A refrigerator door hinge and a refrigerator
Patent Information
- Authority / Receiving Office
- CN · China
- Patent Type
- Utility models(China)
- Current Assignee / Owner
- Filing Date
- 2025-09-10
- Publication Date
- 2026-08-14
AI Technical Summary
[0018]本申请实施例提供了一种冰箱门铰链及冰箱，以解决传统的冰箱门铰链的变轨需要两个或两个以上的轴限定自由度，导致冰箱门铰链结构复杂、成本较高的技术问题
[0047]在开冰箱门初始阶段，用户施加外力作用拉动冰箱门带动冰箱门和门侧滑块转动，旋转段绕固定块转动，固定块的三个圆角棱始终与旋转段的槽壁保持抵触接触，形成稳定的三点支撑结构，有效防止旋转段相对于固定块发生滑动，保证了在旋转段，旋转段仅能相对于固定块转动，而不会滑动，即只有一个自由度，保证了冰箱门转动的唯一性、稳定性。确保冰箱门在旋转阶段仅存在冰箱门的转动，提升操作手感，并实现开启角度的精确控制。另外，圆角棱的结构避免了尖角或点接触带来的应力集中问题，三个圆角棱协同承载，使接触压力在旋转段的槽壁上均匀分布，大幅降低局部磨损。
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Figure CN224634454U_ABST
Abstract
Description
Technical Field
[0001] This application relates to the field of refrigerator door hinge technology, specifically to a refrigerator door hinge and a refrigerator. Background Technology
[0002] A refrigerator is a household appliance that uses refrigeration technology to transfer internal heat to the external environment by consuming electrical energy, thereby maintaining a low temperature. It is mainly used to store food, beverages, and other items. By slowing down microbial growth and chemical reactions through low temperatures, it achieves the purposes of preservation, refrigeration, and freezing, extending the shelf life of food.
[0003] Refrigerators are an indispensable home appliance in modern households, serving not only as a "food safe" but also as a crucial safeguard for a healthy life. With technological advancements, refrigerators are evolving towards intelligent, refined, health-conscious, and integrated designs to meet users' pursuit of a high-quality lifestyle.
[0004] With the increasing demand for integrated home furnishing, refrigerators are now embedded in cabinets and need to fit "seamlessly," often reducing the distance between the side of the refrigerator body and the side panel of the cabinet to 2mm or even less.
[0005] An embedded refrigerator is a type of household refrigerator designed to blend seamlessly with kitchen cabinetry. Instead of being placed independently in the kitchen, it is "embedded" into a custom or standard cabinetry system, thus achieving a clean, integrated kitchen look.
[0006] The refrigerator door panel can be replaced or customized to match the material, color, and style of the surrounding cabinetry.
[0007] When closed, the refrigerator blends almost seamlessly into the cabinetry, with no obtrusive outline, enhancing the overall style and modern feel of the kitchen.
[0008] Because it is installed close to the cabinets, the gap between the refrigerator and the wall or other furniture is reduced, making more efficient use of kitchen space.
[0009] Some models support 90-degree opening or have optimized hinge designs to ensure that the door can be fully opened even in confined spaces.
[0010] The dimensions (height, width, depth) need to be planned in advance and precise installation space needs to be reserved.
[0011] Appropriate ventilation gaps must be left (usually a few centimeters of space need to be reserved at the top, sides and back for ventilation and heat dissipation, please refer to the product instructions for specific details).
[0012] Some are "fully embedded," requiring cabinet panels to cover them; others are "semi-embedded" or "free-standing embedded," with their own front frame, requiring only embedding.
[0013] Most built-in refrigerators use a bottom-front or rear-mounted heat dissipation design to avoid damage to the cabinets or affect the cooling efficiency caused by side heat dissipation in traditional refrigerators.
[0014] Traditional refrigerator door hinges rely on a rotating shaft to open and close the refrigerator door, requiring a relatively large lateral space (usually ≥5mm) to avoid interference with the cabinet. The shaft of a traditional refrigerator door hinge is cylindrical, and the shaft can rotate and slide within a track groove, possessing multiple degrees of freedom. This makes the movement of the refrigerator door unpredictable, often requiring two or more shafts to limit the degrees of freedom.
[0015] However, in built-in refrigerator designs, narrow side clearances (such as 2mm) can cause the refrigerator door to fail to open fully or collide with the cabinet. Existing variable-track hinges typically use two or more fixed axes, each with its own running trajectory.
