Abstract:
A refrigerator includes a main body partitioned by a horizontal partition wall to have an upper cooling chamber and a lower freezing chamber; a cool air generating device generating cool air in the main body; a storage basket accommodated within the freezing chamber and including a receiving groove to receive a product in a standing state, the storage basket being moveable integrally with a freezer door; an auxiliary basket disposed above the storage basket and including an insertion groove to receive a top portion of the pizza box product in the standing state; and a bracket having a first side detachably coupled to the door and a second side rotatably coupled to the auxiliary storage unit. The door has at least first and second fixing members. The first side of the bracket has at least one fixing groove adapted to receive the first fixing member of the door.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 11/984,214, filed Nov. 14, 2007, which claims the benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 2007-0017465, filed on Feb. 21, 2007 and No. 2007-0063159, filed on Jun. 26, 2007 in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND 
       [0002]    1. Field 
         [0003]    The present disclosure relates to a refrigerator, and more particularly to a refrigerator capable of efficiently storing a product, such as a pizza box, which has a large width and a small thickness. 
         [0004]    2. Description of the Related Art 
         [0005]    A refrigerator includes a cooling chamber to store various food products and beverages to cool them, a freezing chamber to store frozen food products, such as meat, fish and ice cream to freeze them, and a cool air generating device to supply cool air to the cooling chamber and the freezing chamber. A shelf or a storage basket is installed in the cooling chamber and the freezing chamber to support various chilled or frozen food products put thereon. The cool air generating device includes an evaporator to cool the surrounding air and a fan to forcibly blow the cooled air. The cool air generating device supplies cool air to the freezing chamber and the cooling chamber to cool the freezing chamber and the cooling chamber. 
         [0006]    Generally, refrigerators for home use may be classified into a general type refrigerator, a side-by-side type refrigerator, a hybrid refrigerator, etc. according to the arrangement of the cooling chamber and the freezing chamber, and a door installation structure. One of the most commonly used general type refrigerator includes a freezing chamber disposed at an upper portion and a cooling chamber disposed under the freezing chamber. The general type refrigerator further includes a freezing chamber door and a cooling chamber door which are respectively arranged at upper and lower sides of the refrigerator. 
         [0007]    The side-by-side type refrigerator includes a freezing chamber and a cooling chamber respectively disposed in left and right compartments of the refrigerator. The side-by-side type refrigerator further includes a freezing chamber door and a cooling chamber door disposed on left and right sides of the refrigerator. An ice maker to make ice may be disposed in the freezing chamber, and a dispenser may be disposed in the freezing chamber door to discharge the ice made in the ice maker such that the ice can be easily taken outside the freezing chamber door. The side-by-side type refrigerator is appropriate for a large-capacity refrigerator including a large-capacity freezing chamber and a large-capacity cooling chamber. 
         [0008]    The hybrid refrigerator includes a freezing chamber disposed at a lower portion and a cooling chamber disposed on the freezing chamber. The freezing chamber is opened or closed by a drawer-type door. The cooling chamber is opened or closed by a pair of cooling chamber doors arranged on left and right sides of the refrigerator. In the hybrid refrigerator, the ice maker is disposed in the cooling chamber and the dispenser is disposed in the cooling chamber door. Accordingly, the hybrid refrigerator has an advantage in that water supplied into the ice maker is not frozen compared to the side-by-side type refrigerator including the ice maker disposed in the freezing chamber. 
         [0009]    Korean Patent Laid-open Publication No. 2005-117536 discloses an example of the hybrid refrigerator. The hybrid refrigerator disclosed in the Publication includes a cooling chamber disposed at an upper portion of a refrigerator main body, and a freezing chamber disposed under the cooling chamber. Further, the cooling chamber is opened or closed by a pair of cooling chamber doors, and the freezing chamber is opened or closed by a drawer-type door. 
         [0010]    However, the conventional refrigerator does not include a separate space capable of storing a product, such as a pizza box, having a large width and a small thickness in the freezing chamber. Thus, conventionally, the product such as a pizza box is stored on the bottom of the freezing chamber. In this case, however, if another product is put on the product such as a pizza box, it causes inconvenience when the product such as a pizza box is taken out again. Further, if another product is stored to be separated from the product such as a pizza box, a space above the product such as a pizza box cannot be used, thereby causing a problem such as a reduction in space efficiency. 
