Patent Publication Number: US-5425205-A

Title: Door holding apparatus of refrigerator

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a door holding apparatus for a refrigerator. 
     2. Description of the Prior Art 
     As prior art of this type of door holding apparatus for a refrigerator, a Japanese laid open patent application No. Heisei 4-288470 and another Japanese laid open patent application No. Heisei 4-136679 were disclosed. 
     Particularly, in the Japanese laid open patent application No. Heisei 4-288470 disclosing the door apparatus of a refrigerator as illustrated herein in detail in FIGS. 8, 9 and 10, an adiabatic (refrigeration) cabinet 11 comprises an outerwall 12 of steel plate and an innerwall 13 of plastic material with insulation material stuffed therebetween. 
     At the upper portion of the adiabatic cabinet 11, there is formed a refrigerating chamber 15, and first and second opening/shutting type doors 16 and 17 are rotatably disposed by respective hinges 18 at left and right sides of an opening 15a of the refrigerating chamber 15. 
     Magnetic gaskets 19 are respectively disposed on fringe areas of an inner periphery of each of the first and second doors 16 and 17. 
     Support members 20 and 21 are respectively attached to upper and lower areas around inner tip areas of the free i.e., unhinged, side of the first door 16 by respective guide pins 22 as illustrated in FIG. 11, and a compartment member 23 is rotatably supported by the support members 20 and 21 by means of a pin 24 as illustrated in FIGS. 9 and 10. 
     The compartment member 23 takes a shape of a pillar extending from an upper end to a lower end of the opening 15a, and a guide groove 25 of circular arc shape with one end opened is formed on both upper and lower ends of the compartment member 23, as illustrated in FIGS. 9 and 10. 
     Meanwhile, a position determination unit , or stop projection, 27 is protrudingly and integrally formed on the lower support member 21 as illustrated in FIG. 10, and under a state where the first door 16 is closed, the position determination unit 27 contacts a side 23a of the compartment member 23, thereby maintaining a front 23b of the compartment member 23 to be approximately on a line with a front line of the opening 15a. 
     The support member 21 is disposed with a torsion coil spring 28 at the lower area thereof, and the torsion coil spring 28 the compartment member 23 to a position shown in broken lines in FIG. 9. 
     In a conventional refrigerator thus constructed with a pair of doors, lower and upper guide pins 29 attached to the cabinet II invade into a the lower and upper guide grooves 25 under a state where the first and second doors 16 and 17 are closed, as illustrated in FIG. 9, causing the compartment member 23 to be pivoted to one side. 
     Under these circumstances, the respective magnetic gaskets of the first and second doors 16 and 17 are drawn into an inner periphery of the opening 15a and the front 23b of the compartment member 23. 
     Under the above state, when the first door 16 on the left is rotatably moved in an arrow direction A in order to open the first door 16, as illustrated in FIGS. 9 and 10, the compartment member 23 is rotatably moved in the arrow direction B around a guide pin 22, thereby resulting in the guide pin 29 sliding relatively along the guide groove 25. 
     According to the rotative movement of the compartment member 23 in toward the arrow direction B, respective magnetic gaskets 19 are separated from the front 23b of the compartment member 23. 
     When the first door 16 is rotatably moved toward a dotted line as illustrated in FIG. 9, a state happens where the guide pin 29 is pulled out of the guide groove 25, and at the same time, a state arises where the compartment member 23 is rotatably moved 90 degrees in a direction opposite that in which the first door is opened. 
     When the opened first door 16 is to be closed, the first door 16 is rotatably moved oppositely from the arrow direction A, thereby resulting in an open end of the guide groove 25 to be forced against the guide pin 29 which thereafter slides along the guide groove 25. 
     Accordingly, the compartment member 23 is rotatably moved in an opposite direction from the arrow indication B to thereby be in an operational state so that the compartment member comes to be closed as illustrated in FIG. 9 in a continuous line. 
     Meanwhile, when the second door 17 is to be opened or closed while the first door 16 is closed, the compartment member 23 maintains the operational state, and the magnetic gasket 19 of the second door 17 is separated from the front 23b of the compartment member 23. 
     The conventional door apparatus thus described is supposed to be constructed in such way that the front 23b  of the compartment member 23 maintains a parallel line with a front 15b of the opening 15a while the first door 16 is closed in order to keep the refrigerating chamber from being invaded by outside air. However the front 23b of the compartment member 23 might not coinside with the front line of the opening 15a due to inaccuracy of dimensions of each component, a variance of attached positions and the like, whereby the member could protrude forward to be pushed inwardly into an interior of the chamber, causing a case where the same is attached in a slanted position, consequently, the inside of the refrigerator would not be kept from being exposed to the outside air. Also, refrigerating efficiency deteriorates and power consumption is increased. 
