Patent Publication Number: US-2022214102-A1

Title: Control method for drawer door of refrigerator and refrigerator

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The present invention relates to a refrigerating and freezing device, in particular to a control method for a drawer door of a refrigerator and the refrigerator. 
     BACKGROUND ART 
     Some refrigerators, such as French refrigerators, are provided with a drawer door structure. That is, a drawer is disposed on the inner side of a door body and fixedly connected with the door body, and the drawer is pulled open when a user pulls the door body forwards. 
     Certain storage objects are usually contained in the drawer, and magnetic attraction force usually exists between the drawer door and a cabinet to realize sealing, which causes door opening resistance, so that the opening of the drawer door is laborious. 
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     An objective of the present invention is to provide a control method for a drawer door of a refrigerator and the refrigerator to solve the problem that the drawer door is not easy to open. 
     A further objective of the present invention is to enable the automatic door opening and closing process of the drawer door to be more controllable and achieve better man-machine interaction experience. 
     In one aspect, the present invention provides a control method for a drawer door of a refrigerator. The refrigerator includes a cabinet, a drawer door mounted in the cabinet in a manner of capable of being pushed and pulled front and back and a driving mechanism configured to controllably drive the drawer door to move front and back. The control method for the drawer door includes the following steps: 
     obtaining a door opening instruction or a door closing instruction; 
     controlling the driving mechanism to drive the drawer door to move forwards to be opened or move backwards to be closed; 
     detecting a resistance on the drawer door during the movement; 
     determining whether the resistance is larger than a preset resistance threshold value or not; and 
     if yes, controlling the driving mechanism to stop running so as to enable the drawer door to stop moving. 
     Optionally, the refrigerator further includes a switch, and the method further includes the following step before the step of obtaining the door opening instruction or the door closing instruction: 
     giving the door opening instruction when the switch is triggered in a closed static state of the drawer door; or 
     giving the door closing instruction when the switch is triggered in a completely-opened static state of the drawer door. 
     Optionally, the method further includes the following steps after the step of controlling the driving mechanism to stop running so as to enable the drawer door to stop moving: 
     detecting whether the switch is triggered or not; and 
     if yes, controlling the driving mechanism to drive the drawer door to move towards a direction opposite to the direction in which the drawer door moves before stopping. 
     Optionally, the method further includes the following steps after the step of controlling the driving mechanism to stop running so as to enable the drawer door to stop moving: 
     detecting whether the switch is triggered or not; 
     if yes, controlling the driving mechanism to drive the drawer door to move towards a direction opposite to the direction in which the drawer door moves before stopping; and 
     if no, controlling the driving mechanism to drive the drawer door to move backwards to be closed after a duration in which the drawer door stops moving reaches a preset time threshold value. 
     Optionally, the switch is a trigger switch. 
     Optionally, the method further includes the following steps before the step of obtaining the door opening instruction or the door closing instruction: 
     detecting the magnitude of forward pulling force to the drawer door when the drawer door of the refrigerator is in a closed static state, and giving the door opening instruction if the magnitude of the pulling force is larger than a preset pulling force threshold value; and 
     detecting the magnitude of backward pushing force to the drawer door when the drawer door of the refrigerator is in a completely-opened static state, and giving the door closing instruction if the magnitude of the pushing force is larger than a preset pushing force threshold value. 
     Optionally, the method of controlling the driving mechanism to drive the drawer door to move forwards to be opened or move backwards to be closed includes: controlling the driving mechanism to drive the drawer door to move forwards to be opened or move backwards to be closed in a manner of first accelerating and then decelerating. 
     In another aspect, the present invention further provides a refrigerator, including: 
     a cabinet with a front side opened; 
     a drawer door, including a door body and a drawer installed on a rear side of the door body, wherein the drawer is installed in the cabinet in a manner of capable of being pushed and pulled front and back; 
     a driving mechanism, configured to controllably drive the drawer door to move forwards to be opened or move backwards to be closed; and 
     a controller, including a memory and a processor, wherein a computer program is stored in the memory, and the computer program is configured to implement any one of the above control methods for the drawer door when executed by the processor. 
