WO2024104480A1 - Hinge assembly and refrigerator - Google Patents

Abstract

The present application relates to the technical field of smart household appliances. Disclosed is a hinge assembly, comprising a refrigerator body mounting base, a door body connecting base, a first link, a second link and a third link, wherein one end of the first link is rotationally and slidably connected to the refrigerator body mounting base, and the other end of the first link is rotationally connected to the door body connecting base; the second link and the first link are arranged in a staggered manner, stagger points of the two are rotationally connected, and one end of the second link is rotationally connected to the refrigerator body mounting base; and one end of the third link is rotationally connected to the other end of the second link, and the other end of the third link is rotationally connected to the door body connecting base. In the present application, the thickness for mounting and connecting is effectively reduced, such that the situation in which the overall volume of a refrigerator or the area most convenient to use is wasted due to the greater thickness can be avoided. In addition, reducing the thickness is also beneficial for making the overall structure of the refrigerator more symmetrical and coordinated, thereby improving the aesthetics of the overall structure of the refrigerator. Thus, the refrigerator has a better appearance. Further disclosed in the present application is a refrigerator.

Description

Hinge assembly, refrigerator

This application is based on Chinese patent application with application number 202211446716.5 and application date November 18, 2022 and Chinese patent application with application number 202223072617.3 and application date November 18, 2022, and claims the priority of the Chinese patent application. The entire contents of the Chinese patent application are hereby introduced into this application as a reference.

Technical Field

The present application relates to the technical field of smart home appliances, for example, to a hinge assembly and a refrigerator.

Background technique

When the existing built-in refrigerator is opened, the door body (door panel) cannot collide with the obstacles beside it, and at the same time, it must ensure that the internal drawers and shelves can be pulled out and used normally. In order to ensure the above functional effects, the door body hinges mostly use multi-link (six-link) hinges. The functions of pure four-link hinges are greatly limited. The existing multi-link hinges need to take into account the supporting strength, the door body can hang door panels, door closers, door closing damping and other functions. The hinges mostly use a U-shaped sheet metal connecting rod structure that is interlocked.

Existing built-in refrigerators mostly use six-link hinges, which are staggered together through specific hinge points and links of different shapes to achieve a specific movement trajectory of the door body. However, the hinge itself is relatively thick, and the installation beam will also become thicker accordingly, causing a lot of waste on the overall volume of the refrigerator and also making the refrigerator less beautiful. When the refrigerator is equipped with upper and lower doors, two identical upper and lower hinges need to be installed on the center beam, and this situation becomes particularly serious.

In the process of implementing the embodiments of the present disclosure, it is found that there are at least the following problems in the related art:

The hinge itself is relatively thick, which causes more serious waste of the most convenient area of the refrigerator and also affects the aesthetics of the overall structure of the refrigerator.

Summary of the invention

In order to provide a basic understanding of some aspects of the disclosed embodiments, a brief summary is given below. The summary is not an extensive review, nor is it intended to identify key/critical components or delineate the scope of protection of these embodiments, but rather serves as a prelude to the detailed description that follows.

The disclosed embodiments provide a hinge assembly and a refrigerator, which effectively reduce the thickness of the installation connection, thereby avoiding the situation in which the overall volume of the refrigerator or the most convenient area to be used is wasted due to the large thickness. At the same time, reducing the thickness also helps to make the overall structure of the refrigerator more symmetrical and coordinated, improves the aesthetics of the overall structure of the refrigerator, and makes the refrigerator have better visibility. The structure in which the second connecting rod and the first connecting rod are staggered optimizes the connection form, allows the two to bear the weight together, helps to enhance the connection strength, can adapt to different door weights, and improves the adaptability of the hinge assembly.

In some embodiments, the hinge assembly includes: a box mounting seat, a door connecting seat, a first connecting rod, a second connecting rod and a third connecting rod. One end of the first connecting rod is rotatably and slidably connected to the box mounting seat, and the other end is rotatably connected to the door connecting seat; the second connecting rod is staggered with the first connecting rod, and the intersection of the two is rotatably connected, and one end of the second connecting rod is rotatably connected to the box mounting seat; one end of the third connecting rod is rotatably connected to the other end of the second connecting rod, and the other end is rotatably connected to the door connecting seat.

In some embodiments, a refrigerator includes a hinge assembly as described in any of the above embodiments.

