Patent Description:
At present, in order to adapt to items with different specifications, some high-end refrigerators are provided with lifting racks to adjust the height of shelves. However, in order to realize the independent adjustment of each shelf, the inner wall of the refrigerator needs to be provided with a set of lifting racks for each shelf, which not only increases the cost, but also creates a high installation difficulty in limited space of the refrigerator and affects the aesthetics. <CIT> discloses an electric mobile rack installed in a logistics warehouse for loading and storing various light and heavy items. <CIT> discloses a utility model that relates to a storage device, in particular to a shelf. <CIT> discloses a shelf assembly with independently adjustable shelves.

An objective of the present invention is to solve at least one of the problems existing in the prior art or related art. Therefore, the invention provides a shelf assembly with a simple structure, low cost and a good-looking appearance.

The present application further provides a storage cabinet.

In a first aspect, the shelf assembly according to the invention includes:.

According to the shelf assembly provided by the embodiments of the invention, the plurality of shelves can be adjusted independently merely by arranging a set of mounting rods, which not only saves the cost, but also facilitates mounting, and provides good-looking and concise appearance. In addition, either in the process of adjusting the height of the shelves or when the shelves are fixed, the shelves will not slide down along the mounting rods because of load bearing under the joint constraint of the external threads of the mounting rods and the internal threads of the movement components, which ensures the load-bearing demand of the shelves.

According to the invention, the shelf assembly further includes:.

According to an embodiment of the invention, the first connecting portion is a bulge formed on a surface of the guide rod, and the second connecting portion is a sliding groove formed on a surface of the sliding block; or, the first connecting portion is a sliding groove formed on the surface of the guide rod, and the second connecting portion is a bulge formed on the surface of the sliding block.

According to an embodiment of the invention, the sliding groove is a swallowtail groove.

According to an embodiment of the invention, an inner wall of the sliding groove or an outer wall of the bulge is embedded with a plurality of rolling balls.

According to the invention, a movement component from among the movement components and a sliding block from among the sliding blocks are both connected to a connecting plate, and the connecting plate is detachably connected to the shelf.

According to an embodiment of the invention, the connecting plate includes a top plate and a side plate, and a top of the side plate is connected to a side wall of the top plate; the top plate is connected to a top surface of a movement component from among the movement components, the side plate is connected to a side wall of the sliding block, and the side plate is detachably connected to the shelf.

According to an embodiment of the invention, the shelf is provided with a first inserting plate and a second inserting plate, the side plate is provided with a first inserting hole for socketing the first inserting plate and a second inserting hole for socketing the second inserting plate, an end of the first inserting plate distal to the shelf is formed with a limiting portion extending downward, and the limiting portion is hooked on the side plate.

According to an embodiment of the invention, the movement components and the driving components constitute a screw stepping motor.

According to an embodiment of the invention, the shelf is provided with control buttons electrically connected to the corresponding driving component.

According to an embodiment of the invention, the movement component from among the movement components includes a housing and a rotating component provided in the housing, the housing is formed thereon with a through hole extending through a longitudinal direction, the rotating component is rotatably provided in the through hole by a bearing, the rotating component is formed thereon with an internal thread hole extending through the longitudinal direction, and a driving component from among the driving components is configured to drive the rotating component to rotate.

According to an embodiment of the invention, the driving component from among the driving components includes a handle and a conical gear provided in the housing, an outer wall of the rotating component is opened with a tooth groove meshed with the conical gear, and an end of the handle is inserted into the housing to connect with a rotating shaft of the conical gear.

In a second aspect, the storage cabinet according to the embodiments of the invention, includes a cabinet body and the shelf assembly mentioned above, and the shelf assembly is provided in the cabinet body.

According to an embodiment of the invention, the storage cabinet is a refrigerator or a retail cabinet.

The one or more solutions according to the embodiments of the present invention have at least one of the following beneficial effects.

In the present invention, the driving component directly drives the corresponding movement component to rotate since the mounting rod is fixed. The movement component can transform its own rotational motion into linear motion by continuously matching with the external thread of the mounting rod in the process of rotation, thereby driving the shelf connected to it to move along the axial direction of the mounting rod. Therefore, the shelf assembly according to the present application can realize independent adjustment of the plurality of shelves only by arranging a set of mounting rods. In other words, all the shelves can share the same set of mounting rods, thus it is only needed to control the corresponding driving component to drive the movement component to rotate when adjusting the height of the shelves. Therefore, the present application not only saves the cost, but also facilitates mounting, and provides good-looking and concise appearance. In addition, since the mounting rods and the movement components are connected through thread, either in the process of adjusting the height of the shelves or when the shelves are fixed, the shelves will not slide down along the mounting rods because of load bearing under the joint constraint of the external threads of the mounting rods and the internal threads of the movement components, which ensures the load-bearing demand of the shelves.