         [0011]    As described above, if there is no space for a product with a large width and a small thickness, it is inconvenient to store such a product. Even though the product does not have a large volume, it occupies a large space in the storage chamber. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0012]    The present embodiment has been made in order to solve the above problems. It is an aspect of the embodiment to provide a refrigerator capable of efficiently and easily storing a product, such as a pizza box, having a large width and a small thickness. 
         [0013]    Further, it is another aspect of the embodiment to provide a refrigerator capable of efficiently using a space of a receiving device to receive a product. 
         [0014]    Additional aspects and/or advantages will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be apparent from the description, or may be learned by practice of the disclosure. 
         [0015]    The foregoing and/or other aspects are achieved by providing a refrigerator including: a refrigerator main body having a storage space; a door installed at the refrigerator main body to open and close the storage space; and a receiving device including a storage basket which is accommodated in the storage space and has a storage chamber to store a product, and an auxiliary basket which is installed to be spaced from a bottom of the storage basket and has an insertion groove defined therein to receive a thin product such that the thin product is stored in the storage chamber in a standing state. 
         [0016]    An opening/closing member is installed at the auxiliary basket to open and close the insertion groove. 
         [0017]    The opening/closing member may be hinge-coupled to the auxiliary basket. 
         [0018]    The refrigerator according to the present disclosure further includes a fixing part which fixes the opening/closing member in a state in which the opening/closing member closes the insertion groove. Further, the fixing part may include a fixing hole defined within one of the auxiliary basket and the opening/closing member, and a fixing protrusion disposed on the other one of the auxiliary basket and the opening/closing member to be pressed and inserted into the fixing hole. 
         [0019]    The auxiliary basket may be detachably installed in the storage basket. 
         [0020]    The refrigerator may further include split brackets detachably installed in the storage basket to support the auxiliary basket. The auxiliary basket may be rotatably coupled to the split brackets to be inclined at a specified angle. 
         [0021]    At least one coupling member may be protrudingly formed on one of the storage basket and the split brackets, and at least one coupling groove may be formed on the other of the storage basket and the split brackets to be coupled with the coupling member. 
         [0022]    A receiving groove may be formed on the bottom of the storage basket to receive a lower portion of the thin product which stands in the storage basket. 
         [0023]    The auxiliary basket has a storage space which stores a product. 
         [0024]    The receiving device may be installed at the door. 
         [0025]    The auxiliary basket is detachably installed at the door. 
         [0026]    The foregoing and/or other aspects are achieved by providing a refrigerator, including: a main body including at least one storage chamber; a cool air generating device generating cool air in the main body; a storage basket accommodated within a portion of the storage chamber and including a receiving groove to receive a bottom portion of a product; and an auxiliary basket disposed at an upper portion of the storage basket and including an insertion groove to receive a top portion of the product. 
         [0027]    The auxiliary basket may be detachably coupled to the storage basket. The refrigerator may include a split bracket detachably coupled to the storage basket and the auxiliary basket. The split bracket may include at least one groove and at least one hook member, and the storage basket may include at least one fixing member having an inclined surface, the fixing member being received into the at least one groove at the inclined surface, the hook member affixing to a lower portion of the fixing member and attaching the split bracket to the storage basket. 
         [0028]    The refrigerator may include a door coupled to the storage basket, and the auxiliary basket may be detachably coupled to the door. The refrigerator may include a split bracket detachably coupled to the door and the auxiliary basket. The split bracket may include at least one groove and at least one hook member, and the storage basket may include at least one fixing member having an inclined surface, the fixing member being received into the at least one groove at the inclined surface, the hook member affixing to a lower portion of the fixing member and attaching the split bracket to the door. 
