Abstract:
A refrigerator and a container moving system for a refrigerator are provided. The refrigerator includes a main body including at least one chamber; a container disposed in the chamber, the container being movable along a first direction and along a second direction; a door located on the main body, the container being moveable along the first direction by moving the door along the first direction; a motor, the container being movable along the second direction by the motor; and a battery electrically connected to the motor to supply power to the motor.

Description:
[0001]     This Nonprovisional application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(a) on Patent Application No. 10-2005-0014759 filed in Korea on Mar. 2, 2005, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     1. Field of the Invention  
         [0003]     The present invention relates to a refrigerator, and more particularly, to a bottom freezer type refrigerator and container moving system, in which a container of a freezing chamber can be automatically moving along a horizontal or vertical direction.  
         [0004]     2. Description of the Related Art  
         [0005]     Refrigerators can be classified into several types depending on the locations of a freezing chamber and a chilling chamber. For example, a top mount refrigerator includes a freezing chamber and a chilling chamber that are partitioned up and down, a side-by-side refrigerator includes a freezing chamber and a chilling chamber that are partitioned left and right, and a bottom freezer refrigerator includes a freezing chamber and a chilling chamber that are partitioned down and up.  
         [0006]     Although the bottom freezer refrigerator is illustrated to describe the present invention, the present invention is not limited to this particular type of refrigerator.  
         [0007]     The bottom freezer refrigerator includes a chilling chamber door and a freezing chamber door. Although the chilling chamber door is a hinged door like other types of refrigerators, the freezing chamber door is a drawer type door because the freezing chamber is relatively small and located at a lower portion of the refrigerator.  
         [0008]     Therefore, what is needed is a simple, easy, and convenient way to stow and remove food in the freezing chamber.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0009]     Accordingly, the present invention is directed to a refrigerator and refrigerator container moving system that substantially obviates one or more problems due to limitations and disadvantages of the related art.  
         [0010]     An object of the present invention is to provide a refrigerator and refrigerator container moving system that gives a more convenient way of putting food in the refrigerator and taking food out of the refrigerator.  
         [0011]     Another object of the present invention is to provide a refrigerator and refrigerator container moving system that has a simple and effective power supply unit for moving a container along a horizontal or vertical direction.  
         [0012]     A further another object of the present invention is to provide a refrigerator and refrigerator container moving system that gives a convenient way of handling a container installed in a drawer type door.  
         [0013]     Additional advantages, objects, and features of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows and in part will become apparent to those having ordinary skill in the art upon examination of the following or may be learned from practice of the invention. The objectives and other advantages of the invention may be realized and attained by the structure particularly pointed out in the written description and claims hereof as well as the appended drawings.  
         [0014]     To achieve these objects and other advantages and in accordance with the purpose of the invention, as embodied and broadly described herein, there is provided a refrigerator including: a main body including at least one chamber; a container disposed in the chamber, the container being movable along a first direction and along a second direction; a door located on the main body, the container being moveable along the first direction by moving the door along the first direction; a motor, the container being movable along the second direction by the motor; and a battery electrically connected to the motor to supply power to the motor.  
         [0015]     In another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a refrigerator including: a main body including a chamber; a door for opening and closing the chamber; a container supporter located on a side of the door facing the chamber; a rotary arm connected to the container supporter, the container supporter being movable along a first direction by rotating the rotary arm; a motor for driving the rotary arm; and a power supply unit to supply power to the motor when the door is open.  
         [0016]     In a further another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a container moving system for a refrigerator with a door, the system including: a container supporter located on a side of the door; a container seated on the container supporter; a power supply unit, the power supply unit being chargeable when the door is closed; and a motor located on the side of the door to move the container supporter along a first direction.  
         [0017]     According to the present invention, food can be more conveniently put in and taken out of the refrigerator.  
         [0018]     Further, the power requiring for moving the container can be supplied in a simple, reliable, and convenient way. Therefore, the refrigerator can have an improved outer appearance and it can be conveniently used.  
