Hinge device and refrigerator having the hinge device

Abstract

The present invention discloses a hinge device and a refrigerator having the hinge device, wherein the hinge device comprises: a hinge plate, a hinge shaft connected to the hinge plate at the upper end, a guide plate provided with a guide groove, and a rack connected to the guide plate. The middle section of the hinge shaft is a gear shaft and meshes with the rack to form a transmission, and the lower section of the hinge shaft is an optical axis inserted into the guide groove in the guide plate to form a sliding fit. The hinge plate is fixed to the box body, the guide plate and the rack are fixed to the door body, and the rack is meshed with the gear shaft on the hinge shaft for transmission. When the door body is opened, the rack is both rotated and moved relative to the hinge shaft, thereby reducing the distance between the outer frame corner of the door body and the box body, and at the same time, the outer side of the door body is not easy to interfere with the wall next to it, so that the refrigerator can be placed in a smaller space. The sealing effect of the door seal can also be improved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention relates to a hinge connection device, in particular to a hinge device which is used on a refrigerator door and can adjust the distance between the door body and a refrigerator body, and a refrigerator having the hinge device. Background Art

[0002] The door of an existing refrigerator is generally connected to the refrigerator body by a single-axis hinge device, that is, the door body rotates around the hinge axis to make a circular motion, thereby realizing the opening or closing of the door body. Figure 1 , Figure 2 and Figure 3 As shown, after the installation is completed, the position of the hinge axis is fixed, and the position of the axis hole on the door body 01 that matches the hinge axis is also fixed. In the process of opening the door body, the outer frame angle of the door body 01 is easy to exceed the left side or right side of the box body 02. In particular, when the placement space of the refrigerator is relatively narrow or the refrigerator is embedded, the gap between the two sides of the refrigerator and the wall 03 is small. If the hinge device connected to the existing door body is used, when the door body is opened, the outer frame angle of the door body 01 will interfere with the wall 03, so that the opening angle of the door body 01 is greatly limited, thereby affecting the convenience of use by the user. At the same time, when the door body is closed, the gap L between the door body 01 and the box body 02 is large, which easily leads to the door seal between the door body 01 and the box body 02. The phenomenon of leakage of condensation occurs, which affects the efficiency of the refrigerator. In order to avoid interference with the door opening, a larger refrigerator placement space is required, which will affect the overall layout of the room.

[0003] Therefore, how to overcome the defect that the opening of the existing refrigerator door is interfered with and requires a larger placement space is a problem that technicians in this field are actively trying to solve. Summary of the invention

[0004] In order to solve the problem that the door of the existing refrigerator is easily interfered when opening and requires a large placement space, the present invention provides a hinge device that can enable the refrigerator to be placed in a relatively narrow space and is not easy to interfere when opening the door, and a refrigerator having the hinge device. The present invention can also make the sealing effect between the door seal and the door body and the box body better by adjusting the gap between the door body and the box body, thereby greatly reducing the occurrence of condensation caused by leakage of the door seal.

[0005] The present invention provides a hinge device, comprising a hinge plate, a hinge shaft connected to the hinge plate at one end, a guide plate provided with a guide groove, and a rack connected to the guide plate, wherein the middle section of the hinge shaft is a gear shaft and meshes with the rack to form a transmission, and the lower section of the hinge shaft is an optical axis inserted into the guide groove in the guide plate to form a sliding fit.

[0006] Preferably, the guide plate is composed of two pieces arranged upper and lower, the rack is arranged between the two guide plates, the upper and lower ends of the hinge shaft respectively penetrate through the guide grooves of the upper and lower guide plates, and are connected into one by bolts arranged around the guide plates.

[0007] Preferably, a short sleeve is provided between the rack and the upper and lower guide plates, and the bolt passes through the short sleeve and the rack to connect the upper and lower guide plates; a long sleeve is provided between the upper and lower guide plates on the side opposite to the rack, and the bolt on the corresponding side passes through the long sleeve to connect the upper and lower guide plates.

[0008] Preferably, the upper and lower sections of the hinge shaft each form a sliding fit with the guide groove via a ring or a rolling bearing.

