Door pre-opening device and refrigerator having the same

Abstract

The present invention discloses a door pre-opening device and a refrigerator having the door pre-opening device. The door pre-opening device comprises an extending mechanism arranged at the rear side of the door body and a docking mechanism fixedly arranged on the door body, the extending mechanism comprises a push rod arranged to move forward and backward in the direction of the docking mechanism, a push block driven by the push rod to push open the door body, and a push hook connected to the push rod and snapped together with the docking mechanism when the push block pushes open the door body. Based on the structure of the provided door pre-opening device, in a specific application scenario of door opening of a refrigerator or the like, since the top hook of the extending mechanism will be snapped together with the docking mechanism when the door body is pushed open, the speed at which the door is opened can be made consistent with the moving speed of the push rod, thereby effectively avoiding the situation in the prior art where the door body is quickly bounced open and unstable operation.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention relates to the field of household appliances, and in particular to a door pre-opening device and a refrigerator having the door pre-opening device. Background Art

[0002] With the continuous improvement of people's living standards, smart home has become an inevitable development trend, and various smart home products have emerged. As an indispensable tool for modern home life, refrigerators have also become an important part of smart home. Intelligent and high-performance refrigerators have become the darling of the market. At present, the doors of refrigerators are opened manually. When the adsorption force between the refrigerator door and the cabinet is too small, it is easy to cause problems such as poor sealing effect of the door and leakage of cold air; when the adsorption force between the refrigerator door and the cabinet is too large, it is easy to cause the door to be difficult to open.

[0003] In order to overcome the above problems, the prior art will use a push rod or other methods to overcome the adsorption force between the refrigerator door and the cabinet to open the door at a certain small angle first, thereby ensuring that the refrigerator has good sealing while facilitating the user to open the door with less force. However, the prior art uses the push rod to pre-open the door, which has the following problems: during the door opening process, the force exerted by the push rod on the door to overcome the adsorption of the door is relatively large, and the door will instantly bounce open and separate from the end of the push rod, which makes the door movement unstable, which may cause the stored items inside the door to fall off, etc. In addition, the push rod pre-opening method may also cause the door to be pushed open and unable to close automatically due to misoperation.

[0004] In view of this, it is necessary to provide an improved technical solution to solve the above problems. Summary of the invention

[0005] The present invention aims to solve at least one of the technical problems existing in the prior art. To achieve the above-mentioned purpose of the invention, the present invention provides a door pre-opening device, and its specific design is as follows.

[0006] A door pre-opening device includes a pushing extension mechanism arranged on the rear side of the door body and a docking mechanism fixedly arranged on the door body, the pushing extension mechanism has a push rod arranged to move forward and backward in the direction of the docking mechanism, a push block driven by the push rod to push open the door body, and a push hook connected to the push rod and snapped into the docking mechanism when the push block pushes open the door body.

[0007] Furthermore, the pushing mechanism further comprises a connecting block fixed to one end of the pushing rod facing the docking mechanism, and the pushing block is connected to a side of the connecting block facing the docking mechanism through a first spring.

[0008] Furthermore, the lifting mechanism also has a mounting plate fixed to the connecting block and extending toward the docking mechanism, and the lifting hook is connected to one end of the mounting plate facing the docking mechanism.

[0009] Furthermore, the top hook includes a main body portion rotatably connected to the mounting plate and a hook head bent and extended toward one side from the front end of the main body portion; the top block has a slide for the top hook to slide, and the slide includes a straight slide for the top hook to slide along the extension direction of the mounting plate and limit the rotation of the main body portion, and an oblique slide for driving the main body portion to rotate toward the hook head at a set angle when the top block pushes open the door body, and the oblique slide is arranged at one end of the straight slide close to the docking mechanism and is connected to the straight slide.

[0010] Furthermore, the top block also has a channel whose extension direction is consistent with the extension direction of the mounting plate and for allowing the mounting plate to move forward and backward, and the channel is connected to the slideway.