The hinge assembly and refrigerator provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure can achieve the following technical effects:

By arranging one end of the first connecting rod to be rotatably and slidably connected to the box body mounting seat, and arranging the second connecting rod and the first connecting rod to be rotatably staggered, during the process of the hinge being unfolded, one end of the first connecting rod slides, so that the other end of the first connecting rod can be displaced accordingly. When the other end of the first connecting rod is connected to the door body, the door body can be driven away from the box body, which can effectively prevent the door body from colliding with obstacles in the cabinet when used in a built-in refrigerator. Compared with the existing six-link hinge method, the hinge assembly can reduce at least one connecting rod and two hinge points, directly reduce the number of connecting rods and reduce the thickness of the staggered stacking between the connecting rods. The most direct and fundamental solution to the problem of hinge thickness is to effectively reduce the thickness of the installation connection while ensuring the same door opening function trajectory, which can avoid the waste of the overall volume of the refrigerator or the most convenient area due to the large thickness. At the same time, reducing the thickness also helps to make the overall structure of the refrigerator more symmetrical and coordinated, improves the aesthetics of the overall structure of the refrigerator, and makes the refrigerator have better visibility. The structure of the second connecting rod and the first connecting rod staggered optimizes the connection form, allows the two to bear the weight together, helps to enhance the connection strength, can adapt to different door weights, and improve the adaptability of the hinge assembly.

The above general description and the following description are exemplary and explanatory only and are not intended to limit the present application.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

One or more embodiments are exemplarily described by corresponding drawings, which do not limit the embodiments. Elements with the same reference numerals in the drawings are shown as similar elements, and the drawings do not constitute a scale limitation, and wherein:

FIG1 is a schematic structural diagram of a hinge assembly provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG2 is a schematic structural diagram of a door closer provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG3 is a schematic structural diagram of another hinge assembly provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG4 is a schematic structural diagram of another door closer provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG5 is an enlarged view of portion A in FIG4 ;

FIG6 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a slideway provided in an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG7 is a schematic structural diagram of another hinge assembly provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG8 is a schematic structural diagram of another hinge assembly provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG9 is a schematic structural diagram of another hinge assembly provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 10 is a schematic structural diagram of a refrigerator provided in an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Reference numerals:

100, cabinet mounting seat; 101, slide groove; 102, slider; 103, strip slide groove; 200, door body connecting seat; 300, first connecting rod; 301, notch; 400, second connecting rod; 401, accommodating groove; 500, third connecting rod; 501, bending section; 600, door closer; 601, sliding seat; 602, fixed seat; 603, compression spring; 604, positioning rod; 605, abutment block; 606, positioning concave surface; 607, sliding surface; 608, abutment block; 1000, refrigerator.

Detailed ways

In order to be able to understand the features and technical contents of the embodiments of the present disclosure in more detail, the implementation of the embodiments of the present disclosure is described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. The attached drawings are for reference only and are not used to limit the embodiments of the present disclosure. In the following technical description, for the convenience of explanation, a full understanding of the disclosed embodiments is provided through multiple details. However, one or more embodiments can still be implemented without these details. In other cases, to simplify the drawings, well-known structures and devices can be simplified for display.

The terms "first", "second", etc. in the specification and claims of the embodiments of the present disclosure and the above-mentioned drawings are used to distinguish similar objects, and are not necessarily used to describe a specific order or sequence. It should be understood that the terms used in this way can be interchanged where appropriate, so that the embodiments of the embodiments of the present disclosure described herein. In addition, the terms "including" and "having" and any variations thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusions.

In the embodiments of the present disclosure, the terms "upper", "lower", "inside", "middle", "outside", "front", "back" and the like indicate directions or positional relationships based on the directions or positional relationships shown in the accompanying drawings. These terms are mainly intended to better describe the embodiments of the present disclosure and their embodiments, and are not intended to limit the indicated devices, elements or components to have specific directions, or to be constructed and operated in specific directions. Moreover, in addition to being used to indicate directions or positional relationships, some of the above terms may also be used to indicate other meanings. For example, the term "upper" may also be used to indicate a certain dependency or connection relationship in certain circumstances. For those of ordinary skill in the art, the specific meanings of these terms in the embodiments of the present disclosure may be understood according to specific circumstances.

In addition, the terms "disposed", "connected", and "fixed" should be understood in a broad sense. For example, "connected" can be a fixed connection, a detachable connection, or an integral structure; it can be a mechanical connection, or an electrical connection; it can be a direct connection, or an indirect connection through an intermediate medium, or it can be an internal connection between two devices, elements, or components. For those of ordinary skill in the art, the specific meanings of the above terms in the embodiments of the present disclosure can be understood according to the specific circumstances.

Unless otherwise stated, the term "plurality" means two or more.

In the embodiment of the present disclosure, the character "/" indicates that the preceding and following objects are in an "or" relationship. For example, A/B indicates: A or B.

The term "and/or" is a description of the association relationship between objects, indicating that three relationships can exist. For example, A and/or B means: A or B, or, A and B.

It should be noted that, in the absence of conflict, the embodiments and features in the embodiments of the present disclosure may be combined with each other.

