WO2004029528A1

WO2004029528A1 - Door assembly for a refrigerator

Info

Publication number: WO2004029528A1
Application number: PCT/KR2003/002011
Authority: WO
Inventors: Dong-Jin Shin
Original assignee: Dong-Jin Shin
Priority date: 2002-09-30
Filing date: 2003-09-30
Publication date: 2004-04-08
Also published as: AU2003265102A1

Abstract

This invention relates to a door assembly for a refrigerator. The door assembly comprises a plurality of brackets provided on the front side of the body of the refrigerator, a divided door aggregation involving a plurality of divided doors rotatably coupled with at least one of the brackets, and a door frame positioned between the brackets and the body of the refrigerator and having coupling end joined into at least one of the brackets. The body of the refrigerator may be partly or whole opened according to the rotation of one of the divided doors or the doorframe.

Description

DOOR ASSEMBLY FOR A REFRIGERATOR

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a door rotatably mounted on the front of a body of refrigerator for opening or closing the front, more particularly to door assembly for a refrigerator rotatably installed on the front of the bodies of the cooling chamber or freezing chamber of the refrigerator for opening or closing the front wholly or partly.

2. Description of the Related Art

Generally, a refrigerator is an appliance for freshly reserving food products for a long term in the low temperature and has a body having a receiving portion into which the food products are received and a door turnably provided for opening or closing the front of the body.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2, the body 12, 22 of the refrigerator 10, 20 is divided into a freezing chamber 12a, 22a and a cooling chamber 12b, 22b by a partition 13, 23, respectively. The door 14, 24 of the refrigerator 10, 20 is also divided into a freezing door 14a, 24a rotatably pivot coupled with the front of the freezing chamber 12a, 22a and a cooling door 14b, 24b rotatably pivot coupled with the front of the cooling chamber 12b, 22b. Each receiving portion of the freezing chamber 12a, 22a and the cooling chamber 12b, 22b is drawably provided with shelves 12c, 22c of which the positioning is adjustable to control the storing height of the received food products. Furthermore, the inner side of the door 14, 24 contacting with the body 12, 22 of the refrigerator 10, 20 is provided with an insulation member such as a gasket 15 so that the cooling air in the receiving portion is prevented from being outflow when the door is closed and the door is kept closed. The numerical references 17 and 27 are hinge brackets supporting the rotation motion of the door 14, 24.

A user should open the door to put the food products in the receiving portion of the freezing chamber 12a, 22a or the cooling chamber 12b, 22b or to take out therefrom. In the opening movement of the door 14, 24, the cooling air flows outside from the receiving portion of the freezing chamber 12a, 22a or the cooling chamber 12b, 22b. And, when the door is opened, the amount of outflow of the cooling air is proportioned to the opening number and opening time of the door 14, 24 regardless of the amount of the food products to be put or taken out since the Opening area of the body of the refrigerator is always fixed. ^'When the door is closed after putting or taking out of the food products, a cooling device is worked to fill up the cooling air, resulting in the increase of the power consumption.

Especially, under the large scale of the refrigerator, the waste of electric power is issued as a problem since the opening area of the door is fixed.

In order to overcome the problem, the receiving portion of the cooling chamber or the freezing chamber is divided by a plurality of partitions for reserving food. Also, doors are installed on the corresponding receiving portions divided by the partitions.

However, since the size of the receiving portion is limited by the partition, the reserving amount of food is also restrained.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, the present invention has been made to solve the foregoing problems and it is an object of the present invention to provide a door assembly for a refrigerator, so that the unnecessary outflow of cooling air from the receiving portion of the freezing chamber or the cooling chamber may be prevented by the control of the opening area of the refrigerator body in proportion to the amount of the food products to be put in or taken out from each receiving portion of the freezing chamber or the cooling chamber of the refrigerator. Thus, the unnecessary power consumption is prohibited.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other objects, features and other advantages of the present invention will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing the opening state of the refrigerator having a conventional door: Fig. 2 is a perspective view showing the opening state of the refrigerator having other conventional door:

Fig. 3 is a perspective view illustrating the refrigerator having a door assembly according the invention:

Fig. 4 is a sectional perspective view illustrating the refrigerator having a door assembly according the invention:

Fig. 5 is a side view illustrating the refrigerator having a door assembly according the invention:

Fig. 6 is a sectional view taken along a line A- A' in Fig. 3 : Fig. 7 is a perspective view of the refrigerator in which the overall front of the body is partially opened by the opening of one of divided doors according to the invention:

Fig. 8 is a perspective view of the refrigerator in which the overall front of the body is wholly opened by the opening of doorframe according to the invention:

Fig. 9 is a sectional view in which a hinge supporting projection is inserted between neighboring divided doors according to the invention:

