CN113738207A

CN113738207A - Hinge structure and refrigerator

Info

Publication number: CN113738207A
Application number: CN202010477247.8A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 纪璇; 张�浩
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: 2020-05-29
Filing date: 2020-05-29
Publication date: 2021-12-03
Anticipated expiration: 2040-05-29
Also published as: CN113738207B

Abstract

The invention provides a hinge structure and a refrigerator, wherein the hinge structure comprises: a rotating shaft connected to the first member; a hinge mount connected to the second member, the first member being movable relative to the second member; the abutting part is rotatably arranged on the hinge seat; the buffer piece is connected to the abutting part to buffer the movement of the abutting part; the cam is configured to be in transmission connection with the rotating shaft and is provided with a plurality of sections of contact curved surfaces used for being in contact with the abutting parts; the abutting part is provided with a concave part, and the cam is configured to rotate in the concave part; the rotating shaft is rotatably connected with the hinge seat so as to support the first component to move relative to the second component around the rotating shaft; the abutting part enables or hinders the first component to move relative to the second component through at least two sections of contact curved surfaces of the contact cam; the buffer member is configured to be pressed into a delay state and a buffer state so as to delay and provide buffer for the abutting part.

Description

Hinge structure and refrigerator

Technical Field

The invention relates to a hinge connection technology of furniture and household appliances, in particular to a hinge structure and a refrigerator.

Background

The conventional hinge structure determines a rotation center of a door or window or the like through a hinge shaft and realizes rotation of the door or window with respect to a furniture main body or the like. The hinge structure is simple in structure, cannot realize closing preset actions, for example, cannot realize actions such as stopping at any time, automatic closing, damping closing and the like, and is single in function.

Disclosure of Invention

It is an object of the present invention to overcome at least one of the above problems and to provide a novel hinge structure.

Another object of the present invention is to integrate multiple functions into the hinge structure, thereby improving its utility.

A further object of the present invention is to make the opening and closing operation of the hinge structure smooth and stable.

It is another further object of the present invention to save effort in the operation of rotating the parts to which the hinge structures are attached.

It is still a further object of the present invention to provide a refrigerator having a hinge structure integrating various functions.

In particular, the present invention provides a hinge structure comprising:

a rotating shaft connected to the first member;

a hinge mount connected to a second member, the first member being movable relative to the second member;

the abutting part is rotatably arranged on the hinge seat;

the buffer piece is connected to the abutting part so as to buffer the movement of the abutting part;

the cam is configured to be in transmission connection with the rotating shaft and is provided with a plurality of sections of contact curved surfaces used for being in contact with the abutting parts; wherein

The abutting portion has a recess, and the cam is configured to rotate in the recess;

the rotating shaft is rotatably connected to the hinge seat so as to support the first component to move around the rotating shaft relative to the second component;

the abutment portion urges or resists movement of the first component relative to the second component by contacting at least two sections of curved contact surfaces of the cam; and

the buffer piece is configured to be pressed into a delay state and a buffer state so as to delay and provide buffer for the abutting part.

Optionally, the abutting portion includes a first abutting portion and a second abutting portion connected to each other for synchronous rotation, a connection point of the first abutting portion and the second abutting portion is a rotation axis center of the abutting portion, and the hinge structure further includes:

a power accumulating member configured to be rotatably connected with the first abutting portion to cause or hinder the cam to rotate through the first abutting portion; and is

The buffer member is configured to be rotatably connected with the second abutting portion so as to hinder the cam from rotating through the second abutting portion; and

the cam is rotationally arranged between the first abutting portion and the second abutting portion and keeps in contact with the first abutting portion and the second abutting portion continuously in the rotating process.

Optionally, the plurality of sections of contact curved surfaces comprise a hovering section curved surface, a power section curved surface and a balance section curved surface;

the power section curved surface is arranged close to the first abutting part, the balance section curved surface is arranged close to the second abutting part, and the hovering section curved surface is arranged between the balance section curved surface and the power section curved surface; and the cam is configured to:

the balance section curved surface is always in contact with the second abutting part;

when the hovering section curved surface contacts the first abutting part, the cam can be static relative to the hinge plate at any time;

when the power section curved surface contacts the first abutting portion, the cam is subjected to a force from the first abutting portion to rotate the cam toward the second abutting portion and/or a force from the second abutting portion to hinder the rotation of the cam.