[0011] Furthermore, the docking mechanism has a fixed seat fixedly connected to the door body, a snap hook rotatably connected to the fixed seat for snapping with the top hook, and a second spring that drives the snap hook to snap the top hook when the top block pushes open the door body.

[0012] Furthermore, at least one of the top hook and the buckle hook is provided with an inclined surface which drives the buckle hook to rotate and make way when the front end of the top hook abuts against the buckle hook.

[0013] Furthermore, the lifting mechanism also has a sliding seat for the lifting block to slide.

[0014] Furthermore, a limit assembly is provided between the top block and the slide seat to limit the maximum moving stroke of the top block.

[0015] Furthermore, the pushing mechanism also includes a motor connected to the push rod to drive the push rod to move.

[0016] The present invention also provides a refrigerator, comprising a box body and a door body connected to the box body, and the refrigerator also has the door body pre-opening device mentioned above.

[0017] The beneficial effects of the present invention are as follows: based on the structure of the door pre-opening device provided by the present invention, in a specific application scenario of opening the door of a refrigerator or the like, since the top hook of the extension mechanism will be buckled and connected to the docking mechanism when the door is pushed open, the speed at which the door is opened can be consistent with the moving speed of the push rod, effectively avoiding the situation in the prior art where the door is quickly bounced open and the operation is unstable; in addition, when the door is pushed open due to misoperation, the retraction action of the push rod can achieve the reclosing of the door, avoiding the problem of large amounts of refrigerator cold leaking due to misoperation. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0018] In order to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present invention or the technical solutions in the prior art, the drawings required for use in the embodiments or the description of the prior art will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only embodiments of the present invention. For ordinary technicians in this field, other drawings can be obtained based on the provided drawings without paying creative work.

[0019] Figure 1 Shown is a schematic diagram of an overall structure of the refrigerator of the present invention;

[0020] Figure 2 Shown Figure 1 The schematic diagram of the structure shown is after removing the box shell;

[0021] Figure 3 The figure shows an overall structural schematic diagram of the door pre-opening device involved in the present invention;

[0022] Figure 4 Shown Figure 3 The schematic diagram of the structure shown is without the motor;

[0023] Figure 5 Shown Figure 4 An exploded schematic diagram of the structure shown;

[0024] Figure 6 Shown Figure 5 A further exploded schematic diagram of the structure shown;

[0025] Figure 7 Shown Figure 6 Another angle schematic diagram of the structure shown;

[0026] Figure 8 Shown Figure 4 Schematic diagram of the structure of the part after cutting along the AA' direction;

[0027] Fig. 9 Shown Figure 4 A schematic diagram of a part of the structure after cutting along the BB' direction;

[0028] Fig.10 Shown Fig. 9 A schematic plan view of the structure shown;

[0029] Fig.11 The schematic diagram shows a state in which the top block is driven by the top rod to contact the inner surface of the door body;

[0030] Fig.12 The figure shows a state in which the top block stops moving and the top hook continues to move toward the buckle hook;

[0031] Fig.13 The figure shows a schematic diagram of a state where the top hook is buckled and connected to the buckle hook;

[0032] Fig.14 The diagram shows a state in which the door body is pushed open by the top block. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0033] The following will be combined with the drawings in the embodiments of the present invention to clearly and completely describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention. Obviously, the described embodiments are only part of the embodiments of the present invention, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without creative work are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0034] refer to Figure 1 , Figure 2 As shown, the present embodiment discloses a refrigerator, which includes a cabinet 11 and a door 12 connected to the cabinet 11, and the refrigerator also has a door pre-opening device 200. The door pre-opening device 200 involved in the present invention is used to open the door to a preset angle before the user manually opens the door. In the specific implementation structure of the refrigerator, the cabinet 11 has an inner tank 110 constituting its refrigeration compartment, and the door pre-opening device 200 is arranged on the top outer side of the inner tank 110. It can be understood that in other embodiments of the present invention, the door pre-opening device 200 can also be arranged at other positions that can be used to open the door to a certain angle, and is not limited to Figure 2 The position shown in .

