CN216159445U - Refrigerator and drawer assembly thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

The utility model provides a refrigerator and a drawer assembly thereof, wherein the drawer assembly comprises a cylinder, a drawer body, a permanent magnet and an electromagnet, a containing cavity is defined in the cylinder, the drawer body can move between a closed position retracted into the containing cavity and an open position pulled out of the containing cavity in an operable mode, the permanent magnet is arranged in front of the cylinder, the electromagnet is arranged on the drawer body, is opposite to the permanent magnet and is configured to generate magnetic attraction with the permanent magnet when the drawer body is in the closed position. The electromagnet in the drawer component can generate magnetic attraction with the permanent magnet, and can seal the gap between the cylinder and the drawer body, so that cold air in the cylinder is prevented from being discharged outwards, and the energy consumption of the refrigerator is saved.

Description

Refrigerator and drawer assembly thereof

Technical Field

The utility model relates to a refrigeration and freezing technology, in particular to a refrigerator and a drawer assembly thereof.

Background

With the continuous development of society, refrigerators gradually move into more and more families, and the functions of the refrigerators are more and more abundant. The refrigerator with the drawer has appeared in prior art, and it can include barrel and drawer generally, for the clearance between sealed barrel and the drawer, prevents that air conditioning from spilling, sets up the sealing strip between barrel and the drawer, but because drawer outside temperature is great, pressure is great, and outside air passes through in the sealing strip gets into the drawer easily for the drawer seals the effect poor, and then makes the refrigerator energy consumption grow.

SUMMERY OF THE UTILITY MODEL

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

A further purpose of the utility model is to seal the gap between the cylinder and the drawer body, thereby saving the energy consumption of the refrigerator.

It is another further object of the present invention to facilitate the opening of the drawer body by the user.

It is still a further object of the present invention that the wire windings of the electromagnets be in a safe de-energized state after the drawer body is pulled out.

In particular, the present invention provides a drawer assembly for a refrigerator, comprising: a barrel defining a receiving cavity therein; the drawer body is operably moved between a closed position retracted into the accommodating cavity and an open position pulled out of the accommodating cavity; a permanent magnet disposed in front of the cylinder; and the electromagnet is arranged on the drawer body, is opposite to the permanent magnet and is configured to generate magnetic attraction force attracted by the permanent magnet when the drawer body is in a closed position.

Optionally, the drawer assembly further comprises: and the switching key is configured to change the current direction loaded on the electromagnet in an operable way, so that the electromagnet generates a magnetic repulsion force repelling with the permanent magnet, and the drawer body is opened.

Optionally, a first contact connected with a power supply for supplying power to the electromagnet is arranged in front of the cylinder;

a second contact opposite to the first contact is arranged on the drawer body; and the first and second contacts are configured to: when the drawer body is in the closed position, the first contact contacts with the second contact to communicate a circuit of the power supply to the electromagnet, and when the drawer body moves from the closed position to the open position, the first contact is separated from the second contact to disconnect the circuit of the power supply to the electromagnet.

Optionally, the switch button is configured as a self-reset switch, so that after the switch button is disengaged from the operation and when the drawer body moves to the closed position, the electromagnet generates a magnetic attraction force to the permanent magnet.

Optionally, the drawer body further comprises a storage part with an accommodating space and an end cover part formed in front of the storage part, a handle groove recessed downwards is formed in front of the end cover part, and the conversion key is arranged in the handle groove.

Optionally, the front of the barrel has a stopper extending along the circumferential direction, so that when the drawer body is in the closed position, one surface of the end cover portion facing the barrel abuts against the stopper.

Optionally, the electromagnet is fixed in the end cap portion; and the permanent magnet is fixed in the resisting part.

Optionally, a sealing strip is arranged between the end cover part and the resisting part to seal a gap between the cylinder and the drawer body.

Optionally, the front wall center of the end cap portion is made of a transparent material.