Optionally, the first abutting portion and the second abutting portion are rod-shaped, one side end portions of the first abutting portion and the second abutting portion are fixedly connected with each other to form the recess, and the energy storage element and the buffer element are respectively connected to the other side end regions of the first abutting portion and the second abutting portion; and

the cam is in contact abutment with a face of the other end side end region of each of the first abutment portion and the second abutment portion, the face facing the recess.

Optionally, the rotating shaft freely rotates within a first preset angle range;

when the rotating shaft rotates from the first preset angle range to a second preset angle range adjacent to the first preset angle range, the first abutting part enables the rotating shaft to keep rotating continuously in the current direction;

when the rotating shaft rotates within a third preset angle range, the second abutting part blocks the rotating shaft from rotating; and is

The third preset angle range is located within the second preset angle range.

Optionally, a fourth preset angle range is located within the first preset angle range;

when the rotating shaft rotates towards the second preset angle range in the fourth preset angle range, the force accumulating part provides acting force for the rotating shaft to keep rotating continuously in the current direction, and the acting force is not larger than static friction force between the cam and the shaft of the cam.

Optionally, the hinge structure further comprises:

the rotating shaft is coaxially connected with the power gear;

the cam is coaxially connected with the control gear;

and the transmission gear is meshed with the power gear and the control gear respectively so as to enable the rotating shaft to be in transmission connection with the cam.

Optionally, the rotating shaft and the power gear are of an integral structure;

one corner of the power gear, which is close to the hinge seat, is arranged on the hinge seat, and the rotating axes of the power gear, the transmission gear and the control gear are gradually close to the middle part of the hinge seat;

the rotating shaft is in transmission connection with the cam through force transmission sequentially passing through the power gear, the transmission gear and the control gear.

Optionally, the contact curved surfaces of the cam are connected smoothly, and the contact curved surfaces are connected directly or through a connecting surface; and

the multiple sections of contact curved surfaces jointly form a curved surface with a concave side facing the rotation center of the cam.

Optionally, the buffer member includes a damping rod and a damping slide rod, and the damping rod is capable of moving along the buffering direction of the buffer member relative to the damping slide rod under a force; and is

When the buffer part is changed from a non-working state to a buffering state, the buffer part firstly enters the time delay state, the damping rod slides to an extreme position along the damping slide rod without damping force, and then the buffer part enters the buffering state and generates damping force.

The present invention also provides a refrigerator including the hinge structure according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein,

the hinge structure is arranged on the refrigerator, the first component is a refrigerator door, and the second component is a refrigerator body.

The hinge structure of the invention is characterized in that the abutting part is rotatably arranged on the hinge seat and the cam with a plurality of sections of contact curved surfaces, in the process of abutting contact between the abutting part and the cam, the acting force of the abutting part is conducted to the rotating shaft through the cam, so that the opening and closing movement of the door body relative to the box body is promoted or hindered, the functions of automatically closing the door or assisting the door to close the door are realized when the door body is promoted to move, the functions of hovering or damping the door to close the door are realized when the door body is hindered to move, and the buffer piece which is configured to be pressed into a time delay state and a buffer state can delay to provide buffer for the abutting part, thereby reducing the acting time of the buffer piece and prolonging the service life of the buffer piece.

Furthermore, the hinge structure of the invention realizes different functions in the door closing process through different curved surfaces of the cam, and the moving contact between the cam and the abutting part can be continuous and smooth, so that the abutting part and the cam are prevented from bumping and impacting, and the smoothness and the stability of the hinge structure in the opening and closing actions are enhanced.

Furthermore, the rotating shafts driven by the gears are arranged at the corners of the middle part far away from the hinge seat, so that the force arm of the door body during rotation is increased, the acting force required by a user to control the rotation of the door body is reduced, and the rotating operation of the door body is labor-saving.

