CN113445839A

CN113445839A - Refrigerator with a door

Info

Publication number: CN113445839A
Application number: CN202010223561.3A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 张升刚; 韩丽丽; 张月; 杨大海; 魏代同; 张守杰
Original assignee: Hisense Shandong Refrigerator Co Ltd
Current assignee: Hisense Shandong Refrigerator Co Ltd
Priority date: 2020-03-26
Filing date: 2020-03-26
Publication date: 2021-09-28
Anticipated expiration: 2040-03-26
Also published as: CN113445839B

Abstract

The invention provides a refrigerator, and belongs to the technical field of household appliances. The refrigerator comprises a refrigerator body and a refrigerator door; the door hinge is connected between the refrigerator body and the refrigerator door so as to realize the rotary connection of the refrigerator door relative to the refrigerator body; a fixing member hinged to the door; the shell is connected with the refrigerator door and sleeved on the fixing piece; the elastic device is positioned in the shell and sleeved on the fixing piece, one end of the elastic device is fixedly connected with the fixing piece, the other end of the elastic device is provided with a clutch sleeve, one end of the elastic device, which is provided with the clutch sleeve, is defined as an upper end, the other end of the elastic device is defined as a lower end, and the clutch sleeve can rotatably lift relative to the fixing piece so as to be combined with or separated from the shell; in the opening process of the refrigerator door, the clutch sleeve is separated from the shell after being combined with the shell, and the elastic device is twisted and compressed; in the closing process of the refrigerator door, the elastic device resets to drive the refrigerator door to close.

Description

Refrigerator with a door

Technical Field

The invention belongs to the technical field of household appliances, and particularly relates to a refrigerator with a power-assisted door closing function.

Background

Generally, a refrigerator has a storage chamber to which foods can be stored or from which foods can be taken out by opening a refrigerator door; the refrigerator cools the storage chamber through a refrigeration cycle, and thus, foods in the storage chamber can be freshly stored for a certain period of time.

Among the correlation technique, the refrigerator is all through the purpose that the rotation of door hinge realization refrigerator door was in order to realize the switch door, then closes the door in order to can realize the helping hand of refrigerator door, and later stage refrigerator door self-closing has appeared and has had hinge helping hand structure promptly.

In the related door hinge power-assisted structure, a cam structure is used for realizing a self-closing technology, namely, the door is automatically closed by means of conversion of gravitational potential energy and kinetic energy, however, the structure can provide small force and has large abrasion to the cam, and the problem that the cam is abraded and loses the self-closing capability after being used for a period of time can be caused; however, the door hinge booster structure generates a large impact force at the moment when the door body is closed, and generates a slamming impact sound.

Disclosure of Invention

The present invention is directed to solving at least one of the problems of the prior art or the related art.

One aspect of the present invention is to provide a refrigerator having a door that can be self-closed and having excellent durability;

another aspect of the present invention is to provide a refrigerator that can achieve self-closing of a door and can alleviate a door-closing impact by an air resistance at a final stage of door closing;

another aspect of the present invention is to provide a refrigerator that can achieve self-closing of a door and can alleviate a door-closing impact by elastic resistance at a final stage of door closing;

additional aspects of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention.

According to an aspect of the present invention, a refrigerator includes: a box body and a refrigerator door; the door hinge is connected between the refrigerator body and the refrigerator door so as to realize the rotary connection of the refrigerator door relative to the refrigerator body; a fixing member hinged to the door; the shell is connected with the refrigerator door and sleeved on the fixing piece; the elastic device is positioned in the shell and sleeved on the fixing piece, one end of the elastic device is fixedly connected with the fixing piece, the other end of the elastic device is provided with a clutch sleeve, one end of the elastic device, which is provided with the clutch sleeve, is defined as an upper end, the other end of the elastic device is defined as a lower end, and the clutch sleeve can rotatably lift relative to the fixing piece so as to be combined with or separated from the shell; in the opening process of the refrigerator door, the clutch sleeve is separated from the shell after being combined with the shell, and the elastic device is twisted and compressed; in the closing process of the refrigerator door, the elastic device resets to drive the refrigerator door to close.

And a convex part and a concave part which are matched with each other are arranged between the shell and the clutch sleeve, and the shell is combined with the clutch sleeve when at least part of the convex part is positioned in the concave part.

One of the clutch sleeve and the fixing piece is provided with a limiting part, the other one is provided with an inclined part and a horizontal part which are smoothly connected, and the horizontal part is smoothly connected with the lower end of the inclined part;

when the horizontal part moves relative to the limiting part, the clutch sleeve horizontally rotates relative to the fixing part, and when the inclined part moves relative to the limiting part, the clutch sleeve rotatably ascends or rotatably descends relative to the fixing part.

The limit part is matched with the horizontal part when the refrigerator door is completely closed; the stopper portion engages the inclined portion when the resilient means is held in a maximum twisted and compressed state.

The limiting parts are two, the two limiting parts are uniformly distributed on the fixing piece, and the horizontal part and the inclined part are also two corresponding to the limiting parts.

The fixing piece is connected with a pin, and the part of the end part of the pin, which protrudes out of the fixing piece, is a limiting part.

The housing includes: the shell body is provided with an accommodating cavity with an opening at the upper end, the elastic device is positioned in the accommodating cavity, and the fixing piece penetrates through the lower end of the shell body and extends into the accommodating cavity; and an end plate connected to the upper end of the case body, the clutch sleeve being combined with or separated from the end plate.

A first step surface is arranged on the fixing piece and close to the upper end of the fixing piece, and is used for stopping the clutch sleeve from moving upwards; and a second step surface is arranged on the fixing part close to the lower end and used for stopping the limiting seat from moving upwards.

The upper end of the fixing piece penetrates through the end plate.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a refrigerator includes: a box body; the refrigerator door is connected to the refrigerator body through a door hinge, and an insertion space is arranged on the refrigerator door; the power-assisted door closing device is connected between the door hinge and the refrigerator door and is used for providing door closing power assistance when the refrigerator door is closed; the damping shell is positioned in the insertion space, is provided with a cavity with one open end, takes the cavity as a reference, and has a lower open end and an upper opposite end; the piston body is positioned in the cavity, and the piston body and the closed end of the cavity enclose a sealing cavity; and the driving mechanism is connected with the piston body and is used for driving the piston body to move upwards in the chamber in the final stage of the assisted door closing of the refrigerator door so as to compress the air in the sealing cavity to generate air resistance to enable the refrigerator door to be closed at a reduced speed.

The drive mechanism includes: the first peak is arranged on the lower end face of the piston body; the driving body is positioned at the lower end of the piston body and fixed relative to the door hinge, and a second peak is arranged on the upper end face of the driving body; in the assisting door-closing process of the refrigerator door, the piston body rotates along with the refrigerator door, and in the final stage of assisting door-closing, the first peak rotates to be opposite to the second peak and is jacked up by the second peak, and the piston body moves upwards.