[0009] Preferably, a sliding block is provided between the lower end surface of the gear shaft in the hinge shaft and the lower guide plate.

[0010] Preferably, a sleeve is extended out of the outer resin end of the hinge plate, and the upper section of the hinge shaft is connected to the sleeve of the hinge plate through a spline.

[0011] The present invention further provides a refrigerator, characterized in that it comprises the hinge device described in the present invention; the hinge plate is fixedly connected to the box body, and the hinge device is embedded and installed on the door body.

[0012] Preferably, the bolts in the hinge device fix the upper and lower guide plates to the door body.

[0013] The present invention makes the middle section of the hinge shaft fixed with the hinge plate into a gear shaft, and fixes a guide plate with a guide groove on the door body, and forms meshing transmission with the gear shaft through the rack provided on the guide plate, and makes the lower section of the hinge shaft and the guide groove form sliding cooperation. Utilizing the gear rack movement principle, when opening and closing the door body, the rack on the guide plate in the door body meshes with the gear shaft, on the one hand, rotates around the hinge shaft, and on the other hand, the meshing point of the rack and the gear shaft changes continuously, so that the rack and the gear shaft move relative to each other, that is, the door body performs a comprehensive movement of both rotation and movement relative to the gear shaft with the rack. Such movement makes the distance between the rotation center of the door body and the box body change all the time, that is, with the rotation of the door body, the guide groove on the guide plate slides relative to the hinge shaft, from one end of the guide groove contacting with the hinge shaft to the other end of the guide groove contacting with the hinge shaft, so that when the door body is opened, the outer frame angle of the door body will not exceed one side of the box body and interfere with the wall next to it. The present invention can accurately control the distance of the door body offset to the outside by setting the rotation angle of the door body and the radius of the gear shaft, that is, different offset distances can be calculated and set according to the gaps between different sides of the box body and the wall, or the gap between the box body and the wall can be reduced, so that the built-in refrigerator is more beautiful as a whole. Since the gap between the door body and the box body can be reduced, the sealing effect between the door seal and the door body and the box body is better, and the problem of condensation leakage from the door seal is better solved. Under the same gap conditions, the door body can be opened at a larger angle and is more convenient to use. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0014] Figure 1 It is a partial schematic diagram of a refrigerator having the hinge device of the present invention;

[0015] Figure 2 A schematic diagram of a refrigerator door with a conventional hinge device being closed;

[0016] Figure 3 for Figure 2 Schematic diagram of a refrigerator door partially opened;

[0017] Figure 4 It is a structural schematic diagram of an embodiment of a hinge device of the present invention;

[0018] Figure 5 for Figure 4 An exploded schematic diagram of the hinge device shown;

[0019] Figure 6 A schematic diagram of a refrigerator door having a hinge device of the present invention being closed;

[0020] Figure 7 for Figure 6 Schematic diagram of a refrigerator door partially opened.

[0021] Among them, 01 door body; 02 box body; 03 wall; 04 hinge device; 1 hinge plate; 2 hinge shaft; 3 rack; 4 long sleeve; 5 lower guide plate; 6 slider; 7 bolt; 8 upper guide plate; 9 short sleeve; 10 ring or rolling bearing; sleeve 11. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0022] The present invention will be further described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and embodiments.

[0023] Please refer to Figure 4 , Figure 5 The embodiment of the hinge device for adjusting the gap between the door body and the box body provided by the present invention comprises a hinge plate 1, and a hinge shaft 2 whose upper end is fixedly connected to the hinge plate 1. It also comprises a guide plate 5 provided with a guide groove, and a rack 3 fixed to one side of the guide groove on the guide plate 5. The middle section of the hinge shaft 2 is set as a gear shaft structure, and the gear shaft and the rack 3 form a meshing transmission, while the lower section of the hinge shaft 2 is an optical axis that forms a sliding fit with the guide groove in the guide plate 5, that is, the optical axis of the lower section of the hinge shaft 2 is inserted into the guide groove, and as the rack 3 meshes with the gear shaft, the guide groove can slide back and forth relative to the optical axis of the hinge shaft 2, and the hinge shaft 2 (gear shaft) cannot rotate around itself.

