CN114753729A - Hinge device and refrigerator - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention discloses a hinge device and a refrigerator, wherein the hinge device comprises a lower hinge shell, an upper hinge shell, a fixed shaft, a transmission shaft and an elastic supporting part, wherein the upper hinge shell and the lower hinge shell are connected with the fixed shaft, and in a standing state of the hinge device, the distance from the fixed shaft to the lower end of an upper connecting wall is greater than the distance from the fixed shaft to the upper end of the upper connecting wall. The door body of the freezer that utilizes this hinge means is at the in-process of opening, because the at least part region who goes up the connection wall is in the fixed axle below, so at the door body round fixed axle pivoted in-process, the door body upwards opens the in-process and has the weight of forward motion simultaneously, thereby when the door body is opened, the space that the door body was to the freezer rear was taken has been reduced, the freezer can be more close to the wall body and put, on the other hand has also reduced the freezer rear reserved space not enough to open the influence of angle to the door body, user's use experience has been improved.

Description

Hinge device and refrigerator

Technical Field

The invention relates to a hinge device, in particular to a refrigerator with the hinge device.

Background

As shown in figures 1-4, in figures 1-2, a door body of a conventional refrigerator is closed, and in figures 3-4, the door body of the refrigerator is turned upwards to be opened to expose an opening of a box body below the refrigerator. In daily use, the user hopes to put the freezer as far as backward by the wall to reduce the space occupation of freezer, but receive the thickness of hinge itself and the structural limitation of hinge, make the rear of freezer need reserve sufficient space and just can ensure the normal opening of the door body, make the rear of freezer must reserve out sufficient space then. As shown in fig. 4, the freezer is at least d1+ d2 from the back, where d1 is the distance from the end of the door body to the outer surface of the hinge and d2 is the thickness of the hinge. Even if the thickness d2 of the hinge itself is reduced, the distance d1 is difficult to change. Correspondingly, when a user places the refrigerator closer to the wall, the door body cannot be completely opened, and normal use of the refrigerator is affected. The waste of the space behind the refrigerator influences the use experience of the user.

Disclosure of Invention

In order to solve the problem of space waste in the prior art, the invention aims to provide a hinge device occupying the space behind a refrigerator as little as possible and the refrigerator.

In order to achieve the above object, one embodiment of the present invention provides a hinge device including:

a lower hinge housing for connecting the case;

the upper hinge shell comprises an upper connecting wall for connecting the door body;

the upper hinge shell and the lower hinge shell are connected to the fixed shaft and rotate around the fixed shaft relatively;

the hinge device has a standing state and a turning state, and in the standing state, the distance from the fixed shaft to the lower end of the upper connecting wall is greater than the distance from the fixed shaft to the upper end of the upper connecting wall;

in the process of switching the hinge device from the rest state to the turnover state, a partial area below the fixed shaft in the closed position has a forward movement component.

The hinge device also comprises a transmission shaft and an elastic supporting part, and the transmission shaft is connected with the lower hinge shell;

the elastic supporting part comprises a fixed end fixedly connected with the lower hinge shell, a bearing end connected with the transmission shaft and an elastic supporting part arranged between the fixed end and the bearing end;

The hinge device has a rest state in which at least a partial region of the upper connecting wall is below the fixed shaft.

As a further improvement of the present invention, the lower hinge shell includes a lower connecting wall for connecting the box body, and in the resting state, the lower connecting wall and the upper connecting wall are both located on a first plane;

the hinge device also has a flip state, and the upper connecting wall moves to the front side of the first plane at least partially in the process of switching the hinge device from the rest state to the flip state.

As a further improvement of the present invention, the hinge device further comprises a guide portion including a guide shaft provided to one of the lower hinge housing or the upper hinge housing and a guide groove provided to the other of the lower hinge housing or the upper hinge housing.

As a further improvement of the invention, the lower hinge shell comprises a pair of lower side walls, each of the lower side walls is provided with the guide groove, the guide shaft passes through the pair of guide grooves and is parallel to the fixed shaft, and the fixed shaft is arranged on one side of the guide groove close to the upper connecting wall.

