CN114183972A

CN114183972A - Refrigerator with a door

Info

Publication number: CN114183972A
Application number: CN202010969272.8A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 吕鹏; 张�浩; 李佳明; 崔展鹏; 牟森
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: 2020-09-15
Filing date: 2020-09-15
Publication date: 2022-03-15
Also published as: WO2022057688A1

Abstract

The invention provides a refrigerator, which comprises a refrigerator body, a main door and an auxiliary door, wherein the main door is arranged on the refrigerator body; the refrigerator also includes, translation lock, elastic component, hasp and unblock portion, and the translation lock can be installed in the main door between a locking position and an unblock position reciprocal translation, and the elastic component is installed in the main door, configures to exert the elasticity pretightning force that makes it move towards the locking position to the translation lock, and the hasp sets up on vice door, and unblock portion sets up on the box, and the refrigerator configures into: when the main door is in an open state and the auxiliary door is in a closed state, the translational lock is in a locking position and is locked with the lock catch, so that the auxiliary door is locked on the main door; and at the last stage of the backward closing of the auxiliary door along with the main door, the unlocking part enables the translational lock to overcome the elastic pretightening force to move to the unlocking position, so that the locking between the auxiliary door and the main door is released. The refrigerator adopts a purely mechanical device to avoid the situation that the auxiliary door is abnormally opened when the main door is opened, and has simple structure, safety and reliability.

Description

Refrigerator with a door

Technical Field

The invention relates to a refrigeration and freezing technology, in particular to a refrigerator.

Background

Along with the continuous development of household electrical appliances technology, the folding door refrigerator appears in the market, a main door body and an auxiliary door body are arranged on the outer side of the refrigerator, and a storage space is defined in the main door body, so that a user can store common articles conveniently, and the frequency of opening the storage space of the refrigerator body by the user is reduced.

In order to prevent the sub-door from being opened abnormally when the main door of the folding door refrigerator is opened, an electromagnetic lock is arranged between the main door and the sub-door in the prior art. However, this method also has certain disadvantages, for example, the electromagnetic lock inevitably increases the cost of the refrigerator and complicates the production process, and in the using process, it consumes electric energy, and is difficult to popularize.

Disclosure of Invention

An object of the present invention is to overcome at least one of the drawbacks of the prior art and to provide a refrigerator.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a folding door refrigerator that utilizes a mechanical lock to prevent the opening of the main door while the auxiliary door is being opened.

It is a further object of the present invention to reduce friction when moving the translational lock between the locked and unlocked positions.

Particularly, the invention provides a refrigerator, which comprises a refrigerator body, a main door rotatably arranged at the front side of the refrigerator body and an auxiliary door rotatably arranged at the front side of the main door; the refrigerator further includes:

the translation lock is arranged on the main door in a reciprocating translation mode between a locking position and an unlocking position;

an elastic member mounted to the main door and configured to apply an elastic pre-load to the translational lock to urge the translational lock toward the locking position;

the lock catch is arranged on the auxiliary door; and

the unlocking part is arranged on the box body; and the refrigerator is configured to:

when the main door is in an open state and the auxiliary door is in a closed state, enabling the translation lock to be in the locking position and locked with the lock catch, and therefore enabling the auxiliary door to be locked on the main door; and is

And at the final stage of the backward closing of the auxiliary door along with the main door, the unlocking part enables the translational lock to move to the unlocking position against the elastic pretightening force, so that the locking between the auxiliary door and the main door is released.

Further, the translation lock can be installed on the main door in a manner of translating up and down;

the elastic pre-tightening force exerted by the elastic piece on the translation lock is upward;

the front side of the unlocking part is provided with a guide inclined plane which is gradually inclined backwards and extends from top to bottom;

during the backward movement of the translational lock, the rear end of the translational lock gradually translates downwards under the guidance of the guide inclined plane to reach the unlocking position.

Further, after the main door is completely closed, the rear end of the translation lock abuts against the lower side of the unlocking portion so as to be stably located at the unlocking position.

Furthermore, an accommodating chamber with an opening facing the translational lock is formed in the front side of the box body, and the unlocking part is a long strip shape extending downwards from the upper wall of the accommodating chamber.

Further, the guide inclined plane is an arc-shaped plane; and is

The rear end of the translational lock forms an arc-shaped interference inclined plane so as to smoothly transit with the guide inclined plane.

Furthermore, the lock catch extends along the horizontal direction and is provided with a lock hole; and is

The translation lock is provided with a lock pin matched with the lock hole, and when the translation lock is in the locking position, the lock pin extends into the lock hole so that the auxiliary door is locked on the main door.

