KR100707459B1 - Door opening and closing device for refrigerator - Google Patents

Abstract

The door opening and closing device of the refrigerator according to the present invention tilts the door by translating the door rotation center of the upper hinge mechanism around the lower hinge mechanism when the door is moved laterally by the interference of the spacer. Since the height difference due to the door tilting is absorbed by the shock absorbing mechanism installed at the center of rotation of the door when the tilting is performed, the opening door can be tilted more smoothly.

Description

Door opening and closing device for refrigerator

1 is a perspective view showing a refrigerator having a conventional door opening and closing device

Figure 2 is a plan view of the main part showing a door closed state of a conventional refrigerator

Figure 3 is a plan view of the main part showing the gasket separation state when the door is closed when the conventional refrigerator

Figure 4 is a plan view of the main part showing a shock occurrence state when the door is closed in the refrigerator of the prior art

5 is a perspective view of a refrigerator having a door opening and closing device according to the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a detailed view of portion A of FIG. 5;

7 is a detailed view of the main part of the door opening and closing device;

8 is a plan view of the main part of the door closed state according to the present invention is shown

Figure 9 is a plan view showing an open state of the door according to the invention

10 is a plan view showing a closed state of the door according to the present invention

11 is a front view showing a tilting process of the door according to the present invention.

<Explanation of symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

35, 35R, 35L: Door 37: Gasket

39: door bracket 40: refrigerator body

46: hinge bracket 50: gasket assembly

51: Gasket Holder 53: Gasket

55: magnet 60: spacer

61 cam member 62 cam surface

65 cam contact lever 66 lever part

67 roller 70 upper hinge mechanism

72: hinge link 72a: bracket hinge axis

72b: door hinge shaft 74: elastic member

80: lower hinge mechanism 82: bracket

84: hinge shaft 86: buffer member

90: spring 100: spring

The present invention relates to a door opening and closing device of the refrigerator, and more particularly, when the door is opened and closed by the tilting action of the door, the height change of the rotational center of the door inclined by the tilting to the buffer mechanism installed at the rotational center of the door The present invention relates to a door opening and closing device of a refrigerator that absorbs more effectively.

1 is a perspective view showing a refrigerator having a conventional door opening and closing device.

As shown in the refrigerator, a refrigerating chamber 1 is positioned at an upper side and a freezing chamber 2 is positioned at a lower side thereof. In particular, the refrigerating chamber is a French-type refrigerator in which a partition wall separating the interior is not formed.

The refrigerating chamber (2) has a door (3) for opening and closing the structure of the two-door open type, the circumferential surface of each door (3) is provided with a gasket (10) in close contact with the refrigerator main body (5) so that cold air does not leak out do.

In particular, the gasket 11 is installed so that cold air does not leak even in a portion where the doors 3 meet each other. In general, a refrigerator of a French type is provided with a filler at one door so that the gaskets of both doors are in close contact with each other. It has a structure or a fillerless structure in which the gaskets 11 of both doors 3 are in close contact with each other without a filler.

The refrigerator shown in FIG. 1 shows a pillarless type, and side gaskets 11 provided on both doors are in close contact with each other while the doors 3 are closed to seal the gap between the doors 3.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of an essential part showing a state in which the side gaskets 11 are in close contact with each other when both the doors are closed.

The gasket 11 is provided with a magnet 14 to maintain a mutual close force therein, the adhesion of the two gaskets 11 is a problem that the other door is also opened when one door 3 is opened. .

Due to this problem, a door separation structure is provided which separates the open door from the counterpart door so that both the gaskets 11 are separated when the door 3 is initially opened and the door 3 is almost closed.

That is, the hinge mechanism 15 connecting the refrigerator main body 5 and the door 3 is formed of a hinge link 17 to allow horizontal movement, that is, translational movement of the door when the door is opened and closed. 17 is connected to the hinge bracket 16 and the door 3 installed in the refrigerator main body 5 so as to be relatively rotatable.

The hinge mechanism 15 is provided with an elastic member 18 to provide an elastic force in the direction in which the door 3 is in close contact with the mating door.

