KR20080084782A - Drawer opening/closing apparatus for refrigerator - Google Patents

Abstract

A drawer opening and closing apparatus for a refrigerator is provided to slide open and close a main drawer and a sub drawer together with each other by contacting a protrusion of a sub drawer with a dragger moved up by a cam moving along with a shaft when a door tilts open. A drawer opening and closing apparatus(20) for a refrigerator comprises a shaft(25), a cam(22), stoppers(26,27), a plurality of sliding guides(281-283), a dragger(23), and a protrusion(24). The shaft is installed on a lateral surface of a main drawer(14) and moves back and forth according to movement of a door(13) which tilts at the front surface of the main drawer. The cam is fixed to a part of the shaft. The stopper is fixed to a part of the shaft. The sliding guide is fixed to a lateral surface of the main drawer to guide the movement of the shaft. The dragger is provided on the upper surface of the main drawer and slides over the cam. The protrusion is provided to a lateral bottom of a sub drawer(15) located over the main drawer and contacts the dragger selectively.

Description

Drawer opening / closing apparatus for refrigerator}

The present invention relates to a drawer opening and closing device of a refrigerator, and more particularly, to a opening and closing structure of a refrigerating or freezing drawer in which a food storage unit simultaneously opens or closes a plurality of drawers simultaneously in a single operation of opening a freezer door in a refrigerator having a drawer type. It is about.

In general, the refrigerator is a home appliance for keeping food in a fresh state for a long time by keeping food at a low temperature.

In detail, the refrigerator is kept in a range of 1 to 4 degrees Celsius, the refrigerator compartment to keep foods such as vegetables kept fresh, and the freezer to keep foods such as meat or fish frozen by keeping them in the range of -18 degrees Celsius This is provided.

In addition, the refrigerator has a type in which a freezer compartment is located above the refrigerating compartment, a type in which the freezer compartment is located below the refrigerating compartment, and a type in which the freezer compartment and the refrigerating compartment are adjacent to the left and right sides.

In addition, it may be classified into a double door type refrigerator in which the doors are installed at the left and right sides, and a partial door type refrigerator in which the doors are respectively installed up and down.

Meanwhile, a type in which the freezer compartment is provided below is also referred to as a bottom-freezer type, and a food storage container is provided in a drawer type inside the freezer compartment. In detail, a main drawer having a size occupying most of the interior space of the freezer compartment and an auxiliary drawer provided above the main drawer and provided near the ceiling of the freezer compartment are provided.

However, as described above, a refrigerator having a food storage container having a drawer type, in particular, a refrigerator having a door connected to a main drawer and an auxiliary drawer provided at an upper side of the main drawer has the following problems.

In detail, in order for the consumer to withdraw food stored in the auxiliary drawer, an operation of pulling the freezer door to fully open the drawer and an operation of pulling the auxiliary drawer handle part to open the auxiliary drawer must be sequentially performed. Because of this, there is a hassle that the user must perform two operations to take out food.

In addition, in the process of performing these two operations, the inside of the freezer compartment is exposed to the outside air at room temperature, which results in a loss of cold air. Furthermore, there is a disadvantage that the freezer load is increased due to the occurrence of cold air loss, thereby increasing the power consumption.

In addition, in the process of closing the freezer door, the user has to close the auxiliary drawer first, and then the main drawer needs to be closed.

In order to close these drawers with both the auxiliary drawer and the main drawer open, if the user pushes only the main drawer so that the auxiliary drawer is closed together, the inner circumferential surface of the door of the freezer compartment will hit the front of the auxiliary drawer, Part of the door may be scratched or broken.

The present invention has been proposed to solve the above problems, and when the auxiliary drawer is to be opened, an object of the present invention is to provide a structure in which a plurality of drawers are opened simultaneously by only opening the refrigerator door. That is, an object of the present invention is to provide a drawer opening and closing device for opening a main drawer connected to the rear of the door and an auxiliary drawer which is not connected to the door and is provided to be pulled out inside the freezer compartment or the refrigerating compartment.

In addition, it is an object of the present invention to provide a drawer opening and closing device of a refrigerator in which the auxiliary drawer closes both the main drawer and the auxiliary drawer without interfering with the freezer door by only closing the freezer door when both the main drawer and the auxiliary drawer are open. .

In the drawer opening and closing apparatus of the refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention for achieving the above object, a shaft moving in the front and rear direction from the side of the main drawer according to the state of the door provided to be tiltable in front of the main drawer ; A cam integrally connected to any point of the shaft; A stopper integrally provided at any point of the shaft; A plurality of sliding guides fixed to the side surfaces of the main drawer to guide movement of the shaft; A dragger provided on an upper surface of the main drawer and lifting up and down the cam; and a locking step provided at a lower side of a side of the auxiliary drawer provided on an upper side of the main drawer and selectively contacting the dragger.

