refrigerator

Abstract

The present invention provides a refrigerator, which comprises a box body with an open front side; a drawer, which can be pushed and pulled forward and backward and arranged in the box body; and an upper cover, which can be translated forward and backward and arranged in the box body, and is used to cover the upper opening of the drawer; the refrigerator is configured so that when the drawer is pulled forward from the inside of the box body, the upper cover is first driven to move forward synchronously to a stop position, the upper cover is separated from the drawer and stays at the stop position, and then the drawer continues to move forward alone. In the refrigerator of the present invention, the upper cover of the drawer can be automatically half-opened with the drawer, the structure is ingenious, and the user experience is high.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention relates to a refrigeration and freezing device, in particular to a refrigerator. Background Art

[0002] Drawers are very important storage structures in refrigerators. In general refrigerators, drawers are provided in the freezer, temperature-changing chamber, and refrigeration chamber. Moreover, in order to achieve isolation and airtight storage of stored items, many drawers are equipped with upper covers.

[0003] Most existing refrigerators require users to first pull out the drawer as a whole and then manually open its upper cover, which makes the user operation more complicated and the user experience is not high.

[0004] In some improved structures, when the user pulls out the drawer, the upper cover is fixed by other structures in the refrigerator and does not move forward with the drawer. In this way, the process of the user pulling out the drawer is also the process of the upper cover gradually opening the drawer opening, so there is no need for the user to manually open the upper cover. However, this solution of the upper cover being immobile makes it impossible to set some functional display and control structures on the upper cover, which seriously restricts the intelligent design of the drawer. At the same time, it is also difficult to design the appearance of the drawer based on the upper cover. Summary of the invention

[0005] An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned defects in the prior art and to provide a refrigerator in which an upper cover can be automatically half-opened along with a drawer.

[0006] A further object of the present invention is to make the implementation of the related structure of the upper cover automatically half-opening simple and highly reliable.

[0007] In particular, the present invention provides a refrigerator comprising:

[0008] A box with an open front;

[0009] A drawer is arranged in the box body so as to be pushable and retractable; and

[0010] The upper cover can be arranged inside the box body so as to be movably moved forward and backward and is used to cover the upper opening of the drawer. The refrigerator is configured so that when the drawer is pulled forward from the inside of the box body, the upper cover is first driven to move forward synchronously to a stop position, and then the upper cover is separated from the drawer and stays at the stop position, and then the drawer continues to move forward on its own.

[0011] Optionally, the refrigerator also includes two slide rails, which are respectively arranged on the two lateral walls of the box body, for supporting the lateral ends of the upper cover, each slide rail has at least one slope surface gradually tilted upward from back to front; and before the upper cover moves forward with the drawer to the stop position, it gradually moves upward along the slope surface so as to detach from the drawer.

[0012] Optionally, each slide rail surface forms a plurality of inclined surfaces arranged front to back; and a plurality of legs extend from each lateral side end of the upper cover, and the plurality of legs are placed on the corresponding slide rails and matched one by one with the plurality of inclined surfaces thereof, so that each leg gradually moves upward along the corresponding inclined surface when the drawer moves forward.

[0013] Optionally, a stop groove is formed on the surface of each slide rail, which is arranged adjacent to a slope surface to allow the support foot that crosses the slope surface to enter the stop groove, so that the upper cover reaches the stop position.

[0014] Optionally, the stop groove on each slide rail is located in front of the frontmost slope surface of the slide rail.

[0015] Optionally, among the multiple supporting feet at each side end of the upper cover, at least the supporting foot corresponding to the stop groove is provided with a roller to facilitate the supporting foot to escape from the stop groove when the drawer moves backward.

[0016] Optionally, each slide rail has two inclined surfaces; and each lateral side end of the upper cover has two supporting feet.

[0017] Optionally, the surface of each slide rail includes: a first horizontal section; a sloped surface on the rear side that slopes forward and upward from the front end of the first horizontal section; a second horizontal section extending forward from the front end of the sloped surface; a vertical section extending downward from the front end of the second horizontal section; a third horizontal section extending forward from the front end of the vertical section; a sloped surface on the front side that slopes forward and upward from the front end of the third horizontal section; a fourth horizontal section extending forward from the rear end of the front sloped surface; and a stop groove located in front of the fourth horizontal section.

