KR20180049674A - Refrigerator - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a refrigerator, and more particularly, relates to the refrigerator in which a user can easily open a door of the refrigerator. According to one embodiment of the present invention, the present invention comprises: a cabinet having a storage chamber; a door for opening/closing the storage chamber; a handle provided on the door for a user to hold and move the door; a sensor provided on the handle for sensing that a user′s hand approaches the handle to catch the handle; and a door opening apparatus driven as the sensor senses the user′s hand to open the door.

Description

Refrigerator {Refrigerator}

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a refrigerator, and more particularly, to a refrigerator in which a user can easily open a door of a refrigerator.

A refrigerator is a household appliance that can store objects such as foods at a low temperature in a storage room provided in a cabinet. The storage chamber is enclosed by the heat insulating wall so that the inside of the storage chamber is maintained at a temperature lower than the external temperature. Depending on the temperature zone of the storage chamber, the storage chamber may be referred to as a freezing chamber or a freezing chamber.

The user opens and closes the storage room through the door. The user opens the door to put the object into or out of the storage room. Generally, the door is rotatably provided in a cabinet, and a gasket is provided between the door and the cabinet. Thus, in the closed state of the door, the gasket is brought into close contact with the door and the cabinet to prevent leakage of cold air in the storage compartment. As the adhesion of such a gasket is increased, the effect of preventing cold air leakage can be increased.

In order to increase the adhesion of the gasket, the gasket may be formed of a rubber magnet, and a magnet may be provided in the gasket. However, when the adhesion of the gasket increases, it means that a large force is required to open the door.

Recently, a refrigerator in which an auto-closing function is implemented is provided. This auto closing function means a function of automatically closing the door of the refrigerator when the door of the refrigerator is slightly opened by using the adhesion force of the gasket, the magnetic force and the elastic force by the spring. In addition, the auto-closing function means that the door of the refrigerator is not opened automatically even when the refrigerator is slightly inclined forward.

Therefore, the refrigerator provided recently requires a lot of force to open the door compared to the previous refrigerator. This is because, in order to open the door of the refrigerator, it is necessary to overcome the adhesion force, the magnetic force and the elastic force of the gasket.

For example, a user may need a force of 6 kgf to open the door of the refrigerator. This force is relatively large, which makes it impossible to open the door easily. And a very large force is applied to open the door, so that the door may open suddenly.

The present invention basically aims to solve the problem of the conventional refrigerator described above.

In one embodiment of the present invention, a user is required to reduce the force required to open the door of a refrigerator, thereby providing a refrigerator which is easy to use.

The present invention provides a refrigerator which allows a user to easily open a door of a refrigerator while maintaining a closing force of a door of the refrigerator.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a refrigerator which allows a user to easily open a door of a refrigerator while maintaining an auto-closing function of the refrigerator door.

The present invention provides a refrigerator capable of automatically opening a door of a refrigerator by clearly grasping the intention of the user to open the door of the refrigerator through an embodiment of the present invention.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a refrigerator which can prevent a door of a refrigerator from being opened automatically in spite of a user's intention not to open the door of the refrigerator.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a refrigerator which can be intuitively used by a user and can automatically open the door of the refrigerator only by an operation for opening the door.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a refrigerator in which a user does not need any operation other than an operation for opening a door for automatic opening of a door. For example, there is a need to provide a refrigerator in which the operation of touching a button or a sensor is not required for driving the door opening device.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a refrigerator in which a user can not recognize automatic opening of a door. For example, when the user applies a force to open the door, the door is automatically opened to provide a refrigerator which is easy to use.

To achieve the above-mentioned object, according to one embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a cabinet having a storage chamber; A door that opens and closes the storage room; A handle provided on the door for the user to hold and move the door; A sensor disposed on the handle for sensing that the user's hand approaches the handle for holding the handle; And a door opening device that is driven by the sensor to sense the user's hand to open the door.

The handle may be formed to extend along the left or right or upper and lower sides of the door.

The handle may include a handle groove recessed upward toward the inside of the door from the lower surface of the door or may include a handle recess recessed sideways from the side of the door toward the inside of the door. A portion of the front or bottom of the front of the door may be used as part of the handle.

For example, the thumb of the user may be brought into close contact with the front or bottom of the front surface of the door, and the remaining fingers may be inserted into the handle groove and then brought into close contact with the rear end of the side end or the bottom end. This allows the user to grip the door handle and thus apply force to the door handle to open the door.

