REFRIGERATOR

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present invention belongs to the field of household appliance technology and particularly relates to a refrigerator.BACKGROUND

[0002] Currently, a refrigerator adopts a single-axis hinge. A door body conducts a circular motion around a fixed point of the hinge to be opened or closed. With reference to FIG. 1, during opening of the door body, a corner portion formed by a vertical edge and a horizontal edge, close to the hinge, of the door body moves out of an extension line where a vertical edge of a refrigerator body of the refrigerator is located. In this case, owing to the design of the hinge, an opening angle of the door body of the refrigerator is limited when a gap between refrigerator housing and a wall is relatively smaller or the refrigerator is configured as an embedded refrigerator.

[0003] JP S63 123976 A discloses a storage door opening / closing device for a refrigerator having an upper opening door that opens / closes the upper surface opening of the main body, wherein the door has a gasket that abuts on the peripheral edge of the opening, and the hinge device has a sliding shaft that protrudes in parallel with the hinge shaft that is the center of rotation of the door. A sliding groove is provided in which the sliding shaft reciprocates as the door rotates, and the sliding groove is equal to or slightly equal to the outer diameter of the sliding shaft at the closed position and the fully open position of the door. The wall is large and elastically deforms between the two positions due to a strong acting force accompanying the reciprocating movement of the sliding shaft. The sliding shaft moves while expanding the sliding groove by opening and closing the door. When the door is stopped in the middle of opening and closing, the sliding shaft is held in a state of being elastically deformed at the abutting portion of the sliding groove, so that the door stops in place. When the door is further moved, the sliding shaft moves while elastically deforming the sliding groove.

[0004] JP 2009 097812 A discloses a hinge device for a refrigerator which includes a first member interposed between a casing having an opening, and a door for opening / closing the opening and having a hinge pin provided in any one of the casing and the door, a second member provided in the other one of the casing and the door and having a long hole to turnably receive the hinge pin and sliding the door from an opening side toward the hinge pin when opening the door. An engagement portion is provided in a casing side member of the first and the second members, and an engaged body is provided in a door side member thereof to slide the door from the opening side toward the hinge pin by interfering in the engagement portion.

[0005] EP 3 026 375 A1 discloses a hinge device for a door of a refrigerator, which comprises: a shaft member which is mounted on a refrigerator main body and comprises a hinge pin; a bearing member which is mounted on a door and comprises a long hole which is in contact with the hinge pin to be relatively movable or relatively rotatable with respect to the hinge pin; and a cam which is installed on the hinge pin and constitutes a cam unit by contacting a cam follower of the bearing member. The contact between the hinge pin and the long hole and the contact between the cam and the cam follower are constantly maintained without being interrupted by the opening / closing angle conditions of the door respectively, and the contact between the hinge pin and the long hole cooperates with the cam unit by interlocking with the opening / closing operations of the door, thereby guiding the opening / closing operations of the door.SUMMARY

[0006] One objective of the present invention is to provide a refrigerator for solving the above-mentioned problem.

[0007] To realize this objective, the present invention provides a refrigerator according to the appended set of claims.

[0008] The present invention has the following beneficial effects: as the first hinge shaft and the second hinge shaft are disposed on a hinge of the refrigerator, the first guide groove and the second guide groove which are respectively matched with the two hinge shafts are disposed on the door body of the refrigerator, and during opening of the door body, the first hinge shaft applies the acting force to the first guide groove to drive the end, away from the first guide groove, of the second guide groove to approach the second hinge shaft, the door body is displaced in the horizontal direction and does not interfere with a surrounding wall during opening.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0009] FIG. 1 is a top view showing that a door body of a refrigerator is in a closed state according to one specific embodiment of the present invention; FIGs. 2a-2c are top views showing that a door body of a refrigerator is at different opening angles of 0-90° according to one specific embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 3 is a top view showing that a door body of a refrigerator is at an opening angle of 90° according to one specific embodiment of the present invention; FIGs. 4a-4b are top views showing that a door body of a refrigerator is at an opening angle greater than 90° according to one specific embodiment of the present invention; and FIGs. 5a-5e are motion track views showing that a door body of a refrigerator is changed from a closed state to an opening state at different opening angles according to one specific embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0010] The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings. However, these embodiments are not intended to limit the present invention, the scope of the present invention is defined by the appended claims.

[0011] Besides, it should be understood that although such terms as first and second may be used herein to describe various elements or structures, and these described objects should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish these described objects from one another.

[0012] FIG. 1 illustrates a better embodiment of a refrigerator 10 provided by the present invention. The refrigerator 10 comprises a refrigerator body 11, a door body 12 and a hinge assembly, the door body 12 pivotally connected to the refrigerator body 11 by the hinge assembly. The hinge assembly comprises a hinge body 13 fixed mounted on the refrigerator body 11, as well as a first hinge shaft 131 and a second hinge shaft 132 which are disposed on the hinge body 13. A radius of the first hinge shaft 131 is smaller than that of the second hinge shaft 132. A connecting line of centers of the first hinge shaft 131 and the second hinge shaft 132 is in a horizontal direction.

