Patent Description:
A large refrigerator has a heavy door body, a door gasket has a large suction force, and in order to solve the problem that a user cannot open the door body easily, in the prior art, an automatic door-opening device is provided on a box body of the refrigerator to help the user open the door body. However, fixation of the automatic door-opening device requires that a mounting box is preset before the box body is foamed, and then, the automatic door-opening device is fixed in the mounting box. The arrangement of the mounting box reduces the thickness of a foamed heat insulation layer of the refrigerator to reduce the heat insulation performance of the box body, and requires that holes are punched in an outer box of the box body in advance to position and mount the automatic door-opening device and the mounting box, the process is complex, and the production cost is high. In view of this, in design, it is desirable to provide a storage device with an automatic door-opening device, which has a simple process and a stable and reliable structure. Relevant prior art can be found in <CIT> and <CIT>.

An object of the present invention is to overcome at least one of the technical drawbacks of the prior art and provide a storage device with an automatic door-opening device.

A further object of the present invention is to make a process simple.

Another object of the present invention is to improve the stability of the automatic door-opening device.

According to the following detailed description of specific embodiments of the present invention in conjunction with drawings, those skilled in the art will better understand the aforementioned and other objects, advantages and features of the present invention. However, the claimed subject-matter is defined by independent claim <NUM>. Further preferred embodiments are defined by the dependent claims.

Some specific embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail in an exemplary rather than restrictive manner with reference to the drawings. Identical reference numerals in the drawings represent identical or similar components or parts. Those skilled in the art should understand that these drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale. In the drawings:.

<FIG> is a schematic isometric diagram of a storage device <NUM> according to an embodiment of the present invention; <FIG> is a schematic partial sectional diagram of the storage device <NUM> shown in <FIG> taken along a vertical plane; <FIG> is a schematic enlarged diagram of region A in <FIG>. Referring to <FIG>, the storage device <NUM> includes a box body <NUM> defining at least one storage compartment, at least one door body <NUM> for opening and closing the at least one storage compartment, and an automatic door-opening assembly for opening the at least one door body <NUM>.

In the illustrated embodiment, the storage device <NUM> includes only two door bodies <NUM> distributed in a transverse direction. The automatic door-opening assembly is provided above the storage device <NUM> and used for automatically opening the two door bodies <NUM>.

In other embodiments, the storage device <NUM> may include two door bodies hinged to an upper portion of the box body <NUM> and two door bodies hinged to a lower portion of the box body <NUM>. Automatic door-opening assemblies can be provided above and below the storage device <NUM> respectively to automatically open the four door bodies.

The automatic door-opening assembly includes a housing <NUM> and at least one automatic door-opening device <NUM>. In the illustrated embodiment, two automatic door-opening devices <NUM> may be provided to open the two door bodies <NUM> respectively.

Exemplarily, the automatic door-opening device <NUM> may include a motor <NUM> for providing a driving force for opening the door body <NUM>, and a jacking rod in drive connection with the motor <NUM> and movable back and forth relative to the box body <NUM>.

In particular, each automatic door-opening device <NUM> may be at least partially provided on a side of the housing <NUM> close to the box body <NUM> and fixedly connected to the housing <NUM>. The housing <NUM> can be configured to be fixedly connected to the box body <NUM> to indirectly fix the automatic door-opening device <NUM> to the box body <NUM>, and compared with the solution that a mounting box is preset before the box body <NUM> is foamed, and then, the automatic door-opening device <NUM> is fixed in the mounting box, assembling is simple, a pre-perforation operation is avoided, the solution can also be applicable to storage devices <NUM> with different widths, the universality is strong, the influence of the production line process is small, and the production cost is reduced.

