Upper hinge frame for refrigerator

An upper hinge frame of a refrigerator, capable of firmly supporting a refrigerator door, thus preventing a refrigerator from having a gap between the door and a main body thereof, includes: a hinge supporting body formed at a front edge of a top surface of the main body as a single body and each end portion of which is downwardly bent by 90 degrees and an end portion thereof is again outwardly bent by 90 degrees; an upper hinge of a flat board shape downwardly inserted into a portion of the hinge supporting body, and having an inserting portion which is rearwardly protruded from a rear end thereof and inserted into an insertion hole of the hinge supporting body, and having a front end part of a circular arc shape formed by which each side thereof is incurvated; and a hinge attaching lever downwardly inserted into the upper hinge thereby connecting the upper hinge to the hinge supporting body, and having a lower end portion which is downwardly bent by 90 degrees, thus forming a L-shape.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
The present invention relates to a refrigerator, and in particular to an 
improved upper hinge frame for a refrigerator capable of firmly supporting 
a refrigerator door, thus preventing a refrigerator from having a gap 
between the door and a main body thereof. 
2. Description of the Conventional Art 
Generally, as shown in FIG. 1, a refrigerator is mainly composed of a main 
body 10 for storing foods, a door 30 movably fixed to the main body 10 and 
opening/closing an interior of the refrigerator, and a hinge frame unit 50 
for fixedly supporting the door 30 so as for the door 30 to be movably 
fixed to the main body 30. 
The hinge frame unit 50 includes an upper hinge frame 500 fixedly connected 
with a front edge of a top surface of the main body 10 and fixedly 
supporting the door 30 from the top so that the door 30 may be rotatable, 
and a lower hinge frame 600 fixedly connected with a front edge of a 
bottom surface of the main body 10 and fixedly supporting the door 30 from 
the bottom so that the door 30 may be rotatable. 
As shown in FIG. 2, the upper hinge frame 500 includes: a hinge supporting 
body 510 of a plate shape formed at the front edge of the top surface of 
the main body 10 as a single body; an upper hinge 530 downwardly fitted to 
the hinge supporting body 510 and having a connecting portion 531 which is 
protruded from a rear end portion thereof and inserted into a portion of 
the hinge supporting body 510, and having one side thereof which is 
incurvated; and a -shape hinge attaching lever 550 downwardly fitted to 
the upper hinge 530 and thus connecting the upper hinge 530 and the main 
body 10. 
The hinge supporting body 510 includes a pair of connecting holes 511 which 
are formed lengthwise in a center part thereof, and a pair of -type 
connection control portions 513 which are formed lengthwise in an upright 
position at right and left sides of the connecting holes 511, each of 
which has a connecting groove 513a so as to receive the hinge attaching 
lever 550. 
In addition, at a rear end portion of the hinge supporting body 510, a link 
portion 515 having an insertion hole 515a in a center part thereof is 
erectly formed in order to receive the connecting portion 531 of the upper 
hinge 530. 
The upper hinge 530 includes a pair of connecting protrusions 533 which are 
downwardly protruded from a center portion of a lower surface thereof so 
as to respectively correspond to the connecting holes 511 of the hinge 
supporting body 510, and a hinge pin 535 which is downwardly protruded 
from a center part of a front end portion of a lower surface thereof so as 
to support the door 30 to rotatably move by being inserted into a hinge 
groove (not shown) formed at the door 30. 
The hinge attaching lever 550 includes: an operation lever 551 of a plate 
shape so as for an user to simply handle the lever; an attaching plate 553 
formed by which one end portion of the operation lever 551 is downwardly 
bent by 90 degrees and tightly attaching or separating the upper hinge 530 
to/from the hinge supporting body 510 in accordance with a rotation of the 
operation lever 551; and a connecting protrusion 553a which is widthwise 
protruded from each side portion of the attaching plate 553 so as to be 
rotatably inserted into the corresponding connecting groove 513a of the 
connection control portions 513 disposed at the hinge supporting body 510. 
An operation for combining each unit of the conventional upper hinge frame 
500 will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. 
As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3A, first, the connecting portion 531 protruded from 
the rear end portion of the upper hinge 530 is inserted into the link 
portion 515 of the hinge supporting body 510 formed at the front edge of 
the top surface of the main body 10 as a single body, and simultaneously 
the pair of connecting protrusions 533 downwardly protruded from the 
center portion of the lower surface of the upper hinge 530 are 
respectively inserted into the pair of connecting holes 511 formed at the 
hinge supporting body 510, for thereby connecting the upper hinge 530 to 
the hinge supporting body 510. 