[0016] Therefore, the traditional refrigerator door hinge requires two or more axes to limit the degree of freedom, resulting in a complex structure and high cost, which is a technical problem that urgently needs to be solved by those skilled in the art.
[0017] The information disclosed in the background section is only intended to enhance the understanding of the background of this application, and therefore may contain information that is not part of the prior art known to those skilled in the art. Utility Model Content
[0018] This application provides a refrigerator door hinge and a refrigerator to solve the technical problem that traditional refrigerator door hinges require two or more axes to limit the degree of freedom when changing tracks, resulting in complex refrigerator door hinge structures and high costs.
[0019] According to a first aspect of the embodiments of this application, a refrigerator door hinge is provided, comprising:
[0020] A door-side slider for fixing to the refrigerator door, the door-side slider having a track groove, the track groove including a rotating section at the front and a sliding section connected to the rear;
[0021] A hinge seat for fixing to the refrigerator body on the side, the hinge seat having a fixing block placed in the track groove; the fixing block is a prism with four rounded corners;
[0022] in:
[0023] An external force causes the refrigerator door and the door-side slider to rotate, which in turn causes the rotating segment to rotate around the fixed block by a preset angle. During the rotation phase, the three rounded corner edges of the fixed block are always in contact with the rotating segment.
[0024] The sliding segment slides along the fixed block, causing the door-side slider to translate, and during the translation phase, at least one surface of the fixed block is always in contact with one surface of the sliding segment.
[0025] During implementation, as the sliding segment slides along the fixed block and drives the door-side slider to translate, at least one surface of the fixed block is always in contact with one surface of the sliding segment.
[0026] The fixing block is a prism with at least four rounded edges, and the four edges of the fixing block are the inner rear edge of the fixing block, the inner front edge of the fixing block, the outer front edge of the fixing block, and the outer rear edge of the fixing block.
[0027] The rotating segment includes an inner ring side surface of the rotating segment, a front arc surface of the rotating segment, an outer ring side surface one of the rotating segment, and an outer ring side surface two of the rotating segment.
[0028] During the process of the rotating segment rotating around the fixed block at a preset angle, causing the door-side slider to rotate, the front edge of the inner ring of the fixed block, the front edge of the outer ring of the fixed block and the arc surface at the front end of the rotating segment abut against each other, and the second side of the outer ring of the rotating segment abuts against the rear edge of the outer ring of the fixed block.
[0029] In practice, the inner ring side of the fixing block is the side between the front edge and the rear edge of the inner ring of the fixing block, and the outer ring side of the fixing block is the side between the front edge and the rear edge of the outer ring of the fixing block.
[0030] The sliding section includes an inner ring side surface and an outer ring side surface.
[0031] During the process of the sliding segment sliding along the fixed block and causing the door-side slider to move, the inner side of the sliding segment and the inner side of the fixed block abut against each other, and the outer side of the sliding segment and the outer side of the fixed block abut against each other.
[0032] In practice, when the refrigerator door hinge is in the closed state, the inner side of the rotating section and the inner side of the fixing block are in contact, and the outer side of the fixing block and the outer side of the rotating section are in contact.
[0033] In practice, the walls of the trajectory groove are smooth curves.
[0034] In practice, the door-side slider includes an upper door-side slider, and correspondingly, the housing-side hinge seat includes an upper housing-side hinge seat.
[0035] The door-side slider includes a lower door-side slider, and correspondingly, the housing-side hinge seat includes a lower housing-side hinge seat.
[0036] The track grooves of the upper slider and the lower slider on the door side have the same shape, and the fixing blocks of the upper hinge seat and the lower hinge seat on the box side have the same shape.
[0037] In implementation, the hinge seat on the side of the housing includes:
[0038] A plate-shaped side hinge body for fixing to the top of the refrigerator body, wherein the fixing block of the side hinge protrudes from the lower surface of the side hinge base plate.
[0039] The lower side hinge seat of the housing includes:
[0040] An L-shaped lower hinge body for fixing to the top of the refrigerator body, wherein the fixing block of the lower hinge body protrudes from the short arm of the lower hinge body.
[0041] According to a second aspect of the embodiments of this application, a refrigerator is provided, including the aforementioned refrigerator door hinge.
[0042] In practice, the door-side slider includes an upper door-side slider, and correspondingly, the housing-side hinge seat includes an upper housing-side hinge seat.
[0043] The door-side slider includes a lower door-side slider, and correspondingly, the housing-side hinge seat includes a lower housing-side hinge seat.