As shown in Figures 1-5, the embodiment of the present disclosure provides a hinge assembly, including: a box mounting seat 100, a door body connecting seat 200, a first connecting rod 300, a second connecting rod 400 and a third connecting rod 500. One end of the first connecting rod 300 is rotatably and slidingly connected to the box mounting seat 100, and the other end is rotatably connected to the door body connecting seat 200; the second connecting rod 400 and the first connecting rod 300 are staggered, and the intersection of the two is rotatably connected, and one end of the second connecting rod 400 is rotatably connected to the box mounting seat 100; one end of the third connecting rod 500 is rotatably connected to the other end of the second connecting rod 400, and the other end is rotatably connected to the door body connecting seat 200.

By using the hinge assembly provided in the embodiment of the present disclosure, by setting one end of the first link 300 to be rotatably and slidably connected to the box mounting base 100, and rotatably staggeredly setting the second link 400 and the first link 300, during the hinge expansion process, one end of the first link 300 slides, which can cause the other end of the first link 300 to move accordingly. When the other end of the first link 300 is connected to the door body, the door body can be driven away from the box body, which can effectively prevent the door body from colliding with obstacles in the cabinet when used in a built-in refrigerator. Compared with the existing six-link hinge method, the hinge assembly can reduce at least one link and two hinge points, directly reducing the number of links and reducing The staggered and stacked thickness between the low connecting rods can solve the problem of hinge thickness in the most direct and fundamental way. It can effectively reduce the thickness of the installation connection while ensuring the same door opening function trajectory, and can avoid the waste of the overall volume of the refrigerator or the most convenient area due to the large thickness. At the same time, reducing the thickness also helps to make the overall structure of the refrigerator more symmetrical and coordinated, improves the aesthetics of the overall structure of the refrigerator, and makes the refrigerator have better visibility. The structure of the second connecting rod 400 and the first connecting rod 300 is staggered, which optimizes the connection form, allows the two to bear the weight together, helps to enhance the connection strength, can adapt to different door weights, and improve the adaptability of the hinge assembly.

As shown in Figure 2, optionally, a door closer 600 is provided in the box mounting base 100, and the door closer 600 is horizontally arranged in the box mounting base 100, one end of the door closer 600 is slidingly connected to the side wall of the box mounting base 100, and the other end is fixedly connected to the side wall of the box mounting base 100, wherein the sliding end of the door closer 600 abuts against the second connecting rod 400, and when the door body connecting base 200 is in the open state, the door closer 600 is used to provide a force for the door body connecting base 200 to rotate toward the box mounting base 100. In this way, by installing a door closer 600 which is horizontally arranged in the box mounting base 100 and has one end abutting against the second connecting rod 400, when the door body connecting base 200 is open, the door closer 600 can provide the door body connecting base 200 with a force to rotate toward the box mounting base 100, so that the door closer 600 can assist the user in closing the refrigerator, making the process of closing the refrigerator easier and more labor-saving, improving the convenience and efficiency of closing the refrigerator, providing the user with a better user experience, and making the refrigerator closed more tightly, effectively preventing the cold inside the refrigerator from leaking out.

As shown in FIG. 3 , optionally, the two opposite side walls of the box mounting seat 100 are provided with horizontal strip-shaped sliding grooves. 103, the door closer 600 includes: a sliding seat 601, a fixed seat 602 and a compression spring 603. The sliding seat 601 is arranged at one side of the second connecting rod 400, and an abutting wheel 608 is arranged on the sliding seat 601. The sliding seat 601 abuts against the second connecting rod 400 through the abutting wheel 608, wherein the abutting wheel 608 is limited to slide along the strip-shaped sliding groove 103; the fixed seat 602 is arranged at one side of the sliding seat 601; one end of the compression spring 603 is connected to the sliding seat 601, and the other end is connected to the fixed seat 602. In this way, the sliding seat 601 can slide along the horizontally arranged strip sliding groove 103 through the abutment wheel 608, so that one end of the second connecting rod 400 can always abut against the sliding seat 601, effectively avoiding the situation where the second connecting rod 400 is separated from the sliding seat 601 during the rotation of the second connecting rod 400, and improving the stability of the abutment. After the door body connecting seat 200 is opened, since the compression spring 603 is in a compressed state, it can provide the door body connecting seat 200 with a force to rotate toward the box mounting seat 100, so that the opened door body connecting seat 200 has a tendency to rotate toward the box mounting seat 100, thereby making the user's process of closing the refrigerator easier and more labor-saving, thereby enhancing the user's experience.

As shown in Fig. 4, optionally, a positioning rod 604 is provided on one side of the fixed seat 602 facing the sliding seat 601, and a compression spring 603 is sleeved on the positioning rod 604, wherein a first set distance is provided between the positioning rod 604 and the sliding seat 601. In this way, when the door body connecting seat 200 is in the open state, the force provided by the compression spring 603 to the second connecting rod 400 can always be in the horizontal direction, so that the force on the second connecting rod 400 is more stable, and the change of the elastic force direction caused by the bending deformation of the compression spring 603 is avoided, which affects the situation that the second connecting rod 400 drives the door body connecting seat 200 to rotate, and ensures the smoothness of closing the door body connecting seat 200, and the first set distance is provided between the positioning rod 604 and the sliding seat 601, which can reduce the influence of the positioning rod 604 on the sliding process of the sliding seat 601, and ensure the stability of the sliding process of the sliding seat 601.