And the cam member 21 is installed in the refrigerator main body 5, and the cam 3 which contacts the cam member 21 in the refrigerator main body 5 so that an open door can be moved by the method of mutually pushing when a door opens and closes. The contact lever 25 is installed. The cam contact lever 25 is provided with a roller 26 to make a rolling contact with the cam member 21.

Therefore, when the user opens the door (3), the door is opened while rotating around the door hinge shaft (17a), wherein the roller 26 of the cam contact lever 25 according to the displacement of the door (3) is opened It moves along the cam surface of the cam member 21. When the roller 26 reaches the apex 21a of the cam surface, as shown in FIG. 3, the gaskets 11 are spaced apart from each other while the door 3 is pushed to the right about the main body hinge shaft 17b. It will rotate and the door will open.

On the contrary, even when the door 3 is closed, the roller 26 of the cam contact lever 25 moves on the curved surface of the cam member 21, so that the door is closed in a state where both gaskets 11 are separated.

Since the door 3 that is opened and closed at the door opening and closing as described above is separated from the counterpart door, the interference between both gaskets 11 is minimized, and the door is opened instantly while the other door is opened when one door is opened, Frequent contact of the gaskets will solve some of the fast wear problems.

However, in the refrigerator having the conventional door opening and closing device as described above, the door 26 is closed because the roller 26 of the cam contact lever 25 hits the cam member 21 when the door 3 is closed. Significant noise and shock is generated when closing the door, the door is also rapidly closed while being pushed in the lateral direction, there is a problem that significantly reduces the user's sensitivity when opening and closing the door.

In addition, when using for a long time in the above state, there is a problem that the roller 26, etc. are damaged by frequent collision between the roller 26 and the cam member 21, so that the operation of separating the gaskets is not smoothly performed.

In addition, since the cam member 21 protrudes in the direction of the door 3 from the refrigerator main body 5, there is a problem in that the aesthetic appearance deteriorates when the user opens the door 3.

In addition, in order to smoothly form the cam surface to alleviate the impact when the door is closed, the cam surface 21b should be formed smoothly of the inclined surface of the cam surface 21b in contact with the cam contact lever 25, but the cam surface 21b. In order to gently form the inclined surface of the cam member 21 has a problem that the length should be longer.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above problems, by reducing the damage caused when opening and closing the door by tilting the door opening when the door is opened around the lower hinge mechanism, when the door is closed by installing a shock absorbing member in the separation mechanism An object of the present invention is to provide a door opening and closing device of a refrigerator that cushions a shock generated.

In addition, another object of the present invention is to provide a door opening and closing device of a refrigerator that buffers a tilting angle of a door so that the door is smoothly tilted when the door is tilted.

The door opening and closing apparatus of the refrigerator according to the present invention for realizing the above object and a plurality of doors for opening and closing the body of the refrigerator; An upper hinge mechanism connecting the upper part of the door and the main body to form a center of rotation of the door; A lower hinge mechanism connecting the lower part of the door and the main body to form a center of rotation of the door; Tilting the door by moving the other part with respect to any one of the center of rotation of the upper hinge mechanism and the center of rotation of the lower hinge mechanism so that the door is provided between the door and the refrigerator main body, and the opening door is spaced apart from the counterpart door. Spacing mechanism; It characterized in that it comprises a buffer mechanism for absorbing a change in the height of the door rotation center inclined by the tilting movement of the door.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the French type refrigerator that can be opened in the left and right direction is provided with a double door type in one refrigerator compartment.

5 is a perspective view of a refrigerator having a door opening and closing device according to the present invention, FIG. 6 is a detailed view of part “A” of FIG. 5, and FIG. 7 is a detailed view of a main part of the door opening and closing device.

As shown in FIG. 5, in the refrigerator according to the present invention, a freezing compartment 31 is positioned at a lower side thereof, and a refrigerating chamber 32 having double doors 35L and 35R is positioned at an upper side thereof, and both doors 35L and 35R are positioned at the upper side thereof. ) Is connected to the hinge mechanism (70) (80) to the refrigerator main body 40 is configured to open and close the refrigerating chamber (32) in a case opening manner.