         [0019]     It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description of the present invention are exemplary and explanatory and are intended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0020]     The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the invention and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this application, illustrate embodiment(s) of the invention and together with the description serve to explain the principle of the invention. In the drawings:  
         [0021]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a refrigerator equipped with a container moving system according to an embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0022]      FIG. 2  is a sectional view taken along line I-I′ in  FIG. 1 ;  
         [0023]      FIG. 3  shows a container that is lifted from a position depicted in  FIG. 2 ;  
         [0024]      FIG. 4  is a rear perspective view of a door according to an embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0025]      FIG. 5  is a rear view of a door according to an embodiment of the present invention; and  
         [0026]      FIG. 6  is a block diagram of a container moving system for a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS  
       [0027]     Reference will now be made in detail to the preferred embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings.  FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a refrigerator equipped with a container moving system according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to  FIG. 1 , a refrigerator  1  is a bottom freezer type refrigerator that includes a freezing chamber at a lower portion and a freezing chamber door capable of sliding along a horizontal direction, e.g., the forward and backward directions.  
         [0028]     In detail, the refrigerator  1  includes a main body  2 , first doors  5 , a second door  6 , a slider  10 , a first chamber (refer to the reference numeral  3  in  FIG. 2 ), a second chamber (refer to the reference numeral  4  in  FIG. 2 ), drawers  8 , a container supporter  55 , and a power supply terminal  32 . The first doors  5  are hinged on a front upper portion of the main body  2  to open and close the first chamber  3 . The second door  6  is slidably installed at a front lower portion of the main body  2  to open and close the second chamber  4 . The slider  10  is connected between the main body  2  and the second door  6  to enable the sliding of the second door  6  in forward and backward directions. The drawers  8  are formed under the first chamber  3  to store food. The power terminal  32  is formed above or between the drawers  8  to supply power to a container moving system (as will be described later) for lifting the container supporter  55 .  
         [0029]     Further, the refrigerator  1  includes a control panel such as control switch buttons  7  at a front side of the second door  6  and a container  62  behind the second door  6 . The control switch buttons  7  are formed at a front side of the second door  6  for controlling the operation of the second door  6 . The container  62  is supported by the container supporter  55  to store food. The container  62  can be vertically lifted by lifting the container supporter  55 . That is, the container  62  may be lifted up for an easy access to food in the container  62 , and it may be lowered down to open and close the second door  6 .  
         [0030]     The lifting and lowering of the container  62  will now be described with reference to accompanying drawings.  FIG. 2  is a sectional view taken along line I-I′ in  FIG. 1 , and  FIG. 3  shows a container that is lifted from a position depicted in  FIG. 2 . Referring to  FIGS. 2 and 3 , a container moving system in the illustrate embodiment includes an actuating unit  40 , a vertical guide unit  20 , and a power supply unit  30 . The actuating unit  40  lifts up and lowers down the container supporter  55  along a rear wall of the second door  6 . The vertical guide unit  20  guides the lifting and lowering of the container supporter  55 . The power supply unit  30  supplies power to the actuating unit  40 . It should be noted that in the illustrated embodiment the container moving system moves the container supporter  55  along the vertical direction. However, the present invention can also be applied to move the container supporter along the horizontal or other directions.  
         [0031]     The refrigerator  1  further includes a compartment wall  61  between the first chamber  3  and the second chamber  4 . The drawers  8  are placed under the compartment wall  61  to provide storages at a constant temperature. That is, food and other substances requiring a constant temperature condition can be kept in the drawers  8 .  
         [0032]     When the second door  6  is extended outward, the slider  10  stably guides the second door  6 . After the second door is fully extended, the actuating unit  40  operates to lift up the container supporter  55 . Accordingly, the lifting of the container supporter  55  is stably guided by the vertical guide unit  20 . The power supply unit  30  controls power supply to the actuating unit  40 .  
         [0033]     The slider  10  includes a pair of horizontal rails  11 . An inner rail is mounted on an inner side of the main body  2  and an outer rail is mounted on an outer side of the second door  6 . The inner rail and the outer rail are slidably engaged with each other such that the outer rail can be slid in and out when the second door  6  is closed and open.  