Optionally, one end of the second connecting rod 400 located in the box mounting seat 100 is arranged on an abutment block 605 facing the sliding seat 601, and a side of the abutment block 605 facing the sliding seat 601 is provided with an anti-skid rubber pad, and the abutment wheel 608 abuts against the anti-skid rubber pad. In this way, when the door body connecting seat 200 is in an open state, the anti-skid rubber pad can be used to make the sliding seat 601 always push the second connecting rod 400 stably, avoiding the situation that the sliding seat 601 and the second connecting rod 400 are slipped and affect the rotation of the second connecting rod 400, ensuring the stability of the closing process of the door body connecting seat 200, and effectively avoiding the wear of the two during the long-term contact process, thereby improving the protection of the sliding seat 601 and the second connecting rod 400.

As shown in Figure 5, optionally, a positioning concave surface 606 and a sliding surface 607 are provided on the abutment block 605, and the positioning concave surface 606 is arranged on the side where the abutment block 605 intersects with the second connecting rod 400, and the sliding surface 607 is arranged on the side of the abutment block 605 opposite to the second connecting rod 400. In this way, when the second link 400 is in the retracted state, the sliding end of the door closer 600 will be stuck in the positioning concave surface 606, which will have a certain limiting effect on the movement of the second link 400, preventing the second link 400 from opening by itself in the retracted state. When used, it can keep the door body tightly closed, preventing the door body from opening by itself, causing cold air leakage, etc., and when the sliding end of the door closer 600 approaches the positioning concave surface 606 and is not completely stuck in the positioning concave surface 606, since the door closer 600 has a tendency to slide toward the positioning concave surface 606, it can help the second link 400 to tend to a fully retracted state before the second link 400 is about to be fully retracted. When used, it is reflected in the state before the door body is about to be fully closed. A short distance has the force to assist the door body in closing, preventing the user from failing to completely close the door body when closing the door, causing the door body to fail to close normally. During the process of opening the door body, when the door closer 600 completely slides out of the positioning concave surface 606 and enters the sliding surface 607, one end of the door closer 600 will only slide on the sliding surface 607, and will not affect the operation of the second connecting rod 400. In application, after the door body is opened for a certain distance, no force in the direction of closing the door is generated, preventing the door body from closing by itself after opening, affecting the normal use of the user.

Optionally, the second connecting rod 400 is provided with a receiving groove 401, which corresponds to the door closer 600. When the door connecting seat 200 is completely closed, part or all of the door closer 600 is located in the receiving groove 401. In this way, it is possible to avoid the door closer 600 from obstructing the second connecting rod 400 from rotating into the box mounting seat 100, thereby ensuring the stability of the door closing process, and the sliding end of the door closer 600 can be stably abutted against the second connecting rod 400, thereby preventing the door from automatically opening without external interference, thereby making the door body more tightly closed and stable.

It can be understood that the rotating connection method in the present application is a prior art, such as using a pin to complete the hinge connection, and will not be described in detail here.

As shown in FIG6 , optionally, a slide groove 101 is provided on the box mounting seat 100, and one end of the first connecting rod 300 can slide along the slide groove 101. In this way, by setting one end of the first connecting rod 300 to slide along the slide groove 101 on the box mounting seat 100, during the unfolding process of the hinge, one end of the first connecting rod 300 slides along the slide groove 101, so that the other end of the first connecting rod 300 can be displaced accordingly, and when the other end of the first connecting rod 300 is connected to the door body, the door body can be driven away from the box body, and when used in a built-in refrigerator, the door body can be effectively prevented from colliding with obstacles of the cabinet body. At the same time, the first connecting rod 300 slides along the slide groove 101, which can make the sliding process more stable, ensure the movement trajectory of the door body connecting seat 200, avoid the situation where the first connecting rod 300 affects the smooth opening or closing of the connected door body due to position displacement during the sliding process, improve the stability of sliding, and ensure that the refrigerator door body can be opened or closed more smoothly and stably.

Optionally, the fixing seat 602 is located between the rear side wall of the box mounting seat 100 and the slide groove 101, and has a second set spacing with the slide groove 101. In this way, the influence of the fixing seat 602 on the sliding process of the first connecting rod 300 on the slide groove 101 can be reduced, and the fixing seat 602 is prevented from hindering the sliding of the first connecting rod 300 on the slide groove 101, thereby improving the sliding stability and ensuring that the door body connecting seat 200 can be opened or closed smoothly and stably.