Gaskets 37 are installed on both the doors 35L and 35R in close contact with the refrigerator main body 40 so as to prevent cold air from leaking out to the outside.

Particularly, since the partition wall or the refrigerator main body 40 does not exist in a portion where the two doors 35L and 35R face each other, the side gasket assembly 50 closes to the counter door and seals the gap between the doors 35L and 35R. (Hereinafter referred to as 'gasket assembly') is installed.

As shown in FIG. 8, the gasket assembly 50 is provided with a gasket holder 51 installed on the side surfaces of the doors 35L and 35R, and is provided in front of the gasket holder 51 to form a gasket of the mating door. And a magnet 55 provided in the gasket 53 to generate magnetism to be in close contact with the gasket 53 of the mating doors 35L and 35R.

In order to minimize the phenomenon that the doors 35L and 35R are opened while the both gasket assemblies 50 are in close contact with each other, both gasket assemblies are horizontally moved horizontally when the doors are opened and closed. Spacer 60 is provided to space the 50 apart from each other.

An apparatus for separating the gasket assembly 50 from the refrigerator is a separation mechanism 60 that largely moves the door 35 laterally, and the doors 35L and 35R may be moved by the separation mechanism 60. When the hinge mechanism (70) (80) is fixed to the lower side of the door (35L, 35R) and move the upper side so that the door (35L, 35R) as a whole tilt.

8 to 10, the spacer 60 has a hinge bracket 46 installed on the main body 40, a door bracket 39 installed on the doors 35L and 35R, and the refrigerator. The cam member 61 is fixed to the hinge bracket 46 of the main body 40 to form a cam surface 62 so as to space both doors when the door is opened and closed, and the door bracket 39 of the door 35. The cam contact lever 65 is fixed and moved along the cam surface 62 of the cam member 61 so that the door is spaced apart.

Wherein the cam member 61 is installed on the upper surface of the refrigerator body 40, it is preferable that the front portion is installed at a position that does not protrude forward of the refrigerator body (40). On the other hand, the cam contact lever 65 is preferably formed to protrude in the direction of the cam member 61 from the upper portion of the door 35.

In particular, the spacer 60 is provided with a shock absorbing member for cushioning the shock between the cam member 61 and the cam contact lever 65 when the doors 35L and 35R are closed. It is for gently supporting the cam contact lever 65 that is pushed forward when the doors 35L and 35R are closed.

The cam contact lever 65 is installed at the door bracket 39 and slides forward / backward, and is installed at the end of the lever part 66 to roll on the cam member 61. It consists of a roller 67 in contact, the door bracket 39 is provided with a guide bracket 69 for guiding the movement of the cam contact lever 65, the guide bracket 69 is the door bracket 39 ) Or may be integrally formed with the doors 35L and 35R.

Here, a spring 90 is installed between the guide bracket 69 and the cam contact lever 65 as the anti-shock member for cushioning the impact applied from the cam contact lever 65.

The spring 90 applies a spring force to the cam contact lever 65 as a compression spring to press the roller 67 toward the main body 40.

In particular, the guide bracket 69 is formed with a groove 69a through which the lever portion 66 is moved, and the cam contact lever 65 is inserted into the groove 69a and moved, and the spring 90 is It is installed in the groove 69a.

In addition, a hole 66a is formed in the lever part 66 to prevent separation of the guide bracket 69 and the cam contact lever 65, and the hole 66a is vertically disposed in the guide bracket 69. The lever mounting portion 68 penetrates in the direction, and the lever mounting portion 68 serves as a stopper for limiting the movement of the cam contact lever 65 when the cam contact lever 65 moves.

In addition, the roller 67 is preferably formed of a plastic material in order to reduce the contact noise with the cam member 61.