By the drawer opening and closing device of the refrigerator according to the present invention having the above configuration, the plurality of drawers provided in the freezer compartment or the refrigerating compartment are simultaneously opened and closed by a single operation of opening the door.

In other words, the auxiliary drawer is opened or closed together in the opening process of the main drawer, and the consumer has an advantage of opening and closing the auxiliary drawer through a simple operation.

In addition, since the auxiliary drawer is opened or closed by only a single operation of opening the refrigerator door, it is possible to minimize the leakage of cold air and thereby minimize the power consumption.

In addition, even if the door is closed in a state in which the auxiliary drawer is not closed, the problem that the auxiliary drawer hits the door is eliminated, thereby preventing the phenomenon that the rear of the door or the front of the auxiliary drawer is damaged.

Hereinafter, specific embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the spirit of the present invention is not limited to the embodiments presented, and other embodiments included within the scope of other inventive inventions or the scope of the present invention can be easily made by adding, changing, or deleting other elements. I can suggest.

Hereinafter, in order to explain the spirit of the present invention, a freezer compartment is provided as a preferred embodiment of a bottom freezer-type refrigerator provided under the refrigerating compartment. However, the spirit of the present invention is not limited to the embodiments presented, it turns out that the refrigerator compartment or the freezer compartment is applicable to the refrigerator of any structure consisting of a plurality of drawers.

1 is a front perspective view of a bottom freezer type refrigerator to which the idea of the present invention is applied, and FIG. 2 is a side perspective view showing a freezer compartment open state of the refrigerator according to the present invention.

1 and 2, the refrigerator 10 according to the present invention forms an appearance, and opens and closes the main body 11 and the refrigerating compartment 16 provided with a freezing compartment 17 and a refrigerating compartment 16 therein. The refrigerator compartment door 12 and the freezer compartment door 13 which open and close the freezer compartment 17 are included.

In detail, the refrigerating compartment 16 is provided on the upper side of the freezing compartment 17, and the front surface of the refrigerating compartment 16 is selectively opened and closed by a pair of refrigerating compartment doors 12. Here, only one refrigerating compartment door 12 may be provided and may be rotatably mounted on one side of the main body 11.

In addition, a plurality of shelves 161 and a plurality of drawers 162 on which food is placed are provided in the refrigerating compartment 16. In addition, a cold air duct 18 is provided at the rear side of the refrigerating compartment 16 to supply the cold air passing through the evaporator to the refrigerating compartment 16. In detail, the cold air duct 16 is in communication with the freezing compartment 17, so that a part of the cold air passing through the evaporator is supplied to the freezing compartment 17, and the other part is supplied to the refrigerating compartment 16.

Meanwhile, the freezing compartment 17 is provided below the refrigerating compartment 16 and is selectively opened and closed by the freezing compartment door 13.

In detail, the freezer compartment door 13 is provided in a size that covers the entire front portion of the freezer compartment 17. In the freezer compartment 17, a main drawer 14 having a relatively large food accommodation space and an auxiliary drawer 15 provided at an upper side of the main drawer 14 and having a relatively small food accommodation space are formed. ) Is provided. In addition, the freezer compartment door 13 is rotatably coupled to a front surface of the main drawer 14. In other words, the lower end of the freezer compartment door 13 is hinged to the front lower end of the main drawer 14. Therefore, the freezer compartment door 13 may be opened in a tilted state or may be opened in a state perpendicular to the bottom surface according to a user's selection.

In addition, guide rails 141 and 151 are provided on the side surfaces of the main drawer 14 and the auxiliary drawer 15, respectively, so that the main drawer 14 and the auxiliary drawer 15 are drawn out from the main body 11 by a predetermined distance. Make it possible.

In addition, an opening and closing device 20 is provided on one side of the main drawer 14 and one side of the auxiliary drawer 15, so that the auxiliary drawer 15 is in the process of pulling the main drawer 14 forward. Bring it out together. Of course, the auxiliary drawer 15 is also pulled in together while the main drawer 14 is drawn into the main body 11. In addition, the freezing chamber door 13 and the auxiliary drawer 15 do not occur in the process of closing the main drawer 14.

In addition, as described above, the freezer compartment door 13 may be opened in a tilting state or in a vertical state according to a user's selection. In other words, when the user grasps the handle of the freezer compartment door 13 and pulls the force in a direction inclined upward by a predetermined angle from the horizontal line, the freezer compartment door 13 is opened in a state perpendicular to the bottom surface. On the contrary, when a user applies a pulling force to the freezer compartment door 13 in a direction inclined downward from the horizontal line, the freezer compartment door 13 is opened in a forward tilted state (see FIG. 2).