     Optionally, the driving mechanism includes at least one belt transmission mechanism and a motor, each belt transmission mechanism includes: 
     two toothed belt wheels, spaced front and back and rotatably installed on a side wall of the cabinet respectively, 
     a synchronous belt, tensioned on the two toothed belt wheels, and 
     a connecting member, fixed to the synchronous belt and directly or indirectly fixed to the drawer door; and 
     the motor is installed on the side wall of the cabinet, and is configured to directly or indirectly drive one toothed belt wheel to rotate so as to drive the synchronous belt to move, thereby driving the drawer door to move. 
     Optionally, the driving mechanism further includes: 
     a worm wheel, coaxially connected with one toothed belt wheel; and 
     a worm, matched with the worm wheel and connected with a rotating shaft of the motor, so that the motor drives the worm to rotate to drive the worm wheel to rotate, thereby driving the toothed belt wheel to rotate. 
     In the control method for the drawer door of the present invention, the driving mechanism can be controlled to automatically open or close the drawer door, so that a user does not need to push and pull the drawer door laboriously. In addition, during the opening and closing process of the drawer door, emergency stop can be realized as long as enough resistance is applied, and the drawer door can stay at a position desired by the user. Therefore, the automatic opening and closing process of the drawer door is more controllable, better man-machine interaction experience is achieved, and a pinching injury or other injuries to the user caused by the uncontrollable movement process of the drawer door can be avoided. 
     Further, in the control method for the drawer door of the present invention, the refrigerator only needs to be provided with one switch, or the user only need to push or pull the drawer door slightly, and then the driving mechanism can be started, facilitating the use by the user. 
     According to the following detailed descriptions of specific embodiments of the present invention in conjunction with the drawings, those skilled in the art will more clearly understand the above and other objectives, advantages and features of the present invention. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Some specific embodiments of the present invention are described in detail below with reference to the drawings by way of example and not limitation. The same reference numerals in the drawings indicate the same or similar components or parts. Those skilled in the art should understand that these drawings are not necessarily drawn in scale. In figures: 
         FIG. 1  is a schematic structural diagram of a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 2  is a schematic diagram of a driving mechanism of the refrigerator shown in  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 3  is a schematic block diagram of a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 4  is a schematic diagram of a control method for a drawer door of a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 5  is a flow diagram of door opening of a control method for a drawer door of a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 6  is a flow diagram of door closing of a control method for a drawer door of a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     The embodiment of the present invention provides a refrigerator.  FIG. 1  is a schematic structural diagram of a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention.  FIG. 2  is a schematic diagram of a driving mechanism of the refrigerator shown in  FIG. 1 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 1 , the refrigerator includes a cabinet  100 , a drawer door  200  and a driving mechanism  300 . A front side of the cabinet  100  is opened to form an opening for containing the drawer door  200 . The drawer door  200  is mounted in the cabinet  100  in a manner of capable of being pushed and pulled front and back. Specifically, the drawer door  200  includes a door body  210  and a drawer  220  installed at a rear side of the door body  210 , and the drawer  220  is installed in the cabinet  100  in a manner of capable of being pushed and pulled front and back. The drawer  220  and an inner wall of the cabinet  100  can be connected to each other by a sliding rail assembly. The sliding rail assembly is very common in the prior art, so that a structure thereof will not be described here. The door body  210  closes the opening in the front side of the cabinet  100  when the drawer door  200  is in a completely-closed state (i.e., cannot continue to move backwards). The driving mechanism  300  is configured to controllably drive the drawer door  200  to move forwards to be opened or move backwards to be closed. 
