US20100180626A1

US20100180626A1 - Refrigerator

Info

Publication number: US20100180626A1
Application number: US12/648,186
Authority: US
Inventors: Kwang Deok Ahn; Suk Ho Jang
Original assignee: Samsung Gwangju Electronics Co Ltd
Current assignee: Samsung Electronics Co Ltd
Priority date: 2009-01-19
Filing date: 2009-12-28
Publication date: 2010-07-22
Also published as: KR20100084924A

Abstract

A refrigerator is disclosed, in which shielding members installed on doors installed in a pair at both sides of the front surface of a main body shield a gap between the doors when the doors are closed. The gap between the doors is not exposed when viewed from in front of the refrigerator even when the assembly state of the doors is deformed or the doors are not completely symmetrical with each other, thereby effectively preventing the external appearance of the front part of the refrigerator from being spoiled due to the exposure of the gap between the doors.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 2009-0004329, filed on Jan. 19, 2009, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE

1. Field of the Disclosure
Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a refrigerator, in which a pair of doors is installed at both sides of the front surface of a main body.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, a refrigerator is an apparatus that stores foods in a fresh state for a long time. The refrigerator includes a storage chamber to store foods, and a cooling device to cool the storage chamber.
Recently, as demand for large-scale and advanced refrigerators increases, side-by-side refrigerators, which have a high-capacity storage chamber divided into left and right spaces, have been introduced.
In such a refrigerator, a storage chamber, the front surface of which is opened through a front surface of a main body, is formed. The storage chamber is divided into left and right spaces by a diaphragm provided at the middle of the inside of the main body. One of the two spaces serves as a freezing chamber and the other one of the two spaces serves as a refrigerating chamber. A pair of doors is installed at both sides of the front surface of the main body to independently open and close the freezing chamber and the refrigerating chamber.
The doors are respectively hinged to both side walls of the front surface of the main body, and are opened and closed in a hinged manner. A gap between the doors at the front of the diaphragm is formed so as not to generate interference between the doors due to opening operations of the doors.
Each of the main body and the doors includes an inner case forming the storage chamber, an outer case forming the external surface of the refrigerator, and a formed insulating material filling a space between the inner case and the outer case, thereby insulating the storage chamber from the outside of the refrigerator. A gasket to prevent cool air of the storage chamber from leaking or external air from being introduced into the storage chamber is installed at the edge of the rear surface of each of the doors contacting the front surface of the main body.
Multi-stage racks and baskets to store foods in a classified state are installed in the freezing chamber and the refrigerating chamber, and door baskets to collect drinks are installed on the rear surfaces of the doors, thereby increasing space utility of the storage chamber.
In case of such a refrigerator, in which the pair of the doors is installed at both sides of the front surface of the main body, the external appearance of the refrigerator is spoiled due to several reasons, which follow.
That is, the doors, which are formed in the shape of a kind of heat insulating wall including the inner case, the outer case, and the insulating material, as described above, fundamentally have a large load, and articles to be stored in the door baskets on the rear surfaces of the doors add extra weight to the load of the doors.
When the door having the large load is repeatedly opened and closed for a long time, the door sags from a hinged part thereof with the main body and thus the assembly state of the door is deformed. Thereby, a width of the gap between the lower parts of the doors is larger than a width of the gap between the upper parts of the doors, and the external appearance of the refrigerator as seen from the front of the refrigerator is spoiled.
Further, if the insulating material does not uniformly fill the space between the inner case and the outer case or the inner case and the outer case are distorted during formation of the door, the surface of the door may not be even. When these doors are installed in a pair on the front surface of the main body, both doors are not completely symmetrical with each other, for example, the front surfaces of the respective doors are not horizontal, and thereby a difference of heights between the doors at the gap therebetween occurs and the external appearance of the refrigerator may be spoiled.