Here, whether the freezing chamber door 13 is tilted may be controlled by a separate button or an operation unit, and in the present invention, the specific structure thereof is not referred to. In the present invention, it is sufficient that the tilting of the door can be easily adjusted by the user, and the specific adjustment structure can be applied to all means that can be easily suggested by those skilled in the art.

Hereinafter, the configuration and operation of the opening and closing device 20 will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line II ′ of FIG. 2.

Referring to FIG. 3, the opening and closing device 20 according to the present invention is installed at one side of the main drawer 14 provided below and the auxiliary drawer 15 provided at the upper side of the main drawer 14, respectively. .

In detail, the opening and closing device 20 provided on one side of the main drawer 14 includes a shaft 21 oscillating in the front-rear direction from the side of the main drawer 14 to a predetermined length and the movement of the shaft 21. A plurality of sliding guides 28 for guiding, a spring 25 for providing an elastic force for causing movement of the shaft 21, a cam 22 connected to a point of the shaft 21, and the main A dragger 23 is provided on the side of the drawer 14 and lifts along the surface of the cam 22.

In more detail, a first stopper 26 integrally connected to the shaft at a point spaced forward from the cam 22 by a predetermined distance, and a second stopper 27 integrally connected to the rear end of the shaft 21 are provided. More included. Here, the second stopper 27 may be omitted. The sliding guide 281 includes a first sliding guide 281 provided at the rear end of the shaft 21, a second sliding guide 282 provided at the front of the cam 22, and the shaft 21. A third sliding guide 283 provided at the front end side of the head) is included. In addition, the sliding guide 28 is fixed to the side of the main drawer (14). By the above configuration, the second stopper 27 is located behind the first sliding guide 281, and the cam 22 is the first sliding guide 281 and the second sliding guide 282. ) Will move in the front-rear direction. In addition, the first stopper 26 moves in the front-rear direction between the second sliding guide 282 and the third sliding guide 283. The upper edge of the cam 22 forms an inclined surface 221 which is inclined by a predetermined angle, and the inclined surface 221 may be formed at least at the front edge of the cam 22. In addition, the cam 22 is fixed to the shaft 21 and moves integrally with the shaft 21.

In addition, a spring 25 is provided between the second sliding guide 282 and the first stopper 26, and the spring 25 is preferably a tension spring. In the state where the inner chamber door 13 is closed, the front end of the shaft 21 is pushed backward by the freezing chamber door 13. Due to this, the spring 25 is kept in a compressed state by the first stopper 26. The dragger 23 is located in front of the cam 22.

On the other hand, the opening and closing device 20 provided in the auxiliary drawer 15 includes a locking jaw 24 protruding from the lower side of the side portion of the auxiliary drawer 15.

In detail, the lower edge portion of the locking jaw 24 is formed to be inclined at a predetermined angle as shown. That is, the rear inclined surface 241 of the rear corner portion and the front inclined surface 242 of the front corner portion are formed, respectively.

The opening / closing device 20 shown in FIG. 3 is a state where the freezer compartment door 13 is closed or the freezer compartment door 13 is opened in a vertical state without being tilted.

In detail, in the state in which the spring 25 is compressed, the dragger 23 is located in front of the cam 22, and the upper end of the dragger 23 is spaced a predetermined distance from the locking step 24. State is maintained. In this state, when the freezer door 13 is opened without being tilted, the auxiliary drawer 15 is kept closed and only the main drawer 14 is opened.

4 is an operational state diagram showing the state of the opening and closing device according to the present invention in a state in which the main drawer and the auxiliary drawer are simultaneously opened.

Referring to FIG. 4, when the freezer compartment door 13 is opened in a forward tilted state, the first stopper 26 is advanced by the restoring force of the spring 25. In addition, the first stopper 26 is advanced to the maximum by a distance in contact with the third sliding guide 283. At the same time, the cam 22 also moves forward.

In detail, when the cam 22 moves forward, the lower end of the dragger 23 rises on the inclined surface 221 of the cam 22 to be positioned on the upper surface of the cam 22. When the main drawer 14 moves forward in this state, the upper end of the dragger 23 is advanced in a state of being caught by the rear inclined surface 241 of the locking jaw 24. Thus, the auxiliary drawer 15 is opened with the main drawer 14.

More specifically, when the main drawer 14 is further advanced from the moment when the auxiliary drawer 15 is fully opened, the upper end of the dragger 23 is in contact with the lower surface of the locking jaw 24. Go forward. In addition, when the main drawer 14 is completely opened, the dragger 23 is separated from the latching jaw 24 and is further advanced a predetermined distance.

On the other hand, in the process of closing the freezer compartment door 13, the auxiliary drawer 15 is closed by two methods.

First, the freezer door 13 is in a tilted state until the auxiliary drawer 15 is completely closed.

