Patent ID: 12188711

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

A refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference toFIGS.1to6. 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.1is a schematic structural diagram of a refrigerator, when a first door body10is in an open state, according to an embodiment of the present invention;FIG.2is an enlarged schematic diagram of the first door body10, a driving mechanism60and a vertical beam50inFIG.1;FIG.3is a schematic structural diagram of the refrigerator, when the first door body10is in a closed state, shown inFIG.1; andFIG.4is an enlarged schematic diagram of the first door body10, the driving mechanism60and the vertical beam50inFIG.3.

As shown inFIG.1toFIG.4, an embodiment of the present invention provides a refrigerator. The refrigerator includes a refrigerator body30with an open front side, a first door body10and a second door body20that are rotatably disposed on the front side of the refrigerator body30in a side-by-side manner, a vertical beam50that is mounted at an open end of the first door body10to be rotatable around a first vertical axis X1, and at least one driving mechanism60.

The front side of the refrigerator body30is open, that is, a storage compartment301defined by the refrigerator body30is open forward (referring toFIG.5). The first door body10and the second door body20are rotatably disposed on the front side of the refrigerator body30in a side-by-side manner. For example, inFIG.1, the first door body10and the second door body20are arranged side by side along the transverse direction, and a pivot axis of the first door body10on 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 body20on 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 beam50is rotatably mounted at the open end of the first door body10. As shown inFIG.3, when both the first door body10and the second door body20are in a closed state, the vertical beam50is 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 inFIG.1, during the opening of the first door body10, the vertical beam50rotates backwards, to rotate from an unfolded state approximately parallel to the first door body10to a folded state at a predetermined angle (for example, perpendicular to the first door body10) with the first door body10, so as to be away from the second door body20, thereby preventing the vertical beam50from being blocked by the second door body20during the opening of the first door body10. Similarly, during the closing of the first door body10, the vertical beam50gradually 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 beam50can also be mounted on the second door body20instead of the first door body10. However, for ease of description, the embodiment of the present invention only introduces the solution of mounting the vertical beam50on the first door body10.

As shown inFIG.2andFIG.4, each driving mechanism60includes a telescopic member61, an elastic member62, a rotating member63and a sliding column64. The telescopic member61is telescopically mounted on the first door body10in the thickness direction (when the first door body10is in a closed state, the thickness direction is parallel to a front-rear direction) of the first door body10, to be at an extension position (as shown inFIG.2) where the rear end of the telescopic member projects and extends out of the surface of the inner side of the first door body10, or at a retraction position (as shown inFIG.4) of retracting from the extension position to the interior of the first door body10by a preset distance. The elastic member62is configured to apply an elastic force to the telescopic member61to prompt the same to move towards the extension position. That is, when the telescopic member61is at the retraction position, under the action of the elastic force of the elastic member62, the telescopic member has a tendency to move towards the extension position. The rotating member63is mounted on the first door body10to be rotatable around a second vertical axis X2, and mounted on the telescopic member61to be rotatable around a third vertical axis X3, and a sliding channel631is formed in the rotating member63. The sliding column64is directly or indirectly fixed to the vertical beam50and slidable along the sliding channel631.

The refrigerator is configured such that when the first door body10is in the open state, the telescopic member61is at the extension position, and the vertical beam50is in the folded state attached to the inner side of the first door body10, as shown inFIG.1andFIG.2. During the closing of the first door body10, the telescopic member61is blocked by the refrigerator body30and moves towards the retraction position, to drive the rotating member63to rotate around the second vertical axis X2, so that the sliding channel631pushes the sliding column64to drive the vertical beam50to rotate to the unfolded state, so as to seal the gap between the first door body10and the second door body20, as shown inFIG.3andFIG.4. During this process, the driving mechanism60drives the rotating member63to rotate by using movement of the telescopic member61, and the rotation of the rotating member63drives the sliding column64to move, and finally drives the vertical beam50to rotate.

It should be understood that, during rotation and opening of the first door body10, the telescopic member61is not blocked by the refrigerator body30, and gradually extends out under the action of the elastic force of the elastic member62, so that the rotating member63is driven to rotate around the second vertical axis X2, and thus the sliding channel631pushes the sliding column64to drive the vertical beam50to rotate to the folded state.