As a further improvement of the present invention, the elastic supporting member includes a supporting beam, a supporting rod, and an elastic member sleeved outside the supporting rod, the supporting beam includes the fixed end connected to the lower hinge shell, one end of the elastic member is fixed to the supporting beam, and the other end of the elastic member abuts against the supporting rod.

As a further improvement of the invention, the supporting rod comprises a bearing end connected with the transmission shaft.

As a further improvement of the present invention, the elastic support portion further includes an interlocking portion, the interlocking portion including:

the sliding shaft is connected to the lower hinge shell in a sliding mode and is parallel to the transmission shaft, and the supporting rod is connected with the sliding shaft;

the connecting piece comprises a bearing end which is pivotally connected with the transmission shaft, and the connecting piece is also pivotally connected with the sliding shaft;

and a limiting part which is arranged on the lower hinge shell and limits the movement direction of the sliding shaft.

As a further improvement of the present invention, the axis of the transmission shaft is located on a side of a second plane close to the upper connecting wall, the second plane being a plane formed by the axis of the fixed shaft and the axis of the sliding shaft together.

In order to achieve one of the above objects, an embodiment of the present invention provides a refrigerator, which includes the above hinge device.

As a further improvement of the invention, the refrigerator comprises a box body connected with the lower hinge shell and a door body connected with the upper hinge shell, the door body is provided with a closing position, and in at least partial opening process of the door body, relative to the closing position, a part of a structure of the door body connected with the upper connecting wall moves forwards.

Compared with the prior art, the invention has the following beneficial effects: the door body of the freezer that utilizes this hinge means is at the in-process of opening, because the at least part region who goes up the connection wall is in the fixed axle below, so at the door body round fixed axle pivoted in-process, the door body upwards opens the in-process and has the weight of forward motion simultaneously, thereby when the door body is opened, the space that the door body was to the freezer rear was taken has been reduced, the freezer can be more close to the wall body and put, on the other hand has also reduced the freezer rear reserved space not enough to open the influence of angle to the door body, user's use experience has been improved.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a side view of a prior art freezer with a door closed;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of a portion of FIG. 1 at A';

Fig. 3 is a side view of a prior art cooler with the door open;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of a portion of FIG. 3 at B';

FIG. 5 is a schematic structural view of a hinge device in a resting state according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the hinge assembly of one embodiment of the present invention in a resting state;

fig. 7 is a partial structural schematic view of a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention when a door is closed;

FIG. 8 is a side view of an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 9 is an enlarged view of a portion of FIG. 8 at A;

FIG. 10 is a schematic structural view illustrating a hinge device according to an embodiment of the present invention in a flipped state;

FIG. 11 is a sectional view showing a hinge device according to an embodiment of the present invention in a flipped state;

1000, a refrigerator; 100. a hinge device; 200. a box body; 300. a door body; 10. an upper hinge shell; 11. an upper connecting wall; 111. an upper end; 112. a lower end; 20. a lower hinge shell; 21. a lower connecting wall; 22. a lower sidewall; 30. a fixed shaft; 41. a guide shaft; 42. a guide groove; 50. a drive shaft; 61. a linkage section; 611. a connecting member; 612. a sliding shaft; 613. a limiting part; 62. a support bar; 63. an elastic member; 64. and supporting the cross beam.

Detailed Description

The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to specific embodiments shown in the drawings. These embodiments are not intended to limit the present invention, and structural, methodological, or functional changes made by those skilled in the art according to these embodiments are included in the scope of the present invention.

It will be understood that terms used herein such as "upper," "above," "lower," "below," and the like, refer to relative spatial positions of one element or feature with respect to another element or feature as illustrated in the figures for purposes of explanation. The spatially relative positional terms may be intended to encompass different orientations of the device in use or operation in addition to the orientation depicted in the figures.

According to the hinge device and the refrigerator with the hinge device, the structure of the hinge is redesigned, so that the occupation of the rear space of the refrigerator in the opening process of the door body can be controlled, the refrigerator can be placed closer to a rear wall, and the waste of the rear space of the refrigerator is reduced.

