WO2023135220A1

WO2023135220A1 - Refrigerator having sealing structure

Info

Publication number: WO2023135220A1
Application number: PCT/EP2023/050656
Authority: WO
Inventors: Ya Xu; Qidong LI; Chun Hu; Ping LV
Original assignee: BSH Hausgeräte GmbH
Priority date: 2022-01-17
Filing date: 2023-01-12
Publication date: 2023-07-20
Also published as: CN116481233A

Abstract

The present invention relates to the field of household appliance, and in particular, to a refrigerator having a sealing structure, including: a refrigerator body, where the refrigerator body defines at least one storage compartment for storing a to-be-cooled object; at least one refrigerator door, where the refrigerator door is hinged on the refrigerator body for swingably opening and closing the storage compartment around a hinge axis, the refrigerator door has an inner surface facing the refrigerator body when closed, and the refrigerator door has a protruding door dike portion on the inner surface; and at least one sealing structure, where the sealing structure is arranged on the inner surface of the refrigerator door, and at least a part of the sealing structure is arranged on the door dike portion. Compared with the related art, the heat insulation and sealing performance of the refrigerator can be further enhanced in a simple configuration manner according to the embodiments of the present invention.

Description

REFRIGERATOR HAVING SEALING STRUCTURE

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to the field of household appliances, and in particular, to a refrigerator having a sealing structure.

BACKGROUND

At present, a refrigerator, as most common refrigeration and fresh-keeping equipment, needs to keep a low temperature inside. Therefore, there is a continuous improvement demand for existing refrigerators with regard to heat insulation and sealing.

SUMMARY

An objective of embodiments of the present invention is to provide an improved refrigerator, so as to at least partially resolve the problem in the related art.

According to an aspect of the present invention, a refrigerator is provided, including: a refrigerator body, where the refrigerator body defines at least one storage compartment for storing a to-be-cooled object; at least one refrigerator door, where the refrigerator door is hinged on the refrigerator body for swingably opening and closing the storage compartment around a hinge axis, the refrigerator door has an inner surface facing the refrigerator body when closed, and the refrigerator door has a protruding door dike portion on the inner surface; and at least one sealing structure, where the sealing structure is arranged on the inner surface of the refrigerator door, and at least a part of the sealing structure is arranged on the door dike portion.

In this way, according to the sealing structure at least partially arranged on the door dike portion of the present invention, heat insulation and sealing performance of the refrigerator can be better enhanced.

According to an optional embodiment of the present invention, the refrigerator further includes at least one drawer, mounted in the storage compartment, where the door dike portion has at least one receding notch, and the receding notch is located on a path through which the drawer passes when the drawer is pulled out in a case that the refrigerator door is opened perpendicular to a front surface of the refrigerator body, so that when the drawer is pulled out, the drawer passes through the receding notch without interfering with the door dike portion; and at least a part of the sealing structure is arranged in the receding notch. In this way, the refrigerator cannot only meet a function of opening the door and pulling out the drawer when the refrigerator is located in a restricted position (such as a corner), but also ensure the heat insulation and sealing performance of the refrigerator.

According to an optional embodiment of the present invention, the sealing structure includes a sealing assembly and a door seal assembly; where the door seal assembly is arranged around an edge of the refrigerator door; and the sealing assembly is configured to seal at least part of a gap that is between the refrigerator body and the refrigerator door and on an inner side of the door seal assembly when the refrigerator door is closed. In this way, a condensation phenomenon on the door seal assembly, for example, a door seal strip, caused by a temperature difference between the refrigerator body and the refrigerator door is prevented.

According to an optional embodiment of the present invention, the sealing assembly is fixed on a surface of the door dike portion parallel to the inner surface of the refrigerator door. Therefore, it is possible that a door dike portion used for fixing the sealing assembly does not protrude from the inner surface of the refrigerator door, and it is not necessary to mold a matching structure for fixing the sealing assembly on the door dike portion. Therefore, it is beneficial to simplify the forming and demolding of the door dike portion, and to improve a yield rate of a door liner. The sealing structure is fixed by forming a convex hull structure on a side of the protruding door dike portion that is basically perpendicular to the inner surface of the refrigerator door, the convex hull structure is a forced demolding structure in a mold structure, and it is easy to deform during the demolding process, which leads to a high rejection rate of the liner used for forming the inner surface of the refrigerator door.

According to an optional embodiment of the present invention, the receding notch has a concave recessed toward an outer surface of the refrigerator door, and the sealing assembly is partially accommodated in the concave. On the one hand, the arrangement of the concave can reduce a possibility of interference between the sealing assembly and the movement of the drawer when the door is opened perpendicular to the front surface of the refrigerator body; and on the other hand, the concave can cover or even hide part of the sealing assembly, especially a carrier of the sealing assembly, so that the refrigerator door has a more aesthetic inner surface. In addition, the concave can be configured to limit the sealing assembly, which better facilitates the alignment and installation of the sealing assembly, and can prevent the sealing assembly from shifting, especially when the sealing assembly is fixed to the receding notch by means such as 3M adhesive tape or magnetic attraction.