The automatic door-opening assembly further includes a plurality of fasteners <NUM>. The plurality of fasteners <NUM> are configured to fixedly connect the automatic door-opening device <NUM> to the housing <NUM>, and to fixedly connect the housing <NUM> to the box body <NUM>. That is, some fasteners <NUM> may be used to fixedly connect the automatic door-opening device <NUM> to the housing <NUM>, and some fasteners <NUM> may be used to fixedly connect the housing <NUM> to the box body <NUM>.

The automatic door-opening device <NUM> is fixed to the housing <NUM> by the fasteners <NUM> in a direction away from the box body <NUM>, so as to more firmly mount the automatic door-opening device <NUM>. In the illustrated embodiment, the fasteners <NUM> fix the automatic door-opening device <NUM> to the housing <NUM> from bottom to top.

The housing <NUM> is fixed to the box body <NUM> by the fasteners <NUM> in a direction close to the box body <NUM>. In the illustrated embodiment, the fasteners <NUM> fix the housing <NUM> to the box body <NUM> from top to bottom.

Specifically, each automatic door-opening device <NUM> is provided with a plurality of through holes <NUM>. The housing <NUM> is provided with a plurality of connecting protrusions <NUM> extending towards the box body <NUM>, and each connecting protrusion <NUM> is configured to penetrate through one through hole <NUM>. The fasteners <NUM> are configured to be fastened to the connecting protrusions <NUM> to improve the reliability of the automatic door-opening device <NUM>.

<FIG> is a schematic partial sectional diagram of the storage device <NUM> shown in <FIG> taken along another vertical plane; <FIG> is a schematic enlarged diagram of region B in <FIG>. Referring to <FIG>, the automatic door-opening assembly may further include a plurality of limiting clamping sheets <NUM>.

The plurality of limiting clamping sheets <NUM> may be clamped and fixed at end portions, close to the box body <NUM>, of the plurality of connecting protrusions <NUM> fixedly connected with the box body <NUM>, and limit the motion of the at least one automatic door-opening device <NUM> in the axial direction of the through hole <NUM>, so as to prevent the automatic door-opening device <NUM> from deflecting and affecting functions in the mounting process of the housing <NUM>.

The limiting clamping sheet <NUM> may be annular and have a wedge-shaped mounting opening. The end portion of the connecting protrusion <NUM> close to the box body <NUM> may be provided with a mounting groove, and the limiting clamping sheet <NUM> may be clamped and fixed in the mounting groove through the mounting opening.

In some embodiments, the fastener <NUM> may directly limit the motion of the automatic door-opening device <NUM> and the housing <NUM> in the axial direction of the through hole <NUM> by a head thereof. In some other embodiments, the fastener <NUM> may limit the motion of the automatic door-opening device <NUM> and the housing <NUM> in the axial direction of the through hole <NUM> by a gasket <NUM>.

<FIG> is a schematic isometric diagram of an elastic washer <NUM> in <FIG> and <FIG>. Referring to <FIG>, <FIG> and <FIG>, in some embodiments, the automatic door-opening assembly may further include a plurality of elastic washers <NUM>. The plurality of elastic washers <NUM> may be provided between the plurality of connecting protrusions <NUM> and the plurality of through holes <NUM> respectively, so as to improve the stability of the automatic door-opening device <NUM> and prevent the fasteners <NUM> from being loosened.

Each elastic washer <NUM> may include two damping portions <NUM> and one connecting portion <NUM>. The two damping portions <NUM> may be provided at the peripheral edge of the through hole <NUM> close to the box body <NUM> and the peripheral edge of the through hole close to the housing <NUM> respectively. The connecting portion <NUM> may be provided in the through hole <NUM> and connected with the two damping portions <NUM>.

For the through hole <NUM> for fixedly connecting the housing <NUM> and the automatic door-opening device <NUM>, the elastic washer <NUM> may be provided between the housing <NUM> and the gasket <NUM>. For the through hole <NUM> for fixedly connecting the housing <NUM> and the box body <NUM>, the elastic washer <NUM> may be provided between the housing <NUM> and the limiting clamping sheet <NUM>, such that the automatic door-opening assembly has high reliability both during transportation and after mounted to the box body <NUM>.

