Refrigerator with automatic door closing function and control method thereof

Abstract

The invention discloses a refrigerator with an automatic door closing function and a control method thereof.When a sensor detects that no person exists around the refrigerator and a refrigerator door is in an open state, the door closing action is automatically executed to avoid cooling capacity loss, the sensor and an automatic door closing mechanism are arranged on a refrigerator box body, and the automatic door closing mechanism comprises a sliding trolley; two sets of swing driving levers are arranged on the sliding trolley, the swing driving levers drive the sliding door shifting piece to achieve the door closing action, the swing driving levers have the overload protection function and the one-way passing performance and have the hand clamping prevention function, the use safety of a user can be guaranteed, meanwhile, the swing driving levers do not conflict with the manual door opening and closing action of the user, and the safety of the user is improved. The two doors can be independently closed through one driving motor, and each door does not need to be provided with one driving motor.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention relates to the field of automatic door control and safety of refrigerators, in particular to a refrigerator with an automatic door closing function and a control method thereof. Background Art

[0002] A freezer is a device that preserves food and other items at low temperatures. Commercial freezers are used in cold drink shops and supermarkets. After taking out the goods from the freezer, customers may forget to close the door, or use too little force when closing the door, resulting in the door not closing tightly. If too much force is used, the door will rebound, which may also cause the door not closing tightly. This will cause the air inside the freezer to circulate with the outside world, resulting in the loss of cold energy, the destruction of the food storage environment, and a huge waste of electricity.

[0003] The invention patent with publication number CN118836637A discloses a method and system for detecting the non-sealed state of a refrigerator door, the method comprising: when the refrigerator refrigerator compartment door is in a closed state, obtaining the temperature change value of the refrigerator compartment temperature within a first preset time period; if the temperature change value is greater than the first preset value, calculating the difference between the current refrigerator compartment temperature and the first preset temperature; if within a first target time period after the first preset time period, the difference is always greater than the first preset value, generating an alarm instruction for prompting that the refrigerator door is in a non-sealed state, so as to solve the problem of low accuracy of the current method for detecting the airtightness of the refrigerator door.

[0004] However, the above system can only remind users that the door is not closed properly, and users or administrators are required to manually close the refrigerator door. The market needs a refrigerator with an automatic door closing function. When the user forgets to close the door or detects that the door is not closed tightly, the door closing action is automatically started, which can effectively reduce energy waste and ensure the refrigeration stability of the refrigerator. At the same time, the common habit of users to open and close the door manually should be respected. The automatic door closing process cannot conflict with the manual opening and closing process, and it should have an anti-pinch function to ensure the safety of users. Summary of the invention

[0005] The purpose of the present invention is to provide a refrigerator with an automatic door closing function and a control method thereof, so as to solve the problem of automatically closing the refrigerator door when the user forgets to close the door, and at the same time have an anti-pinch finger function to ensure the user's safety and not conflict with the user's manual door opening and closing actions.

[0006] In order to solve the above technical problems, the technical solution adopted by the present invention is:

[0007] A control method for a refrigerator with an automatic door closing function comprises the following steps:

[0008] S1-determine whether the refrigerator door is open, if yes, proceed to the next step;

[0009] S2-The sensor monitors in real time whether there is anyone around the refrigerator. If not, proceed to the next step;

[0010] S3-timing for 5 to 10 seconds. During the timing period, the sensor detects whether there is someone approaching. If yes, it jumps to S2, if not, it proceeds to the next step;

[0011] S4-Execute the automatic door closing action; execute the above steps in a loop.

[0012] A refrigerator with an automatic door closing function comprises a box body, a left sliding door and a right sliding door are arranged above the box body, and a first sensor and a second sensor are arranged around the box body. The first sensor and the second sensor are used to monitor whether there are people around the refrigerator. If there is no one around for a period of time and it is detected that the door is in an open state, the door closing action is automatically triggered.

[0013] The left sliding door and the right sliding door are installed on the door body frame. A left sliding door paddle is arranged at the rear of the left sliding door, and a right sliding door paddle is arranged at the rear of the right sliding door. An automatic door closing mechanism is arranged at the rear of the door body frame. The automatic door closing mechanism can automatically close the left sliding door and the right sliding door.

[0014] The automatic door closing mechanism includes a slide rail, a sliding trolley, a screw rod and a drive motor. The slide rail is installed on the door frame through a fixed frame. The drive motor is connected to the screw rod. The screw rod cooperates with a nut embedded in the sliding trolley to realize the linear reciprocating motion of the sliding trolley. The sliding trolley drives the paddle to realize the door closing action.