[0013] A first guide groove 121 and a second guide groove 122 are formed in the positions, matched with the hinge assembly, on the door body 12. After installation of the door body 12 and the refrigerator body 11, the first hinge shaft 131 is located in the first guide groove 121, and the second hinge shaft 132 is located in the second guide groove 122. During opening of the door body 12, the first guide groove 121 moves relative to the first hinge shaft 131, and the second guide groove 122 moves relative to the second hinge shaft 132.

[0014] Further, the first guide groove 121 is configured as substantially L-shaped and comprises a sliding groove A and a sliding groove B. The sliding groove A is longer than the sliding groove B. The second guide groove 122 is oblong and is disposed opposite to the first guide groove 121. The end, close to the sliding groove A of the first guide groove 121, of the second guide groove 122 is defined as an end C. The end, away from the sliding groove A of the first guide groove 121, of the second guide groove 122 is defined as an end D. It should be noted herein that the oblong shape of the second guide groove 122 means that the end C and the end D take the shapes of symmetrical circular arcs and are connected by two parallel lines between which the distance is greater than or equal to a diameter of the second hinge shaft 132. In the embodiment, the distance between the two parallel lines is roughly equal to the diameter of the second hinge shaft, so that the door body is prevented from an excessive shaking amplitude during opening.

[0015] Continuously referring to FIG. 1, when the door body 12 is in a closed state, the first hinge shaft 131 is located at the end, away from the sliding groove B, of the sliding groove A of the first guide groove 121. The second hinge shaft 132 is at a distance away from the end C and the end D of the second guide groove 122. In the embodiment, the second hinge shaft 132 is roughly located in the middle of the second guide groove 122.

[0016] As shown in FIGs. 2a-2c, when an opening angle of the door body 12 of the refrigerator is smaller than 90° during opening, the first guide groove 121 moves relative to the first hinge shaft 131, but the first hinge shaft 131 is always located in the sliding groove A of the first guide groove 121 and gradually approaches the sliding groove B. During movement, the first hinge shaft 131 applies an acting force to the first guide groove 121 to drive the end D of the second guide groove 122 to gradually approach the second hinge shaft 132, so that the door body 12 is displaced in a horizontal direction. In the embodiment, the end D of the second guide groove 122 gradually approaches the second hinge shaft 132, so that the door body 12 is subjected to a horizontal displacement in a direction away from the hinge component. Further, during movement of the door body 12, a corner 123, close to the second guide groove 122, of the door body never exceeds a plane where a side wall 111, close to the hinge component, of the refrigerator body 11 is located.

[0017] As shown in FIG. 3, when the opening angle of the door body 12 of the refrigerator is 90°, the first hinge shaft 131 is located at a joint of the sliding groove A and the sliding groove B of the first guide groove 121, and the second hinge shaft 132 is located at the end C of the second guide groove 122. The door body 12 is provided with a rear wall 124 and a front wall 125 back to the rear wall 124. The front wall 125 is farther from the refrigerator body 11 than the rear wall 124. A plane where the front wall 125 is located is superimposed with the plane where the side wall 111, close to the hinge component, of the refrigerator body 11 is located. The rear wall 124 and the front wall 125 of the door body 12 are connected by a left wall 126 and a right wall 127 of the door body 12 respectively. The right wall 127 is closer to the hinge component than the left wall 126.

[0018] As shown in FIGs. 4a-4b, when the opening angle of the door body 12 of the refrigerator is greater than 90°, the first hinge shaft 131 is located in the sliding groove B of the first guide groove 121, and the second hinge shaft 132 is located at the end C of the second guide groove 122. At this time, the end corner 123, close to the second guide groove 122, of the door body continuously moves toward the refrigerator body 11.

[0019] Moreover, as shown in FIGs. 5e-5e, the two hinge shafts and the two guide grooves work in cooperation to ensure that during opening at angles of 0-90°, the door body 12 rotates around a traceable variable point of which the track is (X=(X1+X2) / 2,Y=(Y1+Y2) / 2). X represents a distance between the variable point and the right wall 127 of the door body. Y represents a distance between the variable point and a second wall 125 of the door body. The motion track of the variable point may be calculated out by the following formula.

[0020] When the door body 12 of the refrigerator is in the closed state, a distance between a central point of the second hinge shaft 132 and the front wall 125 of the door body is a, a distance between the central point of the second hinge shaft 132 and the right wall 127 of the door body is b, and a distance between the central point of the second hinge shaft 132 and the end corner 123 of the door body is c.

[0021] The relation is that a2+b2=c2 and tany=a / b. γ is an included angle formed by a plane where an axis of the second guide groove 122 is located and the second wall 125 of the door body 12.

[0022] When the door body 12 rotates at an angle of m, 0°≤m≤γ, COS(y-m)=b / C1. That is, C1=C1=b / COS(y-m).

[0023] When the distance between the central point of the second hinge shaft 132 and the right wall 127 of the door body 12 is X, X1=C1*COSγ.

[0024] When the distance between the central point of the second hinge shaft 132 and the front wall 125 of the door body 12 is Y1, Y1=C1*SINγ.

