Patent Description:
Large capacity refrigerators usually adopt a left-right double-door structure, wherein a vertical beam for sealing is mounted on a door body, to prevent cold air from leaking through a gap between the two door bodies. When the door body is opened, the vertical beam is in a state approximately perpendicular to the door body, that is, a folded state. During the closing of the door body, the vertical beam is rotated along a vertical axis to be approximately parallel with the door body, that is, an unfolded state, so as to seal the gap between the door body and the other door body. Generally, a storage compartment is provided with a guide groove opening downwards on the top wall thereof, a guide member protruding upwards is disposed at the top or bottom of the vertical beam, and during the process of opening or closing a door, the guide member moves along an extending path of the guide groove to guide the vertical beam to rotate correctly.

Prior art JPH0854175 (A) discloses a formation of a drive mechanism to drive a closing member <NUM> is such that when one of two doors <NUM> and <NUM> is closed in such a state that the other is closed, the closing member <NUM> is rotated outward and when one of the two doors <NUM> and <NUM> is opened, the closing member is rotated inward.

<CIT>) discloses a refrigerator door that includes an actuator and a mullion bar rotatably mounted to the door. The mullion bar is responsive to the actuator to automatically rotate from a first position to a second position upon actuation of the actuator.

<CIT>) teaches a guide member <NUM> having a guide plane <NUM> which is formed protruded facing each other on the upper and lower portions of an opening edge of a heat insulating lox <NUM> of a part of a first door <NUM> and a second door <NUM> located on a side of a non pivot side. A support plate <NUM> protruded in the direction in a chamber is attached to the up and down parts of a portion of the first door <NUM> located inside of a gasket <NUM> on a non-pivot side of a back surface of the same. One end of a first support arm <NUM> is pivoted on a first shaft <NUM>. A second support arm <NUM> is pivoted on a second shaft <NUM> on the other end of the first support arm <NUM>. A partition plate <NUM> is pivoted out a third shaft <NUM> on the other end of the second support arm <NUM>. The partition plate <NUM> has length over an opening edge, and extends in the direction of a rotary shaft of the first door <NUM> and is movable horizontally.

However, due to the friction between the guide member and the guide groove and other factors, the above solution usually leads to jamming and shaking of the vertical beam during rotation, resulting in poor rotation of the vertical beam, and thus a user has a poor experience when closing the door. Moreover, due to the configuration of the guide member and the guide groove, the sealing performance between the top/bottom of the vertical beam and the top wall/bottom wall of the storage compartment is also poor. In addition, the appearance of the refrigerator is also affected by the configuration of the guide groove and the guide member.

An objective of the present invention is to overcome at least one of the above defects of the prior art, and to provide a refrigerator in which a vertical beam can rotate automatically during a door opening or closing process without configuring a guide member and a guide groove.

An objective of the present invention is to improve the smoothness of rotation of the vertical beam, avoid jamming of the vertical beam during rotation, and improve the sealing performance between the vertical beam and an inner wall of a storage compartment.

The invention is defined by all the features of the independent claim <NUM>.

The refrigerator provided by the present invention adopts a driving mechanism to realize correct rotation of the vertical beam, and the solution of using a guide member and a guide groove to guide rotation of the vertical beam commonly used in the field of refrigerators is abandoned, thereby avoiding the problems of jamming and shaking of the vertical beam during rotation and poor rotation caused by the friction between the guide member and the guide groove and other factors. During the closing of the first door body, the telescopic member is blocked by the refrigerator body and moves to the retraction position, to drive the rotating member to rotate around the second vertical axis, so that the sliding channel pushes the sliding column to drive the vertical beam to rotate to the unfolded state. During the opening of the first door body, the telescopic member moves towards the extension position under the action of the elastic force of the elastic member, to drive the rotating member to rotate, so that the sliding channel pushes the sliding column to drive the vertical beam to rotate to the folded state. According to the present invention, by means of the simple driving mechanism, the vertical beam can rotate automatically with an opening or closing action of the first door body, which has an extremely ingenious structure. Moreover, the top/bottom of the vertical beam can directly contact the top wall/bottom wall of a storage compartment without the configuration of the guide member and the guide groove, so that better sealing performance is achieved, and less cold is lost.