[0015] The sliding trolley is divided into an upper and lower part, the upper and lower parts have the same structure and are installed in opposite directions, wherein the upper part includes an upper guide rod, an upper slider, an upper overload protection spring, an upper return spring, an upper swing lever and an upper connecting rod, the two upper guide rods are fixedly installed in parallel on the upper part of the sliding trolley, the upper slider is sleeved on the upper guide rod, the upper overload protection spring and the upper return spring are respectively installed on both sides of the upper slider, an upper swing lever is arranged on the main body of the sliding trolley, the upper slider and the upper swing lever are connected by an upper connecting rod, the upper overload protection spring is arranged on the side away from the upper swing lever, the upper return spring is arranged on the side close to the upper swing lever, and the elastic force of the upper return spring is smaller than the upper overload protection spring. Correspondingly, the lower half includes a lower guide rod, a lower slider, a lower overload protection spring, a lower return spring, a lower swing lever and a lower connecting rod. The two lower guide rods are fixedly mounted in parallel on the lower half of the sliding trolley. The lower slider is mounted on the lower guide rod. The lower overload protection spring and the lower return spring are respectively mounted on both sides of the lower slider. The lower swing lever is arranged on the main body of the sliding trolley. The lower slider and the lower swing lever are connected by a lower connecting rod. The lower overload protection spring is arranged on the side away from the lower swing lever, and the lower return spring is arranged on the side close to the lower swing lever. The elastic force of the lower return spring is smaller than that of the lower overload protection spring.

[0016] The following is the working principle of the automatic door closing mechanism:

[0017] The upper and lower parts of the sliding trolley have symmetrical structures and the same working principles. Taking the upper part as an example, when the door closing command is received, the sliding trolley moves in the indicated direction until the front end of the upper swing lever contacts the right sliding door paddle. The sliding trolley continues to move in the indicated direction. The upper swing lever is subjected to resistance and pushes the upper slider backward through the upper connecting rod. The upper overload protection spring is compressed to a balanced state. At this time, the sliding trolley drives the right sliding door to close through the upper swing lever.

[0018] In order to ensure the user's safety, the automatic door closing mechanism has a hand-pinch prevention function. During the automatic door closing process, if the user blocks the right sliding door, the resistance of the right sliding door will increase, and the upper swing lever will be forced to continue to flip backward to compress the upper overload protection spring. The end of the upper swing lever will bypass the right sliding door paddle, and will no longer interfere with the right sliding door. The user can open the door normally. This plays a safe hand-pinch prevention function and will not interfere with the user's door opening and closing operations.

[0019] When the user closes the door manually, the right sliding door paddle may contact the upper swing lever, and the upper return spring will be compressed. Since the elastic force of the upper return spring is small, it can only provide the elastic force for the upper swing lever to reset, which is not enough to resist or push the right sliding door to move. Therefore, the upper swing lever will flip to avoid the right sliding door paddle. If the overload protection is triggered during the automatic door closing process, the upper swing lever will bypass the right sliding door paddle. When the door needs to be closed next time, the sliding trolley moves, and the upper swing lever needs to actively avoid the right sliding door paddle. The active avoidance process also compresses the upper return spring. The upper swing lever contacts and bypasses the right sliding door paddle and does not drive the right sliding door to move. In other words, the sliding trolley can only push the right sliding door in one direction in the closing direction, and does not work in the opening direction. At the same time, it provides overload protection in the closing direction to ensure user safety and does not conflict with the user's door opening and closing actions.

[0020] The upper and lower parts of the sliding trolley are symmetrical in structure and have the same working principle. The working principle of the lower part will not be repeated because the upper swing lever and the lower swing lever are no longer at the same height and complement each other. However, they share a drive motor, so that one drive motor can complete the separate closing action of the two doors, and there is no need to configure a drive motor for each door.

[0021] The beneficial effects of the present invention are:

[0022] 1. When the user forgets to close the door, the refrigerator door will be automatically closed to avoid loss of cold air; 2. It has an anti-pinch function, and the door closing mechanism has an overload protection function to ensure the user's safety; 3. It respects the user's operating habits and does not conflict with the user's manual door opening and closing actions; 4. One drive motor can complete the separate closing actions of the two doors, and there is no need to configure a drive motor for each door. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0023] The present invention will be further described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments.