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

Drawings

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

fig. 1 is a schematic configuration view of a refrigerator mounted with a hinge structure according to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram of a hinge structure according to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic partial block diagram of a hinge structure according to one embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 4a is a schematic top view of a hinge structure in a closed state according to one embodiment of the invention;

fig. 4b to 4e are schematic top views of the hinge structure of fig. 4a in different open states;

FIG. 5 is a schematic partially exploded view of a hinge structure according to one embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 6a is a schematic structural view of a hinge cover of the hinge structure according to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6b is a schematic top view of a hinge base of a hinge structure according to one embodiment of the invention;

fig. 7a and 7b are schematic top views of an abutment and a cam of a hinge structure according to one embodiment of the invention.

Detailed Description

Fig. 1 is a schematic configuration view of a refrigerator mounted with a hinge structure 30 according to one embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 2 is a schematic configuration view of a hinge structure 30 according to an embodiment of the present invention, in which a hinge cover 31 is omitted in order to show the internal arrangement of the hinge structure 30.

One embodiment of the present invention provides a hinge structure 30. The hinge structure 30 may generally include a shaft 34 and a hinge base 32. Hinge shaft 34 is connected to first member 10 and hinge mount 32 is connected to second member 20, with first member 10 being movable relative to second member 20. The first component 10 may be a refrigerator door or a window of other furniture/household appliances as shown in fig. 1, and the second component 20 may be a refrigerator cabinet or a main body of other furniture/household appliances as shown in fig. 1.

The hinge structure 30 further includes an abutment, a cam 60 and a bumper 72. The abutting part is rotatably arranged on the hinge base 32, and the buffer member 72 is connected to the abutting part to buffer the movement of the abutting part. The cam 60 is configured to be drivingly connected to the shaft 34 and has a plurality of contact curved surfaces for contacting the abutment. Specifically, the rotation shaft 34 is rotatably coupled to the hinge base 32 to support the first member 10 for movement relative to the second member 20 about the rotation shaft 34. The abutment may be V-shaped and have a recess in which the cam 60 is arranged to rotate. The abutment portion urges or hinders the movement of the first member 10 relative to the second member 20 by contacting at least two of the plurality of contact curved surfaces of the cam 60. The rotation shaft 34 supports the first component 10 to move relative to the second component 20 about the rotation shaft 34 means that the first component 10 is connected to the hinge base 32 and then connected to the second component 20 through the rotation shaft 34, and the first component 10 needs to move relative to the second component 20 through the rotation shaft 34. The hinge structure 30 can be mounted to the top, bottom or side of the first and

second members

10, 20 and in these mounted positions the shaft 34 can be considered to support the first member 10 for movement relative to the second member 20 about the shaft 34.

Taking the first member 10 as a door and the second member 20 as a box as an example, in the process of opening and closing the door, the rotating shaft 34 rotates with the door, and the cam 60 rotates with the rotating shaft 34 to change the position where the cam contacts with the abutting portion. When at least two contact curved surfaces in the multiple sections of contact curved surfaces of the cam 60 contact the abutting part, the acting force of the abutting part is transmitted to the rotating shaft 34 through the cam 60, and thus the rotating shaft 34 is prompted or hindered to rotate, and further the opening and closing movement of the door body relative to the box body is prompted or hindered, so that the functions of automatically closing the door or closing the door with assistance and the like are realized when the door body is prompted to move, and the functions of hovering or closing the door with damping and the like are realized when the door body is hindered to move.

According to the hinge structure 30, the abutting part is rotatably arranged on the hinge seat 32 and the cam 60 with the multi-section contact curved surface, in the abutting contact process of the abutting part and the cam 60, the acting force of the abutting part is transmitted to the rotating shaft 34 through the cam 60, so that the opening and closing movement of the door body relative to the box body is promoted or hindered, the functions of automatically closing the door or assisting in closing the door are realized when the door body is promoted to move, and the functions of hovering or damping in closing the door are realized when the door body is hindered to move.

Fig. 3 is a schematic partial structural view of a hinge structure 30 according to an embodiment of the present invention, in which structures of an abutting portion, a cam, a power storage member, a buffer member, a gear, and the like are shown.