In particular, the utility model provides a refrigerator comprising a drawer assembly according to any one of the preceding claims.

According to the drawer assembly, the permanent magnet is arranged in front of the cylinder, and the electromagnet is arranged on the drawer body, so that when the drawer body is in the closed position, the wire winding of the electromagnet is continuously electrified, the electromagnet can generate magnetic attraction with the permanent magnet, and the drawer body can be attracted to the cylinder under the action of the magnetic attraction, so that a gap between the cylinder and the drawer body can be sealed, cold air in the cylinder is prevented from being discharged outwards, and the energy consumption of a refrigerator is reduced.

Further, according to the drawer assembly, the switching button can change the current direction loaded on the electromagnet, when the drawer body is in the closed position and a user needs to open the drawer body, the user can operate the switching switch to enable the wire winding of the electromagnet to be continuously electrified with current in the second direction, magnetic repulsion force is generated between the cylinder and the drawer body, the drawer body can be popped out of the cylinder under the action of the magnetic repulsion force, and the drawer body can be conveniently opened by the user.

Furthermore, according to the drawer assembly, the first contact is arranged in front of the cylinder, the second contact is arranged on the drawer body, after a user operates the change-over switch, the drawer body is popped out of the cylinder under the action of magnetic repulsion force, the first contact is separated from the second contact, the wire winding of the electromagnet is in a safe power-off state, the magnetic field of the electromagnet disappears, and the user can pull and pull the drawer body automatically as required.

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

FIG. 2 is an exploded view of a drawer assembly in a refrigerator according to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a drawer assembly in a refrigerator with a drawer body in a closed position according to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of portion A of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of a drawer assembly in a refrigerator with a drawer body in an open position according to one embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 6 is a power supply principle view of an electromagnet in a refrigerator according to one embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in more detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. While exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure are shown in the drawings, it should be understood that the present disclosure may be embodied in various forms and should not be limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the disclosure to those skilled in the art.

Referring to fig. 1 and 2, fig. 1 is a schematic view of a refrigerator 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention, and fig. 2 is an exploded view of a drawer assembly 30 in the refrigerator 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The utility model provides a refrigerator 1 which generally comprises a refrigerator body 10 and a door body 20.

The cabinet 10 may include an outer case located at the outermost side of the overall refrigerator 1 to protect the entire refrigerator 1, and a plurality of inner containers 40. The plurality of inner containers 40 are wrapped by the outer shell, and the space between the outer shell and the inner containers 40 is filled with heat insulation materials (forming a foaming layer) so as to reduce the heat dissipation of the inner containers 40 to the outside. Each inner container 40 may define a storage space opened forward, and the storage space may be configured as a refrigerating chamber, a freezing chamber, a temperature changing chamber, etc., and the number and function of the specific storage space may be configured according to a predetermined requirement.

The door 20 is movably disposed in front of the inner container 40 to open and close the storage space of the inner container 40, for example, the door 20 may be hingedly disposed at one side of the front portion of the cabinet 10 to pivotally open and close the storage space.

Referring to fig. 1 and 2, in some embodiments, the refrigerator 1 may further include a drawer assembly 30, the drawer assembly 30 may be disposed in the cabinet 10, and a user may open and close the drawer assembly 30 in a drawing manner to take food therein.

The drawer assembly 30 may further include a cylinder 310 and a drawer body 320, the cylinder 310 may be directly and fixedly installed in the inner container of the cabinet 10, and the cylinder 310 may define a receiving cavity 312, the drawer body 320 may be operably moved between a closed position retracted into the receiving cavity 312 and an open position pulled out of the receiving cavity 312 by a sliding rail assembly, it should be understood by those skilled in the art that the "closed position" and the "open position" are extreme positions in which the drawer body 320 moves relative to the cylinder 310, and the drawer body 320 may also be stopped at any position between the closed position and the open position.