The first peak part is rotated to be staggered with the second peak part, and the reset spring resets to push the piston body to move downwards so as to restore the air resistance in the sealing cavity.

The first peak and the second peak are two pairs which are uniformly distributed.

A sealing ring is arranged between the circumferential part of the piston body and the inner wall of the chamber to seal the sealing cavity.

The upper end of the damping shell is provided with a through small hole which is communicated with the sealing cavity.

A protrusion and a sliding groove which are matched with each other are arranged between the piston body and the cavity, and the protrusion can slide up and down in the sliding groove.

The helping hand closing device includes: the shell is inserted in the insertion space and is positioned at the lower end of the damping shell; the fixing piece penetrates through the shell, and two ends of the fixing piece are respectively connected with the door hinge and the driving mechanism; the elastic device is positioned in the shell and sleeved on the fixing piece, one end of the elastic device is fixedly connected with the fixing piece, and the other end of the elastic device is provided with a clutch sleeve which can rotatably lift relative to the fixing piece so as to be combined with or separated from the shell; when the refrigerator door is opened, the clutch sleeve descends in a rotating mode to be separated from the shell, and the elastic device is twisted and compressed; in the closing process of the refrigerator door, the clutch sleeve is rotated to ascend and is combined with the shell, the elastic device resets to drive the refrigerator door to close by assistance, and in the final stage of closing by assistance, the driving mechanism pushes the piston body to upwards compress the air in the sealing cavity to generate air resistance, so that the refrigerator door is closed by deceleration.

The lower end of the driving mechanism is inserted into the upper end of the fixing piece, and an anti-rotation structure is arranged at the insertion position of the driving mechanism and the fixing piece.

The shell is clamped with the damping shell.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a refrigerator includes: a box body; the refrigerator door is connected to the refrigerator body through a door hinge, and an insertion space is arranged on the refrigerator door; the power-assisted door closing device is connected between the door hinge and the refrigerator door and is used for providing door closing power assistance when the refrigerator door is in a door closing state; the damping shell is positioned in the insertion space and is provided with a cavity with an opening at one end, and the elastic ring is positioned in the damping shell and can synchronously move along with the damping shell, and the elastic ring is provided with peaks and valleys by taking the inner ring of the elastic ring as reference; the column sleeve is positioned in the center of the elastic ring and fixed relative to the door hinge, and the periphery of the column sleeve is provided with an outward convex thorn part; at the final stage of the door closing assisted by the refrigerator door, the stabbing part presses the peak to enable the elastic ring to deform to generate resistance, and the refrigerator door is decelerated to close.

The chamber is cuboid, with peaks corresponding to the faces of the chamber and valleys corresponding to the corners of the chamber.

Four thorn parts are evenly distributed on the column sleeve.

When the door is fully closed, the spine is located near the apex of the peak.

When the refrigerator door is completely closed, the elastic ring is not acted by the thorn part.

A groove is arranged in the chamber, and the part of the elastic ring is positioned in the groove.

The upper end of the cavity is provided with a mounting hole, and one end of the column sleeve, which is far away from the door hinge, is inserted into the mounting hole.

The helping hand closing device includes: a housing inserted into the insertion space; the fixing piece penetrates through the shell, and two ends of the fixing piece are respectively connected with the door hinge and the column sleeve; the elastic device is positioned in the shell and sleeved on the fixing piece, one end of the elastic device is connected with the fixing piece, the other end of the elastic device is provided with a clutch sleeve, and the clutch sleeve can rotatably lift relative to the fixing piece so as to be combined with or separated from the shell; when the refrigerator door is opened, the clutch sleeve descends in a rotating mode to be separated from the shell, and the elastic device is twisted and compressed; in the closing process of the refrigerator door, the clutch sleeve rises in a rotating mode and is combined with the shell, the elastic device resets to drive the refrigerator door to close in a power-assisted mode, the column sleeve supports against the pressure peak to enable the elastic ring to deform to generate resistance in the final stage of closing in the power-assisted mode, and the refrigerator door is closed in a speed-reducing mode.

The column sleeve is inserted in the fixing piece, and an anti-rotation structure is arranged at the insertion position of the column sleeve and the fixing piece.

The shell is clamped with the damping shell.

Drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present invention or the technical solutions in the prior art, the drawings used in the description of the embodiments or the prior art will be briefly described below, it is obvious that the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of the present invention, and for those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained according to the drawings without creative efforts.

Fig. 1 is a front view of a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention, more particularly, a view illustrating a state in which a refrigerator door is removed;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of A of FIG. 1;

fig. 3 is a perspective view of a power-assisted door closing apparatus for a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 4 is a sectional view of a power-assisted door closing apparatus for a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention

Fig. 5 is an exploded view of a power-assisted door closing apparatus of a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 6 is an exploded view of a case and an elastic means of a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 7 is a diagram of a positional relationship between an elastic means and a case in an opening process of a refrigerator door of a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 8 is a view showing a positional relationship between an elastic means and a case in an opening process of a refrigerator door of a refrigerator according to another embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 9 is an exploded view of an elastic means and a fixing member of a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 10 is an exploded sectional view of a case of a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 11 is a sectional view of a clutch sleeve of a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 12 is a front view of a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention, more particularly, a view illustrating a state where a refrigerator door is removed;

FIG. 13 is an enlarged view of B of FIG. 12;

figure 14 is a perspective view of the power-assisted door closing device and the cushioning device of figure 12;

FIG. 15 is a cross-sectional view of FIG. 14;

FIG. 16 is an exploded view of the cushioning device of FIG. 14;

FIG. 17 is a partial cross-sectional view of FIG. 15;

FIG. 18 is a perspective view of the damping shell of FIG. 14;

FIG. 19 is a state transition diagram of the power-assisted door closing device and the cushioning device during a final stage of power-assisted door closing for a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 20 is a front view of a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention, more particularly, a view illustrating a state where a refrigerator door is removed;

FIG. 21 is an enlarged view of the direction C in FIG. 20;

figure 22 is a perspective view of the power-assisted door closing device and the cushioning device of figure 20;

FIG. 23 is a cross-sectional view of FIG. 22;

FIG. 24 is an exploded view of the cushioning device of FIG. 22;

FIG. 25 is a perspective view of the damping housing of FIG. 22;

fig. 26 is a state change diagram of a column cover and an elastic ring in a final stage of the power-assisted door closing of the refrigerator according to the embodiment of the present invention;

in the above figures: a box body 1; a storage chamber 2; a refrigerator door 3; a door hinge 4; a power-assisted door closing device 5; a housing 51; a case body 511; the first portion 5111; a second portion 5112; the housing cavity 5113; an end plate 512; the convex portion 5121; a fixing member 52; a stopper 521; a through-hole 522; a first step surface 523; a second step surface 524; the elastic means 53; a spring 531; a clutch sleeve 532; a recess 5321; an inclined portion 5322; a horizontal portion 5323; a stop surface 5324; a stopper seat 533; a pin 6; a buffer device 700; a damping shell 7; a chamber 71; a sealed chamber 711; an aperture 72; a chute 73; a piston body 8; the first peak 81; the ring groove 82; a projection 83; a driving body 10; a second peak 101; a return spring 20; a seal ring 30; a fixing plate 40; a buffer 5000; a damping shell 50; a chamber 501; mounting holes 5011; the slot 5012; an elastic ring 60; a peak 601; a valley 602; a column jacket 70; the spine 701.