Additional aspects and advantages of the present invention are set forth, in part, from the following description, and the part will become clear from the following description, or is learned by practice of the present application.

To more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the invention or prior art, accompanying drawings used in the description of the embodiments or the prior art are briefly introduced below. It should be noted that, the drawings in the following description only show some embodiments of the invention. For those of ordinary skill in the art, other drawings may also be obtained according to these drawings without creative effort.

Referring to <FIG>, an embodiment of the present invention provides a shelf assembly, including a mounting rod <NUM>, a plurality of shelves <NUM>, movement components <NUM> corresponding to the shelves <NUM> and driving components corresponding to the movement components <NUM>. A peripheral wall of the mounting rod <NUM> is formed with an external thread along an axis direction. Each of the movement components <NUM> is connected to the corresponding shelf <NUM>, and formed with an internal thread hole matching the external thread of the mounting rod <NUM>. The driving component is connected to the movement component <NUM> and configured to drive the movement component <NUM> to rotate.

The driving component directly drives the corresponding movement component <NUM> to rotate since the mounting rod <NUM> is fixed in the shelf assembly. The movement component <NUM> can transform its own rotational motion into linear motion by continuously matching with the external thread of the mounting rod <NUM> in the process of rotation, thereby driving the shelf <NUM> connected to it to move along the axial direction of the mounting rod <NUM>. Therefore, the shelf assembly in the present invention can realize independent adjustment of the plurality of shelves <NUM> merely by arranging a set of mounting rods <NUM>. In other words, all the shelves <NUM> can share the same set of mounting rods <NUM>, thus it is only needed to control the corresponding driving component to drive the movement component <NUM> to rotate when adjusting the height of the shelves <NUM>. Therefore, the present application not only saves the cost, but also facilitates mounting, and provides good-looking and concise appearance. In addition, since the mounting rods <NUM> and the movement component <NUM> are connected through thread, either in the process of adjusting the height of the shelves <NUM> or when the shelves <NUM> are fixed, the shelves <NUM> will not slide down along the mounting rods <NUM> because of the load bearing under the joint constraint of the external threads of the mounting rods <NUM> and the internal threads of the movement components <NUM>.

As shown in <FIG>, the shelf assembly further includes a guide rod <NUM> and sliding blocks <NUM>. The guide rod <NUM> is arranged in parallel with the mounting rod <NUM>, where the guide rod <NUM> is formed with a first connecting portion along its height direction; one side of the slide bock <NUM> is formed with a second connecting portion slidably matched with the first connecting portion, and the other side of the sliding block <NUM> is connected with the shelf <NUM>. It can be seen from the above that the movement components <NUM>, the sliding blocks <NUM> and the shelves <NUM> move synchronously. When the movement components <NUM> move, the sliding blocks <NUM> and the shelves <NUM> also move together with them.

It should be noted that there are many modes to realize sliding connection between the guide rod <NUM> and the sliding block <NUM>, for example:.

In order to prevent the bulge <NUM> from separating from the sliding groove <NUM> during the sliding process of the sliding block <NUM>, the sliding groove <NUM> can be a swallowtail groove, at which point the bulge <NUM> is a swallowtail structure matching the swallowtail groove. In addition, in order to reduce the resistance in the sliding process of the sliding block <NUM>, an inner wall of the sliding groove <NUM> or an outer wall of the bulge <NUM> is embedded with a plurality of rolling balls <NUM>. In other words, the inner wall of the sliding groove <NUM> or the outer wall of the bulge <NUM> is provided with dimples corresponding to the rolling balls <NUM> one-to-one, and one part of the rolling ball <NUM> is embedded in the dimple, and the other part of the rolling ball <NUM> protrudes out of the dimple. Therefore, during the sliding process of the sliding block <NUM>, the rolling balls <NUM> continuously rotate under the action of friction.