Optionally, the first connecting rod 300 is provided with a notch 301, which is a downwardly concave arc groove. When the door body connecting seat 200 is fully closed, the notch 301 corresponds to the fixing seat 602. In this way, by providing the notch 301 which is concave downwardly and corresponds to the fixing seat 602 on the first connecting rod 300, the overall structure of the hinge assembly is more rationalized. The notch 301 can reduce the influence of the fixing seat 602 on the movement process of the first connecting rod 300, and avoid the situation that the first connecting rod 300 is blocked by the fixing seat 602 during the movement process, thereby ensuring the smoothness and stability of the sliding process of the first connecting rod 300, so that the process of opening or closing the door body connecting seat 200 can be more stable and smooth, and the jamming phenomenon in the process of opening or closing the door body connecting seat 200 can be avoided.

It can be understood that since the first connecting rod 300 slides along the slide groove 101, if the shape of the slide groove 101 changes, the sliding trajectory of the first connecting rod 300 also changes, so that the shape of the slide groove 101 can control the change of the local motion trajectory during the opening of the refrigerator door, and then the shape of the slide groove 101 can be flexibly set according to the door opening requirements. For example, the slide groove 101 is a rectangular structure, of course, it can also be a flat elliptical structure, or a strip-shaped, stepped structure, which will not be repeated here.

Optionally, a slider 102 is provided in the slide groove 101, and the slider 102 is limited to slide along the slide groove 101, and one end of the first connecting rod 300 is rotatably connected to the slider 102. In this way, the first connecting rod 300 slides along the slide groove 101 through the slider 102, and the first connecting rod 300 is rotatably connected to the slider 102, which not only makes the sliding process of the first connecting rod 300 more stable and smooth, avoids the situation of sliding jam caused by the first connecting rod 300 directly sliding on the slide groove 101, and ensures the continuity and stability of the sliding process, but also utilizes the flexible connection between the first connecting rod 300 and the slider 102, and in the process of the slider 102 driving the first connecting rod 300 to slide, the relative position between the first connecting rod 300 and the slider 102 can be adjusted at any time by using the rotatable connection, which further enhances the stability of the sliding process of the first connecting rod 300, and ensures that the first connecting rod 300 can smoothly and stably open or close the door body connecting seat 200.

Optionally, the slide groove 101 is tilted. In this way, the slide groove 101 can be set more reasonably, ensuring that the first connecting rod 300 can open or close the door body connecting seat 200 more smoothly when sliding along the slide groove 101. At the same time, the slide groove 101 is tilted, which is more convenient to control the safety gap between the refrigerator door and obstacles during the opening process, avoiding collisions with obstacles, improving the protection of the refrigerator while ensuring the stability of the refrigerator opening process, and ensuring the opening angle of the door body connecting seat 200, making it more convenient for users to take items into the refrigerator, giving users a better user experience.

It can be understood that the inclined arrangement of the slide groove 101 means that one end of the slide groove 101 is close to the rear side wall of the box mounting seat 100 , and the other end thereof is close to the front side wall of the box mounting seat 100 .

Optionally, the inclination angle of the slide groove 101 is greater than or equal to 5° and less than or equal to 45°. In this way, the inclination angle of the slide groove 101 is within a reasonable range, and the safety gap between the door body and obstacles can be controlled by adjusting the inclination angle of the slide groove 101 during the opening process to avoid collision with obstacles, thereby improving the protection of the refrigerator and ensuring the stability of the refrigerator opening process.

As shown in Fig. 7-8, optionally, the inclination angle of the slide groove 101 is proportional to the distance from the box mounting seat 100 when the door body connection seat 200 is fully opened. In this way, in order to meet the use requirements of the built-in refrigerator scene, the distance from the box mounting seat 100 when the door body connection seat 200 is fully opened needs to meet certain requirements to ensure the normal opening and closing of the refrigerator door, so that the inclination angle of the slide groove 101 is reasonably set when the door body connection seat 200 is fully opened and the distance from the box mounting seat 100, that is, when the distance is large, the inclination angle of the slide groove 101 is increased, and vice versa, when the distance is small, the inclination angle of the slide groove 101 is reduced, thereby reducing the influence of the wall or other obstacles on the opening process of the door body connection seat 200, avoiding the situation where the wall or other obstacles hinder the rotation and opening of the door body connection seat 200, so that the built-in refrigerator can be opened smoothly, improving the convenience of user use, and bringing a better user experience.

Optionally, when the length of the slide groove 101 is constant, the inclination angle of the slide groove 101 and the distance from the box mounting seat 100 when the door connecting seat 200 is fully opened satisfy the following relationship:

y1＝0.06α ³ −0.06α ² +1.84α+95.51, wherein y1 is the distance between the door connecting seat 200 and the box mounting seat 100 when the door connecting seat 200 is fully opened, α is the inclination angle of the slide slot 101, and 0°≤α≤90°.