And the sensor is preferably a non-contact sensor provided in the handle groove so as to sense the insertion of a user's hand into the handle groove.

Preferably, the sensor is a sensor that emits infrared rays, and the divergent direction of the infrared rays is performed so as not to cross the front surface of the refrigerator from the rear of the front surface of the refrigerator.

The divergent direction of the infrared ray may be a left-right direction or a vertical direction.

It is possible to prevent the sensor from being mistakenly recognized by the operation or external disturbance irrespective of the will of the user to open the door by the divergent direction of the infrared ray. In other words, the sensor's misidentification can be significantly reduced due to the location of the sensor, the type of sensor, and the direction in which the infrared rays are emitted from the sensor. In other words, it is possible to accurately detect the door opening operation of the user.

The sensor may be a position sounding device (PSD) sensor.

The PSD sensor is preferably provided at one end of the handle groove. Therefore, the space reduction of the handle groove can be minimized.

The sensor may be an infrared (IR) sensor.

The IR sensor may include a light emitting portion provided at one end of the handle groove and a light receiving portion provided at the other end of the handle groove. The light emitting portion and the light receiving portion are spaced as far as possible in the handle groove so as to minimize the space reduction of the handle groove

And a controller for controlling an interval between a time when the sensor detects the user's hand and a time when the door opening device operates. That is, it is desirable to control the delay time rather than immediately operating the door opening device after detection by the sensor. In other words, it is preferable that the control section is interposed between them so as to appropriately set the delay time. This makes it possible to match the time when the user exerts force to open the door and the time when the door automatically opens. Thus, the user may be unaware of the operation of the door opening device and can only recognize that the door opening is easy. Therefore, the satisfaction of the user can be improved.

The door opening device includes: a housing for accommodating a gear; A motor for driving the gear; And a rack protruding to the outside of the housing by driving of the gear may be changed in length.

The door opening device may be provided on the door so that the rack pushes the cabinet or may be provided in the cabinet so that the rack pushes the door.

The housing may be fixed to the door or the cabinet.

The present invention can reduce the force required by the user to open the door of the refrigerator, thereby providing a refrigerator which is easy to use.

The present invention can provide a refrigerator that allows the user to easily open the door of the refrigerator while maintaining the closing force of the door of the refrigerator.

The present invention can provide a refrigerator that allows the user to easily open the door of the refrigerator while maintaining the auto closing function of the refrigerator door.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to provide a refrigerator which can automatically open a door of a refrigerator by clearly grasping the intention of the user to open the door of the refrigerator.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to provide a refrigerator which can prevent a door of a refrigerator from automatically opening in spite of a user's intention not to open the door of the refrigerator.

The present invention can provide a refrigerator which can be intuitively used by a user and can automatically open the door of the refrigerator only by an operation for opening the door.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to provide a refrigerator in which a user does not need any operation other than the operation for opening the door for automatically opening the door. For example, it is possible to provide a refrigerator which does not require an operation of touching a button or a sensor for driving the door opening device.

Through the embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to provide a refrigerator in which the user can not recognize the automatic opening of the door. For example, when a user applies a force to open the door, the door is automatically opened so that the refrigerator can be conveniently used.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a refrigerator applicable to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG.
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the door shown in FIG. 1; FIG.
3 is a plan view showing an operation view of an example of a door opening device applicable to an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 4 is a plan view showing another operation example of a door opening device applicable to the embodiment of the present invention; FIG.
5 is a plan view showing another operation example of a door opening device applicable to the embodiment of the present invention;
6 is a bottom perspective view showing a mounting position of the sensor and the sensor according to an embodiment of the present invention; And
7 is a bottom perspective view showing a mounting position of the sensor and the sensor according to another embodiment of the present invention.

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

1 is a perspective view of a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention. For example, two doors for opening and closing the upper refrigerating chamber and two doors for opening and closing the lower freezing chamber are shown.

The refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a cabinet 10 having a storage room and a door 12 provided in the cabinet 10. The storage room formed by the cabinet through the door 12 can be opened and closed. Accordingly, the refrigerator can be formed in an outer shape by the cabinet 10 and the door 12. [

Since the user uses the refrigerator in front of the refrigerator, the door is located in front of the refrigerator.

For example, a refrigerator compartment door 13 for opening and closing the refrigerating compartment 111 may be provided. The refrigerator compartment door (13) may be provided as the left and right doors (15, 14). Further, a freezing chamber door 16 for opening and closing the freezing chamber 112 may be provided. The freezing chamber door 16 may be provided with left and right doors 18 and 17.

