KR101768699B1

KR101768699B1 - Device of opening and shutting double door for refrigerator

Info

Publication number: KR101768699B1
Application number: KR1020100124435A
Authority: KR
Inventors: 김대환
Original assignee: 엘지전자 주식회사
Priority date: 2010-12-07
Filing date: 2010-12-07
Publication date: 2017-08-17
Also published as: KR20120063316A

Abstract

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention [0001] The present invention relates to a double door opening / closing device for a refrigerator. In a refrigerator having a double door of a door-in-door type, By opening the second refrigeration space of the first door or opening the first refrigeration space together with the second door, it is possible to prevent the refrigerant in the first built-in space or the first refrigeration space It is possible to more conveniently select and use the second refrigeration space 32 partitioned by the first door.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention [0001] The present invention relates to a double door opening / closing device for a refrigerator,

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention [0001] The present invention relates to a double door opening / closing device for a refrigerator, and more particularly, to a double door opening / closing device for a refrigerator having a double door of a door-in-door type.

As is well known, a refrigerator is a household appliance that can store food in an internal storage space that is shielded by a door at low temperature. The refrigerator uses cold air generated by heat exchange with a refrigerant circulating in a refrigeration cycle, And is configured to store the stored foods in an optimal state by cooling.

The refrigerator has a refrigerating chamber for keeping foods such as vegetables in a fresh state so as to be kept in a range of 1 to 4 degrees Celsius as a storage space inside the refrigerator and a refrigerating chamber for keeping foods such as meat and fish The refrigerator has various forms according to the arrangement of the freezer compartment and the refrigerating compartment and the shape of the door that shields the refrigerating compartment and the freezing compartment.

A side-by-side type refrigerator in which a refrigerating compartment and a freezing compartment are provided on left and right sides, respectively, depending on the form of the refrigerator, a bottom freez type refrigerator in which a refrigerating compartment is disposed on an upper portion of a freezing compartment, And a top mount type refrigerator arranged on the top of the refrigerator.

In particular, in the case of a commercially available side-by-side type refrigerator, a home bar for storing beverages frequently used is often added to the refrigerator side door so as not to break the refrigerated atmosphere inside the refrigerator room by frequent opening .

However, as users' lifestyles are becoming increasingly diverse, the number of cases where they are used frequently while being refrigerated is increasing. As a result, there is a growing need for an auxiliary refrigerator space partitioned with a main refrigerator space other than a home bar storing simple drinks.

In order to solve the above problems, it is an object of the present invention to provide a double door opening / closing apparatus for a refrigerator having a double door of a DOOR IN DOOR system, which is a door provided with an inner door for partitioning an auxiliary refrigerating space inside an outer door of a refrigerating chamber .

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a double door opening / closing apparatus for a refrigerator, comprising: a case in which a first refrigeration space is defined at least on one side; A first door hinged to the case to open and close the front surface of the first refrigeration space and defining a second refrigeration space in the first refrigeration space; A second door hinged to the case to open and close the front surface of the second refrigerating space outside the first door; And a door handle provided outside the second door to open the second door of the first door to open the second refrigerated space or to open the first door together with the second door to open the first refrigerated space And locking means for locking the locking member.

Here, the locking means may include a switch installed outside the door handle; A movable motor driven by the switch; And a lock lever for holding and releasing the locked state of the first door and the second door by a moving force transmitted from the movable motor.

Preferably, the switch is formed as a button on the outside of the door handle.

Preferably, the door handle is formed in a bar shape along a height direction at one side of a front opening portion of the second door, and the switch is formed at a center portion in the height direction of the door handle.

Further, the switch may be further formed at the lower end of the door handle in the height direction.

In addition, the switch may include a touch-type switch using a piezoelectric sensor.

