Embedded refrigerator door body translation hinge device

Abstract

The utility model provides a kind of embedded refrigerator door body translation hinge device, belong to embedded refrigerator door body translation technical field, this embedded refrigerator door body translation hinge device includes: track seat, sliding frame and rotating arm, the track seat is used to fixedly installed on the lateral wall of refrigerator, the inside of track seat is equipped with the first matching groove along the opening direction of refrigerator door body extension;The sliding frame is used to slidingly set in the track seat, the sliding frame is equipped with the guide protruding portion of the first matching groove sliding cooperation, for realizing the translation movement of the door body away from the lateral wall of refrigerator;The rotating arm is used to connect the sliding frame and the door body, one end of the rotating arm is connected with the sliding frame hinge by first connecting pin, the other end of the rotating arm is connected with the door body hinge by second connecting pin;It can solve the technical problem that the door body of embedded refrigerator exists in prior art, when opening, due to hinge structure usually only provides single rotation axis, leading to the interference between refrigerator door body and adjacent cabinet door panel.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This utility model belongs to the field of embedded refrigerator door sliding technology, specifically, it relates to an embedded refrigerator door sliding hinge device. Background Technology

[0002] With the development of modern home design, the concept of built-in kitchens is becoming increasingly popular, requiring home appliances (such as refrigerators) to be seamlessly integrated with surrounding cabinets to maximize overall aesthetics and space utilization. In the application of built-in refrigerators, the refrigerator door typically requires a decorative panel matching the cabinet style, significantly increasing the overall thickness of the door and requiring minimal clearance between its edges and adjacent cabinet doors or sidewalls. This installation method presents unique technical challenges to the door opening mechanism. In existing technologies, traditional refrigerator hinges primarily use a single rotating axis connection, such as a simple door hinge or multi-link structure. The core principle of these structures is to directly provide rotational movement around a fixed axis. However, due to the thickness of the door panel and the clearance limitations of built-in installation, this purely rotational opening method can cause interference or rubbing between the inner edge of the door panel or decorative panel and the edge of adjacent cabinets during the initial rotation, severely impacting user experience and product lifespan. To address this issue, existing technologies typically attempt to increase the number of links in the hinge to form complex five-bar or seven-bar linkages, attempting to simulate translation through complex motion trajectories. However, such structures are complex, costly, and difficult to adjust, and the control precision of the motion trajectory is hard to guarantee. There is a lack of an embedded hinge device that is simple in structure, has few parts, and can effectively achieve a composite motion of translation followed by rotation. Utility Model Content

[0003] In view of this, the present invention provides an embedded refrigerator door sliding hinge device, which can solve the technical problem in the prior art where, when the door of an embedded refrigerator is opened, there is interference between the refrigerator door and the adjacent cabinet door panel because the hinge structure usually only provides a single axis of rotation.

[0004] This utility model is implemented as follows:

[0005] This utility model provides an embedded refrigerator door sliding hinge device for supporting the opening of the refrigerator door in a manner of first sliding and then rotating. It includes: a guide rail, a sliding bracket, and a rotating arm. The guide rail is fixedly installed on the side wall of the refrigerator, and a first mating groove extends inside the guide rail along the opening direction of the refrigerator door. The sliding bracket is slidably disposed within the guide rail, and has a guide protrusion that slides with the first mating groove to achieve a sliding movement of the door away from the side wall of the refrigerator. The rotating arm connects the sliding bracket and the door. One end of the rotating arm is hinged to the sliding bracket via a first connecting pin, and the other end is hinged to the door via a second connecting pin. The first and second connecting pins support the rotation of the rotating arm relative to the sliding bracket and the door. The guide rail is made of aluminum alloy, the sliding bracket is made of carbon steel, and the rotating arm is made of structural steel.

[0006] The technical advantages of the embedded refrigerator door sliding hinge device provided by this utility model are as follows: It provides a basic structure for an embedded refrigerator door sliding hinge device by decomposing the traditional rotation opening mode into two sequential motion stages: translation and rotation. The guide rail, the sliding frame, and the rotating arm together construct a three-piece composite motion mechanism. The guide rail serves as a fixed reference to provide stable support; the sliding frame enables pre-disengagement translation of the door away from the refrigerator sidewall; and the rotating arm realizes the rotation opening of the door after translation. This fundamentally solves the technical problem of interference between the embedded refrigerator door and adjacent cabinet door panels when opening. The number of components is controlled to no more than four, resulting in a compact structure and clearly defined functions, ensuring the ease of manufacture and high reliability of the device. Furthermore, the use of known materials guarantees the device's load-bearing capacity and long-term durability.