In some embodiments, referring to fig. 2 and 3, the abutting portion includes a first abutting portion 51 and a second abutting portion 52 connected to each other for synchronous rotation, and a connection point of the first abutting portion 51 and the second abutting portion 52 is a rotation axis center of the abutting portion. Hinge structure 30 further includes a power accumulating member 71 and a cushioning member 72. The power accumulating member 71 is configured to be rotatably connected with the first abutting portion 51 to urge or hinder the cam 60 from rotating by the first abutting portion 51. The damper 72 is configured to be rotatably connected to the second abutting portion 52 to block the cam 60 from rotating by the second abutting portion 52. The cam 60 is rotatably disposed between the first abutting portion 51 and the second abutting portion 52, and continuously maintains contact with the first abutting portion 51 and the second abutting portion 52 during rotation.

That is, the first abutting portion 51 and the second abutting portion 52 come into contact with the cam 60 on both sides thereof, respectively, and transmit the acting forces of the power accumulating member 71 and the cushioning member 72 to the cam 60. The power accumulating member 71 has a function of accumulating and releasing power. Specifically, when cam 60 is pressed toward first abutting portion 51 to accumulate the force of energy accumulating member 71, cam 60 is obstructed by energy accumulating member 71; when the power storage member 71 releases the force and the cam 60 moves in the direction of the force, the cam 60 is urged by the power storage member 71. When the cam 60 abuts against the second abutting portion 52, the buffer member 72 buffers the movement of the cam 60, and hinders the current movement tendency of the cam 60. When the force accumulation piece 71 and the buffer piece 72 are stressed, the force accumulation piece 71 and the buffer piece 72 can rotate within a certain range allowed by the hinge base, after the force accumulation piece 71 and the buffer piece 72 respectively rotate to the extreme positions, if the force accumulation piece 71 and the buffer piece 72 still continuously bear acting force in a specific direction, the force accumulation piece 71 can correspondingly realize force accumulation or force release action, and the buffer piece 72 can correspondingly realize damping action.

Further, in some embodiments, the first abutting portion and the second abutting portion may each have a rod shape, respective one-side end portions thereof are fixedly connected to each other and form a recess, and the power accumulating member and the buffer member are respectively connected to respective other-side end regions of the first abutting portion and the second abutting portion. The cam is in contact abutment with one surface of the other side end region of each of the first abutting portion and the second abutting portion facing the recess. That is, the cam is located substantially inside the area defined by the first and second abutments and controls the rotation of the abutments by interacting with the insides of the two end areas of the abutments. Therefore, the cam can be prevented from sliding to the outer side of the abutting part, and the stability of the cam is ensured.

The hinge structure 30 can realize different actions of promoting or resisting the rotation of the cam 60 according to the rotation angle of the cam 60 through the power accumulating part 71 and the buffering part 72. Furthermore, when the door body is located at different opening and closing positions, the rotating shaft 34 drives the cam 60 to rotate by different rotating angles, and the hinge structure 30 can automatically realize different opening and closing functions according to different opening and closing positions of the door body, so that the practicability of the hinge structure 30 is enhanced.

In some embodiments, power member 71 is a compression spring and cushioning member 72 is a one-way linear damper. The damper may in particular be a unidirectional linear hydraulic damper.

In some embodiments, the dampener 72 is configured to be compressible into a delayed state and a cushioned state to provide cushioning of the abutment with a delay. Specifically, referring to fig. 6b, the buffer 72 comprises a damping rod 721 and a damping slide 720. The damping rod 721 can be moved by force relative to the damping slide 720 along the damping direction of the damper 72. Further, the buffering member 72 is configured such that when it is converted from the non-operating state to the buffering state, the buffering member 72 firstly enters the delay state, the damping rod 721 firstly slides along the damping slide rod 720 to the extreme position without damping force, and then the buffering member 72 enters the buffering state and generates a damping force.