In this way, according to the inclination angle of the slide groove 101 and using the above-mentioned calculation formula, the distance between the door body connecting seat 200 and the box body mounting seat 100 when the door body connecting seat 200 is fully opened can be accurately calculated. Therefore, when the refrigerator is installed in an embedded manner, the front displacement of the door body connecting seat 200 can be accurately calculated according to the use requirements of the embedded refrigerator scene using the above-mentioned formula, thereby facilitating more reasonable planning of the installation of the refrigerator, meeting the use requirements of the embedded refrigerator scene, and making the installed refrigerator more convenient for users to use.

Optionally, the length of the slide groove 101 is proportional to the angle at which the door body connection seat 200 can be opened relative to the box body mounting seat 100. In this way, in order to meet the user's need for convenient access, the opening angle of the door body connection seat 200 needs to be as large as possible, and the length of the slide groove 101 is proportional to the opening angle of the door body connection seat 200, so as to reasonably set the opening angle of the door body connection seat 200 according to the length of the slide groove 101, so as to facilitate the user to take items into and out of the refrigerator, improve the convenience of access, and enhance the user's experience.

Optionally, when the inclination angle of the slide groove 101 is constant, the length of the slide groove 101 and the angle at which the door body connecting seat 200 can be opened relative to the box body mounting seat 100 satisfy the following relationship:

y2＝0.002l1 ³ −0.24l1 ² +9.98l1−71.72, wherein y2 is the opening angle of the door connecting seat 200 relative to the box mounting seat 100 , and l1 is the length of the sliding groove 101 .

In this way, according to the length of the slide groove 101 and using the above-mentioned calculation formula, the opening angle of the door body connecting seat 200 relative to the box body mounting seat 100 can be accurately calculated. Therefore, according to the user's usage requirements and the installation space of the refrigerator, by reasonably setting the length of the slide groove 101, the opening angle of the door body connecting seat 200 can be controlled within a more reasonable range, which not only makes it easier for users to take items into and out of the refrigerator and improves the convenience of storage and access, but also reduces the impact of obstacles on the opening process of the refrigerator door, avoids collisions with obstacles during opening, and meets the usage requirements of the refrigerator when it is installed in a specific installation scenario.

Optionally, the length between the two connection points on the door body connection seat 200 is inversely proportional to the angle at which the door body connection seat 200 can be opened relative to the cabinet mounting seat 100. In this way, the greater the length between the two connection points on the door body connection seat 200, the smaller the angle at which the door body connection seat 200 can be opened, and conversely, the smaller the length between the two connection points on the door body connection seat 200, the larger the angle at which the door body connection seat 200 can be opened. Since the opening angle of the door body connection seat 200 needs to be as large as possible to meet the user's need for convenient access, the opening angle of the door body connection seat 200 can be reasonably set according to the length between the two connection points on the door body connection seat 200, so as to facilitate the user to take items into and out of the refrigerator and improve the convenience of access.

Optionally, the length between the two connection points on the door body connection seat 200 and the angle at which the door body connection seat 200 can be opened relative to the box body mounting seat 100 satisfy the following relationship:

y2＝0.01l2 ⁴ −0.25l2 ³ +21.85l2 ² −841.66l2+12497.59, wherein y2 is the opening angle of the door connecting seat 200 relative to the box mounting seat 100 , and l2 is the length between two connection points on the door connecting seat 200 .

In this way, according to the length between the two connection points on the door body connecting seat 200 and using the above-mentioned calculation formula, the opening angle of the door body connecting seat 200 relative to the cabinet mounting seat 100 can be accurately calculated. Therefore, according to the user's usage requirements and the installation space of the refrigerator, by reasonably setting the length between the two connection points on the door body connecting seat 200, the opening angle of the door body connecting seat 200 can be controlled within a more reasonable range, which not only makes it easier for users to access items in the refrigerator and improves the convenience of access, but also reduces the impact of obstacles on the opening process of the refrigerator door, avoids collision with obstacles during opening, and meets the usage requirements of the refrigerator when it is installed in a specific installation scenario.

Optionally, the distance between the connection point between the second connecting rod 400 and the cabinet mounting seat 100 and the side of the cabinet mounting seat 100 is proportional to the horizontal length between the side of the cabinet mounting seat 100 and the side of the door body connecting seat 200. In this way, in order to ensure that important use areas such as drawers in the refrigerator can be pulled out and used normally when the refrigerator is placed against the wall, the horizontal length between the side of the cabinet mounting seat 100 and the side of the door body connecting seat 200 when the door body connecting seat 200 is opened to 90° is crucial. The horizontal length of the two needs to be as small as possible to ensure that the drawer can be pulled out and used smoothly. Therefore, by using the proportional relationship, the horizontal length between the side of the cabinet mounting seat 100 and the side of the door body connecting seat 200 can be set more reasonably, reducing the impact on the most convenient area for refrigerator use and improving the convenience of refrigerator use.