Furthermore, according to the refrigerator provided by the present invention, the second vertical axis, the third vertical axis and the central axis of the sliding column are coplanar, the second vertical axis is located between the third vertical axis and the sliding channel; and when the vertical beam is in the folded state, the sliding column abuts against the end, away from the second vertical axis, of the sliding channel in the length direction, and the ratio of the distance between the end, away from the second vertical axis, of the sliding channel in the length direction and the second vertical axis to the distance between the third vertical axis and the second vertical axis is greater than <NUM>, which is to reduce the operation resistance of the driving mechanism, make the operation more smooth, and make a user close the door more effortlessly. At the same time, the telescopic member can complete one rotation of the vertical beam by moving a relatively small distance, which prevents the length of the telescopic member from exceeding the thickness of the first door body.

The above and other objectives, advantages, and features of the present invention will be better understood by those skilled in the art according to the following detailed description of specific embodiments of the present invention in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

In the following part, some specific embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail in an exemplary rather than limited manner with reference to the accompanying drawings. The same reference numerals in the accompanying drawings indicate the same or similar components or parts. Those skilled in the art should understand that these accompanying drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale. In figures:.

A refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to <FIG>. The orientations or positional relationships indicated by 'front', 'rear', 'upper', 'lower', 'top', 'bottom', 'inside', 'outside', 'transverse', etc. are based on the orientations or positional relationships shown in the accompanying drawings, only for the convenience of describing the present invention and simplifying the description, rather than indicating or implying that a device or an element referred to must has a particular orientation, and be constructed and operated in a particular orientation, and therefore cannot be construed as a limitation of the present invention.

<FIG> is a schematic structural diagram of a refrigerator, when a first door body <NUM> is in an open state, according to an embodiment of the present invention; <FIG> is an enlarged schematic diagram of the first door body <NUM>, a driving mechanism <NUM> and a vertical beam <NUM> in <FIG>; <FIG> is a schematic structural diagram of the refrigerator, when the first door body <NUM> is in a closed state, shown in <FIG>; and <FIG> is an enlarged schematic diagram of the first door body <NUM>, the driving mechanism <NUM> and the vertical beam <NUM> in <FIG>.

As shown in <FIG>, an embodiment of the present invention provides a refrigerator. The refrigerator includes a refrigerator body <NUM> with an open front side, a first door body <NUM> and a second door body <NUM> that are rotatably disposed on the front side of the refrigerator body <NUM> in a side-by-side manner, a vertical beam <NUM> that is mounted at an open end of the first door body <NUM> to be rotatable around a first vertical axis X1, and at least one driving mechanism <NUM>.

The front side of the refrigerator body <NUM> is open, that is, a storage compartment <NUM> defined by the refrigerator body <NUM> is open forward (referring to <FIG>). The first door body <NUM> and the second door body <NUM> are rotatably disposed on the front side of the refrigerator body <NUM> in a side-by-side manner. For example, in <FIG>, the first door body <NUM> and the second door body <NUM> are arranged side by side along the transverse direction, and a pivot axis of the first door body <NUM> on the left is located on the left side of the first door body, and the right end of the same is the open end. A pivot axis of the second door body <NUM> on the right is located on the right side of the second door body, and the left side of the same is an open end.

The vertical beam <NUM> is rotatably mounted at the open end of the first door body <NUM>. As shown in <FIG>, when both the first door body <NUM> and the second door body <NUM> are in a closed state, the vertical beam <NUM> is attached to the surfaces of the inner sides of the two door bodies, so as to prevent cold air from leaking out of the refrigerator. As shown in <FIG>, during the opening of the first door body <NUM>, the vertical beam <NUM> rotates backwards, to rotate from an unfolded state approximately parallel to the first door body <NUM> to a folded state at a predetermined angle (for example, perpendicular to the first door body <NUM>) with the first door body <NUM>, so as to be away from the second door body <NUM>, thereby preventing the vertical beam <NUM> from being blocked by the second door body <NUM> during the opening of the first door body <NUM>. Similarly, during the closing of the first door body <NUM>, the vertical beam <NUM> gradually rotates from the folded state to the unfolded state, to seal a gap between the two door bodies.

Those skilled in the art should understand that the vertical beam <NUM> can also be mounted on the second door body <NUM> instead of the first door body <NUM>. However, for ease of description, the embodiment of the present invention only introduces the solution of mounting the vertical beam <NUM> on the first door body <NUM>.