Meanwhile, as illustrated in FIG. 6 or 11, the hinge mechanisms 70 and 80 include an upper hinge mechanism 70 and a lower hinge mechanism 80, and the upper hinge mechanism 70 includes the door. Installed on top of the 35L and 35R, the doors 35L and 35R are opened and closed as well as the center of rotation, and when the doors 35L and 3R are opened, the center of rotation by the spacer 60 is opened. Tilt laterally.

Here, the upper hinge mechanism 70 has a hinge link 72 and the doors 35L and 35R connected to the main body 40 and the doors 35L and 35R by hinge shafts 72a and 72b, respectively. It is configured to include an elastic member 74 to provide an elastic force in a close contact.

In this embodiment, the hinge bracket 46 and the hinge link 72 is connected by a bracket hinge shaft 72a, and the door bracket 39 and the hinge link 72 are door hinge shafts 72b. Is connected by, the shock absorbing mechanism is installed on the door hinge shaft (72b).

In the present embodiment, the shock absorbing mechanism is a spring 100 installed on the door hinge shaft 72b connecting the door bracket 39 and the hinge link 72, and the spring 100 is formed of a compression spring. .

The spring 100, which is the shock absorbing mechanism, provides an elastic force in the vertical direction to the hinge link 72 and the doors 35L and 35R, so that the spring 100 is compressed when the doors 35L and 35R are tilted. While absorbing the height change of the door edge side caused by the tilting of the door (35L, 35R).

The lower hinge mechanism 80 includes a bracket 82 protruding forward from the main body 40 and a hinge shaft 84 connecting the bracket 82 to the doors 35L and 35R. Is installed on the outer circumference of the hinge shaft 84 and comprises a buffer member 86 for absorbing the rotation angle by the tilting when the door (35L, 35R) is tilted, the door (35L, 35R) is When opened and tilted, the entire doors 35L and 35R are tilted laterally with respect to the hinge shaft 84.

The buffer member 86 is formed of a bush formed of a material having elasticity, and the tilting angle generated when the doors 35L and 35R are tilted is absorbed by the material of the bush.

Meanwhile, an elastic member 74 which is a return means supported at both ends of the hinge bracket 46 and the hinge link 72 to provide elastic force in the direction in which both doors 35 are in close contact with the bracket hinge shaft 72a. ) Is provided.

In this embodiment, the door 35 is tilted while the upper hinge mechanism 70 is moved. Alternatively, the door may be tilted by moving the lower hinge mechanism.

Referring to Figures 8 to 11 the operation of the door opening and closing device of the refrigerator according to the present invention configured as described above are as follows.

8 is a plan view of the main part showing a door closed state according to the present invention, Figure 9 is a plan view showing an open state of the door according to the invention, Figure 10 is a plan view showing a closed state of the door according to the present invention 11 is a front view illustrating a tilting process of a door according to the present invention.

First, the process of opening the door will be described. Here, the process of opening the right door 35R will be described for convenience.

As shown in FIG. 8, when the doors 35L and 35R are closed, the spacer 60 is engaged, and the door 35R is applied to the elastic force of the elastic member 74 provided in the hinge mechanism 70 and 80. Since it is in the state moved toward the mating door 35L, the gasket 53 of both doors 35L and 35R will be in close contact with each other.

When the user opens the door 35R in such a state, as shown in FIG. 9, as the door 35R opens, the roller 67 of the cam contact lever 65 contacts the cam surface 62a of the cam member 61. The door hinge shaft 72b of the right door 35R is translated in the right direction while being moved along the circumference, and rotates a predetermined angle about the hinge link 72.

When the roller 67 reaches the apex 62b of the cam surface 62a of the cam member 61, the door 35R is positioned at the maximum movement displacement during translational movement.

At this time, the hinge link 72 of the upper hinge mechanism 70 is moved by the spacer 60, the door hinge axis 72b of the center of rotation is laterally moved, the hinge shaft of the lower hinge mechanism 80 84 does not move but only rotates the door 35R, and the open door 35R is tilted in the right side direction when viewed from the front of the door.

Here, the translational movement of the door by the upper hinge mechanism 70 is converted to arc motion by tilting the door 35R, and the lower hinge mechanism 80 becomes a tilting center when the door 35R is tilted.