According to an optional embodiment of the present invention, the size of the concave corresponds to the size of the carrier portion of the sealing assembly.

According to an optional embodiment of the present invention, the sealing assembly is configured to squeeze into contact with the refrigerator body when the refrigerator door is closed. In this way, the heat insulation and sealing performance of the refrigerator is further ensured through contact by squeezing.

According to an optional embodiment of the present invention, the sealing assembly includes a carrier portion and a sealing portion, the carrier portion and the sealing portion are preferably formed independently of each other, and the carrier portion preferably has at least one through hole; when the refrigerator door is closed, the sealing assembly, especially the sealing portion of the sealing assembly, squeezes into contact with the refrigerator body; the carrier portion is fixed, especially by screwing, on the door dike portion, and especially fixed on the receding notch of the door dike portion; and the sealing portion is fixed, especially snapped, onto the carrier portion. In this way, the structure of the sealing assembly makes the installation of the sealing assembly on the refrigerator door exceedingly simple, and ensures the heat insulation and sealing performance of the refrigerator.

According to an optional embodiment of the present invention, the sealing portion has a first section and a second section; where the first section is configured as a cap, and/or the second section is configured as a ring, and/or the first section is made of a hard material, especially ABS plastic, and/or the second section is made of a soft material, especially thermoplastic polyurethane elastomer rubber, and/or the first section and the second section are integrally formed, especially soft and rigid co-extrusion integrally formed. In this way, through the configuration manner of the two sections of the sealing portion, in particular different materials for the sealing performance can be used to manufacture the sealing portion, so that the manufacturing process can be simplified while ensuring the heat insulation and sealing performance of the refrigerator.

According to an optional embodiment of the present invention, the second section is arranged on a side of the first section close to the door seal assembly. In this way, this arrangement can better ensure the heat insulation and sealing performance of the refrigerator.

According to an optional embodiment of the present invention, the carrier portion has a bottom side for fixing on the door dike portion and at least one support side perpendicular to the bottom side, and the support side has at least one support protrusion; and the sealing portion, especially the first section of the sealing portion, has at least one hook portion, the hook portion interacts with the support protrusion of the carrier portion, preferably through static friction, so that the sealing portion is fixed on the carrier portion, and an interaction surface between the hook portion and the support protrusion is preferably parallel to the inner surface of the refrigerator door. In this way, through the matching relationship between the carrier portion and the sealing portion of the sealing assembly, especially the sealing portion is ensured to be stably fixed on the carrier portion, and there is no need for an overly complicated mold for matching in terms of forming and manufacturing.

According to an optional embodiment of the present invention, the receding notch is arranged on the inner surface of the refrigerator door close to the hinge axis, where especially the receding notch extends parallel to the hinge axis, or the receding notch extends perpendicular to the hinge axis. In this way, the arrangement of the receding notch does not hinder the pulling out of the drawer.

According to an optional embodiment of the present invention, the receding notch has a notch surface, and the notch surface is parallel to the inner surface of the refrigerator door; and at least a part of the sealing structure, preferably the sealing assembly, especially preferably the carrier portion of the sealing assembly, is fixed, especially by screwing, on the notch surface. In this way, it is possible that the fixing of the sealing structure is no longer limited to the part of the door dike portion protruding from the inner surface of the refrigerator door, and there is no need to mold a fixed matching structure on the door dike portion.

The sealing structure is fixed by forming a convex hull structure on the protruding door dike portion, the convex hull structure is a forced demolding structure in a mold structure, and it is easy to deform during the demolding process, which leads to a high rejection rate of the liner used for forming the inner surface of the refrigerator door. In contrast, this solution can make the forming process of the receding notch simpler, and the liner used for forming the inner surface of the refrigerator door can be easily demolded, having a higher product yield.

It should be understood that the carrier portion can further be fixed on the door dike portion by other fixing methods such as adhesion or magnetic attraction. However, fixing the carrier portion by screwing can enhance the stability of the carrier portion on the door, and the carrier portion is not easy to shift, especially when the refrigerator door is frequently opened and closed and the sealing assembly is squeezed by the refrigerator body. According to an optional embodiment of the present invention, the refrigerator further includes at least one air outlet, provided in the refrigerator body and configured to discharge cooled air to the storage compartment, where the sealing structure is configured to be at least partially opposed to the air outlet when the refrigerator door is closed. In this way, the sealing structure can further prevent the cold air from the air outlet to ensure the heat insulation and sealing performance of the refrigerator.