[0024] Figure 1 The flowchart of the automatic door closing control method of the refrigerator;

[0025] Figure 2 It is a schematic diagram of the three-dimensional structure of the refrigerator;

[0026] Figure 3 It is a three-dimensional structural schematic diagram of the door frame;

[0027] Figure 4 It is a schematic diagram of the plan structure of the door frame;

[0028] Figure 5 It is a three-dimensional structural diagram of the automatic door closing mechanism;

[0029] Figure 6 This is the normal state diagram of the sliding trolley;

[0030] Figure 7 This is a schematic diagram of the sliding trolley closing door action state;

[0031] Figure 8 This is a schematic diagram of the second state of the sliding trolley closing the door;

[0032] Fig. 9 This is a schematic diagram of the overload protection state of the sliding trolley closing door action;

[0033] Fig.10 This is a schematic diagram of the state of the sliding trolley after the overload protection of the door closing action;

[0034] Fig.11 This is a schematic diagram of the state of the sliding trolley before resetting;

[0035] Fig.12 This is a schematic diagram of the state of the sliding trolley resetting process;

[0036] Fig.13 This is a schematic diagram of the state of the sliding trolley during the resetting process when avoiding;

[0037] Fig.14 This is a schematic diagram of the state of the sliding trolley after it is reset.

[0038] In the figure: 1--box; 2--left sliding door; 21--left sliding door paddle; 3--right sliding door; 31--right sliding door paddle; 4--first sensor; 5--second sensor; 7--door frame; 8--automatic door closing mechanism; 801--fixed frame; 802--driving motor; 803--slide rail; 804--screw rod; 805--sliding trolley; 806--upper guide rod; 807--upper slider; 808--upper overload protection spring; 809--upper return spring; 810--upper swing lever; 811--upper connecting rod; 812--lower guide rod; 813--lower slider; 814--lower overload protection spring; 815--lower return spring; 816--lower swing lever; 817--lower connecting rod; 818--reducer. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0039] A control method for a refrigerator with an automatic door closing function, such as Figure 1 As shown, the following steps are included:

[0040] S1-determine whether the refrigerator door is open, if yes, proceed to the next step;

[0041] S2-The sensor monitors in real time whether there is anyone around the refrigerator. If not, proceed to the next step;

[0042] S3-timing for 5 to 10 seconds. During the timing period, the sensor detects whether there is someone approaching. If yes, it jumps to S2, if not, it proceeds to the next step;

[0043] S4-Execute automatic door closing action;

[0044] Execute the above steps repeatedly.

[0045] like Figure 2 As shown, a refrigerator with an automatic door closing function includes a box body 1, a left sliding door 2 and a right sliding door 3 are arranged above the box body 1, and a first sensor 4 and a second sensor 5 are arranged around the box body 1. The first sensor 4 and the second sensor 5 are used to monitor whether there are people around the refrigerator. If there is no one around for a period of time and the door is detected to be in an open state, the door closing action is automatically triggered.

[0046] like Figure 3 and 4 As shown, the left sliding door 2 and the right sliding door 3 are installed on the door body frame 7, a left sliding door paddle 21 is arranged at the rear of the left sliding door 2, a right sliding door paddle 31 is arranged at the rear of the right sliding door 3, and an automatic door closing mechanism 8 is arranged at the rear of the door body frame 7, and the automatic door closing mechanism 8 can automatically close the left sliding door 2 and the right sliding door 3.

[0047] like Figure 5As shown, the automatic door closing mechanism 8 includes a slide rail 803, a sliding trolley 805, a screw rod 804 and a drive motor 802. The slide rail 803 is installed on the door frame 7 through a fixed frame 801. The drive motor 802 is connected to the screw rod 804. The screw rod 804 cooperates with the nut nested in the sliding trolley 805 to realize the linear reciprocating motion of the sliding trolley 805. The sliding trolley 805 drives the paddle to realize the door closing action.

[0048] The sliding trolley 805 is divided into two parts, the upper and lower parts have the same structure and are installed in opposite directions. The upper part includes an upper guide rod 806, an upper slider 807, an upper overload protection spring 808, an upper return spring 809, an upper swing lever 810 and an upper connecting rod 811. The two upper guide rods 806 are fixedly installed in parallel on the upper part of the sliding trolley 805. The upper slider 807 is sleeved on the upper guide rod 806. The upper overload protection spring 808 and the upper return spring 809 are respectively installed on both sides of the upper slider 807. An upper swing lever 810 is arranged on the main body of the sliding trolley 805. The upper slider 807 and the upper swing lever 810 are connected by an upper connecting rod 811. The upper overload protection spring 808 is arranged on the side away from the upper swing lever 810, and the upper return spring 809 is arranged on the side close to the upper swing lever 810. The elastic force of the upper return spring 809 is less than that of the upper overload protection spring 808.