Thus, when the door 35R is opened and tilted to the right, the gasket assembly 50 is separated from each other, and when the door 35R is tilted, the gasket assembly 50 side of the door 35R is arced by tilting. The upper hinge mechanism 70 side of the door 35R is moved downward by an arc motion by tilting.

Here, when the door 35R is tilted, the spring 100 installed on the door hinge shaft 72b which is the rotation center of the door 35R is extended to buffer the downward movement of the door 35R, and the door 35R ) Is moved below a predetermined distance along the door hinge shaft 72b.

At this time, the hinge shaft 84 becomes a tilting center for the tilting of the door 35R, and the tilting member 84 absorbs the tilting angle inclined to the right side when the door 35R is tilted by the buffer member 86.

Next, a case in which the door is closed is performed in the reverse order when the door 35R is opened.

However, when the door 35R is closed, the cam member 61 and the cam contact lever 65 generate a predetermined shock when they touch each other, but the cam contact lever 65 and the door bracket 39 The contact shock is cushioned by the spring 90 provided therebetween.

That is, when the cam contact lever 65 is in contact with the cam member 61, the cam contact lever 65 slides along the guide bracket 69 to cushion the contact shock first, and the guide bracket ( By the elastic force by the spring 90 provided between 69 and the cam contact lever 65, the contact shock is buffered secondarily.

Thereafter, the cam contact lever 65 moves the cam surface 62a to the original position of the tilted door 35R.

The door opening and closing device of the refrigerator according to the present invention configured and operated as described above translates the door rotation center of the upper hinge mechanism to translate the door rotation center around the lower hinge mechanism when the door is moved laterally by the interference of the spacer. It is advantageous to tilt the door and to open the door more smoothly because it absorbs the height difference due to the door tilting by the buffer mechanism installed at the center of rotation of the door when the door is tilted.

In addition, the door opening and closing device of the refrigerator according to the present invention has the advantage of minimizing the contact between the gasket assembly generated when the door is opened and closed because the gasket assemblies installed to face each other by the tilting of the door.

In addition, the door opening and closing device of the refrigerator according to the present invention has the advantage of minimizing the impact and noise generated when the door is closed by the spring is installed as a shock absorbing member to cushion the contact shock between the door and the main body in the separation mechanism.

In addition, the door opening and closing device of the refrigerator according to the present invention has the advantage that the contact shock is continuously mitigated because the cam contact lever of the spacer is elastically supported by a spring which is a buffer member.

Claims (6)

A plurality of doors for opening and closing the body of the refrigerator; An upper hinge mechanism connecting the upper part of the door and the main body to form a center of rotation of the door; A lower hinge mechanism connecting the lower part of the door and the main body to form a center of rotation of the door; Tilting the door by moving the other part with respect to any one of the center of rotation of the upper hinge mechanism and the center of rotation of the lower hinge mechanism so that the door is provided between the door and the refrigerator main body, and the opening door is spaced apart from the counterpart door. Spacing mechanism; The door opening and closing device of the refrigerator, characterized in that it comprises a buffer mechanism for absorbing the change in the height of the center of rotation of the door tilted by the tilting movement of the door. The method according to claim 1, The upper hinge mechanism of the upper / lower hinge mechanism is configured to be movable by the spacing mechanism, the lower hinge mechanism is configured to be fixed door opening and closing device. The method according to claim 2, The lower hinge mechanism is a door opening and closing device of the refrigerator, characterized in that the buffer member for cushioning the tilting angle is further provided when the door is tilted. The method according to claim 2, The upper hinge support is a door opening and closing device of the refrigerator, characterized in that it comprises a hinge link connected to the main body and the door by a hinge axis. The method according to claim 1, The spacer mechanism comprises a cam member fixed to the refrigerator main body, and a cam contact lever fixed to the door to contact the cam member so that the door is spaced apart. The method according to claim 5, Door opening and closing device of the refrigerator, characterized in that the cam contact lever is further provided with a shock absorbing member for absorbing the shock when the cam contact.

Images