EP4174415A1

EP4174415A1 - Refrigerator door with replaceable door face

Info

Publication number: EP4174415A1
Application number: EP21832063.8A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Wenchun WANG; Hao Zhang; Jiaming Li
Original assignee: Qingdao Haier Refrigerator Co Ltd; Haier Smart Home Co Ltd; Chongqing Haier Refrigeration Electric Appliance Co Ltd
Current assignee: Qingdao Haier Refrigerator Co Ltd; Haier Smart Home Co Ltd; Chongqing Haier Refrigeration Electric Appliance Co Ltd
Priority date: 2020-06-30
Filing date: 2021-06-18
Publication date: 2023-05-03
Also published as: CN113865182A; CN113865182B; WO2022001692A1; US20230258385A1; EP4174415A4

Abstract

The present invention provides a refrigerator door with a replaceable door panel, comprising: a foamed door body, and a door panel matching the foamed door body and detachably connected with the foamed door body; wherein an upper end portion of the door panel extends towards a rear surface thereof to form an upper trim strip, and an upper end portion of the foamed door body and the door panel are detachably snap-fitted with each other through the upper trim strip. The present invention makes the replacement of the door panel become simple and reliable, and saves the replacement cost.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to the technical field of household appliances, and particularly to a refrigerator door with a replaceable door panel.

BACKGROUND

Along with constant development of science and technology, a refrigerator has already become one of indispensable household appliances. In current application, as the user's demands increase, the refrigerator is also required to exist as a decoration in the household environment in addition to as a household appliance; before buying the refrigerator, the user usually has many requirements for the refrigerator such as color and pattern, and a single appearance of the refrigerator affects the user's buying demands. In addition, since a service life of the refrigerator can usually be in a range of 8 years to 10 years, during use of the refrigerator by the user, the appearance of the refrigerator once bought cannot satisfy the user's demands for long-term adjustment as the environment and scenario change; in another case, the door panel also has a risk of being broken during use and transportation of the refrigerator; in the above cases, if the whole door body of the refrigerator is replaced, the replacement cost is high and the use of the refrigerator is also affected, which is not conducive in satisfying the consumer's demands.

SUMMARY

An object of the present invention is to provide a refrigerator door with a replaceable door panel.
In order to achieve the above object, the refrigerator door with a replaceable door panel of the present invention comprising: a foamed door body, and a door panel matching the foamed door body and detachably connected with the foamed door body,
wherein an upper end portion of the door panel extends towards a rear surface thereof to form an upper trim strip, and an upper end portion of the foamed door body and the door panel are detachably snap-fitted with each other through the upper trim strip.
As a further improvement of an embodiment of the present invention, wherein the door panel specifically comprises: a panel main body, a door panel attached to a front surface of the panel main body, and the upper trim strip integrally formed with the panel main body, the upper trim strip extending from the upper end portion of the panel main body towards a front surface and a rear surface of the panel main body, respectively;

a portion of the upper trim strip extending towards the front surface of the panel main body forms an upper rim catching the door panel, and a portion of the upper trim strip extending towards the rear surface of the panel main body forms at least one receiving groove facing towards a lower end of the panel main body;
the foamed door body comprises: a foamed main body, and a boss configured to extend upward from an upper end face of the foamed main body and match the receiving groove.

As a further improvement of an embodiment of the present invention, wherein a sidewall of the receiving groove away from the door panel is provided with a first through hole;

a wall surface of the boss away from the door panel is provided with a first screw hole;
the refrigerator door further comprises a screw which enters through the first through hole and is threadedly locked in the first screw hole.

