Box door mounting device and box door mounting method

Abstract

The present application relates to a door mounting device and a door mounting method for automatically mounting a door of a refrigerator to a cabinet. The door mounting device comprises an alignment mechanism comprising an alignment execution assembly, wherein the alignment execution assembly comprises a pin shaft alignment portion and a shaft sleeve alignment portion, the pin shaft alignment portion comprises a pin shaft guide portion and a pin shaft alignment position, the shaft sleeve alignment portion comprises a shaft sleeve guide portion and a shaft sleeve alignment position, the pin shaft guide portion guides the pin shaft to gradually reach the pin shaft alignment position in the process of the alignment execution assembly and the pin shaft approaching each other, and the shaft sleeve guide portion guides the shaft sleeve to gradually reach the shaft sleeve alignment position in the process of the alignment execution assembly and the shaft sleeve approaching each other.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application relates to the assembly of refrigerators, and more specifically, to a door mounting device and method for automatically installing the door onto the refrigerator body. Background Technology

[0002] In existing technology, when manufacturers produce refrigerators, the door and the refrigerator body are generally manufactured separately and then assembled together. The door and body are typically assembled by inserting or fitting a bushing or pin from the door to a pin or bushing on the lateral end of the body. This assembly process is often done manually; that is, there is currently no assembly device to automatically install the door onto the body. Summary of the Invention

[0003] The purpose of this application is to solve or, to some extent, alleviate the technical problems mentioned above.

[0004] According to a first aspect of this application, a door mounting device is provided for automatically mounting a refrigerator door to a refrigerator body, wherein one of the door and the refrigerator body has a bushing and the other has a pin that engages with the bushing, the pin being mounted in the bushing to form a hinge pivotable about an axial direction, wherein the door mounting device includes:

[0005] An alignment mechanism includes an alignment execution component, wherein the alignment execution component includes a pin alignment part and a bushing alignment part, the pin alignment part includes a pin guide part and a pin alignment position, and the bushing alignment part includes a bushing guide part and a bushing alignment position. During the process of the alignment mechanism and the pin approaching each other, the pin guide part guides the pin to gradually reach the pin alignment position, and during the process of the alignment mechanism and the bushing approaching each other, the bushing guide part guides the bushing to gradually reach the bushing alignment position.

[0006] According to a second aspect of this application, a method for installing a refrigerator door is provided, which automatically installs the refrigerator door to the refrigerator body using a door installation device according to any embodiment of this application, wherein one of the door and the refrigerator body has a bushing and the other has a pin that mates with the bushing, wherein the door installation method includes:

[0007] The alignment actuator moves closer to the pin until the pin guide gradually guides the pin to the alignment position; and

[0008] The alignment actuator moves closer to the bushing until the bushing guide gradually guides the bushing to the bushing alignment position. Attached Figure Description

[0009] The disclosure of this invention will become more readily understood with reference to the accompanying drawings. It will be readily understood by those skilled in the art that these drawings are for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to limit the scope of protection of this invention. Furthermore, similar numbers in the drawings are used to denote similar components, wherein:

[0010] Figure 1 An exemplary diagram illustrates the construction of the cabinet door mounting device disclosed in this application at the mounting position;

[0011] Figure 2 A schematic structural diagram of the door mounting mechanism and the alignment mechanism is shown as an example.

[0012] Figure 3 The construction of the alignment mechanism is illustrated exemplarily; and

[0013] Figure 4 An exemplary connection between the alignment element and the guide is shown, wherein 4a shows a perspective view and 4b shows a top view. Detailed Implementation

[0014] Figure 1 A schematic structural diagram of the installation device disclosed in this application is shown. Within the scope of this application, automatically installing the refrigerator door onto the refrigerator body refers to fitting or inserting a bushing or pin on one lateral end side of the door into a corresponding pin or bushing on the lateral end side of the refrigerator body. (Refer to...) Figure 1 It can be seen that the door mounting device 100 for installing the door onto the refrigerator body includes an alignment mechanism 30. The alignment mechanism 30 includes an alignment execution component 31, which specifically includes a pin alignment part 311 and a bushing alignment part 312. The pin alignment part 311 includes a pin guide part and a pin alignment position, and the bushing alignment part 312 includes a bushing guide part and a bushing alignment position. When the door and the refrigerator body are installed via the alignment mechanism 30, as the alignment execution component 31 approaches the pin, the pin guide part guides the pin to gradually reach the pin alignment position, and as the alignment execution component 31 approaches the bushing, the bushing guide part guides the bushing to gradually reach the bushing alignment position. Through this process of alignment with the pin and bushing respectively by the alignment mechanism 30, the purpose of aligning the pin and bushing at the door and refrigerator body is achieved.

