Patent Description:
A conventional drawer assembly usually uses rollers in engagement with slideways to ensure smooth operation of the drawer assembly. However, during the entire stroke of the drawer, a manual force is needed for operation. When such a drawer assembly is used, the user does not have sufficient comfortable experience. Furthermore, since the roller-slideway structure is relatively simple, stabile operation cannot be ensured. In view of the above, it is necessary to improve the conventional drawer assembly.

<CIT> discloses a food refrigerator including a refrigerator compartment and an accessory storage compartment. The food refrigerator include: a sliding rail unit, having a fixed rail unit, which is mounted to the inner casing of each of the drawer-type storage compartments, and a movable rail unit, movably mounted to the fixed rail unit and operated in conjunction with a drawer-type door of the drawer-type storage compartment; and a locking/unlocking unit for locking and unlocking the movable rail unit in forward and rearward directions. In the above state, the locking/unlocking unit can prevent the drawer-type door from being undesirably opened.

<CIT> discloses a drawer assembly comprises a drawer, and two support assemblies arranged side by side left and right, each support assembly comprises a support; a first slide way extending front and back is formed on the inner side of each support; an elastic tongue piece is arranged on the rear part of the inner side of each support; when the drawer moves backwards to be close to the limiting positions, the rear end of the drawer backwards pushes the elastic tongue pieces to enable the elastic tongue pieces to produce elastic deformation, so that the elastic tongue pieces apply a forward elastic buffer force on the drawer.

<CIT> discloses a drawer or pull-out basket self-returning device,the drawer or pull-out basket generates a damping effect by the compression air pressure on the piston rod during the returning process to decrease the slide rail returning speed till the drawer or pull-out basket door are slowly closed.

<CIT> discloses a regulation locking mechanical system of drawer slide rail, includes sliding rail set spare and damping device, when the closure, it is closed to produce the buffering through effect damping device at least for sliding rail set spare.

<CIT> discloses an inner guide rail for a desk and a drawer, in particular to an n inner guide rail for a desk or a drawer formed by pressing and bending a metal plate.

<CIT> discloses an automatic door closing device of a refrigerator, a damper device is provided underneath the automatic door closing device to prevent the automatic door closing device from causing sudden closing motion of the drawer unit.

Further relevant prior art is disclosed in document <CIT>.

An object of the present invention is to provide a drawer assembly which does not require application of a force during the whole closing process and which moves smoothly and slowly during automatic closing, and a refrigerator having such a drawer assembly.

To achieve the above object of the present invention, the present invention provides a drawer assembly according to claim <NUM>. The dependent claims set out particular embodiments of the invention.

To achieve the above object of the present invention, the present invention provides a refrigerator with the above drawer assembly.

Technical effects of the present invention are as follows: the damping reset unit is arranged such that an external force needn't be applied in the whole closing process of the drawer body, and the drawer body can automatically rebound after the external force is only needed to release the locked state of the damping reset unit, which improves the user's use experience. Furthermore, the damping reset unit is provided with the damping member, and the arrangement of the damping member makes the rebound process of the drawer body smoother and avoids the vibration, noise and damages that might occur when the drawer body rebounds quickly.

Figures are only used for an illustration purpose and not construed as limiting the present invention; to better illustrate embodiments, some parts of the figures are omitted, enlarged or reduced, and do not represent the size of an actual product; those skilled in the art may understand some known structures and depictions thereof might be omitted from the figures.

A drawer assembly according to claim <NUM> as shown in <FIG> comprises a drawer body <NUM> and a slideway assembly <NUM> on which the drawer body <NUM> is pushed and pulled. The drawer assembly further comprises a damping reset unit <NUM> arranged on the slideway assembly <NUM> and fitted with the drawer body <NUM>. The damping reset unit <NUM> comprises an elastic member <NUM> that drives the drawer body <NUM> to reset from an open state to a closed state, and a damping member <NUM> that reduces the reset speed of the elastic member <NUM>.

The damping member <NUM> has a housing <NUM> fixed relative to the slideway assembly <NUM> and a piston rod <NUM> that is telescopic relative to the housing <NUM> along a push-pull direction of the drawer body <NUM> and generates damping with the housing <NUM> when it telescopes. A deformation direction of the elastic member <NUM> is consistent with the push-pull direction of the drawer body <NUM>.