       FIG. 2  illustrates an optional driving mechanism. The driving mechanism  300  includes at least one belt transmission mechanism  340  and a motor  310 . Each belt transmission mechanism  340  includes two toothed belt wheels  341 , a synchronous belt  342  and a connecting member  343 . The two toothed belt wheels  341  are spaced front and back. The two toothed belt wheels  341  are rotatably installed on the inner wall of the cabinet  100  respectively, and the rotation axes thereof are in a transverse direction of the refrigerator (the left-right direction of a user is the transverse direction of the refrigerator when the user faces the refrigerator). The synchronous belt  342  is tensioned on the two toothed belt wheels  341 . In other words, the synchronous belt  342  is in the shape of a loop and tightly sleeves the two toothed belt wheels  341 . The toothed belt wheel  341  differs from a traditional belt wheel in that the toothed belt wheel  341  is provided with meshing teeth, and in cooperation therewith, the synchronous belt  342  is also provided with belt teeth so as to mesh with the toothed belt wheel  341 . Due to the arrangement of the tooth meshing structure, transmission is more accurate, and synchronous transmission is basically realized. The connecting member  343  is fixed to the synchronous belt  342  and is directly or indirectly fixed to the drawer door  200 . For example, the connecting member  343  may be fixed to a sliding rail which is directly connected with the drawer  220 . 
     The motor  310  is installed on a side wall of the cabinet  100  and is configured to directly or indirectly drive one toothed belt wheel  341  to rotate, so that the toothed belt wheel  341  drives the synchronous belt  342  to move, and the synchronous belt  342  drives the drawer door  200  to move through the connecting member  343 . In order to achieve opening and closing of the drawer door  200 , the motor  310  is controllably rotate forwards and rotate reversely. 
     The number of the belt transmission mechanism  340  may be one. The two toothed belt wheels  341  of the belt transmission mechanism  340  may be installed on one side in a transverse direction of or below the drawer  220 . It is also possible to make the number of the belt transmission mechanisms  340  be two. The toothed belt wheels  341  of the two belt transmission mechanisms  340  are installed on both sides in the transverse direction of the drawer  220  respectively, so that both sides of the drawer door  200  are driven, and the balance is better. A synchronous transmission shaft may be connected between the two belt transmission mechanisms  340  to enable synchronous movement between the two transmission mechanisms. In this way, only one motor needs to be disposed. 
     A speed reduction mechanism needs to be designed because a rotating speed of a general motor is high. For example, the motor  310  may drive the toothed belt wheel  341  to rotate by a worm and gear mechanism to achieve a speed reduction effect. Specifically, a worm wheel  330  and a worm  320  are disposed. The worm wheel  330  and one toothed belt wheel  341  are coaxially connected, and the two may be separate parts which are then connected, or may be an integral part. The worm  320  is matched with the worm gear  330  and connected with a rotating shaft of the motor  310 , so that the motor  310  drives the worm  320  to rotate so as to drive the worm gear  330  to rotate, thereby driving the toothed belt wheel  341  to rotate. 
       FIG. 3  is a schematic block diagram of a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in  FIG. 3 , the refrigerator further includes a controller  800 . The controller  800  includes a processor  810  and a memory  820 . A computer program  821  is stored in the memory  820 . In addition, when the computer program  821  is run, the controller  800  is made to execute the control method for the drawer door of the refrigerator according to the embodiment of the present invention for controlling the driving mechanism, so that an automatic opening and closing process of the drawer door is more controllable, and better man-machine interaction experience is achieved. 
     The memory  820  may be electronic memories such as flash memory, EEPROM, EPROM, hard disk, or ROM, and the memory  820  has a memory space of the computer program  821  for executing any of the method steps of the above methods. By means of running of the computer program  821 , the controller  800  executes all of the steps in the method described above. 
     The present invention further provides a control method for a drawer door of a refrigerator.  FIG. 4  is a schematic diagram of a control method for a drawer door of a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in  FIG. 4 , the control method for the drawer door of the present invention may include the following steps: 
     Step S 402 : obtaining a door opening instruction or a door closing instruction. 
     In this step, in response to a control instruction for a drawer door sent by a user, the controller  800  determines whether the control instruction is the door opening instruction or the door closing instruction. 
     For example, a switch  400  in signal connection with the controller  800  may be disposed on the refrigerator. The switch may be a mechanical switch, preferably a touch switch. As the user triggers the switch when a drawer door  200  is in a closed static state (i.e., in the closed state and not moving), the switch will give the door opening instruction. As the switch is triggered by the user when the drawer door  200  is in a completely-opened static state, the switch  400  will give the door closing instruction. 