[0007] Based on the above technical solution, the embedded refrigerator door sliding hinge device of this utility model can be further improved as follows:

[0008] The guide rail seat has a second mating groove on both sides of the first mating groove along the translation direction, and the sliding frame has a third mating groove on both sides of the sliding frame along the translation direction that engages with the second mating groove. The second mating groove and the third mating groove are used to limit the swaying of the sliding frame in the direction perpendicular to the translation direction.

[0009] The beneficial effects of the above-mentioned improved scheme are as follows: By introducing the meshing design of the second and third mating grooves into the sliding fit structure of the guide rail seat and the sliding frame, a rigid constraint along the translation direction is created. The geometry of the mating grooves ensures that the lateral and vertical degrees of freedom of the sliding frame, perpendicular to the translation direction, are effectively locked during the main translational movement. This dual constraint structure greatly improves the movement accuracy and stability of the door during the translation process, eliminates noise and potential jamming caused by lateral swaying or vertical jumping, ensures the accuracy of the door opening trajectory, and thus enhances the smooth and stable experience for the user.

[0010] Furthermore, the outer surface of the sliding frame has a roughly rectangular cuboid structure, and the inner surface of the first mating groove is complementary in shape to the outer surface of the sliding frame, which is used to provide uniform contact support during the translational movement.

[0011] The beneficial effects of the above-mentioned improved scheme are as follows: it describes the precise shape characteristics of the sliding frame and the first mating groove, with the outer rectangular surface of the sliding frame and the inner rectangular surface of the first mating groove forming a complementary fit. This shape design maximizes the contact area between the two components, allowing the weight of the door itself and the pulling force applied by the operator to be evenly distributed across the entire contact surface of the mating groove during the sliding opening process. This effectively avoids local stress concentration, thereby significantly reducing the wear rate of the sliding frame when sliding within the guide rail, extending the service life of the device, and maintaining sliding accuracy for long-term use.

[0012] Furthermore, the guide rail seat has an inclined guide slope at one end near the refrigerator door, and the guide protrusion of the sliding bracket contacts the guide slope. The projected length of the guide slope along the length direction of the first mating groove is greater than the projected length of the guide protrusion along the length direction of the first mating groove.

[0013] The beneficial effects of the above-mentioned improved scheme are as follows: The dimensional relationship between the guide ramp and the guide protrusion is defined, with the projected length of the guide ramp along the length direction of the first mating groove being greater than the projected length of the guide protrusion. This limitation ensures that a portion of the guide protrusion is always supported and guided by the guide ramp or the groove wall of the guide rail seat throughout the entire translational stroke of the sliding frame. In the initial stage of door opening, the guide ramp provides gradual guidance and support, effectively avoiding impact in the initial stage of movement, allowing the translational movement to start smoothly from a stationary state. Simultaneously, the difference in projected lengths ensures that when the door is fully closed, the guide protrusion will not experience unstable suspension at the guide ramp, ensuring the stability of the closed state of the door.

[0014] Furthermore, the rotating arm has a long, rod-like structure, and at one end of the rotating arm near the sliding frame, there is a pin hole for accommodating the first connecting pin, and the pin hole is circular in shape.

[0015] The beneficial effects of adopting the above-mentioned improved scheme are as follows: The shape of the rotating arm is clearly defined as a long, rod-like structure, and the circular shape of the pin hole is described. This long, rod-like structure forms the geometric basis for realizing the function of the rotating arm; its slender shape optimizes torque transmission efficiency and saves installation space for the hinge device. The circular pin hole precisely defines the rotation center of the first connecting pin, ensuring that the rotational movement of the rotating arm revolves around a stable axis. This provides a precise kinematic basis for the subsequent door rotation and opening, ensuring stability and repeatability during the rotation process.

[0016] Furthermore, the guide rail seat has a limiting flange at one end away from the refrigerator door to block the sliding frame. The width of the limiting flange is greater than 1 / 2 of the thickness of the sliding frame along the translation direction, in order to prevent the sliding frame from detaching from the guide rail seat.

[0017] The beneficial effects of the above-mentioned improvement are as follows: it defines the dimensional relationship between the width of the limiting flange on the guide rail seat and the thickness of the sliding frame, wherein the width of the limiting flange is greater than 1 / 2 of the thickness of the sliding frame along the translational direction. This precise width design ensures that the limiting flange has sufficient mechanical strength and blocking area, providing reliable rigid contact and effective mechanical locking when the sliding frame reaches its maximum translational stroke. This prevents the sliding frame from detaching from the guide rail seat under excessive operating force or accidental impact, greatly enhancing the safety, reliability, and operational limit protection capabilities of the device.