That is, when the damping rod is initially stressed, the damping rod can move relative to the damping slide rod substantially without resistance, and at the moment, the door body in the gradual closing process cannot be subjected to damping force. At the end of the closing process of the door body (for example, when the opening angle is 10 degrees or 7 degrees), the damping rod slides to the limit position and contacts with the bottom (near the end) of the damping slide rod, and the buffer starts to work. Therefore, when the door body is in a hovering state, the damper does not affect the rotating action of the V-shaped abutting portion. In addition, the action time of the buffer piece can be reduced, and the service life of the buffer piece is prolonged.

The hinge structure 30 may further include a hinge cover 31, and the hinge cover 31 is disposed on the hinge base 32 and defines a mounting space together with the hinge base 32 to accommodate the internal structure of the hinge structure 30 such as the abutting portion, the cam 60, the power accumulating member 71 and the buffer member 72. The hinge cover 31 also prevents contaminants such as dust from falling into the installation space, and ensures the normal operation of the hinge structure 30.

The hinge structure 30 may further include a bushing 33, and the rotation shaft 34 may be installed in the installation groove 11 of the door body through the bushing 33. The inner diameter of the sleeve 33 may be configured to be non-circular, the lower portion of the rotation shaft 34 may be configured to have a shape matching the inner diameter of the sleeve 33, and the upper portion of the rotation shaft 34 may be used for the hinge base 32 to be rotatably coupled.

Fig. 4a is a schematic top view of a hinge structure 30 in a closed state according to one embodiment of the invention. Fig. 4b to 4e are schematic top views of the hinge structure 30 of fig. 4a in different open states. To illustrate the internal arrangement of the hinge construction 30, the hinge cover 31 is omitted from fig. 4a to 4 e.

Referring to fig. 4 a-4 e, in some embodiments, the multi-segment contact curved surface includes a balance segment curved surface 61, a hover segment curved surface 62, and a power segment curved surface 63 (individual reference numbers for each curved surface are shown in fig. 5). The power section curved surface 63 is disposed adjacent to the first abutting portion 51, the balance section curved surface 61 is disposed adjacent to the second abutting portion 52, and the hovering section curved surface 62 is disposed between the balance section curved surface 61 and the power section curved surface 63.

Specifically, the balance-stage curved surface 61 is always in rolling contact with the second abutting portion 52, and the first abutting portion 51 is in rolling contact with the hover-stage curved surface 62 and the power-stage curved surface 63. Thereby, the rotation of the V-shaped abutting portion and the cam is made to be a certain linked motion.

Further, as shown in fig. 4d and 4e, when the hovering section curved surface 62 contacts the first abutting part 51, the cam 60 may be at rest with respect to the hinge plate at any time. As shown in fig. 4b and 4c, when the power section curved surface 63 contacts the first abutting portion 51, the cam 60 receives a force from the first abutting portion 51 that rotates the cam 60 toward the second abutting portion 52, and/or a force from the second abutting portion 52 that hinders the rotation of the cam 60. That is, when the cam 60 receives only the acting force from the first abutting portion 51, the door body tends to be closed continuously at this time, and the door is automatically closed. When the acting force from the first abutting part 51 and the second abutting part 52 is applied, the second abutting part 52 can provide damping for the closing action of the door body, so that the closing action of the door body is decelerated, and the door closing noise is avoided. Therefore, the hinge structure 30 realizes different functions in the door closing process through different curved surfaces of the cam 60, thereby simplifying the internal arrangement of the hinge structure 30 and making the whole hinge structure 30 more compact.

In some embodiments, the plurality of curved contact surfaces of the cam 60 are connected smoothly, and the plurality of curved contact surfaces are connected directly or through a connecting surface. The multiple contact curved surfaces together form a curved surface with a concave side facing the center of rotation of the cam 60. That is, the cam 60 has a continuous contact curved surface protruding toward one direction (a direction away from the rotational center). Therefore, when the cam 60 rotates and moves relative to the first abutting portion 51 and the second abutting portion 52, the moving contact of the cam 60 and the abutting portions can be continuously smooth, the abutting portions and the cam 60 are prevented from bumping and bumping, and the smoothness and the stability of the hinge structure 30 in the opening and closing actions are enhanced.

