KR20100005427A - Homebar hinge of refrigerator - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A home bar hinge for a refrigerator is provided to minimize shock applied on a door of a refrigerator and a home bar door due to the load of the home bar door which is opened over fixed angle. CONSTITUTION: A home bar hinge for a refrigerator comprises a housing(10), a shaft(2), and a spring(4). The shaft is accepted into the housing. The shaft rotates corresponding to the rotation of the door. The spring provides distortional elastic force at a pre-determined angle range according to the rotation of the shaft. Damping power is supplied in opposite direction at the pre-determined angle range according to the rotation of the shaft as oil is charged between the housing and the shaft.

Description

Refrigerator Home Bar Hinge {HOMEBAR HINGE OF REFRIGERATOR}

The present invention relates to a refrigerator home bar hinge. In more detail, when the user opens the refrigerator home bar door, the elastic force acts in the direction in which the door is opened to easily open the home bar door, and when the door is opened over a predetermined angle range, the damping force by oil is applied to the door. It relates to a refrigerator home bar hinge that can stably open.

By a home bar provided in a general refrigerator, a user may store a simple drink or the like in a space provided inside the home bar door without having to open the refrigerator door, and thus may conveniently use the home bar.

Recently used home bar has a structure in which the upper part of the door is rotated about the horizontal axis by the hinge installed at both ends of the lower door of the home bar to open the home bar. Since the door of the home bar includes a heat insulating material and has a certain load because it is more than a predetermined thickness, a force of a certain size or more may be required to open the door.

The force required to open the door of the home bar may be burdened by female or child users. Therefore, there are cases where springs are mounted to compensate for the force required to open the door.

However, even when a spring is provided inside the hinge for easy opening of the home bar door, when the door is opened at a predetermined angle or more, acceleration due to the load may occur, and the door may be shocked. Accordingly, there is a need for a refrigerator home bar hinge that provides the necessary force for opening the home bar door and at the same time requires proper damping.

An object of the present invention is to provide a refrigerator home bar hinge that can be opened easily by the user's pressing operation.

In addition, the present invention is provided with an elastic force to offset the load of the home bar door does not require a large force to open the door, it can be applied to the home bar door and the refrigerator door by the impact of the load of the open home bar door at a predetermined angle or more. Impacts can be minimized.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention includes a housing, a shaft accommodated in the housing, the shaft to rotate in response to the rotation of the door, and a spring to provide a torsional elastic force in a predetermined angle range in accordance with the rotation of the shaft; In the refrigerator home bar hinge, oil is filled between the housing and the shaft, providing a damping force in the direction opposite to the elastic force in a predetermined angle range according to the rotation of the shaft, the elastic force and the damping force together A refrigerator home bar hinge is provided which comprises a predetermined first to second angle range in action.

In this case, the elastic force may act on the shaft in a direction in which the door is opened in the closed state.

In addition, one end of the spring is fixed to the housing side, the other end of the spring is located between the guide groove formed in the shaft, when the other end of the spring is pressed on one side inside the guide groove, the door is opened It can provide a torsional elastic force to the shaft in the direction.

Then, the other end of the spring is preferably maintained in a pressurized state on one side of the guide groove until the door is opened at the second angle in the closed state.

In addition, a pair of fan-shaped locking jaws for limiting the rotation angle of the shaft in the space filled with the oil is formed on the bottom surface of the housing facing, a fan-shaped shape corresponding to the locking jaw on the shaft bottom surface A pair of opposing catches may be formed.

An oil inlet for introducing oil is formed at the center of the locking jaw of the housing, and an oil flow path communicating with a space partitioned by the locking jaw is formed above the oil inlet.

In addition, when the door is opened in the closed state, the locking jaw and the locking portion may be spaced apart from each other adjacent to each other and a damping force may be generated in a first angle range in which the locking portion blocks the oil passage.

And, the mounting groove is provided with an elastic oil ring for preventing the leakage of oil on the circumference of the shaft, the diameter of the oil ring inserted into the mounting groove is between the mounting groove inner surface and the housing inner surface It is preferred to be larger than the length.

And, it is preferably fixed to the cover covering the housing, one end of the door side of the shaft is rotatably inserted, it is fixed by a fixing member made of a material different from the shaft.

In addition, the fixing member preferably has a shape in which the circumferential surface and the upper surface of one end of the door side of the shaft are in contact with the lower surface of the fixing member.