Next, the connecting protrusion 553a which is widthwise protruded from each 
side portion of the attaching plate 553 of the hinge attaching lever 550 
is inwardly inserted into the corresponding connecting grooves 513a of the 
hinge supporting body 510, on condition that the operation lever 551 of 
the hinge attaching lever 550 is vertically in an upward position, and the 
operation lever 551 is downwardly rotated by 90 degrees towards the link 
portion 515 of the hinge supporting body 510. 
Here, when the operation lever 551 is downwardly rotated by 90 degrees, the 
attaching plate 553 presses down the upper hinge 530 while rotating, and 
thus the upper hinge 530 is tightly attached to the hinge supporting body 
510. 
The hinge pin 535 which is downwardly protruded from the center of the 
front end portion of the upper hinge 530 is inserted into the hinge groove 
(not shown) formed at the door 30, thereby completing the operation for 
combining each of the conventional upper hinge frame 500. 
FIG. 3B illustrates the upper hinge 530 is being separated from the hinge 
supporting body 510 by which the operation lever 551 of the hinge 
attaching lever 550 is upwardly rotated by 90 degrees. Here, since an 
operation for separating the upper hinge 530 from the hinge supporting 
body 510 is carried out in an opposite order of the operation for 
combining the upper hinge 530 and the hinge supporting body 510, the 
description therefor will be omitted. 
However, in the conventional upper hinge frame, a distance between the 
connecting protrusion and each corner of the attaching plate, which 
presses and tightly attaches the upper hinge to the hinge supporting body, 
is fixed, and the attaching plate is a plate-shape formed by which one end 
portion of the operation lever is downwardly bent by 90 degrees, thus the 
upper hinge is not firmly attached to the hinge supporting body. 
Accordingly, a gap between the main body and the door is made in the course 
of time, and therefore unnecessary power is consumed. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an upper 
hinge frame of a refrigerator capable of firmly supporting a refrigerator 
door, thus preventing a refrigerator from having a gap between the door 
and a main body thereof. 
To achieve the above objects, there is provided an upper hinge frame of a 
refrigerator according to the present invention which includes: a hinge 
supporting body formed at a front edge of a top surface of the main body 
as a single body and each end portion of which is downwardly bent by 90 
degrees and an end portion thereof is again outwardly bent by 90 degrees; 
an upper hinge of a flat board shape downwardly inserted into a portion of 
the hinge supporting body, and having an inserting portion which is 
rearwardly protruded from a rear end thereof and which is inserted into an 
insertion hole of the hinge supporting body, and having a front end part 
of a circular arc shape formed by which each side thereof is incurvated; 
and a hinge attaching lever downwardly inserted into the upper hinge and 
connecting the upper hinge to the main body, and having a lower end 
portion which is downwardly bent by 90 degrees, thus forming a L-shape. 
Additional advantages, objects and features of the invention will become 
more apparent from the description which follows.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
With reference to the accompanying drawings, an embodiment of an upper 
hinge frame of a refrigerator according to the present invention will now 
be described. 
Here, the elements which are the same as those of the conventional art are 
labelled with the same reference numbers. 
FIG. 4 illustrates each unit of an upper hinge frame for a refrigerator 
according to the present invention. As shown therein, the upper hinge 
frame includes: a hinge supporting body 100 fixed to a front edge of a top 
surface of the main body as a single unit and each end portion of which is 
downwardly bent by 90 degrees and an end portion thereof is again 
outwardly bent by 90 degrees; an upper hinge 200 of a flat board-shape 
downwardly inserted into a portion of the hinge supporting body 100, and 
having an inserting portion 220 which is rearwardly protruded from a rear 
end thereof and which is inserted into an insertion hole 120 of the hinge 
supporting body 100, and having a front end part of a circular arc shape 
formed by which each side thereof is curved; and a L-shape hinge attaching 
lever 300 downwardly inserted into the upper hinge 200, and connecting the 
upper hinge to the hinge supporting body 100, and having a lower end 
portion which is downwardly bent by 90 degrees. 
The hinge supporting body 100 is provided with the rectangular insertion 
hole 120 which is formed at a center of a rear end part of an upward 
protruding portion thereof so as to receive the inserting portion 220 
which is rearwardly protruded from the rear end of the upper hinge, and a 
first fastening hole 140 which is lengthwise formed at a predetermined 
length in front of the insertion hole 120 so as to receive the hinge 
attaching lever 300. 
Here, the first fastening hole 140 is formed in the shape of a cross, and a 
lengthwise direction thereof is long and a widthwise direction thereof is 
short compared with the lengthwise direction so that the hinge attaching 
lever 300 can be inserted thereinto only at the lengthwise direction. 