Further, the elastic element is a compression spring, is arranged on one side of the translational lock, which is away from the lock pin, and has a first end connected with the translational lock and a second end directly or indirectly connected with the main door, and is configured to be compressed and generate an elastic pretightening force when the translational lock is in the unlocking position, and the translational lock is urged to move towards the locking position by using the elastic pretightening force when the main door is in the opening process.

Further, the mounting box is mounted on the main door along the front-back direction, the mounting box is provided with a sleeve facing the translational lock, and the second end of the compression spring is sleeved on the sleeve.

Furthermore, the translation lock is further provided with a pressing portion extending towards the outside of the main door, and the pressing portion is configured to operate the pressing portion to drive the translation lock to translate towards a direction away from the lock catch when the translation lock is in the locking position, so that the locking between the auxiliary door and the main door is released.

Further, door seals are arranged on the region of the main door opposite to the box body and the region of the main door opposite to the auxiliary door so as to seal gaps between the main door and the auxiliary door and between the main door and the box body.

In the refrigerator, the translational lock can be arranged on the main door in a reciprocating translational manner between a locking position and an unlocking position, the elastic piece is arranged on the main door, the translational lock is applied with elastic pretightening force for urging the translational lock to move towards the locking position, the lock catch is arranged on the auxiliary door, and the unlocking part is arranged on the refrigerator body. Therefore, when the main door is opened, the translational lock can move towards the lock catch under the action of elastic pre-tightening force, and the translational lock and the lock catch are locked together; when the main door is closed, the translational lock is driven by the main door to move towards the box body, one end, close to the box body, of the translational lock abuts against the unlocking portion, the translational lock is enabled to move towards the direction far away from the lock catch under the urging action of the unlocking portion, finally, after the main door is completely closed, the translational lock and the lock catch are unlocked and are located at the unlocking position, and the main door and the auxiliary door are also unlocked. Therefore, the refrigerator of the invention adopts a purely mechanical device to avoid the situation that the auxiliary door is abnormally opened when the main door is opened, and has simple structure, safety and reliability.

Furthermore, in the refrigerator, the guide inclined plane can be set to be a smooth arc-shaped plane, the rear end of the translational lock forms an arc-shaped abutting inclined plane, when the guide inclined plane abuts against the abutting inclined plane, friction between the guide inclined plane and the abutting inclined plane can be reduced, the guide inclined plane smoothly transits to the upper part of the translational lock, and finally the translational lock is stably located at an unlocking position.

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 perspective view of a refrigerator according to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a refrigerator with a translation lock in an unlocked state according to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view at A in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a refrigerator according to one embodiment of the present invention with a translation lock in a locked state;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged view at B in FIG. 4;

fig. 6 is a perspective view of a mounting box in a refrigerator according to one embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

In the description of the present invention, it is to be understood that the terms "longitudinal direction", "lateral direction", "length", "width", "thickness", "upper", "lower", "front", "rear", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "top", "bottom", "depth", and the like indicate orientations or positional relationships that can be determined based on the orientation of the storage device in a normal use state, and with reference to the orientations or positional relationships shown in the drawings, for example, "front" indicating the orientation refers to the side of the refrigerator facing the user. This is merely to facilitate description of the invention and to simplify the description, and is not intended to indicate or imply that the device or element so referred to must be in a particular orientation, constructed and operated in a particular orientation, and thus should not be taken to be limiting of the invention.

Referring to fig. 1, a refrigerator 10 according to the present invention may include a cabinet 100, a main door 200, and a sub door 300.

The cabinet 100 defines a first storage space 110 therein, the first storage space 110 having a first opening forward, and the main door 200 is rotatably installed at an outer side of the cabinet 100 to open and close the first opening. The main door 200 may define a second storage space 210 therein, the second storage space 210 having a second opening directed forward, and the sub-door 300 rotatably installed at an outer side of the main door 200 to open and close the second opening.

In the present embodiment, the first storage space 110 inside the box 100 and the second storage space 210 inside the main door 200 may be used for the user to store food, and the user may select to store articles in the first storage space 110 or the second storage space 210 according to the frequency of use or the volume of the articles. For example, a user can store some articles with high use frequency and small occupied space in the second storage space 210 and some articles with low use frequency and large occupied space in the first storage space 110, so that the user can be prevented from frequently opening the door body and reducing heat loss, and the first storage space 110 or the second storage space 210 can divide the storage area of the refrigerator 10, which is beneficial for the user to arrange the articles. In some preferred embodiments, the first storage space 110 may also be a refrigerating compartment of the refrigerator 10.