[0018] Furthermore, the sliding frame has an arc-shaped recess near the connection point of the first connecting pin. The arc-shaped recess provides sufficient clearance when the rotating arm rotates, ensuring that the rotation of the rotating arm is not interfered with.

[0019] The beneficial effects of the above-described improvement are as follows: The arc-shaped recessed structure on the sliding bracket is located near the connection point of the rotating arm. The shape of the arc-shaped recess is precisely designed based on the sweeping trajectory of the rotating arm at its maximum rotation angle. Its function is to provide the necessary mechanical clearance space for the rotating arm when the door is rotated open to its maximum angle. This optimization of shape eliminates possible interference between the rotating arm and the sliding bracket body at any opening angle, ensuring that the door can achieve the maximum opening angle required by the design, thereby guaranteeing that users can easily access items inside the refrigerator.

[0020] Furthermore, both the first connecting pin and the second connecting pin are made of high-strength stainless steel, and the cylindrical outer surfaces of the first connecting pin and the second connecting pin have a mirror finish to reduce frictional resistance during rotation.

[0021] The beneficial effects of adopting the above-mentioned improved solution are as follows: It defines the material and surface shape characteristics of the connecting pin. The connecting pin is made of high-strength stainless steel, ensuring that it will not undergo plastic deformation or breakage when subjected to the weight of the door and the shear stress generated by repeated opening and closing, thus guaranteeing the long-term structural integrity of the device. The cylindrical outer surface of the connecting pin has a mirror finish, and the extremely low surface roughness significantly reduces the coefficient of friction between the connecting pin and the inner wall of the rotating arm pin hole, thereby significantly reducing the driving force required for the door to rotate open and close, achieving a gentle and smooth operating feel.

[0022] Furthermore, a self-lubricating pad made of polytetrafluoroethylene is provided between the contact surfaces of the guide rail seat and the sliding frame. The self-lubricating pad is used to continuously provide low-friction sliding support during the translational movement.

[0023] The beneficial effects of the above-mentioned improvement are as follows: a PTFE self-lubricating gasket is introduced, which is disposed between the contact surfaces of the guide rail and the sliding frame. PTFE material has a known extremely low coefficient of friction and excellent self-lubricating properties. This self-lubricating gasket provides a continuous and uniform low-friction interface during the translational movement, effectively preventing direct metal-to-metal contact and stick-slip phenomena. This improvement not only makes the door's translational movement extremely smooth and quiet, but also significantly reduces the wear of the guide rail and the sliding frame, significantly improving the durability and maintenance-free characteristics of the entire translational hinge device.

[0024] Furthermore, the guide rail base is connected and fixed to the side wall of the refrigerator by at least three countersunk bolts. The head of the countersunk bolt is fully embedded in the connection hole of the guide rail base to ensure the flatness of the mounting surface of the guide rail base.

[0025] The beneficial effects of the above-described improvement scheme are as follows: The installation and connection details of the guide rail seat are described. The guide rail seat is connected and fixed to the refrigerator side wall by at least three countersunk bolts, and the heads of the bolts are fully embedded in the connection holes of the guide rail seat. The geometric advantage of this connection method is that the countersunk bolts do not protrude from the mounting surface of the guide rail seat, ensuring that the connection between the guide rail seat and the refrigerator side wall is flat and tight. This avoids installation gaps or uneven stress caused by protruding bolt heads, thereby ensuring the installation accuracy and stability of the guide rail seat as a motion reference, and further improving the operational accuracy of the entire hinge device.

[0026] Compared with existing technologies, the beneficial effects of the embedded refrigerator door sliding hinge device provided by this utility model are as follows: This utility model successfully solves the core technical problem of interference between the embedded refrigerator door and adjacent cabinet door panels when opening, by introducing a combined structure of guide rail, sliding bracket, and rotating arm. Its technical effects are mainly reflected in the following: the guide rail is fixed to the refrigerator side wall, providing stable basic support and a linear guiding path; the sliding bracket, through the precise sliding cooperation of the first mating groove and the guide protrusion, decomposes the door opening process into two clear stages: first, the translation stage, where the sliding bracket moves linearly on the guide rail away from the refrigerator side wall, ensuring that the door completely disengages from the cabinet opening before rotation. The cooperation between the guide rail and the sliding bracket, as well as the low-friction characteristics of the connecting pin, effectively ensure the smoothness and reliability of the translation process; second, the rotation stage, once the translation is complete, the rotating arm, connected by the first connecting pin... The rotating shaft drives the door to rotate smoothly around the axis of the second connecting pin, opening it smoothly. This sequential separation mechanism of translation and rotation fundamentally eliminates the risk of collision between the door edge and surrounding cabinet doors. In particular, the dependent claims provide detailed descriptions of the shape, fit precision, and materials of the sliding frame, guide rail, and connecting pin. For example, the length and connection position of the rotating arm are precisely set, ensuring that the door's opening trajectory meets the requirements of embedded installation. This guarantees that the refrigerator door can open completely unobstructed, while maintaining the compactness and embedded appearance of the device, improving the aesthetics and ease of use of the refrigerator in an integrated kitchen environment. The kinematic principle of this mechanism determines its simple structure when achieving pre-disengagement translational movement, effectively avoiding the complexity of multi-link mechanisms in existing technologies, and resulting in low maintenance costs. Attached Figure Description

