator Co Ltd; Haier Smart Home Co Ltd
Current assignee: Qingdao Haier Refrigerator Co Ltd; Haier Smart Home Co Ltd
Priority date: 2019-12-17
Filing date: 2019-12-17
Publication date: 2022-12-16
Anticipated expiration: 2039-12-17
Also published as: CN113074490A

Abstract

The invention provides a refrigerator having a drawer that can be pushed into or pulled out of a compartment of the refrigerator, the drawer including a drawer bottom and drawer side walls extending upwardly around a periphery of the drawer bottom to form a receiving portion that is divided into a plurality of compartments; the ice making unit is accommodated in one of the compartments and comprises a bracket and an ice storage box, the ice storage box is accommodated in the bracket, and the ice storage box can be pushed into or pulled out of the bracket; wherein, the drawer bottom plate is provided with a first stop piece, the bottom of the ice storage box is provided with a second stop piece, and the second stop piece protrudes out of the bottom; when the drawer is pulled out to the first position, the front side of the first stop piece and the second stop piece are abutted against each other.

Description

A kind of refrigerator

Technical Field

The invention relates to the technical field of refrigeration, in particular to a refrigerator, which is provided with a drawer for accommodating an ice making unit.

Background

A refrigerator is a device for keeping food stored in a storage compartment fresh at a low temperature by supplying low-temperature air to the storage compartment. A conventional refrigerator includes a freezing chamber having a temperature lower than that of a refrigerating chamber and the refrigerating chamber.

In recent years, refrigerators with an ice making function have been more and more popular with consumers. An ice-making unit, which is generally provided in a freezing compartment of a refrigerator, includes an ice-making tray to receive water to make ice cubes; the ice storage box is arranged below the ice making tray and used for containing ice blocks; and the ice maker main body is fixed in the inner container of the freezing chamber.

In the above-described ice-making unit, the ice bank is configured to be pushed in or pulled out of the freezing chamber, and the pushing in and pulling out of the ice bank is performed in synchronization with the pushing in and pulling out of the drawer of the freezing chamber. The disadvantage of this type of design is that when the user only accesses frozen food without the need for ice, the ice bank is pulled out simultaneously each time the freezer drawer is pulled open, and the food in the freezer drawer easily contaminates the ice in the ice bank. In addition, the ice bank is pulled out to accelerate the melting of ice cubes to cause ice adhesion, so that the quality of ice for a user is degraded.

In addition, the existing ice storage boxes are mostly in an open structure, and when the ice making unit makes ice in the freezing chamber, the ice storage boxes of the open structure and the storage objects of the freezing chamber are easily interfered with each other, so that ice blocks are polluted.

Disclosure of Invention

The invention aims to provide a relatively closed space, separate an ice making unit from other storage spaces of a drawer of a freezing chamber, and control the ice storage box of the ice making unit to be pulled out or pushed in without synchronous relation with the drawer of the freezing chamber so as to overcome the problems of pollution and adhesion of ice cubes.

As an optional technical scheme, the drawer is continuously pulled out to the second position, and the front side of the first stop piece pushes against the second stop piece, so that the ice storage box is pulled out from the bracket.

As an alternative solution, the first stopping member is a projection protruding from the bottom plate of the drawer.

As an optional technical solution, the second stopper is disposed at a front end of an ice bank floor of the ice bank, and a lower portion of the second stopper protrudes from the ice bank floor.

As an optional technical solution, the ice bank is provided with a fastening groove corresponding to the second stopper, an opening end of the fastening groove is disposed on the bottom, and the second stopper passes through the opening end and is fastened in the fastening groove, wherein the second stopper is provided with a fastening hook, a fastening hole is disposed on a wall of the fastening groove, and the fastening hook is fastened in the fastening hole.

As an alternative solution, a roller is included, the roller is pivoted to a lower portion of the second stopper, wherein the ice bank is pulled out from the cradle, and the roller rolls on a front side of the first stopper.

As an optional technical solution, an extension portion extends from a front side wall of the ice bank, a first elastic member is disposed between an upper portion of the second stopper and the extension portion, and two ends of the first elastic member respectively elastically abut against the extension portion and an upper portion of the second stopper, so that a lower portion of the second stopper elastically presses against the drawer bottom plate.

As an alternative solution, the first elastic member is a spring.

As an optional technical solution, the bracket includes a bracket bottom plate and a first vertical wall, the first vertical wall extends upwards from a periphery of the bracket bottom plate, the first vertical wall includes a bracket rear side wall and an opposite first side wall, a first guide rail is disposed on an inner side of the first side wall, the first guide rail includes an upper rail, a lower rail and a sliding groove, and the sliding groove is located between the upper rail and the lower rail.

As an optional technical solution, the ice bank includes an ice bank bottom plate and a second vertical wall, the second vertical wall extends upward from a periphery of the ice bank bottom plate, the second vertical wall includes an ice bank rear side wall, an ice bank front side wall and an opposite second side wall, an outer side of the second side wall is pivoted with a first pulley, wherein the first pulley slides in the chute, and the ice bank is pushed into or pulled out of the support.