SUMMARY

Therefore, it is one aspect of the present disclosure to provide a refrigerator that prevents the external appearance thereof from being spoiled even if an assembly state of doors installed in a pair at both sides of the front surface of a main body is deformed or the doors are not symmetrical with each other.
It is another aspect of the present disclosure to provide a refrigerator that more effectively suppresses cool air loss of a storage chamber.
Additional aspects of the disclosure will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the disclosure.
In accordance with one aspect of the present disclosure, a refrigerator includes a main body forming a storage chamber, and a pair of doors installed at both sides of the front surface of the main body to open and close the storage chamber, wherein a gap is formed between the doors, and a shielding member to shield the gap is provided on each of the doors.
The shielding member may include a fixing unit to fix the shielding member to each of the doors, and a shielding unit to shield the gap.
The shielding unit may be made of a flexible material.
The fixing unit may be made of a harder material than the shielding unit.
The shielding member may be made of a synthetic resin, the shielding unit may be made of a softer synthetic resin than the fixing unit, and the shielding member may be formed by co-extrusion such that the fixing unit and the shielding unit of the shielding member are integrally formed.
The shielding member may be provided on each of the pair of the doors, the shielding unit of the shielding member may be flexible, and ends of the shielding units of the respective shielding members opposite each other may overlap each other under the condition that the pair of the doors closes the storage chamber.
The fixing unit may be coupled to a side surface of each of the doors facing the gap.
The fixing unit may be attached to the external surface of each of the doors.
The fixing unit may be coupled to each of the doors in an insert type.
An insert groove, opened to the gap and the upper and lower surfaces of each of the doors, may be formed on the side surface of each of the doors facing the gap in the lengthwise direction of the doors, and the fixing unit may include an insert protrusion, which is inserted into the insert groove.
The fixing unit may further include a support part connecting the insert protrusion and the shielding unit and supported on the side surface of each of the doors facing the gap.
The ends of the shielding units of the respective shielding members, overlapping each other under the condition that the pair of the doors closes the storage chamber, may have a smaller thickness than other parts of the shielding units.
The shielding member may be provided on one door of the pair of the doors, the shielding unit of the shielding member may be flexible, and the shielding unit of the shielding member may be supported on a region of the front surface of the other door adjacent to the gap under the condition that the pair of the doors closes the storage chamber.
The shielding member may be provided on at least one door of the pair of the doors.
The shielding unit may include a gap shielding part to shield the gap, and a door shielding part to shield a region of the front surface of each of the doors adjacent to the gap.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and/or other aspects of the disclosure will become apparent and more readily appreciated from the following description of the embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings of which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the structure of a refrigerator in accordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a transverse-sectional view of a portion of the refrigerator, at which shielding members are provided, in accordance with the embodiment of the present disclosure, illustrating a state in which a freezing chamber door and a refrigerating chamber door are closed;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the structure of the shielding member of the refrigerator in accordance with the embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged transverse-sectional view of the structure of the portion of the refrigerator, at which the shielding members are provided, in accordance with the embodiment of the present disclosure, illustrating an operating state of the shielding members during a process of opening the freezing chamber door;

FIG. 5 is a longitudinal-sectional view of an extrusion die illustrating an extruding state of the shielding member in accordance with the embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line A-A of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a transverse-sectional view of a portion of a refrigerator, at which shielding members are provided, in accordance with a further embodiment of the present disclosure, illustrating a state in which a freezing chamber door and a refrigerating chamber door are closed;

FIG. 8 is an enlarged view of the portion of the refrigerator, at which the shielding members are provided, of FIG. 7; and

FIG. 9 is an enlarged transverse-sectional view of the structure of a portion of a refrigerator, at which a shielding member is provided, in accordance with another embodiment of the present disclosure, illustrating a state in which a freezing chamber door and a refrigerating chamber door are closed.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DISCLOSURE