Referring to fig. 3 to 5, fig. 3 is a sectional view of the drawer assembly 30 when the drawer body 320 is in the closed position in the refrigerator 1 according to one embodiment of the present invention, fig. 4 is an enlarged view of a portion a in fig. 3, and fig. 5 is a sectional view of the drawer assembly 30 when the drawer body 320 is in the open position in the refrigerator 1 according to one embodiment of the present invention.

In some embodiments, the drawer assembly 30 may further include a permanent magnet 330 and an electromagnet 340, the permanent magnet 330 is disposed in front of the cylinder 310, the electromagnet 340 is disposed on the drawer body 320 and opposite to the permanent magnet 330, and the electromagnet 340 may generate a magnetic attraction force to the permanent magnet 330 when the drawer body 320 is in the closed position.

The permanent magnet 330 is a magnet with a high remanence for a long time, and the electromagnet 340 is a device for generating electromagnetism by electrifying, as known by those skilled in the art, the electromagnet 340 can be composed of an iron core and a wire winding wound on the iron core, and when the wire winding passes through a current, the iron core is magnetized, so that one end presents an N pole and the other end presents an S pole.

In this embodiment, the permanent magnet 330 is disposed in front of the cylinder 310, the electromagnet 340 is disposed on the drawer body 320, and is opposite to the permanent magnet 330, when the drawer body 320 is in the closed position, the wire winding of the electromagnet 340 is continuously electrified, so that the permanent magnet 330 and the electromagnet 340 are opposite in one end, thereby generating magnetic attraction force, so that the drawer body 320 can be attracted on the cylinder 310 under the action of the magnetic attraction force, and further the gap between the cylinder 310 and the drawer body 320 can be sealed, prevent the cold air in the cylinder 310 from being discharged outwards, and save the energy consumption of the refrigerator 1.

For convenience of describing the working principle of the present invention, the following description will be made by taking a case where the electromagnet 340 generates a magnetic attraction force to the permanent magnet 330 when the current is in the first direction (i.e. the electromagnet 340 generates a magnetic repulsion force to the permanent magnet 330 when the current is in the second direction) as an example.

Referring to fig. 3, 5 and 6, fig. 6 is a schematic diagram of a power supply of the electromagnet 340 in the refrigerator 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. In some embodiments, the drawer assembly 30 may further include a switch button K operable to change a direction of current applied to the electromagnet 340 such that the electromagnet 340 generates a magnetic repulsive force repelling the permanent magnet 330 to open the drawer body 320.

The switch button K can be a double-throw double-pole switch, when the knife switch of the double-throw double-pole switch is closed on one side, current can flow in one direction, and when the knife switch of the double-throw double-pole switch is closed on the other side, the current flows in the other direction, so that the direction of the current is changed.

In this embodiment, the switch button K may be operated by a user, and when the drawer body 320 is in the closed position, the switch of the switch button K may be kept closed to one side, so that the first direction current is continuously conducted to the wire winding of the electromagnet 340, and then a magnetic attraction force is generated between the cylinder 310 and the drawer body 320. When a user needs to open the drawer body 320, the switch key K can be operated to switch the knife switch of the switch key K to the other side, so that the current in the second direction is continuously conducted to the wire winding of the electromagnet 340, a magnetic repulsion force is generated between the cylinder 310 and the drawer body 320, and the drawer body 320 can be ejected out of the cylinder 310 under the action of the magnetic repulsion force, so that the user can open the drawer body 320.

Referring to fig. 3 to 6, in some embodiments, a first contact 314 connected to a power source E for supplying power to the electromagnet 340 is disposed at the front of the cylinder 310, a second contact 322 opposite to the first contact 314 is disposed on the drawer body 320, when the drawer body 320 is in the closed position, the first contact 314 contacts with the second contact 322 to connect a line for supplying power to the electromagnet 340 from the power source E, and when the drawer body 320 moves from the closed position to the open position, the first contact 314 separates from the second contact 322 to disconnect the line for supplying power to the electromagnet 340 from the power source E.