As an optional technical solution, the vehicle body further includes a second guide rail and a second pulley, the second guide rail is disposed on the second sidewall, the second pulley is pivotally connected to the inner side of the first sidewall, wherein the second guide rail is located in the sliding groove, and the second pulley is located at the front end of the lower rail.

As an optional technical solution, the lower rail has an inclined surface, the inclined surface is located at the rear section of the lower rail, and the inclined surface is inclined toward the rear end of the lower rail.

Compared with the prior art, the bracket of the ice-making unit in the drawer of the refrigerator forms a relatively closed space, and the ice storage box is relatively separated from the drawer at other intervals. In the certain stroke scope that the drawer was pulled out, the pull-out of ice storage box and the drawer pull-out do not have the synchronization relation, can realize getting ice as required, can effectively reduce ice-cube adhesion risk when avoiding the ice-cube contaminated, improve the ice-cube quality.

The invention is described in detail below with reference to the drawings and specific examples, but the invention is not limited thereto.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic view of a drawer in a refrigerator according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of the drawer of FIG. 1 shown in a first position.

FIG. 3 is a schematic view of the drawer of FIG. 2 with the first side wall of the rack removed.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged schematic view of the area A1 in fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a schematic view of the drawer of fig. 2 with a portion of the shelf and the ice bank removed.

Fig. 6 is an enlarged schematic view of the area A2 in fig. 5.

FIG. 7 is a schematic view of the drawer of FIG. 1 shown in a second position.

FIG. 8 is a schematic view of the drawer of FIG. 7 with the first side wall of the rack removed.

Fig. 9 is an enlarged schematic view of the area A3 in fig. 8.

Fig. 10 is a schematic view of the drawer of fig. 8 with a portion of the shelf and the ice bank removed.

Fig. 11 is an enlarged schematic view of the area A4 in fig. 10.

Fig. 12 is a schematic view of a refrigerator according to a second embodiment of the present invention, in which a portion of a drawer and a bracket are removed.

Fig. 13 is a schematic view illustrating a refrigerator according to a second embodiment of the present invention, wherein a drawer is in a touch position.

FIG. 14 is a schematic view of the drawer of FIG. 13 with portions of the drawer and brackets removed.

Fig. 15A and 15B are enlarged schematic views of the region B1 and the region B2 in fig. 14, respectively.

Fig. 16 is a schematic view of a refrigerator according to a second embodiment of the present invention with a drawer in an open position.

Fig. 17 is a schematic view of the drawer shown in fig. 16 with a portion of the drawer and the bracket removed.

Fig. 18 is an enlarged schematic view of the region B3 in fig. 17.

Detailed Description

In order to make the objects, technical solutions and advantages of the present invention more apparent, the present invention is described in further detail below with reference to embodiments and accompanying drawings. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are merely illustrative of the invention and are not intended to limit the invention.

Fig. 1 is a schematic view of a drawer in a refrigerator according to a first embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 2 is a schematic view of the drawer of FIG. 1 shown in a first position.

As shown in fig. 1, a refrigerator (not shown) has a drawer 100, the drawer 100 may be pushed into or pulled out of compartments of the refrigerator, the drawer 100 includes a drawer bottom 111 and drawer sidewalls 112, the drawer sidewalls 112 extend upward around a periphery of the drawer bottom 111 to form a receiving portion 110, wherein the receiving portion 110 is divided into a plurality of compartments, an ice making unit 20 is received in one of the plurality of compartments, the ice making unit 20 includes a support 21 and an ice bank 22, the ice bank 22 is received inside the support 21, and the ice bank 22 may be pushed into or pulled out of the support 21.

The drawer 100 of the present invention can be pushed into or pulled out of a freezer compartment of a refrigerator, but is not limited thereto.

The ice making unit 20 further includes an ice maker 24, and the ice maker 24 is coupled to the top of the bracket 21. The bracket 21 is fixed in the inner container of the refrigerator. The ice bank 22 is accommodated in the bracket 21, the ice maker 24 is located above the ice bank 22, and an ice making tray (not shown) is further disposed between the ice maker 24 and the ice bank 22. Wherein the top of the support 21 is covered by the ice maker 24, and thus, the inside of the support 21 is a sealed space in which the ice bank 22 is located.

The accommodating portion 110 of the drawer 100 may be divided into a left compartment and a right compartment by the frame 11, and the ice making unit 20 is disposed in the left compartment, but not limited thereto. In other embodiments of the present invention, the accommodating portion of the drawer may be divided into a front compartment and a rear compartment, and the ice making unit may be disposed in one of the front compartment or the rear compartment. In addition, the frame 11 further comprises a partition 12, the partition 12 is embedded in the top end of the frame 11, and the partition 12 enables the right compartment to form another sealed space.

In the invention, the side of the refrigerator close to a user is defined as front (including front side, front end and the like), and the side far away from the user is defined as rear (including rear side, rear end and the like); also, the definition is "left" (including left, etc.) on the left hand side of the user and "right" (including right, etc.) on the right hand side of the user.

