Refrigerator

Abstract

A refrigerator, more particularly a refrigerator having an auxiliary door is disclosed. The refrigerator according to the present invention includes a main door with an opening for opening / closing a storage chamber of a refrigerator body; an auxiliary door rotatably coupled to the main door for opening / closing the opening, the auxiliary door opened / closed by pushing an outer surface thereof; and a locking unit for selectively locking the auxiliary door to open / close the auxiliary door by pushing, and for applying rotation force to the auxiliary door to open the auxiliary door. With the above configuration, convenience for usage may be improved, because the auxiliary door is opened / closed more conveniently.

Description

[0001] This application claims the benefit of the Patent Korean Application No. P2005-0029417, filed on Apr. 8, 2005, which is hereby incorporated by reference as if fully set forth herein. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002] 1. Field of the Invention [0003] The present invention relates to a refrigerator, and more particularly, to a refrigerator having an auxiliary door for opening / closing a part of a main door. [0004] 2. Discussion of the Related Art [0005] In general, a refrigerator is an appliance which can preserve food fresh at a low temperature, and includes chambers for preserving food therein by freezing and / or refrigerating. [0006] The chamber is opened / closed by a main door rotatably provided in a refrigerator body for allowing the food taken out from or put in the chamber. [0007] Recently, a refrigerator has been under development, in which not only leakage of cold air caused by opening a main door quite often is reduced but also the food used frequently is taken out and / ...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The present invention is a refrigerator with an auxiliary door that can be opened and closed for improved convenience. The refrigerator includes a locking unit that selectively locks the auxiliary door and applies rotation force to open it. The locking unit includes an engaging member and a locker that selectively engages the engaging member. The engaging member is provided in the auxiliary door and the locker is provided in the main door. The locking unit can be used with a damping unit to slow down the rotation speed of the auxiliary door. The main door also has an auxiliary frame for supporting the auxiliary door. The opening of the main door connects the inside of the storage chamber with the outside.

Problems solved by technology

Thus, the conventional refrigerator has a problem of inconvenience that a user should operate the button unlocking the auxiliary door as well as the handle to open the auxiliary door.

Furthermore, in case that a user using both hands at the same time tries to open and store the food or beverage, it is more inconvenient that he / she should put down the food and / or the beverage on the floor and open the auxiliary door and then lift the food and / or the beverage again to store in the auxiliary storage part.

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