         [0029]    The refrigerator may include an opening/closing member coupled to the auxiliary basket opening/closing the insertion groove such that when the opening/closing member is in a closed state, a product-holding surface is created. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0030]    These and/or other aspects and advantages of the embodiments will become apparent and more readily appreciated from the following description of the embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, of which: 
           [0031]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view schematically showing a refrigerator according to an embodiment; 
           [0032]      FIG. 2  is an exploded perspective view schematically showing a receiving device of the refrigerator according to the embodiment; 
           [0033]      FIG. 3  is a perspective view schematically showing split brackets of the receiving device shown in  FIG. 2 ; 
           [0034]      FIG. 4  illustrates a perspective view showing a state in which the split brackets shown in  FIG. 3  are coupled to a door; 
           [0035]      FIG. 5  is an exploded perspective view schematically showing an auxiliary basket of the receiving device shown in  FIG. 2 ; 
           [0036]      FIGS. 6A and 6B  are side cross-sectional views for explaining a function of the auxiliary basket shown in  FIG. 5 ; 
           [0037]      FIGS. 7 and 8  are a perspective view and a side cross-sectional view, respectively, in which a thin product is received in the receiving device shown in  FIG. 2 ; and 
           [0038]      FIG. 9  is a perspective view schematically showing another type of receiving device. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS 
       [0039]    Reference will now be made in detail to the embodiments, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout. The embodiments are described below to explain the present disclosure by referring to the figures. 
         [0040]    Hereinafter, a refrigerator according to embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. 
         [0041]    As shown in  FIG. 1 , the refrigerator according to a first embodiment includes a refrigerator main body  10  having storage spaces, such as a cooling chamber (not shown) and a freezing chamber  11  which store products, a pair of hinged doors  12  which opens and closes the cooling chamber disposed at an upper portion of the refrigerator main body  10 , a drawer type door  13  which opens and closes the freezing chamber  11  disposed at a lower portion of the refrigerator main body  10 , and a receiving device  20  installed at the drawer type door  13 . In addition, a cool air generator (not shown) which generates cool air and various electric and electronic devices (not shown) are installed in the refrigerator main body  10 . 
         [0042]    Since other configurations except the receiving device  20  are the same as the conventional configurations, the detailed description thereof is omitted. 
         [0043]    As shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 , the receiving device  20  is coupled to the drawer type door  13  which is slidably installed at a lower portion of the refrigerator main body  10  to be received in the freezing chamber  11 . The drawer type door  13  has a handle  14 . The receiving device  20  includes a storage basket  30  having a storage chamber  31  and an auxiliary basket  40  disposed at an upper portion of the storage basket  30 . 
         [0044]    A receiving groove  33  is formed on a bottom  32  of the storage basket  30  to receive a lower portion of a product, such as a pizza box B (see  FIG. 7 ), which has a large width and a small thickness. The receiving groove  33  is formed at a front portion of the storage basket  30  close to the drawer type door  13 . 
         [0045]    The auxiliary basket  40  supports a product stood in the storage basket  30  so as to stand and store a product, such as the pizza box B, which has a large width and a small thickness in the storage basket  30 . The auxiliary basket  40  is installed on a pair of split brackets  21  disposed at opposite inner sides of the drawer type door  13  to be inclined at a specified angle (e.g., 30 degrees) such that the auxiliary basket  40  is positioned at an upper portion of the storage basket  30 . Support shafts  48  are protrudingly formed at opposite end portions on the left and right sides of the auxiliary basket  40 . An insertion hole  22  is formed on each of the split brackets  21  such that each of the support shafts  48  is rotatably inserted into the insertion hole  22 . 
         [0046]    The split brackets  21  are detachably coupled to opposite side portions of the drawer type door  13 . First coupling members  15 , second coupling members  16  and fixing members  17  are respectively protrudingly formed at the opposite sides of the drawer type door  13 , and first coupling grooves  23 , second coupling grooves  24  and fixing grooves  25  are respectively formed on the split brackets  21  such that the split brackets  21  can be detachably coupled to the drawer type door  13 . The first coupling members  15  are inserted into the first coupling grooves  23 . The second coupling members  16  are inserted into the second coupling grooves  24 . The fixing members  17  are inserted into the fixing grooves  25 . Further, an inclined surface  17   a,  which is inclined from top to bottom, is provided on each of the fixing members  17 . A hook member  26  is provided at a lower portion of each of the fixing grooves  25  to prevent the fixing members  17  from being separated from the fixing grooves  25  when the fixing members  17  are inserted into the fixing grooves  25 . 