Referring to fig. 1 to 5, the refrigerator 10 of the present embodiment may further include a translation lock 400, an elastic member 500, a lock catch 600, and an unlocking portion 700.

The translational lock 400 is mounted to the main door 200 in a reciprocating translational manner between a locking position and an unlocking position, the elastic member 500 is mounted to the main door 200 and configured to apply an elastic pre-load force to the translational lock 400 to urge the translational lock 400 to move toward the locking position, the latch 600 is disposed on the sub-door 300, and the unlocking portion 700 is disposed on the cabinet 100.

The refrigerator 10 is configured to: when the main door 200 is in the opened state and the sub-door 300 is in the closed state, the translational lock 400 is in the locked position and locked with the lock catch 600, so that the sub-door 300 is locked to the main door 200; and at the final stage of the backward movement and closing of the auxiliary door 300 along with the main door 200, the unlocking part 700 causes the translational lock 400 to move to the unlocking position against the elastic pre-tightening force, so that the locking between the auxiliary door 300 and the main door 200 is released.

As described in the background section, in order to prevent the sub door from being abnormally opened when the main door is opened in the folding refrigerator, an electromagnetic lock is provided between the main door and the sub door in the related art. However, this method also has certain disadvantages, for example, the electromagnetic lock inevitably increases the cost of the refrigerator and complicates the production process, and in the using process, it consumes electric energy, and is difficult to popularize.

In order to overcome the defects of the prior art, the refrigerator 10 of the embodiment adopts a purely mechanical device to avoid the situation that the auxiliary door is abnormally opened when the main door is opened, and has a simple structure, safety and reliability.

Specifically, the interior of the main door 200 may define an installation space 220 for accommodating the translational lock 400, the translational lock 400 is disposed in the installation space 220, the latch 600 may be disposed on a side of the auxiliary door 300 facing the main door 200, and the elastic member 500 is disposed in the installation space 220 and provides an elastic pre-tightening force for the translational lock 400, which may cause the translational lock 400 to have a tendency to move toward the latch 600.

When the main door 200 is opened, the translational lock 400 is moved toward the latch 600 by the elastic pre-tension force, so that the translational lock 400 is locked with the latch 600, and the translational lock 400 is in a locked state. Since the latch 600 is provided on the sub-door 300, the main door 200 and the sub-door 300 are locked together. The main door 200 continues to be opened and the sub door 300 is closed, thereby preventing the articles in the first storage space 110 from being carried out by inertia and also preventing heat loss of the refrigerator 10.

When the main door 200 is closed, the translational lock 400 is moved towards the box 100 by the main door 200, and one end of the translational lock 400 close to the box 100 abuts against the unlocking portion 700, and the translational lock 400 is moved away from the latch 600 by the urging of the unlocking portion 700, and finally, when the main door 200 is completely closed, the translational lock 400 is unlocked from the latch 600, and is in the unlocking position, and the main door 200 and the auxiliary door 300 are also unlocked.

Specifically, the translational lock 400 is installed on the main door 200 in a vertically translatable manner, the elastic pre-tightening force applied to the translational lock 400 by the elastic member 500 is upward, the front side of the unlocking portion 700 has a guide slope which is inclined and extended backward gradually from top to bottom, and during the backward movement of the translational lock 400, the rear end thereof is gradually translated downward under the guide of the guide slope to reach the unlocking position.

When the main door 200 is closed, the translational lock 400 is moved toward the box 100 by the main door 200, and the rear end of the translational lock 400 abuts against the guide slope. Since the guide slope is inclined rearward from top to bottom, the translation lock 400 moves downward under the guide of the guide slope as the translation lock 400 continues to move rearward. That is, the translational lock 400 is subjected to a downward component force of the guiding slope, which urges the translational lock 400 to move away from the lock catch 600, eventually disengaging the translational lock 400 from the lock catch 600 and releasing the lock.

Further, after the main door 200 is completely closed, the rear end of the translational lock 400 completely passes through the guide slope, the entire translational lock 400 is below the unlocking portion 700, and the translational lock 400 abuts below the unlocking portion 700. At this time, since the elastic member 500 is compressed during the movement of the translational lock 400, the elastic member 500 still provides an upward elastic pre-tightening force for the translational lock 400, and under the combined action of the elastic pre-tightening force and the unlocking portion 700, the translational lock 400 is in a balanced state to be stably located at the unlocking position.