[0024] like Figure 4 , Figure 5As shown in the figure, it is a preferred embodiment of the hinge device of the present invention. The guide plates are arranged in two pieces, namely, the upper guide plate 8 and the lower guide plate 5, and the rack 3 is designed in the shape of a rack plate and installed on one side of the guide groove between the upper and lower guide plates 8 and 5. The upper and lower sections of the hinge shaft 2 respectively penetrate the guide grooves of the upper and lower guide plates 8 and 5, and are connected into one piece by bolts 7 arranged at the four corners of the upper and lower guide plates 8 and 5. In order to reduce sliding friction and wear, the upper and lower ends of the hinge shaft 2 respectively form a sliding fit with the guide grooves of the upper and lower guide plates 8 and 5 through a ring or a rolling bearing 10. A short sleeve 9 is arranged between the rack 3 and the upper and lower guide plates 8 and 5, and the bolt 7 passes through the short sleeve 9 and the rack 3 to connect the upper and lower guide plates 8 and 5; a long sleeve 4 is arranged between the upper and lower guide plates 8 and 5 on the side opposite to the rack 3, and the bolt 7 on the corresponding side passes through the long sleeve 4 to connect the upper and lower guide plates 8 and 5. In order to ensure uniform and reasonable force, a slider 6 is provided between the lower end face of the gear shaft in the hinge shaft 2 and the lower guide plate 5, that is, the lower section of the optical axis of the hinge shaft 2 first passes through the slider 6 and then forms a sliding fit with the guide groove of the lower guide plate 5 through a ferrule or a rolling bearing 10. The lower guide plate 5 can slide relative to the slider 6, and the slider 6 is constrained by the hinge shaft 2 and does not move. In addition, a sleeve 11 extends vertically downward from the outer end of the hinge plate 1, and the upper section of the hinge shaft 2 forms a detachable spline connection with the sleeve 11 of the hinge plate 1 through a spline. It can be seen from the above that the meshing transmission of the rack 3 and the gear shaft on the hinge shaft 2 and the resulting relative movement are achieved by being restricted by the guide groove on the guide plate 5, and the long and short sleeves 4 and 9 play a supporting and axial positioning role, which can ensure that the rack 3 and the gear shaft on the hinge shaft 2 are precisely meshed, and can also ensure that there is no interference between related parts when the upper and lower guide plates 8 and 5 slide relative to the hinge shaft 2. The screw 7 connects the entire hinge device and is used to fix the hinge device to the door body 01. This embodiment adopts a connection structure of upper and lower guide plates 8, 5, and adds some long and short sleeves 4, 9, etc. Although such a setting makes the structure of the hinge device more complicated and the cost is increased, the overall stability of the hinge device is improved, the bearing capacity is enhanced, and the service life is extended.

[0025] like Figure 1 , Figure 4 , Figure 5 As shown, the present invention also provides a refrigerator with the hinge device 04, which includes: a door body 01 and a box body 02. The hinge plate 1 is fixedly connected to the box body 02, and the main body of the hinge device 04 is embedded and installed on one side of the end of the door body 01. The bolts 7 in the hinge device 04 embed and fix the upper and lower guide plates 8 and 5 as a whole to the door body 01, and only the upper end of the hinge shaft 2 is exposed and fixedly connected to the sleeve 11 of the hinge plate 1.