That is, before the user operates the switch button K, the drawer body 320 is in the closed position, the first contact 314 is in contact with the second contact 322, and the wire winding of the electromagnet 340 is continuously supplied with the first-direction current; when a user operates the switch key K, the first contact 314 and the second contact 322 are in a contact state, then the current direction on the wire winding is switched from the first direction to the second direction, and a magnetic repulsion force is generated between the cylinder 310 and the drawer body 320; after the user operates the switch key K, the drawer body 320 is ejected out of the cylinder 310 under the action of the magnetic repulsion force, at this time, the first contact 314 is separated from the second contact 322, the wire winding of the electromagnet 340 is in a safe power-off state, the magnetic field of the electromagnet 340 disappears, and the user can pull the drawer body 320 by himself or herself as required.

In addition, in the process of closing the drawer body 320, although the electromagnet 340 is in the power-off state, a weak magnetic attraction force may be generated between the permanent magnet 330 and the iron core of the electromagnet 340, and the magnetic attraction force may assist the user to slowly close the drawer body 320, thereby improving the experience of the user. If the electromagnet 340 is not powered off, a strong magnetic force is generated, which is not beneficial to the user to open or close the drawer body 320. Therefore, the drawer assembly 30 of the present embodiment utilizes the first contact 314 and the second contact 322 to skillfully combine the moving relationship between the cylinder 310 and the drawer body 320, so that the magnetic attraction force generated by the electromagnet 340 when the drawer body 320 is in the closed position is strongly attracted to the cylinder 310, and during the closing process of the drawer body 320, the weak magnetic field force generated between the permanent magnet 330 and the iron core of the electromagnet 340 in the power-off state is utilized to assist the user to slowly close, thereby achieving unexpected technical effects.

In some embodiments, the switch button K may be configured as a self-reset switch, such that the electromagnet 340 generates a magnetic attraction force to the permanent magnet 330 after the switch button K is disengaged and when the drawer body 320 moves to the closed position.

The self-reset switch generally has two working positions, one is a normally open position, and the other is a normally closed position, and a user can switch the normally closed position to the normally open position through manual operation, and after the self-reset switch is disengaged from the normal open position, the self-reset switch automatically returns to the normally closed position.

In this embodiment, the switch button K may be further specifically configured to make the current flowing to the wire winding of the electromagnet 340 in a first direction when the switch button K is in the normally closed position, and to make the current flowing to the wire winding of the electromagnet 340 in a second direction when the switch button K is in the normally open position.

Before the user operates the switching key K, the switching key K is continuously in a normally closed position, and the wire winding of the electromagnet 340 is electrified with current in a first direction, so that the electromagnet 340 generates magnetic attraction with the permanent magnet 330; when a user operates the conversion key K, the conversion key K is converted from a normally closed position to a normally open position, and at the moment, the wire winding of the electromagnet 340 is electrified in a second direction, so that the electromagnet 340 generates a magnetic repulsion force repelling from the permanent magnet 330, the drawer body 320 pops up, and the wire winding of the electromagnet 340 is powered off; after the user operates the switching key K, that is, the switching key K is disengaged from the operation, the switching key K is restored to the normally closed position, when the drawer body 320 returns to the closed position again, the first contact 314 is in contact with the second contact 322, the wire winding of the electromagnet 340 is electrified with a first direction current, the drawer body 320 is directly adsorbed on the cylinder body 310, and the current direction does not need to be adjusted again by the user.

In summary, the working process of the drawer assembly 30 of the present invention can be divided into three stages:

in the first stage, the drawer body 320 is in the closed position, at this time, the first contact 314 is in contact with the second contact 322, the wire winding of the electromagnet 340 is energized with a first direction current, and the electromagnet 340 generates a magnetic attraction force with the permanent magnet 330, so that the drawer body 320 is attracted to the cylinder 310.