         [0034]     The vertical guide unit  20  is provided to guide the container supporter  55  when the container supporter  55  is lifted up and lowered down. The vertical guide unit  20  includes a vertical rail  21  fixed to the rear surface of the second door  6 . The vertical rail  21  defines a groove (refer to the reference numeral  22  in  FIG. 4 ) running its length to receive a protrusion formed on a corresponding side of the container supporter  55 , such that the lifting and lowering of the container supporter  55  can be exactly guided by the vertical rail  21 .  
         [0035]     To lift the container supporter  55 , the actuating unit  40  includes an arm support  57  fixed to the rear surface of the second door  6 , an rotary arm  47  hinged on the arm support  57  and extended toward the inside of the refrigerator  1 , a free end  56  of the rotary arm  47 , and a roller  48  rotatably fixed to the free end  56  to make contact with the container supporter  55  at a bottom of the container supporter  55 . The actuating unit  40  further includes a motor (refer to the reference numeral  41  in  FIG. 4 ) to rotate the rotary arm. The actuating unit  40  will be further described later.  
         [0036]     The power supply unit  30  includes a battery  33  connected to the motor  41  to supply power to the motor  41 . The battery can be located at any place, e.g., within the door  6  as shown in  FIG. 3 , on the rear side of the door  6  as shown in  FIG. 4 , or on/within the main body  2  with a wiring connection to the motor  41 . The charging terminal  31  is connected to the batter  33  via a wire connection, and the charging terminal  31  comes into contact with the power terminal  32  formed on the main body  2  when the second door  6  is closed.  
         [0037]     The lifting of the container  62  will now be described more fully. First, when a user presses a lift-up button of the control switch buttons  7  after the second door  6  is fully open, the battery  33  supplies power to the motor  41 . The battery can be recharged when the second door  6  is closed and the charging terminal  31  and the power terminal  32  are connected.  
         [0038]     When the power is on, the motor  41  rotates the rotary arm  47  about the arm support  57  in an upward direction. Thus, the roller  48  as it turns pushes the container supporter  55  upward to lift up the container  62 .  
         [0039]     The relationship between the rotary arm  47  and the container supporter  55  can be clearly understood with reference to  FIGS. 2 and 3 , which respectively show the container  62  before and after the lifting.  
         [0040]     The power supply unit  30  is provided with the battery  33 . When the second door  6  is closed, the battery  33  is charged by receiving power from the main body  2  through the power terminal  32  and the charging terminal  31 . Therefore, the battery  33  can supply power to the motor  41  when the two terminals  32  and  31  are disconnected because of the opening of the second door  6 .  
         [0041]     That is, since the power supply unit  30  is provided with the rechargeable battery  33 , in this illustrated embodiment, an additional wire connection is not required between the main body  2  and the second door  6  to supply power to the motor  41  when the second door  6  is open. Therefore, the container moving system can be simply constructed and conveniently used.  
         [0042]      FIG. 4  is a rear perspective view of the second door  6  according to an embodiment of the present invention, and  FIG. 5  is a rear view of the second door  6  according to an embodiment of the present invention. An operation of the refrigerator with the container moving system will now be more fully described with reference to  FIGS. 4 and 5 .  
         [0043]     The actuating unit  40  includes the motor  41  installed on the rear surface of the second door  6 , a motor shaft  42  coupled with a rotor of the motor  41 , a driving gear  43  connected to the motor shaft  42 , a driven gear  44  engaged with the driving gear  43 , an arm shaft  46  coupled to a center of the driven gear  44 , and the rotary arm  47  fixed to an end of the arm shaft  46 . A gear support  45  is fixed to the rear surface of the second door  6  to support the driving gear  43  and the driven gear  44 .  
         [0044]     In the illustrate embodiment, there are two rotary arm  47  that are respectively coupled to both ends of the arm shaft  46 . Therefore, the container supporter  55  can be supported at both sides by the rotary arms  47  and thus it can be stably lifted.  
         [0045]     The gear support  45  includes an arm stopping structure such as a first arm stopper  49  and a second arm stopper  50  that are projected from a surface of the gear support  45  to restrict the rotation of the rotary arm  47  to a predetermined angle range. That is, the container supporter  55  can be limited between the non-lifted and lifted positions. For example, even when the motor  41  is not properly controlled, the arm stoppers  49  and  50  can prevent the rotary arm from over-rotation.  