The door 12 may be rotatable through a door hinge 114. That is, the door 12 can be rotatably mounted on the cabinet through the door hinge 114.

The user holds the door 12 and opens and closes the door. To this end, the door is provided with a handle. Fig. 1 shows an example in which the doors 14a, 15a, 17a and 18b are provided on the respective doors 14, 15, 17 and 18, respectively.

That is, if the user intends to open the door, the user intuitively approaches the handle. Then, the handle is locked and the door pulling force is applied. Embodiments of the present invention can be said to enhance the convenience of the user by utilizing the intuitive operation of such a user.

2 is a perspective view of an example of the door shown in Fig. For convenience, the right fridge door 14 is shown.

One embodiment of the present invention may include a door opening device 25 that automatically opens the door. That is, it may include a device for automatically opening the door by electric power. Such a device may be provided in the door as shown in Fig. Conversely, it may be provided in a cabinet other than the door.

The door opening device 25 is driven under predetermined conditions and the door is automatically opened by the driving of the door opening device 25. [ Thus, the force required by the user to open the door can be significantly reduced. Needless to say, a sensor for determining the predetermined condition or state is required. Such a sensor will be described later.

3 to 5 show examples of the door opening device 25 which can be applied to an embodiment of the present invention. More specifically, an example provided in the door 14 is shown. Further, the door opening device is provided on the upper surface of the door. That is, an example is shown in which the door opening device 25 is mounted on the cab-decor portion of the door.

Hereinafter, the respective door opening devices 25 will be described in detail.

The door opening device (25) includes a housing (26). At least one gear 28 may be received in the housing 26. The gear 28 is operated by driving the motor 26. [ The rotation of the motor 26 rotating at a high speed can be decelerated through the gear 28. At least a portion of the motor 26 may be received in the housing 26.

The housing 26 may be fixed to the door 14. A cap decode (not shown) may cover the upper surface of the door 14 after the housing 26 is mounted on the upper surface of the door 14. [ Accordingly, most of the configurations of the door opening device including the housing 26 can be mounted inside the door 14 and protected from the outside.

The motor 26 is driven to open the door 14. [ At this time, by driving the motor 26, the gear 28 is also driven. The driving force of the motor 26 can be transmitted to the rack 29 through the gear 28.

The rack 29 may be configured to protrude from the housing 26. That is, the protrusion length of the rack 29 may vary.

3 shows a rack 29 protruding outside the housing 26 and protruding further out of the door 14. Accordingly, as the protruding length of the rack 29 is increased, the rack 29 is forced to move away from the cabinet 10 with respect to the door 14. Conversely, when the door 14 is closed, the projecting length of the rack 29 can be minimized. That is, the length of the rack 29 protruding from the door 14 is preferably minimum.

Here, the protruding length of the rack 29 is proportional to the opening angle of the door 14. This is because the rack 29 maintains contact with the cabinet 10 when the door 14 rotates about the door hinge 114. [ However, as described later, since the contact position between the linear rack 29 and the cabinet 10 is variable, the protruding length of the rack 29 and the opening angle of the door 14 are not directly proportional to each other.

There is a limit in raising the protruding length of the rack 29. That is, there is a limit in increasing the angle at which the door is automatically opened. This is because the protruding length of the rack 29 can not be larger than the length of the rack 29. Further, the length of the rack can not be larger than the front-rear width of the door 14, that is, the door thickness.

Of course, the rack 29 may be provided so as to pass through the front and rear of the door 14. However, in this case, the problem of design can be caused very seriously. Exposure of the rack 29, which is moved in front of the refrigerator, may cause not only a design problem but also a problem that the whole door opening device becomes complicated.

On the other hand, the rack 29 moves linearly. That is, when the door is closed, the rack 29 and the cabinet 10 are arranged in a direction perpendicular to each other. However, as the opening angle of the door increases, the angle between the rack 29 and the cabinet 10 varies. This means that a portion where the rack 29 and the cabinet 10 are in contact with each other is moved.

Thus, the end portion of the rack 29 may be prone to wear, and the portion of the cabinet contacting the distal end portion of the rack 29 may also be worn.

Fig. 4 is a modification of the door opening device 25 described in Fig.

It can be said that the rack 29 described in Fig. 3 moves in a straight line, but the main door opening device 25 moves in a curved line. That is, other configurations are the same, but only the shape of the rack 29 may be different from each other.