In the second stage, in the opening process of the drawer body 320 from the closed position, the first contact 314 is in contact with the second contact 322, the user operates the switch key K to enable the wire winding of the electromagnet 340 to be electrified with current in the second direction, the electromagnet 340 generates magnetic repulsion force repelling from the permanent magnet 330 to eject the drawer body 320, the first contact 314 is separated from the second contact 322, and the electromagnet 340 is powered off.

In the third stage and the closing process of the drawer body 320, the user disengages from the operation switching key K, the switching key K returns to the normally closed position, the first contact 314 and the second contact 322 are still in the separated state, the drawer body 320 gradually approaches the cylinder body 310, finally, the drawer body 320 returns to the closed position, the first contact 314 contacts the second contact 322, and the electromagnet 340 generates the magnetic attraction force attracted by the permanent magnet 330, so that the drawer body 320 is adsorbed on the cylinder body 310.

Referring to fig. 2, 3 and 5, in some embodiments, the drawer body 320 may further include a storage portion 324 having a receiving space and an end cap portion 326 formed in front of the storage portion 324, a handle recess 328 recessed downward is formed in front of the end cap portion 326, and the switching key K is disposed in the handle recess 328.

In some specific embodiments, the operation direction of the switch key K may be configured to be the same as the pulling direction of the user (i.e. both outward), so that when the user needs to open the drawer body 320, the user can put his hand into the handle recess 328 and apply an outward pulling force, and operate the switch key K in a proper manner, and after the pulling operation is completed, the user takes his hand out of the handle recess 328, and the switch key K automatically resets, and can be completed with one hand, which is ergonomic, simple and convenient.

Referring to fig. 2, 3 and 5, in some embodiments, the front of the cylinder 310 has a circumferentially extending stop 316, so that when the drawer body 320 is in the closed position, a surface of the end cap 326 facing the cylinder 310 abuts against the stop 316.

In the present embodiment, the size of the end cap portion 326 of the drawer body 320 can be set to be larger than that of the storage portion 324, so that the storage portion 324 can be pulled out in the accommodating cavity 312 of the inner barrel, and when the drawer body 320 is in the closed position, the end cap portion 326 can abut against the abutting portion 316, and the abutting portion 316 abuts against the end cap portion 326 to further facilitate the sealing of the drawer body 320 and the barrel 310.

Referring to fig. 3 and 5, further, the electromagnet 340 may be fixed in the end cap portion 326, and the permanent magnet 330 may be fixed in the stopper portion 316, so as to avoid the influence on the overall structure of the drawer assembly 30 due to the addition of the electromagnet 340 and the permanent magnet 330.

Referring to fig. 2, further, a sealing strip 350 is disposed between the end cap portion 326 and the resisting portion 316 to seal a gap between the barrel 310 and the drawer body 320, the sealing strip 350 may be made of a material such as silicon gel, and the sealing strip 350 may be disposed around between the end cap portion 326 and the resisting portion 316 to prevent the cold air in the barrel 310 from being discharged.

Referring to fig. 2, further, the center of the front wall of the end cover portion 326 is made of a transparent material, such as transparent glass, transparent plastic, etc., so that a user can directly observe the state of food in the drawer body 320 through the front wall of the end cover portion 326, and light emitted by light disposed in the end cover portion 326 can be emitted from the front wall of the end cover portion 326, thereby improving the aesthetic property of the drawer assembly 30.

According to the drawer assembly 30, the permanent magnet 330 is arranged in front of the cylinder body 310, and the electromagnet 340 is arranged on the drawer body 320, so that when the drawer body 320 is in the closed position, the wire winding of the electromagnet 340 is continuously electrified, the electromagnet 340 can generate magnetic attraction with the permanent magnet 330, and the drawer body 320 can be attracted on the cylinder body 310 under the action of the magnetic attraction, so that a gap between the cylinder body 310 and the drawer body 320 can be sealed, cold air in the cylinder body 310 is prevented from being discharged outwards, and energy is saved.