         [0046]     Another stopping structure can be formed on the vertical rail  21  to stop the container supporter  55 . That is, the upper and lower stoppers  51  and  52  may be formed on the upper and lower ends of the vertical rail  21  in order to further limit the container supporter  55  between the non-lifted and lifted positions. Therefore, the container moving system can be more reliably operated.  
         [0047]     A sensing unit is provided to detect the up and down motions of the container supporter  55 . For example, the upper and lower sensors  53  and  54  are respectively installed on the upper and lower ends of the vertical rail  21  to detect the lifting and lowering of the container supporter  55 . Both of the contact type sensor and the optical type sensor can be used for the upper and lower sensors  53  and  54 . Based on the detection of the upper and lower sensors  53  and  54 , the power supply to the motor  41  may be controlled.  
         [0048]     Operational steps of the container moving system will now be described in detail. When the second door  6  is closed, the power terminal  32  and the charging terminal  31  come into contact with each other so that the battery  33  can be charged. When a user presses a lift-up button of the control switch buttons  7  after the second door  6  is open, the battery  33  supplies power to the motor  41  to drive it. Driving force is transmitted from the motor shaft  42  to the rotary arm  47  through the driving gear  43 , the driven gear  44 , and the arm shaft  46 . Upon the rotation of the rotary arm  47 , the roller  48  on the free end  56  of the rotary arm  47  pushes up the container supporter  55 .  
         [0049]     When the container supporter  55  is completely lifted up, the upper sensor  53  detects the container supporter  55 . In response to the detection of the container supporter  55  by the upper sensor  53 , the motor  41  is powered off to stop rotating the rotary arm  47  and lifting the container supporter  55 . Further, when the container supporter  55  is completely lifted up, the container supporter  55  is prevented from being further lifted up by the physical structure of the upper stopper  51  and/or the first arm stopper  49 . Therefore, even if the upper sensor  53  failed to detect the completely lifted container supporter  55 , the container supporter  55  would be prevented from being over-lifted. This increases the reliability of the actuating unit  40 .  
         [0050]     The container supporter  55  is lowered down in the same way as it is lifted up. Merely, the motor is rotated in the reverse direction.  
         [0051]      FIG. 6  is a block diagram of a container moving system for a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to  FIG. 6 , a container moving system of the illustrated embodiment includes: a lift-up sensing unit  71  to detect the container  62  when it is completely lifted up; a lowered-down sensing unit  72  to detect the container  62  when it is completely lowered down; a control panel  73  to receive inputs from a user; a controlling unit  70  to output control signals according to signals from the lift-up sensing unit  71 , the lowered-down sensing unit  72 , and the control panel  73 ; an arm driving motor  74  capable of operating under the control of the controlling unit  70 ; and a power source  75  to supply power to the arm driving motor  74 .  
         [0052]     The control panel may be the control switch buttons  7  that are formed on the front surface of the second door  6 . The lift-up sensing unit  71  and the lowered-down sensing unit  72  may be respectively the upper sensor  53  and the lower sensor  54  that are installed on the upper and lower ends of the vertical rail  21 . The power source  75  may include the battery  33  to supply power to the arm driving motor  74 .  
         [0053]     The lift-up operation of the container moving system is as follows: a lift-up button of the control panel  73  is pressed; the arm driving motor  74  is operated to lift up the container supporter  55 ; the lift-up sensing unit  71  detects the container supporter unit  55  when the container supporter  55  is completely lifted up; and the arm driving motor  74  stops. The lowered-down operation of the container moving system is carried out in a similar way.  
         [0054]     As described above, the container is automatically lifted up and lowered down by the container moving system such that users can use the container more easily and conveniently.  
         [0055]     Further, the power source (e.g., the battery) is charged when the door is closed and it supplies power to the motor when the door is open, such that an additional power supply unit or a lead wire is not required to supply power to the motor.  
         [0056]     It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made in the present invention. Thus, it is intended that the present invention covers the modifications and variations of this invention provided they come within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.