Reference will now be made in detail to the embodiments of the present disclosure, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout.
Hereinafter, the structure of a refrigerator in accordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
The refrigerator in accordance with this embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, includes a main body 1 forming a storage chamber 2, the front surface of which is opened, and doors 3 and 4 connected to the front surface of the main body 1 to open and close the storage chamber 2.
A diaphragm 5 is provided on the main body 1 at the center of the storage chamber 2, and the storage chamber 2 is divided into two right and left spaces. In FIGS. 1 and 2, the left space serves as a freezing chamber 2 a, and the right space serves as a refrigerating chamber 2 b. The doors 3 and 4 are provided in a pair at both sides of the front surface of the main body 1 so as to independently open and close the freezing chamber 2 a and the refrigerating chamber 2 b. That is, the doors 3 and 4 include a freezing chamber door 3 provided at the left side so as to open and close the freezing chamber 2 a, and a refrigerating chamber door 4 provided at the right side so as to open and close the refrigerating chamber 2 b.
For reference, non-described reference numeral 6 represents a dispenser installed on the front surface of the freezing chamber door 3 so as to allow a user to take cold water out of the freezing chamber 2 a, and non-described reference numeral 7 represents a home bar door provided on the front surface of the refrigerating chamber door 4 so as to allow the user to take a drink out of the refrigerating chamber 2 b without opening the refrigerating chamber door 4.
The doors 3 and 4 are respectively hinged to both side walls of the front surface of the main body 1 by hinge members h, and are opened and closed in a hinged manner. A gap 8 between the doors 3 and 4 at the front of the diaphragm 5 is formed so as not to generate interference between the doors 3 and 4 due to opening operations of the doors 3 and 4.
In order to insulate the storage chamber 2 from the outside of the refrigerator, the main body 1 and the doors 3 and 4 respectively include inner cases 1 a, 3 a, and 4 a forming the storage chamber 2, outer cases 1 b, 3 b, and 4 b forming the external surface of the refrigerator, and insulating materials 1 c, 3 c, and 4 c filling spaces between the inner cases 1 a, 3 a, and 4 a and the outer cases 1 b, 3 b, and 4 b. A gasket 9 made of a hollow rubber member to prevent cool air of the freezing chamber 2 a or the refrigerating chamber 2 b from leaking or external air from being introduced into the storage chamber 2 is installed at the edge of the rear surface of each of the doors 3 and 4 contacting the front surface of the main body 1. A magnet 9 a is installed at one side of the inside of the gasket 9, thereby causing the gasket 9 to be attached to the outer case 1 b made of metal using magnetic force when the doors 3 and 4 are opened and closed.
Although not shown in the drawings, multi-stage racks and baskets to store foods in a classified state are installed in the freezing chamber 2 a and the refrigerating chamber 2 b, and door baskets to collect drinks are installed on the rear surfaces of the doors 3 and 4, thereby increasing space utility of the storage chamber 2.
Further, in the refrigerator in accordance with this embodiment, a shielding member 10 to shield the gap 8 formed between the doors 3 and 4, as seen from an area in front of the refrigerator, is provided on each of the doors 3 and 4.
Each of the shielding members 10 includes a fixing unit 20 fixed to the door 3 or 4, and a shielding unit 30 to shield the gap 8 between the doors 3 and 4 when the pair of the doors 3 and 4 is closed. The shielding members 10 shield the gap 8 between the doors 3 and 4 even if the assembly state of the doors 3 and 4 is deformed or the doors 3 and 4 are not completely symmetrical with each other, thereby preventing the external appearance of the front part of the refrigerator from being spoiled.
In more detail, the doors 3 and 4, which are formed in the shape of a kind of heat insulating wall respectively including the inner cases 3 a and 4 a, the outer cases 3 b and 4 b, and the insulating materials 3 c and 4 c, fundamentally have a large load, and articles to be stored in the door baskets (not shown) on the rear surfaces of the doors 3 and 4 add extra weight to the load of the doors 3 and 4. Therefore, when the doors 3 and 4 having the large load are repeatedly opened and closed for a long time, the lower parts of the doors 3 and 4 sag from a hinged part thereof with the main body 1 and thus the assembly state of the doors 3 and 4 is deformed. Thereby, when the refrigerator is used for a long time, a width of the gap 8 between the lower parts of the doors 3 and 4 is larger than a width of the gap 8 between the upper parts of the doors 3 and 4, and if the gap 8 is exposed forward under the condition that the doors 3 and 4 are closed, the external appearance of the refrigerator may be spoiled.
Further, if the insulating materials 3 c and 4 c may not uniformly fill the spaces between the inner cases 3 a and 4 a and the outer cases 3 b and 4 b or the inner cases 3 a and 4 a and the outer cases 3 b and 4 d are distorted during formation of the doors 3 and 4, the surfaces of the doors 3 and 4 may not be even. When these doors 3 and 4 are installed in a pair on the front surface of the main body 1, both doors 3 and 4 are not completely symmetrical with each other, for example, the front surfaces of the respective doors 3 and 4 are not horizontal with each other, and thereby a difference of heights between the doors 3 and 4 occurs. In this case, if the gap 8 is exposed to an area in front of the refrigerator when the doors 3 and 4 are closed, a difference of heights between the doors 3 and 4 occurs, and thus the external appearance of the refrigerator may be spoiled.