[0049] Correspondingly, the lower half includes a lower guide rod 812, a lower slider 813, a lower overload protection spring 814, a lower return spring 815, a lower swing lever 816 and a lower connecting rod 817. The two lower guide rods 812 are fixedly installed in parallel on the lower half of the sliding trolley 805. The lower slider 813 is sleeved on the lower guide rod 812. The lower overload protection spring 814 and the lower return spring 815 are respectively installed on both sides of the lower slider 813. A lower swing lever 816 is arranged on the main body of the sliding trolley 805. The lower slider 813 and the lower swing lever 816 are connected by a lower connecting rod 817. The lower overload protection spring 814 is arranged on the side away from the lower swing lever 816, and the lower return spring 815 is arranged on the side close to the lower swing lever 816. The elastic force of the lower return spring 815 is smaller than that of the lower overload protection spring 814.

[0050] The following is the working principle of the automatic door closing mechanism 8:

[0051] The upper and lower parts of the sliding trolley 805 have symmetrical structures and the same working principle. Take the upper part as an example. Figure 6 FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a normal state of the upper half of the sliding trolley 805. When a door closing command is received, the sliding trolley 805 moves in the indicated direction until the front end of the upper swing lever 810 contacts the right sliding door paddle 31. At this time, the state is as follows: Figure 7As shown, the sliding trolley 805 continues to move in the indicated direction, the upper swing lever 810 encounters resistance, and pushes the upper slider 807 to move backward through the upper connecting rod 811. The upper overload protection spring 808 is compressed to a balanced state. At this time, the sliding trolley 805 drives the right sliding door 3 to close through the upper swing lever 810.

[0052] In order to ensure the user's safety, the automatic door closing mechanism 8 has a hand-pinch prevention function. When the user blocks the right sliding door 3 during the automatic door closing process, the resistance of the right sliding door 3 will increase, and the upper swing lever 810 will be forced to continue to flip backwards to compress the upper overload protection spring 808. Figure 9-10 As shown, the end of the upper swing lever 810 will bypass the right sliding door paddle 31, so as to no longer interfere with the right sliding door 3. The user can operate the door opening action normally, thereby playing a safety function of preventing hand pinching, and will not interfere with the user's door opening and closing operation.

[0053] When the user manually closes the door, the right sliding door paddle 31 may contact the upper swing lever 810. Fig.11 and 12 As shown, the upper return spring 809 will be compressed. Since the elastic force of the upper return spring 809 is small, it can only provide elastic force for the upper swing lever 810 to return to its original position, which is not enough to resist or push the right sliding door 3 to move. Therefore, the upper swing lever 810 will flip over to avoid the right sliding door paddle 31. Fig.13 and 14 shown.

[0054] If the overload protection is triggered during the automatic door closing process, the upper swing lever 810 bypasses the right sliding door paddle 31. When the door closing action needs to be performed next time, the sliding trolley 805 moves, and the upper swing lever 810 needs to actively avoid the right sliding door paddle 31. The active avoidance process also compresses the upper return spring 809, and the upper swing lever 810 contacts and bypasses the right sliding door paddle 31, and does not drive the right sliding door 3 to move. In other words, the sliding trolley 805 can only push the right sliding door 3 in one direction in the door closing direction, and does not work in the door opening direction. At the same time, it provides overload protection in the door closing direction to ensure user safety and does not conflict with the user's door opening and closing actions.

[0055] The upper and lower parts of the sliding trolley 805 are symmetrical in structure and have the same working principle. The working principle of the lower part will not be repeated because the upper swing lever 810 and the lower swing lever 816 are no longer at the same height and complement each other. However, they share a drive motor 802, so that one drive motor can complete the separate closing action of the two doors, and there is no need to configure a drive motor for each door.

[0056] Further, in order to monitor the open and closed state of the door, a position monitoring sensor is provided on the door frame 7 to monitor the open and closed state of the two sliding doors of the refrigerator. The specific position coordinates of the door body can also be collected to more accurately determine the position of the door body.

[0057] Furthermore, the upper swing lever 810 will deflect to one side of the upper slider 807 when there is no load, and the lower swing lever 816 will deflect to one side of the lower slider 813 when there is no load. This is to provide a relatively large propulsion force when performing the door closing action, and to avoid the left sliding door paddle 21 and the right sliding door paddle 31 during the resetting process with less resistance.

[0058] Furthermore, a reducer 818 is provided between the driving motor 802 and the screw rod 804 , and its function is to provide sufficient driving force for the sliding trolley 805 .