The rack 29 may have a curved shape as a whole. Of course, the distal end portion of the rack 29 is a straight line, and only the portion in contact with the gear 28 can have a curved shape. The curved line may be formed to have a constant radius with respect to the door hinge 114.

The rack 29 may protrude from the door hinge 114 with a certain radius. That is, by driving the motor 26, the rack 29 can push the cabinet 10 while protruding from the door 14. Therefore, the direct proportional relationship between the protruding length of the rack 29 and the opening angle of the door 14 can be satisfied. Therefore, by using the curved rack 29 rather than the linear rack 29, it is possible to make the opening angle of the door relatively larger.

And the contact position between the rack 29 and the cabinet 10 can be constant. Therefore, problems that may occur as the contact position changes while the rack 29 and the cabinet 10 are in contact can be solved.

However, the curved rack 29 may not be easy to manufacture and may increase manufacturing costs. And the curve of the rack 29 should be mounted with a certain radius with the door hinge 114. That is, various problems may arise if the mounting position is not correct. Therefore, the mounting position is very limited and very precise mounting is required.

Fig. 5 is a modification of the door opening device 25 shown in Fig.

It can be said that the rack 29 described in Fig. 3 moves in a straight line, but the main door opening device 25 moves in a diagonal direction. That is, other configurations are the same, but only the shape of the rack 29 may be different from each other.

Specifically, the rack 29 shown in FIG. 3 may protrude from the door 14 at a vertical angle. However, in the present door opening device 25, the rack 29 may protrude from the door 14 at an oblique angle. In other words, the rack 29 shown in FIG. 3 moves in the same direction as the thickness direction of the door 14, but the rack 29 in this embodiment is moved in a direction inclined in the thickness direction of the door 14 do.

Therefore, the length of the rack 29 in the present embodiment can be made larger than the thickness of the door 14. [ That is, it means that the projecting length of the rack 29 can be further increased. Accordingly, it is possible to further increase the angle at which the door is automatically opened.

On the other hand, in the above-described door opening devices, the door opening angle increases according to the length of the rack. Therefore, the door opening angle becomes maximum when the rack is drawn out to the maximum. However, the user can then hold the handle and further rotate the door. Therefore, the door opening devices provide a force to open the door to the automatic opening angle of the door. However, since the relatively large force is required at the initial opening of the door, the user can open the door very conveniently.

Embodiments of the door opening device applicable to the present embodiment have been described above. However, the present invention is not limited to the illustrated embodiments, and various types of door opening devices can be applied to the present embodiment. For example, a door opening device in which a door opening device is mounted in a cabinet rather than a door can be applied. Further, for example, a door opening device for opening both doors may be applied instead of a device for opening only one door.

Hereinafter, with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6, a sensor and a sensor mounting position applicable to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail.

The sensors applied to the embodiments are preferably non-contact sensors. That is, the sensor is preferably a sensor for sensing the intention of the user to open the door without touching the user's body or hand.

Therefore, the user needs to perform a separate operation to open the door and does not need to recognize it.

For example, a push button or a touch button for operating the door opening device may be provided. In this case, the user must perform a separate operation such as pressing the push button or the touch button. After performing these operations, the door should be opened by holding the handle. Of course, the door may automatically open before the handle of the door is held. When the door is automatically opened, the user must grasp the handle and open the door further.

Therefore, there is a problem that the door can not be opened intuitively and unnecessary operation is required.

For example, a proximity sensor for operating the door opening device may be provided. That is, the user can detect that the user approaches the door and automatically open the door.

However, it is not easy for the user to grasp whether the user intends to open the door by accessing the door alone. The door of the refrigerator may automatically open if the user is standing around the refrigerator for another task or simply leaning against the refrigerator.

Therefore, a very complicated algorithm must be considered and the door can not be opened intuitively.

The present embodiment relates to a refrigerator which can intuitively use the user's intention in consideration of such problems. For this, a non-contact sensor can be applied.

FIG. 6 shows an example in which an infrared (IR) sensor is applied to a sensor applicable to the present embodiment. And the sensor is provided in the handle 140 of the refrigerator door.

The sensor may include a light emitting unit 151 and a light receiving unit 152. The light emitting portion may be provided at one end of the handle 140 and the light receiving portion 152 may be provided at the other end of the handle 140.

When the user approaches the handle 140, the infrared rays emitted from the light emitting unit 151 are blocked by the user's hand. Therefore, infrared rays received by the light receiving unit 152 are blocked. Therefore, it can be recognized that a change has occurred in the sensor 150 by the user's hand.