The upper hinge 200 is provided with a hinge pin 240 which is downwardly 
protruded from a center part of a front end portion of a lower surface 
thereof so as to support a refrigerator door to rotatably move by being 
inserted into a hinge groove (not shown) formed at the door, and a 
fastening member 260 disposed at the back side of the hinge pin 240 in 
order to correspond to a location of the first fastening hole 140, thereby 
fastening the upper hinge 200 to the hinge supporting body 100. 
As shown in FIG. 5, the fastening member 260 includes a second fastening 
hole 262 of which a length is long and a width is short compared to the 
length so that the hinge attaching lever can be inserted thereinto in a 
lengthwise direction, an inclined portion 264 having upward inclination at 
an angle of certain degrees toward each point where the second fastening 
hole 262 has the shortest diameter, and a fastening groove 266 formed on a 
top portion of the inclined portion 264 along a portion of an edge line 
thereof. 
The hinge attaching lever 300 includes an operation handle 320 of a plate 
type so as for a user to grip the handle, and an attaching plate 340 
formed by which one end portion of the operation handle 320 is downwardly 
bent by 90 degrees, and inserted into the first fastening hole 140 and the 
second fastening hole 262, which are formed at the hinge supporting body 
100 and the upper hinge 200, respectively. 
Each side of a center portion of the attaching plate 340 is inwardly 
engraved so as to for the upper hinge 200 and hinge supporting body 100 to 
be fitted thereinto, and thus the attaching plate 340 formes a fixing 
groove 342 of which a front cross-sectional view is a shape of which a 
H-type is rotated by 90 degrees. 
An operation for combining each unit of the upper hinge frame according to 
the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying 
drawings. 
As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the inserting portion 220 of the upper-hinge is 
inserted into the insertion hole of the hinge supporting body 100 fixed to 
the front edge of the top surface of the main body as a single unit, thus 
connecting the upper hinge 200 with the hinge supporting body 100. 
Next, in order to attach a lower portion 341b of the fixing groove 341 
formed at the attaching plate 340 of the hinge attaching lever 300 to a 
lower surface of the hinge supporting body 100, and to attach an upper 
portion 341a of the fixing groove 341 thereat to an upper surface of the 
upper hinge 200, the attaching plate 340 of the hinge attaching lever 300 
is inserted into the first fastening hole 140 and second fastening hole 
262, formed at the hinge supporting body 100 and upper hinge 200, 
respectively, and is horizontally rotated by 90 degrees, thus fixedly 
attaching the upper hinge 200 to the hinge supporting body 100. 
Here, when the attaching plate 340 of the hinge attaching lever 300 is 
horizontally rotated by 90 degrees, the upper portion 341a of the fixing 
groove 341 formed at the attaching plate 340 moves along the inclined 
portion 264 of the fastening member 260 formed on an upper surface of the 
upper hinge 200 and fastened in the fastening groove 266 formed on the top 
portion of the inclined portion 264 along a portion of an edge line 
thereof, and the lower portion 341b of the fixing groove 341 is tightly 
attached to the lower surface of the hinge supporting body 100, thus the 
upper hinge 200 is fixedly coupled with the hinge supporting body 100. 
That is, when the attaching plate 340 of the hinge attaching lever 300 
vertically rotates by 90 degrees, the upper hinge 200 and hinge supporting 
body 100 are fitted into the fixing groove 341. Accordingly, the lower 
portion 341b of the fixing groove 341 is closely faced with the lower 
surface of the hinge supporting body 100, and the upper portion 341a of 
the fixing groove 341 is closely faced with the upper surface of the upper 
hinge 200, and therefore the upper hinge 200 is firmly attached to the 
upper surface of the hinge supporting body 100 without being loosened. 
Next, the hinge pin 240 of the upper hinge 200 in inserted into the hinge 
groove (not shown) formed at the door, for thus completing the operation 
for combining each unit of the upper hinge frame according to the present 
invention. 
since an operation for separating each unit of the upper hinge frame 
according to the present invention is carried out in an opposite order of 
the operation for combining each unit thereof, the description therefor 
will be omitted. 
As described above, the hinge attaching lever of the upper hinge frame 
according to the present invention is inserted into the upper hinge and 
hinge supporting body, and horizontally rotated, and thus fastened in the 
fastening groove of the upper hinge, thereby fixedly attaching the upper 
hinge with the hinge supporting body, and accordingly preventing the 
refrigerator from having a gap between the door and the main body thereof. 
Although the preferred embodiment of the present invention has been 
disclosed for illustrative purposes, those skilled in the art will 
appreciate that various modifications, additions and substitutions are 
possible, without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as 
recited in the accompanying claims.