A refrigerator with automatic door closing function and control method thereof

Abstract

The present invention discloses a refrigerator with an automatic door closing function and a control method thereof. When a sensor detects that there is no one around the refrigerator and the refrigerator door is in an open state, the door closing action is automatically executed to avoid loss of cold. A sensor and an automatic door closing mechanism are arranged on the refrigerator body. The automatic door closing mechanism comprises a sliding trolley on which two groups of swing levers are arranged. The swing levers drive sliding door paddles to realize the door closing action. The swing levers have an overload protection function and unidirectional passability, and have an anti-pinch finger function, so as to ensure the user's safety in use and do not conflict with the user's manual door opening and closing action. 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.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of automatic door control and safety of refrigerators, and more specifically to a refrigerator with an automatic door closing function and its control method. Background Art

[0002] A refrigerator is a device for storing food and other items at low temperatures. Commercial refrigerators are used in places such as ice cream shops and supermarkets. After customers take out goods from the refrigerator, there are situations where they forget to close the door, and during the door closing process, due to too little force, the door does not close tightly, or due to too much force, the door rebounds, and the door also does not close tightly. This causes the circulation of air inside and outside the refrigerator, loss of cold, damage to the food storage environment, and a great waste of electricity.

[0003] The invention patent with publication number CN118836637A discloses a method and system for detecting the non-closed state of a refrigerator door. The method includes: when the door body of the refrigerator's fresh food compartment is in the closed state, obtaining the temperature change value of the fresh food compartment within a first preset time period; if the temperature change value is greater than a first preset value, calculating the difference between the current temperature of the fresh food compartment and a 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 the non-closed state, so as to solve the problem of low accuracy of the current detection method for the airtightness of the refrigerator door.

[0004] However, the above system can only remind that the door is not closed properly, and the user or administrator still needs to manually close the refrigerator door. The market needs a refrigerator with an automatic door closing function that can automatically start the door closing action when the user forgets to close the door or detects that the door is not closed tightly, which can effectively reduce energy waste and ensure the refrigeration stability of the refrigerator. At the same time, the common manual door opening and closing habits of users should be respected. The automatic door closing process should not conflict with the manual door opening and closing process, and should have an anti-pinch function to ensure the safety of users during use. Summary of the Invention

[0005] The purpose of the present invention is to provide a refrigerator with an automatic door closing function and its control method, which can automatically close the refrigerator door when the user forgets to close it, and at the same time has an anti-pinch function to ensure the safety of users during use, and does not conflict with the user's manual door opening and closing actions.

[0006] To solve the above technical problems, the technical solution adopted by the present invention is as follows:

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

[0008] S1 - Determine whether the refrigerator door body is open. If so, proceed to the next step;

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

[0010] S3 - Time for 5 to 10 seconds. During the timing period, the sensor detects whether anyone is approaching. If so, jump to S2; if not, proceed to the next step;

[0011] S4 - Execute the automatic door - closing action; Loop and execute the above steps.

[0012] A freezer with an automatic door - closing function includes a box body. A left sliding door and a right sliding door are arranged above the box body. 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 is anyone around the freezer. If no one is detected for a period of time and the door is detected to be in an open state at the same time, the automatic door - closing action is automatically triggered.

[0013] The left sliding door and the right sliding door are installed on the door frame. A left sliding - door paddle is arranged behind the left sliding door, and a right sliding - door paddle is arranged behind the right sliding door. An automatic door - closing mechanism is arranged behind the door frame. The action of 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 lead screw, and a driving motor. The slide rail is installed on the door frame through a fixing bracket. The driving motor is connected to the lead screw, and the lead screw cooperates with a nut nested inside the sliding trolley, thereby realizing the linear reciprocating motion of the sliding trolley. The sliding trolley drives the paddle to achieve the door - closing action.