Referring to fig. 3 and 5, in some embodiments, the front side of the box 100 is opened with an accommodating chamber 120 opening toward the translational lock 400, the unlocking portion 700 is an elongated shape extending downward from the upper wall of the accommodating chamber 120, and a guiding inclined surface is formed on a surface of the unlocking portion 700 opposite to the translational lock 400.

That is, in the present embodiment, the translational lock 400 may be disposed in the installation space 220 in the front-rear direction of the main door 200, and one end of the translational lock 400 extends toward the case 100. When the main door 200 is in the completely closed state, the translational lock 400 can extend into the accommodating chamber 120 and be in the unlocking position under the combined action of the unlocking part 700 and the elastic member 500, and a user can open the main door 200 or the auxiliary door 300 at this time as required.

As the main door 200 is gradually opened, the translational lock 400 moves away from the unlocking part 700. When the rear end of the translational lock 400 moves to the position section abutting against the guiding inclined surface of the unlocking portion 700, the translational lock 400 is urged to move upward by the elastic member 500 to gradually approach the lock catch 600, and finally the translational lock 400 is locked on the lock catch 600, so that the translational lock 400 is in the locked position. That is, during the process of opening the main door 200, the user only needs to move the main door 200 a small distance (i.e. pull out the portion of the translational lock 400 extending into the accommodating chamber 120) to lock the main door 200 and the auxiliary door 300.

Of course, the technical effect can be achieved by simple modification of the technical solution according to the present disclosure. For example, the unlocking portion 700 may be further configured to extend upward from the lower wall of the accommodating chamber 120, and correspondingly, the elastic pre-tightening force applied by the elastic member 500 to the translational lock 400 is downward, that is, the translational lock 400 may be disposed above the unlocking portion 700, and the translational lock 400 is located in the locking position after moving downward and located in the unlocking position after moving upward.

Referring to fig. 3 and 5, in some embodiments, the guiding slope may be configured as a smooth arc-shaped surface, and the rear end of the translational lock 400 forms an arc-shaped abutting slope, so that when the guiding slope abuts against the abutting slope, the friction between the guiding slope and the abutting slope can be reduced, and the guiding slope smoothly transitions to the upper side of the translational lock 400.

In some embodiments, the shackle 600 extends in a horizontal direction and has a locking hole 610 thereon, and the translational lock 400 has a lock pin 410 engaged with the locking hole 610, wherein the lock pin 410 extends into the locking hole 610 when the translational lock 400 is in the locking position, so that the secondary door 300 is locked to the main door 200.

Specifically, an opening (not shown) may be provided at a position facing the sub-door 300 and opposite to the locker 600 in the installation space 220 provided at the main door 200, and the locker 600 extends in the horizontal direction of the main door 200. When the translational lock 400 is in the locking position, the lock catch 600 is inserted into the opening such that the lock hole 610 is located in the installation space 220, and then cooperates with the lock pin 410 to lock the sub-door 300 to the main door 200.

When the translational lock 400 is in the unlocking position, the translational lock 400 moves away from the lock catch 600, so that the lock pin 410 is separated from the lock hole 610, the auxiliary door 300 is unlocked from the main door 200, and the user can open the auxiliary door 300 and the main door 200 at any time.

In some embodiments, the elastic member 500 is a compression spring, the number of the compression springs may be multiple, and multiple compression springs may be uniformly disposed on a side of the translational lock 400 facing away from the locking pin 410, so as to stabilize the translational lock 400 during movement. A plurality of compression springs may be further disposed in the installation space 220, and a first end of the elastic member 500 is connected to the translational lock 400 and a second end is directly connected to the main door 200, that is, the second end is directly connected to an inner wall of the installation space 220, and is configured such that the elastic member 500 is compressed and generates an elastic pre-load force when the translational lock 400 is in the unlocked position, and the translational lock 400 is urged to move toward the locked position by the elastic pre-load force during the opening of the main door 200.

Referring to fig. 3, 5 and 6, in some other embodiments, the elastic member 500 may be indirectly installed between the main door 200 and the translational lock 400 through the installation box 230. The mounting box 230 is disposed in the mounting space 220 along the front-rear direction of the main door 200, and has sleeves 232 on a side surface thereof facing the translational lock 400, the number of the sleeves 232 is equal to the number of the compression springs, and the second ends of the compression springs are sleeved on the sleeves 232.