[0035] The specific structure of the door pre-opening device 200 is further illustrated below:

[0036] Combination Figure 2 , Figure 3 As shown, the door pre-opening device 200 involved in the present invention includes a push-up mechanism 21 arranged at the rear side of the door body 12 and a docking mechanism 22 fixedly arranged on the door body 12. In this specific embodiment, the push-up mechanism 21 is fixedly connected to the box body 11 at the rear side of the door body 12.

[0037] More specifically, combined Figure 3 , Figure 4 As shown, in the present invention, the extending mechanism 21 has a push rod 211 that is arranged to move forward and backward in the direction of the docking mechanism 22, a push block 212 that is driven by the push rod 211 to push open the door body 12, and a push hook 213 that is connected to the push rod 211 and is snap-connected to the docking mechanism 22 when the push block 212 pushes open the door body 12.

[0038] Based on the structure of the door pre-opening device 200 provided by the present invention, in the specific application scenario of opening the refrigerator door 12, since the top hook 213 of the extension mechanism 21 will be buckled and connected to the docking mechanism 22 when the door 12 is pushed open, the speed of the door 12 opening can be consistent with the moving speed of the top rod 211, effectively avoiding the situation in the prior art where the door 12 is quickly bounced open and unstable operation. In addition, during the use of the refrigerator, if the door 12 is pushed open due to misoperation, since the top hook 213 of the extension mechanism 21 is connected to the docking mechanism 22, the door 12 can be closed again through the automatic retraction action of the top rod 211, avoiding the problem of large-scale leakage of refrigerator cold due to misoperation.

[0039] It can be understood that the refrigerator involved in the present invention can also have a signal receiver, a data processor and a controller. A specific way to open the door of the refrigerator is that the signal receiver is used to receive a signal from the user that the door needs to be opened. The signal is processed by the data processor and transmitted to the controller. The controller controls the door pre-opening device 200 to realize a small angle opening of the door. Then the user can manually pull the door to disengage the top hook 213 from the docking mechanism 22 to complete the door opening action. In the specific implementation process, the signal receiver can be a voice receiver that receives the user's voice, or a sensor that receives the user's touch operation or press operation, etc., which can realize signal reception and transmit the received signal to the data processor.

[0040] When the door body 12 is pushed open due to an erroneous operation, an automatic closing program may be preset in the controller to enable the door body to close automatically. The automatic closing program includes the following steps: the push rod 211 moves to the maximum distance in the direction of the docking mechanism 22; the push rod 211 is locked to a set time; the push rod 211 retreats from the current position until the door body 12 is completely closed. In the specific implementation process, the setting time range for locking the push rod 211 can be 3s-10s.

[0041] For more specific information, see Figure 4 As shown in , the extension mechanism 21 involved in this specific embodiment also has a connecting block 214 fixed to one end of the top rod 211 facing the docking mechanism 22, and the top block 212 is connected to the side of the connecting block 214 facing the docking mechanism 22 through the first spring 215. Based on this setting, when the door pre-opening device 200 is started and the top rod 211 moves toward the direction where the docking mechanism 22 is located, if the top block 212 is abutted by the inner surface 120 of the door body 12, the top block 212 will stop moving, the first spring 215 will begin to compress, and the top hook 213 will continue to move toward the docking mechanism 22 driven by the top rod 211 until it is buckled and connected with the docking mechanism 22. It can be understood that when the docking mechanism 22 is set inside the door body 12, an opening for the top hook 213 to enter and cooperate with the docking mechanism 22 is set on the inner surface 120 of the door body 12.

[0042] When the door pre-opening device 200 is started and the top rod 211 moves toward the direction of the docking mechanism 22, when the top hook 213 is snapped and connected to the docking mechanism 22, the first spring 215 has a maximum compression amount. At this time, the force applied by the top rod 211 to the top block 212 through the first spring 215 will overcome the adsorption force of the door body 12 to complete the pre-opening action of the door body 12.