[0044] The track grooves of the upper slider and the lower slider on the door side have the same shape and overlap;
[0045] The fixing blocks of the upper hinge seat on the box side and the lower hinge seat on the box side have the same shape and their center lines are collinear.
[0046] The embodiments of this application, by adopting the above technical solutions, have the following technical effects:
[0047] In the initial stage of opening the refrigerator door, the user applies external force to pull the door, causing the door and its side slider to rotate. The rotating section rotates around a fixed block, and the three rounded edges of the fixed block always maintain contact with the groove wall of the rotating section, forming a stable three-point support structure. This effectively prevents the rotating section from sliding relative to the fixed block, ensuring that the rotating section can only rotate relative to the fixed block and will not slide, meaning it has only one degree of freedom. This guarantees the uniqueness and stability of the refrigerator door's rotation. Ensuring that only the refrigerator door rotates during the rotation phase improves the user experience and allows for precise control of the opening angle. Furthermore, the rounded edge structure avoids stress concentration problems caused by sharp corners or point contacts. The three rounded edges work together to bear the load, distributing the contact pressure evenly across the groove wall of the rotating section, significantly reducing localized wear.
[0048] When the fixed block enters the sliding section, the sliding slider on the door side moves along the fixed block in the subsequent movement, causing the entire refrigerator door to slide outwards. During the sliding phase, at least one surface of the fixed block is always in contact with one surface of the sliding section. During the sliding phase, the sliding section and the fixed block maintain surface-to-surface contact at all times. This surface-to-surface contact effectively prevents the sliding section from rotating relative to the fixed block, ensuring that during the sliding phase, the sliding section can only slide relative to the fixed block and will not rotate, meaning it has only one degree of freedom, thus guaranteeing the uniqueness and stability of the refrigerator door's translation.
[0049] The fixed block is a prism with four rounded corners. The connection design of the rotating section and the sliding section makes the refrigerator's movement smoothly transition from rotation to translation. Combined with the stable contact mode at different stages, it avoids sudden movement or impact, and achieves a seamless connection of "rotation + translation" compound action. This enables the refrigerator door to open and close smoothly in a very small lateral space, significantly improving the user's operating comfort and high-end experience when opening the refrigerator door.
[0050] In summary, the refrigerator door hinge of this application features a prism with four rounded corners as the fixing block of the hinge seat on the cabinet side, and a track groove for the door side slider with both rotating and sliding sections. This design defines the engagement method between the fixing block and the rotating section, as well as the engagement relationship between the fixing block and the sliding section. Consequently, the rotating section can only rotate relative to the fixing block, and the sliding section can only slide relative to the fixing block. Ultimately, this refrigerator door hinge achieves rotation and translation using only a single fixing block and track groove, resulting in a simple structure that facilitates manufacturing and assembly; simultaneously, it also has a lower cost. Attached Figure Description
[0051] The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of this application and form part of this application, illustrate exemplary embodiments of this application and are used to explain this application, but do not constitute an undue limitation of this application. In the drawings:
[0052] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of a refrigerator equipped with the refrigerator door hinge of this application;
[0053] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram illustrating the separation of the refrigerator door hinge from the refrigerator body in this application;
[0054] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram showing the upper hinge seat on the cabinet side and the upper slider on the door side of the refrigerator door hinge of this application, which cooperate to form an upper hinge.
[0055] Figure 4 for Figure 3 A diagram from another angle;
[0056] Figure 5This is a schematic diagram showing the cooperation between the lower hinge seat on the cabinet side and the lower slider on the door side to form the lower hinge of the refrigerator door hinge of this application;
[0057] Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram of the lower hinge seat on the cabinet side of the refrigerator door hinge according to this application;
[0058] Figure 7 This is a schematic diagram of the door-side sliding block of the refrigerator door hinge according to this application;
[0059] Figure 8 A schematic diagram of a refrigerator equipped with the refrigerator door hinge of this application placed on one side of a cabinet with the refrigerator door closed.
[0060] Figure 9 for Figure 8 The diagram shows the refrigerator door in the rotating phase.
[0061] Figure 10 for Figure 9 The diagram shows the refrigerator door in the sliding phase.
[0062] Figure 11 for Figure 10 The diagram shows the refrigerator door in the sliding stage and perpendicular to the refrigerator body.
[0063] Figure 12 for Figure 10 The diagram shows the refrigerator door in the sliding stage and the refrigerator door is opened to its maximum.