In this case, the first angle is preferably an angle in the range of 35 degrees to 45 degrees.

In addition, the second angle is preferably in the range of 55 to 65 degrees.

According to the refrigerator home bar hinge according to the present invention, the door is simply opened by the user's pressing operation.

In addition, according to the refrigerator home bar hinge according to the present invention, since the elastic force to offset the load of the door is provided, a large force is not required to open the door, the home bar door by the impact of the load of the home bar door opened at a predetermined angle or more The impact on the refrigerator door can be minimized.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the invention is not limited to the embodiments described herein but may be embodied in other forms. Rather, the embodiments introduced herein are provided so that the disclosure may be made thorough and complete, and to fully convey the spirit of the present invention to those skilled in the art. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout.

1 is a perspective view of a refrigerator provided with a home bar. The refrigerator 10 is formed in the door 20 and the door 20, and includes a home bar frame 40 having an opening 30 and a door 50 hinged to the home bar frame 40.

The door 50 is rotatably connected to the home bar frame 40 through the connecting member 80 and has a latch 70 that interlocks with the latch 60 provided in the home bar frame 40. When closing 30, clasp 70 is latched and latched by latch 60, and when opening opening 30, clasp 70 is released from latch 60. On the other hand, opening of the clasp 70 from the latch 60 is performed by a simple operation by the user for pressing the door 50 near the clasp 70 toward the home bar frame 40.

However, in opening the opening 30 by a simple pressurization operation of the user, the pressure difference between the opening 30 side and the outside of the refrigerator 10, the design structure of the refrigerator (the refrigerator 10 is inclined backward), and the like. Despite the release of the latch 60 and the latch 70, there was a problem that the door 50 does not open easily.

Accordingly, in order to solve this problem, a spring (described later) connected to the connection member 80 to provide a torsional elastic force inside the hinge to enable the rotation of the door 50 may be provided.

When an elastic force is applied in the direction in which the door is opened in the closed state by the spring, when the door is pressed near the latch 70, the door may be automatically opened by the elastic force of the spring.

However, as described above, when the door 50 is opened at a predetermined angle or more, the door is rotated by the vertical component of the weight of the door even if the spring does not provide elasticity by the load of the door 50 itself. Will be accelerated.

However, when the rotation speed of the home bar door 50 is accelerated, the impact of the door 50 is transmitted to the home bar frame 40 at the moment when the door 50 is fully opened, thereby using the home bar for a long time. In this case, the home bar frame 40, the door 50, or the connecting member 80 may be damaged, and even if the home bar door is not damaged, the home bar door may not be stably opened, which may hinder user satisfaction.

Therefore, the refrigerator home bar hinge according to the present invention is provided with an elastic force in the direction in which the door is opened in the state in which the home bar door 50 is closed, and when the door 50 is rotated by a predetermined first angle or more, the door 50 The damping force by the oil acts in the opposite direction to the opening direction.

FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram illustrating an operation section of an elastic force and a damping force according to an opening angle of a home bar door having a refrigerator home bar hinge according to the present invention.

In the closed state of the home bar door, an elastic force is applied by a spring provided in the hinge in a direction in which the door is opened to a second predetermined angle θ2. Therefore, the spring applies a torsional elastic force to the door connected through the connecting member 80 in the closed state of the door.

Therefore, while pressing the door near the latch 70, the door rotates in the opening direction.

In addition, the refrigerator home bar hinge according to the present invention generates a damping force in the opposite direction of the elastic force by the spring. However, this damping force is preferably set to be activated when the door 50 is opened at a predetermined first angle θ1 or more rather than acting in the entire rotation range of the door.

This is because the rotation speed of the door is accelerated by the load by the door only when the door is opened to some extent. The first angle θ1 may be set to an angle smaller than the second angle θ2.

Therefore, the elastic force by the spring and the damping force by the oil work together in the range of the first angle θ1 to the second angle θ2.

If the first angle θ1 is greater than the second angle θ2, the section in which the damping force and the elastic force act together will not occur. Then, in the section where the elastic force and the damping force are not applied, the door accelerated by gravity instead of the elastic force suddenly enters the damping section and decelerates, so that sufficient deceleration may not be possible, and speed deviation may increase. It may impair user satisfaction.