In some embodiments, the cam 60 and the abutment may be configured to provide different forces to the shaft 34 depending on the rotational position of the shaft 34. Specifically, the first abutting portion 51 urges the rotating shaft 34 to keep rotating continuously in the current direction when the rotating shaft 34 rotates from the first preset angle range to the second preset angle range adjacent to the first preset angle range. The second abutting portion 52 blocks the rotation of the rotation shaft 34 when the rotation shaft 34 rotates within the third preset angle range. Specifically, the rotating shaft 34 is freely rotatable within a first preset angle range, and the third preset angle range is located within a second preset angle range.

Further, a fourth preset angle range is further arranged in the first preset angle range. When the rotating shaft rotates towards the second preset angle range in the fourth preset angle range, the force accumulating part provides acting force for keeping the rotating shaft to rotate continuously in the current direction, and the acting force is not larger than static friction force between the cam and the shaft of the cam. Therefore, hovering of the door body is achieved. When the rotating shaft rotates within the first predetermined angle range outside the fourth predetermined angle range (see fig. 4e), the power storage member 71 is in a fully compressed state, and is mainly pressed in the compression direction and/or pressed toward the side of the hinge base, so that the power storage member 71 is restricted by the hinge base, and at this time, the cam can rotate freely.

The above-mentioned angle range will be described below by taking fig. 4a to 4e as an example. The process of closing the hinge can be seen with reference to figures 4e to 4 a. The angle of rotation of the door body is indicated by α between the two dashed lines.

Referring to fig. 4a, the dotted line is used to indicate the position of the door, and the door in fig. 4a is in a closed state, and the rotation angle of the rotating shaft 34 is 0 °. At this time, the first abutting part 51 abuts against the power section curved surface 63 of the cam 60, the second abutting part 52 abuts against the balance section curved surface 61 of the cam 60, and the cam 60 is kept stationary to prevent the door body from being automatically opened.

Referring to fig. 4e, at this time, the door body is at the limit position of the free rotation state, the compression amount of the spring is maximum, and the rotation angle of the door body in the drawing is 135 °. At this time, the first abutting portion 51 abuts against the end (close to the balance section curved surface 61) of the hovering section curved surface 62 of the cam 60, and the acting force of the cam 60 on the first abutting portion 51 is balanced by the acting force of the hinge base 32 on the first abutting portion 51. That is, in the present embodiment, the upper limit of the first preset angle range is the maximum opening angle of the door body.

Referring to fig. 4d, the door body is in a free-hovering critical state, and the rotation angle of the door body is 50 ° in the drawing. When the rotation angle of the door body is slightly smaller than 50 degrees, the rotation angle of the door body enters a fourth preset angle range. The first abutting portion 51 abuts against the power section curved surface 63 of the cam 60, gradually departing from the hovering section curved surface 62. In the process, the force storage member 71 gradually releases the spring force, the driving force given to the cam 60 by the force storage member 71 is offset with the static friction force between the cam 60 and the shaft of the cam, the cam 60 can be stopped at any time, and the door body can be suspended.

Referring to fig. 4c, the door body is in a hovering-accelerating critical state, and the rotation angle of the door body is 30 ° in the figure. The lower limit of the first preset angle range and the fourth preset angle range is a rotation angle (for example, 30 °) of the door body in the hovering-accelerating critical state. When the rotation angle of the door body is gradually reduced from 30 degrees, the door body enters a second preset angle range, and the first abutting portion 51 enables the cam to rotate so as to close the door body.

Referring to fig. 4b, the door body is in a damping state, and the rotation angle of the door body is 10 ° in the figure. The door body also has an acceleration-damping critical state, which lies between fig. 4b and 4c and can be, for example, 20 °.

When the rotation angle of the door body changes from 30 degrees to 20 degrees, the friction force is not enough to balance the spring force, and the force storage piece 71 releases force to promote the cam 60 to rotate in an accelerated mode, so that the closing action of the door body is accelerated.

When the rotation angle of the door body is 20 degrees, the door body is in an acceleration-damping critical state.