As can be seen from fig. 1 and 2, the bracket 21 provides a closed space to accommodate the ice bank 22, so that the ice cubes accommodated in the ice bank 22 can be separated from other compartments in the accommodating space 110, and the ice cubes are not easily cross-contacted with the stored objects in the other compartments to be contaminated.

It should be noted that, in the present invention, the left side wall of the drawer 100 is not shown for illustration, and actually the drawer side wall 112 of the drawer 100 includes a front side wall, a rear side wall, a left side wall and a right side wall, wherein the front side wall can be combined with a door panel of the refrigerator, the rear side wall is close to the inner container of the refrigerator, the left side wall and the right side wall are respectively connected with the left side and the right side of the inner container of the refrigerator in a sliding manner through a sliding member, and when the door panel is opened or closed, the drawer 100 is pulled out or pushed into the inner container of the refrigerator. Of course, when the front sidewall of the drawer 100 is not coupled to the door panel of the refrigerator, the front sidewall may be directly pushed or pulled so that the drawer 100 is pulled out or pushed into the inner container of the refrigerator.

FIG. 3 is a schematic view of the drawer of FIG. 2 with the first side wall of the left side of the rack removed; FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of the area A1 in FIG. 3; FIG. 5 is a schematic view of the drawer of FIG. 2 with portions of the shelf and the ice bank removed;

fig. 6 is an enlarged schematic view of the area A2 in fig. 5.

FIG. 7 is a schematic view of the drawer of FIG. 1 shown in a second position; FIG. 8 is a schematic view of the drawer of FIG. 7 with the first side wall of the rack removed; FIG. 9 is an enlarged view of area A3 of FIG. 8; FIG. 10 is a schematic view of the drawer of FIG. 8 with portions of the shelf and the ice bank removed; fig. 11 is an enlarged schematic view of the area A4 in fig. 10.

As shown in fig. 2 and 3, when the drawer 100 is pulled out to the first position, the ice bank 22 remains closed and is not opened. That is, in the first stroke stage of the drawer 100, the drawer 100 is pulled open, the ice bank 22 is closed on the support 21, and the user can take and put the stored objects in the drawer 100. Since the ice bank 22 is closed on the support 21, the taking and placing operations of the stored objects do not affect the ice cubes in the ice bank 22.

As shown in fig. 2 and 7, when the drawer 100 is pulled out to the second position (or, pulled out beyond the first position), the ice bank 22 is pulled out from the cradle 21 as the drawer 100 moves. That is, during the second stroke of the drawer 100, the drawer 100 is continuously pulled, and the ice bank 22 is pulled out of the support 21 along with the movement of the drawer 100, at which time, the user can access the ice cubes in the ice bank. After ice fetching is completed and the ice bank 22 needs to be closed, the ice bank 22 can be manually pushed into the bracket 21, the drawer 100 can also be pushed into the liner of the refrigerator, when the drawer 100 is pushed to the first position, the front side wall 112 of the drawer 100 pushes against the front side wall 222 of the ice bank 22, the drawer 100 is continuously pushed, and the drawer drives the ice bank 22 to be pushed into the bracket 21. Wherein, the mode that ice storage box 22 was driven and was opened by drawer 100 has saved the user and after pulling open drawer 100, still need open the operation of ice storage box 22 alone, has strengthened the convenience of getting ice, promotes user experience.

In this embodiment, the second position is closer to the user than the first position.

In order to realize asynchronous pulling of the drawer 100 and the ice storage box 22, a first stop 1110 is arranged on the drawer bottom 111 of the drawer 100, a second stop 50 is arranged at the bottom of the ice storage box 22, and when the drawer 100 is pulled out to be in a first position, the front side 1111 of the first stop 1110 abuts against the second stop 50; the drawer 100 is continuously pulled out beyond the first position toward the second position, and the front side 1111 of the first stopper 1110 pushes against the second stopper 50, so that the ice bank 22 is pulled out from the cradle 21.

As shown in fig. 5, 6, 10 and 11, the first stopper 1110 is, for example, a projection protruding upward from the drawer bottom 111. The first stop 1110 has an uppermost position 1113 between the front side 1111 and the rear side 1112. Thus, the front side 1111 includes a first slope that gradually slopes upward toward the uppermost position 1113, and the back side 1112 includes a second slope that gradually slopes downward toward the uppermost position 1113. That is, the first slope and the second slope incline in opposite directions. When the drawer 100 is pulled to the first position and the second position, the second stop 50 abuts against the first slope of the front side 1111 of the first stop 1110.

In order to ensure that the user can smoothly access the contents stored in the right compartment of the drawer 100 when in the first position, a first stopper 1110 is provided along 1/2 to 2/3 of the length of the longitudinal side (short side) of the bottom plate 111. When the first stopper 1110 is located at a position of 1/2 of the length of the longitudinal side, the distance from the first stopper 1110 to the front side wall and the rear side wall of the drawer 100 is substantially equal; when the first stopper 1110 is located at a position of 2/3 of the length of the longitudinal side, the distance from the first stopper 1110 to the front side wall of the drawer 100 is 2/3 of the length of the longitudinal side, and the distance from the first stopper 1110 to the rear side wall of the drawer 100 is 1/3 of the length of the longitudinal side. In summary, the first stopper 1110 may be provided in a rear half area of the longitudinal side (short side) of the bottom plate 111 near the rear wall of the refrigerator compartment, so that it is ensured that the drawer 100 is pulled out as far as possible without the ice bank 22 to provide a sufficient fetching space.