[0027] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of this utility model, the drawings used in the description of the embodiments of this utility model will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of this utility model. For those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative effort.

[0028] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of an embedded refrigerator door sliding hinge device;

[0029] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the guide rail base.

[0030] Figure 3 This is a structural diagram showing the connection point between the rotating arm and the sliding frame;

[0031] The attached diagram lists the components represented by each number as follows:

[0032] 1. Guide rail seat; 11. First mating groove; 2. Sliding frame; 21. Guide protrusion; 3. Rotating arm; 31. First connecting pin; 32. Second connecting pin. Detailed Implementation

[0033] To make the objectives, technical solutions, and advantages of the embodiments of this utility model clearer, the technical solutions of the embodiments of this utility model will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0034] like Figure 1-3 The diagram shows a schematic of an embedded refrigerator door sliding hinge device provided by this utility model. The device supports the refrigerator door to open by first sliding and then rotating. It includes: a guide rail 1, a sliding frame 2, and a rotating arm 3. The guide rail 1 is fixedly installed on the side wall of the refrigerator, and a first mating groove 11 extends inside the guide rail 1 along the opening direction of the refrigerator door. The sliding frame is slidably disposed within the guide rail 1, and has a guide protrusion 21 that slides with the first mating groove to achieve a sliding movement of the door away from the side wall of the refrigerator. The rotating arm connects the sliding frame and the door. One end of the rotating arm is hinged to the sliding frame via a first connecting pin 31, and the other end is hinged to the door via a second connecting pin 32. The first and second connecting pins support the rotation of the rotating arm relative to the sliding frame and the door. The guide rail 1 is made of aluminum alloy, the sliding frame is made of carbon steel, and the rotating arm is made of structural steel.

[0035] In the above technical solution, the first mating groove of the guide rail seat is provided with a second mating groove on both sides along the translation direction, and the sliding frame is provided with a third mating groove on both sides along the translation direction that meshes with the second mating groove. The second and third mating grooves are used to limit the swaying of the sliding frame in the direction perpendicular to the translation direction.

[0036] Furthermore, in the above technical solution, the outer surface of the sliding frame is a roughly rectangular cuboid structure, and the inner surface of the first mating groove is complementary to the shape of the outer surface of the sliding frame, which is used to provide uniform contact support during translational movement.

[0037] Furthermore, in the above technical solution, the guide rail seat has an inclined guide slope at one end near the refrigerator door, the guide protrusion of the sliding bracket contacts the guide slope, and the projected length of the guide slope along the length direction of the first mating groove is greater than the projected length of the guide protrusion along the length direction of the first mating groove.

[0038] Furthermore, in the above technical solution, the rotating arm has a long, rod-like structure, and the rotating arm has a pin hole at one end near the sliding frame for accommodating the first connecting pin. The pin hole is circular in shape.

[0039] Furthermore, in the above technical solution, the guide rail seat is provided with a limiting flange at the end away from the refrigerator door to block the sliding bracket. The width of the limiting flange is greater than 1 / 2 of the thickness of the sliding bracket along the translation direction, in order to prevent the sliding bracket from falling out of the guide rail seat.

[0040] Furthermore, in the above technical solution, the sliding frame has an arc-shaped recess near the connection part of the first connecting pin. The arc-shaped recess is used to provide sufficient clearance when the rotating arm rotates, so as to ensure that the rotation of the rotating arm is not interfered with.

[0041] Furthermore, in the above technical solution, both the first connecting pin and the second connecting pin are made of high-strength stainless steel, and the cylindrical outer surfaces of the first connecting pin and the second connecting pin have a mirror finish to reduce frictional resistance during rotation.

