Patent ID: 8444237

Claim:
A refrigerator comprising: a cabinet in which a storage chamber is formed; a door that is connected to the cabinet and opens and closes the storage chamber; and a door opening apparatus that is provided in the cabinet and opens the door, wherein the door opening apparatus includes: a push member that contacts a rear surface of the door and pushes the rear surface of the door by a rotation operation and a driver that is connected to the push member and generates power for moving the push member, wherein the push member is provided with a contact part that contacts the rear surface of the door, and the contact part has a round part, wherein the round part includes a plurality of portions that are formed with different curvatures, and the plurality of portions sequentially contact the rear surface of the door during the opening of the door, wherein the curvature of the portion which first contacts the door is smaller than the curvature of the portion that contacts the door later, among the plurality of portions, wherein the push member is rotatably coupled to a fixing shaft, wherein the driver is a solenoid unit that includes a rod that is linearly moved when electricity is conducted, and is directly connected to an end of the push member that is spaced apart from the fixing shaft, wherein the rod includes a connection shaft that is connected to the push member, wherein the connection shaft is connected to the push member at a position where it is spaced from the fixing shaft, wherein the push member has a connection hole to which the connection shaft is connected, and wherein the connection hole is elongated so that the connection shaft is moved along the connection hole during the rotation of the push member.