The second stopper 50 is disposed at the bottom of the ice bank 22, and a lower portion of the second stopper 50 protrudes from an ice bank floor 223 of the ice bank 22. Preferably, the lower portion of the second stopper 50 also protrudes from the bracket bottom plate 213 of the bracket 21. The bank floor 213 is located below the ice bank floor 223. In addition, the second stopper 50 is positioned at the front end of the ice bank floor 223.

An extending portion 224 extends from the front sidewall 222 of the ice bank 22, a space between the extending portion 224 and the front sidewall 222 of the ice bank 22 forms a engaging slot 225, and an upper portion of the second stopper 50 is engaged in the engaging slot 225. The extension 224 is substantially T-shaped or L-shaped. The extension 224 is located at an inner side of the front sidewall 222 of the ice bank 22, but not limited thereto.

The bottom of the engaging groove 225 has an opening through which the lower portion of the second stopper 50 passes to protrude from the ice bank bottom 223. In addition, the second stopper 50 further includes a hook 53, the hook 53 is adapted to the engaging hole in the engaging groove 225, and the hook 53 is engaged in the engaging hole, so that the second stopper 50 is engaged in the engaging groove 225.

As shown in fig. 6 and 11, the first elastic member 60 is disposed between the upper portion 52 of the second stopper 50 and the extending portion 224, opposite ends of the first elastic member 60 elastically abut against the extending portion 224 and the upper portion 52 of the second stopper 50, respectively, and the lower portion of the second stopper 50 is always in contact with the drawer bottom 111. In other words, the first elastic member 60 provides an elastic force to elastically press the lower portion of the second stopper 50 against the drawer bottom 111. The second stopper 50 is elastically pressed against the drawer bottom 111, thereby effectively preventing the damage of the device due to the hard interference between the drawer bottom 111 and the ice bank bottom 223 during the process of pulling out or pushing in the drawer 100, and increasing the tolerance capability of the error caused by the manufacture and assembly of the drawer 100 and the ice-making unit 20.

In the present embodiment, the first elastic member 60 is, for example, a spring. In addition, the upper portion 52 and the extending portion 224 of the second stopping member 50 can be respectively provided with a positioning post, and two ends of the first elastic member 60 are respectively sleeved on the positioning posts, so as to facilitate the assembly of the first elastic member 60.

With continued reference to fig. 6 and 11, in order to reduce noise caused by interference between the second stopper 50 and the drawer bottom 111 during the process of pulling and pushing the drawer 100, rollers 51 are further disposed at the bottom of the second stopper 50, and preferably, the rollers 51 are disposed at the left and right sides of the bottom of the second stopper 50. When the drawer 100 is pulled and pushed, the roller 51 rolls against the front side 1111 of the first stopper 1110 of the drawer bottom 111, thereby reducing the abrasion and noise caused by the interference contact between the lower portion of the second stopper 50 and the drawer bottom 111. Preferably, the roller 51 is a silicone rubber roller.

In addition, the second stopper 50 adopts the design of combining the first elastic member 60 and the roller 51, so that the friction between the second stopper 50 and the drawer bottom 111 can be significantly reduced in the process of pulling the drawer 100 to the first position and continuously pulling the drawer 100 to pass through the first position to drive the ice bank 22 to be pulled out of the bracket 21, therefore, the lower part of the second stopper 50 can be always stopped by the front side 1111 of the first stopper 1110, and cannot pass through the highest position 1113 of the first stopper 1110, and the ice bank 22 cannot be driven by the drawer 100 to be pulled out.

As shown in fig. 3, 4, 8 and 9, a pulley and a slide rail are provided between the ice bank 22 and the support 21, to further reduce sliding frictional resistance when the ice bank 22 is pulled out and pushed in the support 21, so that the pulling out and pushing in processes are smoother.

As shown in fig. 3 and 4, the bracket 21 includes a bracket bottom plate 213 and a first vertical wall extending upward from the periphery of the bracket bottom plate 213, the first vertical wall includes a bracket rear side wall 212 and an opposite first side wall 211, a first guide rail is disposed inside the first side wall 211, and the first guide rail includes an upper rail 31 and a lower rail 32, and a slide groove 33 between the upper and lower rails.

The ice bank 22 includes an ice bank floor 223 and a second vertical wall extending upward from a periphery of the ice bank floor 223, the second vertical wall including an ice bank rear, a front side wall 222, and an opposite second side wall 221, an outer side of the second side wall 221 being provided with the first pulley 41, and the first pulley 41 being located at a rear end of the second side wall 221 corresponding to a rear end of the first rail.