Fig. 10 is an explored perspective view of the refrigerator to which the door assembly is attached according to other embodiment of the invention:

Fig. 11 is a side view of the refrigerator to which the door assembly is attached according to other embodiment of the invention: Fig. 12 is a sectional view of the refrigerator taken along a line A- A' in Fig. 3 according to other embodiment of the invention:

Fig. 13 is a perspective view of the refrigerator in which the^" overall front of the body is partially opened by the opening of one of divided doors according to other embodiment of the invention: Fig. 14 is a perspective view of the refrigerator in which the overall front of the door is wholly opened by the opening of the doorframe according to other embodiment of the invention: and,

Fig. 15 is a sectional, view in which a hinge supporting projection is inserted between neighboring divided doors according to other embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

In order to obtain the above object, according to the invention, a door assembly for a refrigerator is rotatably provided to open or close a front of a body of the refrigerator having a receiving portion for reserving food; it is characterized in that the door assembly comprises a doorframe composed of a pair of perpendicular frames rotatably provided on the front of the body and a pair of horizontal frames connecting the upper and lower portions of the perpendicular frames each other; and a plurality of , divided doors arranged and rotatably provided on the front of the doorframe in the vertical direction, respectively, in which the front of the body is wholly opened by the opening movement of the doorframe or is partially opened by the opening movement of each divided door.

Below, the embodiment of the invention will be explained with reference to the drawings, hi Figs 3 to 15, the body of the refrigerator shows only one of a cooling chamber and a freezing chamber and an insulation member such as a gasket is not . illustrated to simplify and clear the explanation on the embodiment of the invention, to which the gist of the invention does not limit.

According to the invention, the door assembly for the refrigerator 100 has a doorframe 120 rotatably coupled to the front of the body 110 which has a receiving portion. The doorframe 120 is manufactured in a square shape corresponding to the edge of the front of the refrigerator body 110. That is, the doorframe 120 comprises inner and outer frames 122, 124 provided in the vertical direction and upper and lower frames 126, 128 provided in the horizontal direction to connect the upper portions and the lower portions of the frames 122, 124, respectively.

The inner frame 122 is pivotably attached to one side of the front of the refrigerator body 110, the outer frame 124 is provided with a pull for opening or closing the front of the body. Both ends of the inner frame 122 is formed with a groove 122a, 122b into which hinge shafts 112a, 114a are inserted, respectively. Each hinge shaft is provided in hinge brackets 112, 114, respectively. Each hinge bracket is mounted on the upper and lower portions of the refrigerator body 110, respectively. Preferably, the inner and outer frames 122, 124 and the upper and lower frames 126, 128 are manufactured into a single structure. Numerical reference 110a indicates a receiving portion of the cooling chamber or the freezing chamber, 110c indicates shelves drawably provided in the receiving portion 110a.

Each hinge bracket 112, 114 has a turning shaft 112b, 114b, respectively in addition to the hinge shaft 112a, 114a. The turning shafts are inserted into a upper mounting groove 132a formed on the upper portion of the upper divided door 132 and_^a lower mounting groove 136b formed on the lower portion of the lower divided door 136, respectively.

Furthermore, the front side of the imier frame 122 is provided with a hinge support projections 122c for holding the lower portion of the upper divided door 132 and/or the upper portion of the lower divided door 136, which will be explained below. The upper side of the hinge support projections 122c is provided with a upward extending protrusion a extending upward and its lower side is also provided with a downward extending protrusion c extending downward. At this state, referring to Fig. 9, the upper extending protrusion a is inserted into a mounting groove b formed on the lower portion of the upper divided door 132 and the lower extending protrusion c is inserted into a mounting groove d formed on the upper portion of a middle divided door 134. Likewise, other hinge support projection 122c is also provided between the middle divided door 134 and the lower divided door 136 in the same manner.

The extending protrusion and the mounting grooves may be exchanged each other. That is, the extending protrusion may be provided in the divided doors and the mounting grooves may be formed in the support projections 122c. The coupling state between the doorframe 120 and the divided door aggregator 130 is not limited to that between the extending projection and the mounting groove as shown in drawings in order to rotatably support the divided doors, which those skilled in the art will appreciate.

