Patent ID: 8277004
Filing Date: 2012-10-02
Classification: E05Y,F25D

Abstract:
1. An opening/closing apparatus for a refrigerator, comprising: a case forming an outside of the refrigerator; a storing compartment defined inside of the case and kept at a low temperature; a cabinet slidably installed in the storing compartment for storing items; a cabinet front fixed to a front of the cabinet to close the storing compartment; a detecting unit having a first sensor provided at the sliding cabinet and a second sensor provided at an inner case of the refrigerator, the first and second sensors configured to detect an initiation of one of an inward movement that closes the cabinet and an outward movement of the cabinet that opens the cabinet with respect to the case; an opening/closing switch configured to change state from a first to a second state or from the second state to the first state to indicate a desired direction of a sliding movement of the cabinet; a driving unit configured to control sliding movement of the cabinet toward the opened or closed positions with respect to the case, wherein the driving unit includes a driving motor, a roller coupled with a shaft of the driving motor, a friction portion formed on the cabinet to make frictional contact with the roller for smooth movement of the cabinet, and a roller supporting part to urge the roller toward the friction portion to prevent slippage; a timer configured to measure an operational time of the driving unit corresponding to a time needed to slide the cabinet toward the opened or closed positions; a controller in communication with the detecting unit, opening/closing switch, driving unit, and timer: wherein, in response to the change of state of the opening/closing switch, the controller signals the driving unit to slide the cabinet to the opened or closed positions, wherein, when the controller detects the turn-on of the opening/closing switch, the driving unit drives the cabinet to slide it out of the refrigerator, and when the cabinet is fully extended from the refrigerator after a predetermined time, the opening sensor detects the fully extended state of the cabinet, the controller turns off the driving unit, wherein the controller receives the operational time of the driving unit from the timer after the controller signals the driving unit to slide the cabinet to the opened position and signals the driving unit to slide the cabinet to the closed position when the operational time of the driving unit exceeds a predetermined amount of time before the detecting unit detects the opened position of the cabinet, and then the driving unit may be driven to slide the cabinet to the closed position or may run idle owing to the slippage between the roller and the friction portion; wherein when a closing instruction is transmitted to the controller, the driving unit drives the cabinet to slide it toward the refrigerator, and when the cabinet is fully retracted into the refrigerator after a predetermined time, the closing sensor detects the fully closed position of the cabinet, the driving unit is turned off; wherein the controller receives the operational time of the driving unit from the timer after the controller signals the driving unit to slide the cabinet to the closed position and signals the driving unit to slide the cabinet to the opened position when the operational time of the driving unit exceeds a predetermined amount of time before the detecting unit detects the closed position of the cabinet, and then the driving unit may be driven to slide the cabinet to the opened position or may run idle owing to the slippage between the roller and the friction portion; a guide unit to guide the sliding movement motion of the cabinet such that when the cabinet is in an opened extended position, the cabinet can swivel in left and right directions; and a supporting unit configured to support a weight of the cabinet, wherein the supporting unit is provided at a bottom of the case and contacts a lower surface of the cabinet, wherein each end of the frictional portion where the rotation of the roller starts may have higher friction coefficient, and center may have lower friction coefficient.