As shown in <FIG> and <FIG>, each driving mechanism <NUM> includes a telescopic member <NUM>, an elastic member <NUM>, a rotating member <NUM> and a sliding column <NUM>. The telescopic member <NUM> is telescopically mounted on the first door body <NUM> in the thickness direction (when the first door body <NUM> is in a closed state, the thickness direction is parallel to a front-rear direction) of the first door body <NUM>, to be at an extension position (as shown in <FIG>) where the rear end of the telescopic member projects and extends out of the surface of the inner side of the first door body <NUM>, or at a retraction position (as shown in <FIG>) of retracting from the extension position to the interior of the first door body <NUM> by a preset distance. The elastic member <NUM> is configured to apply an elastic force to the telescopic member <NUM> to prompt the same to move towards the extension position. That is, when the telescopic member <NUM> is at the retraction position, under the action of the elastic force of the elastic member <NUM>, the telescopic member has a tendency to move towards the extension position. The rotating member <NUM> is mounted on the first door body <NUM> to be rotatable around a second vertical axis X2, and mounted on the telescopic member <NUM> to be rotatable around a third vertical axis X3, and a sliding channel <NUM> is formed in the rotating member <NUM>. The sliding column <NUM> is directly or indirectly fixed to the vertical beam <NUM> and slidable along the sliding channel <NUM>.

The refrigerator is configured such that when the first door body <NUM> is in the open state, the telescopic member <NUM> is at the extension position, and the vertical beam <NUM> is in the folded state attached to the inner side of the first door body <NUM>, as shown in <FIG>. During the closing of the first door body <NUM>, the telescopic member <NUM> is blocked by the refrigerator body <NUM> and moves towards the retraction position, to drive the rotating member <NUM> to rotate around the second vertical axis X2, so that the sliding channel <NUM> pushes the sliding column <NUM> to drive the vertical beam <NUM> to rotate to the unfolded state, so as to seal the gap between the first door body <NUM> and the second door body <NUM>, as shown in <FIG>. During this process, the driving mechanism <NUM> drives the rotating member <NUM> to rotate by using movement of the telescopic member <NUM>, and the rotation of the rotating member <NUM> drives the sliding column <NUM> to move, and finally drives the vertical beam <NUM> to rotate.

It should be understood that, during rotation and opening of the first door body <NUM>, the telescopic member <NUM> is not blocked by the refrigerator body <NUM>, and gradually extends out under the action of the elastic force of the elastic member <NUM>, so that the rotating member <NUM> is driven to rotate around the second vertical axis X2, and thus the sliding channel <NUM> pushes the sliding column <NUM> to drive the vertical beam <NUM> to rotate to the folded state.

According to the present invention, by means of the simple driving mechanism <NUM>, the vertical beam <NUM> can rotate automatically with an opening or closing action of the first door body <NUM>. Moreover, the top/bottom of the vertical beam <NUM> can directly contact the top wall/bottom wall of the storage compartment without the configuration of a guide member and a guide groove, so that better sealing performance is achieved, and less cold is lost. Furthermore, since the guide member and the guide groove are not needed, the problems of jamming and shaking of the vertical beam during rotation and poor rotation caused by the friction between the guide member and the guide groove and other factors can be avoided.

In some embodiments, as shown in <FIG> and <FIG>, the driving mechanism <NUM> can further include a connection rod <NUM>. The connection rod <NUM> is fixedly connected to the vertical beam <NUM> and extends in a direction away from the vertical beam <NUM>, and the sliding column <NUM> is mounted at the end, away from the vertical beam <NUM>, of the connection rod <NUM>. Therefore, the sliding column <NUM> is away from the first vertical axis X1 of the vertical beam <NUM>, so that a longer arm of force (that is, the distance between the sliding column <NUM> and the first vertical axis X1) is achieved, and thus the sliding column <NUM> can drive the vertical beam <NUM> to rotate even a less force is applied to the sliding column.

The end, close to the vertical beam <NUM>, of the connection rod <NUM> is rotatably mounted on the first door body <NUM> so that the vertical beam <NUM> rotates around the first vertical axis X1. That is, the vertical beam <NUM> is mounted on the first door body <NUM> by means of the connection rod <NUM>, and thus there is no need to additionally provide a rotatable connection structure on the vertical beam <NUM>. The connection rod <NUM> and the vertical beam <NUM> may be separate components and are fixedly connected by a fastening structure. The connection <NUM> and a housing of the vertical beam <NUM> may also be integrally molded.

In some embodiments, as shown in <FIG> and <FIG>, the second vertical axis X2, the third vertical axis X3 and a central axis of the sliding column <NUM> may be coplanar, and the second vertical axis X2 is located between the third vertical axis X3 and the sliding channel <NUM>. The refrigerator is configured such that when the vertical beam <NUM> is in the folded state, the sliding column <NUM> abuts against the end, away from the second vertical axis X2, of the sliding channel <NUM> in the length direction, as shown in <FIG>, and thus the vertical beam <NUM> is firmly maintained in the folded state when the telescopic member <NUM> is at the extension position. A ratio of the distance between the end (A end), away from the second vertical axis X2, of the sliding channel <NUM> in the length direction and the second vertical axis X2 (that is, the distance between A and X2) to the distance between the third vertical axis X3 and the second vertical axis X2 (that is, the distance between X2 and X3) is greater than <NUM>, preferably greater than <NUM>, so as to reduce the operation resistance of the driving mechanism <NUM>, make the operation more smooth, and make a user close the door more effortlessly. At the same time, the telescopic member <NUM> can complete one rotation of the vertical beam <NUM> by moving a relatively small distance, which prevents the length of the telescopic member <NUM> from exceeding the thickness of the first door body <NUM>.