However, when the shielding members 10 shield the gap 8 between the doors 3 and 4 under the condition that the doors 3 and 4 are closed, as in this embodiment, even if the assembly state of the doors 3 and 4 is deformed or the doors 3 and 4 in the pair are not completely symmetrical with each other, as described above, the gap between the doors 3 and 4 is not exposed to an area in front of the refrigerator. Thereby, spoilage of the external appearance of the front part of the refrigerator due to the exposure of the gap is effectively prevented.
Further, the shielding members 10 are configured such that they shield the entire section of the front portion of the gap 8 in the lengthwise direction of the doors 3 and 4. Thereby, the refrigerator in accordance with this embodiment intercepts cool air twice through the gaskets 9 and the shielding members 10, and thus the cool air interception function of the gaskets 9 is further strengthened by the shielding members 10.
Hereinafter, with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4, the structure of the shielding member in accordance with this embodiment will be described in more detail.
As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the shielding members 10 are made of a synthetic resin, and are provided in a pair so as to be respectively installed on the freezing chamber door 3 and the refrigerating chamber door 4.
The fixing unit 20 and the shielding unit 30 of each of the shielding members 10 are respectively formed in the shape of a plate having a thin thickness. The shielding members 10 are fixed to the doors 3 and 4 by attaching the fixing units 20 to the outer surfaces of the doors 3 and 4 by a bonding agent, and the shielding units 30 are formed integrally with the fixing units 20 such that the shielding units 30 are parallel with the front surfaces of the doors 3 and 4. The fixing units 20 connected to the outer surfaces of the doors 3 and 4 are made of a hard synthetic resin.
The shielding unit 30 includes a gap shielding part 31 located at the front portion of the gap 8 to substantially shield the gap 8, and a door shielding part 32 extended from the gap shielding part 31 toward the front surface of the corresponding door 3 or 4 to shield the front surface of the door 3 or 4 at the side of the gap 8. Thereby, the shielding member 10 has a T-shaped structure formed by the fixing unit 20 and the shielding unit 30, crossing perpendicularly, as seen from an area above the door 3 or 4. The door shielding part 32 prevents a space between the fixing unit 20 of the shielding member 10 and the door 3 or 4 from being exposed to an area in front of the door 3 or 4.
The gap shielding parts 31 of the respective shielding members 10 are configured such that ends of the gap shielding parts 31 opposite each other overlap each other, under the condition that the freezing chamber door 3 and the refrigerating chamber door 3 are closed, so as to allow the shielding members 10 in a pair to completely shield the gap 8. Thereby, a length of the gap shielding part 31 of each the shielding members 10 in the widthwise direction of the gap 8 may be slightly greater than half of a width of the gap 8.
However, under the above state, the gap shielding parts 31 of the respective shielding members 10 may interfere with each other during opening of the freezing chamber door 3 and the refrigerating chamber door 4. Therefore, the shielding units 30 of the shielding members 10 may be made of a flexible material.
That is, when the shielding units 30 are made of a flexible material, although the gap shielding parts 31 of the respective shielding members 10 interfere with each other during opening of the freezing chamber door 3 and the refrigerating chamber door 4, the gap shielding parts 31 of the shielding members 10 are flexibly bent, as shown in FIG. 4, thereby not obstructing the opening and closing operation of the doors 3 and 4. FIG. 4 illustrates an operating state of the pair of the shielding members 10 during a process of opening the freezing chamber door 3.
The ends of the gap shielding parts 31 of the shielding members 10, which overlap each other, may have a smaller thickness than other parts of the shielding members 10 so as to cause the gap shielding parts 31 to be more smoothly bent during the opening operation of the doors 3 and 4, and may be sharpened.
The flexible shielding units 30 may be made of a synthetic resin being softer than the material for the fixing units 20, and thereby the fixing units 20 and the shielding units 30 of the shielding members 10 have different material characteristics. In order to manufacture the shielding member 10 though a single molding process, the shielding member 10 may be obtained through co-extrusion such that the fixing unit 20 and the shielding unit 30 are integrally formed.
As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, when the shielding member 10 is obtained through co-extrusion, an extrusion die 100 having a T-shaped outlet 110 corresponding to the shape of the shielding member 100 is prepared. The outlet 110 of the extrusion die 100 includes a first outlet part 111 to form the fixing unit 20, a second outlet part 112 to form the shielding unit 30, and the inner surfaces of the first outlet part 111 and the second outlet part 112 are divided from each other. A first supply channel 121, through which a synthetic resin solution to form the fixing unit 20 is supplied, is connected to the first outlet part 111, and a second supply channel 122, through which a synthetic resin solution, being softer than that of the fixing unit 20, to form the shielding unit 30 is supplied, is connected to the second outlet part 112. Therefore, when the synthetic resin solution to form the fixing unit 20 and the synthetic resin solution to form the shielding unit 30 are simultaneously supplied through the first supply channel 121 and the second supply channel 122, an extruded product 200 passed through the outlet 110 exhibits the shape of the shielding member 10 consisting of the fixing unit 20 and the shielding unit 30. Thereafter, the extruded product 200 is cut into a designated length, thereby completing manufacture of the shielding member 10.