When the rotation angle of the door body changes from 20 degrees to 10 degrees, the buffer piece 72 starts to provide a buffer effect under stress, the cam 60 receives the resistance of the buffer piece 72, and the closing action of the door body is gradually decelerated.

That is, in the present embodiment, when the rotation angle of the door body is 20 °, after the door body enters the third preset angle range, the buffer member 72 starts to operate to provide resistance for closing the door body. The upper limit of the third preset angle range is the rotation angle of the door body in the acceleration-damping critical state.

When the door body reaches the state shown in fig. 4b, the door body enters the accelerated door closing state again. That is, for example, when the door body rotates to less than 10 °, the damping force of the damper 72 starts to decrease, the power storage member 71 continues to provide thrust to the cam 60 through the first abutting portion 51, the cam 60 is accelerated, and the door closing operation continues to be accelerated until the cam 60 contacts the second abutting portion 52.

That is, the lower limit boundary values of the second preset angle range and the third preset angle range are both 0 °.

With continued reference to fig. 4b, the door body is in a damped state, and the rotation angle of the door body is equal to 10 °. When the rotation angle of the door body changes from 20 degrees to 10 degrees, the buffer member 72 is in an initial state of providing damping force, and because the cam 60 has a higher rotation speed at the moment, the buffer member 72 provides larger damping force for the cam 60, the door body can be changed from an acceleration state to a slow deceleration state, and the door body is prevented from impacting a box body. When the rotation angle of the door body is about 10 °, the rotation speed of the cam 60 at this time is already reduced, and the damping force is reduced accordingly, and the buffer member 72 is basically in the end stage state of providing the damping force, so that the buffer member 72 only provides a small damping force to the cam 60 afterwards. When the door body moves from the state in fig. 4b to the state in fig. 4a, the door body starts to accelerate from the deceleration state again to realize quick door closing. At this time, because the rotation angle available for re-acceleration is already small, the impact force of the door body on the box body can be ignored when the door is finally closed. Therefore, the hinge structure can realize the assistance of fast door closing and simultaneously avoid the impact of the door body on the box body.

In some embodiments, the boundary value of each predetermined angle range may be adjusted according to the shape of the multi-segment contact curved surface of the cam 60.

Fig. 5 is a schematic partially exploded view of a hinge structure according to one embodiment of the invention.

Referring to fig. 3 and 5, in some embodiments, the hinge structure 30 further includes a power gear 81, a control gear 82, and a transmission gear 83. Specifically, the rotating shaft 34 is coaxially connected with the power gear 81, the cam 60 is coaxially connected with the control gear 82, and the transmission gear 83 is meshed with the power gear 81 and the control gear 82 respectively, so that the rotating shaft 34 is in transmission connection with the cam 60.

That is, the rotating shaft 34, the cam 60 and the gears coaxially connected to each other are not directly abutted to each other but contacted through the transmission gear 83, so that the radial acting force of the abutting portion acting on the cam 60 is distributed to the plurality of gears and is not directly concentrated on the power gear 81 on the rotating shaft 34, the use loss of the rotating shaft 34, the cam 60 and each gear is reduced, the stability of each component in the rotating process is improved, and the service life of the hinge structure 30 is prolonged.

Alternatively, the rotating shaft 34 and the power gear 81 are integrated to achieve synchronous rotation and enhance structural strength.

Fig. 6a is a schematic structural view of a hinge cover of a hinge structure according to one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6b is a schematic top view of a hinge base of a hinge structure according to one embodiment of the invention. The hinge cover 31 is mounted to the hinge base 32 through the hinge cover mounting hole, the respective gears are mounted to the hinge cover 31 and the hinge base 32 through the gear mounting hole 980, and the first abutting portion 51 and the second abutting portion 52 are mounted through the abutting portion mounting hole 950.

Referring to fig. 6b, the power gear 81 is provided on the hinge base 32 near one corner of the hinge base 32, and the rotational axes of the power gear 81, the transmission gear 83 and the control gear 82 are arranged gradually near the middle of the hinge base 32 along approximately a straight line. The rotating shaft 34 is in driving connection with the cam 60 by force transmission through the power gear 81, the transmission gear 83 and the control gear 82 in sequence. Power is transmitted through a gear system formed by the three gears, so that the position of the cam can be adjusted, the hinge seat is provided with a concave structure, a door frame is accommodated when the door body is opened by more than 90 degrees, and the requirement that the door is opened to at least 135 degrees is met.