As shown in fig. 6 and 11, the ice bank 22 is closed on the support 21, and the first pulley 41 is received in the rear end of the chute 33; the ice bank 22 is pulled out of the cradle 21 and the first pulley 41 slides along the chute 33 to the front end. In order to prevent the ice bank 22 from falling out of the bracket 21 due to an external force when the ice bank 22 is closed on the bracket 21, a slope 321 is provided at a rear section of the lower rail 32, and the slope 321 is inclined downward toward a rear end of the lower rail 32.

In addition, when the ice bank 22 is pushed into the cradle 21, the slope 321 guides the first roller 41 to move toward the rear end of the chute 33, and the user experience is improved by achieving gravity self-locking after the ice bank 22 is pushed in by using the weight of the ice bank 22 itself.

Further, a second roller 34 is disposed at the front end of the lower rail 32, and the second roller 34 is pivoted to the inner side of the first sidewall 211; a second rail 42 is provided outside the second sidewall 221 of the ice bank 22 corresponding to the second roller 34; the second guide rail 42 is located in the slide groove 32, and the first roller 41 is located at the rear end of the second guide rail 42.

During the sliding of the first rollers 41 in the chute 33 on the second side walls 221 of the ice bank 22, the second rollers 34 simultaneously slide along the second guide rails 42 to improve the smoothness of the sliding in which the ice bank 22 is pulled out or pushed into the cradle 21.

In this embodiment, the pair of first sidewalls 211 corresponds to the pair of second sidewalls 221 one by one, and the inner side of the first sidewalls 211 is adjacent to the outer side of the second sidewalls 221. The upper rail 31 and the lower rail 32 extend from the inner side of the first sidewall 211 toward the outer side of the second sidewall 221; the second guide rail 42 extends from the outside of the second side wall 221 toward the inside of the first side wall 211, and is located in the slide groove 33 between the upper rail 31 and the lower rail 32.

In other embodiments of the present invention, the second roller may also be disposed at the front end of the upper rail or at other positions.

As can be seen from the above description, in the drawer 100 of the refrigerator according to the first embodiment of the present invention, the ice-making unit 20 is accommodated in at least one of the compartments of the drawer 100, the bracket 21 of the ice-making unit 20 provides a relatively sealed space, and the ice storage box 22 is accommodated in the relatively sealed space, so that contamination of ice cubes in the ice storage box 22 by other compartments of the drawer 100 is avoided. In addition, the drawer 100 is pulled or pushed into the refrigerator within a certain range of travel without being synchronized with the pulling or pushing of the ice bank 22 into the bracket 21, so that the problem of ice block adhesion in the ice bank due to the fact that the existing drawer and the ice bank are pulled or pushed synchronously while the user can freely store and take the stored objects in the drawer is solved.

Specifically, when the drawer 100 of the refrigerator according to the first embodiment of the present invention is pulled to the first position (the position shown in fig. 2), the first stopper 1110 protruding from the drawer bottom 111 and the second stopper 50 protruding from the bottom of the ice bank 22 abut against each other; the drawer 100 is further pulled out to pass the first position to the second position (the position shown in fig. 7), the second position is the maximum opening position, the first stopper 1110 pushes against the second stopper 50, the drawer 100 drives the first roller 41 on the ice bank 22 to slide along the chute 33 in the support 21, and the ice bank 22 is pulled out.

When closing the ice bank 22, a user may manually push the ice bank 22 against the front sidewall 222 of the ice bank 22 to individually push the ice bank 22 into the cradle 21; alternatively, the user may push the ice bank 22 into the cradle 21 by pushing the drawer 100 into the refrigerator, and the drawer side wall 112 of the front side of the drawer 100.

As a specific embodiment, the bracket 21 is further provided with an air inlet and an air return inlet of the ice maker 24, and the silver-loaded activated carbon block 23 is arranged on the bracket to filter cold air, so as to purify ice making and storage environments on a refrigeration air path, and further improve the cleanliness of ice blocks.

FIG. 12 is a schematic view of a refrigerator with a drawer according to a second embodiment of the present invention, with a portion of the drawer and a bracket removed; fig. 13 is a schematic view of a refrigerator according to a second embodiment of the present invention, with a drawer in a touch position; FIG. 14 is a schematic view of the drawer of FIG. 13 with portions of the drawer and brackets removed; FIGS. 15A and 15B are enlarged views of the region B1 and the region B2 in FIG. 14, respectively; FIG. 16 is a schematic view of a second embodiment of the refrigerator drawer in an open position; FIG. 17 is a schematic view of the drawer of FIG. 16 with portions of the drawer and the support removed; fig. 18 is an enlarged schematic view of the region B3 in fig. 17.

The same reference numerals in fig. 12 to fig. 18 as those in fig. 1 to fig. 11 belong to the same elements, and have similar structures and functions, and refer to the description in fig. 1 to fig. 11, which are not repeated.

As shown in fig. 12 to 18, a second embodiment of the present invention further provides a refrigerator having a drawer 200, and the drawer 200 is different from the drawer 100 in that an ice bank 22 of an ice making unit 20 in the drawer 200 is triggered by the drawer 200 to be automatically ejected or pulled out from a shelf 21.