Detailed Description

The invention is described in detail below by way of exemplary embodiments. It should be understood, however, that elements, structures and features of one embodiment may be beneficially incorporated in other embodiments without further recitation.

Hereinafter, a refrigerator 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to fig. 1 to 11.

Fig. 1 is a front view of a refrigerator 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention, more specifically, a view showing a state where a refrigerator door 3 is removed; fig. 2 is an enlarged view of a in fig. 1.

Referring to fig. 1 and 2, the refrigerator 100 may include:

a case 1 that may include an inner case forming the storage chamber 2, an outer case coupled to an outer side of the inner case to form an external appearance, and an insulating material filled between the inner case and the outer case to insulate the storage chamber 2;

a storage chamber 2 formed in the case 1, the storage chamber 2 being divided into a plurality of spaces by partitions, and a plurality of storage containers being provided in the storage chamber 2 to store foods and the like;

a cooling air supply device (not shown) configured to supply cooling air to the storage chamber 2; the cold air supply device may generate cold air using a cooling cycle that compresses, condenses, expands, and evaporates a refrigerant;

and a refrigerator door 3 configured to open and close the storage chamber 2, the refrigerator door 3 being connected with the cabinet 1 by a door hinge 4, thereby enabling the refrigerator door 3 to be rotatably connected to the front side of the cabinet 1. When the storage chamber 2 is opened by rotating the refrigerator door 3, the refrigerator door 3 acts on the free end of the refrigerator door 3 and applies force in the direction away from the box body 1, the storage chamber 2 is exposed by rotating the refrigerator door 3, and the storage chamber 2 can be closed by acting on the refrigerator door 3 in the opposite direction; and

the door closing assisting device 5 is configured to provide door closing assisting force when the refrigerator door 3 is closed, so that the refrigerator door 3 is automatically closed, and the door closing assisting device 5 is located at the lower end of the refrigerator door 3 and is installed between the door hinge 4 and the refrigerator door 3, and in other embodiments, can also be installed at the upper end of the refrigerator door 3.

When closing the refrigerator door 3, to closing the door direction application of force in refrigerator door 3, the refrigerator door 3 can self-closing under the effect of helping hand door closing device 5, and the user needn't worry the refrigerator door 3 and do not close completely to and need always or the problem that the application of force in refrigerator door 3 can close completely many times.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the door closing assisting apparatus 5 in the refrigerator 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention; fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the door closing assisting apparatus 5 in the refrigerator 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention; fig. 5 is an exploded view of the door closing assisting apparatus 5 in the refrigerator 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention.

The power-assisted door closing apparatus 5 of the refrigerator 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention may include:

a housing 51 forming an outer body having a first portion 5111 in a rectangular parallelepiped shape and a second portion 5112 forming an "L" shape with the first portion 5111, the second portion 5112 being in a plate shape; correspondingly, a cuboid insertion space is formed in the refrigerator door 3, the first portion 5111 is installed in the insertion space, the second portion 5112 abuts against the end face of the refrigerator door 3 for connection, and the cuboid arrangement can prevent the power-assisted door closing device 5 from rotating relative to the refrigerator door 3, so that the shell 51 can rotate synchronously with the refrigerator door 3, or in the power-assisted door closing stage, the shell 51 can drive the refrigerator door 3 to rotate synchronously;

one end of the fixing piece 52 is connected with the door hinge 4, and is specifically inserted into the door hinge 4, and the other end of the fixing piece 52 is inserted into the shell 51;

the elastic device 53 is sleeved on the fixing member 52 and located in the housing 51, one end of the elastic device is connected with the clutch sleeve 532, the other end of the elastic device is fixedly connected with the fixing member 52, the end with the clutch sleeve 532 is defined as up, the end without the clutch sleeve 532 is down, that is, the lower end of the elastic device 53 is fixedly connected with the fixing member 52, the upper end is the clutch sleeve 532, the clutch sleeve 532 can rotatably ascend or rotatably descend relative to the fixing member 52, and the rotary ascending and descending is a spiral ascending and descending motion relative to the axis of the fixing member 52.

When the clutch sleeve 532 rotates to move upwards, the clutch sleeve 532 can be combined with the upper end of the shell 51, during combination, the clutch sleeve 532 can rotate together with the shell 51, and because the shell 51 is connected with the refrigerator door 3, the clutch sleeve 532 during combination can rotate together with the refrigerator door 3; the clutch sleeve 532 can be disengaged from the upper end of the housing 51 when it is rotationally lowered, in which case the clutch sleeve 532 no longer follows the movement of the housing 51, that is to say the clutch sleeve 532 does not rotate with the refrigerator door 3.

When the refrigerator door 3 is completely closed, the clutch sleeve 532 is in a combined state with the shell 51, in the process of rotating the refrigerator door 3 and opening the storage chamber 2, the clutch sleeve 532 is driven by the shell 51 to rotate, the elastic device 53 is twisted, the clutch sleeve 532 rotates downwards to be separated from the shell 51, the clutch sleeve 532 does not move along with the shell 51 any more, and the elastic potential energy of the elastic device 53 is stored;

in the process that the refrigerator door 3 rotates reversely and the storage chamber 2 is closed, the shell 51 rotates reversely along with the refrigerator door 3 and is separated from the clutch sleeve 532, and the elastic device 53 resets and releases elastic potential energy to drive the refrigerator door 3 to be closed automatically.

In the power-assisted door closing device 5 of the refrigerator 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention, the clutch sleeve 532 may be combined with or separated from the housing 51, so that it may be designed that the clutch sleeve 532 is combined with the housing 51 to drive the elastic device 53 to twist at an early stage of an opening process of the refrigerator door 3, the clutch sleeve 532 is separated from the housing 51 at a later stage of the opening process of the refrigerator door, correspondingly, the housing 51 is separated from the clutch sleeve 532 at the early stage of a closing process of the refrigerator door 3, and the housing 51 is combined with the clutch sleeve 532 at the later stage of the closing process of the refrigerator door, and the elastic device 53 is reset to drive the refrigerator door 3 to automatically rotate and close.