         [0047]    The split brackets  21  are coupled to the drawer type door  13  from top to bottom and are separated from the drawer type door  13  from bottom to top. When the split brackets  21  are coupled to the drawer type door  13  from top to bottom, the first coupling members  15  are slid into the first coupling grooves  23 , the second coupling members  16  are slid into the second coupling grooves  24 , and the surface of the fixing members  17  are slid into the fixing grooves  25 . Further, when the surface of the fixing members  17  are inserted into the fixing grooves  25 , the hook member  26  becomes in close contact with a lower end portion of the fixing member  17 . Accordingly, since the lower end portion of the fixing member  17  is hooked by the hook member  26 , the fixing member  17  cannot be easily separated from each fixing groove  25 . When a user pulls the split brackets  21  upward, the fixing members  17  can be separated from the fixing grooves  25 . 
         [0048]    As described above, since both the auxiliary basket  40  and a pair of the split brackets,  21  can be separated from the drawer type door  13 , it is possible to enlarge a storage space of the storage basket  30  by separating the auxiliary basket  40  from the drawer type door  13  according to a user&#39;s circumstances. 
         [0049]    In the coupling structure of the drawer type door  13  and the split brackets  21  capable of being separated from the drawer type door  13 , the first and the second coupling members  15  and  16  and the fixing members  17  may be disposed on the split brackets  21 , and the first and the second coupling grooves  23  and  24  and the fixing grooves  25  may be disposed on the drawer type door  13 . 
         [0050]    As shown in  FIG. 5 , the auxiliary basket  40  includes a frame  41  having a rectangular storage space  40   a  therein, and an opening/closing member  50  of a rectangular plate shape which is installed in the storage space  40   a  and able to be rotated by a specified angle (e.g., 90 degrees). 
         [0051]    An upper bottom  42 , which includes an insertion groove  43  that is defined by an opening in the upper bottom  42  having a specified size, and a lower bottom  44  disposed under the upper bottom  42  to have a height difference with respect to the upper bottom  42  are provided in the frame  41 . Through holes  42   a  are formed on the upper bottom  42  to allow the flow of cool air. A pair of shaft supporting members  47  is installed on the lower bottom  44 . The opening/closing member  50  is installed at the shaft supporting members  47  to be able to be rotated by a specified angle (e.g., 90 degrees). A pair of hinge shafts  52  is disposed at one end portion  51  of the opening/closing member  50  supported by the shaft supporting members  47 , and the hinge shafts  52  are rotatably coupled to the shaft supporting members  47 . A handle portion  55  is disposed at the other end portion  53  of the opening/closing member  50  to facilitate the user&#39;s operation of the opening/closing member  50 . 
         [0052]    As shown in  FIG. 6A , a fixing part  49  is disposed on the auxiliary basket  40  to fix the position of the opening/closing member  50  in a state in which the opening/closing member  50  closes the insertion groove  43 . The fixing part  49  includes a pair of fixing holes  45  disposed on the upper bottom  42  of the frame  41  and a pair of fixing protrusions  54  disposed on the other end portion  53  of the opening/closing member  50  to be pressed and inserted into the fixing holes  45 , respectively. As the fixing protrusions  54  of the opening/closing member  50  are pressed and inserted into the fixing holes  45 , the opening/closing member  50  is fixed to cover the insertion groove  43 . Since the upper bottom  42  of the frame  41  and the opening/closing member  50  form the bottom of the storage space  40   a,  a small-sized product P can be stored in the storage space  40   a.  Also, through holes  50   a  are formed on the opening/closing member  50  to allow the flow of cool air. 
         [0053]    Boss portions  46  are protrudingly formed at a lower portion of the frame  41  to correspond to the fixing holes  45 . The fixing holes  45  are formed in the center of the boss portions  46  to receive the fixing protrusions  54  of the opening/closing member  50 . Accordingly, the opening/closing member  50  can be stably fixed to the frame  41 . 