[0015] Specifically, in some embodiments of this application, the pin alignment position and the bushing alignment position can be configured to be aligned with each other in the axial direction. The alignment execution component 31 moves to the pin or bushing, causing the pin guide or bushing guide to guide the pin alignment position or bushing alignment position to align with the pin or bushing. Conversely, the bushing or pin moves to the alignment execution component 31, causing the bushing or pin to be guided by the bushing guide or pin guide to align with the bushing alignment position or pin alignment position. This method simplifies the installation process of the door and the body, requiring only one of them to undergo floating adjustment.

[0016] Based on the inventive concept of this application, the invention is explained in detail below with an example in which a pin is installed at the cabinet body and a bushing is installed at the door. Specifically, the door mounting device 100 includes, in addition to the alignment mechanism 30, a cabinet clamp 10 arranged at the mounting position and at least one door mounting mechanism, wherein the door is mounted to the cabinet body at the mounting position. The cabinet clamp 10 sets the refrigerator cabinet body at the mounting position. The number of door mounting mechanisms can be set according to the refrigerator structure or the working method of the mounting device, etc., wherein the door mounting mechanism is arranged at the mounting position and can install the door to the cabinet body by adjusting the movement of the door relative to the cabinet body at the mounting position. In addition, the alignment mechanism 30 can install the door to the cabinet body faster and more efficiently in the following manner: the pin alignment part 311 of the alignment execution component 31 moves first and is guided to align with the pin at the cabinet body, and then the door mounting mechanism moves the door toward the alignment mechanism and is guided to align the bushing with the bushing alignment position of the bushing alignment part 312. In this way, the bushing of the door and the pin at the box body can be indirectly aligned using the alignment mechanism 30.

[0017] It should be noted that, within the scope of this application, the orientations "longitudinal / axial" and "lateral" refer to the height and width directions of the refrigerator, or the cabinet and door, respectively. The orientations "up" and "down" refer to the refrigerator's vertical orientation during normal use. Furthermore, the "inner side" and "outer side" of the door refer to the side of the door that is closed to the cabinet and the side facing the outside environment during normal use, respectively.

[0018] Within the scope of this application, the refrigerator door mounting mechanism includes a floating device 22 and a lifting unit 23. The refrigerator door is positioned at the floating device 22, and the floating device 22 is positioned on the lifting unit 23, or in other words, it can be driven to move up and down together with the refrigerator door by the lifting unit 23. Specifically, the floating device 22 has a locked state and a floating state. In the locked state, the refrigerator door is locked and cannot make planar adjustment movements relative to the alignment mechanism 30. In the floating state, the refrigerator door can make planar (perpendicular to the axial direction) adjustment movements relative to the alignment mechanism to align with it.

[0019] In some embodiments of this application, the lifting unit 23 is configured to include a lifting hydraulic cylinder (or any other element or mechanism capable of realizing or driving lifting motion) and a lifting platform, wherein a floating device is arranged at the lifting platform, and the lifting hydraulic cylinder is capable of driving the lifting platform and the floating device disposed on or placed thereon, together with the box door, to perform lifting motion.

[0020] In some embodiments of this application, the alignment mechanism 30 is disposed below the lifting unit 23, and further disposed below the lifting platform. It can be considered that, for example... Figure 3 As shown, the alignment execution component 31 of the alignment mechanism 30 can be driven to move, thereby aligning the pin at the lateral end of the housing.

[0021] Optionally, the pin alignment part 311 is configured as a V-shaped part and the bushing alignment part 312 is configured as an alignment pin.

[0022] In some embodiments of this application, such as Figure 3As shown in 4 (4a and 4b), the alignment mechanism also includes a drive element 32 to guide a feed motion relative to the housing and a floating motion perpendicular to the feed motion direction, particularly a rotational motion within a certain range. Within the scope of this application, the feed motion refers to motion along the feed direction, that is, motion along the longitudinal extension of the drive element 32. Here, it is conceivable to drive the drive element 32 using a driving method such as a hydraulic cylinder. Furthermore, the alignment execution assembly 31 can be rotatably connected to the drive element 32 within a certain range, thereby realizing rotational motion relative to the housing other than the feed motion. In some embodiments of this application, it is conceivable to provide two through holes 313 and 314 at the alignment execution component 31, and corresponding pins 321 and 322 that can be inserted into the through holes at the driving element 32. To ensure that the alignment execution component 31 can only rotate within a certain range relative to the driving element 32, one of the two through holes of the alignment execution component 31 is designated as a rotating through hole 313, whose dimension in the transverse direction of the feed movement is larger than that of the corresponding pin 321. The rotating through hole 313 allows the alignment execution component 31 to rotate within an angular range defined by its transverse dimension.