One end of the elastic member <NUM> is fixed on the housing <NUM>, and the other end is fixed on the piston rod <NUM>. The elastic member <NUM> has a minimum stretch when the drawer body <NUM> is in a closed state.

In the present embodiment, the minimum stretch of the elastic member <NUM> means that the elastic member <NUM> is in a non-compressed state.

The piston rod <NUM> is fixed with a connecting piece <NUM>, the connecting piece <NUM> is provided with a retaining portion <NUM> protruding toward the drawer body <NUM>, and the drawer body <NUM> is provided with a linkage <NUM> which is fitted with the retaining portion <NUM> so that the piston rod <NUM> extends relative to the housing <NUM> as the drawer body <NUM> is opened. The elastic member <NUM> generates a return force for returning the drawing body <NUM> when the piston rod <NUM> is in an extended state.

The slideway assembly <NUM> comprises a left slideway assembly <NUM> and a right slideway assembly <NUM>, and the left slideway assembly <NUM> and the right slideway assembly <NUM> are respectively provided with the damping reset unit <NUM> to ensure the stability when the drawer body <NUM> is automatically closed.

The damping member <NUM> has a locking structure <NUM> that keeps the drawer body <NUM> in an open state.

The housing <NUM> comprises a cylinder <NUM> telescopically matched with the piston rod <NUM> and a base <NUM> for fixing the damping member <NUM> on the slideway assembly <NUM>.

The locking structure <NUM> comprises a clamping portion <NUM> disposed on the piston rod <NUM> and a snap portion <NUM> disposed on the base <NUM> and configured to cooperate with the clamping portion <NUM> to lock the position of the drawer body <NUM> relative to the slideway assembly <NUM>.

Preferably, the base <NUM> is provided with a guide rail <NUM> supporting the piston rod <NUM>, the connecting piece <NUM> is further provided with a guide groove <NUM> matingly connected with the guide rail <NUM>, the guide groove <NUM> is recessed towards inward the connecting piece <NUM> in a transverse direction and extends in the push-pull direction of the drawer body <NUM>, the clamping portion <NUM> extends from the guide groove <NUM> towards an upper portion of the connecting piece <NUM> until running through the connecting piece <NUM>, and the snap portion <NUM> is an elastic protrusion disposed at a front end of the guide rail <NUM> and protruding upward; when the piston rod <NUM> is drawn outward to the position of the connecting piece <NUM> to correspond to the snap portion <NUM>, the connecting piece <NUM> compresses the snap portion <NUM> and presses outward until the position of the snap portion <NUM> corresponds to the snap portion <NUM>, and the snap portion <NUM> ejects out and is caught in the caching portion <NUM> to complete the locking of the locking structure <NUM>.

The drawer body <NUM> is provided with a sliding portion <NUM> on both sides, the slideway assembly <NUM> is provided with a sliding groove <NUM> that is slidably engaged with the sliding portion <NUM>, and the sliding groove <NUM> is disposed along the push-pull direction of the drawer body <NUM> and has a horizontally-disposed horizontal section <NUM> and an inclined section <NUM> formed obliquely extending downward from a rear end of the horizontal section <NUM>.

The damping member <NUM> has an unstretched initial state and a locked state in which the damping member <NUM> is stretched and locked. The sliding portion <NUM> has a first roller <NUM> located on the rear side. When the damping member <NUM> is released from the locked state, the elastic member <NUM> returns until the damping member <NUM> gets into the initial state and the first roller <NUM> is located at the inclined section <NUM>, and the drawer body <NUM> continues to return under its own weight until it is in the closed state.

When the drawer body <NUM> is in the closed state, the retaining portion <NUM> and the linkage <NUM> are spaced apart by a certain distance along the push-pull direction of the drawer body <NUM>, so that after the drawer body <NUM> is drawn out by a certain distance from the closed state, the retaining portion <NUM> abuts against the linkage <NUM>.