Therefore, when the first angle θ1 is set to an angle smaller than the second angle θ2, the elastic force and the damping force are acted together at the first angle θ1 to the second angle θ2 so that the elastic force of the spring or In the area where the door is accelerated by gravity due to the weight of the door, the door's rotational speed is decreased and at the same time, damping is provided to enable stable door opening.

In FIG. 2, the second angle θ2 is represented by 60 degrees, but the second angle θ2 may be an angle enough to enter the section in which the door 50 is accelerated by its own weight.

Therefore, if the second angle θ2 is an angle in the range of about 55 to 65 degrees, the intended purpose can be achieved.

In addition, although the first angle θ1 is represented by 40 degrees, the first angle θ1 prevents the door 50 from being excessively accelerated by its own weight and has sufficient damping force for a smooth opening operation. You just need to start working at an angle that you can act on.

Therefore, if the first angle θ1 is an angle in the range of about 35 degrees to 45 degrees, the intended purpose can be achieved.

Figure 3 is a graph recording a) angular velocity (rad / s) and b) required time (sec) according to the rotation angle of the home bar door of the refrigerator equipped with a refrigerator home bar hinge according to the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 3, the angular velocity according to the rotation angle of the door increases approximately linearly until the section where the damping force is applied, but rotates at approximately the same speed as the damping force is applied to the fully open state (90 degrees). Can be reached. Therefore, when the user performs a simple pressing operation, the door opening process is started quickly and simply by the elastic force, but the damping force is applied after the rotation by a certain angle, thereby stably reaching the fully open state.

In the section where the damping force is applied, as shown in FIG. 3B, since the required time is a section that rotates substantially constant speed, the rotation angle and the required time are approximately in direct proportion.

Figure 4 is an exploded perspective view of the hinge of the refrigerator home bar according to the present invention. As shown in the exploded perspective view shown in FIG. 4, the shaft includes a shaft 2 connected to the connecting member 80 of FIG. 1 to rotate the door and a housing 10 accommodating the shaft 2.

The housing 10 is embedded in a refrigerator door, etc., and is connected to the door 50 through the connecting member of FIG. 1, and the housing 10 may have coupling portions 12 and 13 fixed to both sides of the refrigerator door. have.

Oil is filled between the lower portion of the shaft 2 and the lower surface of the housing 10 to provide a damping force. In addition, an oil ring 9 for preventing leakage of oil is seated in an insertion groove formed in the circumference of the shaft 2.

One end of the spring 4 which provides the elastic force in the direction in which the home bar door is opened is fixed to the housing side, and the other end thereof is seated in a guide groove (to be described later) formed in a predetermined section of the circumference of the shaft 2 to be fixed. It forms a structure that provides elastic force in the interval range.

In the method of connecting the spring 4 to the housing side, the one end of the spring is not directly connected to the housing, but the shaft 2 is rotated by using a fixing member 5 of a different material. It can be fixed to the cover 6 side covering the housing.

In addition, the other end of the spring 4 is also guided by the separate guide member 3 that is not directly connected to the shaft 2. As such, when the guide member 3 or the fixing member 5 is used, there is a side effect of preventing the spring 4 from tilting inside the housing 10. The shaft 2 and the spring may be prevented. It may also serve to guide the position of both ends of the spring (4) to prevent the friction of (4).

An oil inlet for injecting oil is formed in the lower portion of the housing 10, and a sealing member 7 for blocking the oil inlet is provided. In addition, a separate oil ring 9 may be further provided between the sealing member 7 and the housing 10. 5, the features of each of the components will be discussed.

5 is a perspective view, respectively, as seen from the upper side and the lower side of the shaft 2 of the refrigerator home bar hinge according to the present invention.

First, as shown in FIG. 5 (a), which is a perspective view of the shaft 2 from above, the shaft 2 is fitted to the connection member 80 (Fig. 1) of the door and rotated together with the door. It has a slot (21), and has a guide groove (24) formed by the step (22, 23) in the circumferential direction to apply a force to one end 41 of the spring (4) on the side, An insertion groove 26 into which the oil ring 9 of FIG. 4 can be inserted is provided.

In addition, a flange 29 is formed on the circumference of the slot 21 so as to minimize friction with the fixing member 5. Detailed description of the flange 29 will be described again with reference to FIG. 9.

As shown in Figure 5 (b), the lower portion of the shaft 2 is caught by the locking jaw of the housing 10 to be described later is formed with a locking portion 28 to limit the rotation angle of the shaft (2).