This hinge means 100 also can install on equipment such as refrigerator, vertical freezer, gradevin, dish washer, microwave oven, provides a freezer 1000 in this embodiment, including door body 300 and box 200, box 200 is inside to enclose out the refrigeration space, and door body 300 seals the refrigeration space, is connected through hinge means 100 between door body 300 and the box 200, and hinge means 100 supports opening and closing of door body 300.

As shown in fig. 5 to 11, an embodiment of the present invention discloses a hinge device 100, including a lower hinge housing 20, an upper hinge housing 10, a fixed shaft 30, a transmission shaft 50 and an elastic support portion, wherein the lower hinge housing 20 is used for connecting a box body 200; the upper hinge case 10 includes an upper connection wall 11 for connecting the door body 300; the upper hinge housing 10 and the lower hinge housing 20 are connected to the fixed shaft 30 and relatively rotate around the fixed shaft 30. The upper connection wall 11 is a wall of the upper hinge case 10 for connecting the door 300, and the upper connection wall 11 is attached to the door 300 and rotates together with the door 300. The upper hinge case 10 is rotatably coupled to the lower hinge case 20 by a fixed shaft 30.

Since the rotation of the upper hinge housing 10 and the lower hinge housing 20 around the fixed shaft 30 is opposite, it is possible that the lower hinge housing 20 is fixedly coupled to the fixed shaft 30 and the upper hinge housing 10 is rotatably coupled to the fixed shaft 30, or the lower hinge housing 20 is rotatably coupled to the fixed shaft 30 and the upper hinge housing 10 is fixedly coupled to the fixed shaft 30, or the lower hinge housing 20 is rotatably coupled to the fixed shaft 30 and the upper hinge housing 10 is rotatably coupled to the fixed shaft 30. In this embodiment, the lower hinge housing 20 is rotatably coupled to the fixed shaft 30, and the upper hinge housing 10 is fixedly coupled to the fixed shaft 30.

In order to clearly express the positions and directions described in the present embodiment, taking the horizontal refrigerator 1000 as an example, the refrigerator 1000 is defined such that the opening of the refrigerator 1000 faces upward, and the reverse direction is defined as downward, the door 300 is located above the refrigerator 200, the user is located on one side of the refrigerator 200 away from the hinge device 100 to operate the refrigerator 1000, the user is defined to be located in front of the refrigerator 1000, the hinge device 100 is located behind the refrigerator 200, and the left and right sides of the refrigerator 200 from the front are defined as right and left sides respectively.

The hinge device 100 has a standing state, as shown in fig. 5 to 7, and the standing state of the hinge device 100 corresponds to the door 300 being at the closing position. In addition, the hinge device 100 has a turning state, and the turning state of the hinge device 100 corresponds to the door 300 being at the opening position, as shown in fig. 8 to 11.

Here, referring to fig. 2 and 4 of the related art, in the related art hinge device 100, the upper connecting wall 11 is located above the fixed shaft 30, the fixed shaft 30 is located between the upper connecting wall 11 and the lower connecting wall 21 of the lower hinge housing 20 for connecting the cabinet 200, and when the door 300 is opened, the upper connecting wall 11 makes an upward tilting motion around the fixed shaft 30.

In this embodiment, in the standing state, the distance from the fixing shaft 30 to the lower end 112 of the upper connecting wall 11 is greater than the distance to the upper end 111 of the upper connecting wall 11; at least a partial region of the upper coupling wall 11 is located below the fixing shaft 30, and as shown in fig. 5 and 6, the fixing shaft 30 is located above a center line of the upper coupling wall 11, and there are many regions of the upper coupling wall 11 below the fixing shaft 30, and in addition, it is also possible to make as many partial positions of the upper coupling wall 11 as possible below the fixing shaft 30, unlike the conventional structure in which the upper coupling wall 11 is located above the fixing shaft 30.

In the process of switching the hinge device 100 from the rest state to the reversed state, a partial region below the fixed shaft 30 in the closed position has a component of forward movement. During the rotation of the door 300 around the fixed shaft 30, since the upper connecting wall 11 is located in front of the fixed shaft 30 and the upper connecting wall 11 has a tendency to move upward, the region of the upper connecting wall 11 located below the fixed shaft 30 has a forward movement component corresponding to the upward opening of the door 300 and a forward movement component, that is, during at least part of the opening of the door 300, the part of the structure of the door 300 connected with the upper connecting wall 11 moves forward relative to the closed position. This causes the door body 300 to move forward in the area located below the fixed shaft 30 in the rest state, as shown in fig. 8 and 9, when opened.