[0059] Preferably, the left sliding door paddle 21 is arranged at the rear middle of the left sliding door 2, and the right sliding door paddle 31 is arranged at the rear middle of the right sliding door 3, or the left sliding door paddle 21 and the right sliding door paddle 31 are arranged on the same side of the left sliding door 2 and the right sliding door 3, respectively, that is, on the left side of the rear or on the right side of the rear, in order to reduce the stroke of the sliding trolley 805. The stroke is slightly greater than the length of a single door. The sliding trolley 805 reciprocates once to complete the automatic closing of the two doors.

[0060] The above disclosure is only a specific embodiment of the present invention, but the present invention is not limited thereto. For ordinary technicians in this field, without departing from the principle of the present invention, the modifications made should be deemed to belong to the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A refrigerator with an automatic door closing function, comprising a box body (1), a left sliding door (2) and a right sliding door (3) being arranged above the box body (1), the left sliding door (2) and the right sliding door (3) being mounted on a door body frame (7), characterized in that: Sensors are arranged around the box body (1), a left sliding door paddle (21) is arranged behind the left sliding door (2), a right sliding door paddle (31) is arranged behind the right sliding door (3), and an automatic door closing mechanism (8) is arranged behind the door body frame (7).

2. The refrigerator with automatic door closing function according to claim 1, characterized in that: The automatic door closing mechanism (8) comprises a slide rail (803), a sliding trolley (805), a screw rod (804) and a driving motor (802); the slide rail (803) is mounted on the door frame (7) via a fixing frame (801); the driving motor (802) is connected to the screw rod (804); the screw rod (804) cooperates with a nut embedded in the sliding trolley (805); and the sliding trolley (805) can perform linear reciprocating motion.

3. The refrigerator with automatic door closing function according to claim 2, characterized in that: The sliding trolley (805) is divided into an upper and lower part, the upper and lower parts have the same structure and are installed in opposite directions, wherein the upper part includes an upper guide rod (806), an upper slider (807), an upper overload protection spring (808), an upper return spring (809), an upper swing lever (810) and an upper connecting rod (811), two upper guide rods (806) are fixedly installed in parallel on the upper part of the sliding trolley (805), the upper slider (807) is sleeved on the upper guide rod (806), and the upper slider is An upper overload protection spring (808) and an upper return spring (809) are respectively installed on both sides of the sliding carriage (807), an upper swing lever (810) is arranged on the main body of the sliding carriage (805), the upper sliding block (807) and the upper swing lever (810) are connected by an upper connecting rod (811), the upper overload protection spring (808) is arranged on a side away from the upper swing lever (810), the upper return spring (809) is arranged on a side close to the upper swing lever (810), and the upper return spring (809) is arranged on a side close to the upper swing lever (810). 9) has an elastic force smaller than the upper overload protection spring (808), and the lower half comprises a lower guide rod (812), a lower slider (813), a lower overload protection spring (814), a lower return spring (815), a lower swing lever (816) and a lower connecting rod (817), the two lower guide rods (812) are fixedly mounted in parallel on the lower half of the sliding trolley (805), the lower slider (813) is sleeved on the lower guide rod (812), and lower overload protection springs (814) are respectively mounted on both sides of the lower slider (813). 814) and a lower return spring (815), a lower swing lever (816) is arranged on the main body of the sliding trolley (805), the lower slider (813) and the lower swing lever (816) are connected by a lower connecting rod (817), the lower overload protection spring (814) is arranged on a side away from the lower swing lever (816), the lower return spring (815) is arranged on a side close to the lower swing lever (816), and the elastic force of the lower return spring (815) is smaller than that of the lower overload protection spring (814).

4. The refrigerator with automatic door closing function according to claim 3, characterized in that: A position monitoring sensor is arranged on the door frame (7).

5. The refrigerator with automatic door closing function according to claim 4, characterized in that: The upper swing lever (810) will deflect toward one side of the upper slider (807) when there is no load, and the lower swing lever (816) will deflect toward one side of the lower slider (813) when there is no load.

6. The refrigerator with automatic door closing function according to claim 3, characterized in that: A speed reducer (818) is provided between the driving motor (802) and the lead screw (804).

7. The refrigerator with automatic door closing function according to claim 3, characterized in that: The left sliding door paddle (21) is arranged at the rear middle part of the left sliding door (2), and the right sliding door paddle (31) is arranged at the rear middle part of the right sliding door (3).

8. The control method of a refrigerator with automatic door closing function according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that The following steps are involved: S1-determine whether the refrigerator door is open, if yes, proceed to the next step; S2-The sensor monitors in real time whether there is anyone around the refrigerator. If not, proceed to the next step; S3-timing for 5 to 10 seconds. During the timing period, the sensor detects whether there is someone approaching. If yes, it jumps to S2, if not, it proceeds to the next step; S4-Execute automatic door closing action; Execute the above steps repeatedly.

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