[0018] Optionally, the top edges of the two lateral side walls of the drawer have positioning grooves respectively; the bottom surface of the upper cover has two positioning protrusions, and when the upper cover is in a state of covering the drawer, each positioning protrusion is in a corresponding positioning groove to allow the drawer to drive the upper cover to move forward and backward.

[0019] Optionally, the top edges of the two lateral walls of the upper cover start from the positioning groove and gradually extend downward and backward to form a guiding slope, so that when the drawer is moved backward and closed, the guiding slope guides the positioning protrusion into the positioning groove.

[0020] In the refrigerator of the present invention, when the drawer is opened, the upper cover is first driven to move forward synchronously to a stop position, the upper cover is separated from the drawer and stays at the stop position, and then the drawer continues to move forward alone. The present invention realizes the "automatic half-open" function of the drawer. The opening exposed by the half-open drawer is large enough to basically meet the needs of users to store and retrieve items, eliminating the trouble of users opening the cover. Moreover, the entire drawer opening process is also very novel and unique, making the refrigerator more upscale and providing better user experience.

[0021] Moreover, after the user pulls out the drawer, the upper cover is also partially pulled out. Designers can design some display and control structures on the front of the top cover (for example, designing an interface for adjusting and displaying the temperature and humidity inside the drawer) to further enhance the intelligence level of the refrigerator.

[0022] Furthermore, the refrigerator of the present invention has a sloped surface on the slide rail of the upper cover. When the drawer moves forward, the sloped surface guides the upper cover to move upward to escape from the restraint of the drawer. This structure is simple and ingenious, but the function is very practical. In addition, the number of parts is small, the possibility of failure is small, and the reliability is very high.

[0023] Furthermore, the refrigerator of the present invention uses the positioning groove and the positioning protrusion to position the drawer and the upper cover, so that the drawer can drive the upper cover to move forward and backward. And when the drawer moves backward and closes, the positioning protrusion is guided into the positioning groove by the guiding slope of the top edge of the drawer's lateral side wall, and then the upper cover can move backward and close with the drawer. This design is very clever and highly practical.

[0024] Based on the following detailed description of specific embodiments of the present invention in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, those skilled in the art will become more aware of the above and other objects, advantages and features of the present invention. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0025] Hereinafter, some specific embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail in an exemplary and non-limiting manner with reference to the accompanying drawings. The same reference numerals in the accompanying drawings indicate the same or similar components or parts. It should be understood by those skilled in the art that these drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale. In the accompanying drawings:

[0026] Figure 1 is a schematic structural diagram of a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0027] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of a state in which a drawer in a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention is closed;

[0028] Figure 3 yes Figure 2 The schematic diagram of the state of the drawer after it moves forward and opens;

[0029] Figure 4 yes Figure 3 A magnified view of the structure shown;

[0030] Figure 5 yes Figure 2 An exploded schematic diagram of the structure shown;

[0031] Figure 6 Schematic diagram of the bottom structure of the upper cover;

[0032] Figure 7 This is a schematic diagram of the state of the drawer during the process of moving backward and closing. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0033] Refer to the following Figures 1 to 7 The refrigerator of the embodiment of the present invention is described. The directions or positional relationships indicated by "front", "rear", "upper", "lower", "top", "bottom", "inner", "outer", "lateral", etc. are directions or positional relationships based on the directions or positional relationships indicated in the accompanying drawings. This is only for the convenience of describing the present invention and simplifying the description, and does not indicate or imply that the device or element referred to must have a specific direction, be constructed and operate in a specific direction, and therefore cannot be understood as limiting the present invention.

[0034] The embodiment of the present invention provides a refrigerator. The refrigerator can use a vapor compression refrigeration cycle system to provide cooling capacity. The vapor compression refrigeration cycle system includes a compressor, a condenser, an evaporator, a throttling device and other refrigeration accessories.

[0035] Figure 1 Schematic diagram of the structure of a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 1 As shown, the refrigerator generally includes a box 900 and a drawer 100. The drawer 100 can be arranged in the box in a forward and backward push-pull manner. Of course, in addition to the drawer 100, the refrigerator may also include other drawers and door bodies, such as a drawer 700 and a door body 800, which will not be described in detail herein.

[0036] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of a state in which a drawer in a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention is closed; Figure 3 yes Figure 2 The schematic diagram of the state of the drawer after it moves forward and opens.

[0037] like Figures 2 to 4 As shown, the refrigerator of the embodiment of the present invention further includes an upper cover 400. The upper cover 400 is arranged in the box body 900 so as to be movably moved forward and backward, and is used to cover the upper opening of the drawer 100 so as to form a relatively sealed storage space inside the drawer 100.