The forward movement means that the movement locus of the same point on the door is a forward movement with respect to the stationary state, and then the area where the door body 300 moves backward is reduced. As can be seen by comparing fig. 4 and 9, the distance from the door 300 farthest from the hinge rear wall is reduced from d1 in the prior art to d3 in the present embodiment. The space occupation behind the refrigerator 1000 is greatly reduced.

At this moment, the refrigerator 1000 can be placed closer to the wall body at the rear, and in addition, the heat dissipation structures of the refrigerator 1000 can be arranged on the side surfaces, the bottom surface and the front surface of the left side and the right side of the refrigerator 1000, so that the problem that the heat dissipation is influenced when the refrigerator 1000 is placed close to the wall body is solved.

The transmission shaft 50 is connected to the lower hinge housing 20, and the elastic support portion includes a fixed end fixedly connected to the lower hinge housing 20, a receiving end connected to the transmission shaft 50, and an elastic support member disposed between the fixed end and the receiving end. The elastic support portion may play a role of supporting the door 300 to hover.

Further, in the standing state, the lower connecting wall 21 and the upper connecting wall 11 are both located on the first plane; when the door 300 corresponding to the stationary state is closed, both the rear wall of the door 300 and the rear wall of the cabinet 200 may be on the first plane.

In the process of switching the hinge device 100 from the resting state to the turning state, at least a part of the structure of the upper connecting wall 11 moves to the front side of the first plane, and as shown in the change from fig. 7 to fig. 9, the area of the upper connecting wall 11 originally located under the fixing shaft 30 moves to the front side of the first plane. In fig. 11 it can also be seen that part of the upper hinge wall is positioned to move in front of the first plane in which the lower connection wall 21 lies.

Further, as shown in fig. 5 or 10, the hinge device 100 further includes a guide part including a guide shaft 41 and a guide groove 42, the guide shaft 41 being provided to one of the lower hinge housing 20 or the upper hinge housing 10, and the guide groove 42 being provided to the other of the lower hinge housing 20 or the upper hinge housing 10.

In this embodiment, the lower hinge housing 20 includes a pair of lower sidewalls 22, each of the lower sidewalls 22 is provided with a guide slot 42, a guide shaft 41 passes through the pair of guide slots 42 and is parallel to the fixing shaft 30, and the guide shaft 41 is connected to the pair of sidewalls of the upper hinge housing 10 and functions to guide the movement of the door 300 on one hand and to limit the opening angle of the hinge device 100, thereby limiting the opening angle of the door 300 of the horizontal refrigerator 1000 to be between 0 ° and 80 °.

In this embodiment, the fixed shaft 30 is disposed on a side of the guide groove 42 close to the upper connection wall 11. This can be combined with the prior art as shown in fig. 2, in which the fixing shaft 30 is disposed at a side of the guide groove 42 away from the upper connecting wall 11. In the present embodiment, the fixing shaft 30 is disposed at a side of the guide groove 42 adjacent to the upper connection wall 11. That is, the fixing shaft 30 of the present embodiment is closer to the upper connection wall 11 and the guide groove 42 is distant from the upper connection wall 11, compared to the related art.

That is, in the prior art, the fixed shaft 30 is located at the rear upper side of the hinge device 100, and the guide shaft 41 moves from the lower side to the front upper side in the guide groove 42; in the present embodiment, the fixed shaft 30 is located at the upper front of the hinge device 100, and the guide shaft 41 moves from the upper rear to the lower rear in the guide groove 42.

There are two embodiments, one of which is that the elastic support is connected to the transmission shaft 50, and the guide shaft 41 is responsible only for the above-mentioned functions, as shown in fig. 5.

In another embodiment, the guide shaft 41 and the transmission shaft 50 are the same shaft, and the guide shaft 41 also has the function of the transmission shaft 50.