In detail, when the freezer compartment door 13 is retracted for a predetermined distance in a tilted state, the operation is performed in the reverse order of the process of opening the main drawer 14. That is, the locking jaw 24 is pushed while maintaining the raised state. When the auxiliary drawer 15 is completely closed, when the freezer compartment door 13 is tilted backwards to be in a vertical state, the shaft 21 is retracted. Then, the dragger 23 also descends on the upper surface and the inclined surface 221 of the cam 22.

Second, the main drawer 14 is closed after the freezing compartment door 13 is vertically tilted.

In detail, when the freezing chamber door 13 is reversely tilted to be in a vertical state, the spring 25 is compressed and the shaft 21 and the cam 22 are retracted. Then, the dragger 23 also descends on the upper surface of the cam 22. Therefore, the upper end of the dragger 23 and the locking step 24 are spaced apart by a predetermined interval.

In this state, while the main drawer 14 is retracted, the front part of the auxiliary drawer 15 is in close contact with the rear surface of the freezer compartment door 13. In addition, when the main drawer 14 is further retracted, the auxiliary drawer 15 is retracted and closed in close contact with the rear surface of the freezer compartment door 13.

5 is a cross-sectional view of the dragger constituting the opening and closing device according to the spirit of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 5, the dragger 23 according to the present invention includes a head portion 231, a lifting protrusion 232 extending a predetermined length from a lower end of the head portion 231, and an upper end of the body portion 2310. Included is a bearing 234 fitted to the.

In detail, a recess 233 for accommodating the spring 235 is formed in the head 231. In addition, the bearing 234 is seated on an upper side of the spring 235. Thus, the bearing 234 is elevated by the tension and contraction of the spring 235.

In more detail, the bearing 234 is raised and lowered in the process of moving forward or retracting while the dragger 23 is in contact with the inclined surfaces 241 and 242 of the locking jaw 24.

In other words, the bearing 234 is urged downward by the front inclined surface 242 or the rear inclined surface 241 of the locking jaw 24 during the translational movement of the dragger 23. Thus, the bearing 234 is lowered, and the spring 235 is contracted accordingly. On the contrary, the moment the bearing 234 leaves the locking step 24, the bearing 234 is raised by the restoring force of the spring 235. By this operating process, the dragger 23 can be smoothly translated along the lower surface of the locking jaw 24.

6 is a view schematically showing an operating state of the opening and closing device according to the present invention in the process of opening the freezer door in a vertical state.

Referring to FIG. 6, as described above, the head part 231 of the dragger 23 moves in close contact with the upper surface of the main drawer 14. That is, since the upper end of the dragger 23 is advanced in a state spaced apart from the locking step 24, the auxiliary drawer 15 is not opened.

7 to 9 are views showing the operating state of the dragger according to the invention in the process of opening the freezer door in a tilted state.

7 to 9, as described above, the bearing 234 moves up and down, and thus the spring 235 is contracted and tensioned. Since the operation process for this has already been described, a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

By the above configuration, the auxiliary drawer can be opened together with the main drawer according to the user's selection, thereby increasing user convenience and minimizing cold air loss, thereby reducing power consumption.

1 is a front perspective view of a bottom freezer type refrigerator to which the idea of the present invention is applied;

Figure 2 is a side perspective view showing a freezer compartment open state of the refrigerator according to the present invention.

3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line II ′ of FIG. 2.

Figure 4 is an operating state showing the state of the opening and closing device according to the present invention in a state in which the main drawer and the auxiliary drawer is open at the same time.

5 is a cross-sectional view of the dragger constituting the opening and closing device according to the spirit of the present invention.

6 is a view schematically showing an operating state of the opening and closing device according to the present invention in the process of opening the freezer door in a vertical state.

7 to 9 are views showing the operating state of the dragger according to the present invention in the process of opening the freezer door in a tilted state.

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

10: refrigerator 11: body

12: refrigerator door 13: freezer door

14: drawer 15: auxiliary drawer

20: switchgear 21: shaft

Claims (4)

A shaft moving in a front-rear direction from a side of the main drawer according to a state of the door provided to be tiltable in front of the main drawer; A cam integrally connected to any point of the shaft; A stopper integrally provided at any point of the shaft; A plurality of sliding guides fixed to the side surfaces of the main drawer to guide movement of the shaft; A dragger provided on an upper surface of the main drawer and lifted by the cam; and The drawer opening and closing device of the refrigerator, which is provided on the lower side of the side of the auxiliary drawer provided on the upper side of the main drawer and selectively engaging with the dragger. The method of claim 1, And a spring member provided between any one of the plurality of sliding guides and the stopper. The method of claim 2, When the door is kept vertically the spring is kept in a compressed state, And the spring is extended to move the shaft forward when the door rotates forward. The method of claim 2, The dragger ascends on the outer circumferential surface of the cam when the door is rotated, The drawer opening and closing device of the refrigerator, characterized in that the upper end of the dragger rises to a position higher than the lower end of the locking jaw.

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