In some embodiments, as shown in <FIG> and <FIG>, the rotating member <NUM> includes an oblong ring part <NUM>, and the sliding channel <NUM> is formed on the inner side of the ring part <NUM>. The sliding column <NUM> may be cylindrical and has an outer diameter slightly less than the width of the sliding channel <NUM>, so as to move in the length direction of the sliding channel <NUM>. The sliding column <NUM> is mounted on the connection rod <NUM> to be rotatable around the central axis of the sliding column, so that the sliding column can roll along the inner wall of the sliding channel <NUM>, to reduce sliding friction.

In some embodiments, as shown in <FIG> and <FIG>, the telescopic member <NUM> is provided with two lugs <NUM> extending away from each other in the width direction of the first door body <NUM>. The first door body <NUM> is provided with two limit grooves <NUM> to accommodate the two lugs <NUM> respectively. There are two elastic members <NUM> and both are compressed springs, and each elastic member <NUM> is connected between the rear surface of one lug <NUM> and the rear wall <NUM> of the corresponding limit groove <NUM>. When the telescopic member <NUM> is in an extending state, the lugs <NUM> abut against the front walls <NUM> of the limit grooves <NUM> under the action of the elastic forces of the elastic members <NUM>. The first door body <NUM> can be provided with a sliding way <NUM>, and the telescopic member <NUM> is slidably mounted into the sliding way <NUM>, to achieve telescopic movement. The two limit grooves <NUM> are located on two sides of the sliding way <NUM> in the width direction.

<FIG> is an exploded schematic diagram of the refrigerator body <NUM>, the first door body <NUM>, the vertical beam <NUM> and the driving mechanism <NUM> in <FIG>; and <FIG> is a schematic structural diagram of the driving mechanism <NUM> and the vertical beam <NUM> in <FIG>.

As shown in <FIG> and <FIG>, the telescopic member <NUM>, the rotating member <NUM> and the connection rod <NUM> may be arranged in the vertical direction in a staggered manner, to avoid interference.

Claim 1:
A refrigerator, comprising a refrigerator body (<NUM>) with an open front side, a first door body (<NUM>) and a second door body (<NUM>) that are rotatably disposed on the front side of the refrigerator body (<NUM>) in a side-by-side manner, a vertical beam (<NUM>) that is mounted at an open end of the first door body (<NUM>) to be rotatable around a first vertical axis (X1), and at least one driving mechanism (<NUM>), wherein the driving mechanism (<NUM>) comprises:
a telescopic member (<NUM>), telescopically mounted on the first door body (<NUM>) in the thickness direction of the first door body (<NUM>), to be at an extension position where the rear end of the telescopic member (<NUM>) projects and extends out of the surface of the inner side of the first door body (<NUM>), or at a retraction position of retracting from the extension position to the interior of the first door body (<NUM>) by a preset distance;
an elastic member, configured to apply an elastic force to the telescopic member (<NUM>) to prompt same to move towards the extension position;
a rotating member, mounted on the first door body (<NUM>) to be rotatable around a second vertical axis (X2), and mounted on the telescopic member (<NUM>) to be rotatable around a third vertical axis (X3), wherein a sliding channel (<NUM>) is formed in the rotating member; and
a sliding column (<NUM>), directly or indirectly fixed to the vertical beam (<NUM>) and slidable along the sliding channel (<NUM>); and the refrigerator is configured such that
when the first door body (<NUM>) is in an open state, the telescopic member (<NUM>) is at the extension position, and the vertical beam (<NUM>) is in a folded state attached to the inner side of the first door body (<NUM>); and
during the closing of the first door body (<NUM>), the telescopic member (<NUM>) is blocked by the refrigerator body (<NUM>) and moves to the retraction position, to drive the rotating member (<NUM>) to rotate around the second vertical axis (X2), so that the sliding channel (<NUM>) pushes the sliding column (<NUM>) to drive the vertical beam (<NUM>) to rotate to an unfolded state, so as to seal a gap between the first door body (<NUM>) and the second door body (<NUM>).