Taking the ice-making unit 20 disposed in the left compartment of the drawer 100 as an example, the sectional views in fig. 12 to 18 are all taken to remove the right portions of the drawer 100, the bracket 21 and the ice storage box 22 to illustrate the pop-up structure of the drawer 200, but not limited thereto. The ejection structure may be disposed between the bracket 21 and any corresponding first and

second sidewalls

211 and 221 of the ice bank 22.

The pop-up structure is disposed between the ice bank 22 and the support 21, and can be triggered by the first stopper 1110 protruding from the drawer bottom 111 of the drawer 200 pushing against the second stopper 50 protruding from the bottom of the ice bank 22. The ejection structure is triggered to automatically eject the ice bank 22 from the cradle 21. Preferably, the ejection structure is disposed between the second sidewall 221 of the ice bank 22 and the first sidewall 211 of the support 21, wherein the second sidewall 221 is adjacent to the first sidewall 211.

The pop-up structure comprises a touch protrusion 201, a sliding lever 202, a second elastic piece 203 and a constraint groove 2041; wherein, the touch protrusion 201 is disposed at the rear end of the second sidewall 221 of the ice bank 20 and protrudes from the outer side of the second sidewall 221; the constraining groove 2041 is disposed outside the first sidewall 211; the sliding lever 202 is pivotally disposed between the first side wall 211 and the second side wall 221, the upper portion of the sliding lever 202 includes a slot 2021, the rear end of the sliding lever 202 includes a hanging lug portion 2022, the ice bank 20 is closed on the bracket 21, and the hanging lug 2022 is embedded in the restraining slot 2041; the ice storage box 20 is popped out from the bracket 21, and the touch protrusion 201 is embedded into the slot 2021; the rear end of the second elastic member 203 is inserted into the fixing hole 2023 at the lower portion of the sliding lever 202, and the front end of the second elastic member 203 is fixed to the first sidewall 211. Preferably, the front end of the second elastic member 203 is disposed near the front end of the first sidewall 211.

In this embodiment, an inside of the first sidewall 211 of the supporter 21 is opposite to an outside of the second sidewall 221 of the ice bank 22.

As shown in fig. 12, the drawer 200 is closed in the inner container of the refrigerator, the ice bank 11 is closed in the bracket 21, the touching protrusion 201 is adjacent to the sliding lever 202, at this time, the hanging lug 2022 of the sliding lever 202 is embedded in the restraining groove 2041, and the second elastic member 203 is stretched by the sliding lever 202 to be in an extended state.

The drawer 200 is pulled to the first pulled position, the front side 1111 of the first stop 1110 on the drawer bottom 111 of the drawer 200 abuts against the second stop 50 at the bottom of the ice bank 22, and at this time, the ice bank 22 is not triggered to be closed on the support 21. When the drawer 200 is in the first open position, the drawer 200 is almost completely pulled out of the inner container of the refrigerator, and compared to the drawer 100, a larger access space is provided in a state where the ice bank is not opened, so that a user can conveniently access stored objects in the right compartment of the drawer 200.

In this embodiment, the first stopper 1110 of the drawer bottom 111 of the drawer 200 is disposed at a position of about 4/5 of the length of the longitudinal side (short side) of the drawer bottom 111. When the first stopper 1110 is located at a position of about 4/5 of the length of the longitudinal side, the distance from the first stopper 1110 to the front side wall of the drawer 200 is 4/5 or more of the length of the longitudinal side, and the distance from the first stopper 1110 to the rear side wall of the drawer 200 is 1/5 or less of the length of the longitudinal side.

As shown in fig. 13 to 15B, when the drawer 200 is pulled out to move beyond the first pull-open position, the front side 1111 of the first stopper 1110 on the drawer bottom 111 pushes against the second stopper 50 at the bottom of the ice bank 22, the second stopper 50 drives the first pulley 41 of the ice bank 22 to slide forward in the chute 33 of the first rail of the support 21, and at this time, the extension end 2011 of the contact protrusion 201 on the second sidewall 221 of the ice bank 20 collides with the front chute wall of the slot 2021 of the sliding lever 202, or the extension end 2011 of the contact protrusion 201 is stopped by the front chute wall of the slot 2021 of the sliding lever 202, and at this time, the sliding lever 202 pivots between the first sidewall 211 and the second sidewall 221, the lug 2022 rotates out of the restraining slot 2041, the slot 2021 rotates toward the extension end 2011, and the extension end is inserted into the slot 2021.

After the hanging lug portion 2022 is rotated out of the constraining groove 2041, the second elastic element 203 in the extended state contracts and provides a contraction force, so that the slot 2021 of the acceleration sliding lever 202 rotates toward the extending portion 2011.

As shown in fig. 16 to 18, the second elastic member 203 in the extended state contracts to provide a contraction force, the contraction force enables the sliding lever 202 fixedly connected with the second elastic member to slide forward between the first side wall 211 and the second side wall 221, and the slot of the sliding lever 202 is engaged with the extension 2011 of the touch protrusion 201, so that the touch protrusion 201 slides forward together with the sliding lever 202, and the ice bank 22 slides together with the touch protrusion 201 and is ejected from the bracket 21. Wherein the first pulley 41 on the ice bank 22 slides in the chute 33 of the cradle 21 during the ejection of the ice bank 22 from the cradle 21.