In the prior art, a cam structure is used for compressing a spring, the automatic closing of the refrigerator door 3 is realized by converting gravitational potential energy of the spring into kinetic energy, the force provided by the conversion between the gravitational potential energy and the kinetic energy is small, and the cam structure moves relatively in the whole course when the refrigerator door 3 is opened and closed, so that the cam is greatly abraded; in order to have a large door-closing force, a spring with a larger elastic coefficient is required, and the acting force of the relative movement between the cams is increased, so that the wear of the cams is further accelerated. The cam structure is ground flat after being used for a period of time, the automatic door closing capability is gradually lost, and the use experience of a user is greatly influenced.

The power-assisted door closing device 5 of the refrigerator 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention realizes power-assisted door closing by the energy storage form of the torsion elastic device 53, the torsion force is the same as the rotation direction of the refrigerator door 3, the door closing force is easy to satisfy, the clutch sleeve 532 does not need to move in the whole process, the abrasion degree is reduced, and the durability is better.

Referring to fig. 6, the coupling between the housing 51 and the clutch sleeve 532 is realized by the convex portion 5121 and the concave portion 5321 which are mutually matched, the convex portion 5121 is arranged on the inner wall of the upper end of the housing 51, the concave portion 5321 is arranged at the top end of the clutch sleeve 532, the housing 51 and the clutch sleeve 532 are coupled when at least part of the convex portion 5121 is positioned in the concave portion 5321, and the housing 51 and the clutch sleeve 532 are separated when the lower surface of the convex portion 5121 and the upper surface of the clutch sleeve 532 are positioned on the same plane.

During the opening rotation of the refrigerator door 3, the concave portion 5321 moves downwards relative to the convex portion 5121 to separate the clutch sleeve 532 from the housing 51, and during the process of closing the refrigerator door 3 with the assistance, the concave portion 5321 moves upwards relative to the convex portion 5121 to combine the clutch sleeve 532 with the housing 51.

It will be appreciated that the male portion 5121 may be disposed on the clutch sleeve 532 and the female portion 5321 may be disposed on the housing 51 in the same manner as described above and will not be described further herein.

Referring to fig. 7, the rotary lifting motion of the clutch sleeve 532 relative to the fixing member 52 can be realized by the matching position-limiting portion 521 and the inclined portion 5322, the inclined portion 5322 is arranged on the clutch sleeve 532, the position-limiting portion 521 is arranged on the fixing member 52, the position-limiting portion 521 is matched with the inclined portion 5322, and the clutch sleeve 532 can be rotatably lifted relative to the fixing member 52 due to the limitation of the position-limiting portion 521.

It is understood that the inclined portion 5322 may be provided on the fixture 52 and the limiting portion 521 may be provided on the clutch sleeve 532, and the principle is the same as above, and thus the description thereof is omitted.

The height of the limiting part 521 moving in the up-down direction relative to the inclined part 5322 is equal to the maximum distance L of the recess 5321 descending relative to the projection 5121, which is also the compression length of the elastic device 53, and the central angle α of the horizontal projection of the inclined part 5322 is equal to the rotation angle of the clutch sleeve 532 in the rotary lifting process, that is, the torsion angle of the elastic device 53 in the rotary lifting process.

In fig. 7, the dashed arrows outside the frame indicate the state changes of the elastic means 53 and the housing 51 during the opening of the refrigerator door 3, and the dashed arrows inside the frame indicate the moving directions of the housing 51 and the clutch sleeve 532; at the initial stage of door opening, the convex part 5121 is positioned in the concave part 5321, the clutch sleeve 532 is driven by the shell 51 to rotate together, under the matching of the limiting part 521 and the inclined part 5322, the clutch sleeve 532 rotates and moves downwards at the same time until the convex part 5121 is disengaged from the concave part 5321, at this stage, the elastic device 53 is driven by the clutch sleeve 532 to be twisted and compressed, then the shell 51 can continuously rotate and open for a certain angle, the clutch sleeve 532 cannot perform resetting action due to the limitation of the limiting part 521, and the elastic potential energy of the elastic device 53 is stored;

procedure for rotational closing of the refrigerator door 3: the force is applied to the refrigerator door 3 in the reverse direction according to the arrow in fig. 7, the refrigerator door 3 rotates a certain angle to be opposite to the convex portion 5121 and the concave portion 5321, under the ascending and resetting action of the elastic device 53, the clutch sleeve 532 moves upward to enable the convex portion 5121 to be located in the concave portion 5321, and under the twisting and resetting action of the elastic device 53, the clutch sleeve 532 drives the housing 51 to continue rotating, and the refrigerator door 3 is automatically closed.

When the inclined portion 5322 moves relative to the limiting portion 521, the limiting portion 521 pushes the inclined portion 5322 to move downward, so that an acting force is generated between the limiting portion 521 and the inclined portion 5322, and the risk of abrasion is caused after long-term use. In order to ensure that the elastic means 53 has sufficient torsional force to automatically close the refrigerator door 3, α in the inclined portion 5322 needs to be set large, so that the stroke of the stopper portion 521 acting on the inclined portion 5322 is large, and the wear is increased even after a long time use.

In order to satisfy the requirement of a small contact area between the stopper 521 and the inclined portion 5322 while securing the torsional force of the elastic means 53, the following concept is provided:

referring to fig. 8 and 11, the clutch sleeve 532 is further provided with a horizontal portion 5323, and the horizontal portion 5323 is smoothly connected to the lower end of the inclined portion 5322 and forms an obtuse angle with the inclined portion 5322. The stopper 521 can slide smoothly between the horizontal portion 5323 and the inclined portion 5322. In the initial stage of opening the refrigerator door 3, the clutch sleeve 532 rotates along with the housing 51, the horizontal portion 5323 rotates horizontally relative to the limiting portion 521, the elastic device 53 is twisted and deformed, the clutch sleeve 532 rotates until the inclined portion 5322 is matched with the limiting portion 521, and then the clutch sleeve 532 rotates and descends, and the clutch sleeve 532 is gradually separated from the housing 51.

The horizontal portion 5323 can allow the elastic device 53 to twist at an early stage of opening the refrigerator door 3, thereby providing a large restoring twisting force during the process of automatically closing the refrigerator door 3 to ensure the automatic closing of the refrigerator door 3. Because the elastic device 53 has torsional force in the stage that the horizontal part 5323 rotates relative to the limiting part 521 in the early stage of opening and rotating the refrigerator door 3, more elastic torsional force does not need to be stored in the later stage of matching the inclined part 5322 with the limiting part 521, because the alpha can be set to be smaller, the movement stroke of the limiting part 521 relative to the inclined part 5322 is smaller, and the contact wear is reduced; when the horizontal portion 5323 of the clutch sleeve 532 moves relative to the limiting portion 521, the clutch sleeve 532 is mainly supported by the elastic device 53 and rotates along with the housing 51, and no interaction force exists between the horizontal portion 5323 and the limiting portion 521, so that abrasion is avoided.