[0064] Figure label:
[0065] Refrigerator body 1,
[0066] Refrigerator door 2,
[0067] Side hinge seat 3 of the housing
[0068] Slider 4 on the side of the door
[0069] Box side lower hinge seat 5,
[0070] Door side slider 6,
[0071] Fixed block A, inner ring rear edge A1, inner ring front edge A2, outer ring front edge A3, outer ring rear edge A4, inner ring side surface A1-2, outer ring side surface A3-4.
[0072] Track groove B, inner ring side surface of rotating segment B11, front arc surface of rotating segment B12, outer ring side surface of rotating segment (first side) B13, outer ring side surface of rotating segment (second side) B14.
[0073] Side of the inner ring of the sliding section, B21; side of the inner ring of the sliding section, B22; side of the outer ring of the sliding section, B23; side of the outer ring of the sliding section, B24. Detailed Implementation
[0074] To make the technical solutions and advantages of the embodiments of this application clearer, the exemplary embodiments of this application will be described in further detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of this application, and not an exhaustive list of all embodiments. It should be noted that, unless otherwise specified, the embodiments and features in the embodiments of this application can be combined with each other.
[0075] Example 1
[0076] like Figures 1 to 12 As shown, the refrigerator door hinge of this application is particularly suitable for refrigerator door hinges used in built-in refrigerators, enabling the refrigerator door to open and close smoothly in a very small lateral space, and the structure is simple and reliable.
[0077] Refrigerator door hinges include:
[0078] A door-side slider for fixing to the refrigerator door, the door-side slider having a track groove B, the track groove B including a rotating section located at the front and a sliding section connected to the rear;
[0079] A hinge seat for fixing to the refrigerator body on the side, the hinge seat having a fixing block A, the fixing block A being placed in the track groove B; the fixing block is a prism with at least four rounded corner edges;
[0080] in:
[0081] An external force causes the refrigerator door and the door-side slider to rotate, which in turn causes the rotating segment to rotate around the fixed block by a preset angle. During the rotation phase, the three rounded edges of the fixed block A are always in contact with the rotating segment.
[0082] The sliding segment slides along the fixed block A, causing the door-side slider to translate, and during the translation phase, at least one surface of the fixed block A is always in contact with one surface of the sliding segment.
[0083] The refrigerator door hinge of this application achieves a compound motion during the opening process of the refrigerator door by setting a track groove with a rotating section and a sliding section on the door side slider, and placing the fixing block of the hinge seat on the refrigerator body side in the track groove.
[0084] Specifically, in the initial stage of opening the refrigerator door, the user applies external force to pull the door, causing the door and its side slider to rotate. The rotating section rotates around a fixed block, and the three rounded edges of the fixed block always maintain contact with the groove wall of the rotating section, forming a stable three-point support structure. This effectively prevents the rotating section from sliding relative to the fixed block, ensuring that during the rotating phase, the rotating section can only rotate relative to the fixed block and will not slide, meaning it has only one degree of freedom. This guarantees the uniqueness and stability of the refrigerator door's rotation. It ensures that only the refrigerator door rotates during the rotation phase, improving the user experience and allowing for precise control of the opening angle. Furthermore, the rounded edge structure avoids stress concentration problems caused by sharp corners or point contacts. The three rounded edges work together to bear the load, distributing the contact pressure evenly across the groove wall of the rotating section, significantly reducing localized wear.
[0085] When the fixed block enters the sliding section, the sliding slider on the door side moves along the fixed block in the subsequent movement, causing the entire refrigerator door to slide outwards. During the sliding phase, at least one surface of the fixed block is always in contact with one surface of the sliding section. During the sliding phase, the sliding section and the fixed block maintain surface-to-surface contact at all times. This surface-to-surface contact effectively prevents the sliding section from rotating relative to the fixed block, ensuring that during the sliding phase, the sliding section can only slide relative to the fixed block and will not rotate, meaning it has only one degree of freedom, thus guaranteeing the uniqueness and stability of the refrigerator door's translation.
[0086] The fixed block is a prism with four rounded corners. The connection design of the rotating section and the sliding section makes the refrigerator's movement smoothly transition from rotation to translation. Combined with the stable contact mode at different stages, it avoids sudden movement or impact, and achieves a seamless connection of "rotation + translation" compound action. This enables the refrigerator door to open and close smoothly in a very small lateral space, significantly improving the user's operating comfort and high-end experience when opening the refrigerator door.