Accordingly, when the infrared ray is blocked by the light receiving unit 152, the door opening device 25 can be operated.

Here, the IR sensor is a non-contact sensor, and it is possible to increase the distance between the light emitting portion 151 and the light receiving portion 152. That is, the distance between the light emitting portion 151 and the light receiving portion 152 can be formed at a distance between the left and right widths of the door or the upper and lower widths of the door. Even at such a distance, the user's hand can be accurately detected.

In recent years, a hidden handle that does not expose the handle to the outside has been applied in consideration of the front design of the refrigerator. This hidden handle can also be applied in this embodiment.

The hiden handle may include a handle groove 141 formed to be long in the lateral direction on the lower surface of the door. Of course, the handle groove 141 may be vertically formed on the side surface of the door.

The handle groove 141 may be recessed toward the inside of the door. When the handle groove is formed on the lower surface of the door, the handle groove may be recessed upward toward the inside of the door. Further, when the handle groove is formed on the side surface of the door, it may be formed so as to be laterally recessed toward the inside of the door.

These handle grooves are not exposed in front of the door. Of course, some may be exposed. Intuitively, however, the user can place the hand on the underside of the door or the hand on the side of the door to catch the door.

Therefore, this hidden handle can have longer left or right or up-and-down lengths as compared to conventional protruding handles. Therefore, it is possible to form the door handle without being greatly affected by the position or elongation of the user.

It is preferable to form the sensor 150 in a part of the handle groove 141. That is, it is preferable that the sensor 150 is not exposed to the user visually, like the handle groove 141.

The position of the handle groove 141 is generally a waist height of the user. Therefore, the light emitting unit 151 and the light receiving unit 152 are not exposed to the user visually. Further, the long handle groove 141 can be held by locating the light emitting portion and the light receiving portion at both ends of the handle groove 141.

Therefore, it is possible to automatically open the door even if the user approaches the hand at any position in a very wide range other than the specific position.

On the other hand, the direction of the light ray for recognizing the user's hand by the position of the handle groove 141 may be the same plane as the front surface of the refrigerator. That is, the direction of the light beam is formed to the left or right or up and down. Therefore, even if the user is standing in front of the refrigerator, the sensor does not recognize it at all. Therefore, the sense of the sensor is significantly reduced.

The light beam may be infrared. Preferably, the direction of divergence of the light rays does not intersect the front surface of the refrigerator. In other words, it is preferable that the front surface of the refrigerator is prevented from being further diverted forward. For this purpose, the infrared rays may be projected in the left-right direction or the up-down direction. Of course, it is preferable that the divergence point of the infrared ray is located behind the front of the refrigerator.

In addition, since the sensor 150 is located in the handle recess recessed inside the door of the refrigerator, the influence of external interference can be minimized. This is because the sensor 150 is provided at a position spaced rearward from the front surface of the refrigerator.

When the user approaches the door handle 140 and grasps the door handle 140, it can be said that the user clearly recognizes that the door is to be opened. For example, a user may place the thumb on the front lower end 142 of the door and the other finger into the handle groove 141 to grip the front lower end 142 of the door (i.e., grip the door handle) It can be said that the will to open is clearly expressed.

It is highly desirable that the sensor 150 senses the will of such a user to automatically open the door.

For example, the door may automatically open as soon as the user grasps the door handle. Further, the door can be automatically opened as soon as the user grasps the door handle and exerts a force. Therefore, it is possible to roughly match the time point of the operation for the user to open the door and the time point at which the door opening device automatically opens the door.

Through this, the user may not know whether or not the door is automatically opened by the operation of the door opening device. That is, the door can be automatically opened in a state that the user can not recognize.

By way of example, the operation of the door opening device allows the user to open the door with only a force of approximately 2.5 kgf. This is a considerably lower force than the 6 kfg required for door opening in a conventional refrigerator.

Thus, even if the door of a very large refrigerator (a refrigerator which requires a relatively large force to open the door) is opened, it is possible to make it feel like opening a door of a very small refrigerator. Of course, the auto-closing function can still be assumed to be maintained. In other words, only a general door opening operation is performed by the user, and the refrigerator automatically opens the door.

Hereinafter, a sensor applicable to another embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

The mounting position and concept of the sensor may be the same as in the above embodiment. However, this sensor is a non-contact sensor and can be called a position sensing device (PSD) sensor.

The PSD sensor 160 is a sensor for measuring the distance by an infrared triangulation method, and may include an infrared light emitting diode, a lens, and a CCD sensor. These configurations can be configured as one system.