For example, the central angle of the horizontal portion 5323 is 45 °, the process of rotating the refrigerator door 3 to open:

at the beginning, the refrigerator door 3 is completely closed, the limiting part 521 is located at one end of the horizontal part 5323 far away from the inclined part 5322, the housing 51 drives the clutch sleeve 532 to rotate 45 degrees along with the opening of the refrigerator door 3, as shown in fig. 8, the limiting part 521 is located in the horizontal part 5323, and the elastic device 53 is only twisted;

the refrigerator door 3 is continuously opened, the inclined part 5322 rotates and descends from the lower end of the inclined part 5322 in a matched manner with the limiting part 521 until the limiting part 521 is positioned at the upper end of the inclined part 5322, at the moment, the clutch sleeve 532 is separated from the shell 51, and the elastic device 53 is in a maximum torsion and compression state;

the refrigerator door 3 can be opened continuously for a certain angle, the clutch sleeve 532 and the elastic device 53 are kept unchanged, and the elastic potential energy of the elastic device 53 is stored.

The process of the refrigerator door 3 rotating closing is opposite to the opening process, and the refrigerator door 3 is driven to be automatically closed under the reset action of the elastic device 53 at the later stage of door closing.

In the whole process, the relative movement stroke of the limiting part 521 and the inclined part 5322 is short, so that the abrasion of the limiting part 521 and the inclined part is greatly reduced, and the use durability of the refrigerator 100 is improved.

Referring to fig. 9, the fixing member 52 is provided with a transverse through hole 522, an axis of the through hole 522 intersects with an axis of the fixing member 52, the pin 6 is assembled in the through hole 522, an end of the pin 6 protrudes out of the fixing member 52, and a protruding portion of the pin 6 on the fixing member 52 is a limiting portion 521;

the inclined portion 5322 can be designed as an inclined groove or a spiral curved groove, which can realize the lifting movement of the clutch sleeve 532 relative to the fixing member 52, and the horizontal portion 5323 is a transverse arc-shaped groove; the pin 6 may be inserted into the horizontal portion 5323 and the inclined portion 5322.

The two ends of the pin 6 protrude from the fixing member 52, that is, the two limiting portions 521 are provided, and correspondingly, the two inclined portions 5322 and the two horizontal portions 5323 are provided, and the two pairs of arrangements can ensure the smoothness of the movement of the clutch sleeve 532 relative to the fixing member 52.

Referring to fig. 10, the case 51 includes a case body 511 and an end plate 512;

a housing body 511 having an accommodating chamber 5113 with an open upper end, the lower end of the housing body 511 having a closing plate, the upper end of the fixing member 52 passing through the closing plate into the accommodating chamber 5113; the elastic device 53 is arranged on the fixing piece 52 in a penetrating way and is positioned in the accommodating cavity 5113;

an end plate 512 connected to an upper end of the case body 511, and a clutch sleeve 532 may be coupled to or separated from a lower end of the end plate 512.

Divide into shell body 511 and end plate 512 with casing 51 and can make things convenient for resilient means 53 to pack into and hold the chamber 5113 in, can make things convenient for helping hand door closing device 5 to assemble into a whole through casing 51, only need insert the insertion space of refrigerator door 3 with the upper end of the helping hand door closing device 5 of integral type in, the mounting 52 expose the lower extreme of casing 51 insert on door hinge 4 can, the dismouting is very convenient.

As shown in fig. 4, the elastic device 53 includes a clutch sleeve 532, a spring 531 and a stopper seat 533, wherein the upper end of the spring 531 is connected to the clutch sleeve 532, and the lower end of the spring 531 is connected to the stopper seat 533; the clutch sleeve 532, the spring 531 and the limiting seat 533 are all arranged on the fixing piece 52 in a penetrating way.

As shown in fig. 4, 9 and 11, the inner cavity of the clutch sleeve 532 has two holes, one large hole and one small hole, a stepped stop surface 5324 is formed at the joint of the two holes, and the horizontal portion 5323 and the inclined portion 5322 are positioned on the side wall of the large hole; the fixing member 52 is provided with a first step surface 523 near the upper end thereof, in an initial state of the power-assisted door closing device 5, the stop surface 5324 abuts against the first step surface 523, and the first step surface 523 can limit the clutch sleeve 532 from continuing to move upwards.

In addition, during assembly, when the clutch sleeve 532 is assembled to abut against the first step surface 523, the clutch sleeve 532 can be positioned, and the subsequent assembly of inserting the pin 6 into the clutch sleeve 532 and the fixing piece 52 is facilitated.

A second step surface 524 is arranged on the fixing part 52 near the lower end, the second step surface 524 abuts against the upper surface of the limiting seat 533 and can limit the limiting seat 533 to move upwards, and in the assembling position, the lower surface of the limiting seat 533 abuts against the closing plate and the closing plate can limit the limiting seat 533 to move downwards; the anti-rotation plane is further arranged between the limiting seat 533 and the fixing piece 52, so that the limiting seat 533 can be prevented from horizontally rotating relative to the fixing piece 52; accordingly, the stopper seat 533 is fixed in position with respect to the fixing member 52, and the lower end of the spring 531 is connected to the stopper seat 533 and is also fixed in position.

Hereinafter, a refrigerator 200 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Description of the same configuration as the above-described configuration will be omitted.

(air damping type buffer device 700)

When the door closing assisting device 5 provides assisting force to automatically close the refrigerator door 3, since the door closing speed is fast and the refrigerator 200 may impact the refrigerator body 1 in the final stage of door closing, as shown in fig. 12-14, the refrigerator 200 further includes a buffering device 700, and the buffering device 700 may provide air damping in the final stage of door closing assisting to slow down the door closing speed.

As shown in fig. 15 to 17, the buffer device 700 includes:

a damping case 7 installed in the insertion space of the refrigerator door 3, the damping case 7 having a rectangular shape corresponding to the insertion space and rotating together with the refrigerator door 3, the damping case 7 having a chamber 71 having an opening at one end therein, the chamber 71 having a cylindrical shape;

the piston body 8 is positioned in the chamber 71 and forms a sealing cavity 711 with the closed end of the chamber 71, and the piston body 8 can reciprocate up and down relative to the damping shell 7;

and the driving mechanism is connected with the piston body 8 and is positioned at the lower end of the piston body 8, and drives the piston body 8 to move upwards to compress the air in the sealing cavity 711 to generate air resistance to enable the refrigerator door 3 to be decelerated and closed in the final stage of assisting the door closing of the refrigerator door 3.