[0038] Figure 2 In the embodiment of the present invention, when the drawer 100 is pulled forward from the box 900, the upper cover 400 is first driven to move forward to a stop position, and then the upper cover 400 is separated from the drawer 100 and stays at the stop position ( Figure 3 The upper cover 400 is in the stop position), and then the drawer 100 is moved forward alone to continue opening, for example, finally moving to Figure 3 The fully pulled-out position shown in FIG.

[0039] After completing the operation of storing and retrieving items, the user pushes the drawer 100 backward. At first, the drawer 100 moves backward but the upper cover 400 does not move, until the upper cover 400 completely covers the upper opening of the drawer 100, the drawer 100 drives the upper cover 400 to move backward together, until Figure 2 Initial closed position shown.

[0040] The embodiment of the present invention realizes the "automatic half-open" function of the drawer. After the user pulls open the drawer, the upper cover is already in a half-open state. At this time, the opening exposed by the drawer 100 is large enough. Figure 3 , which can basically meet the needs of users to store and retrieve items, and saves users the trouble of opening the cover. Moreover, the opening process of the entire drawer 100 is also very novel and unique, making the refrigerator more upscale and providing a better user experience. In addition, after the user pulls out the drawer 100, the upper cover 400 is also partially pulled out. Designers can design some display and control structures on the front of the upper cover 400, such as an interface for adjusting and displaying the temperature and humidity inside the drawer 100, or buttons or keys for adjusting the temperature and humidity, etc., to further improve the intelligence level of the refrigerator.

[0041] Figure 4 yes Figure 3 A magnified view of the structure shown. Figure 5 yes Figure 2 In some embodiments, as shown in FIG. Figures 2 to 4 As shown, the refrigerator may include two slide rails 210. The two slide rails 210 are respectively arranged on the two lateral walls of the box body 900 (lateral refers to the left and right direction marked in the figure) to support the lateral ends of the upper cover 400. The side walls of the box body 900 can be directly concave inward to form a groove, and the bottom wall of the groove can constitute the slide rail. Figure 2 As shown, two independently processed track members 200 are provided, and the track members 200 are installed on the lateral side walls of the box body 900. The track members 200 are formed with the aforementioned slide rails 210. Figures 2 to 4 The housing 900 is omitted to more clearly illustrate other components.

[0042] Each slide rail 210 has at least one slope surface that gradually tilts upward from the back to the front, such as the slope surfaces 212 and 214. Before the upper cover 400 moves forward with the drawer 100 to the stop position, it gradually moves upward along the slope surfaces 212 and 214 to be separated from the drawer 100.

[0043] For example Figures 2 to 5 As shown, a plurality of sloped surfaces 212, 214 arranged front to back are formed on the surface of each slide rail 210. The plurality of sloped surfaces can disperse the weight of the upper cover 400, making the movement of the upper cover 400 smoother. Correspondingly, a plurality of legs 410, 420 extend from each lateral side end of the upper cover 400, and the number of the legs 410, 420 is the same as the number of the sloped surfaces 212, 214.

[0044] All the legs 410, 420 of each lateral side of the upper cover 400 are matched with all the sloped surfaces 212, 214 of a corresponding slide rail 210. When the drawer 100 moves forward, each leg 410, 420 gradually moves up along the corresponding sloped surfaces 212, 214. In this embodiment, the upper cover 400 is installed on the slide rail 210 only by the extended legs 410, 420, forming a multi-point support. If the two ends of the upper cover 400 are directly placed on the two slide rails 210, two surface supports are formed. In comparison, the use of multi-point support undoubtedly reduces the contact area between the small upper cover 400 and the slide rail 210, so that the friction area between the two becomes smaller, which is conducive to the upper cover 400 sliding back and forth on the slide rail 210. Moreover, the use of multiple legs 410, 420 and multiple sloped surfaces 212, 214 for cooperation also makes the design work simpler. This is because, if the two ends of the upper cover 400 are directly placed on the two slide rails 210, it is difficult for the designer to design a structure on the upper cover 400 that cooperates with the two slope surfaces 212 and 214 of the slide rails 210. Even if a complex structure is designed, its processing cost will increase.