The locking portion 28 may be provided with a pair in a position opposite to the fan shape. The locking portion 28 and the locking jaw limit the rotation range so that the shaft 2 rotates in the predetermined angle range with respect to the housing 10.

6 is a perspective view of a housing provided in the refrigerator home bar hinge according to the present invention.

In addition to the coupling parts 12 and 13 described above, the housing 10 is provided with an oil inlet 11 into which the sealing member 7 is inserted and filled with oil, and an oil passage 14 above the oil inlet 11. ) Is formed.

The oil passage 14 serves to communicate the space of the bottom surface of the housing, which is partitioned by the locking projection 15 formed on the bottom surface of the housing 10.

That is, when the oil remaining in both spaces partitioned by the locking jaw 15 rotates the locking portion 28 of the shaft 2 when the shaft 2 rotates, the oil may flow.

In addition, the damping force may increase when the locking portion 28 blocks the oil passage 14 while the shaft 28 rotates as the shaft 2 rotates.

In addition, a recess 17 may be formed in both spaces defined by the locking portion 28. Therefore, the non-concave portion 16 may have a step, and when the locking portion pushes oil while moving the upper portion of the lower space of the housing filled with oil in response to the rotation of the shaft 2, the concave portion 17 Or oil flows through the oil passage 14 to generate a damping force.

7 shows an assembly of a shaft 2 and a spring 4 or the like inserted into a housing of a refrigerator home bar hinge according to the invention.

The assembly shown in FIG. 7 shows the homebar door closed. Therefore, as described above, the spring 4 has a torsional elastic force acting in the direction in which the door is opened.

As shown in FIG. 7, one end 42 of the spring 4 is inserted into the fixing hole 51 formed in the fixing member 5 to be fixed to the housing side.

As described above, the fixing member 5 is preferably composed of the spring and a dissimilar material. It is preferable that the spring and the hetero material.

The spring 4 maintains the closed state of the home bar door in a twisted state counterclockwise. Therefore, when the door of the latch portion of the door is pressed to open the home bar door, it is released from the restrained state by the latch 70, so that the torsional elastic force by the spring acts on the shaft 2 in the counterclockwise direction. do.

In FIG. 7, the other end 41 of the spring 4 is in a state of pressing one step 22 of the guide groove 24 of the shaft 2. Therefore, when the restraint by the latch 70 is released, the other end 41 of the spring 4 presses one side step 22 of the shaft 2 to rotate in the direction of opening the door.

The guide groove 24 formed between the stepped ends 22 and 23 is a section in which the other end 41 of the spring is not pressed when the shaft 2 rotates, and an angle larger than the second angle of FIG. 2. It is a section.

When the shaft 2 rotates so that the other end 41 of the spring is located in the guide groove, the spring does not provide an elastic force to rotate the door.

Therefore, the positions of both ends of the spring 4 should be installed to be mounted on the housing and the shaft side in the twisted state from the closed door.

In addition, the oil filled in the lower portion of the housing 10 is the locking portion 28, the locking jaw 15, the concave portion 17 and the oil flow path 14 is constant at or above the first angle of FIG. It is preferable to arrange so that damping force more than magnitude is generated. For example, when the door rotates to the first angle, the locking portion 28 does not block the oil passage 14, but when the door starts to rotate further than the first angle, the locking portion 28 Blocking the oil passage 14, it may be set to prevent the movement of the oil through the oil passage 14 to generate a damping force by the oil.

In addition, since the recess 17 may be used as a space for accommodating oil, the locking portion 28 moves from the upper portion of the recess 17 to the non-concave portion 16 in the fully open state of the door. Damping may occur. This is because the oil moves to a relatively small receiving space and damping can occur.

8 is a cross-sectional view of the refrigerator home bar hinge according to the present invention. The oil ring 7 fitted into the insertion groove formed on the circumferential surface of the shaft 2 may prevent the oil filled in the lower space of the housing 10 from leaking. In order to maximize its performance, the diameter of the oil ring 9 is preferably larger than the length between the insertion groove 26 of the housing 10 and the inner surface of the housing 10. This is to maximize the sealing performance due to the elasticity of the oil ring 9 itself.

9 shows a coupling relationship between the shaft 2 and the fixing member. The flange 29 formed at the top of the shaft has a structure that is partially inserted into the lower portion of the fixing member (5).