According to the embodiment of the present invention, by means of the simple driving mechanism60, the vertical beam50can rotate automatically with an opening or closing action of the first door body10, which has an extremely ingenious structure. Moreover, the top/bottom of the vertical beam50can 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 inFIG.2andFIG.4, the driving mechanism60can further include a connection rod65. The connection rod65is fixedly connected to the vertical beam50and extends in a direction away from the vertical beam50, and the sliding column64is mounted at the end, away from the vertical beam50, of the connection rod65. Therefore, the sliding column64is away from the first vertical axis X1of the vertical beam50, so that a longer arm of force (that is, the distance between the sliding column64and the first vertical axis X1) is achieved, and thus the sliding column64can drive the vertical beam50to rotate even a less force is applied to the sliding column.

The end, close to the vertical beam50, of the connection rod65is rotatably mounted on the first door body10so that the vertical beam50rotates around the first vertical axis X1. That is, the vertical beam50is mounted on the first door body10by means of the connection rod65, and thus there is no need to additionally provide a rotatable connection structure on the vertical beam50. The connection rod65and the vertical beam50may be separate components and are fixedly connected by a fastening structure. The connection65and a housing of the vertical beam50may also be integrally molded.

In some embodiments, as shown inFIG.2andFIG.4, the second vertical axis X2, the third vertical axis X3and a central axis of the sliding column64may be coplanar, and the second vertical axis X2is located between the third vertical axis X3and the sliding channel631. The refrigerator is configured such that when the vertical beam50is in the folded state, the sliding column64abuts against the end, away from the second vertical axis X2, of the sliding channel631in the length direction, as shown inFIG.2, and thus the vertical beam50is firmly maintained in the folded state when the telescopic member61is at the extension position. A ratio of the distance between the end (A end), away from the second vertical axis X2, of the sliding channel631in 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 X3and the second vertical axis X2(that is, the distance between X2and X3) is greater than 5, preferably greater than 7, so as to reduce the operation resistance of the driving mechanism60, make the operation more smooth, and make a user close the door more effortlessly. At the same time, the telescopic member61can complete one rotation of the vertical beam50by moving a relatively small distance, which prevents the length of the telescopic member61from exceeding the thickness of the first door body10.

In some embodiments, as shown inFIG.2andFIG.4, the rotating member63includes an oblong ring part630, and the sliding channel631is formed on the inner side of the ring part630. The sliding column64may be cylindrical and has an outer diameter slightly less than the width of the sliding channel631, so as to move in the length direction of the sliding channel631. The sliding column64is mounted on the connection rod65to be rotatable around the central axis of the sliding column, so that the sliding column can roll along the inner wall of the sliding channel631, to reduce sliding friction.

In some embodiments, as shown inFIG.2andFIG.4, the telescopic member61is provided with two lugs612extending away from each other in the width direction of the first door body10. The first door body10is provided with two limit grooves110to accommodate the two lugs612respectively. There are two elastic members62and both are compressed springs, and each elastic member62is connected between the rear surface of one lug612and the rear wall112of the corresponding limit groove110. When the telescopic member61is in an extending state, the lugs612abut against the front walls111of the limit grooves110under the action of the elastic forces of the elastic members62. The first door body10can be provided with a sliding way11, and the telescopic member61is slidably mounted into the sliding way11, to achieve telescopic movement. The two limit grooves110are located on two sides of the sliding way11in the width direction.

FIG.5is an exploded schematic diagram of the refrigerator body30, the first door body10, the vertical beam50and the driving mechanism60inFIG.1; andFIG.6is a schematic structural diagram of the driving mechanism60and the vertical beam50inFIG.5.

As shown inFIG.5andFIG.6, the telescopic member61, the rotating member63and the connection rod65may be arranged in the vertical direction in a staggered manner, to avoid interference.

In some embodiments, as shown inFIG.5andFIG.6, there may be two driving mechanisms60, so that the two driving mechanisms60are matched with the top and the bottom of the vertical beam50respectively, and thus the vertical beam50is more evenly stressed in the up-down direction and rotates more smoothly. The upper and lower driving mechanisms60can be symmetrically disposed.

Hereto, those skilled in the art should realize that although a plurality of exemplary embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described in detail herein, without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention, many other variations or modifications that conform to the principles of the present invention can still be directly determined or deduced from the contents disclosed in the present invention. Therefore, the scope of the present invention should be understood and recognized as covering all these other variations or modifications.