According to the present invention, the door assembly for the refrigerator is also provided with a divided door aggregation 130 composed of a plurality of divided doors and turnably mounted oh the front of the doorframe 120. In drawings, the divided door aggregation 130 is composed of the upper divided door 132, the middle divided door 134, and the lower divided door 136. However, the divided door aggregation may be two pieces of divided doors or 4 or more pieces of divided doors. The upper portion of the upper divided door 132 provided in the upper portion of the doorframe 120 is formed with a mounting groove 132a into which the turning shaft 112b of the upper hinge bracket 112. The lower portion of the upper divided door 132 is also formed with a mounting groove b (see, Fig. 9) into which the upward extending protrusion c of the hinge support projection 122c is inserted. Further, the lower portion of the lower divided door 136 positioned, on the lower portion of the doorframe 120 is formed with a mounting groove 136b into which the turning shaft 114b of the lower hinge bracket 114 is inserted. The upper portion of the lower divided door 136 is also formed with a mounting groove d (see, Fig. 9) into which the downward extending protrusion c of the hinge support projection 122c provided on the inner frame 122.

The upper and lower portions of the middle divided door 134 positioned between the upper divided door 132 and the lower divided door 136 are formed with a mounting groove d into which the downward extending protrusion c of the hinge support projection 122c and a mounting groove b into which the upward extending protrusion a, respectively. In drawings, numerical references 134a and 136a indicates upper hinge coupling portions, each of which is formed by cutting out a part of the upper portion of the divided door to make the hinge support projection 122c inserted between the neighboring divided doors when the divided doors 132, 134, 136 are apart each other in the close state. Also, the lower portion of the divided doors may be provided a lower hinge coupling portion (not shown) corresponding to the upper hinge coupling portion.

An insulation member such as a gasket (not shown) may be provided between the doorframe 120 and the divided door aggregation 130 and between the neighboring divided doors 132, 134, and 136.

Hereinafter, the motion of the door assembly for the refrigerator will be explained according to the invention.

Firstly, the front of the refrigerator body 110 according to the invention is turnably provided with a doorframe 120, of which the front side is rotatably installed with a divided door aggregation 130 composed with a plurality of divided doors 132, 134, and 136. A user will open the middle divided door 134 to take out food reserved in the middle portion of the refrigerator body 110. That is, the middle divided door 134 is rotated with the support of the hinge support projections 122c provided its upper and lower portions. As a result, the opening area of the body's front is relatively reduced to decrease the outflow amount of the cooling air. Similarly, any divided door corresponding to any position on which food is reserved will be opened in order to take out the food.

When the doorframe 120 is rotated, the divided door aggregation 130 disposed on the front of the doorframe 120 is totally turned by the rotation of the doorframe 120 so that the body 110 of the refrigerator 100 is wholly opened. In this case, the inner frame 122 of the doorframe is turned around the hinge shafts 112a, 114a of the hinge brackets 112, 114. Each divided doors are also rotated around the turning shafts 112b, 114b of the hinge brackets 112, 114 and the upward and downward extending protrusions a, c of the hinge support projections 122c.

According to other embodiment of the invention, the door assembly of the refrigerator has a plurality of hinge brackets 212, 214, 216, 218 spaced a given distance away from each other on the front of the body 210 of the cooling chamber or the freezing chamber which has a receiving portion. In this case, one end of the first hinge bracket 212 installed on the upper portion of the body front is provided with a downward extending protrusion 212a, and one end of the fourth hinge bracket 214 positioned on the lower portion of the body front is also provided with a upward extending protrusion 214a. The second and third hinge brackets 216, 218 positioned between the first and fourth hinge brackets 212, 214 are provided with upward extending protrusions 216a, 218a and downward extending protrusions 216b, 218b, respectively. These hinge brackets are removably coupled to the side of the front of the refrigerator body by bolts.

Further, the front of the body 210 is also provided with divided door aggregation 230 composed with divided doors 232, 234, 236 with rotatably installed between the neighboring hinge brackets. That is, the upper divided door 232 is rotatably installed between the first hinge bracket 212 and the second hinge bracket 216, the middle divided door 234 is between the second and third hinge brackets 216, 218, and the lower divided door 236 is between the third and fourth hinge brackets 218, 214. Meanwhile, the divided doors are formed with receiving grooves on their both ends, respectively. The receiving groove is formed with a hole into which the protrusion of the hinge bracket is inserted.

In drawings, four hinge brackets and three divided doors are illustrated, to which the number of the bracket and the divided doors are not limited.

The doorframe 220 in ' τ ' shape is provided between the front of the body 210 and the divided door aggregation 230. Each ends of the doorframe 220 is provided with coupling portions 222a, 222b, respectively which are rotatably jointed with the first and fourth hinge brackets 212, 214. The coupling portions 222a, 222b are formed a through hole, the extending protrusions 212a, 214a provided in the hinge brackets 212, 214 are entered into the through hole. The coupling portions 222a, 222b are extending outside to the front side of the refrigerator 200 from horizontal extending ^"portion in the doorframe 220. Thus, the coupling portion 222a, 222b are received into the receiving grooves 232a, 236b formed on the upper edge of the upper divided door 232 and the lower edge of the lower divided door 236, respectively.