[0015] The sliding trolley is divided into upper and lower parts. The upper and lower parts have the same structure and opposite installation directions. The upper part includes upper guide rods, upper sliders, upper overload - protection springs, upper return springs, upper swing paddles, and upper connecting rods. Two upper guide rods are fixedly installed in parallel on the upper half of the sliding trolley. The upper sliders are sleeved on the upper guide rods. Upper overload - protection springs and upper return springs are respectively installed on both sides of the upper sliders. An upper swing paddle is arranged on the main body of the sliding trolley. The upper slider and the upper swing paddle are connected by an upper connecting rod. The upper overload - protection spring is arranged on the side far from the upper swing paddle, and the upper return spring is arranged on the side close to the upper swing paddle. The elastic force of the upper return spring is less than that of the upper overload - protection spring. Correspondingly, the lower part includes lower guide rods, lower sliders, lower overload - protection springs, lower return springs, lower swing paddles, and lower connecting rods. Two lower guide rods are fixedly installed in parallel on the lower half of the sliding trolley. The lower sliders are sleeved on the lower guide rods. Lower overload - protection springs and lower return springs are respectively installed on both sides of the lower sliders. A lower swing paddle is arranged on the main body of the sliding trolley. The lower slider and the lower swing paddle are connected by a lower connecting rod. The lower overload - protection spring is arranged on the side far from the lower swing paddle, and the lower return spring is arranged on the side close to the lower swing paddle. The elastic force of the lower return spring is less than that of the lower overload - protection spring.

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

[0017] The upper and lower parts of the sliding trolley are symmetric in structure and have the same working principle. Taking the upper part as an example, when receiving the door closing instruction, the sliding trolley moves in the indicated direction until the front end of the upper swing lever touches the right sliding door flap. 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 the 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 safety of users during use, the above automatic door closing mechanism has an anti-pinch function. When the right sliding door is blocked by a user during the automatic door closing process, the resistance of the right sliding door will increase. The upper swing lever is 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 flap, so that it will no longer interfere with the right sliding door. Users can normally operate the door opening action. Thus, it plays the role of anti-pinch safety and does not interfere with the user's door opening and closing operations.

[0019] When the user closes the door manually, the right sliding door flap 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 return to its original position and 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 flap. If the overload protection is triggered during the automatic door closing process, the upper swing lever bypasses the right sliding door flap. When the door closing action needs to be performed next time, the sliding trolley moves, and the upper swing lever needs to actively avoid the right sliding door flap. The active avoidance process also compresses the upper return spring. The upper swing lever contacts and bypasses the right sliding door flap without driving the right sliding door to move. That is to say, the sliding trolley can only push the right sliding door unidirectionally in the door closing direction and has no effect in the door opening direction. At the same time, it provides overload protection in the door closing direction to ensure the safety of users during use and does not conflict with the user's door opening and closing actions.

[0020] The upper and lower parts of the sliding trolley are symmetric in structure and have the same working principle. The working principle of the lower part will not be elaborated here. Since the upper swing lever and the lower swing lever are not at the same height and do not interfere with each other, but share a driving motor, one driving motor can complete the separate closing actions of the two doors, and it is not necessary to configure a driving motor for each door.

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

[0022] 1. When the user forgets to close the door, it will automatically close the cold cabinet door to avoid cold loss. 2. It has a function of preventing pinching hands. The door closing mechanism has an overload protection function to ensure the safety of users during use. 3. It respects the user's operating habits and does not conflict with the user's manual door opening and closing actions. 4. One driving motor can complete the separate closing actions of two doors, and it is not necessary to configure a driving motor for each door. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

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

[0024] Figure 1 It is a flowchart of the automatic door closing control method for the cold cabinet;

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[0032] Figure 9 It is a schematic diagram of the overload protection state of the sliding trolley during the door closing action;

[0033] Figure 10 It is a schematic diagram of the state of the sliding trolley after overload protection during the door closing action;

[0034] Figure 11 It is a schematic diagram of the state of the sliding trolley before reset;

[0035] Figure 12 It is a schematic diagram of the state of the sliding trolley during the reset process;

[0036] Figure 13 It is a schematic diagram of the state of the sliding trolley during avoidance during the reset process;

[0037] Figure 14 It is a schematic diagram of the state of the sliding trolley after reset.