In addition, the rotating shaft 34 is arranged at the corner of the hinge seat 32 to be far away from the middle of the hinge seat 32, so that the force arm of the door body during rotation is increased, the acting force required to be applied by a user for controlling the rotation of the door body is reduced, and the rotating operation of the door body (especially the refrigerator door body which is a thick structure) is labor-saving.

In some embodiments, the control gear 82 and the cam 60 are provided as a unitary structure, thereby ensuring synchronization of the rotation of the cam 60 and the control gear 82.

Referring to fig. 5, 7a and 7b, the first abutting portion 51 has a first bending arm and a first roller 53 provided thereon, the second abutting portion 52 has a second bending arm and a second roller 54 provided thereon, and the first abutting portion 51 and the second abutting portion 52 are in contact with the cam 60 through the respective first roller 53 and second roller 54.

The first and second bending arms each have a long portion (51a, 52a) and a short portion (51b, 52b) connected to form a first bent portion and a second bent portion, the power accumulating member 71 is connected to the first bent portion, and the buffer member 72 is connected to the second bent portion.

The first roller 53 and the second roller 54 are respectively provided at free ends of respective short portions (51b, 52b) of the first bending arm and the second bending arm, which are connected to each other through respective long portions (51a, 52 a).

The first and

second abutments

51 and 52 also each comprise two webs which are arranged in spaced opposed relation to accommodate the rollers and to allow at least part of the cam 60 to move between the two webs without obstruction. Thereby, the hinge structure 30 reduces contact wear between the abutting portion and the cam 60 by the roller 53, prolongs the life span of the hinge structure 30, and allows the cam 60 to be constructed in a structure having a continuous smooth curved surface to move between the two connecting plates 54 by the two connecting plates 54 being disposed in spaced opposition.

The invention also provides a refrigerator which comprises the hinge structure in any embodiment, and the hinge structure can be arranged at the upper part of the refrigerator as shown in figure 1.

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

Claims

1. A hinge structure comprising:

a rotating shaft connected to the first member;

the abutting part is rotatably arranged on the hinge seat;

2. The hinge structure according to claim 1,

the abutting portion includes a first abutting portion and a second abutting portion connected to each other to rotate synchronously, a connection point of the first abutting portion and the second abutting portion is a rotation axis center of the abutting portion, and the hinge structure further includes:

the cam is rotatably arranged between the first abutting portion and the second abutting portion and is continuously in contact with the first abutting portion and the second abutting portion in the rotating process.

3. The hinge structure according to claim 2,

the contact curved surfaces comprise a hovering section curved surface, a power section curved surface and a balance section curved surface;

4. The hinge structure according to claim 2,

the first abutting part and the second abutting part are both in a rod shape, the end parts of one side of each of the first abutting part and the second abutting part are fixedly connected with each other to form the concave part, and the power storage part and the buffer part are respectively connected to the end parts of the other side of each of the first abutting part and the second abutting part; and

5. The hinge structure according to claim 2,

the rotating shaft freely rotates within a first preset angle range;

The third preset angle range is located within the second preset angle range.

6. The hinge structure according to claim 5,

the fourth preset angle range is located in the first preset angle range;

7. The hinge structure of claim 1, wherein the hinge structure further comprises:

the rotating shaft is coaxially connected with the power gear;

the cam is coaxially connected with the control gear;

and the transmission gear is respectively meshed with the power gear and the control gear so as to enable the rotating shaft to be in transmission connection with the cam.

8. The hinge structure according to claim 7,

the rotating shaft and the power gear are of an integrated structure;

9. The hinge structure according to claim 1,

the buffer part comprises a damping rod and a damping slide rod, and the damping rod can move along the buffer direction of the buffer part relative to the damping slide rod under the action of force; and is

10. A refrigerator comprising the hinge structure according to any one of claims 2 to 9,