[0043] Combination Figure 4 , Figure 5 As shown, the extension mechanism 21 further has a mounting plate 216 fixed to the connection block 214 and extending toward the docking mechanism 22, and the top hook 213 is connected to one end of the mounting plate 216 facing the docking mechanism 22. Based on this, the top hook 213 can act synchronously with the top rod 211.

[0044] refer to Figure 5 As shown, the top hook 213 of the present invention includes a main body 2131 rotatably connected to the mounting plate 216 and a hook head 2132 extending from the front end of the main body 2131 to one side. As shown in the figure, the main body 2131 is rotatably disposed on the mounting plate 216 along the first rotation axis L1.

[0045] refer to Figure 7 , Figure 8 , Fig. 9 As shown, the top block 212 involved in this embodiment has a slideway 2101 for the top hook 213 to slide, that is, when the top rod 211 moves, the top hook 213 will move along the slideway 2101.

[0046] Further integration Fig.10 As shown, the slideway 2101 includes a straight slideway 2101a and an oblique slideway 2101b. The straight slideway 2101a is used for the top hook 213 to slide along the extension direction of the mounting plate 216 and can limit the rotation of the main body 2131, that is, when the top hook 213 slides in the straight slideway 2101a, the main body 2131 of the top hook 213 cannot rotate and maintain a specific direction after cooperating with the side wall of the straight slideway 2101a; the oblique slideway 2101b can drive the main body 2131 to rotate, so that when the top block 212 pushes the door body 12 open, the main body 2131 can rotate to the side of the hook head 2132 at a set angle, thereby achieving a better buckling connection effect between the hook head 2132 of the top hook 213 and the docking mechanism 22.

[0047] The oblique slideway 2101b involved in the present invention is arranged at one end of the linear slideway 2101a close to the docking mechanism 22 and is connected to the linear slideway 2101a. When the top rod 211 pushes the top hook 213 to move in the direction of the docking mechanism 22, the top rod 211 first slides in the linear slideway 2101a, and then when the main body 2131 slides into the oblique slideway 2101b, the main body 2131 rotates toward the hook head 2132 due to the guiding effect of the oblique slideway 2101b on the main body 2131. Fig.13 shown.

[0048] As a preferred embodiment of the present invention, refer to Figure 5 , Figure 6 , Figure 7 , Figure 8 As shown, the top block 212 involved in this embodiment further has a channel 2102 whose extension direction is consistent with the extension direction of the mounting plate 216 for the mounting plate 216 to move forward and backward, wherein the channel 2102 is connected to the slideway 2101. Based on the direction restriction of the forward and backward movement of the mounting plate 216 by the channel 2102, the forward and backward movement of the mounting plate 216 is made more stable, thereby preventing the top hook 213 from sliding and getting stuck in the slideway 2101.

[0049] In the specific implementation process, refer to Figure 6 , Figure 7 As shown, the top block 212 involved in this embodiment is assembled by a main body 2121 formed with a slideway 2101 and a channel 2102 and a bottom plate 2122, which can facilitate the assembly between the top block 212 and components such as the mounting plate 216 and the top hook 213.

[0050] refer to Figure 6 As shown in the figure, a side surface of the bottom plate 2122 facing the channel 2102 is provided with a plurality of ridges 2122c extending in parallel and in the same direction as the mounting plate 216 for sliding of the mounting plate 216, so that the mounting plate 216 can move more smoothly in the slideway 2101.

[0051] Combination Figure 2 , Fig. 9 , Fig.13 , Fig.14 As shown, the docking mechanism 22 involved in this embodiment has a fixed seat 221 fixedly connected to the door body 12, a snap hook 222 rotatably connected to the fixed seat 221 for snapping together with the top hook 213, and a second spring 223 that drives the snap hook 222 to snap together the top hook 213 when the top block 212 pushes open the door body 12.