According to an optional embodiment of the present invention, the door dike portion is at least partially frame-shaped; and/or the sealing structure, especially the sealing assembly, extends in a same direction as the door dike portion. In this way, the structure is simple and easy to manufacture.

According to an optional embodiment of the present invention, in a height direction of the refrigerator, a stop portion, especially a protrusion, is arranged below the sealing structure, especially below the sealing assembly of the sealing structure, and the stop portion is preferably integrally formed with the door dike portion. In this way, by means of the stop portion, possible accidental slippage of the sealing structure, especially the sealing assembly, is prevented.

Compared with the related art, the heat insulation and sealing performance of the refrigerator can be further enhanced in a simple configuration manner according to the embodiments of the present invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the following, the principles, features and advantages of the present invention can be better understood by describing the present invention in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The accompanying drawings include:

FIG. l is a three-dimensional view of a refrigerator according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a front view of a refrigerator when a refrigerator door is opened according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a partial enlarged view of part A in FIG. 2, to better show a protruding door dike portion on an inner surface of a refrigerator door and a sealing structure at least partially arranged on the door dike portion;

FIG. 4 is a partial enlarged three-dimensional view of part B in FIG. 2, where a drawer is not pulled out;

FIG. 5 is a partial enlarged three-dimensional view of part B in FIG. 2 when a drawer is pulled out;

FIG. 6 is a schematic exploded view of a refrigerator door and a sealing structure according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, so as to better show positions of a sealing assembly and a door seal assembly included in the sealing structure;

FIG. 7 is a schematic exploded view of a carrier portion and a sealing portion of a sealing assembly and a schematic cross-sectional view of the carrier portion and the sealing portion in an assembled state according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8a is a top view of a refrigerator when a refrigerator door is opened and a drawer is pulled out according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8b is a partial enlarged cross-sectional view of part C in FIG. 8a, to better show a position relationship and details of the drawer and a sealing structure when the refrigerator door is opened and the drawer is pulled out;

FIG. 9a is a top view of a refrigerator when a refrigerator door is closed according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 9b is a schematic cross-sectional view along a section line D-D in FIG. 9a, to better show a position relationship and details of an air outlet in a refrigerator body and a sealing assembly of a sealing structure;

FIG. 9c is a partial enlarged cross-sectional view of part E in FIG. 9a, to better show details of the sealing structure when the refrigerator door is closed; and

FIG. 9d is a partial further enlarged view of part F in FIG. 9c, to better show details of the sealing assembly squeezing into contact with the refrigerator body when the refrigerator door is closed.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

To make the technical problems to be solved by the present invention, technical solutions, and beneficial technical effects more comprehensible, the following further describes the present invention in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings and some exemplary embodiments. It should be understood that the specific embodiments herein are merely used for explaining the present invention, but are not used for limiting the protection scope of the present invention.

First, for ease of understanding, before the embodiments of the present invention are described in detail, an inventive concept of the present invention is simply described herein again. In order to enhance heat insulation and sealing effect of a refrigerator, an exemplary embodiment of the present invention provides a refrigerator, including: a refrigerator body, where the refrigerator body defines at least one storage compartment for storing a to-be-cooled object; at least one refrigerator door, where the refrigerator door is hinged on the refrigerator body for swingably opening and closing the storage compartment around a hinge axis, the refrigerator door has an inner surface facing the refrigerator body when closed, and the refrigerator door has a protruding door dike portion on the inner surface; and at least one sealing structure, where the sealing structure is arranged on the inner surface of the refrigerator door, and at least a part of the sealing structure is arranged on the door dike portion. A person skilled in the art should understand that a door dike (door dike) is generally arranged on an inner side of the refrigerator door and is suitable for arranging objects such as door shelves.

To better understand components of the foregoing refrigerator, the following describes the exemplary embodiments of the present invention with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Before starting specific description, it should be noted that direction terms used in the description refer to a normal use state of the refrigerator, which is for the convenience of description, and should not be understood as an absolute limitation on corresponding features.