Therefore, unlike the above-described ID sensor, the PSD sensor can be realized through only one system or assembly.

The sensor 160 is also preferably formed at one end of the handle groove 141. That is, it is preferably formed on the left or right end of the handle. Of course, it may be formed at the upper or lower end of the handle depending on the shape of the handle.

Since the sensor 160 is mounted with only one assembly, the reduction of the handle space is smaller than that of the above embodiment.

When the user holds the handle 14, the distance recognized by the PSD sensor is shortened and the change is sensed. Accordingly, when the distance recognized by the PSD sensor changes, the door opening device 25 is operated.

The reference value of the distance recognized by the PSD sensor can be changed. Therefore, it is possible to flexibly apply the size change of the refrigerator or the change of the handle distance.

Meanwhile, one embodiment of the present invention can be said to allow the user to open the door easily when the user opens the door through the handle. That is, the door may not be opened regardless of the operation of the door handle of the user. Therefore, it can be said that it relates to a refrigerator having an easy opening door. That is, it can be said that the refrigerator significantly reduces the force required to open the door.

It is necessary to control the interval between the user's hand sensing point of the sensor and the operating point of the door opening device. For example, the point at which the user's hand approaches the handle and the point at which the door is pressed against the door may differ.

In other words, the door can be opened automatically when the user's hand simply approaches the handle and has not yet pulled the door.

Therefore, in this embodiment, the controller and the sensor can be interposed in the door opening device. That is, the controller may be controlled so that the door opening device is driven when the sensor detects the user's hand and is delayed by a predetermined time. Of course, this delay time can be very short.

However, the time required for the user to reach the handle, grasp the handle, and pull the handle may vary from user to user. Therefore, it is possible to provide a refrigerator optimized for the user by appropriately controlling the delay time. That is, it is possible to maximally match the time when the user applies force to the handle and the time when the door opening device operates.

This makes it very easy to open the door without the user being aware of it. The user may think that "a great power does not enter from the beginning to open the door ". Accordingly, it is possible to provide a refrigerator which can significantly improve the satisfaction of the user.

Further, the user can intuitively know that the refrigerator is the refrigerator in which the auto-closing function is performed. Therefore, even though the auto closing function is applied, the satisfaction of the user can be further enhanced through the effect that the door of the refrigerator can be opened very easily.

10: cabinet 12 (14, 15, 18, 19): door
25: door opening device 140: door handle
141: handle groove portion 142: front surface of the door as a part of the door handle 150: IR sensor
160: PSD sensor

Claims (14)

A cabinet having a storage compartment;
A door that opens and closes the storage room;
A handle provided on the door for the user to hold and move the door;
A sensor disposed on the handle for sensing that the user's hand approaches the handle for holding the handle; And
And a door opening device that is driven by the sensor to sense the user's hand to open the door. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the handle is formed to extend along the left or right or upper and lower sides of the door. 3. The method of claim 2,
Wherein the handle includes a handle groove recessed upward toward an inside of the door from a lower surface of the door or a handle groove recessed sideways toward the inside of the door from a side surface of the door Refrigerator. The method of claim 3,
Wherein the sensor is a non-contact sensor provided in the handle groove to sense that a user's hand is inserted into the handle groove. 5. The method of claim 4,
Wherein the sensor is a sensor for emitting infrared rays, and the direction of the infrared rays is performed so as not to cross the front surface of the refrigerator from the rear of the front surface of the refrigerator. 6. The method of claim 5,
And the diverging direction of the infrared rays is a left-right direction or a vertical direction. 5. The method of claim 4,
Wherein the sensor is a position sensor device (PSD) sensor. 8. The method of claim 7,
Wherein the PSD sensor is provided at one end of the handle groove. 5. The method of claim 4,
Wherein the sensor is an infrared sensor. 10. The method of claim 9,
Wherein the IR sensor includes a light emitting portion provided at one end of the handle groove and a light receiving portion provided at the other end of the handle groove. 11. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 10,
And a controller for controlling an interval between the time when the sensor detects the user's hand and the time when the door opening device operates. 11. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 10,
The door opening device includes:
A housing for receiving the gear;
A motor for driving the gear;
And a rack protruding out of the housing by driving the gear. 13. The method of claim 12,
Wherein the door opening device is provided in the door so that the rack pushes the cabinet or is provided in the cabinet so that the rack pushes the door. 14. The method of claim 13,
And the housing is adapted to be fixed to the door or the cabinet.

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