Although the shielding units 30 are flexibly provided, when the gap shielding parts 31 of the respective shielding members 10 contact each other during the opening operation of the doors 3 and 4, the coupling force of the shielding members 10 to the doors 3 and 4 may be lowered due to friction between the shielding members 10. However, under the condition that the shielding members 10 are not coupled to the front surfaces of the doors 3 and 4 but are coupled to the side surfaces of the doors 3 and 4 through the fixing units 20, as described above, the friction between the gap shielding parts 31 of the shielding members 10 does not highly influence the coupling force of the shielding members 10 to the doors 3 and 4.
Further, the shielding members may be fixed to the doors 3 and 4 in a simple insert type.
As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, in a refrigerator in accordance with the a further embodiment of the present disclosure, an insert groove 40, which is opened to the gap 8 and the upper and lower surfaces of the doors 3 and 4, is formed on the side surface of each of the doors 3 and 4, facing the gap 8, and an insert protrusion 21, which is inserted into the insert groove 40, is provided on the end of a fixing unit 20′ opposite the shielding unit 30.
The insert groove 40 is formed on each of the outer cases 3 b and 4 b of the doors 3 and 4 such that the width of the insert groove 40 is narrow at an area thereof adjacent to the gap 8 and is increased toward the inside of each of the doors 3 and 4, and the insert protrusion 21 has a shape corresponding to the insert groove 40.
The fixing unit 20′ includes a support part 22 to connect the insert groove 21 and the shielding unit 30. The support part 22 is supported on the side surface of each of the doors 3 and 4 facing the gap 8 such that a shielding member 10′ is stably fixed to the outer surface of each of the doors 3 and 4 even when friction between the gap shielding parts 31 of the shielding members 10′ is generated due to the opening and closing operation of the doors 3 and 4, and the insert protrusion 21 is extended perpendicularly from the end of the support part 21 toward each of the doors 3 and 4.
The shielding unit 30 in this embodiment has the same shape as that in the former embodiment, and in this embodiment, the fixing unit 20′, which is hard, is made of a synthetic resin being harder than the shielding unit 30, and the shielding unit 30, which is flexible, is made of a synthetic resin being softer than the fixing unit 20′.
Therefore, these shielding members 10′ may be firmly fixed to the doors 3 and 4 by a simple operation, i.e., insertion of the insert protrusions 21 of the fixing units 20′ from the upper parts or the lower parts of the doors 3 and 4 into the insert grooves 40 of the doors 3 and 4.
Further, the shielding member may be installed on any one of the freezing chamber door 3 and the refrigerating chamber door 4.
FIG. 9 illustrates the structure of a shielding member 10″ in accordance with another embodiment of the present disclosure. In this embodiment, the shielding member 10″ is not installed on the freezing chamber door 3, but is installed only on the refrigerating chamber door 4.
The shielding member 10″ in this embodiment also includes a fixing unit 20 made of a hard synthetic resin, and a flexible shielding unit 30 made of a synthetic resin being softer than the fixing unit 20. The shielding unit 30 includes a gap shielding part 31″ to shield the gap 8, and a door shielding part 32 to shield the front surface of the refrigerating chamber door 4.
This embodiment differs from the former embodiments in that the end of the gap shielding part 31″ in this embodiment is supported on a portion of the front surface of the freezing chamber door 3 adjacent to the gap 8 under the condition that the freezing chamber door 3 and the refrigerating chamber door 4 are closed, so as to allow one shielding member 10″ provided only on the refrigerating chamber door 4 to effectively shield the gap 8.
In this case, the end of the gap shielding part 31″ supported on the front surface of the freezing chamber door 3 has a smaller thickness than other parts of the gap shielding part 31″ or the door shielding part 32 so as to be more smoothly bent during the opening operation of the doors 3 and 4,
Of course, differing from this embodiment, the shielding member 10″ may be installed on the freezing chamber door 3.
As is apparent from the above description, in a refrigerator in accordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure, shielding members installed on doors installed in a pair at both sides of the front surface of a main body shield a gap between the doors under the condition that the doors are closed, and thereby prevent the gap between the doors from being exposed to an area in front of the refrigerator although the assembly state of the doors is deformed or the doors are not completely symmetrical with each other, thus effectively preventing the external appearance of the front part of the refrigerator from being spoiled due to the exposure of the gap between the doors.
Further, the shielding members are configured such that they shield the entire section of the front portion of the gap in the lengthwise direction of the doors. Thereby, the refrigerator in accordance with this embodiment intercepts cool air in a storage chamber twice through gaskets installed on the rear surfaces of the doors and the shielding members, and thus the cool air interception function of the gaskets is further strengthened by the shielding members.
Although a few embodiments of the present disclosure have been shown and described, it would be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes may be made in these embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the disclosure, the scope of which is defined in the claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. A refrigerator comprising a main body forming a storage chamber, and a pair of doors installed at both sides of a front surface of the main body to open and close the storage chamber,