In addition, in order to facilitate installation, the movement component <NUM> and the sliding block <NUM> are both connected to a connecting plate <NUM>. Where the connecting plate <NUM> can be welded on the shelf <NUM>, or detachably connected to the shelf <NUM>. For example, as shown in <FIG>, the connecting plate <NUM> includes a top plate <NUM> and a side plate <NUM>, and a top of the side plate <NUM> is connected to a side wall of the top plate <NUM>; the top plate <NUM> is connected to a top surface of the movement component <NUM>, the side plate <NUM> is connected to a side wall of the sliding block <NUM>, and the side plate <NUM> is detachably connected to the shelf <NUM>.

Specifically, as shown in <FIG>, the shelf <NUM> is provided with a first inserting plate <NUM> and a second inserting plate <NUM>, the side plate <NUM> is provided with a first inserting hole <NUM> for socketing the first inserting plate <NUM> and a second inserting hole <NUM> for socketing the second inserting plate <NUM>, an end of the first inserting plate <NUM> distal to the shelf <NUM> is formed with a limiting portion <NUM> extending downward, and the limiting portion <NUM> is hooked on the side plate <NUM>.

The top plate <NUM> can be connected to the top surface of the movement component <NUM> through screws, that is, the top plate <NUM> can be provided with a plurality of first through holes, and the top of the movement component <NUM> can be provided with first thread holes corresponding to the first through holes. The side plate <NUM> can also be connected to the side wall of the sliding block <NUM> through screws, that is, the side plate <NUM> can be provided with a plurality of second through holes, and the top surface of the sliding block <NUM> can be provided with second thread holes corresponding to the second through holes.

Further, the top plate <NUM> is provided with an avoidance gap <NUM> corresponding to the mounting rod <NUM>, so that the mounting rod <NUM> passes through the top plate <NUM> through the avoidance gap <NUM> when the top plate <NUM> is mounted on the top of the movement component <NUM>.

The driving component can be automatic or manual. Specifically, it is as follows.

Further, in order to facilitate the user's operation, the shelf <NUM> is provided with control buttons electrically connected to the driving component. For example, the control buttons include an up button <NUM> and a down button <NUM>. Therefore, the user only needs to press the up button <NUM> when the shelf <NUM> needs to be raised, and the driving component will drive the shelf <NUM> to move up by a specified distance along the mounting rod <NUM> every time the up button <NUM> is pressed. Similarly, the user only needs to press the down button <NUM> when the shelf <NUM> needs to be lowered. The driving component will drive the shelf <NUM> to move down by a specified distance along the mounting rod <NUM> every time the down button <NUM> is pressed. By providing control buttons on the shelves <NUM>, the shelf assembly according to the embodiment of the present application not only facilitates a user to control the movement of the shelves <NUM>, but also enable the user to adjust without diverting their sight during the whole process compared with the control buttons provided on other components. That is, the user does not need to quickly divert their sight to observe the movement of the shelves <NUM> after operating the control button.

In addition, in order to ensure the accuracy of adjustment, the specified distance of the driving component moving along the mounting rod <NUM> is usually very small every time the up button <NUM> or the down button <NUM> is pressed, thus the user needs to press the up button <NUM> or the down button <NUM> multiple times when the shelf <NUM> needs to move a large distance. Therefore, in order to improve the user experience and reduce the times of pressing the up button <NUM> or the down button <NUM>, the control button further includes a setting button, which is electrically connected to the driving component, and the side wall of the shelf <NUM> is further provided with a display screen electrically connected to the setting button at this time, where the setting button is configured to set the specified distance of the driving component moving along the mounting rod <NUM> when the up button <NUM> or the down button <NUM> is pressed; the display screen is configured to display the specified distance. Therefore, the user can set the specified distance for a single movement of the driving component according to the distance that shelf <NUM> needs to move. In order to facilitate the user's operation, the control button can also be provided on the front side of the shelf <NUM>, where the "front side" of the shelf <NUM> is based on the mounting direction of the shelf <NUM>, and the side of the shelf <NUM> facing the cabinet door is the front side, and the side facing away the cabinet door is the rear side after the shelves <NUM> is mounted in a cabinet body <NUM>.