As a further improvement of an embodiment of the present invention, wherein an extension table covering the through hole is arranged on an inner wall surface of the sidewall of the receiving groove where the through hole is provided, at a position corresponding to the through hole, and the through hole is disposed through the extension table;
an end cap of the screw is encapsulated with an anti-collision pad.
As a further improvement of an embodiment of the present invention, wherein a magnetic attraction device is matchingly disposed on opposed wall surfaces of the foamed door body and the door panel, and the magnetic attraction device comprises a magnetic attraction sheet and an iron sheet that are disposed on the foamed door body and the door panel, respectively and engage each other in a magnetically-attractive way.
As a further improvement of an embodiment of the present invention, wherein the magnetic attraction devices are symmetrically arranged in four groups with one magnetic attraction sheet being opposed to the iron sheet in each group, and each group of magnetic attraction device are arranged at positions close to corners of opposite wall surfaces of the foamed door body and the door panel.
As a further improvement of an embodiment of the present invention, wherein the portion of the upper trim strip extending towards the rear surface of the panel main body is formed with a first receiving groove, a second receiving groove and a third receiving groove in turn in a direction facing towards a lower end of the panel main body, the second receiving groove being disposed matching the boss;
inner wall surfaces of sidewalls of the first receiving groove and the third receiving groove away from the second receiving groove are respectively provided with a baffle extending towards outside the end face of the sidewall.
As a further improvement of an embodiment of the present invention, wherein the foamed door body further comprises a side trim strip disposed on two opposite long sidewalls of the foamed main body, the side trim strip extends towards the front surface of the foamed main body to form a guide rail groove, and long sidewalls of the panel main body are matchingly embedded in the guide rail grooves;
the side trim strip extends upward from an upper end face of the foamed main body to form an abutting wall, an upper end face of the abutting wall abuts against an end face of the sidewall of the first receiving groove and the third receiving groove away from the second receiving groove, and an inner sidewall of the abutting wall abuts against the baffle.
As a further improvement of an embodiment of the present invention, wherein a sidewall of the guide rail groove away from the foamed main body forms a side rim for catching the door panel.
As a further improvement of an embodiment of the present invention, wherein a limiting groove is provided at a lower end of an end face of the panel main body facing towards the foamed main body, and a limiting boss matching the limiting groove is protrusively disposed at a lower end of an end face of the foamed main body facing towards the panel main body.
Advantageous effects of the present invention are as follows: the refrigerator door with the replaceable door panel according to the present invention, through the detachable connection of the integrally-formed upper trim strip on the door panel with the foamed door body, makes the replacement of the door panel become simple and reliable, makes the overall structure simple, makes the replacement process time-saving and labor-saving, and saves the replacement cost.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an overall structural schematic view of a refrigerator door with a replaceable door panel according to an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 2 is an exploded structural schematic view of FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a structural schematic view of a door panel of FIG. 2 as viewed from another angle;
FIG. 4 is an enlarged structural schematic view of a portion shown in circle A in FIG. 2;
FIG. 5 is a structural schematic view of a foamed door body of FIG. 2 as viewed from another angle;
FIG. 6 is an enlarged structural schematic view of a portion shown in circle B in FIG. 5.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present invention will be described in detail below in combination with embodiments shown in the figures. However, these embodiments do not limit the present invention, and structural or functional changes made by those having ordinary skill in the art according to these embodiments are all included in the protection scope of the present invention.
Referring to FIG. 1 through FIG. 6, a refrigerator door with a replaceable door panel provided by the present invention comprises a foamed door body 10, and a door panel 20 matching the foamed door body 10 and detachably connected with the foamed door body 10, wherein an upper end portion of the door panel 20 extends towards a rear surface thereof to form an upper trim strip 23, and an upper end portion of the foamed door body 10 and the door panel 20 are detachably snap-fitted with each other through the upper trim strip 23.
In a specific embodiment of the present invention, the door panel 20 comprises: a plate-shaped panel main body 21 whose front surface is a plane, a door panel 30 attached to a front surface of the door panel 20, and the upper trim strip 23 integrally formed with the panel main body 21, the upper trim strip 23 extending from the upper end portion of the panel main body 21 towards a front surface and a rear surface of the panel main body 21, respectively; a portion of the upper trim strip 23 extending towards the front surface of the panel main body 21 forms an upper rim 231 catching the door panel 30, a portion of the upper trim strip 23 extending towards the rear surface of the panel main body 21 forms at least one receiving groove facing towards a lower end of the panel main body 21, and a sidewall of the receiving groove away from the door panel 20 is provided with a through hole 2321; the foamed door body 10 comprises: a foamed main body 11, and a boss 13 configured to extend upward from an upper end face of the foamed main body 11 and match the receiving groove, a wall surface of the boss 13 away from the door panel 20 being provided with a screw hole 131; the refrigerator door further comprises a screw 40 which enters through the through hole 2321 and is threadedly locked in the screw hole 131. In this way, after the door panel 20 is detachably mounted on the foamed door body 10, the position is fixed by the screws 40, and the structure is simple.