As shown in fig. 12, 15B and 18, in order to restrict the sliding of the sliding lever 202 between the first side wall 211 and the second side wall 221, the pop-up structure further includes a restricting member 204, and the restricting member 204 may be disposed inside the first side wall 211. Preferably, the constraining member 204 is integrally formed on the inner side of the first sidewall 211 and extends toward the second sidewall 221.

The constraining member 204 may be integrally formed inside the first sidewall 211 and extend toward the second sidewall 221, the sliding lever 202 may be located between the constraining member 204 and the first sidewall 211, the constraining groove 2041 may be located at a rear end of the constraining member 204, and a rear end of the constraining member 204 is close to a rear end of the first sidewall 211 of the bracket 21. The front end 2042 of the restraint member 204 is fixedly connected with the front end of the second elastic member 203, and the front end 2042 of the restraint member 204 is close to the front end of the first side wall 211 of the bracket 21.

The constraining member 204 further includes a sliding portion 2043, and the sliding lever 202 slides along the sliding portion 2043, so that the sliding lever 202 slides smoothly.

Further, the constraining member 204 is further provided with a guiding groove 2044, and the guiding groove 2044 is an elongated slot, which is located on the upper side of the sliding portion 2043, but not limited thereto. The extending direction of the guide groove 2044 is parallel to the sliding direction of the slide lever 202.

A pivot shaft (not shown) of the slide lever 202 is inserted into the guide groove 2044, and when the slide lever 202 slides, the pivot shaft slides along the guide groove 2044.

In this embodiment, the sliding lever 202 is located between the first sidewall 211 and the second sidewall 221, and can pivot between the first sidewall 211 and the second sidewall 221. In a preferred embodiment, the pivot shaft of the sliding lever 202 is pivotally connected to the first sidewall 211 and/or the restraint 204 for pivoting. It should be noted that, in order to avoid that the opening of the pivot hole on the first side wall 211 and the sliding way communicated with the pivot hole may damage the sealing degree of the bracket 21, in a more preferred embodiment, the pivot shaft of the sliding lever 202 is assembled with the guide groove 2044 of the restraining member 204, that is, the sliding lever 202 is pivoted with the restraining member 204, wherein the pivot shaft of the sliding lever 202 may pivot in the guide groove 2044, and the pivot shaft may slide along the guide groove 2044 when the sliding lever 202 slides.

Further, guide groove 2044 communicates with constraining groove 2041.

The constraining member 204 further includes a stopping block 205 disposed at the front end of the sliding portion 2043, the sliding lever 202 slides along the sliding portion 2043 and is stopped by the stopping block 205 from sliding further, and the second elastic member 203 contracts from the extended state to the free state. At this time, the ice bank 22 is ejected from the cradle 21 by the sliding lever 202 and the second elastic member 203 (as shown in fig. 16 to 18).

In this embodiment, the stop block 205 is located in the middle of the constraint 204 near the front end, that is, the distance from the stop block 205 to the front end of the constraint 204 is smaller than the distance from the stop block 205 to the rear end of the constraint 204. Of course, the position of the stop block 205 may be set according to the elastic force provided by the second elastic member 203 and the pop-up distance of the ice bank 22. Preferably, the second elastic member 203 is a tension spring.

As can be seen from the above, in the drawer 200, after the first stopper 1110 on the drawer bottom 111 and the second stopper 50 at the bottom of the ice bank 22 abut against each other, by slightly pulling the drawer 200, the first stopper 1110 pushes the second stopper 50 to trigger the pop-up structure, the extending end 2011 of the touch protrusion 201 is stopped by the front sidewall of the slot 2021 of the sliding lever 202, the sliding lever 202 pivots, the lug 2022 at the rear end thereof rotates out of the constraint slot 204, the slot 2021 turns to the extending section 2011 and is engaged with the extending section 2011, the second elastic element 203 contracts from the extended state toward the free state to provide a contraction force, so that the sliding lever 202 slides forward along the sliding portion 2043 and the guide slot 2044 of the constraint element 204, the first pulley 41 on the ice bank 22 slides forward along the sliding slot 33 of the support 21, and the ice bank 22 automatically pops up from the support 21.

Compared with the structure that the ice storage box 20 of the drawer 100 is pulled out from the support 21 by pulling the drawer 100, after the drawer 200 is pulled out, when ice needs to be taken, the pop-up structure between the ice storage box 22 and the support 21 is triggered by slightly pulling the drawer 200, so that the ice storage box 22 automatically pops out of the support 21 to conveniently take the ice, the operation that a user manually pulls out the ice storage box 22 is omitted, and the ice taking operation is simplified.

In addition, it should be noted that the drawer 200 is not limited to pulling the drawer 200 beyond the first open position to trigger the pop-up mechanism. In other embodiments of the invention, a user can also trigger the ejection structure by slightly pulling the front side wall of the ice storage box, so that the ice storage box is ejected from the bracket, the operation of manually pulling out the ice storage box by the user is omitted, and the ice fetching operation is simplified.