The extending protrusion 212a, 214a provided on the first and fourth hinge brackets are passed the through holes formed in the coupling portion 222a, 222b and then inserted into the holes of the receiving grooves 232a, 236b formed on the upper edge of the upper divided door 232 and lower edge of the lower divided door 236, respectively. And, the receiving grooves 232b, 236a formed on the lower edge of the upper divided door 232 and the upper edge of the lower divided door 236 are received with the second hinge bracket 216 and the third hinge bracket 218, respectively. The upward extending protrusion 216a provided in the second hinge bracket 216 is inserted into the hole formed in the lower receiving groove 232b of the upper divided door 232, and the downward extending protrusion 218a provided on the third hinge bracket 218 is inserted into the hole formed in the upper receiving groove 236a of the lower divided door 236. Furthermore, the hole formed in the receiving groove 234a, 234b of the middle divided door 234 is inserted with ^"the downward extending protrusion 216b of the second hinge bracket 216 and the upward extending protrusion 218a of the third hinge bracket 218, respectively.

^■ The upper divided door 232 is rotatably supported by the first and second hinge brackets 212, 216, the middle divided door 234 is rotatably supported by the second and third hinge brackets 216, 218, and the lower divided door 236 is rotatably supported by the third and fourth hinge brackets 218, 214. And, the doorframe 220 is also turnably supported by the first and fourth hinge brackets 212, 214.

Meanwhile, . an insulation member such^' as a gasket (not shown) is provided between the front of the refrigerator body and the doorframe 220, the doorframe 220 and the divided door aggregation, and the neighboring divided doors 232, 234, 236, which contact each other.

Below, the actuation of the door assembly for the refrigerator according to other embodiment of this invention will be explained.

First, the front of the refrigerator body 210 according to other embodiment of this invention is turnably provided with a divided door aggregation 230 composed with a plurality of divided doors 232, 234, and 236. And, a doorframe 120 is installed between the body 210 and the divided door aggregation 230. In this state, a user will open the middle divided door 234 to take out food reserved in the middle portion of the refrigerator body 210. The middle divided door 234 is rotated around the hinge bracket 216, 218 installed on its upper portion and lower portion to be opened. As a result, the opening area of the body's front is relatively reduced to decrease the outflow amount of the cooling air is reduced. Similarly, any divided door corresponding to any position on which food is reserved will be opened in order to take out the food. When the doorframe 220 is rotated, the divided door aggregation 230 disposed on the front of the doorframe 220 is totally turned by the rotation of the doorframe 220 so that the body 210 of the refrigerator 100 is wholly opened. In this case, the doorframe 220 is turned around the extending protrusion 212a, 214a of the first and fourth hinge brackets 212, 214. Each divided doors comprising the divided door aggregation 230 is also rotated around the extending protrusions of the hinge brackets that support their ends.

In drawings, the number of the horizontal frame and the perpendicular frame composing of the doorframe is limited, however the gist of this invention is not limited to that. That is, although the doorframe may be comprised one of the horizontal and perpendicular frame, it may be composed of one or more the horizontal and perpendicular frame as limited as the receiving portion of the body permits.

Thus, in the- opening movement of the refrigerator door, the amount of the cooling air's outflow is effectively reduced by the provision of the door assembly on the front of the refrigeration body being capable of partially or wholly opening or closing the front of the refrigeration, resulting in decreasing the unnecessary waste of electric power in the refrigerator.

The technical thought of this invention may be applied to the products which any goods is stored into or is taken out from without the limitation to the refrigerator.

Although the preferred embodiment of the present invention has been disclosed for illustrative purposes, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications, additions and substitutions can be made without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as disclosed in the accompanying claims.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A door assembly is rotatably provided on the front of the body having a receiving portion for reserving food; characterized in that the door assembly comprises: a plurality of brackets provided on side of the body's front with spaced a given distance away; a divided door aggregation composed of a plurality of divided doors and rotatably coupled to at least one of the brackets; and a doorframe having coupling portion turnably joined with the brackets and provided between the body's front and the divided door aggregation; wherein, the divided door aggregation is rotated to wholly open or close the front of the body when the doorframe rotates around hinge shafts of the brackets to which the coupling portion of the doorframe is attached, and the front of the body is partially opened or closed by the rotation movement of each divided doors.

2. The door assembly according to claim ^" 1, characterized in that the doorframe is comprised with one or more horizontal frames and one or more perpendicular frames connected to the horizontal frames.

3. The door assembly according to claim 2, characterized in that the divided door is formed with receiving groove into which the coupling portion of the doorframe is rotatably inserted.

4. The door assembly according to claim 2, characterized in that the perpendicular frame is provided with a projection on which the divided door is rotatably supported.