During the opening and closing of the refrigerator door 3, the piston body 8 rotates along with the damping case 7.

Helping hand closing device 5 provides the helping hand and makes the automatic earlier stage of closing the door of refrigerator 3, and piston body 8 only carries out rotary motion, and the volume of seal chamber 711 remains unchanged, and to the final stage of automatic closing the door, actuating mechanism promotes the air in the 8 upward movement compression seal chamber 711 of piston body and then produces air resistance, and air resistance makes the speed of closing the door of refrigerator door 3 slow down, has alleviateed the automatic impact of closing the door of refrigerator door 3 with box 1.

The refrigerator 200 according to the embodiment of the present invention slows down the door closing speed of the refrigerator door 3 by generating air damping in the power-assisted door closing process, thereby reducing the impact of the door closing moment and the refrigerator body 1, and the structural form is relatively simple.

The refrigerator 200 of the embodiment of the invention can provide damping in variable stages, the volume of the sealing cavity 711 is not changed in a larger angle in the early stage of power-assisted door closing, the damping force is almost zero, and air damping is generated in the last stage of power-assisted door closing to slow down the door closing speed and reduce the door closing impact.

The driving mechanism is realized by a mechanical structure, and as shown in fig. 16, the driving mechanism includes a first peak 81 provided on the lower end surface of the piston body 8, and a driving body 10; the upper surface of the driving body 10 is provided with a second peak 101, and the driving body 10 is fixed with respect to the door hinge 4.

When the first peak 81 and the second peak 101 are staggered, the volume of the sealing cavity 711 is V1, when the first peak 81 and the second peak 101 face each other up and down, the piston body 8 is jacked up by the second peak 101 to move upward relative to the damping shell 7, the volume in the sealing cavity 711 becomes V2, V2 < V1, and the air in the sealing cavity 711 is compressed to generate air damping.

The first crest 81 and the second crest 101 have two pairs, and keep the piston body 8 balanced in up-and-down movement when the two move relatively.

The piston body 8 rotates along with the damping shell 7, the first peak 81 and the second peak 101 are staggered at a large angle, the volume of the sealing cavity 711 is kept unchanged, and the air damping force is nearly zero; when the door is closed at the last stage, the first peak 81 is jacked up by the second peak 101, the volume of the sealing cavity 711 is reduced, air is compressed to generate air damping force, and the door closing speed is slowed down; thereupon, the first peak 81 is displaced from the second peak 101, and the piston body 8 is moved downward and is reset.

The first peak 81 and the second peak 101 can be set steeper, so that the damping force is raised rapidly at the final stage of closing the door, thereby avoiding the problem of "slamming" of the refrigerator door 3 at the final collision with the cabinet 1, and not affecting the door closing speed at the early stage of closing the door.

The buffer device 700 further comprises a return spring 20, the return spring 20 is arranged in the sealing cavity 711, the upper end of the return spring 20 abuts against the inner wall of the upper end of the damping shell 7, and the lower end of the return spring 20 abuts against the piston body 8;

when the piston body 8 is jacked up by the driving body 10, the return spring 20 is compressed by the piston body 8, then the first peak 81 rotates to be staggered with the second peak 101, the return spring 20 resets to enable the piston body 8 to rapidly descend to the original position, air damping is recovered, and therefore the arrangement of the return spring 20 can achieve rapid reduction after the damping force is lifted, and continuous work of the buffer device 700 is guaranteed.

A sealing ring 30 is arranged between the circumference of the piston body 8 and the inside of the chamber 71, so that the sealing cavity 711 can be sealed, air leakage is avoided, and the durability of the buffer device 700 is ensured.

The piston body 8 is provided with a ring-shaped groove 82 on the periphery thereof, and the seal ring 30 is fitted into the ring-shaped groove 82. In the assembled position, the inner wall of the chamber 71 presses against the sealing ring 30 to effect a seal.

As shown in fig. 17, a through small hole 72 is formed at the upper end of the damping shell 7, the small hole 72 is communicated with the sealing cavity 711, and the size of the damping force can be adjusted by setting the size of the small hole 72, so that the optimal door closing experience is realized.

The synchronous rotation of the piston body 8 and the damping shell 7 is realized through the matched protrusion 83 and the sliding groove 73, as shown in fig. 16, the protrusion 83 is arranged on the circumference of the piston body 8, as shown in fig. 18, the sliding groove 73 is arranged on the damping shell 7, the synchronous rotation of the piston body 8 and the damping shell 7 is ensured through the matching of the protrusion 83 and the sliding groove 73, meanwhile, the protrusion 83 can slide up and down in the sliding groove 73, and the balance stability of the up-and-down sliding of the piston body 8 is ensured.

The buffer device 700 and the power-assisted door closing device 5 are connected in series to be used as a whole, the clutch sleeve 532 descends in a rotating mode to be separated from the shell 51 and the elastic device 53 is compressed in a twisting mode in the opening process of the refrigerator door 3;

when the refrigerator door 3 is closed, the clutch sleeve 532 rises in a rotating manner to be combined with the shell 51, and the elastic device 53 resets to drive the refrigerator door 3 to close by assistance;

in the early stage of assisting door closing, the piston body 8 rotates along with the damping shell 7, the upper position and the lower position are kept unchanged, and the damping force is nearly zero;

in the final stage of the power-assisted door closing, as shown in fig. 19, the dashed straight line arrow indicates the state change sequence, the dashed curved arrow indicates the rotation direction, the driving mechanism pushes the piston body 8 upwards to compress the air in the sealing chamber 711 to generate air resistance, the refrigerator door 3 is decelerated to close, then the piston body 8 is reset downwards, and the damping force is reduced to prepare for the next cycle.

The power-assisted door closing device 5 realizes large-angle power-assisted closing of the refrigerator door 3 by adopting a mode of storing and releasing torsional potential energy of the elastic device 53, has the characteristic of large power-assisted force and avoids the problem that the refrigerator door 3 is not firmly closed after being used for a long time; the buffer device 700 adopts variable-stage air damping, so that the refrigerator door 3 is decelerated at the final stage of closing the refrigerator door 3, the impact generated by continuously accelerating closing of the refrigerator door 3 is avoided, and better use experience is provided for a user; the door closing assisting device 5 and the buffering device 700 make the refrigerator door 3 close even if the speed is reduced, and the phenomenon of clamping stagnation can not occur.

The damping shell 7 is connected with the shell 51 to connect the buffer device 700 to the upper end of the power-assisted door closing device 5, and the power-assisted door closing device 5 and the buffer device 700 are connected into an integral component, so that the assembly and the disassembly of the power-assisted door closing device 5 in the refrigerator door 3 are facilitated.