[0038] In the figure: 1 - box body; 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 bracket; 802 - drive motor; 803 - slide rail; 804 - lead screw; 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 - speed reducer. Detailed implementation

[0039] A control method for a freezer with an automatic door closing function, as Figure 1 shown, includes the following steps:

[0040] S1 - Determine whether the freezer door is open. If so, proceed to the next step;

[0041] S2 - The sensor continuously monitors whether there is anyone around the freezer. If not, proceed to the next step;

[0042] S3 - Time for 5 to 10 seconds. During the timing, the sensor detects whether anyone approaches. If so, jump to S2. If not, proceed to the next step;

[0043] S4 - Execute the automatic door closing action;

[0044] Loop and execute the above steps.

[0045] As Figure 2 shown, a freezer 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. 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 is anyone around the freezer. If there is no one for a continuous period of time and it is detected that the door is in the open state at the same time, the door closing action is automatically triggered.

[0046] As Figure 3 and 4 shown, the left sliding door 2 and the right sliding door 3 are installed on the door frame 7. A left sliding door paddle 21 is arranged behind the left sliding door 2, and a right sliding door paddle 31 is arranged behind the right sliding door 3. An automatic door closing mechanism 8 is arranged behind the door frame 7. The action of the automatic door closing mechanism 8 can automatically close the left sliding door 2 and the right sliding door 3.

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

[0048] The sliding trolley 805 is divided into upper and lower parts. The structures of the upper and lower parts are the same, but the installation directions are opposite. The upper part includes upper guide rods 806, upper sliders 807, upper overload protection springs 808, upper return springs 809, upper swing paddles 810, and upper connecting rods 811. Two upper guide rods 806 are fixedly installed in parallel on the upper half of the sliding trolley 805. The upper sliders 807 are sleeved on the upper guide rods 806. Upper overload protection springs 808 and upper return springs 809 are respectively installed on both sides of the upper slider 807. An upper swing paddle 810 is arranged on the main body of the sliding trolley 805. The upper slider 807 and the upper swing paddle 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 paddle 810, and the upper return spring 809 is arranged on the side close to the upper swing paddle 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 part includes lower guide rods 812, lower sliders 813, lower overload protection springs 814, lower return springs 815, lower swing paddles 816, and lower connecting rods 817. Two lower guide rods 812 are fixedly installed in parallel on the lower half of the sliding trolley 805. The lower sliders 813 are sleeved on the lower guide rods 812. Lower overload protection springs 814 and lower return springs 815 are respectively installed on both sides of the lower slider 813. A lower swing paddle 816 is arranged on the main body of the sliding trolley 805. The lower slider 813 and the lower swing paddle 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 paddle 816, and the lower return spring 815 is arranged on the side close to the lower swing paddle 816. The elastic force of the lower return spring 815 is less 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 principles. Taking the upper part as an example, as Figure 6 shown in the normal state diagram of the upper half of the sliding trolley 805. When receiving the door closing instruction, the sliding trolley 805 moves in the indicated direction until the front end of the upper swing paddle 810 touches the right sliding door paddle 31. At this time, the state is as Figure 7As shown, the sliding trolley 805 continues to move in the indicated direction. The upper swing lever 810 is subject to resistance, and through the upper connecting rod 811, it pushes the upper slider 807 to move backward. The upper overload protection spring 808 is compressed to the equilibrium state. At this time, the sliding trolley 805 drives the right sliding door 3 to close through the upper swing lever 810.

[0052] To ensure the safety of users during use, the above automatic door closing mechanism 8 has an anti-pinch function. When the right sliding door 3 is blocked by a user during the automatic door closing process, the resistance of the right sliding door 3 will increase. The upper swing lever 810 is forced to continue to flip backward to compress the upper overload protection spring 808, and the state is as Figures 9 - 10 shown. The end of the upper swing lever 810 will bypass the right sliding door flap 31, so that it will no longer interfere with the right sliding door 3. The user can normally operate the door opening action. Thus, it plays the function of preventing pinching safely and will not interfere with the user's door opening and closing operations.