Further, in the drawer assembly 30 of the present invention, the switch button K can change the current direction loaded on the electromagnet 340, when the drawer body 320 is in the closed position and a user needs to open the drawer body 320, the user can operate the switch button K to continuously conduct a second direction current on the wire winding of the electromagnet 340, so that a magnetic repulsion force is generated between the cylinder 310 and the drawer body 320, and the drawer body 320 can be ejected out of the cylinder 310 under the action of the magnetic repulsion force, so that the user can open the drawer body 320.

Further, according to the drawer assembly 30 of the present invention, the first contact 314 is disposed in front of the cylinder 310, the second contact 322 is disposed on the drawer body 320, and after the user operates the switch key K, since the drawer body 320 is popped out of the cylinder 310 under the action of the magnetic repulsion force, the first contact 314 is separated from the second contact 322, the wire winding of the electromagnet 340 is in the safe power-off state, the magnetic field of the electromagnet 340 disappears, and the user can pull the drawer body 320 by himself or herself as required.

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

Claims (10)

1. A drawer assembly for a refrigerator, comprising:

a barrel defining a receiving cavity therein;

a drawer body operatively movable between a closed position retracted into the housing chamber and an open position pulled out of the housing chamber;

a permanent magnet disposed in front of the cylinder;

and the electromagnet is arranged on the drawer body, is opposite to the permanent magnet and is configured to generate magnetic attraction force attracted by the permanent magnet when the drawer body is in the closed position.

2. The drawer assembly of claim 1, further comprising:

and the switching key is configured to operably change the direction of current loaded on the electromagnet, so that the electromagnet generates a magnetic repulsion force repelling from the permanent magnet, and the drawer body is opened.

3. The drawer assembly of claim 2, wherein the drawer assembly is further characterized by

A first contact connected with a power supply for supplying power to the electromagnet is arranged in front of the barrel;

a second contact opposite to the first contact is arranged on the drawer body; and the first and second contacts are configured to:

when the drawer body is located at the closed position, the first contact is in contact with the second contact so as to be communicated with a circuit for supplying power to the electromagnet from the power supply, and when the drawer body moves from the closed position to the open position, the first contact is separated from the second contact so as to be disconnected from the circuit for supplying power to the electromagnet from the power supply.

4. The drawer assembly of claim 2, wherein the drawer assembly is further characterized by

The conversion button is configured to be a self-reset switch, so that after the conversion button is separated from operation, and when the drawer body moves to the closing position, the electromagnet generates magnetic attraction force attracted by the permanent magnet.

5. The drawer assembly of claim 2, wherein the drawer assembly is further characterized by

The drawer body further comprises a storage part with an accommodating space and an end cover part formed in front of the storage part, a handle groove recessed downwards is formed in front of the end cover part, and the conversion key is arranged in the handle groove.

6. The drawer assembly of claim 5, wherein the drawer assembly is configured to be coupled to a drawer

The front of the cylinder body is provided with a resisting part extending along the circumferential direction, so that when the drawer body is positioned at the closing position, one surface of the end cover part facing the cylinder body is butted against the resisting part.

7. The drawer assembly of claim 6, wherein the drawer assembly is configured to be connected to a drawer

The electromagnet is fixed in the end cover part; and is

The permanent magnet is fixed in the resisting part.

8. The drawer assembly of claim 6, wherein the drawer assembly is configured to be connected to a drawer

And a sealing strip is arranged between the end cover part and the resisting part so as to seal a gap between the cylinder body and the drawer body.

9. The drawer assembly of claim 5, wherein the drawer assembly is configured to be coupled to a drawer

The front wall center of the end cover part is made of transparent material.

10. A refrigerator characterized by comprising the drawer assembly according to any one of claims 1 to 9.

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