As shown in FIG8 , optionally, the length of the connection point between the second connecting rod 400 and the box mounting seat 100 and the side of the box mounting seat 100 and the horizontal length between the side of the box mounting seat 100 and the side of the door body connecting seat 200 satisfy the following relationship:

y3＝0.001l3 ⁴ -0.01l3 ³ -2.34l3 ² +25.59l3-5.49, wherein y3 is the horizontal length between the side of the box mounting seat 100 and the side of the door connecting seat 200, and l3 is the length from the connection point between the second connecting rod 400 and the box mounting seat 100 to the side of the box mounting seat 100.

In this way, according to the length of the connection point between the second connecting rod 400 and the box mounting seat 100 and the side of the box mounting seat 100 and using the above-mentioned calculation formula, the horizontal length between the side of the box mounting seat 100 and the side of the door body connecting seat 200 can be accurately calculated, and the horizontal length between the box mounting seat 100 and the door body connecting seat 200 can be set within a reasonable range to ensure that the drawer can be pulled out and used normally when the refrigerator is placed against the wall, thereby avoiding more serious waste of the most convenient area for use of the refrigerator.

It can be understood that the horizontal length between the side of the box mounting seat 100 and the side of the door body connecting seat 200 refers to the horizontal distance between the front side of the door body connecting seat 200 and the side wall of the box mounting seat 100 when the door body connecting seat 200 is opened to 90°.

Optionally, the length of the leftward displacement of the intersection point between the first connecting rod 300 and the second connecting rod 400 is inversely proportional to the horizontal length between the side of the box mounting seat 100 and the side of the door connecting seat 200, and satisfies the following relationship:

y3=0.002l4 ³ +0.29l4 ² -24.42l4+838.81, wherein y3 is the horizontal length between the side of the box mounting seat 100 and the side of the door connecting seat 200, and l4 is the length of the intersection point between the first connecting rod 300 and the second connecting rod 400 shifted to the left.

In this way, in order to ensure that important use areas such as drawers inside the refrigerator can be pulled out and used normally when the refrigerator is placed against the wall, the horizontal length between the side of the box mounting seat 100 and the side of the door connecting seat 200 when the door connecting seat 200 is opened to 90° is crucial. The horizontal length between the two needs to be as small as possible to ensure that the drawer can be pulled out and used smoothly. Therefore, the proportional relationship is utilized to facilitate the leftward displacement length of the intersection point between the first connecting rod 300 and the second connecting rod 400, and reasonably set the horizontal length between the side of the box mounting seat 100 and the side of the door connecting seat 200, thereby reducing the impact on the most convenient area for use of the refrigerator, improving the convenience of using the refrigerator, and bringing users a better use experience.

Optionally, the length of the slide groove 101 is adjustable. In this way, since the length of the slide groove 101 is proportional to the angle at which the door body connection seat 200 can be opened relative to the box body mounting seat 100, the larger the length of the slide groove 101, the larger the opening angle of the door body connection seat 200, that is, the opening angle of the door body connection seat 200 changes with the change of the length of the slide groove 101, so that the length of the slide groove 101 is set to be adjustable, and it is convenient to control the opening angle of the door body connection seat 200 by adjusting the length of the slide groove 101, so that the length of the slide groove 101 can be flexibly set according to the door opening requirements, or the length of the slide groove 101 can be adjusted, which is more convenient for users to use the refrigerator and improves the convenience of storing and retrieving items.

It is worth pointing out that, with regard to the method for adjusting the length of the slide 101, a retractable baffle is set at one end or both ends of the slide 101, and the length of the slide 101 is adjusted by contracting or extending the baffle. In addition, the adjustable length of the slide 101 is actually to adjust the sliding length of the slider 102 in the slide 101. Therefore, a slidable block can be set in the slide 101, and the block is used to limit the sliding length of the slider 102 in the slide 101, so as to achieve the purpose of indirectly adjusting the length of the slide 101. The specific structure and installation method of the baffle or the block are all existing technologies and will not be repeated here.

Optionally, the first link 300 and the second link 400 have the same length. In this way, since the first link 300 and the second link 400 are hinged during the hinge load-bearing process, the two need to cooperate with each other to bear the weight together, so setting the lengths of the first link 300 and the second link 400 to be the same can make the force distribution on the first link 300 and the second link 400 more uniform, improve the supporting force of the hinge assembly, and then make it adaptable to different door body weights, thereby improving the adaptability of the hinge assembly.

Optionally, the center points of the first connecting rod 300 and the second connecting rod 400 intersect each other. In this way, the center of the two is hinged, so that the periphery of the hinge point of the two can be equal in length, and the bearing force can be better dispersed, so that the force of the first connecting rod 300 and the second connecting rod 400 can be more balanced, and the supporting force of the hinge assembly can be further enhanced.