After the ice-fetching operation is completed, the ice bank 22 in the drawer 200 can be closed in the rack 21 by pushing the drawer side wall 112 at the front side of the drawer 200, or can be closed in the rack 21 by directly pushing the front side wall 222 of the ice bank 22. The ice bank 22 is pushed into the support 21, the extending end 2011 of the touch protrusion 201 withdraws from the slot 2021 of the sliding lever 202, the extending end 2011 acts on the rear slot wall of the slot 2011, the sliding lever 202 pivots towards the constraint slot 2041, the lug portion 2022 is clamped into the constraint slot 2041, and the ice bank 22 is closed in the support 21.

In summary, the present invention provides a refrigerator, which includes a drawer, wherein an accommodating space inside the drawer includes a plurality of compartments, an ice making unit is accommodated in one of the compartments, an ice bank in the ice making unit can be pulled out of and pushed into a support, a first stopper is disposed on a bottom plate of the drawer, a second stopper is disposed at a bottom of the ice bank, and the drawer and the ice bank are not opened synchronously within a certain range of travel when the drawer is pulled out. In addition, when the drawer is pulled out beyond a certain range of travel, the ice bank is pulled out or ejected from the cradle. The drawer of the invention meets the requirement that a user can freely store and take the stored objects in the drawer, and simultaneously overcomes the problem that ice cubes in the ice storage box are adhered because the existing drawer and the ice storage box are synchronously pulled or pushed.

The present invention is capable of other embodiments, and various changes and modifications may be made by one skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

Claims

1. A refrigerator having a drawer which can be pushed into or pulled out of a compartment of the refrigerator, the drawer comprising a drawer base and drawer side walls which extend upwardly around the periphery of the drawer base to form receptacles,

the receptacle is divided into a plurality of compartments; and

the ice making unit is accommodated in one of the compartments and comprises a bracket, an ice making machine and an ice storage box, wherein the bracket is fixed in the inner container of the refrigerator, the ice making machine is combined and covers the top of the bracket, the bracket is provided with an air inlet and an air return inlet of the ice making machine, the ice storage box is accommodated in the bracket, and the ice storage box can be pushed into or pulled out of the bracket;

wherein, the drawer bottom plate is provided with a first stop piece, the bottom of the ice storage box is provided with a second stop piece, and the second stop piece protrudes out of the bottom; when the drawer is pulled out to the first position, the front side of the first stop piece and the second stop piece are abutted against each other.

2. The refrigerator of claim 1, wherein the drawer is further pulled out to a second position, and the front side of the first stopper pushes against the second stopper to pull the ice bank out of the shelf.

3. The refrigerator as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first stopper is a projection projected from the bottom plate of the drawer.

4. The refrigerator of claim 1, wherein the second stopper is disposed at a front end of an ice bank floor of the ice bank, and a lower portion of the second stopper protrudes from the ice bank floor.

5. The refrigerator as claimed in claim 1, wherein the ice bank has a locking slot corresponding to the second stopper, an open end of the locking slot is disposed on the bottom, and the second stopper passes through the open end and is locked in the locking slot, wherein the second stopper has a locking hook, a locking hole is disposed on a wall of the locking slot, and the locking hook is locked in the locking hole.

6. The refrigerator of claim 1, comprising a roller pivotally coupled to a lower portion of the second stopper, wherein the ice bank is drawn out of the cradle and the roller rolls on a front side of the first stopper.

7. The refrigerator as claimed in claim 1, wherein an extension part extends from a front sidewall of the ice bank, a first elastic member is disposed between an upper portion of the second stopper and the extension part, and two ends of the first elastic member respectively elastically abut against the extension part and an upper portion of the second stopper, such that a lower portion of the second stopper elastically presses against the drawer bottom plate.

8. The refrigerator as claimed in claim 7, wherein the first elastic member is a spring.

9. The refrigerator as claimed in claim 1, wherein the bracket includes a bracket bottom plate and a first vertical wall extending upward from a periphery of the bracket bottom plate, the first vertical wall including a bracket rear side wall and an opposite first side wall, a first guide rail provided at an inner side of the first side wall, the first guide rail including an upper rail, a lower rail, and a sliding groove between the upper rail and the lower rail.

10. The refrigerator of claim 9, wherein the ice bank includes an ice bank floor and a second vertical wall extending upward from a periphery of the ice bank floor, the second vertical wall including an ice bank rear sidewall, an ice bank front sidewall and an opposite second sidewall, an outer side of the second sidewall pivotally coupled to the first pulley, wherein the first pulley slides in the chute and the ice bank is pushed into or pulled out of the cradle.

11. The refrigerator as claimed in claim 10, further comprising a second rail and a second pulley, the second rail being disposed on the second sidewall, the second pulley being pivotally connected to an inner side of the first sidewall, wherein the second rail is disposed in the sliding groove, and the second pulley is disposed at a front end of the lower rail.

12. The refrigerator as claimed in claim 10, wherein the lower rail has a slope surface at a rear section of the lower rail, and the slope surface is inclined toward a rear end of the lower rail.