[0042] Furthermore, in the above technical solution, a self-lubricating pad made of polytetrafluoroethylene is provided between the contact surfaces of the guide rail seat and the sliding frame. The self-lubricating pad is used to continuously provide low-friction sliding support during translational movement.

[0043] Furthermore, in the above technical solution, the guide rail base is connected and fixed to the side wall of the refrigerator by at least three countersunk bolts. The head of the countersunk bolt is fully embedded in the connection hole of the guide rail base to ensure the flatness of the mounting surface of the guide rail base.

[0044] The following is a specific embodiment 1 of this utility model: This embodiment is used to install a built-in refrigerator in a standard 600mm wide cabinet. The device mainly includes a guide rail base, a sliding bracket, a rotating arm, and connecting pins. The guide rail base is made of 6061 T6 anodized aluminum alloy, with a length of 230mm. It is fixed to the side wall of the refrigerator body by three countersunk bolts, with the heads of the countersunk bolts fully embedded to ensure the flatness of the mounting surface. The first mating groove inside the guide rail base has a rectangular cross-section of 20mm wide x 30mm high. The sliding bracket is made of chrome-plated 45# carbon steel, with external dimensions of 229.95mm long x 19.95mm wide x 29.95mm high. The mating clearance with the first mating groove is approximately 0.05mm, and its surface is covered with a 0.8mm thick PTFE self-lubricating gasket. The sliding frame has third mating grooves on both sides, and a second mating groove that meshes with it on the inner wall of the guide rail seat. This set of mating grooves is used to constrain the lateral movement of the sliding frame perpendicular to the translation direction, ensuring the stability of the translation. The rotating arm is made of high-strength Q235 structural steel plate, stamped and formed, with a length of 120mm and a thickness of 6mm. Both ends of the arm have circular pin holes for connecting pins. The connecting pins are made of 304 stainless steel cylinders with a diameter of 8mm and a mirror finish. One end of the rotating arm is hinged to the sliding frame via a first connecting pin, and the other end is hinged to a connecting plate pre-embedded in the refrigerator door via a second connecting pin. The technical principle of this embodiment is to utilize the linear constraint provided by the guide rail seat to convert the initial torque of the user pulling the door into a linear translational movement of the sliding frame, which translates outward by 70mm. The operation process is as follows: The user pulls the door handle, and the sliding bracket, supported by the self-lubricating pad, slides smoothly along the linear track within the guide rail seat. The angle change of the rotating arm is minimal, and the door body moves outward by 70mm. During this stage, the door body is disengaged from the edge of the cabinet. When the sliding bracket touches the limiting flange at the end of the guide rail seat, the translational movement is mechanically locked. Subsequently, the rotating arm begins to rotate significantly around the first connecting pin, driving the door body to rotate around the second connecting pin until the door body is fully opened to 110°. The effect of this embodiment is that after the door body moves 70mm, even if the door body thickness is 25mm, it can completely avoid collision with adjacent cabinet door panels, ensuring the perfect functional and aesthetic integration of the built-in refrigerator, and the operation is extremely smooth.

[0045] The following is another specific embodiment 2 of this utility model: This embodiment 2 is based on embodiment 1, and upgrades the translational stability and positioning accuracy between the sliding bracket and the guide rail seat. In this embodiment, a guide slope with an inclination angle of 8° is provided at the end of the guide rail seat near the refrigerator door, and the guide protrusion of the sliding bracket contacts the guide slope. The projected length of the guide slope along the length direction of the first mating groove is precisely designed to be 1.5 times the projected length of the guide protrusion along the length direction of the first mating groove, ensuring the integrity of support and positioning during the closing and initial opening stages of the door. At the same time, sintered bronze oil-impregnated self-lubricating bearing sleeves are embedded in the two pin holes of the rotating arm to replace the direct contact between the connecting pin and the pin hole in embodiment 1. The bearing sleeves provide higher load-bearing capacity and a lower coefficient of friction, further reducing the rotational resistance by 20%. This improvement aims to maximize the smoothness of the door's translation and rotation process and ensure that the wear of the connecting pin part is negligible after long-term use, thereby significantly improving the overall service life and maintenance-free characteristics of the hinge device, making it particularly suitable for home use environments that require frequent opening and closing.