Preferably, as shown in FIG. 2, an end cap of the screw is completely encapsulated with an anti-collision pad 41, thereby enhancing the anti-collision capability of the refrigerator door. Furthermore, while the door panel 20 is mounted or detached, the screw 40 may be tightened or untightened by rotating the anti-collision pad so that the door panel 20 may also be easily replaced under a detaching condition without a special detaching tool.
In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 3, the portion of the upper trim strip 23 extending towards the rear surface of the panel main body 21 is formed with a first receiving groove 231, a second receiving groove 232 and a third receiving groove 233 in turn in a direction facing towards the lower end of the panel main body 21, the second receiving groove 232 being disposed matching the boss 13; the first receiving groove 231 and the second receiving groove 232 are respectively placed on both sides of the second receiving groove 232, and share sidewalls of the second receiving groove 232, respectively. As such, when the door panel 20 is detachably embedded on the foamed door body 10, the weight of the door panel 20 falling on the foamed door body 10 may be shared by different sidewalls of the three receiving grooves.
Preferably, the upper trim strip 23 extends to a rear wall surface of the foamed door body 10.
Preferably, as shown in FIG. 4, inner wall surfaces of sidewalls of the first receiving groove 231 and the third receiving groove 233 away from the second receiving groove 232 are respectively provided with a baffle 2322 extending towards outside the end face of the sidewall. As such, the outward steps formed at the sidewalls of the first receiving groove 231 and the third receiving groove 233 away from the second receiving groove 232 facilitate the engagement and position limitation when the door panel 20 and the foamed door body 10 are cooperatively mounted.
Preferably, outer surfaces of the sidewalls of the first receiving groove 231 and the third receiving groove 233 away from the second receiving groove 232 are set in an arcuate shape, which improves the aesthetics of the appearance of the door body and prevents the user from being collided.
Preferably, an extension length of the second receiving groove 232 along a long side of the upper trim strip 23 is by far greater than extension lengths of the first receiving groove 231 and third receiving groove 233 along the long side of the upper trim strip 23, thereby improving a load-bearing capacity of the foamed door body 10.
Preferably, as shown in FIG. 4, wall surfaces of the first receiving groove 231 and the third receiving groove 233 away from the panel main body 21 are respectively provided with an observation hole 2311, so that the position of the door panel 20 can be conveniently observed while the door panel 20 is detached and mounted.
Preferably, as shown in FIG. 4, an extension table 2323 covering the through hole 2321 is arranged on an inner wall surface of the sidewall of the second receiving groove 232 where the through hole 2321 is provided, at a position corresponding to the through hole 2321. The through hole 2321 is disposed through the extension table 2323, thereby extending an axial length of the through hole 2321 and increasing the load-bearing capability of the through hole 2321; preferably, the through hole 2321 is a threaded hole extending a front end of the threaded hole 131.
In embodiments of the present invention, the number of the through holes 2321 may be specifically set according to needs. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the through holes 2321 are set in an even number, and are symmetrically disposed about a central axis of the second receiving groove 232. In a specific example of the present invention, two said through holes 2321 are disposed symmetrically and respectively close to two opposed sides of the sidewalls of the second receiving groove 232.
Preferably, as shown in FIG. 2, FIG. 3 and FIG. 5, a wall surface of the door panel 10 opposed to the foamed door body 10 is further provided with a magnetic attraction device that engages the foamed door body 10 in a magnetically-attractive manner; in a specific embodiment of the present invention, the magnetic attraction device comprises a magnetic attraction sheet and an iron sheet that are disposed on the foamed door body 10 and the door panel 20, respectively and engage each other in a magnetically-attractive way.
In embodiments of the present invention, the number, shape, size and arrangement mode of the magnetic attraction sheets or iron sheets may be specifically set as needed; in a specific embodiment of the present invention, the magnetic attraction devices are symmetrically arranged in four groups with one magnetic attraction sheet being opposed to the iron sheet in each group, and each group of magnetic attraction devices are arranged at positions close to corners of opposite wall surfaces of the foamed door body 10 and the door panel 20.
Preferably, the magnetic attraction sheet 15 is disposed on the foamed door body 10, and the iron sheet 25 is disposed on the door panel 20.
Preferably, as shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 5, a limiting groove 27 is provided at a lower end of an end face of the panel main body 21 facing towards the foamed main body 11. The limiting groove 27 is disposed in cooperation with a limiting boss 17 on the foamed main body 11. As such, the position of the door panel 20 relative to the foamed door body 10 is limited by multiple positioning ways. In addition, providing the limiting groove 27 at the lower end of the door panel 20 does not hinder the mounting process of the door panel 20 relative to the foamed door body 10.
In embodiments of the present invention, the door panel 30 may be made of a material such as glass, sheet metal and plastic. Generally, the door panel 30 may be attached to the door panel 20 in a manner such as applying an adhesive. The attachment manner is not described in detail any more here.