FIG. 1 is a three-dimensional view of a refrigerator 1000 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the refrigerator 1000 has a height direction y, a width direction z, and a depth direction x in a normal use state. The refrigerator 1000 includes a refrigerator body 100, where the refrigerator body 100 defines at least one storage compartment 101 (referring to FIG. 2) for storing a to-be-cooled object. The refrigerator 1000 further includes at least one refrigerator door. Four refrigerator doors are exemplarily shown in FIG. 1, which are respectively a refrigerator door 200 on a right side and a refrigerator door 200' on a left side of a refrigerator compartment of the refrigerator 1000, and a refrigerator door 300 of a zero-degree compartment and a refrigerator door 400 of a freezer compartment. For convenience, the following description is basically only for the refrigerator door 200 or 200'. However, it should be understood that the description of the refrigerator door 200 or 200' is also applicable to the refrigerator door 300 and the refrigerator door 400 when the refrigerator door 300 of the zero-degree compartment and the refrigerator door 400 of the freezer compartment are configured as pivot doors. As shown in FIG. 1, the refrigerator door 200 is hinged on the refrigerator body 100 for swingably opening and closing the storage compartment 101 around a hinge axis L. It should be understood that in a case that the storage compartment 101 is configured as a single-door closed storage compartment, the storage compartment 101 can be closed only with the refrigerator door 200 on the right side or only with the refrigerator door 200' on the left side. Therefore, the following descriptions for the refrigerator door 200 or 200' can be matched and adapted to each other and can be interchanged with each other on the one hand, and on the other hand, the refrigerator doors 200 and 200' can further be combined as two refrigerator doors of a side by side combination refrigerator as exemplarily shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 2 is a front view of a refrigerator 1000 when refrigerator doors 200 and 200’ are opened according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 2, the refrigerator 1000 further includes at least one drawer mounted in the storage compartment 101. FIG. 2 schematically shows two drawers 1011’ and 1011. It should be understood that only one drawer may be mounted in the storage compartment 101, such as a case that is shown in FIG. 2, two drawers 1011' and 1011 form one drawer. It should be further understood that in a case that only one drawer is mounted in the storage compartment, the drawer can be configured to occupy an entire storage compartment, such as a case that is shown in FIG. 2 that an entire storage compartment closed with a single refrigerator door 300 or 400 is configured as with only one drawer. As schematically shown in FIG. 2, the refrigerator 1000 further includes a protruding door dike portion 201 on the inner surface of the refrigerator door 200 and a sealing structure 10 at least partially arranged on the door dike portion 201, which is further described with reference to other accompanying drawings and embodiments.

FIG. 3 is a partial enlarged view of part A in FIG. 2, to better show the protruding door dike portion 201 on the inner surface of the refrigerator door 200 and the sealing structure 10 at least partially arranged on the door dike portion 201. As shown in FIG. 3, when the refrigerator door 200 is closed, the protruding door dike portion 201 is provided on the inner surface 20 (referring to FIG. 4) facing the refrigerator body 100. The refrigerator 1000 further includes at least one sealing structure 10 arranged on the inner surface 20 of the refrigerator door 200, and at least a part of the sealing structure 10 is arranged on the door dike portion 201.

The refrigerator door 200 is provided with a protruding door dike portion 201, so that storage devices such as a bottle holder, a storage basket, a storage box, or a cosmetic box can be mounted on the inner surface 20 of the refrigerator door 200. In addition, the arrangement of the door dike portion 201 can be beneficial to the heat insulation performance of the refrigerator. When the refrigerator door 200 is closed, the door dike portion 201 extends into the storage compartment 101 of the refrigerator body 100, so that the door dike portion 201 can prevent the cold air from the air outlet of the storage compartment 101 from directly blowing to the door seal assembly, making the outer surface of the door seal assembly less prone to condensation.

FIG. 4 is a partial enlarged three-dimensional view of part B in FIG. 2, where a drawer is not pulled out. FIG. 5 is a partial enlarged three-dimensional view of part B in FIG. 2 when a drawer is pulled out. As shown in FIG. 4, the refrigerator door 200 has the inner surface 20 facing the refrigerator body 100 when the refrigerator door 200 is closed, the refrigerator door

200 has the protruding door dike portion 201 on the inner surface 20, and the door dike portion

201 basically extends along four sides of the refrigerator door 200. However, in some cases, the refrigerator 1000 needs to be placed in a restricted position so that the refrigerator door 200 can only be opened perpendicular to the front surface 102 of the refrigerator body 100 at most. For example, there is a case that when the refrigerator 1000 is placed in a corner or when the refrigerator door 200 is opened at 90°, other furniture just blocks the refrigerator door. In this case, the door dike portion 201 has at least one receding notch 2011. When the refrigerator door 200 is opened perpendicular to a front surface 102 of the refrigerator body 100 (when the refrigerator door 200 of the refrigerator 1000 is opened at 90° as schematically shown in the front view of FIG. 2 or the top view of FIG. 8a), the receding notch 2011 is located on a path through which the drawer 1011 corresponding to the refrigerator door 200 passes when the drawer 1011 is pulled out, so that when the drawer 1011 is at least partially pulled out, the drawer 1011 passes through the receding notch 2011 without interfering with the door dike portion 201 (as shown in FIG. 5 or FIG. 8b). No interference herein can be understood as the drawer 1011 being at least partly pulled out without contact with the door dike portion 201 or with a very close gap or almost contact with the door dike portion 201, as long as it does not interfere with the door dike portion 201 or collide with the door dike portion 201 to cause a negative effect. As shown in FIG. 4, at least a part of the sealing structure 10 (for example, the sealing assembly 1 of the sealing structure 10, referring to FIG. 6) is arranged in the receding notch 2011 of the door dike portion 201.