[0045] In some embodiments, Figures 2 to 5 As shown, a stop groove 219 is formed on the surface of each slide rail 210. The stop groove 219 is arranged in front of a slope surface and is arranged close to the slope surface. When the drawer 100 drives the upper cover 400 to move forward, the support leg moves up along the slope surface, then crosses the slope surface, and then enters the stop groove 219. The support leg is restricted in the stop groove 219 and cannot move further, that is, the upper cover 400 cannot move further. Therefore, the drawer 100 can move forward alone. In other words, after the support leg enters the stop groove 219, the upper cover 400 reaches the aforementioned stop position.

[0046] The number of the stop groove 219 can be one or more. When there is one stop groove 219, the stop groove 219 on each slide rail 210 can be located in front of the slope surface 212 at the frontmost side of the slide rail 210, such as Figure 5 . This is because when the drawer 100 is moved backward to close, the support leg 410 needs to be disengaged from the stop groove 219. The position is set as far forward as possible to facilitate the force applied by the drawer 100 to the support leg 410 of the upper cover 400 and prevent the support leg 410 from being stuck in the stop groove 219. Furthermore, among the multiple support legs 410 and 420 at each side end of the upper cover 400, at least the support leg 410 corresponding to the stop groove 219 is provided with a roller 413. When the drawer 100 moves backward, the roller 413 rolls backward in the stop groove 219, which can help the support leg 410 to disengage from the stop groove 219. For the support leg 420 without a roller, it is preferred to make its lower surface a curved surface to facilitate its sliding on the slide rail 210. Of course, rollers can also be provided on all the support legs 410 and 420.

[0047] In addition, the transition between the stop groove 219 and the slope surfaces 212 , 214 should also be smooth enough to facilitate the movement of the supporting legs 410 , 420 .

[0048] Figure 5 The figure shows an optional structure of the slide rail 210 with two inclined surfaces 212, 214 and a stop groove 219. Figure 5 As shown, optionally, the surface of each slide rail 210 includes: a first horizontal section 211; a rear slope surface 214 tilted forward and upward from the front end of the first horizontal section 211, a second horizontal section 213 extending forward from the front end of the slope surface 214, a vertical section 215 extending downward from the front end of the second horizontal section 213, a third horizontal section 216 extending forward from the front end of the vertical section 215, a front slope surface 212 tilted forward and upward from the front end of the third horizontal section 216, a fourth horizontal section 217 extending forward from the rear end of the front slope surface 212, and a stop groove 219 located in front of the fourth horizontal section 217. A rounded corner is used for smooth transition between each adjacent section to make the movement of the legs 410 and 420 thereon smoother and more labor-saving.

[0049] In some embodiments, since the upper cover 400 itself has gravity, when the drawer 100 moves forward or backward, the upper cover 400 can move with the drawer 100 only by relying on the static friction with the top edge of the side wall of the drawer 100. However, this makes it difficult to ensure the accuracy of the position of the upper cover 400, and unnecessary misalignment may occur during the movement.

[0050] Figure 6 400 is a schematic diagram of the bottom structure of the upper cover 400. In some embodiments, Figure 5 and Figure 6 As shown, the top edges of the two lateral walls of the drawer 100 are provided with positioning grooves 120 respectively. The bottom surface of the upper cover 400 is provided with two positioning protrusions 440. When the upper cover 400 is in the state of covering the drawer 100, each positioning protrusion 440 is in the corresponding positioning groove 120, so as to allow the drawer 100 to drive the upper cover 400 to move forward and backward, and to make the movement of the upper cover 400 more precise, and to prevent unnecessary misalignment. The positioning groove 120 and the positioning protrusion 440 are preferably arc-shaped structures, and the surface of the positioning groove 120 and the adjacent surface of the top edge of the side wall of the drawer 100 are preferably rounded transitions, and the purpose of such a setting is to facilitate the positioning protrusion 440 to more smoothly detach from the positioning groove 120 when necessary.

[0051] When drawer 100 is in Figure 2 In the closed position shown, the positioning protrusion 440 is located in the positioning groove 120. The drawer 100 is Figure 2During the forward movement, the legs 410 and 420 of the upper cover 400 gradually move upward along the slope surfaces 212 and 214 respectively, so that the positioning protrusion 440 gradually moves upward to disengage from the positioning groove 120, so that the upper cover 400 is separated from the drawer 100, allowing the drawer 100 to move forward alone.