[0087] In summary, the refrigerator door hinge of this application features a prism with four rounded corners as the fixing block of the hinge seat on the cabinet side, and a track groove for the door side slider with both rotating and sliding sections. This design defines the engagement method between the fixing block and the rotating section, as well as the engagement relationship between the fixing block and the sliding section. Consequently, the rotating section can only rotate relative to the fixing block, and the sliding section can only slide relative to the fixing block. Ultimately, this refrigerator door hinge achieves rotation and translation using only a single fixing block and track groove, resulting in a simple structure that facilitates manufacturing and assembly; simultaneously, it also has a lower cost.
[0088] Specifically, the front is one side of the refrigerator door, and the back is the side closest to the refrigerator body; track groove B is a curved groove, the inner circle is the side of track groove B located inside the curve, and the outer circle is the side of track groove B located outside the curve.
[0089] When the fixed block is a prism with four rounded corner edges, such as Figure 6 As shown, the four edges of the fixed block A are the inner rear edge A1, the inner front edge A2, the outer front edge A3, and the outer rear edge A4.
[0090] like Figure 7 As shown, the rotating segment includes an inner ring side surface B11, a front arc surface B12, an outer ring side surface B13, and an outer ring side surface B14.
[0091] like Figure 9 As shown, during the process of the rotating segment rotating around the fixed block A at a preset angle and driving the door-side slider to rotate, the inner front edge A2 of the fixed block, the outer front edge A3 of the fixed block and the front arc surface B12 of the rotating segment abut against each other, and the outer side surface B14 of the rotating segment abuts against the outer rear edge A4 of the fixed block.
[0092] The three rounded edges of the fixed block always maintain contact with the groove wall of the rotating section. Correspondingly, the front edge A2 of the inner ring of the fixed block, the front edge A3 of the outer ring of the fixed block, and the arc surface B12 of the front end of the rotating section are in contact with each other, and the side surface B14 of the outer ring of the rotating section and the rear edge A4 of the outer ring of the fixed block are in contact with each other, forming a stable three-point support structure. This effectively prevents the rotating section from sliding relative to the fixed block, ensuring that the rotating section can only rotate relative to the fixed block and will not slide.
[0093] The fixed block is a prism with four rounded corner edges. It is the simplest structure to ensure that three of the rounded corner edges are always in contact with the groove wall of the rotating section, which is easy to process and manufacture.
[0094] During implementation, such as Figure 6 As shown, the inner ring side surface A1-2 of the fixing block is the side surface between the front edge A2 and the rear edge A1 of the inner ring of the fixing block, and the outer ring side surface A3-4 of the fixing block is the side surface between the front edge A3 and the rear edge A4 of the outer ring of the fixing block.
[0095] The sliding section includes an inner ring side surface and an outer ring side surface.
[0096] During the process of the sliding segment sliding along the fixed block and driving the door-side slider to translate, the inner side of the sliding segment and the inner side of the fixed block A1-2 abut against each other, and the outer side of the sliding segment and the outer side of the fixed block A3-4 abut against each other.
[0097] This ensures that at least one surface of the fixed block is always in contact with one surface of the sliding segment during the sliding phase. This surface-to-surface contact effectively prevents the sliding segment from rotating relative to the fixed block, guaranteeing that during the sliding phase, the sliding segment can only slide relative to the fixed block and will not rotate.
[0098] Specifically, such as Figure 7 As shown, the inner ring side of the sliding section is formed by the smooth connection of the inner ring side of the sliding section, B21 and the inner ring side of the sliding section, B22.
[0099] The outer ring side of the sliding section is formed by the smooth connection of sliding section outer ring side one B23 and sliding section outer ring side two B24.
[0100] During implementation, such as Figure 8 As shown, when the refrigerator door hinge is in the closed state, the inner side of the rotating section and the inner side of the fixing block are in contact, and the outer side of the fixing block and the outer side of the rotating section are in contact.
[0101] When the refrigerator door is closed, the inner side of the rotating section abuts against the inner side of the fixed block, while the outer side of the fixed block abuts against the outer side of the rotating section, forming a stable fit between the inner and outer sides for synchronous contact and limiting.
[0102] Through the bidirectional contact between the inner and outer rings, the refrigerator door hinge forms a symmetrical and balanced support constraint when the refrigerator door is closed, which ensures the overall rigidity and stability of the refrigerator door after it is closed, and avoids loosening or abnormal noise caused by vibration or external force.
[0103] Through the bidirectional contact between the inner and outer rings, a mechanical limit is automatically formed when the refrigerator door is closed, ensuring that the refrigerator door can accurately return to the same position every time it is closed, thus guaranteeing the stability of the refrigerator door closing.