     Alternatively, a plurality of pressure sensors may be disposed on the drawer door  200  to sense the magnitude and direction of acting force to an outer surface of the drawer door  200  and generate an electrical signal to be transmitted to the controller  800 . The plurality of pressure sensors cover all areas, which can be touched by the user, of the outer surface of the drawer door. When the drawer door  200  is in the closed static state, the pressure sensor detects the magnitude of forward pulling force to the drawer door  200 . If the magnitude of the pulling force is larger than a preset pulling force threshold value, the door opening instruction is given. When the drawer door  200  is in the completely-opened static state, the pressure sensor detects the magnitude of backward pushing force to the drawer door  200 . If the magnitude of the backward pushing force is larger than a preset pushing force threshold value, the door closing instruction is given. 
     Alternatively, the door opening instruction or the door closing instruction may be given by other means such as physical remote control and voice sound control. 
     Step S 404 : controlling a driving mechanism to drive the drawer door to move forwards to be opened or move backwards to be closed. That is, when the door opening instruction is obtained, the driving mechanism is controlled to drive the drawer door to move forwards to be opened. When the door closing instruction is obtained, the driving mechanism is controlled to drive the drawer door to move backwards to be closed. 
     Step S 406 : detecting a resistance on the drawer door during the movement. 
     The resistance can be detected by the foregoing plurality of pressure sensors disposed on the drawer door. When the drawer door moves forwards to be opened, backward acting force received is defined as resistance. When the drawer door moves backwards to be closed, forward acting force received is defined as resistance. 
     Step S 408 : determining whether the resistance is larger than a preset resistance threshold value or not. When the result is yes, the step S 410  is executed. When the result is no, the step S 404  is executed, so that the drawer door is still normally opened or closed. 
     This allows subsequent steps to be executed only when the drawer door indeed experience the resistance applied by the user, and the interference of a slight, accidental touch is eliminated. The preset resistance threshold value can be set through multiple tests. 
     Step S 410 : controlling the driving mechanism to stop running so as to enable the drawer door to stop moving. 
     According to the present invention, the drawer door is driven by the driving mechanism to move front and back. Therefore, the automatic door opening and closing are achieved, laborious operation of the user is avoided, and the use is quite convenient. 
     In addition, in the opening and closing process, the drawer door can realize emergency stop as long as sufficient resistance is applied, so that the drawer door stays at a position desired by the user, which not only enables the automatic door opening and closing process of the drawer door to be more controllable, achieves better man-machine interaction experience, but also avoids the situation that the user is carelessly clamped between the drawer door and a front side of a cabinet when the drawer door is closed or the situation that user is carelessly ejected by the drawer door when the drawer door is opened. 
     In some optional embodiments, the steps above may be further optimized and configured to achieve better technical effects. The control method of the refrigerator of the present embodiment is described in detail with reference to the description of an optional execution flow of the present embodiment. The embodiment is merely illustration of the execution flow. In specific implementation, the execution sequence and running conditions of some steps can be modified according to specific implementation requirements. 
       FIG. 5  is flow diagram of door opening of a control method for a drawer door of a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in  FIG. 5 , in this embodiment, when the control method for the drawer door controls a door to be opened, the following steps are sequentially executed: 
     Step S 502 : when a switch is triggered under a closed static state of the drawer door, a door opening instruction is given. 
     Step S 504 : the door opening instruction is obtained. 
     Step S 506 : a driving mechanism is controlled to drive the drawer door to move forwards to open the door. 
     In this step, the driving mechanism may be controlled to drive the drawer door to move forwards to be opened in a manner of first accelerating and then decelerating, so that safety is achieved, and time is saved for a user. 
     For example, a complete door opening cycle is divided into early, middle, and later time periods. In the early period of door opening, the drawer door is made to move forwards at a relatively low speed. In the middle period of door opening, the drawer door is made to move forwards at a relatively high speed. In the later period of door opening, the drawer door is made to move forwards at a relatively low speed. Or the drawer door is made to continuously accelerate to reach a maximum speed and then continuously decelerate. 