According to the above-described double door opening / closing apparatus for a refrigerator of the present invention, the second door can be opened by opening the second refrigeration space of the first door by holding the door handle formed on the outside of the second door by using the locking means, And the first door opens the first refrigeration space together with the first door, so that the second refrigeration space partitioned by the first door can be used or the first refrigeration space can be used in accordance with the user's choice .

In addition, according to the double door opening / closing apparatus for a refrigerator of the present invention, by the operation of a switch formed in the form of a button outside the door handle, the lock lever is moved by the moving force transmitted from the movable motor to the first door and the second door It is possible to maintain and unlock the locked state, thereby making it possible to more conveniently select and open the first refrigeration space and the second refrigeration space.

According to the double door opening / closing apparatus for a refrigerator of the present invention, the switch is constituted by a touch-type switch using a piezoelectric sensor, and the door is formed to extend in a bar shape along the height direction from one side of the front opening portion of the second door, Direction center portion and the lower end portion, respectively, so that children who are small as well as adults can be easily and conveniently used.

1 is a perspective view of a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2 is an open perspective view of the refrigerator compartment door of the refrigerator of FIG. 1
3 is a side sectional view of the door of the refrigerator door shown in Fig. 1. Fig.
Fig. 4 is a partial front view showing the switch of the locking device of Fig. 3; Fig.
Fig. 5 is a front view showing a modification of the switch of the locking device of Fig. 4; Fig.
6 is a perspective view showing a second door opened state of a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention.
7 is a perspective view illustrating a first door and a second door opened state of a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings so that those skilled in the art can easily carry out the present invention. The present invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. In order to clearly illustrate the present invention, parts not related to the description are omitted, and the same or similar components are denoted by the same reference numerals throughout the specification.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an open perspective view showing a door of a refrigerator door of the refrigerator of FIG.

1 and 2, a refrigerator 1 according to the present embodiment includes a case 10, a first door 40, a second door 50, and a locking means 70.

The refrigerator 1 of the present embodiment includes a side-by-side type refrigerator in which a freezing compartment 20 and a refrigerating compartment 30 are partitioned on the left and right sides, respectively, within a case 10 having an internal water hole For example.

However, the present invention is not necessarily limited to this, and as long as the doors 40 and 50 opening the refrigerator compartment 30 are formed in a hinged form, it is possible to use not only a side by side refrigerator but also a bottom freeze type Bottom freez type refrigerator, a top mount type refrigerator, and refrigerators in which these characteristics are mixed with each other.

The refrigerator compartment 30 is divided into a first refrigerator compartment 31 and a second refrigerator compartment 31 separated from the freezer compartment 20 by the first door 40, And a second refrigeration space (32) partitioned by the second refrigeration space (32).

The first door 40 is hinged to the case 10 to open and close the front of the first refrigeration space 31 and the second refrigeration space 32 is divided into the first refrigeration space 31, .

The second door 50 is hinged to the case 10 together with the first door to open and close the front surface of the second refrigerating space 32 outside the first door 40.

The locking means 70 holds the door handle 60 provided outside the second door 50 and opens the second door 50 to open the second refrigerating space 32 of the first door 40 Or open the first door (40) together with the second door (50) to open the first refrigeration space (31).

Fig. 3 is a sectional side view of the door for the refrigerator shown in Fig. 1, Fig. 4 is a partial front view showing the switch of the locking device of Fig. 3, Fig. 5 is a view showing a modification Fig.

3 and 4, in this embodiment, the locking means 70 comprises a switch 71, a movable motor 72, a conversion gear 73, and a lock lever 74. As shown in Fig.

The switch 71 is provided outside the door handle 60 and is configured to generate an operation signal of the lock lever 74.

The movable motor 72 is installed in the second door 50 adjacent to the door handle 60 so as to generate a driving force in accordance with an operation signal generated from the switch 71.

The conversion gear 73 is provided so as to be interlocked with one side of the movable motor 72 so that the driving force generated from the movable motor 72 is converted and transmitted through the worm gear and the clutch gear to operate the lock lever 74 .