In some embodiments, the translational lock 400 further has a pressing portion 420 extending outward of the main door 200, and the pressing portion 420 is configured to operate the pressing portion 420 to drive the translational lock 400 to translate in a direction away from the lock catch 600 when the translational lock 400 is in the locking position, so as to unlock the auxiliary door 300 and the main door 200.

In this embodiment, after the user opens the main door 200, the sub-door 300 and the main door 200 are locked by the translational lock 400, and at this time, if the user needs to open the sub-door 300, the translational lock 400 can be separated from the lock catch 600 by operating the pressing portion 420, so that the sub-door 300 can be opened when the main door 200 is opened and the sub-door 300 and the main door 200 are locked.

In some embodiments, door seals 240 are disposed on both an area of the main door 200 opposite the cabinet 100 and an area of the main door 200 opposite the sub-door 300 to seal gaps between the main door 200 and the sub-door 300 and between the main door 200 and the cabinet 100, so as to prevent external air from entering the first and

second storage spaces

110 and 210 in a state where both the sub-door 300 and the main door 200 are closed.

The working principle of the invention is as follows: when the sub-door 300 and the main door 200 of the refrigerator 10 are both in the closed state, the rear end of the translational lock 400 extends into the accommodating chamber 120 on the refrigerator body 100, and is in a position away from the latch 600 under the action of the unlocking part 700, that is, the translational lock 400 is in the locked position, and the space between the sub-door 300 and the main door 200 is not locked, so that a user can open one of the sub-door 300 and the main door 200 at will when both are in the closed state.

When a user opens the main door 200, the translational lock 400 is gradually pulled out, the rear end of the translational lock 400 is in contact with the unlocking part 700 and moves towards the lock catch 600 under the guiding of the guiding inclined plane of the unlocking part 700 and the driving of the elastic pre-tightening force of the elastic member 500, and finally the lock pin 410 of the translational lock 400 extends into the lock hole 610 of the lock catch 600, so that the auxiliary door 300 and the main door 200 are locked, and thus the auxiliary door 300 can be prevented from being opened when the user opens the main door 200 alone, the risk that articles in the second storage space 210 are taken out is avoided, and the experience of the user is improved.

When a user opens the main door 200 and then wants to open the auxiliary door 300, at this time, the auxiliary door 300 and the main door 200 are in a locked state, the user can drive the translational lock 400 to move in a direction away from the lock catch 600 by manually operating the pressing part 420, and finally the auxiliary door 300 and the main door 200 are unlocked, so that the auxiliary door 300 is opened behind the main door 200.

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

Claims

1. A refrigerator includes a cabinet, a main door rotatably installed at a front side of the cabinet, and a sub door rotatably installed at a front side of the main door; the refrigerator further includes:

the lock catch is arranged on the auxiliary door; and

2. The refrigerator according to claim 1,

the translation lock can be installed on the main door in a vertically translation mode;

3. The refrigerator according to claim 2,

after the main door is completely closed, the rear end of the translation lock abuts against the lower side of the unlocking part so as to be stably located at the unlocking position.

4. The refrigerator according to claim 2,

the front side of the box body is provided with an accommodating chamber with an opening facing the translation lock, and the unlocking part is in a strip shape extending downwards from the upper wall of the accommodating chamber.

5. The refrigerator according to claim 2,

the guide inclined plane is an arc-shaped plane; and is

6. The refrigerator according to claim 1,

the lock catch extends along the horizontal direction and is provided with a lock hole; and is

7. The refrigerator according to claim 6,

the elastic piece is a compression spring, is arranged on one side of the translational lock, which is far away from the lock pin, has a first end connected with the translational lock, and has a second end directly or indirectly connected with the main door, and is configured to be compressed and generate elastic pretightening force when the translational lock is in the unlocking position, and the translational lock is urged to move towards the locking position by using the elastic pretightening force in the process of opening the main door.

8. The refrigerator of claim 7, further comprising:

the mounting box is mounted on the main door along the front-back direction, the mounting box is provided with a sleeve facing the translation lock, and the second end of the compression spring is sleeved on the sleeve.

9. The refrigerator according to claim 1,

the translation lock is further provided with a pressing portion extending towards the outside of the main door, the pressing portion is configured to drive the translation lock to translate towards a direction far away from the lock catch when the translation lock is in the locking position, and therefore locking between the auxiliary door and the main door is released.

10. The refrigerator according to claim 1,

the main door and the area opposite to the box body and the main door and the area opposite to the auxiliary door are respectively provided with a door seal strip so as to seal gaps between the main door and the auxiliary door and between the main door and the box body.