After the drawer body <NUM> is pulled out by a certain distance from the closed state, the retaining portion <NUM> abuts against the linkage <NUM> and drives the piston rod <NUM> to stretch outward in the push-pull direction of the drawer body <NUM> until the damping member <NUM> is in the locked state. At this time, the first roller <NUM> moves from the inclined section <NUM> to the horizontal section <NUM>, the drawer body <NUM> is locked and in the open state. When the drawer body <NUM> needs to be closed, the drawer body <NUM> is pushed inward until the damping member <NUM> automatically rebounds after being released from the locked state, and drives the drawer body <NUM> to retract. After the damping reset unit <NUM> has rebounded, the roller <NUM> is located at the inclined section <NUM>, and the drawer body <NUM> slides down along the inclined section <NUM> under its own gravity until the drawer body <NUM> gets into closed state.

With such an arrangement, the drawing range of the drawer body <NUM> may not be restricted by the expansion and contraction range of the damping reset unit <NUM>, which reduces the requirements for the size of the damping reset unit <NUM>, saves the space occupied by the damping reset unit <NUM>, and saves the manufacturing cost.

Preferably, a front end of the sliding groove <NUM> is provided with a second roller <NUM>, the sliding portion <NUM> has a sliding rail <NUM> engaging with the second roller <NUM>, and the sliding rail <NUM> is located on both sides of the drawer body <NUM>, and the sliding rail <NUM> moves in the sliding groove <NUM> and in rolling engagement with the second roller <NUM>. With such an arrangement, the drawer body <NUM> meets less resistance during the pushing and pulling process, and operates more smoothly.

In the present embodiment, the damping reset unit <NUM> is arranged such that an external force needn't be applied in the whole closing process of the drawer body <NUM>, and the drawer body <NUM> can automatically rebound after the external force is only needed to release the locked state of the damping reset unit <NUM>, which improves the user's use experience. Furthermore, the damping reset unit <NUM> is provided with the damping member <NUM>, and the damping member <NUM> functions to make the automatic rebound process of the drawer body <NUM> smoother and avoid the vibration, noise and damage that might occur when the drawer body <NUM> rebounds quickly.

Claim 1:
A drawer assembly for a refrigerator, wherein the drawer assembly comprises a drawer body (<NUM>) and a slideway assembly (<NUM>) on which the drawer body (<NUM>) is pushed and pulled, the drawer body (<NUM>) being provided with a slideway assembly (<NUM>) on both sides, wherein the drawer assembly further comprises a damping reset unit (<NUM>) matching the drawer body (<NUM>) and being arranged on the slideway assembly (<NUM>), and wherein the damping reset unit (<NUM>) comprises an elastic member (<NUM>) that drives the drawer body (<NUM>) to reset from an open state to a closed state, and a damping member (<NUM>) that reduces the reset speed of the elastic member (<NUM>), wherein
the damping member (<NUM>) has a housing (<NUM>) fixed relative to the slideway assembly (<NUM>) and a piston rod (<NUM>) that is telescopic relative to the housing (<NUM>) along a push-pull direction of the drawer body (<NUM>) and generates damping with the housing (<NUM>) when it telescopes, and a deformation direction of the elastic member (<NUM>) is consistent with the push-pull direction of the drawer body (<NUM>);
wherein the piston rod (<NUM>) is provided with a retaining portion (<NUM>) protruding toward the drawer body (<NUM>), the drawer body (<NUM>) is provided with a linkage (<NUM>) which is fitted with the retaining portion (<NUM>) so that the piston rod (<NUM>) extends relative to the housing (<NUM>) as the drawer body (<NUM>) is opened, and the elastic member (<NUM>) generates a return force for returning the drawer body (<NUM>) when the piston rod (<NUM>) is in an extended state;
wherein one end of the elastic member (<NUM>) is fixed on the housing (<NUM>), the other end is fixed on the piston rod (<NUM>), and the elastic member (<NUM>) has a minimum stretch when the drawer body (<NUM>) is in a closed state; wherein
when the drawer body (<NUM>) is in the closed state, the retaining portion (<NUM>) and the linkage (<NUM>) are spaced apart by a predetermined distance along the push-pull direction of the drawer body (<NUM>), characterized in that after the drawer body (<NUM>) is pulled out by the certain distance from the closed state, the retaining portion (<NUM>) abuts against the linkage (<NUM>) and drives the piston rod (<NUM>) to stretch outward in the push-pull direction of the drawer body (<NUM>) until the drawer body (<NUM>) is locked in the open state.