Automatic door closing device of refrigerator and refrigerator having the same

Abstract

An automatic door closing device of a refrigerator, which allows a drawer unit to automatically close a storage compartment, and a refrigerator having the same. The automatic door closing device is provided at a front lateral region of the drawer unit, thereby being operated even if a user moves the drawer unit only a short distance. Further, since the automatic door closing device is positioned so as not to invade an installation space of a sliding device for sliding opening/closing of the drawer unit, the sliding device may be installed to easily support the weight of the drawer unit. A damper device is provided underneath the automatic door closing device to prevent the automatic door closing device from causing sudden closing motion of the drawer unit. The damper device may adjust the beginning of shock alleviation by adjusting the length of a damper rod.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]This application claims the benefit of Korean Patent Applications No. 2009-0101613, filed on Oct. 26, 2009 and No. 2010-0053244, filed on Jun. 7, 2010 in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.BACKGROUND[0002]1. Field[0003]Embodiments relate to an automatic door closing device of a refrigerator, which enables automatic closing of a drawer unit of the refrigerator, and a refrigerator having the same.[0004]2. Description of the Related Art[0005]Generally, a refrigerator serves to keep food cool or frozen using cold air generated via operation of a refrigeration cycle. The refrigerator includes doors to open or close the interior of a refrigerator body.[0006]The doors are divided into a rotating type door and a drawer type door. The drawer type door is integrally formed with a storage container. The storage container may be retracted from the refrigerator body simultaneously with ...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0054]In accordance with another aspect, a refrigerator includes a body, a storage compartment defined in the body, a drawer unit inserted into or retracted from the storage compartment, and an automatic door closing device to move the drawer unit to be closed to the storage compartment when the drawer unit reaches a predetermined position in the course of entering the storage compartment, and a damper device to alleviate shock generated during closing of the storage compartment by the automatic door closing device, wherein the drawer unit includes a door to open or close the storage compartment, a supporting member provided at a rear surface of the door to support the drawer unit, a storage container seated in the supporting member, and a sliding device provided at a lateral surface of the supporting member, the storage compartment includes a holding member provided at an inner wall thereof to cause an automatic closing motion of the drawer unit by being caught by the automatic door closing device and a damping protrusion integrally formed with the holding member to interact with the damper device, the automatic door closing device is arranged at a lateral surface of the drawer unit independently of the sliding device, and the damper device is arranged underneath the automatic door closing device.

[0055]Also, in accordance with a further aspect, a refrigerator includes a body, a storage compartment defined in

Problems solved by technology

This operation, however, may result in incomplete closing of the drawer type door if the user does not sufficiently push the door.

However, the conventional automatic closing device may require that the user push the drawer type door until the door is almost closed, and thus, may have a short operating distance.

Further, if the drawer type door is rapidly moved and closed by the automatic closing device, this may

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