[0104] In practice, the walls of the trajectory groove are smooth curves.
[0105] The groove wall of the trajectory slot adopts a smooth curve design, avoiding the geometric inflection points caused by the abrupt connection between traditional straight line segments and arc segments. This technical feature brings the following beneficial effects:
[0106] The smooth curve of the track groove wall causes the force direction of the fixed block to change continuously as it moves along the track groove, avoiding sudden changes in speed or acceleration at the junction of the rotating and sliding sections. This significantly reduces impact and vibration, ensuring smooth and gentle movement of the refrigerator door throughout the opening and closing process, and enhancing operational comfort and a premium feel.
[0107] Traditional track grooves with polygonal grooves are prone to stress concentration at corners, which can lead to wear or cracking of the groove walls over time. In contrast, smooth curved grooves have a more uniform transition and a more reasonable distribution of contact stress, effectively reducing the rate of localized wear and extending the service life of the hinge.
[0108] During implementation, such as Figure 2 As shown, the door-side slider includes a door-side upper slider 4, and correspondingly, the box-side hinge seat includes a box-side upper hinge seat 3.
[0109] The door-side slider includes a door-side lower slider 6, and correspondingly, the box-side hinge seat includes a box-side lower hinge seat 5.
[0110] The track grooves of the upper slider and the lower slider on the door side have the same shape, and the fixing blocks of the upper hinge seat and the lower hinge seat on the box side have the same shape.
[0111] By setting the door-side sliders as upper door-side slider 4 and lower door-side slider 6, and correspondingly setting the cabinet-side hinge seats as upper cabinet-side hinge seat 3 and lower cabinet-side hinge seat 5, synchronous sliding and stable support of the refrigerator door during opening and closing are achieved. The track groove shapes of the upper door-side slider 4 and lower door-side slider 6 are consistent, ensuring that the upper and lower sliders have the same motion law during movement, so that the door can remain smooth and tilt-free when opening and closing, improving the coordination and reliability of movement.
[0112] Meanwhile, the fixed blocks of the upper hinge seat 3 and the lower hinge seat 5 on the side of the cabinet have the same shape, which is conducive to standardized production and assembly, reduces mold development costs and assembly complexity, and improves product versatility and ease of maintenance. The overall structural design is reasonable, which not only enhances the stability and durability of the door operation, but also effectively improves manufacturing efficiency and assembly accuracy.
[0113] During implementation, such as Figure 4 As shown, the upper hinge seat 3 on the side of the housing includes:
[0114] A plate-shaped hinge seat body for fixing to the top of the refrigerator body, wherein the fixing block A of the hinge body protrudes from the lower surface of the hinge seat body.
[0115] like Figure 6 As shown, the lower hinge seat 5 on the side of the housing includes:
[0116] An L-shaped lower hinge seat body for fixing to the side of the refrigerator body, wherein the fixing block A of the lower hinge body protrudes from the short arm of the lower hinge seat body.
[0117] By designing the upper hinge seat body on the side of the refrigerator body as a plate structure, the upper hinge seat body on the side of the refrigerator body can be stably installed on the top of the refrigerator body. The fixing block A protrudes downward from the lower surface of the upper hinge seat plate body, which facilitates its cooperation with the track groove of the upper slider 4 on the door side, realizing the guidance and support of the upper part of the refrigerator door. The plate-shaped upper hinge seat body on the side of the refrigerator body has a uniform force distribution, is easy to install, and helps to improve the rigidity and stability of the upper connection.
[0118] The lower side hinge seat body adopts an L-shaped structure. The lower side hinge seat body is fixed to the side of the refrigerator body, and the fixing block A is set on the short arm of the L-shaped body.
[0119] Although the upper hinge seat 3 and the lower hinge seat 5 on the side of the cabinet have different body structures (plate-shaped and L-shaped respectively), their fixing block A has the same shape, ensuring consistent matching with the corresponding door-side slider track groove. This synchronizes the upper and lower sliding trajectories, improving the smoothness and coordination of door opening and closing. Furthermore, the uniform structure of the fixing blocks facilitates mold sharing, reduces the number of parts, improves production and assembly efficiency, and balances structural strength, motion performance, and manufacturing economy.