Furthermore, the elastic supporting element comprises a supporting beam 64, a supporting rod 62 and an elastic element 63 sleeved outside the supporting rod 62, the supporting beam 64 comprises a fixed end connected with the lower hinge shell 20, one end of the elastic element 63 is fixed with the supporting beam 64, and the other end of the elastic element is abutted against the supporting rod 62. The two ends of the supporting beam 64 are respectively connected to a pair of opposite side walls of the lower hinge housing 20, an opening is formed in the supporting beam 64, the supporting rod 62 passes through the opening, the elastic member 63 can be a spring, and supporting sleeves can be arranged at the upper end and the lower end of the spring, as shown in fig. 5, the supporting sleeve at the lower part is abutted against the supporting beam 64 around the opening, and the supporting sleeve at the upper part is abutted against a protrusion extending from the supporting rod 62.

The spring is always in a compressed state, under the elastic action of the spring, when the upper hinge shell 10 turns upwards, the supporting rod 62 moves upwards under the driving of the spring, the spring releases part of elastic force, and the spring is still in a compressed state, so that the upper hinge shell 10 can be supported to be opened, the door opening labor is saved, and the hovering effect of the door body 300 is supported.

In one embodiment, the support rod 62 includes a receiving end that is coupled to the drive shaft 50. The spring directly supports the movement of the bearing end, and the supporting rod 62 performs reciprocating swing movement in the opening and closing processes of the door body 300.

In another embodiment, as shown in fig. 5, the elastic support portion further includes a linkage portion 61, the linkage portion 61 includes a sliding shaft 612, a connecting member 611 and a limiting portion 613, the sliding shaft 612 is slidably connected to the lower hinge housing 20 and is parallel to the transmission shaft 50, and the support rod 62 is connected to the sliding shaft 612; the link 611 includes a receiving end pivotally connected to the driving shaft 50, and the link 611 is also pivotally connected to the sliding shaft 612; the stopper 613 is provided to the lower hinge housing 20 and defines a moving direction of the sliding shaft 612.

Two sets of round holes are formed in the connecting piece 611, the sliding shaft 612 passes through one set of round holes, the transmission shaft 50 passes through the other set of round holes, both the transmission shaft 50 and the sliding shaft 612 can rotate in the round holes, when the support rod 62 moves upwards under the action of the spring, the sliding shaft 612 is pushed to move upwards along the limiting part 613, the sliding shaft 612 pushes the connecting piece 611 to move, and the connecting piece 611 is connected with the transmission shaft 50 to drive the transmission shaft 50 to move, so that the movement of the upper hinge shell 10 is supported.

The stopper 613 is provided as a slide groove formed in a pair of side walls of the lower hinge case 20 which are provided to face each other, and extends in the vertical direction, and the slide shaft 612 moves up and down in the slide groove in the vertical direction. In addition, the limiting portion 613 may be provided on a bottom wall connecting the two side walls.

The elastic support portion is supported by the fixed end, and the sliding end moves parallel to the connecting plate of the box body 200 along with the movement of the sliding shaft 612, i.e. the movement in the direction perpendicular to the connecting plate of the box body 200 is avoided, so that the required moving space inside is reduced, and the thickness of the hinge device 100 can be made thin.

Further, in the resting state, the force-bearing direction of the transmission shaft 50 is not towards the fixed shaft 30, and in fig. 6, the axis of the transmission shaft 50 is located on one side of the second plane close to the upper connecting wall 11, and the second plane is a plane formed by the axis of the fixed shaft 30 and the axis of the sliding shaft 612 together.

Therefore, labor can be saved when the door body 300 is opened, and the situation similar to a dead point is avoided, in fig. 5, an included angle between a plane formed by the axis of the transmission shaft 50 and the axis of the sliding shaft 612 and a second plane is alpha, that is, the axis of the transmission shaft 50 is not on the second plane, so that the transmission shaft 50 can be driven by the spring to move forwards and upwards at the moment when the door body 300 is opened, the negative pressure inside the refrigerator 1000 and the gravity of the door body 300 are overcome, and a user can easily open the door body 300.