[0046] The following is another specific embodiment 3 of this utility model: This embodiment 3 is based on embodiment 1, and structural improvements have been made to the load-bearing capacity and stress distribution of the device. The main body structure of the guide rail seat has been upgraded from the single-layer wall design of embodiment 1 to a double-layer reinforcing rib structure with an H-shaped cross-section. The material thickness has been increased from 3mm to 5mm to provide higher bending stiffness, enabling it to stably support heavier double-door or multi-door embedded refrigerator doors. The thickness of the rotating arm has been increased from 6mm to 8mm, and a rounded corner transition design has been added to the connection end of the rotating arm near the two connecting pins. All inner corners use rounded corners with a radius of R3 to distribute stress when the door is opened to its limit angle, avoiding stress concentration that could lead to fatigue failure. The diameter of the connecting pins has been increased from 8mm to 10mm, and a higher grade of 420 stainless steel has been used to withstand greater shear stress. In addition, the sliding bracket has an arc-shaped recess near the connection point of the first connecting pin. The radius of curvature of the recess is precisely calculated to ensure that when the door is opened to 120°, the outer edge of the rotating arm and the inner wall of the recess of the sliding bracket still maintain a minimum gap of 2mm. This series of structural and dimensional optimizations are designed to increase the maximum load-bearing capacity of the hinge device by about 30% and extend its service life under heavy load conditions.

[0047] The following is another specific application scenario of this utility model, embodiment 4. This embodiment is applied to the door of a high-end wine cabinet that requires deep embedded installation. This wine cabinet door is typically heavy and requires extremely gentle and smooth opening. It includes four main components: a guide rail base, a sliding bracket, a rotating arm, and a connecting pin. A detailed description follows: The guide rail base is made of high-strength 6061 T6 aluminum alloy and is integrally machined using a CNC machine tool. Its interior not only has a first mating groove for translational constraint, but also precisely integrates two miniature ball bearing tracks on its inner wall. The sliding bracket is no longer a sliding fit structure, but rather adopts a structure with built-in precision ball bearing assemblies. The ball bearing assemblies mesh with the miniature ball bearing tracks, thereby completely converting the sliding friction in translational movement into rolling friction. The rotating arm is made of carbon fiber composite material, and its length is adjusted to 150mm to provide a larger translational pre-disengagement distance, ensuring that the edges of the heavy glass door of the wine cabinet do not contact the adjacent decorative panels when opened. The connecting pin is made of precision ceramic material, such as zirconia ceramic, which has self-lubricating and extremely high hardness properties. The ceramic connecting pin provides rotational support with zero wear and extremely low noise. The technical principle of this embodiment is to use the combination of ball bearing tracks and precision ceramic connecting pins to achieve ultra-low friction and smooth, silent opening. During operation, the user only needs to apply a very small horizontal pushing force, and the wine cabinet door can move smoothly and silently under the support of the rolling bearings. The translational distance can reach 80mm. Then, the rotating arm drives the door to rotate silently. The torque required for the entire opening process is reduced by about 60% compared to Embodiment 1. The effect of this embodiment is that in high-end wine cabinet applications, it achieves an extremely smooth, silent, and imperceptible opening experience that surpasses traditional hinges, perfectly matching the design requirements of high-end products. Furthermore, the use of titanium alloy and carbon fiber ensures a high-strength service life and structural stability for decades.

[0048] Specifically, the principle of this utility model is as follows: The core principle for achieving its technical effect lies in transforming the traditional single rotational motion into a series combination of translational and rotational motions. The sliding engagement of the guide rail and the sliding frame forms a constraint mechanical system. The sliding frame can only move on the linear track provided by the guide rail. Through linear motion, it first moves the refrigerator door away from the interference area with the cabinet side panel, completing the pre-disengagement before the door opens. This translational motion relies on the rigid engagement and low-friction design between the guide rail and the sliding frame, such as the use of self-lubricating gaskets or high-precision machined mating grooves, to ensure the smoothness of the movement. When the sliding frame reaches the end of its stroke, the rotating arm switches the motion mode to rotation through the hinges at both ends. The first connecting pin between the rotating arm and the sliding frame and the second connecting pin between the rotating arm and the door together define an instantaneous center of rotation. Due to the geometric characteristics of the rotating arm, the subsequent movement of the door is a rotation around a virtual axis, rather than a purely linear motion. The guide ramp and limiting flange precisely define the starting and transition points of the translation and rotation phases, ensuring the sequential nature of the movement. This ingenious mechanism design utilizes the linear constraints of the sliding joint and the rotational degrees of freedom of the revolute joint to effectively decompose and transform the input external force (the user pulling the door) into precisely controlled translation and rotation, ensuring that the door maximizes its opening angle with minimal space occupation, thereby fundamentally avoiding structural interference.