[0120] Example 2
[0121] The refrigerator described in this application, such as Figure 1 and Figure 2 As shown, it includes:
[0122] Refrigerator body 1, refrigerator door 2, and the refrigerator door hinge described in Embodiment 1;
[0123] The refrigerator door hinge includes an upper hinge and a lower hinge. The upper hinge seat 3 on the cabinet side and the upper slider 4 on the door side cooperate to form the upper hinge, and the lower hinge seat 5 on the cabinet side and the lower slider 6 on the door side cooperate to form the lower hinge.
[0124] The door-side slider includes the upper door-side slider, and correspondingly, the housing-side hinge seat includes the upper housing-side hinge seat.
[0125] The door-side slider includes the door-side lower slider, and correspondingly, the cabinet-side hinge seat includes the cabinet-side lower hinge seat;
[0126] The track grooves of the upper slider and the lower slider on the door side have the same shape and overlap;
[0127] The fixing blocks of the upper hinge seat on the box side and the lower hinge seat on the box side have the same shape and their center lines are collinear.
[0128] In the initial stage of opening the refrigerator door, the user applies external force to pull the door, causing the door and its side slider to rotate. The rotating section rotates around a fixed block, and the three rounded edges of the fixed block always maintain contact with the groove wall of the rotating section, forming a stable three-point support structure. This effectively prevents the rotating section from sliding relative to the fixed block, ensuring that the rotating section can only rotate relative to the fixed block and will not slide, meaning it has only one degree of freedom. This guarantees the uniqueness and stability of the refrigerator door's rotation. Ensuring that only the refrigerator door rotates during the rotation phase improves the user experience and allows for precise control of the opening angle. Furthermore, the rounded edge structure avoids stress concentration problems caused by sharp corners or point contacts. The three rounded edges work together to bear the load, distributing the contact pressure evenly across the groove wall of the rotating section, significantly reducing localized wear.
[0129] When the fixed block enters the sliding section, the sliding slider on the door side moves along the fixed block in the subsequent movement, causing the entire refrigerator door to slide outwards. During the sliding phase, at least one surface of the fixed block is always in contact with one surface of the sliding section. During the sliding phase, the sliding section and the fixed block maintain surface-to-surface contact at all times. This surface-to-surface contact effectively prevents the sliding section from rotating relative to the fixed block, ensuring that during the sliding phase, the sliding section can only slide relative to the fixed block and will not rotate, meaning it has only one degree of freedom, thus guaranteeing the uniqueness and stability of the refrigerator door's translation.
[0130] In the description of this application and its embodiments, it should be understood that the terms "top", "bottom", "height", etc., indicate the orientation or positional relationship based on the orientation or positional relationship shown in the drawings, and are only for the convenience of describing this application and simplifying the description, and do not indicate or imply that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, or be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, and therefore should not be construed as a limitation of this application.
[0131] In this application and its embodiments, unless otherwise expressly specified and limited, the terms "set," "install," "connect," "link," "fix," etc., should be interpreted broadly. For example, they can refer to a fixed connection, a detachable connection, or an integral part; they can refer to a mechanical connection, an electrical connection, or a communication connection; they can refer to a direct connection or an indirect connection through an intermediate medium; they can refer to the internal communication of two components or the interaction between two components. Those skilled in the art can understand the specific meaning of the above terms in this application according to the specific circumstances.
[0132] In this application and its embodiments, unless otherwise expressly specified and limited, "above" or "below" the second feature can include direct contact between the first and second features, or contact between the first and second features through another feature between them. Furthermore, "above," "over," and "on top" of the second feature includes the first feature being directly above or diagonally above the second feature, or simply indicates that the first feature is at a higher horizontal level than the second feature. "Below," "below," and "under" the second feature includes the first feature being directly above or diagonally above the second feature, or simply indicates that the first feature is at a lower horizontal level than the second feature.
[0133] The foregoing disclosure provides many different embodiments or examples for implementing different structures of this application. To simplify the disclosure, specific examples of components and arrangements are described above. Of course, these are merely examples and are not intended to limit the scope of this application. Furthermore, reference numerals and / or letters may be repeated in different examples; such repetition is for simplification and clarity and does not in itself indicate a relationship between the various embodiments and / or arrangements discussed. In addition, examples of various specific processes and materials are provided in this application, but those skilled in the art will recognize the application of other processes and / or the use of other materials.
[0134] Although preferred embodiments of this application have been described, those skilled in the art, upon learning the basic inventive concept, can make other changes and modifications to these embodiments. Therefore, the appended claims are intended to be interpreted as including the preferred embodiments as well as all changes and modifications falling within the scope of this application.