FIG. 6 is a schematic exploded view of a refrigerator door 200 and a sealing structure 10 of a refrigerator 1000 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, so as to better show positions of a sealing assembly 1 and a door seal assembly 2 included in the sealing structure 10. As shown in FIG. 6, the sealing structure 10 includes a sealing assembly 1 and a door seal assembly 2. The door seal assembly 2 herein is exemplarily configured as a common door seal strip in the field of refrigerators.

The door seal assembly 2 is arranged around an edge of the refrigerator door 200. The door dike portion 201 is at least partially frame-shaped. The sealing structure 10 (especially the sealing assembly 1 of the sealing structure 10) extends in a same direction as the door dike portion 201. In FIG. 6, two receding notches 2011 and 2011’ are exemplarily shown, and the two receding notches 2011 and 2011’ are arranged on the inner surface 20 of the refrigerator door 200 close to the hinge axis L. As exemplarily shown in FIG. 6, one receding notch 2011 extends parallel to the hinge axis L, and the other receding notch 2011’ extends perpendicular to the hinge axis L. In an exemplary embodiment shown in FIG. 6 according to the present invention, in a height direction y of the refrigerator 1000, a stop portion 2012 is arranged below the sealing structure 10 (especially below the sealing assembly 1 of the sealing structure 10). The stop portion 2012 is especially configured as a protrusion, and by means of the stop portion 2012, in particular, the sealing portion 12 of the sealing assembly 1 of the sealing structure 10 is prevented from slipping off the carrier portion 11. The stop portion 2012 is preferably integrally formed with the door dike portion 201.

An upper part of FIG. 7 is a schematic exploded view of a carrier portion 11 and a sealing portion 12 of a sealing assembly 1 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, and a lower part of FIG. 7 is two schematic cross-sectional views of the carrier portion 11 and the sealing portion 12 in an assembled state. As shown in the upper part of FIG. 7, the sealing assembly 1 includes a carrier portion 11 and a sealing portion 12, and the carrier portion 11 and the sealing portion 12 are preferably formed independently of each other. As shown in the lower left view of FIG. 7, the carrier portion 11 and the sealing portion 12 are assembled on a notch surface 21 of the receding notch 2011. As exemplarily shown herein, the notch surface 21 is a flat surface and is parallel to the inner surface 20 of the refrigerator door 200. The lower right view of FIG. 7 shows another preferred embodiment in which the carrier portion 11 and the sealing portion 12 are assembled on the receding notch 2011. As shown in the lower right view of FIG. 7, the notch surface 21 of the receding notch 2011 is no longer a flat surface, but the receding notch 2011 has a concave 211 recessed toward an outer surface of the refrigerator door 200, and the sealing assembly 1 is partially accommodated in the concave 211.

Optionally, the size of the concave 211 corresponds to the size of the carrier portion 11 of the sealing assembly 1.

As exemplarily shown in the lower right view of FIG. 7, the concave 211 has a concave surface 210, and preferably, the concave surface 210 is parallel to the inner surface 20 of the refrigerator door 200. In two installation states of the sealing assemblies 1 shown in the lower part of FIG. 7, the sealing assemblies 1 are fixed on the surface of the door dike portion 201 parallel to the inner surface 20 of the refrigerator door 200, and more specifically, fixed on the notch surface 21 or the concave surface 210 of the door dike portion 201 parallel to the inner surface 20 of the refrigerator door 200.

Since the sealing assemblies 1 shown in the lower left view and the lower right view in FIG. 7 themselves basically have a same configuration, for clarity, in FIG. 7, repeated reference numerals are omitted for a configuration part of the carrier portion 11 and the sealing portion 12 of the sealing assemblies 1. As shown in FIG. 7, the carrier portion 11 preferably has at least one through hole. In FIG. 7, three equidistantly arranged through holes of the carrier portion

11 are shown. The through holes are used for, for example by screwing, being fixed on the receding notch 2011 of the door dike portion 201 (exemplarily shown in FIG. 8b and FIG. 9c). When the refrigerator door 200 is closed, the sealing assembly 1 (especially the sealing portion

12 of the sealing assembly 1) squeezes into contact with the refrigerator body 100 (especially referring to FIG. 9c and FIG. 9d). The carrier portion 11 is fixed (especially fixed by screwing) on the door dike portion 201 (especially fixed on the receding notch 2011 of the door dike portion 201).