     Step S 508 : a resistance on the drawer door during the movement is detected. 
     Step S 510 : whether the resistance is larger than a preset resistance threshold value or not is determined. When the result is yes, the step S 512  is executed. When the result is no, the step S 506  is executed, so that the drawer door is still normally opened. 
     Step S 512 : the driving mechanism is controlled to stop running so as to stop moving the drawer door. 
     Step S 514 : during the period in which the drawer door stops moving, whether the switch is triggered or not is determined. If yes, the step S 516  is executed. If no, the step S 518  is executed. 
     Step S 516 : the driving mechanism is controlled to drive the drawer door to move towards a direction opposite to the direction in which the drawer door moves before stopping. That is, the driving mechanism is controlled to drive the drawer door to move backwards to be closed. In this way, if the user is pinched or pushed, the drawer door is reversely moved by triggering the switch, such that the harm to human bodies can be timely eliminated. 
     Step S 518 : after a duration in which the drawer door stops moving reaches a preset time threshold value, the driving mechanism is controlled to drive the drawer door to move backwards to be closed. The preset time threshold value may be set to 1 min, 2 min, 3 min, etc. In this way, the excessive loss of cold air of the refrigerator caused by the fact that the user temporarily goes away and forgets to close the door is avoided. 
       FIG. 6  is a flow diagram of door closing of a control method for a drawer door of a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in  FIG. 6 , in this embodiment, when controlling a door to be closed, the control method for the drawer door sequentially executes the following steps: 
     Step S 602 : when a switch is triggered under a completely-opened static state of the drawer door, a door closing instruction is given. 
     Step S 604 : the door closing instruction is obtained. 
     Step S 606 : a driving mechanism is controlled to drive the drawer door to move backwards to be closed. 
     In this step, the driving mechanism may be controlled to drive the drawer door to be closed in a manner of first accelerating and then decelerating, so that safety is achieved, and time is saved for a user. 
     For example, a complete door closing cycle is divided into three periods. In the early period of door closing, the drawer door is made to move backwards at a relatively low speed. In the middle period of door closing, the drawer door is made to move backwards at a relatively high speed. In the later period of door closing, the drawer door is made to move backwards at a relatively low speed. Or the drawer door is made to continuously accelerate to reach a maximum speed and then continuously decelerate. 
     Step S 608 : a resistance on the drawer door during the movement is detected. 
     Step S 610 : whether the resistance is larger than a preset resistance threshold value or not is determined. When the result is yes, the step S 612  is executed. When the result is no, the step S 606  is executed, so that the drawer door is still normally closed. 
     Step S 612 : the driving mechanism is controlled to stop running so as to stop moving the drawer door. 
     Step S 614 : during the period in which the drawer door stops moving, whether the switch is triggered or not is determined. If yes, the step S 616  is executed. If no, the step S 618  is executed. 
     Step S 616 : the driving mechanism is controlled to drive the drawer door to move towards a direction opposite to the direction in which the drawer door moves before stopping. That is, the driving mechanism is controlled to drive the drawer door to move forwards to be opened. In this way, if the user is pinched or pushed, the drawer door is reversely moved by triggering the switch, such that the harm to human bodies can be timely eliminated. 
     Step S 618 : after a duration in which the drawer door stops moving reaches a preset time threshold value, the driving mechanism is controlled to drive the drawer door to move backwards to be closed. The preset time threshold value may be set to 1 min, 2 min, 3 min, etc. In this way, the excessive loss of cold air of the refrigerator caused by the fact that the user temporarily goes away and forgets to close the door is avoided. 
     Hereto, those skilled in the art should realize that although multiple exemplary embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described in detail herein, without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention, many other variations or modifications that conform to the principles of the present invention can still be directly determined or deduced from the contents disclosed in the present invention. Therefore, the scope of the present invention should be understood and recognized as covering all these other variations or modifications.