In some further embodiments, each elastic washer <NUM> may further include a plurality of spherical protrusions <NUM>. The plurality of spherical protrusions <NUM> may be provided on the two damping portions <NUM> respectively, and protrude in a direction away from the connecting portion <NUM>, so as to reduce a contact area between the elastic washer <NUM> and the housing <NUM> or the limiting clamping sheet <NUM> or the gasket <NUM>, and improve the damping effect. In the embodiment of <FIG> and <FIG>, some spherical protrusions <NUM> are in a compressed state.

Referring to <FIG> and <FIG>, at least one avoiding hole <NUM> may be formed on a side wall of the housing <NUM> away from the box body <NUM>. Each motor <NUM> may be partially provided within one avoiding hole <NUM> to reduce the space occupied by the automatic door-opening assembly in the vertical direction.

The automatic door-opening assembly may further include at least one sealing ring <NUM>. The at least one sealing ring <NUM> may be provided between the at least one avoiding hole <NUM> and the at least one motor <NUM> respectively. That is, each avoiding hole <NUM> is correspondingly provided with one sealing ring <NUM> to prevent dust from falling into the housing <NUM>.

In the present invention, the storage device <NUM> may be a refrigerator. The box body <NUM> may include an outer box <NUM>, a liner, and a heat insulation layer provided between the outer box <NUM> and the liner to reduce cold leakage.

<FIG> is a schematic enlarged diagram of region C in <FIG>. Referring to <FIG> and <FIG>, in some embodiments, the box body <NUM> may further include a metal reinforcement <NUM> provided between the outer box <NUM> and the heat insulation layer. The housing <NUM> may be configured to be at least fixedly connected to the metal reinforcement <NUM> to improve the overall structural strength of the refrigerator and prevent the automatic door-opening assembly from being separated from the box body <NUM> due to a reaction force generated when the door body <NUM> is opened.

In the illustrated embodiment, the housing <NUM> is fixedly connected to the outer box <NUM>, the metal reinforcement <NUM>, and the heat insulation layer at the same time by the fasteners <NUM>.

In some embodiments, the housing <NUM> can be configured to cover a hinge device connecting the box body <NUM> and the door body <NUM>, so as to further simplify the process flow and save the cost.

Claim 1:
A storage device (<NUM>), comprising:
a box body (<NUM>) and at least one door body (<NUM>); and
an automatic door-opening assembly for opening the at least one door body (<NUM>), the automatic door-opening assembly comprising:
a housing (<NUM>) fixedly connected to the box body (<NUM>); and
at least one automatic door-opening device (<NUM>), each automatic door-opening device (<NUM>) being at least partially provided on a side, close to the box body (<NUM>), of the housing (<NUM>), and fixedly connected to the housing (<NUM>), so as to fix the at least one automatic door-opening device (<NUM>), wherein the automatic door-opening assembly further comprises:
a plurality of fasteners (<NUM>) configured to fixedly connect the at least one automatic door-opening device (<NUM>) to the housing (<NUM>) and to fixedly connect the housing (<NUM>) to the box body (<NUM>);
the at least one automatic door-opening device (<NUM>) is fixed to the housing (<NUM>) by the fasteners (<NUM>) in a direction away from the box body (<NUM>); and
the housing (<NUM>) is fixed to the box body (<NUM>) by the fasteners (<NUM>) in a direction close to the box body (<NUM>),
characterized in that
each automatic door-opening device (<NUM>) is provided with a plurality of through holes (<NUM>); and
the housing (<NUM>) is provided with a plurality of connecting protrusions (<NUM>) extending towards the box body (<NUM>), and each connecting protrusion is configured to penetrate through one through hole (<NUM>), wherein the fasteners (<NUM>) are configured to be fastened to the connecting protrusions (<NUM>).