     OBJECT AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Accordingly, the present invention is disclosed to solve the aforementioned problems and it is an object of the present invention to provide a door holding apparatus of a refrigerator for improving an airtightness of the door against the outside air. 
     It is another object of the present invention to provide a door holding apparatus of a refrigerator for improving a refrigerating efficiency to thereby decrease the power consumption of the refrigerator. 
     In order to attain the aforesaid goals, according to the present invention, there is provided a door holding apparatus of a refrigerator wherein a pair of doors are disposed by hinges at a front of a refrigerator body for opening and closing of the doors, the apparatus comprising: 
     slide members inserted by elastic members at tips of the pair of doors for elastic performance according to the opening and closing of the door; and a pair of concaved groove members disposed on at least one side of an upper or a lower area of a center of the refrigerator body in order to have an integrally formed protrusion inserted into an inside of the slide members during door closure. 
     Furthermore, there is provided a door holding apparatus for a refrigerator wherein a pair of doors are disposed by hinges at the front of the refrigerator body for opening and closing of the same, the apparatus comprising: 
     slide members inserted by elastic members at tips of the pair of doors for elastic performance according to the opening and closing of the door; 
     a pair of groove members disposed on at least one side of an upper or a lower area of a center of the refrigerator body in order to have an integrally formed protrusion inserted into an inside of the slide members during door closure; and 
     a holding means for tightly keeping closure of the door by being engaged with a keeper groove formed on a vertical surface of the slide members. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     For a fuller understanding of the nature and objects of the invention, reference should be made to the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which: 
     FIG. 1 is an overall perspective view for illustrating a pair of doors for a refrigerator according to a first embodiment of the present invention; 
     FIG. 2 is a horizontal sectional view of major parts for illustrating a state where the door for the refrigerator is closed according to the first embodiment of the present invention; 
     FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 2 wherein one of the doors is open 
     FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 3 of a second embodiment of the present invention; 
     FIG. 5 is an enlarged perspective view for illustrating an enlarged protrusion shown in FIG. 4; 
     FIG. 6 is a horizontal sectional view through a partially closed door according to the second embodiment of the present invention; 
     FIG. 7 is a view similar to FIG. 6 showing the door fully closed; 
     FIG. 8 is an overall perspective view of a conventional refrigerator; 
     FIG. 9 is a horizontal sectional view through the refrigerator of FIG. 8; 
     FIG. 10 is an enlarged fragmentary view of FIG. 9; and 
     FIG. 11 is a side view of a first door of the refrigerator of FIG. 8 wherein a compartment member is swung to an operational position. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION 
     The first embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. 
     As illustrated in detail in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, a left and a right door 32a and 32b are joined at both front sides of a refrigerator body 30 by hinges 33a and 33b for enabling the left and right doors 32a and 32b to be opened and closed. Each of the doors 32a and 32b includes a frame, one vertical edge of which is hinged to the body and another (free) vertical edge of which forms a chamber 37a or 37b in which a slide 35a or 35b is horizontally slidably disposed for inward sliding movement toward the frame or outward sliding movement away from the frame. 
     As illustrated in detail in FIGS. 2 and 3, the slide members 35a and 35b are provided with protrusions 60a and 6Ob, and vertical grooves 43 and 43b are formed in vertical outer and inner sides of each slide member so that the sliding distance thereof can be regulated by stop flanges 41a and 41b formed on the doors 32a and 32b. 
     The tips or free edges of the slide members 35a and 35b carry packing members 45a and 45b made of natural rubber, artificial rubber, silicon rubber or the like in order to keep an inside of the refrigerator airtight from the outside air during a closed state of the doors 32a and 32b, and metal plates 47a and 47b are attached to surface of the slide members which extend perpendicularly to the packing members in order to connect the doors 32a and 32b to the body 30 by being joined with a permanent magnet (described later). 
     Protrusions 60a and 60b to be inserted to a groove member (described later) formed on the body 30 are integrally disposed on inner sides of the slide members 35a and 35b. 
     One end of each of the slide members 35a and 35b thus constructed is inserted into a chamber 37a and 37b formed in the doors 32a and 32b and the slide members 35a and 35b are flexibly disposed by torsion springs 39a and 39b made of elastic materials which pull the slide members into the chambers. 
     Meanwhile, magnetic gaskets 49a, 49b, 51a and 51b are respectively attached to proximities of inner peripheries of the doors 32a and 32b and to the front of the body 30 in order to keep the chamber airtight during a closed state of the doors 32a and 32b. 
     Guide surfaces 53a and 53b of circular arc shape are respectively formed on upper and lower sides of the body 30 near the center thereof in order that the same can correspondingly touch surfaces of circular arc shape formed on inner sides of the slide members 35a and 35b guide surfaces 53a and 53b, extended into respective grooves 55a and 55b formed in the body 30. The grooves 55a, 55b are configured to receive the protrusions 60a and 60b formed integrally on the inner surface of the slide members 35a and 35b. 