Compared with the prior art, the embodiment has the following beneficial effects:

the door body 300 of the refrigerator 1000 of the hinge device 100 is in the opening process, because at least partial region of the upper connecting wall 11 is below the fixing shaft 30, so in-process of the door body 300 rotating around the fixing shaft 30, the door body 300 has a forward movement component in the upward opening process, thereby when the door body 300 is opened, the space occupation of the door body 300 to the rear of the refrigerator 1000 is reduced, the refrigerator 1000 can be placed closer to the wall body, on the other hand, the influence of insufficient reserved space at the rear of the refrigerator 1000 on the opening angle of the door body 300 is also reduced, and the use experience of users is improved.

It should be understood that although the specification describes embodiments, not every embodiment includes only a single embodiment, and such description is for clarity purposes only, and it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the specification as a whole may be appropriately combined to form other embodiments as will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

The above-listed detailed description is merely a detailed description of possible embodiments of the present invention, and it is not intended to limit the scope of the invention, and equivalent embodiments or modifications made without departing from the technical spirit of the present invention are intended to be included within the scope of the present invention.

Claims (12)

1. A hinge device, comprising:

a lower hinge housing for connecting the case;

the upper hinge shell comprises an upper connecting wall for connecting the door body;

the upper hinge shell and the lower hinge shell are connected to the fixed shaft and rotate relatively around the fixed shaft;

the hinge device has a standing state and a turning state, and in the standing state, the distance from the fixed shaft to the lower end of the upper connecting wall is greater than the distance from the fixed shaft to the upper end of the upper connecting wall;

in the process of switching the hinge device from the rest state to the turnover state, a partial area below the fixed shaft in the closed position has a forward movement component.

2. The hinge assembly of claim 1, wherein the lower hinge housing includes a lower connecting wall for connecting to the housing, the lower connecting wall and the upper connecting wall both lying in a first plane in the rest state;

the upper connecting wall moves at least partially to the front side of the first plane during the switching of the hinge device from the rest state to the flip state.

3. The hinge device according to claim 1, further comprising a guide portion including a guide shaft provided to one of the lower hinge housing or the upper hinge housing and a guide groove provided to the other of the lower hinge housing or the upper hinge housing.

4. The hinge device according to claim 3, wherein said lower hinge housing includes a pair of lower side walls, each of said lower side walls being provided with said guide groove, said guide shaft passing through a pair of said guide grooves and being parallel to said fixed shaft, said fixed shaft being provided at a side of said guide groove close to said upper connecting wall.

5. The hinge device as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a transmission shaft connected to the lower hinge housing and an elastic support portion including a fixed end fixedly connected to the lower hinge housing, a receiving end connected to the transmission shaft, and an elastic support member disposed between the fixed end and the receiving end.

6. The hinge apparatus according to claim 5, wherein in the resting state, the force direction of the transmission shaft is not towards the fixed shaft.

7. The hinge apparatus as claimed in claim 5, wherein the elastic supporting member comprises a supporting beam, a supporting rod, and an elastic member sleeved outside the supporting rod, the supporting beam comprises the fixed end connected to the lower hinge housing, one end of the elastic member is fixed to the supporting beam, and the other end of the elastic member abuts against the supporting rod.

8. The hinge assembly of claim 7, wherein the support rod includes a receiving end coupled to the drive shaft.

9. The hinge device of claim 7, wherein the resilient support further comprises a linkage, the linkage comprising:

the sliding shaft is connected to the lower hinge shell in a sliding mode and is parallel to the transmission shaft, and the supporting rod is connected with the sliding shaft;

the connecting piece comprises a bearing end which is pivotally connected with the transmission shaft, and the connecting piece is also pivotally connected with the sliding shaft;

and the limiting part is arranged on the lower hinge shell and limits the movement direction of the sliding shaft.

10. The hinge device according to claim 9, wherein an axis of the transmission shaft is located on a side of a second plane close to the upper connecting wall, the second plane being a plane formed by an axis of the fixed shaft and an axis of the sliding shaft together.

11. A refrigerator comprising the hinge device according to any one of claims 1 to 10.

12. The cooler of claim 11, including a body connected to the lower hinge shell and a door connected to the upper hinge shell, the door having a closed position, wherein during at least part of the opening of the door, a portion of the structure of the door connected to the upper connecting wall moves forward relative to the closed position.

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