[0023] In some embodiments of this application, the floating device 22, while in a floating state, can adjust the movement of the cabinet door toward or away from the alignment element and cause the cabinet door to rotate relative to the alignment execution assembly 31. Correspondingly, the floating device 22 can be configured to include a translation section 221 and a rotating section 222, wherein the translation section 221 carries and translates the cabinet door, and thus it can be configured, for example, to include rollers, wherein the rollers carry and can easily perform translational movement of the cabinet door on the rollers by means of a small frictional force between them and the cabinet door. To make fuller use of the floating device and enable the cabinet door to achieve more possible movements, the translation section 221 can be configured on the rotating section 222, and the rotating section 222 can be configured on the lifting platform. In this case, to achieve the rotational movement of the cabinet door, the frictional force between the rotating section 222 and the lifting platform can be set to be very small, or the rotating section can easily perform a small-amplitude torsional movement relative to the lifting platform. For example, a deep groove ball bearing and a thrust bearing can be installed between the rotating part 222 and the lifting platform, wherein the rotating part can rotate relative to the lifting platform under a very small external force. Alternatively, a torsion drive can be provided between the rotating part and the lifting platform. When the torsion drive is not running or activated, the rotation between the rotating part 222 and the lifting platform is locked, preventing the rotating part 222 from rotating relative to the lifting platform. When the torsion drive is activated or running, the rotating part 222 can rotate relative to the lifting platform (driving the following door). This construction of the floating device facilitates the integration of the installation device structure, and the motion coupling between the translation part 221 and the rotating part 222 also allows for greater adjustment possibilities for the door.

[0024] In some embodiments of this application, the installation device further includes a closing mechanism 60, wherein the closing mechanism can, for example, drive the door to close to the housing when the door's bushing or pin is fitted onto or inserted into a pin or bushing at the housing. Optionally, as Figure 3 As shown, the closing mechanism may include a rocker arm capable of pushing the door closed onto the housing.

[0025] This application also discloses a refrigerator door installation method, which utilizes the refrigerator door installation device according to any embodiment of this application to automatically install the refrigerator door onto the refrigerator body. Automatic installation of the refrigerator door onto the refrigerator body means that one of the door and the refrigerator body has a bushing and the other has a pin that mates with the bushing, wherein the pin automatically enters and passes into the bushing, thereby automatically installing the door onto the refrigerator body. Specifically, the refrigerator door installation method includes the following steps:

[0026] The alignment actuator 31 moves closer to the pin until the pin guide gradually guides the pin to the alignment position; and

[0027] The alignment actuator 31 moves closer to the bushing until the bushing guide gradually guides the bushing to the alignment position. This process allows the refrigerator body and door to be easily aligned and installed together using the alignment mechanism 30, even with manufacturing errors.

[0028] In some embodiments of this application, the process of aligning the actuator 31 to approach the pin and the bushing can be specifically configured to include:

[0029] The alignment execution component 31 moves closer to the pin or bushing using the pin alignment part 311 or the bushing alignment part 312, so that the pin guide part or the bushing guide part guides the pin alignment position or the bushing alignment position to align with the pin or bushing.

[0030] Locking the alignment mechanism; and

[0031] The bushing or pin moves to the bushing alignment part 312 or the pin alignment part 311 of the alignment execution component 31, so that the bushing or pin is guided by the bushing guide part or the pin guide part to align with the bushing alignment position or the pin alignment position.