The sealing portion 12 is fixed (especially snapped) onto the carrier portion 11. The sealing portion 12 has a first section 121 and a second section 122. The first section 121 is configured as a cap, and the second section 122 is configured as a ring. It should be understood that the first section 121 and the second section 122 can further be constructed in other shapes. For example, the first section 121 is configured as a flat top (for example, adopting a fixing method of magnetic attraction), and the second section 122 is configured as a solid body, as long as the first section 121 is suitable for being fixed on the carrier portion 11, and the second section 122 is suitable for squeezing into contact with the refrigerator body 100. The first section 121 is made of a hard material (especially ABS plastic). The second section 122 is made of a soft material (especially thermoplastic polyurethane elastomer rubber). It should be understood that, in a case of adopting the fixing method of magnetic attraction, the carrier portion 11 of the sealing assembly 1 and the first section 121 and the second section 122 of the sealing portion 12 are respectively made of materials that can be magnetically attracted to each other. The configuration and material of the second section 122 are especially designed to be suitable for sealing at least part of the gap that is between the refrigerator body 100 and the refrigerator door 200 and on the inner side of the door seal assembly 2. Therefore, the heat insulation and sealing effect is enhanced. The first section 121 and the second section 122 are integrally formed (especially soft and rigid co-extrusion integrally formed). As shown in FIG. 7, the carrier portion 11 has a bottom side 110 for fixing on the door dike portion 201 and at least one support side 111 perpendicular to the bottom side 110. FIG. 7 schematically shows two support sides 111, and in this way, the two support sides 111 and the bottom side 110 jointly form a U- like shape. The support side 111 has at least one support protrusion 1111. FIG. 7 schematically shows that the two support sides 111 respectively have one support protrusion 1111, and in an embodiment not shown, each support side 111 may have a plurality of support protrusions 1111. The sealing portion 12 (especially the first section 121 of the sealing portion 12) has at least one hook portion 121. FIG. 7 schematically shows that the first section 121 of the sealing portion 12 has two hook portions 121, and in an embodiment not shown, the first section 121 of the sealing portion 12 may have only one hook portion 121 or more than two hook portions 121, as long as it is suitable for hooking the carrier portion 11. The hook portion 121 interacts with the support protrusion 1111 of the carrier portion 11, preferably through static friction, so that the sealing portion 12 is fixed on the carrier portion 11, and an interaction surface between the hook portion 121 and the support protrusion 1111 is preferably parallel to the inner surface 20 of the refrigerator door 200 or parallel to the notch surface 21 of the receding notch 2011 on which the interaction surface is located. Optionally, the hook portion 121 and the support protrusion 1111 do not necessarily have an interaction surface in a direction perpendicular to the inner surface 20 of the refrigerator door 200 (or in a direction perpendicular to the notch surface 21 of the receding notch 2011 on which the hook portion 121 and the support protrusion 1111 are located). The configuration manner has a greater tolerance possibility and is thus easy to manufacture.

FIG. 8a is a top view of a refrigerator 1000 when the refrigerator doors 200 and 200’ are opened and the drawer 1011 is pulled out according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 8b is a partial enlarged cross-sectional view of part C in FIG. 8a, to better show a position relationship and details of the drawer 1011 and the sealing structure 10 when the refrigerator door 200 is opened and the drawer 1011 is pulled out. As schematically shown in FIG. 8a and FIG. 8b, when the refrigerator door 200 is opened perpendicular to the front surface 102 of the refrigerator body 100, the drawer 1011 can pass through the receding notch 2011 without interfering with the door dike portion 201 and the sealing structure 10 when the drawer 1011 is pulled out.

FIG. 9a is a top view of a refrigerator 1000 when the refrigerator doors 200 and 200’ are closed according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 9b is a schematic cross-sectional view along a section line D-D in FIG. 9a, to better show a position relationship and details of an air outlet 5 in the refrigerator body 100 and a sealing assembly 1 ’ of a sealing structure 10’. According to the section line D-D in FIG. 9a, FIG. 9b only schematically shows the sealing assembly 1' of the sealing structure 10' located on the refrigerator door 200'. However, it should be understood that it is also applicable to the sealing assembly 1 of the sealing structure 10 on the refrigerator door 200. As shown in FIG. 9b, the refrigerator 1000 further includes at least one air outlet 5, provided in the refrigerator body 100 and configured to discharge cooled air to the storage compartment 101. FIG. 9b schematically indicates a flow direction of the cooled air in the refrigerator body 100 or in the storage compartment 101 with short arrows. Two air outlets 5 are schematically shown in FIG. 9b, which are respectively located at the top and bottom of the drawer 1011'. In this way, the refrigerator 1000 is configured as an air-cooled refrigerator with air blown from the bottom. As shown in FIG. 9b, the sealing structure 10’ is configured to be at least partially opposed to the air outlet 5 when the refrigerator door 200’ is closed. Especially, when the refrigerator door 200' is closed, the sealing assembly 1' of the sealing structure 10' is opposed to the air outlet 5. In this way, the cooled air blown out from the air outlet 5 may not directly act on an inner side of the door seal assembly between the refrigerator body 100 and the refrigerator door 200 to cause a condensation phenomenon on an outer side of the door seal assembly due to a temperature difference.