[0052] Figure 7 1 is a schematic diagram of the state of the drawer 100 in the process of moving back and closing. Figure 7 As shown, the top edges of the two lateral walls of the upper cover 400 start from the positioning groove 120 and gradually extend downward to form the guide slope 130. When the drawer 100 moves backward to close, the guide slope 130 gradually moves backward relative to the positioning protrusion 440 until it contacts the bottom end of the positioning protrusion 440, and then continues to move backward to guide the positioning protrusion 440 into the positioning groove 120.

[0053] At the same time, when the drawer 100 moves backward, the guiding slope 130 lifts the positioning protrusion 440 upward, so that the supporting foot 410 moves upward to disengage from the stop groove 219, so that the upper cover 400 can move backward with the drawer 100.

[0054] The matching structure of the slide rail 210, the upper cover 400 and the drawer 100 of the present invention is very ingenious, and the function is very practical. In addition, the number of parts is small, the possibility of failure is small, and the reliability is very high.

[0055] It can be understood that the refrigerator of the present invention may include one set of the above-mentioned drawers, upper covers and slide rails, or may include multiple sets.

[0056] At this point, those skilled in the art should recognize that, although multiple exemplary embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described in detail herein, many other variations or modifications that conform to the principles of the present invention can still be directly determined or derived based on the content disclosed in the present invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Therefore, the scope of the present invention should be understood and recognized as covering all these other variations or modifications.

Claims

1. A refrigerator, characterized in that include: A box with an open front; A drawer is arranged in the box body so as to be pushable and pullable forward and backward; and An upper cover is arranged inside the box body so as to be movably moved forward and backward and is used to cover the upper opening of the drawer; Two slide rails are respectively arranged on the two lateral walls of the box body, and are used to support the lateral ends of the upper cover, each of the slide rails has at least one slope surface which gradually tilts upward from the back to the front; and one of the slope surfaces is located near the front end of the slide rail; Each of the slide rail surfaces forms a plurality of slope surfaces arranged front to back; and A plurality of legs extend from each lateral side end of the upper cover, and the plurality of legs are placed on the corresponding slide rails and matched with the plurality of slope surfaces thereof one by one, so that each of the legs gradually moves upward along the corresponding slope surface when the drawer moves forward; The refrigerator is configured as follows: When the drawer is pulled forward from the box, the upper cover is first driven to move forward synchronously to a stop position, the upper cover is separated from the drawer and stops at the stop position, and then the drawer continues to move forward on its own; and The upper cover moves forward with the drawer to the stop position and then gradually moves upward along the slope surface so as to be separated from the drawer.

2. The refrigerator according to claim 1, characterized in that: A stop groove is formed on the surface of each slide rail and is arranged adjacent to and in front of one of the slope surfaces to allow the support leg that has passed over the slope surface to enter the stop groove, so that the upper cover reaches the stop position.

3. The refrigerator according to claim 2, characterized in that: The stop groove on each of the slide rails is located in front of the frontmost slope surface of the slide rail.

4. The refrigerator according to claim 3, characterized in that: Among the multiple supporting feet at each side end of the upper cover, at least the supporting foot corresponding to the stop groove is sleeved with a roller, so as to facilitate the supporting foot to escape from the stop groove when the drawer moves backward.

5. The refrigerator according to claim 4, characterized in that: Each of the slide rails has two slope surfaces; and Each lateral side end of the upper cover has two supporting feet.

6. The refrigerator according to claim 5, characterized in that: The surface of each of the slide rails comprises: The first horizontal section; The slope surface of the rear side is inclined forward and upward from the front end of the first horizontal section; a second horizontal section extending forward from the front end of the slope surface; a vertical section extending downward from a front end of the second horizontal section; a third horizontal section extending forward from the front end of the vertical section; The slope surface of the front side is inclined forward and upward from the front end of the third horizontal section; A fourth horizontal section extending forward from the rear end of the slope surface at the front side; and The stop groove is located in front of the fourth horizontal section.

7. The refrigerator according to claim 1, characterized in that: The top edges of the two lateral walls of the drawer are respectively provided with positioning grooves; The bottom surface of the upper cover is provided with two positioning protrusions. When the upper cover is in a state of covering the drawer, each positioning protrusion is located in a corresponding positioning groove to allow the drawer to drive the upper cover to move forward and backward.

8. The refrigerator according to claim 7, characterized in that: The top edges of the two lateral walls of the upper cover start from the positioning groove and gradually extend downward and backward to form a guiding slope, so that when the drawer moves backward and closes, the guiding slope can guide the positioning protrusion into the positioning groove.

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