[0052] Specifically, the buckle hook 222 is rotatably disposed on the fixing seat 221 along the second rotation axis L2, and the two ends of the second spring 223 are respectively connected to the buckle hook 222 and the fixing seat 221. In some more specific embodiments, a limiting portion is disposed on the fixing seat 221, and the limiting portion is used to limit the buckle hook 222 to an initial position for the top hook 213 to buckle before the top hook 213 abuts against the buckle hook 222. Fig. 9 As shown in , the limiting portion can be a boss 2210 disposed on one side of the buckle hook 222 and used to limit the further rotation of the buckle hook 222 .

[0053] In the present invention, at least one of the top hook 213 and the buckle hook 222 is provided with an inclined surface that drives the buckle hook 222 to rotate and give way when the front end of the top hook 213 abuts against the buckle hook 222. Fig.11 As shown, the front end of the top hook 213 in this embodiment is provided with an inclined surface 2130 that matches with the front end of the hook 222, so that when the top rod 211 drives the top hook 213 to move toward the hook 222 and the front end of the top hook 213 abuts against the hook 222, the inclined surface 2130 can drive the hook 222 to rotate and form a clearance space for the top hook 213 to further move toward the hook 222. In other embodiments of the present invention, the inclined surface can also be provided on the hook 222.

[0054] As a preferred embodiment of the present invention, refer to Figure 4 , Figure 5 As shown, the lifting mechanism 21 involved in this embodiment also has a slide seat 217 for sliding the lifting block 212. In the specific implementation process, the slide seat 217 is fixedly arranged on the box body 11.

[0055] In addition, in order to prevent the top block 212 from moving too far in the direction of the docking mechanism 22 and falling off the slide 217, in the specific implementation process, a limit component is provided between the top block 212 and the slide 217 to limit the maximum movement of the top block 212. Figure 4 , Figure 5 As shown, the limiting assembly involved in this specific embodiment includes a first protrusion 2120 protruding outward from both sides of the rear end of the top block 212 and a second protrusion 2170 protruding upward from both sides of the front end of the slide seat 217 and arranged in a one-to-one correspondence with the first protrusion 2120.

[0056] refer to Figure 3 As shown, the extension mechanism 21 involved in this specific embodiment further includes a motor 218 connected to the top rod 211 to drive the top rod 211 to move. It can be understood that in a specific application scenario of a refrigerator, the relevant actions of the motor are controlled by a controller.

[0057] In order to better understand the present invention, the following Fig.10 , Fig.11 , Fig.12 , Fig.13 , Fig.14 The specific operation process of the door pre-opening device 200 involved in the present invention is further described:

[0058] refer to Fig.10 As shown, after the door pre-opening device 200 is started, the top rod 211 pushes the top block 212 and the top hook 213 to move toward the docking mechanism 22 synchronously.

[0059] refer to Fig.11 As shown, after the top block 212 moves to abut the inner surface 120 of the door body 12, the top block 212 stops running and the first spring 215 contracts; and the top hook 213 continues to move toward the docking mechanism 22 and abuts against the snap hook 222 under the push of the top rod 211. Under the action of the inclined surface 2130, the snap hook 222 overcomes the pulling force of the second spring 223 and rotates to form a clearance space for the top hook 213 to move further toward the snap hook 222.

[0060] refer to Fig.12 , Fig.13 As shown, when the hook head of the top hook 213 completely enters the inner side of the snap hook 222, the second spring 223 drives the snap hook 222 to rotate so that it forms a snap connection with the top hook 213; and at this time, since the main body 2131 of the top hook 213 slides into the oblique slide 2101b, under the action of the oblique slide 2101b, the top hook 213 will also rotate a certain angle in the direction of its hook head 2132, thereby forming a more stable connection between the top hook 213 and the snap hook 222.

[0061] refer to Fig.14 As shown, when the first spring 215 is compressed to a certain extent and the force applied by the top block 212 to the door body 12 is greater than the adsorption force between the box body 11 and the door body 12, the door body 12 will be pushed open by the top block 212. At this time, due to the snap connection formed between the top hook 213 and the snap hook 222, the door body can maintain a speed basically consistent with the top rod 211 when opening, thereby avoiding the door body from bouncing open quickly and running unstablely.