FIG. 9c is a partial enlarged cross-sectional view of part E in FIG. 9a, to better show details of the sealing structure 10 when the refrigerator door 200 is closed. FIG. 9d is a partial further enlarged view of part F in FIG. 9c, to better show details of the sealing assembly 1 squeezing into contact with the refrigerator body 100 when the refrigerator door 200 is closed. As shown in FIG. 9c, the receding notch 2011 has a notch surface 21, and the notch surface 21 is parallel to the inner surface 20 of the refrigerator door 200. At least a part of the sealing structure 10 (preferably the sealing assembly 1, especially preferably the carrier portion 11 of the sealing assembly 1) is fixed (exemplarily by screwing) on the notch surface 21. As shown in FIG. 9c and FIG. 9d, the sealing assembly 1 is configured to seal at least part of a gap that is between the refrigerator body 100 and the refrigerator door 200 and on an inner side of the door seal assembly 2 when the refrigerator door 200 is closed. Preferably, a channel between the refrigerator body 100 and the refrigerator door 200 is completely sealed herein, so as to prevent, when the refrigerator door 200 is closed, the cold air (for example from the air outlet 5 schematically shown in FIG. 9b) from directly acting on the inner side of the door seal assembly 2 to cause the condensation phenomenon on the outer side of the door seal assembly 2 due to the temperature difference. As shown in FIG. 9d, the second section 122 of the sealing portion 12 of the sealing assembly 1 is arranged on a side of the first section 121 of the sealing portion 12 of the sealing assembly 1 close to the door seal assembly 2. It can be clearly seen from FIG. 9d that the sealing assembly 1 is configured to squeeze into contact with the refrigerator body 100 with the second section 122 of the sealing portion 12 when the refrigerator door 200 is closed. For clarity, a complete ring when the second section 122 of the sealing portion 12 is not squeezed is shown in solid line in FIG. 9d, and a shape of the squeezed part is schematically shown in dotted line 122' when the second section 122 of the sealing portion 12 squeezes into contact with the refrigerator body 100. In an embodiment not shown in detail in the accompanying drawings, the second section 122 of the sealing portion 12 of the sealing assembly 1 not only squeezes into contact with the refrigerator body 100 but also squeezes into contact with the refrigerator door 200. In this way, the channel where the cold air in the storage compartment 101 directly acts on the inner side of the door seal assembly 2 is completely sealed, so as to prevent, for example, an excessive temperature difference between the outer side and the inner side of the door seal assembly 2 due to an ambient temperature being much higher than a temperature of the cold air in the storage compartment 101, to further cause the condensation phenomenon on the outer side of the door seal assembly 2.

Although specific implementations have been described above, these implementations are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention, even if only one embodiment is described with respect to specific features. The feature example provided in the content disclosed in the present invention is intended to be illustrative rather than limiting, unless otherwise stated. In the specific implementation, a plurality of features can be combined with each other according to the actual needs, if technically feasible. Without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention, various replacements, changes and modifications can also be conceived.

Claims

CLAIMS What is claimed is:

1. A refrigerator (1000), comprising: a refrigerator body (100), wherein the refrigerator body (100) defines at least one storage compartment (101) for storing a to-be-cooled object; at least one refrigerator door (200), wherein the refrigerator door (200) is hinged on the refrigerator body (100) for swingably opening and closing the storage compartment (101) around a hinge axis (L), the refrigerator door (200) has an inner surface (20) facing the refrigerator body (100) when closed, and the refrigerator door (200) has a protruding door dike portion (201) on the inner surface (20); and at least one sealing structure (10), wherein the sealing structure (10) is arranged on the inner surface (20) of the refrigerator door (200), and at least a part of the sealing structure (10) is arranged on the door dike portion (201).

2. The refrigerator (1000) according to claim 1, further comprising: at least one drawer (1011), mounted in the storage compartment (101), wherein the door dike portion (201) has at least one receding notch (2011), and the receding notch (2011) is located on a path through which the drawer (1011) passes when the drawer (1011) is pulled out in a case that the refrigerator door (200) is opened perpendicular to a front surface (102) of the refrigerator body (100), so that when the drawer (1011) is pulled out, the drawer (1011) passes through the receding notch (2011) without interfering with the door dike portion (201); and at least a part of the sealing structure (10) is arranged in the receding notch (2011).