     On upper and lower flat surfaces located between the grooves 55a and 55b, there are attached permanent magnets 57 in order that the metal plates 47a and 47b respectively adhered on the slide members 35a and 35b of the doors 32a and 32b can be drawn by the magnetic force to thereby keep the doors 32a and 32b closed. 
     The magnetic force of the permanent magnet 57 is established to be stronger than the contraction force of the torsion spring 39a and 39b in order to maintain airtightness during the closed state of the doors 32a and 32b. 
     Next, the operation and effect of the door holding apparatus of a refrigerator thus constructed according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be described. 
     First of all, as illustrated in FIG. 3, when the opened doors 32a and 32b are pushed toward the body 30 in order to close the doors 32a and 32b, the protrusion 60a(or 60b) integrally formed on the inner surface of the slide member 35a(or 35b) travels along the guide surface 53a(or 53b) into the groove 55a(or 55b) to overcome the contraction force of the torsion spring 39a(or 39b). 
     When the protrusion 60a(or 60b) is pushed into the groove 55a(or 55b), the metal plate 47a(or 47b) attached to the inner end of the doors 32a and 32b is attracted by the magnetic force of the permanent magnet 57 to thereby maintain the doors 32a and 32b closed. 
     At this time, the packing members 45a and 45b respectively attached to the tips of the doors 32a and 32b are tightly engaged to each other, and at the same time, the magnetic gaskets 49a and 49b attached to the front of the body 30 and the magnetic gaskets 51a and 51b attached to the inner peripheries of the doors 32a and 32b become locked tightly to each other to thereby maintain airtightness within the refrigerating chamber. 
     Meanwhile, in order to open the closed door 32a(or 32b), a handle (not shown) attached to an external surface of the door 32a(or 32b) is pulled thereby pulling the metal plate 47a(or 47b) attached to the inner surface of the slide member 35a(or 35b) off the permanent magnet 57, and at the same time, pulling the protrusion 60a(or 60b) protrudingly formed on the inner surface of the slide member 35a(or 35b) from the groove 55a(or 55b) formed on the body 30 by way of the contraction force of the torsion spring 39a(or 39b), so that the door 32a(or 32b) is opened and each slide member slides along the guide surface 53a(53b). 
     Although the description has been made on the opening and closing of the left door 32a as an example, the same is applied to the right door 32b of the refrigerator, so overlapping explanations will be deleted. 
     Even in the case of opening and closing of the left and right doors being performed at the same time, the operational sequences are the same as the aforesaid to thereby delete the overlapped explanation. 
     Hereinafter, a door holding apparatus of a refrigerator according to the second embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. 
     Likewise, in the second embodiment, if there are any portions identical to the first embodiment, identical reference numerals will be given. 
     The difference between the construction described in the second embodiment of the present invention regarding the door holding apparatus of a refrigerator illustrated in FIGS. 4, 5, 6 and 7 and that in the first embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 is that protrusions 71a and 71b are formed on inner surfaces of slide members 70a and 70b, and as illustrated in FIG. 5, external surfaces 73a, 73b of the protrusions 71a and 71b are flat while inner surfaces 72a, 72b are curved with circular arc shapes and at the same time, guide rails 75a and 75b having predetermined lengths are protrudingly formed on the curved surfaces 72a and 72b of the protrusions 71a and 71b, and keeper grooves 77a and 77b are formed on the flat surfaces of the protrusions 51a and 51b. 
     Furthermore, the difference between a body 100 construction in the second embodiment and the body 30 construction in the first embodiment of the present invention, as illustrated in FIGS; 5 and 6, is that guide grooves 79a and 79b are respectively formed on guide surfaces 53a and 53b in order to accommodate and guide the guide rails 75a and 75b respectively formed on the slide members 70 and 70b. Behind the permanent magnet 57 disposed on the body 100, a pair of holding means 81a and 81b are respectively disposed in order to maintain airtightness by being respectively engaged with the keeper grooves 77a and 77b respectively formed on the vertical surfaces 73a and 73b of the slide members 70a and 70b when the doors 32a and 32b are closed. 
     The holding means 81a and 81b, as illustrated in FIGS. 6 and 7, comprises a clamp means 84b(or 84a) disposed in an accomodation groove 83b(or 83a) formed on the body 100 to mate with the keeper groove 77b(or 77a) formed on the vertical surface 73b(73a) of the slide member 70b(or 70a) during the closed state of the door 32b(or 32a) and to hold the door closed and thereby and in maintaining airtightness an elastic means 86b(or 86a) is provided for elastically biasing the clamp means 84b(or 84a) to thereby enable the same to travel back and forth. 