Claims

1. A door mounting device (100) for automatically mounting a door of a refrigerator to a body, wherein, One of the box door and the box body has a bushing and the other has a pin shaft matched with the bushing, the pin shaft is used to be installed into the bushing to form a hinge capable of pivoting around the axial direction, characterized in that the box door mounting device (100) comprises: An alignment mechanism (30) comprising an alignment execution assembly (31), wherein the alignment execution assembly (31) comprises a pin shaft locating part (311) and a bushing locating part (312), the pin shaft locating part (311) comprises a pin shaft guide part and a pin shaft alignment position, the bushing locating part (312) comprises a bushing guide part and a bushing alignment position, the pin shaft alignment position and the bushing alignment position are aligned with each other in the axial direction, wherein the alignment execution assembly (31) moves to the pin shaft or the bushing, so that the pin shaft guide part or the bushing guide part guides the pin shaft alignment position or the bushing alignment position to align with the pin shaft or the bushing, and the bushing or pin shaft moves to the alignment execution assembly (31), so that the bushing or the pin shaft is guided by the bushing guide part or the pin shaft guide part to align with the bushing alignment position or the pin shaft alignment position, the alignment mechanism (30) further comprises a driving element (32), wherein the driving element (32) drives the alignment execution assembly (31) to perform a feed movement relative to the pin shaft or the bushing and a lateral floating movement perpendicular to the feed movement direction; and A box door mounting mechanism comprising: A lifting unit (23) comprising a lifting platform (231) movable along the axial direction; and A floating device (22) provided on the lifting platform, the floating device (22) comprising a translation part (221) and a rotation part (222), wherein the translation part (221) is arranged on the rotation part (222), and wherein the translation part (221) carries the box door and allows the box door to translate along the translation part (221) towards or away from the alignment mechanism (30), while the rotation part (222) allows the box door to rotate relative to the alignment mechanism (30).

2. The box door mounting arrangement (100) according to claim 1, characterized in that The pin shaft guide part guides the pin shaft to gradually reach the pin shaft alignment position in the process of the alignment execution assembly (31) approaching the pin shaft, and the bushing guide part guides the bushing to gradually reach the bushing alignment position in the process of the alignment execution assembly (31) approaching the bushing.

3. The box door mounting arrangement (100) according to claim 1, characterized in that Two through hole parts (313, 314) are provided at the alignment execution assembly (31), and pin posts (321, 322) corresponding to the two through hole parts are provided at the driving element (32), wherein the pin posts (321, 322) are respectively inserted into the through hole parts (313, 314) in correspondence, wherein one of the through hole parts is provided as a rotation through hole part (313) which is provided with a size larger than the pin post in a direction transverse to the feed movement, so that the alignment execution assembly (31) rotates relative to the driving element (32) within a range determined by the rotation through hole part (313).

4. The box door mounting arrangement (100) according to claim 1, characterized in that The pin shaft locating portion (311) is configured to be shaped to cooperate with the pin shaft.

5. The box door mounting arrangement (100) according to claim 1, characterized in that The box door mounting device (100) further comprises: A box body clamp (10) configured to arrange the box body at a mounting position Wherein, the box door mounting mechanism is configured to mount the pin shaft into the shaft sleeve and mount the box door to the box body at the mounting position, and the floating device (22) comprises a locking state and a floating state, in the locking state, the box door is fixed and cannot move in a direction perpendicular to the axial direction, in the floating state, the box door can move in a direction perpendicular to the axial direction.

6. The box door mounting arrangement (100) according to claim 5, characterized in that The box door mounting device (100) further comprises: A door closing mechanism (60), wherein the door closing mechanism (60) drives the box door to close to the box body.

7. The box door mounting arrangement (100) according to claim 1, characterized in that The rotating portion (222) comprises a rotating table, and wherein the rotating table is arranged on the lifting table (231), wherein a deep groove ball bearing and a thrust bearing are arranged between the rotating table and the lifting table.

8. A method of installing a door for a refrigerator, for automatically installing a door for a refrigerator to a cabinet using the door installing apparatus (100) according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein, One of the box door and the box body has a shaft sleeve and the other has a pin shaft cooperating with the shaft sleeve, characterized in that the box door mounting method comprises: The alignment execution assembly (31) is moved close to the pin shaft until the pin shaft guiding portion guides the pin shaft to gradually reach the pin shaft alignment position; and The alignment execution assembly (31) is moved close to the shaft sleeve until the shaft sleeve guiding portion guides the shaft sleeve to gradually reach the shaft sleeve alignment position.

9. The method of mounting a door according to claim 8, wherein, The approaching process of the alignment mechanism (30) to the pin shaft and the shaft sleeve specifically comprises: The alignment execution assembly (31) moves close to the pin shaft by using the pin shaft locating portion (311), so that the pin shaft guiding portion guides the pin shaft alignment position to align the pin shaft; Lock the alignment mechanism; and The shaft sleeve is moved to the shaft sleeve locating portion (312) of the alignment execution assembly (31), so that the shaft sleeve is guided by the shaft sleeve guiding portion to align the shaft sleeve alignment position.

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