[0026] like Figure 6 , 7 As shown, combined with Figure 4 , Figure 5 In the process of opening the door, the door body 01 rotates around the hinge shaft 2, for example, the door body 01 rotates counterclockwise relative to the box body 02, and at the same time, the meshing point of the rack 3 and the gear shaft keeps changing, so that the rack 3 moves relative to the hinge shaft 2, that is, the rack 3 performs a combined movement of relative rotation and movement relative to the hinge shaft 2. The upper and lower guide plates 8, 5 and the rack 3 therein are fixed relative to the door body 01 by the connection of the screws 7, and the position of the hinge shaft 2 relative to the box body 02 is also fixed, so the guide grooves of the upper and lower guide plates 8, 5 can slide relative to the hinge shaft 2, that is, when the door body 01 is closed, the left side of the guide groove is close to the hinge shaft 2 (such as Figure 6 As shown in FIG. 1 , as the door body 01 rotates, the right side of the guide groove slowly slides close to the hinge shaft 2 (as shown in FIG. Figure 7 As shown). From a macroscopic point of view, the distance between the outer frame corner of the door body 01 and the center of the fixed hinge shaft 2 gradually decreases, which means that the door body 01 is translated to the left while rotating, so that the distance between the door body 01 and the wall 03 gradually increases, so that the outer frame corner of the door body 01 is not easy to exceed the right side of the box body 02 and will not interfere with the wall 03 next to it. The movement trajectory of the door body 01 during the closing process is opposite to that during the opening process. It can be seen from the above that the refrigerator provided by the present invention can be placed in a location with a small space.

[0027] When placing a refrigerator, the placement space is generally determined. The present invention can accurately control the offset distance of the door body 01 in the direction of the wall 03 by designing the radius of the gear shaft, that is, according to the gap between different sides of the box 02 and the wall 03, the different offset distances of the door body 01 can be calculated to adapt to the placement space. The present invention only needs to fix a gear shaft on the box, a rack and a common guide groove on the door body. When the door body rotates, the movement trajectory of the door body can be limited without interfering with the surrounding walls through the meshing of the rack and the gear shaft and the limitation of the guide groove. Therefore, the hinge device of the present invention has a simple structure, convenient manufacturing, and low production cost. It can also accurately and efficiently adjust the distance between the door body and the outer wall by controlling the radius of the gear shaft. Since the gap between the door body 01 and the box 02 can be reduced, the sealing effect of the door seal (not shown in the figure) and the door body 01 and the box 02 is better, thereby better solving the problem of condensation leakage of the door seal. Under the same gap conditions, the door body opens at a larger angle and is more convenient to use.

[0028] The above is a specific implementation of the present invention. The protection scope of the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments. All technical solutions under the concept of the present invention belong to the protection scope of the present invention. For ordinary technicians in this technical field, some improvements and modifications without departing from the principle of the present invention should also be regarded as falling within the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A hinge device, comprising a hinge plate and a hinge shaft whose upper end is connected to the hinge plate, characterized in that: It also includes two guide plates arranged upper and lower, each of which is provided with a guide groove, and a rack is arranged between the two guide plates; the upper and lower sections of the hinge shaft respectively penetrate the guide grooves of the upper and lower guide plates, the lower section of the hinge shaft is an optical axis inserted into the guide groove of the lower guide plate to form a sliding fit, and the middle section of the hinge shaft is a gear shaft that forms a meshing transmission with the rack, and is connected into one by bolts arranged around the guide plates; a sliding block is also arranged between the lower end surface of the gear shaft and the lower guide plate, the lower guide plate can slide relative to the sliding block, and the sliding block is constrained by the hinge shaft and does not move.

2. The hinge device according to claim 1, characterized in that: A short sleeve is provided between the rack and the upper and lower guide plates, and the bolt passes through the short sleeve and the rack to connect the upper and lower guide plates; a long sleeve is provided between the upper and lower guide plates on the side opposite to the rack, and the bolt on the corresponding side passes through the long sleeve to connect the upper and lower guide plates.

3. The hinge device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The upper and lower sections of the hinge shaft each form a sliding fit with the guide groove through a ring or a rolling bearing.

4. The hinge device according to claim 1, characterized in that: A sleeve extends vertically from the outer end of the hinge plate, and the upper section of the hinge shaft is connected with the sleeve of the hinge plate through a spline.

5. A refrigerator, characterized in that: It comprises the hinge device as described in any one of claims 1 to 4; the hinge plate is fixedly connected to the box body, and the main body of the hinge device is embedded and installed on the door body.

6. The refrigerator according to claim 5, characterized in that: The bolts in the hinge device fixedly connect the upper and lower guide plates to the door body.

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