wherein a gap is formed between the doors, and a shielding member to shield the gap is provided on each of the doors.

2. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein the shielding member includes a fixing unit to fix the shielding member to each of the doors, and a shielding unit to shield the gap.

3. The refrigerator according to claim 2, wherein the shielding unit is made of a flexible material.

4. The refrigerator according to claim 3, wherein the fixing unit is made of a harder material than the shielding unit.

5. The refrigerator according to claim 2, wherein:

the shielding member is made of a synthetic resin;

the shielding unit is made of a softer synthetic resin than the fixing unit; and

the shielding member is formed by co-extrusion such that the fixing unit and the shielding unit of the shielding member are integrally formed.

6. The refrigerator according to claim 2, wherein:

the shielding member is provided on each of the pair of the doors;

the shielding unit of the shielding member is flexible; and

ends of the shielding units of the respective shielding members opposite each other overlap each other when the pair of the doors closes the storage chamber.

7. The refrigerator according to claim 6, wherein the fixing unit is coupled to a side surface of each of the doors facing the gap.

8. The refrigerator according to claim 7, wherein the fixing unit is attached to the external surface of each of the doors.

9. The refrigerator according to claim 7, wherein the fixing unit is coupled to each of the doors in an insert type.

10. The refrigerator according to claim 9, wherein:

an insert groove, opened to the gap and the upper and lower surfaces of each of the doors, is formed on the side surface of each of the doors facing the gap in the lengthwise direction of the doors; and

the fixing unit includes an insert protrusion, which is inserted into the insert groove.

11. The refrigerator according to claim 10, wherein the fixing unit further comprises a support part connecting the insert protrusion and the shielding unit and is supported on the side surface of each of the doors facing the gap.

12. The refrigerator according to claim 6, wherein the ends of the shielding units of the respective shielding members, overlapping each other when the pair of the doors closes the storage chamber, have a smaller thickness than other parts of the shielding units.

13. The refrigerator according to claim 2, wherein:

the shielding member is provided on one door of the pair of the doors;

the shielding unit of the shielding member is flexible; and

the shielding unit of the shielding member is supported on a region of the front surface of the other door facing the gap when the pair of the doors closes the storage chamber.

14. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein the shielding member is provided on at least one door of the pair of the doors.

15. The refrigerator according to claim 2, wherein the shielding unit includes a gap shielding part to shield the gap, and a door shielding part to shield a region of the front surface of each of the doors adjacent to the gap.