Patent ID: 7806491

Claim:
A refrigerator, comprising: a main body having a storage chamber; a door rotatably provided to the main body; a storage container seating portion depressed into a portion of a rear surface of the door, the storage container seating portion including a protruding portion; a storage container seated in the storage container seating portion, the storage container having a space for storing articles therein, the storage container being removable from the storage container seating portion by movement of the storage container in a primarily horizontal direction; and a locking mechanism provided on the storage container for locking the storage container to the storage container seating portion by causing a portion of the locking mechanism to be caught by the protruding portion of the storage container seating portion, wherein the locking mechanism comprises: a housing formed with a predetermined space therein; a catching pin received in the housing and supported by an elastic member to slightly protrude toward the outside of the housing, the catching pin including a tip end caught by the protruding portion of the storage container seating portion; and a release lever coming into contact with a portion of the catching pin and cooperating with the catching pin to allow the tip end of the catching pin to come in and out of the housing, the release lever being installed to be exposed to the outside of the storage container at a position adjacent to the housing, wherein the tip end of the catching pin includes: a catching portion which selectively protrudes to the outside of the housing and has a cooperating surface guided along the protruding portion of the storage container seating portion and a contact surface caught by the protruding portion; an extending portion provided at a rear end of the catching portion to pass through the elastic member; and a guide portion formed at a rear end of the extending portion to cooperate with the release lever, and wherein the protruding portion of the storage container seating portion is a catching protrusion including a guide surface which is upwardly inclined from the entrance to the interior of the storage container seating portion to guide the cooperating surface along the guide surface, and a catching surface which extends from an end of the guide surface vertically toward the bottom of the storage container seating portion to be brought into contact with the contact surface.