In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, referring to FIG. 6, the foamed door body 10 further comprises a side trim strip 19 disposed on two opposite long sidewalls of the foamed main body 11, the side trim strip 19 extends towards the front surface of the foamed main body 11 to form a guide rail groove 191, and long sidewalls of the panel main body 21 are matchingly embedded in the guide rail grooves 191.
Preferably, the side trim strip 19 extends upward from an upper end face of the foamed main body 11 to form an abutting wall 193, an upper end face of the abutting wall 193 abuts against the end face of the sidewall of the first receiving groove 231 and the third receiving groove 233 away from the second receiving groove 232, and an inner sidewall of the abutting wall 193 abuts against the baffle 2322; In this way, the structure in cooperation with the embedding manner of the boss 13 and the second groove 232 ensures relative positions of the door panel 20 and the foamed door body 10.
Furthermore, a sidewall of the guide rail groove 191 away from the foamed main body 11 forms a side rim 1911 for catching the door panel 30, to embed the door panel 30 in a receiving space formed by the upper rim 231 formed by the upper trim strip 23 and the side rim 1911 formed by the sidewall of the guide rail groove 191. While the door panel 30 is fixed, it is protected.
Preferably, the boss 13 is disposed at a middle position of the foamed main body 11, and a length of the boss 13 in an extension direction of the long side of the foamed main body 11 is not smaller than 1/2 of the length of the long side of the foamed main body 11; two screw holes 131 are disposed symmetrically about a vertical axis of the boss 13, and the two screw holes 131 are disposed adjacent to two opposed edges of the boss 13, respectively.
Preferably, an observation baffle 133 is respectively disposed on the upper end face of the foamed main body 11 and adjacent to both sides of the boss 13. The two observation baffles 133 respectively matchingly close the observation holes 2311 on the first groove 231 and third groove 233. It needs to be noted that only one observation baffle 133 is shown and the other observation baffle is not shown in FIG. 2, FIG. 4 and FIG. 6 in the present invention to facilitate observation.
In addition, a door handle might also be hidden on and parts such as a door liner and a door seal might be disposed on the foamed door body 10. Detailed description will not be presented any more here.
In this specific example, an end face of the boss 13 not provided with the screw holes 131 abuts against an inner wall surface of the second groove 232 disposed opposed to the boss 13, and an end face of the boss provided with the screw holes 131 abuts against the extension table, i.e., the boss is embedded in the second receiving groove 232; meanwhile, the abutting wall of the side trim strip 19 catch a step surface formed by the first groove and second groove 232 towards outside the device; as such, the position of the door panel 20 relative to the foamed door body 10 is limited by multiple ways such as by the snap-fitting of the upper trim strip 23 and side trim strip 19, embedded fitting of the upper trim strip 23 and the boss 13, and the engagement of the limiting groove 27 and the limiting boss 17; the relative positions of the door panel 20 and the foamed door body 10 are kept stable; furthermore, affixing the door body 10 with the door panel 20 through the screws 40 encapsulated with the anti-collision pads 41 avoids the disengagement of the door panel 20 from the foamed door body 10 due to an external impact; the overall structure is simple, and the assembling and detachment is convenient.
During the mounting of the refrigerator door with the replaceable door panel 30 described above, usually the foamed door body 10 is foamed, and the door panel 30 is adhered to the door panel 20 by an adhesive to finish the preparatory work before the products leave the factory. When the door panel 20 is replaced, the rear wall surface of the door panel 20 is attached to the front wall surface of the foamed door body 10, and the door panel 20 is mounted along the guide rail groove 191 of the foamed door body 10 from top to bottom; when the upper trim strip 23 on the door panel 20 completely matches the side trim strip 19 and the boss 13 on the foamed door body 10 respectively in position, the magnetic attraction devices between the door panel 20 and the foamed door body 10 completely match in position, and the limiting groove 27 on the door panel 20 completely matches the limiting boss 17 on the foamed door body 10 in position, it is determined that the positions between the door panel 20 and the foamed door body 10 are relatively fixed; furthermore, the mounting is completed after screwing the screws 40 encapsulated with the anti-collision pads 41 into the through holes 2321 and the screw holes 131 in turn. The detachment process is opposite to the above process and will not be detailed many more here.
To sum up, the refrigerator door with the replaceable door panel according to the present invention, through the detachable connection of the integrally-formed upper trim strip on the door panel with the foamed door body, makes the replacement of the door panel become simple and reliable, makes the overall structure simple, makes the replacement process time-saving and labor-saving, and saves the replacement cost.
It should be understood that although the description is described according to the embodiments, not every embodiment only comprises one independent technical solution, that such a description manner is only for the sake of clarity, that those skilled in the art should take the description as an integral part, and that the technical solutions in the embodiments may be suitably combined to form other embodiments understandable by those skilled in the art.
The detailed descriptions set forth above are merely specific illustrations of feasible embodiments of the present invention, and are not intended to limit the scope of protection of the present invention. All equivalent embodiments or modifications that do not depart from the art spirit of the present invention should fall within the scope of protection of the present invention.