3. The refrigerator (1000) according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the sealing structure (10) comprises a sealing assembly (1) and a door seal assembly (2); the door seal assembly (2) is arranged around an edge of the refrigerator door (200); and the sealing assembly (1) is configured to seal at least part of a gap that is between the refrigerator body (100) and the refrigerator door (200) and on an inner side of the door seal assembly (2) when the refrigerator door (200) is closed.

4. The refrigerator (1000) according to claim 3, wherein the sealing assembly (1) is fixed on a surface of the door dike portion (201) parallel to the inner surface (20) of the refrigerator door (200).

5. The refrigerator (1000) according to claim 3 or 4, wherein the receding notch (2011) has a concave (211) recessed toward an outer surface of the refrigerator door (200), and the sealing assembly (1) is partially accommodated in the concave (211).

6. The refrigerator (1000) according to any one of claims 3 to 5, wherein the sealing assembly (1) is configured to squeeze into contact with the refrigerator body (100) when the refrigerator door (200) is closed.

7. The refrigerator (1000) according to any one of claims 3 to 6, wherein the sealing assembly (1) comprises a carrier portion (11) and a sealing portion (12), the carrier portion (11) and the sealing portion (12) are preferably formed independently of each other, and the carrier portion (11) preferably has at least one through hole; when the refrigerator door (200) is closed, the sealing assembly (1), especially the sealing portion (12) of the sealing assembly (1), squeezes into contact with the refrigerator body (100); the carrier portion (11) is fixed, especially by screwing, on the door dike portion (201), and especially fixed on the receding notch (2011) of the door dike portion (201); and the sealing portion (12) is fixed, especially snapped, onto the carrier portion (11).

8. The refrigerator (1000) according to claim 7, wherein the sealing portion (12) has a first section (121) and a second section (122), wherein the first section (121) is configured as a cap, and/or the second section (122) is configured as a ring, and/or the first section (121) is made of a hard material, especially ABS plastic, and/or the second section (122) is made of a soft material, especially thermoplastic polyurethane elastomer rubber, and/or the first section (121) and the second section (122) are integrally formed, especially soft and rigid co-extrusion integrally formed.

9. The refrigerator (1000) according to claim 8, wherein the second section (122) is arranged on a side of the first section (121) close to the door seal assembly (2).

10. The refrigerator (1000) according to any one of claims 7 to 9, wherein the carrier portion (11) has a bottom side (110) for fixing on the door dike portion (201) and at least one support side (111) perpendicular to the bottom side (110), and the support side (111) has at least one support protrusion (1111); and the sealing portion (12), especially the first section (121) of the sealing portion (12), has 18 at least one hook portion (121), the hook portion (121) interacts with the support protrusion (1111) of the carrier portion (11), preferably through static friction, so that the sealing portion (12) is fixed on the carrier portion (11), and an interaction surface between the hook portion (121) and the support protrusion (1111) is preferably parallel to the inner surface (20) of the refrigerator door (200).

11. The refrigerator (1000) according to any one of claims 2 to 10, wherein the receding notch (2011) is arranged on the inner surface (20) of the refrigerator door (200) close to the hinge axis (L), where especially the receding notch (2011) extends parallel to the hinge axis (L), or the receding notch (2011) extends perpendicular to the hinge axis (L).

12. The refrigerator (1000) according to any one of claims 2 to 11, wherein the receding notch (2011) has a notch surface (21), and the notch surface (21) is parallel to the inner surface (20) of the refrigerator door (200); and at least a part of the sealing structure (10), preferably the sealing assembly (1), especially preferably the carrier portion (11) of the sealing assembly (1), is fixed, especially by screwing, on the notch surface (21).

13. The refrigerator (1000) according to any one of claims 1 to 12, further comprising: at least one air outlet (5), provided in the refrigerator body (100) and configured to discharge cooled air to the storage compartment (101), wherein the sealing structure (10) is configured to be at least partially opposed to the air outlet (5) when the refrigerator door (200) is closed.

14. The refrigerator (1000) according to any one of claims 1 to 13, wherein the door dike portion (201) is at least partially frame-shaped, and/or the sealing structure (10), especially the sealing assembly (1), extends in a same direction as the door dike portion (201).

15. The refrigerator (1000) according to any one of claims 1 to 14, wherein in a height direction (y) of the refrigerator (1000), a stop portion (2012), especially a protrusion, is arranged below the sealing structure (10), especially below the sealing assembly (1) of the sealing structure (10), and the stop portion (2012) is preferably integrally formed with the door dike portion (201).