[0135] Obviously, those skilled in the art can make various modifications and variations to this application without departing from the spirit and scope of this application. Therefore, if such modifications and variations fall within the scope of the claims of this application and their equivalents, this application also intends to include such modifications and variations.
Claims
1. A refrigerator door hinge, characterized in that, include: A door-side slider for fixing to the refrigerator door, the door-side slider having a track groove (B) including a rotating section at the front and a sliding section connected to the rear; A hinge seat for fixing to the refrigerator body on the side, the hinge seat having a fixing block (A) placed within the track groove; the fixing block is a prism with at least four rounded corner edges; wherein: An external force causes the refrigerator door and the door-side slider to rotate, causing the rotating segment to rotate around the fixed block (A) by a preset angle. During the rotation phase, the three rounded corner edges of the fixed block (A) are always in contact with the rotating segment.
2. The refrigerator door hinge according to claim 1, characterized in that, During the process of the sliding segment sliding along the fixed block (A) and driving the door-side slider to translate, at least one surface of the fixed block (A) is always in contact with one surface of the sliding segment.
3. The refrigerator door hinge according to claim 2, characterized in that, The fixing block is a prism with at least four rounded edges, and the four edges of the fixing block are the inner rear edge (A1), the inner front edge (A2), the outer front edge (A3), and the outer rear edge (A4). The rotating segment includes an inner ring side surface (B11), a front arc surface (B12), an outer ring side surface one (B13), and an outer ring side surface two (B14). During the process of the rotating segment rotating around the fixed block at a preset angle, causing the door-side slider to rotate, the inner front edge (A2) of the fixed block, the outer front edge (A3) of the fixed block and the front arc surface (B12) of the rotating segment abut against each other, and the outer side surface (B14) of the rotating segment abuts against the outer rear edge (A4) of the fixed block.
4. The refrigerator door hinge according to claim 3, characterized in that, The inner ring side surface (A1-2) of the fixing block is the side surface between the front edge (A2) and the rear edge (A1) of the inner ring of the fixing block, and the outer ring side surface (A3-4) of the fixing block is the side surface between the front edge (A3) and the rear edge (A4) of the outer ring of the fixing block. The sliding section includes an inner ring side surface and an outer ring side surface. During the process of the sliding segment sliding along the fixed block and causing the door-side slider to move, the inner side of the sliding segment and the inner side of the fixed block abut against each other, and the outer side of the sliding segment and the outer side of the fixed block abut against each other.
5. The refrigerator door hinge according to claim 4, characterized in that, When the refrigerator door hinge is in the closed state, the inner ring side (B11) of the rotating section and the inner ring side (A1-2) of the fixing block are in contact with each other, and the outer ring side (A3-4) of the fixing block and the outer ring side (B13) of the rotating section are in contact with each other.
6. The refrigerator door hinge according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that, The walls of the trajectory groove are smooth curves.
7. The refrigerator door hinge according to claim 6, characterized in that, The door-side slider includes an upper door-side slider, and correspondingly, the housing-side hinge seat includes an upper housing-side hinge seat. The door-side slider includes a lower door-side slider, and correspondingly, the housing-side hinge seat includes a lower housing-side hinge seat. The track grooves of the upper slider and the lower slider on the door side have the same shape, and the fixing blocks of the upper hinge seat and the lower hinge seat on the box side have the same shape.
8. The refrigerator door hinge according to claim 7, characterized in that, The upper hinge seat on the side of the housing includes: A plate-shaped hinge seat body for fixing to the top of the refrigerator body, wherein the fixing block of the hinge on the side of the refrigerator body protrudes from the lower surface of the hinge seat body on the side of the refrigerator body. The lower side hinge seat of the housing includes: An L-shaped lower hinge seat body for fixing to the side of the refrigerator body, wherein the fixing block of the lower hinge body protrudes from the short arm of the lower hinge seat body.
9. A refrigerator, characterized in that, Includes the refrigerator door hinge as described in any one of claims 1 to 8.
10. The refrigerator according to claim 9, characterized in that, The door-side slider includes the upper door-side slider, and correspondingly, the housing-side hinge seat includes the upper housing-side hinge seat. The door-side slider includes the door-side lower slider, and correspondingly, the cabinet-side hinge seat includes the cabinet-side lower hinge seat; The track grooves of the upper slider and the lower slider on the door side have the same shape and overlap; The fixing blocks of the upper hinge seat on the box side and the lower hinge seat on the box side have the same shape and their center lines are collinear.