[0049] The specific embodiment of the embedded refrigerator door sliding hinge device of this utility model includes four main components: the guide rail base, the sliding bracket, the rotating arm, and the connecting pin. The guide rail base is preferably made of high-strength aluminum alloy, such as 6061 T6 aluminum alloy, formed by precision casting or extrusion, and its surface is hard anodized to improve wear resistance and corrosion resistance. The length of the guide rail base is preferably designed to be in the range of 200mm to 250mm, and it has a first mating groove extending along its length. The cross-sectional shape of the first mating groove is rectangular, used to precisely accommodate the sliding bracket. The sliding bracket is preferably made of a material with excellent sliding performance and wear resistance, such as carbon steel (e.g., 45# steel) with nickel or chromium plating, or high-strength engineering plastic (e.g., polyamide PA66). The outer surface dimension of the sliding bracket is slightly smaller than the inner surface dimension of the first mating groove, and the mating clearance is preferably controlled within 0.02mm to 0.05mm to ensure smooth sliding without significant wobbling. The sliding frame is provided with a guide protrusion that slides with the first mating groove. The width of the guide protrusion along the translation direction is preferably 10mm to 15mm, and its height is preferably 5mm to 8mm. The rotating arm is preferably made of high-strength structural steel, such as Q235 steel, with surface anti-rust treatment, or high-strength aluminum alloy. The length of the rotating arm (i.e., the center distance between the first connecting pin and the second connecting pin) is designed according to the thickness of the refrigerator door panel and the pre-disengagement translation distance, preferably within the range of 100mm to 150mm, to achieve the optimal opening trajectory. For example, when the door thickness is 20mm, the length of the rotating arm can preferably be 120mm. The rotating arm has a long, rod-shaped structure, and its thickness is preferably 5mm to 8mm. The first connecting pin and the second connecting pin are key components for realizing the hinge connection, and are preferably made of high-strength stainless steel (such as 304 stainless steel), with a diameter preferably 8mm to 10mm, for example, 9mm. The cylindrical outer surface of the connecting pin has a mirror finish, preferably with a surface roughness Ra of less than 0.2 μm, to minimize rotational friction. A self-lubricating PTFE pad, preferably 0.5 mm to 1 mm thick, is preferably added between the contact surfaces of the guide rail and the sliding frame to provide continuous low-friction sliding during translation. The guide rail has an inclined guide ramp at the end near the refrigerator door, preferably with an inclination angle of 7° to 9°, to provide flexible buffering during initial opening. The sliding frame has an arc-shaped recess near the connection point of the first connecting pin, with a radius of curvature slightly larger than the maximum radius of curvature generated when the rotating arm rotates around the first connecting pin, ensuring sufficient clearance between the rotating arm and the sliding frame when the door is opened to 120°.All components are fastened and assembled using known machining and connection methods, such as bolt connections and pin fixation, ultimately forming an embedded hinge module that can efficiently realize a combination of translational and rotational motion.

[0050] The operation or use of the embedded refrigerator door sliding hinge device of this utility model first requires the installation and positioning of the device. During the manufacturing or on-site installation of the refrigerator, the guide rail seat is precisely fixed to the side wall of the refrigerator, usually to the pre-drilled mounting holes on the refrigerator body, using at least three countersunk bolts. The heads of the countersunk bolts are fully embedded in the connecting holes of the guide rail seat to ensure the flatness of the mounting surface of the guide rail seat and prevent installation deviations from affecting the subsequent sliding accuracy. The sliding bracket is pre-assembled into the first mating groove of the guide rail seat, and its guide protrusion is tightly slidably engaged with the first mating groove to ensure that the sliding bracket can only move in the predetermined translational direction. Furthermore, the third mating grooves on the two side walls of the sliding bracket engage with the second mating groove on the inner side wall of the guide rail seat, effectively suppressing vertical swaying. One end of the rotating arm is hinged to the sliding bracket via the first connecting pin, which ensures the following and rotational freedom of the rotating arm during the translational movement of the sliding bracket. The other end of the rotating arm is hinged to a pre-embedded connecting plate on the side of the refrigerator door, which already has a decorative panel installed, via the second connecting pin. After all connections are completed, adjustments are required to ensure smooth movement of the door throughout its opening and closing stroke, and that the door gap meets design requirements. In particular, it must be confirmed that the sliding bracket is in its initial position within its guide rail when the door is fully closed. When the user needs to open the refrigerator door, a pulling force is applied to the door handle, which is first transmitted to the rotating arm and the sliding bracket. In the initial stage, because the guide rail provides a linear constraint on the movement of the sliding bracket, the door is initially driven to perform a pure translational movement, i.e., the sliding bracket slides linearly within the guide rail in a direction away from the refrigerator sidewall. At this time, the rotation angle of the rotating arm relative to the sliding bracket is very small, mainly serving the function of torque transmission. Once the sliding bracket has translated to its end point of travel, the limiting structure of the sliding bracket (e.g., the end of the guide protrusion) contacts the limiting flange at the end of the guide rail, and the translational movement is mechanically locked. The subsequent pulling force will force the rotating arm to rotate significantly around the axis of the first connecting pin, thereby driving the entire door to rotate and open with the second connecting pin as a virtual axis. The PTFE self-lubricating gasket ensures low friction and quiet operation during the translation phase. The closing process is the reverse of the above operation. The user applies a pushing force to make the door rotate and reset first. Then, the rotating arm transmits the force to the sliding bracket, which slides and resets within the guide rail seat, ultimately making the door fit tightly against the refrigerator body, achieving a complete embedded reset.