As shown in fig. 15 and 16, the lower end of the driving body 10 is fitted on the fixing plate 40, so that the position of the driving body 10 relative to the damping shell 7 in the horizontal direction can be determined, and the fixing plate 40 has a positioning function.

During assembly, the driving body 10 of the buffering device 700 is inserted into the fixing member 52, and the damping shell 7 is pressed downwards to enable the damping shell 7 to be clamped on the shell body 51, so that the assembly operation is very simple.

In addition, the insertion portion of the driving body 10 and the fixing member 52 is provided with an anti-rotation structure, for example, a key and a key groove, or an adaptive anti-rotation plane between the driving body 10 and the fixing member 52, so as to ensure that the driving body 10 is kept fixed relative to the fixing member 52.

Hereinafter, a refrigerator 300 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described. Description of the same configuration as the above-described configuration will be omitted.

(elastic damping type buffer 5000)

When the door closing assisting device 5 provides assisting force to automatically close the refrigerator door 3, since the door closing speed is fast and the refrigerator 300 may impact the refrigerator body 1 in the final stage of door closing, as shown in fig. 20 to 23, the refrigerator 300 further includes a buffer device 5000, and the buffer device 5000 may provide elastic resistance in the final stage of door closing assisting to slow down the door closing speed.

Referring to fig. 23 and 24, the damper 5000 includes:

a damping case 50 installed in an insertion space of the refrigerator door 3, the damping case 50 having a rectangular parallelepiped shape corresponding to the insertion space and rotating together with the refrigerator door 3, the damping case 50 having a chamber 501 having one open end therein;

the elastic ring 60 is positioned in the damping shell 50 and can move synchronously along with the damping shell 50, and the elastic ring 60 has peaks 601 and valleys 602 by taking the inner ring of the elastic ring 60 as a reference;

the column sleeve 70 is inserted in the center of the elastic ring 60, the column sleeve 70 is fixed relative to the box body 1, the periphery of the column sleeve 70 is provided with a thorn part 701 protruding outwards, and the thorn part 701 is pressed against the peak 601 when contacting the peak 601, so that the elastic ring 60 deforms to generate resistance.

The upper end of the chamber 501 is provided with a mounting hole 5011, the upper end of the column sleeve 70 is inserted into the mounting hole 5011, and the other end of the column sleeve 70 is fixedly connected with the door hinge 4.

The power-assisted door closing device 5 provides power to enable the refrigerator door 3 to be automatically closed in the early stage, the elastic ring 60 rotates along with the damping shell 50, the barbed portion 701 of the column sleeve 70 does not abut against the elastic ring 60, and in the final stage of power-assisted door closing, the barbed portion 701 abuts against the peak 601 of the elastic ring 60 to enable the elastic ring 60 to deform to generate resistance, so that the door closing speed of the refrigerator door 3 is reduced, and the impact of the automatic door closing of the refrigerator door 3 on the refrigerator body 1 is reduced.

In the power-assisted door closing process, the refrigerator 300 of the embodiment of the invention slows down the door closing speed of the refrigerator door 3 in the form of generating elastic damping, so that the impact between the door closing moment and the refrigerator body 1 is relieved, and the structural form is simpler;

the variable stage damping can be set, the thorn part 701 does not contact with the elastic ring 60 in a larger angle in the early stage of the power-assisted door closing, the damping force is almost zero, the elastic resistance is generated in the last stage of the power-assisted door closing to slow down the door closing speed and reduce the door closing impact, and compared with the phenomenon that the door closing speed is slowed down in the whole process of the power-assisted door closing in the prior art, the refrigerator 300 can quickly close the door in the early stage of the power-assisted door closing and only slow down the door closing in the last stage.

In the initial assembly position of the damper 5000 (the refrigerator door 3 is in the fully closed state), the spine 701 is located near the apex of the peak 601, that is, the spine 701 is angularly displaced from the apex of the peak 601. Conversely, the top of the peak 601 of the refrigerator door 3 abuts against the spine 701 before the refrigerator door 3 is completely closed, and the refrigerator door 3 is completely closed when the refrigerator door is rotated to be out of alignment with the spine 701.

At the final stage that 3 helping hands of refrigerator door were closed the door, elastic ring 60 is rotatory along with damping shell 50, the summit and thorn portion 701 of peak 601 are relative, produce a great resistance rapidly, make refrigerator door 3 slow down, elastic ring 60 continues to rotate certain angle, the summit and the thorn portion 701 of peak 601 stagger, the resistance reduces rapidly, the resistance is overcome to helping hands closing device 5's the elasticity that resets, guarantee that refrigerator 300 can close completely, avoided refrigerator door 3 to send the problem of "slamming" ground one sound at last with 1 collision of box, do not influence the door-closing speed of the early stage of closing the door again.

In the initial assembly position of the buffering device 5000, the elastic ring 60 is not compressed by the thorn 701, so that the elastic ring 60 is prevented from being continuously compressed, plastic deformation is generated, the damping effect is reduced, and the service life is prolonged.

The cavity 501 of the damping shell 50 is rectangular, the elastic ring 60 has four peaks 601 and four valleys 602, each peak 601 corresponds to one side of the cavity 501, and each valley 602 corresponds to one corner of the cavity 501, so that the assembly of the elastic ring 60 relative to the damping shell 50 is facilitated. Four stabbing parts 701 are uniformly distributed on the column sleeve 70 and correspond to the four peaks 601, so that the uniformity of resistance generation can be guaranteed.

90 degrees are formed between adjacent peaks 601 on the elastic ring 60, and the power-assisted door closing device 5 can be set to act within the range of 90 degrees of the last door closing, so that the spine 701 does not abut against the elastic ring 60 in the early stage of power-assisted door closing, the door closing resistance of the buffer device 5000 to the refrigerator door 3 is nearly zero, and the spine 701 abuts against the peaks 601 to generate resistance in the last stage of power-assisted door closing. In the whole power-assisted door closing process, the door closing resistance is generated only in the final stage, and the door closing speed of the refrigerator door 3 in the early stage of power-assisted door closing can not be influenced.

As shown in fig. 25, the cavity 501 of the damping shell 50 is provided with a groove 5012, and the elastic ring 60 is positioned in the groove 5012, so that the position of the elastic ring 60 in the cavity 501 can be limited and the elastic ring 60 can be ensured to rotate along with the damping shell 50.