The lock lever 74 is engaged with the groove of the latch 45 provided at one side of the first door so as to maintain and release the locked state of the second door 50 and the first door 40.

In this embodiment, the switch 71 is formed in the form of a button outside the door handle 60, which is formed in a bar shape along the height direction at one side of the front opening portion of the second door 50. And a touch-type switch using a piezoelectric sensor at the central portion in the height direction of the door handle 60 so as to facilitate the user's operation.

However, the present invention is not limited thereto. As shown in FIG. 5, the switch 71 may be arranged in a height direction of the door handle 60 so that children And can be additionally provided at the lower end together with the central portion.

Hereinafter, the operation and effect of the double door opening / closing apparatus for a refrigerator of the present embodiment described above will be described with reference to Figs. 6 and 7. Fig.

6 is a perspective view showing a second door opened state of a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention.

6, when the user holds and pulls the door handle 60 formed on the second door 50 in a state in which the switch 71 button is not pressed to open the door, The second refrigerator compartment 32 is separated from the first refrigerator compartment 31 by the first door 40 while only the second door 50 is opened in a state of being released from the latch 45 of the door 40 Open.

The second refrigeration space 32 opened by the second door 50 accommodates drinks and foods more frequently used by users than the first refrigeration space 31, Even if the second door 50 is opened, the refrigerant can be prevented from escaping from the first refrigerant space 31 to the outside by the first door 40, thereby improving the refrigerating efficiency.

7 is a perspective view illustrating a first door and a second door opened state of a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention.

7, when the user pulls the door handle 60 of the second door 50 without pushing the switch 71 button for opening the door, the switch 71 detects the door handle 60, The lever 74 opens the first door 40 together with the second door 50 with the groove portion of the latch 45 of the first door 40 held in the locked state, ).

At this time, the second door 50 closes the front surface of the second refrigeration space 32 formed by the first door 40, so that during the opening period using the first refrigeration space 31, It is possible to prevent the cool air from escaping from the inside of the heat exchanger 32 to the outside.

As described above, the double door opening / closing apparatus for a refrigerator of the present embodiment grasps the door handle 60 formed on the outside of the second door 50 through the button-type touch switch 71 formed on the front portion of the door handle 60 The second door 50 may be opened to open the second refrigeration space 32 of the first door 40 or open the first door 40 together with the second door 50, The space 31 is opened so that the first door 40 is partitioned by the first door 40 in the first built-in space 31 or the first refrigerated space 31 among the refrigerating chambers 30 partitioned inside the case 10, 2 refrigerating space 32 can be more conveniently selected and used.

While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed exemplary embodiments, but many variations and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. And it goes without saying that they belong to the scope of the present invention.

1: Refrigerator 10: Case
20: Freezer 30: Refrigerator
31: first refrigeration space 32: second refrigeration space
40: first door 45: latching
50: second door 60: door handle
70: locking means 71: switch
72: movable motor 73: conversion gear
74: Lock lever

Claims

A case in which a first refrigeration space is defined at least on one side;
A first door hinged to the case to open and close the front surface of the first refrigeration space and defining a second refrigeration space in the first refrigeration space;
A second door hinged to the case to open and close the front surface of the second refrigerating space outside the first door; And
Wherein the second door opens the second refrigeration space of the first door through the door handle installed outside the second door or causes the first door to open the first refrigeration space together with the second door Means,

Wherein the locking means comprises:
A switch installed outside the door handle in a button shape;
A movable motor driven by the switch; And
And a lock lever for maintaining and releasing the locked state of the first door and the second door by a moving force transmitted from the movable motor,

The door handle
The second door being extended in a bar shape along a height direction at one side of a front opening portion of the second door,

Wherein the switch comprises:
Wherein the door opening and closing unit is spaced apart from a central portion in the height direction of the door handle and a height direction lower portion of the door handle.

delete

The method of claim 1,
Wherein the switch is a touch-type switch using a piezoelectric sensor.