As shown in FIG9 , optionally, the third connecting rod 500 has a bending section 501. The bending section 501 is provided so that when it is folded relative to the second link 400, it can maintain a certain distance from the second link 400, thereby preventing the second link 400 and the third link 500 from getting stuck to each other when the hinge is stored, thereby ensuring the stability of the hinge assembly during folding.

It can be understood that in order to better reduce the mutual influence between the second link 400 and the third link 500 during the rotation process, that is, to avoid mutual blocking between the two, the bending section 501 on the third link 500 can be set at a position close to the rotation connection point with the second link 400, thereby effectively ensuring the stability of the hinge assembly during the folding process.

As shown in FIG. 10 , an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a refrigerator 1000 , comprising one or more hinge assemblies as in any of the above embodiments, wherein a cabinet mounting seat 100 and a door connecting seat 200 may be provided in one or more groups.

By setting one end of the first connecting rod 300 to be rotatably and slidingly connected to the box mounting base 100, and rotatably staggeredly setting the second connecting rod 400 and the first connecting rod 300, during the unfolding of the hinge, one end of the first connecting rod 300 slides, so that the other end of the first connecting rod 300 can be displaced accordingly. When the other end of the first connecting rod 300 is connected to the door body, the door body can be driven away from the box body, which can effectively prevent the door body from colliding with obstacles in the cabinet when used in a built-in refrigerator. Compared with the method of using a six-link hinge, the hinge assembly can reduce at least one connecting rod and two hinge points, directly reducing the number of connecting rods and reducing the number of staggered layers between the connecting rods. The stacked thickness can solve the problem of hinge thickness in the most direct and fundamental way. It can effectively reduce the thickness of the installation connection while ensuring the same door opening function trajectory, and can avoid the waste of the overall volume of the refrigerator or the most convenient area due to its large thickness. At the same time, reducing the thickness also helps to make the overall structure of the refrigerator more symmetrical and coordinated, improves the aesthetics of the overall structure of the refrigerator, and makes the refrigerator have better visibility. The structure of the second connecting rod 400 and the first connecting rod 300 in an alternating manner optimizes the connection form, allowing the two to bear the weight together, which helps to enhance the connection strength, can adapt to different door weights, and improve the adaptability of the hinge assembly.

The above description and the accompanying drawings sufficiently illustrate the embodiments of the present disclosure to enable those skilled in the art to practice them. Other embodiments may include structural and other changes. The embodiments represent only possible variations. Unless explicitly required, individual components and functions are optional, and the order of operations may vary. Portions and features of some embodiments may be included in or replace portions and features of other embodiments. The embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited to the structures described above and shown in the accompanying drawings, and various modifications and changes may be made without departing from the scope thereof. The scope of the present disclosure is limited only by the appended claims.

Claims (10)

1. A hinge assembly, characterized by comprising:

   Box mounting seat (100);

   Door body connecting seat (200);

   A first connecting rod (300), one end of which is rotationally and slidably connected to the box body mounting seat (100), and the other end of which is rotationally connected to the door body connecting seat (200);

   A second connecting rod (400) is arranged in an interlaced manner with the first connecting rod (300), the interlaced point of the two connecting rods is rotationally connected, and one end of the second connecting rod (400) is rotationally connected to the box mounting seat (100);

   The third connecting rod (500) has one end rotatably connected to the other end of the second connecting rod (400), and the other end rotatably connected to the door body connecting seat (200).
2. The hinge assembly according to claim 1 is characterized in that a slide groove (101) is provided on the box mounting seat (100), and one end of the first connecting rod (300) can slide along the slide groove (101).
3. The hinge assembly according to claim 2 is characterized in that a slider (102) is provided in the slide groove (101), and the slider (102) is limited to slide along the slide groove (101), and one end of the first connecting rod (300) is rotationally connected to the slider (102).
4. The hinge assembly according to claim 2 is characterized in that the slide groove (101) is arranged at an angle.
5. The hinge assembly according to claim 4 is characterized in that the inclination angle of the slide groove (101) is proportional to the distance between the door body connecting seat (200) and the box body mounting seat (100) when the door body connecting seat (200) is in a fully opened state.
6. The hinge assembly according to claim 2 is characterized in that the length of the slide groove (101) is proportional to the angle at which the door body connecting seat (200) can be opened relative to the box body mounting seat (100).
7. The hinge assembly according to claim 6 is characterized in that the length of the slide groove (101) is adjustable.
8. The hinge assembly according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the first connecting rod (300) and the second connecting rod (400) have the same length.
9. The hinge assembly according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the third connecting rod (500) has a bending section (501).
10. A refrigerator, characterized by comprising the hinge assembly according to any one of claims 1 to 9.