[0053] When the user closes the door manually, the right sliding door flap 31 may contact the upper swing lever 810, and the state is as Figure 11 and 12 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 the elastic force for the upper swing lever 810 to return to its original position and is not sufficient to resist or push the right sliding door 3 to move. Therefore, the upper swing lever 810 will flip to avoid the right sliding door flap 31, and the state is as Figure 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 flap 31. When the next door closing action needs to be performed, the sliding trolley 805 moves. The upper swing lever 810 needs to actively avoid the right sliding door flap 31. The active avoidance process also compresses the upper return spring 809. The upper swing lever 810 contacts and bypasses the right sliding door flap 31 without driving the right sliding door 3 to move. That is to say, the sliding trolley 805 can only push the right sliding door 3 unidirectionally in the door closing direction and has no effect in the door opening direction. At the same time, it provides overload protection in the door closing direction to ensure the safety of users during use and does not conflict with the user's door opening and closing actions.

[0055] The upper and lower parts of the sliding trolley 805 have symmetrical structures and the same working principle. The working principle of the lower part will not be elaborated here. Since the upper swing lever 810 and the lower swing lever 816 are not at the same height and do not interfere with each other, but share a driving motor 802, one driving motor can complete the separate closing actions of the two doors, and it is not necessary to configure a driving motor for each door.

[0056] Further, in order to monitor the opening and closing state of the door, a position monitoring sensor is provided on the door frame 7 for monitoring the opening and closing state of the two sliding doors of the freezer. It can also collect the specific position coordinates of the door body to more accurately determine the position of the door body.

[0057] Further, when there is no load, the upper swing lever 810 will deflect towards the side of the upper slider 807, and the lower swing lever 816 will deflect towards the side of the lower slider 813 when there is no load. The function is to provide a relatively large driving force during the door closing operation. On the contrary, when avoiding the left sliding door flap 21 and the right sliding door flap 31 during the reset process, the resistance is smaller.

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

[0059] Preferably, the left sliding door flap 21 is arranged in the middle at the rear of the left sliding door 2, and the right sliding door flap 31 is arranged in the middle at the rear of the right sliding door 3, or the left sliding door flap 21 and the right sliding door flap 31 are respectively arranged on the same side of the left sliding door 2 and the right sliding door 3, that is, both are on the left side at the rear or both are on the right side at the rear, aiming to reduce the travel of the sliding trolley 805. The travel only needs to be slightly greater than the length of a single door. When the sliding trolley 805 reciprocates once, the automatic closing of the two doors can be completed.

[0060] The specific embodiments of this patent disclosed above are only examples, but this patent is not limited thereto. For those of ordinary skill in the art, without departing from the principle of the present invention, the deformations made should be regarded as falling within 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); an automatic door closing mechanism (8) is arranged behind the door body frame (7); the automatic door closing mechanism (8) comprises a slide rail (803), a sliding trolley (805), a screw rod (804) and a drive motor (802); the slide rail (803) is mounted on the door body frame (7) through a fixing frame (801); the drive motor (802) is connected to the screw rod (804); the screw rod (804) cooperates with a nut embedded in the sliding trolley (805); the sliding trolley (805 ... ) can reciprocate linearly, 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), an upper overload protection spring (808) and an upper return spring (809) are respectively installed on both sides of the upper slider (807), and a main body of the sliding trolley (805) is provided with a plurality of upper guide rods (806) and an upper overload protection spring (808) and an upper return spring (809). An upper swing lever (810) is provided, the upper slider (807) and the upper swing lever (810) are connected via an upper connecting rod (811), an upper overload protection spring (808) is provided on a side away from the upper swing lever (810), an upper return spring (809) is provided on a side close to the upper swing lever (810), the elastic force of the upper return spring (809) is smaller than that of the upper overload protection spring (808), the lower half portion 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 sliding block In the lower half of the trolley (805), a lower slider (813) is sleeved on the lower guide rod (812), a lower overload protection spring (814) and a 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 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).

2. The refrigerator with automatic door closing function according to claim 1, characterized in that: A position monitoring sensor is arranged on the door frame (7).

3. The refrigerator with automatic door closing function according to claim 2, 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.

4. The refrigerator with automatic door closing function according to claim 1, characterized in that: A speed reducer (818) is provided between the driving motor (802) and the lead screw (804).

5. The refrigerator with automatic door closing function according to claim 1, 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).

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