         [0054]    Further, the boss portions  46  have a function of reinforcing the upper bottom  42  of the frame  41 . When the fixing protrusions  54  are inserted into or separated from the fixing holes  45 , an impact is applied to the upper bottom  42  of the frame  41 . In this case, since a portion around the fixing holes  45  is thicker than a portion not surrounding the fixing holes  45  due to the presence of the boss portions  46 , the upper bottom  42  is not easily deformed or damaged due to an impact. 
         [0055]    In order to store a thin product, such as the pizza box B, in the storage basket  30 , as shown in  FIG. 6B , the product P is removed from the storage space  40   a,  and the other end portion  53  of the opening/closing member  50  is pulled while holding the handle portion  55  of the opening/closing member  50 , thereby opening the insertion groove  43 . 
         [0056]    Hereinafter, a function of the receiving device  20  of the refrigerator according to the embodiment will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. 
         [0057]    When the pizza box B having a large width and a small thickness is stored in the storage basket  30 , the opening/closing member  50  is pulled while holding the handle portion  55  disposed on the opening/closing member  50  of the auxiliary basket  40 , thereby opening the insertion groove  43  of the auxiliary basket  40 . Then, as shown in  FIGS. 7 and 8 , the opening/closing member  50  Of the auxiliary basket  40  is completely rotated and, then the pizza box B in a standing state is inserted into the insertion groove  43 . 
         [0058]    When the pizza box B is inserted into the insertion groove  43 , the pizza box B can be easily inserted into the insertion groove  43  by leaning the auxiliary basket  40  backward. The pizza box B inserted into the insertion groove  43  of the auxiliary basket  40  has a lower portion which is received in the receiving groove  33  of the storage basket  30  and an upper portion which is supported by the auxiliary basket  40 . Accordingly, the pizza box B is stored in the storage basket  30  in a standing state. Even though the storage basket  30  moves with the drawer type door  13 , the pizza box B does not fall down. 
         [0059]    As described above, since the pizza box B having a large width and a small thickness can be stored in a standing state using the auxiliary basket  40 , it is possible to efficiently use a space of the storage chamber  31  of the storage basket  30  compared to a conventional refrigerator in which the pizza box B is stored in the storage basket  30  while the box B is laid down. 
         [0060]    Further, after the pizza box B is taken out, the opening/closing member  50  of the auxiliary basket  40  is returned to its original position and fixed to the upper bottom  42 . Accordingly, a small-sized product P (see  FIG. 6A ) can be stored in the auxiliary basket  40 . 
         [0061]    Meanwhile, since the auxiliary basket  40  can be separated from the drawer type door  13 , it is possible to extensively use the storage chamber  31  of the storage basket  30  by separating the auxiliary basket  40  from the drawer type door  13 . 
         [0062]    Meanwhile,  FIG. 9  shows an example in which an auxiliary basket  40 ′ is detachably installed in the storage basket  30 . In this case, a pair of split brackets  21 ′ is detachably coupled to the storage basket  30  instead of being detachably coupled to the drawer door  13  itself. The coupling grooves  24  (see  FIG. 4 ) and the fixing grooves  25  (see  FIG. 4 ) may be disposed on the split brackets  21 ′, and the coupling members  16  and the fixing members  17  which are respectively inserted into the&#39;coupling grooves  24  (see  FIG. 4 ) and the fixing grooves  25  (see  FIG. 4 ) may be disposed at the opposite sides of the storage basket  30  such that the split brackets  21 ′ are detachably coupled to the storage basket  30  in the same manner as in the above embodiment. The coupling structure capable of detachably coupling the split brackets  21 ′ to the storage basket  30  may be formed using various well-known methods. 
         [0063]    Meanwhile, although the receiving device  20  according to the present embodiments is accommodated in the freezing chamber  11 , the receiving device  20  according to the present embodiments may be installed in the cooling chamber. 
         [0064]    As described above, according to the present embodiments, a product having a large width and a small thickness can be stored in a standing state, thereby conveniently storing a product such as a pizza box. 
         [0065]    Further, according to the present embodiments, it is possible to efficiently use a space of the receiving device for receiving a product. 
         [0066]    Although embodiments have been shown and described, it would be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes may be made in these embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the invention, the scope of which is defined in the claims and their equivalents.