Claims

A refrigerator door with a replaceable door panel, wherein the refrigerator door comprises a foamed door body, and a door panel matching the foamed door body and detachably connected with the foamed door body,
wherein an upper end portion of the door panel extends towards a rear surface thereof to form an upper trim strip, and an upper end portion of the foamed door body and the door panel are detachably snap-fitted with each other through the upper trim strip.
The refrigerator door with a replaceable door panel according to claim 1, wherein
the door panel specifically comprises: a panel main body, a door panel attached to a front surface of the panel main body, and the upper trim strip integrally formed with the panel main body, the upper trim strip extending from the upper end portion of the panel main body towards a front surface and a rear surface of the panel main body, respectively;

a portion of the upper trim strip extending towards the front surface of the panel main body forms an upper rim catching the door panel, and a portion of the upper trim strip extending towards the rear surface of the panel main body forms at least one receiving groove facing towards a lower end of the panel main body;

the foamed door body comprises: a foamed main body, and a boss configured to extend upward from an upper end face of the foamed main body and match the receiving groove.
The refrigerator door with a replaceable door panel according to claim 2, wherein a sidewall of the receiving groove away from the door panel is provided with a first through hole;
a wall surface of the boss away from the door panel is provided with a first screw hole;

the refrigerator door further comprises a screw which enters through the first through hole and is threadedly locked in the first screw hole.
The refrigerator door with a replaceable door panel according to claim 3, wherein an extension table covering the through hole is arranged on an inner wall surface of the sidewall of the receiving groove where the through hole is provided, at a position corresponding to the through hole, and the through hole is disposed through the extension table;
an end cap of the screw is encapsulated with an anti-collision pad.
The refrigerator door with a replaceable door panel according to any of claims 1-4, wherein a magnetic attraction device is matchingly disposed on opposed wall surfaces of the foamed door body and the door panel, and the magnetic attraction device comprises a magnetic attraction sheet and an iron sheet that are disposed on the foamed door body and the door panel, respectively and engage each other in a magnetically-attractive way.
The refrigerator door with a replaceable door panel according to claim 5, wherein the magnetic attraction devices are symmetrically arranged in four groups with one magnetic attraction sheet being opposed to the iron sheet in each group, and each group of magnetic attraction device are arranged at positions close to corners of opposite wall surfaces of the foamed door body and the door panel.
The refrigerator door with a replaceable door panel according to claim 2, wherein the portion of the upper trim strip extending towards the rear surface of the panel main body is formed with a first receiving groove, a second receiving groove and a third receiving groove in turn in a direction facing towards a lower end of the panel main body, the second receiving groove being disposed matching the boss;
inner wall surfaces of sidewalls of the first receiving groove and the third receiving groove away from the second receiving groove are respectively provided with a baffle extending towards outside the end face of the sidewall.
The refrigerator door with a replaceable door panel according to claim 7, wherein the foamed door body further comprises a side trim strip disposed on two opposite long sidewalls of the foamed main body, the side trim strip extends towards the front surface of the foamed main body to form a guide rail groove, and long sidewalls of the panel main body are matchingly embedded in the guide rail grooves;
the side trim strip extends upward from an upper end face of the foamed main body to form an abutting wall, an upper end face of the abutting wall abuts against an end face of the sidewall of the first receiving groove and the third receiving groove away from the second receiving groove, and an inner sidewall of the abutting wall abuts against the baffle.
The refrigerator door with a replaceable door panel according to claim 8, wherein a sidewall of the guide rail groove away from the foamed main body forms a side rim for catching the door panel.
The refrigerator door with a replaceable door panel according to claim 1, wherein a limiting groove is provided at a lower end of an end face of the panel main body facing towards the foamed main body, and a limiting boss matching the limiting groove is protrusively disposed at a lower end of an end face of the foamed main body facing towards the panel main body.