At this time, the moving component <NUM> includes a housing and a rotating component provided in the housing, the driving component includes a handle and a conical gear provided in the housing; the housing is provided thereon with a through hole extending through the longitudinal direction, the rotating component is rotatably provided in the through hole by a bearing, the rotating component is provided thereon with an internal thread hole through the longitudinal direction, the outer wall of the rotating component is provided with a tooth groove meshed with the conical gear, and an end of the handle is inserted into the housing to connect with a rotating shaft of the conical gear. Therefore, the user only needs to rotate the handle clockwise when the shelf <NUM> needs to be raised. Since the handle is connected to the rotating shaft of the conical gear, and the conical gear is meshed with the groove of the rotating component, the handle, the conical gear and the rotating component move synchronously. Therefore, when the user rotates the handle, the conical gear rotates together with it, thereby driving the rotating component to rotate simultaneously. Since the rotating component matches with the thread of the mounting rod <NUM> through its internal thread hole, during the rotation process of the rotating component, as the internal thread of the rotating component constantly matches with the external thread of the mounting rods <NUM> located above the shelves <NUM>, the rotational motion of the rotating component is transformed into a linear motion, that is, the rotating component drives the shelves <NUM> to move upwards through the housing at this time. Conversely, the user only needs to rotate the handle counterclockwise when the shelves <NUM> needs to be lowered. It should be noted that, the direction of the movement component <NUM> moving along the mounting rod <NUM> when rotating the handle clockwise or counterclockwise can be set by setting the rotating direction of the external thread on the mounting rod <NUM>.

Referring to <FIG>, an embodiment of the present invention further provides a storage cabinet, which includes a cabinet body <NUM> and the shelf assembly mentioned above, and the shelf assembly is provided in the cabinet body <NUM>. Where the storage cabinet can be, but not limited to, a refrigerator or a retail cabinet. The structure and principle of the shelf assembly in this embodiment are the same as those in the above embodiments, and will not be described in detail in this embodiment.

The shelf assembly in the present invention can realize independent adjustment of the plurality of shelves <NUM> only by using a set of mounting rods <NUM>, which not only saves the cost, but also facilitates mounting, and provides good-looking and concise appearance. In addition, either in the process of adjusting the height of the shelves <NUM> or when the shelves <NUM> are fixed, the shelves <NUM> will not slide down along the mounting rods <NUM> because of load bearing under the joint constraint of the external threads of the mounting rods <NUM> and the internal threads of the movement components <NUM>, which ensures the load-bearing demand of the shelves.

Taking a refrigerator as an example, the back plate of the refrigerator is provided with two parallel mounting rods <NUM>, each mounting rod <NUM> is equipped with a guide rod <NUM>, the end of the mounting rod <NUM> and the end of the corresponding guide rod <NUM> are fixed on the back plate of the refrigerator through a mounting seat <NUM>, the movement components <NUM> and the sliding blocks <NUM> are connected to back sides of the corresponding shelves <NUM> through the connecting plates <NUM>. In order to improve the stability of the guide rod <NUM>, the guide rod <NUM> is provided with a plurality of mounting holes <NUM> at intervals along the height direction thereof, and the back plate of the refrigerator is provided with thread holes corresponding to the mounting holes <NUM> one-to-one. Therefore, during installation, the guide rod <NUM> and the mounting rod <NUM> can be fixed on the back plate of the refrigerator through the mounting seat <NUM> first, and then screws are screwed into the guide rod <NUM>. Specifically, one end of each screw is passed through the mounting hole <NUM> and screwed into the corresponding thread hole, so that the guide rod <NUM> can be firmly fixed on the inner wall of the refrigerator to prevent it from being skewed during use.

Claim 1:
A shelf assembly, comprising:
a plurality of shelves (<NUM>);
a mounting rod (<NUM>), a peripheral wall of which is formed with an external thread along an axis direction;
movement components (<NUM>) corresponding to the shelves (<NUM>), wherein each of the movement components (<NUM>) is connected to a corresponding shelf (<NUM>) and formed with an internal thread hole matching the external thread of the mounting rod (<NUM>);
driving components corresponding to the movement components (<NUM>), wherein each of the driving components is connected to the movement component (<NUM>) and configured to drive the movement component (<NUM>) to rotate;
a guide rod (<NUM>), provided in parallel with the mounting rod (<NUM>), wherein the guide rod (<NUM>) is formed with a first connecting portion along a height direction;
sliding blocks (<NUM>), wherein one side of each sliding block (<NUM>) is formed with a second connecting portion slidably matched with the first connecting portion, and another side of each sliding block (<NUM>) is connected with the shelf (<NUM>);
characterised in that
a movement component (<NUM>) from among the movement components (<NUM>) and a sliding block (<NUM>) from among the sliding blocks (<NUM>) are both connected to a connecting plate (<NUM>), and the connecting plate (<NUM>) is detachably connected to the shelf (<NUM>).