Claims

1. An embedded refrigerator door sliding hinge device, used to support the refrigerator door to open in a manner of first sliding and then rotating, characterized in that, include: The refrigerator comprises a guide rail, a sliding bracket, and a rotating arm. The guide rail is fixedly mounted on the side wall of the refrigerator, and a first mating groove extends inside the guide rail along the opening direction of the refrigerator door. The sliding bracket is slidably disposed within the guide rail and has a guide protrusion that slides with the first mating groove to facilitate translational movement of the door away from the side wall of the refrigerator. The rotating arm connects the sliding bracket and the door. One end of the rotating arm is hinged to the sliding bracket via a first connecting pin, and the other end is hinged to the door via a second connecting pin. The first and second connecting pins support the rotation of the rotating arm relative to the sliding bracket and the door. The guide rail is made of aluminum alloy, the sliding bracket is made of carbon steel, and the rotating arm is made of structural steel.

2. The embedded refrigerator door sliding hinge device according to claim 1, characterized in that, The first mating groove of the guide rail seat has a second mating groove on both sides along the translation direction, and the sliding frame has a third mating groove on both sides along the translation direction that meshes with the second mating groove. The second mating groove and the third mating groove are used to limit the swaying of the sliding frame in the direction perpendicular to the translation direction.

3. The embedded refrigerator door sliding hinge device according to claim 2, characterized in that, The outer surface of the sliding frame has a roughly rectangular cuboid structure, and the inner surface of the first mating groove is complementary to the shape of the outer surface of the sliding frame, which is used to provide uniform contact support during the translational movement.

4. The embedded refrigerator door sliding hinge device according to claim 3, characterized in that, The guide rail seat has an inclined guide slope at one end near the refrigerator door. The guide protrusion of the sliding bracket contacts the guide slope. The projected length of the guide slope along the length of the first mating groove is greater than the projected length of the guide protrusion along the length of the first mating groove.

5. The embedded refrigerator door sliding hinge device according to claim 4, characterized in that, The rotating arm has a long, rod-like structure, and at one end of the rotating arm near the sliding frame, there is a pin hole for accommodating the first connecting pin. The pin hole is circular in shape.

6. The embedded refrigerator door sliding hinge device according to claim 5, characterized in that, The guide rail seat has a limiting flange at one end away from the refrigerator door to block the sliding frame. The width of the limiting flange is greater than 1 / 2 of the thickness of the sliding frame along the translation direction, in order to prevent the sliding frame from detaching from the guide rail seat.

7. The embedded refrigerator door sliding hinge device according to claim 6, characterized in that, The sliding frame has an arc-shaped recess near the connection point of the first connecting pin. The arc-shaped recess provides sufficient clearance when the rotating arm rotates, ensuring that the rotation of the rotating arm is not interfered with.

8. The embedded refrigerator door sliding hinge device according to claim 7, characterized in that, Both the first connecting pin and the second connecting pin are made of high-strength stainless steel. The cylindrical outer surfaces of the first connecting pin and the second connecting pin have a mirror finish to reduce frictional resistance during rotation.

9. The embedded refrigerator door sliding hinge device according to claim 8, characterized in that, A self-lubricating pad made of polytetrafluoroethylene is provided between the contact surfaces of the guide rail base and the sliding frame. The self-lubricating pad is used to continuously provide low-friction sliding support during the translational movement.

10. The embedded refrigerator door sliding hinge device according to claim 9, characterized in that, The guide rail base is connected and fixed to the side wall of the refrigerator by at least three countersunk bolts. The head of the countersunk bolt is fully embedded in the connection hole of the guide rail base to ensure the flatness of the mounting surface of the guide rail base.

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