By the flange 29, the fixing part 5 contacts the upper end of the shaft 2 in two directions. If the upper end of the shaft 2 has a structure penetrating the fixing member, friction with the cover 6 covering the housing 10 may occur, so that the structure as shown in FIG. It can prevent it beforehand.

Although the present specification has been described with reference to preferred embodiments of the invention, those skilled in the art may variously modify and change the invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the claims set forth below. It could be done. Therefore, it should be seen that all modifications included in the technical scope of the present invention are basically included in the scope of the claims of the present invention.

1 is a perspective view of a refrigerator provided with a home bar.

FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram illustrating an operation section of an elastic force and a damping force according to an opening angle of a home bar door having a refrigerator home bar hinge according to the present invention.

Figure 3 is a graph recording a) angular velocity (rad / s) and b) required time (sec) according to the rotation angle of the home bar door of the refrigerator equipped with a refrigerator home bar hinge according to the present invention.

Figure 4 is an exploded perspective view of the hinge of the refrigerator home bar according to the present invention.

5 is a perspective view, respectively, as viewed from the upper side and the lower side of the shaft of the refrigerator home bar hinge according to the present invention.

6 is a perspective view of a housing provided in the refrigerator home bar hinge according to the present invention.

7 illustrates an assembly such as a shaft and a spring inserted into a housing of a refrigerator home bar hinge according to the present invention.

8 is a cross-sectional view of the refrigerator home bar hinge according to the present invention.

9 shows a coupling relationship between the shaft and the fixing member.

Claims (12)

housing; A shaft accommodated in the housing and rotating in response to the rotation of the door; And, A refrigerator home bar hinge comprising: a spring providing a torsionally elastic force in a predetermined angle range according to the rotation of the shaft. Oil is filled between the housing and the shaft to provide a damping force in a direction opposite to the elastic force in a predetermined angle range according to the rotation of the shaft, wherein the predetermined first angle at which the elastic force and the damping force act together. Refrigerator home bar hinge, characterized in that it comprises a second angle range. The method of claim 1, And the elastic force acts on the shaft in a direction in which the door is opened in the closed state. The method of claim 2, One end of the spring is fixed to the housing side, the other end of the spring is located between the guide groove formed in the shaft, when the other end of the spring is pressed to one side inside the guide groove, the direction in which the door is opened Refrigerator home bar hinge, characterized in that to provide a torsional elastic force to the shaft. The method of claim 3, Refrigerator home bar hinge, characterized in that the other end of the spring is maintained pressed to one side of the guide groove until the door is opened at the second angle in the closed state. The method of claim 1, A pair of fan-shaped locking jaws for limiting the rotation angle of the shaft in the space filled with oil is formed on the bottom surface of the housing facing, and a pair of fan-shaped pair corresponding to the locking jaw on the shaft bottom surface Refrigerator home bar hinge, characterized in that the opposite engaging portion is formed. The method of claim 5, An oil inlet for injecting oil is formed in the center of the locking jaw of the housing, and an oil flow passage communicating with a space defined by the locking jaw is formed above the oil inlet. The method of claim 6, When the door is opened in the closed state, the latching jaw and the latching portion are spaced apart from each other in a state adjacent to each other, the damping force occurs in the refrigerator home bar hinge, characterized in that the damping force is generated in the first angle range to block the oil flow path . The method of claim 1, On the circumference of the shaft is provided with a mounting groove for mounting the elastic oil ring for preventing the leakage of oil, the diameter of the oil ring inserted into the mounting groove is less than the length between the inner surface of the mounting groove and the housing inner surface Refrigerator home bar hinge, characterized in that large. The method of claim 2, A refrigerator home bar hinge fixed to a cover covering the housing, wherein one end of the door side of the shaft is rotatably inserted and fixed by a fixing member formed of a material different from that of the shaft. The method of claim 9, The fixing member is a refrigerator home bar hinge, characterized in that the circumferential surface and the upper surface of one end of the door side of the shaft is in contact with the lower surface of the fixing member. The method of claim 1, The first angle is a refrigerator home bar hinge, characterized in that the angle in the range of 35 degrees to 45 degrees. The method of claim 9, The second angle is a refrigerator home bar hinge, characterized in that the angle in the range of 55 degrees to 65 degrees.

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