     The clamp means 84b(or 84a) comprises a housing; and a roller 88b(or 88a) rotatably disposed on a tip end of the housing. 
     Here, the roller 88b(or 88a) is so installed that the same cannot be separated from the accommodation groove 83b(or 83b) by a control means (not shown). 
     Next, operation and effect of the door holding apparatus of a refrigerator thus constructed according to the second embodiment of the present invention will be described. 
     First of all, as illustrated in FIG. 4, when the open doors 32a and 32b are pushed toward the body 100 in order to close the doors 32a and 32b, the curved surface 72a(or 72b) of the slide member 70a(or 70b) becomes contacted with the guide surface 53a(53b) of the body 100 to overcome the contraction force of the torsion spring 39a(or 39b), and at the same time, the guide rail 75a(or 75b) protrudingly formed lengthwise along the curved surface 72a(or 72b) of the slide member 70a(or 70b) is drawn and guided into the guide groove 79a(or 79b) formed on the guide surface 53a(53b) of the body 100, so that the protrusions integrally formed on the inner side of the slide member 70a(or 70b) can travel into the concaved groove 55a(or 55b) respectively formed on frontal lower and upper areas of the body 100. 
     At this time, one side of the protrusion 71a(or 71b) integrally formed on the slide member 70a(or 70b), as illustrated in FIG. 6, comes in touch with a roller 88a(or 88b) of the holding means 81a(or 81b) disposed on the body 100 to thereby push and move the roller 88a(or 88b) against the elastic means 86a(or 86b) to overcome the reaction force of the elastic means 86a(or 86b), so that the protrusions 71a(71b) contact the groove 55a(or 55b), thereby causing the roller 88a(or 88b) of the holding means 81a(or 81b) to engage with the keeper groove 77a(77b) formed on one side of the protrusion 71a(or 71b) and resulting in the door 32a(or 32b) being held closed at the front of the body 100. 
     Next, when the protrusion 71a(or 71b) is drawn into the groove 55a(or 55b), a metal plate 47a(or 47b) attached to the inner side end of the doors 32a and 32b gets attracted by magnetic force of the permanent magnet 57 to further maintain airtightness of the door. 
     At this time, the packing members 45a and 45b respectively disposed on tip ends of the doors 32a and 32b engage each other, and at the same time, magnetic gaskets 49a and 49b attached to the front of the body 100 and magnetic gaskets 51a and 51b attached to inner peripheries of the doors 32a and 32b are attracted to one another to thereby keep the doors 32a and 32b, closed as illustrated in FIG. 7, and to thereby maintain the airtightness of the chambers of the refrigerator. 
     Meanwhile, when the door 32b(or 32a) is to be opened, a handle(not shown) attached to an external surface of the door 32a(or 32b) is, pulled, whereupon the metal plate 47b(or 47a) disposed on an inner side of the slide member 70b(or 70a) is separated from the permanent magnet 57, and at the same time, the protrusion 71b(or 71a) protrudingly formed on the inner side of the slide member 70b(or 70a) is thereby pulled out of the groove 55b(or 55a) formed on the body 100. 
     At this time, the curved surface 72b(or 72a) formed internally on the slide member 70a(or 70b) is moved outwardly along the guide surface 53b(or 53a) formed on the body 100, and at the same time, the guide rails 75b and 75a integrally formed on the curved surface 72b(or 72a) travel along the guide groove 79b(or 79a) formed on the body 100 to thereby release the locked status and open the door 32a(or 32b) as illustrated in FIG. 4. 
     When the doors 32a and 32b are opened, the roller 88b(or 88a) of the holding means 81b(or 81a) engaged with the keeper groove 77b(or 77a) disposed on the vertical surface 73b(or 73a) of the slide member 70b(or 70a) is pushed toward the elastic means 86b(or 86a) by pressure from the keeper groove 77b(or 77a) as the protrusion 71b(or 71a) is released from engagement of the groove 55b(or 55a) in the body 100, to thereby make it easy for the door 32b(or 32a) to be opened. 
     From the foregoing, although the opening and closing of the left door 32a in the refrigerator has been described by way of example, the same is applied to the case where the left and right doors 32a and 32b are simultaneously opened and closed, thereby deleting redundancy of the explanation. 
     As seen from the aforesaid, according to the first and second embodiments of the present invention with respect to a door holding apparatus of a refrigerator, the interior of the refrigerator is kept airtight by way of operation of the holding means during door closure, and at the same time, the airtightness is improved to thereby increase freezing efficiency and reduce the electric power consumption as well. 
     Having described specific embodiments of the invention with reference to the accompanying drawings, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to those embodiments, and that various changes and modifications may be effected therein by one skilled in the art without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention as defined in the appended claims.