The buffering device 5000 and the power-assisted door closing device 5 are connected in series to be used as a whole, the clutch sleeve 532 descends in a rotating mode to be separated from the shell 51 and the elastic device 53 is compressed in a twisting mode in the opening process of the refrigerator door 3;

in the early stage of assisting door closing, the elastic ring 60 rotates along with the damping shell 50, the thorn part 701 on the column sleeve 70 has no acting force on the elastic ring 60, and the door closing resistance is nearly zero;

at the final stage of the power-assisted door closing, fig. 26 shows a state change diagram at the final stage of the power-assisted door closing, a dashed straight line arrow indicates a state change sequence, a dashed curve arrow indicates a rotation direction, a peak 601 of the elastic ring 60 is pressed by the thorn part 701 of the column sleeve 70 to deform to generate resistance, the refrigerator door 3 is decelerated to close, then the elastic ring 60 continues to rotate, the resistance is reduced, the restoring force of the elastic device 53 overcomes the resistance, and the refrigerator door 3 is completely closed.

The power-assisted door closing device 5 realizes large-angle power-assisted closing of the refrigerator door 3 by adopting a mode of storing and releasing torsional potential energy of the elastic device 53, has the characteristic of large power-assisted force and avoids the problem that the refrigerator door 3 is not firmly closed after being used for a long time; the buffer device 5000 can generate resistance in variable stages, so that the refrigerator door 3 is decelerated in the final stage of closing the refrigerator door 3, impact caused by continuous accelerated closing of the refrigerator door 3 is avoided, and better use experience is provided for a user; the power-assisted door closing device 5 and the buffer device 5000 realize that the refrigerator door 3 can still be closed at the speed reduction without clamping stagnation.

The damping shell 50 is connected with the shell 51 to connect the buffer 5000 at one end of the power-assisted door closing device 5, and the power-assisted door closing device 5 and the buffer 5000 are connected into an integral component, so that the assembly and the disassembly of the power-assisted door closing device 5 on the refrigerator door 3 are facilitated.

Referring to fig. 23 and 24, the lower end of the column sleeve 70 is sleeved on the fixing plate 40, so that the position of the column sleeve 70 relative to the center of the damping shell 50 can be determined, and the fixing plate 40 has a positioning function on the column sleeve 70.

During assembly, only the column sleeve 70 of the buffer device 5000 needs to be inserted onto the fixing piece 52, and the damping shell 50 is pressed downwards to enable the damping shell 50 to be clamped onto the shell 51, so that the assembly operation is very simple.

In addition, the insertion portion of the column sleeve 70 and the fixing member 52 is provided with an anti-rotation structure, for example, a key and a key groove, or a form of an adaptive anti-rotation plane is provided between the column sleeve 70 and the fixing member 52, so as to ensure that the column sleeve 70 is kept fixed relative to the fixing member 52.

In the description of the present invention, it is to be understood that the terms "center", "upper", "lower", "front", "rear", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "top", "bottom", "inner", "outer", and the like indicate orientations or positional relationships based on those shown in the drawings, and are only for convenience of description and simplicity of description, and do not indicate or imply that the referenced devices or elements must have a particular orientation, be constructed and operated in a particular orientation, and thus, are not to be construed as limiting the present invention.

The terms "first", "second" and "first" are used for descriptive purposes only and are not to be construed as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of technical features indicated. Thus, a feature defined as "first" or "second" may explicitly or implicitly include one or more of that feature.

In the description of the present invention, it should be noted that, unless otherwise explicitly specified or limited, the terms "mounted," "connected," and "connected" are to be construed broadly, e.g., as meaning either a fixed connection, a removable connection, or an integral connection; they may be connected directly or indirectly through intervening media, or they may be interconnected between two elements. The specific meanings of the above terms in the present invention can be understood in specific cases to those skilled in the art.

The above description is only for the specific embodiments of the present invention, but the scope of the present invention is not limited thereto, and any person skilled in the art can easily conceive of the changes or substitutions within the technical scope of the present invention, and the changes or substitutions should be covered within the scope of the present invention. Therefore, the protection scope of the present invention shall be subject to the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A refrigerator is characterized by comprising

A box body and a refrigerator door;

the door hinge is connected between the refrigerator body and the refrigerator door so as to realize the rotary connection of the refrigerator door relative to the refrigerator body;

the fixing piece is connected with the door hinge;

the shell is connected with the refrigerator door and sleeved on the fixing piece;

the elastic device is positioned in the shell and sleeved on the fixing piece, one end of the elastic device is fixedly connected with the fixing piece, the other end of the elastic device is provided with a clutch sleeve, the elastic device is defined that one end with the clutch sleeve is arranged on the elastic device, the other end is arranged on the elastic device, and the clutch sleeve can rotatably lift relative to the fixing piece so as to be combined with or separated from the shell;

in the opening process of the refrigerator door, the clutch sleeve is combined with the shell to be separated from the shell, and the elastic device is twisted and compressed; in the closing process of the refrigerator door, the elastic device resets to drive the refrigerator door to close.

2. The refrigerator of claim 1, wherein mating protrusions and recesses are provided between the housing and the clutch sleeve, the housing engaging the clutch sleeve when at least a portion of the protrusions are within the recesses.

3. The refrigerator according to claim 1,

one of the clutch sleeve and the fixing piece is provided with a limiting part, and the other one is provided with an inclined part and a horizontal part which are smoothly connected, wherein the horizontal part is smoothly connected with the lower end of the inclined part;

4. The refrigerator according to claim 3, wherein the stopper portion is engaged with the horizontal portion when the refrigerator door is completely closed; the stopper portion engages with the inclined portion when the resilient means is held in a maximum twisted and compressed state.

5. The refrigerator of claim 3, wherein the stopper portion has two, and two stopper portions are uniformly distributed on the fixing member, and the horizontal portion and the inclined portion have two corresponding to the stopper portion.

6. The refrigerator as claimed in claim 3, wherein the fixing member is connected with a pin, and a portion of the end of the pin protruding from the fixing member is the limiting portion.

7. The refrigerator according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the housing comprises:

the shell body is provided with an accommodating cavity with an opening at the upper end, the elastic device is positioned in the accommodating cavity, and the fixing piece penetrates through the lower end of the shell body and extends into the accommodating cavity; and

and the end plate is connected to the upper end of the shell body, and the clutch sleeve can be combined with or separated from the end plate.

8. The refrigerator according to claim 7, wherein the elastic means comprises:

the clutch sleeve;

the upper end of the spring is connected with the clutch sleeve; and

the limiting seat is connected with the lower end of the spring and is blocked by the inner wall of the lower end of the shell body so as to limit the limiting seat to move downwards; an anti-rotation plane is arranged between the limiting seat and the fixing piece.

9. The refrigerator as claimed in claim 8, wherein the fixing member is provided with a first step surface near an upper end thereof for stopping the clutch sleeve from moving upward; and a second step surface is arranged on the fixing part close to the lower end and used for stopping the limiting seat from moving upwards.

10. The refrigerator of claim 7, wherein an upper end of the fixing member is penetrated through the end plate.