[0062] After the door body 12 is opened to a certain angle by the door body pre-opening device 200, the user can open the door body by hand-pulling. In the specific implementation process, since the force of the buckling connection between the top hook 213 and the buckle hook 222 is much smaller than the adsorption force between the door body 12 and the box body 11, the user can separate the top hook 213 from the buckle hook 222 with a small pulling force.

[0063] If the user mistakenly activates the door pre-opening device 200 , no additional operation is required. The door pre-opening device 200 can control the retraction of the top rod 211 through the motor 218 to achieve automatic closing of the door 12 .

[0064] It can be understood that in the present invention, components such as the top hook 213 and the buckle hook 222 are preferably made of a material with good toughness such as plastic.

[0065] It should be understood that although this specification is described according to implementation modes, not every implementation mode contains only one independent technical solution. This description of the specification is only for the sake of clarity. Those skilled in the art should regard the specification as a whole. The technical solutions in each implementation mode may also be appropriately combined to form other implementation modes that can be understood by those skilled in the art.

[0066] The series of detailed descriptions listed above are only specific descriptions of feasible implementation methods of the present invention. They are not intended to limit the scope of protection of the present invention. Any equivalent implementation methods or changes that do not deviate from the technical spirit of the present invention should be included in the scope of protection of the present invention.

Claims

1. A door pre-opening device, characterized in that: It comprises a pushing mechanism arranged at the rear side of the door body and a docking mechanism fixedly arranged on the door body, the pushing mechanism comprising a push rod arranged to move forward and backward in the direction of the docking mechanism, a push block driven by the push rod to push open the door body, a connecting block fixed to one end of the push rod facing the docking mechanism, a mounting plate fixed to the connecting block and extending in the direction of the docking mechanism, and a top hook connected to the push rod and buckled and connected to the docking mechanism when the push block pushes open the door body; The top hook includes a main body rotatably connected to the mounting plate and a hook head bent and extended from the front end of the main body to one side; the top block has a slide for the top hook to slide, and the slide includes a straight slide for the top hook to slide along the extension direction of the mounting plate and limit the rotation of the main body, and an oblique slide for driving the main body to rotate to rotate toward the hook head at a set angle when the top block pushes open the door body, and the oblique slide is arranged at one end of the straight slide close to the docking mechanism and is connected to the straight slide.

2. The door pre-opening device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The top block is connected to a side of the connection block facing the docking mechanism through a first spring.

3. The door pre-opening device according to claim 2, characterized in that: The top hook is connected to one end of the mounting plate facing the docking mechanism.

4. The door pre-opening device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The top block also has a channel whose extension direction is consistent with that of the mounting plate and for allowing the mounting plate to move forward and backward, and the channel is connected to the slideway.

5. The door pre-opening device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that: The docking mechanism comprises a fixing seat fixedly connected to the door body, a snap-fitting hook rotatably connected to the fixing seat for snapping with the top hook, and a second spring driving the snap-fitting hook to snap the top hook when the top block pushes open the door body.

6. The door pre-opening device according to claim 5, characterized in that: At least one of the top hook and the buckle hook is provided with an inclined surface which drives the buckle hook to rotate and make way when the front end of the top hook abuts against the buckle hook.

7. The door pre-opening device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that: The lifting and extending mechanism also has a sliding seat for the lifting block to slide.

8. The door pre-opening device according to claim 7, characterized in that: A limiting component for limiting the maximum moving stroke of the top block is provided between the top block and the slide seat.

9. The door pre-opening device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that: The jacking mechanism also includes a motor connected to the jacking rod to drive the jacking rod to move.

10. A refrigerator, comprising a box body and a door body connected to the box body, characterized in that: The refrigerator also has a door pre-opening device as described in any one of claims 1-9.

Images