[0025] When a distance between the central point of the first hinge shaft 131 and the right wall 127 of the door body 12 is X2, X2=C1*COSγ+L*COSm.

[0026] When a distance between the central point of the first hinge shaft 131 and the front wall 125 of the door body 12 is Y2, Y2=C1*SINγ+L*SINm.

[0027] When the door body 12 rotates at the angle of m, γ≤m≤90°, COS(m-γ)=b / C1. That is, C1=b / COS(m-y).

[0028] When the distance between the central point of the second hinge shaft 132 and the right wall 127 of the door body 12 is X1, X1=C1*COSγ.

[0029] When the distance between the central point of the second hinge shaft 132 and the front wall 125 of the door body 12 is Y1, Y1=C1*SINγ.

[0030] When the distance between the central point of the first hinge shaft 131 and the right wall 127 of the door body 12 is X2, X2=C1*COSγ+L*COSm.

[0031] When the distance between the central point of the first hinge shaft 131 and the front wall 125 of the door body 12 is Y2, Y2=C1*SINγ+L*SINm.

[0032] When the door body 12 rotates at the angle of m, m≥ 90°, the door body 12 will rotate around a fixed point which is the center of the second hinge shaft 132.

[0033] When the distance between the central point of the second hinge shaft 132 and the right wall 127 of the door body 12 is X1, X1=C1*COSγ=b*COSγ / COS(90°-γ).

[0034] When the distance between the central point of the second hinge shaft 132 and the front wall 125 of the door body 12 is Y1, Y1=C1*SINγ=b*SINγ / COS(90°-γ).

[0035] The central point of the first hinge shaft 131 rotates on a circular arc, which takes the central point of the second hinge shaft 132 as the center of a circle and a fixed length L as the radius.

[0036] In the forgoing computational formula, L is the distance between the central point of the first hinge shaft 131 and the central point of the second hinge shaft 132.

[0037] The variable point is traceable and has the track of (X=(X1+X2) / 2,Y=(Y1+Y2) / 2). X represents a distance between the variable point and the right end of the door body. Y represents a distance between the variable point and a front end of the door body.

[0038] It is obvious for those skilled in the art that the present invention is not limited to the details of the above exemplary embodiments, and the embodiments shall be considered as illustrative and not restrictive from any point. The scope of the invention is defined by the appended claims rather than the above illustration. Any reference number in the claims should not be regarded as a limitation to the involved claims.

Claims

1. A refrigerator (10), comprising: a refrigerator body (11) with a hinge body (13) disposed thereon, a first hinge shaft (131) and a second hinge shaft (132) being disposed on the hinge body (13); and a door body (12) with a first guide groove (121) and a second guide groove (122) formed therein, after installation of the door body (12) and the refrigerator body (11), the first hinge shaft (131) being located in the first guide groove (121) and the second hinge shaft (132) being located in the second guide groove (122), wherein during opening of the door body (12), the first guide groove (121) moves relative to the first hinge shaft (131), and the second guide groove (122) moves relative to the second hinge shaft (132); and during movement, the first hinge shaft (131) applies an acting force to the first guide groove (121) to drive the end, away from the first guide groove (121), of the second guide groove (122) to gradually approach the second hinge shaft (132), so that the door body (12) is displaced in a horizontal direction; wherein the first guide groove (121) is configured as substantially L-shaped and comprises a sliding groove A and a sliding groove B, the second guide groove (122) is oblong, the end, close to the sliding groove A of the first guide groove (121), of the second guide groove (122) is defined as an end C, and the end, away from the sliding groove A of the first guide groove (121), of the second guide groove (122) is defined as an end D, characterized in that when an opening angle of the door body (12) is 90°, the first hinge shaft (131) is located at a joint of the sliding groove A and the sliding groove B of the first guide groove (121), and the second hinge shaft (132) is located at the end C of the second guide groove (122).

2. The refrigerator (10) according to claim 1, wherein when the door body (12) is in the closed state, the first hinge shaft (131) is located at the end, away from the sliding groove B, of the sliding groove A of the first guide groove (121), and the second hinge shaft (132) is located in the middle of the second guide groove (122).

3. The refrigerator (10) according to claim 1, wherein when an opening angle of the door body (12) gradually approaches 90°, the first hinge shaft (131) is located in the sliding groove A of the first guide groove (121) and gradually approaches the sliding groove B, and the end D of the second guide groove (122) gradually approaches the second hinge shaft (132).

4. The refrigerator (10) according to claim 1, wherein the door body (12) is provided with a rear wall (124) and a front wall (125) back to the rear wall (124), the front wall (125) is farther from the refrigerator body (11) than the rear wall (124), when the opening angle of the door body (12) of the refrigerator (10) is 90°, a plane where the front wall (125) is located is superimposed with the plane where the side wall (111), close to the hinge component, of the refrigerator body (11) is located.

5. The refrigerator (10) according to claim 1, wherein when an opening angle of the door body (12) of the refrigerator (10) is smaller than 90° during opening, the first hinge shaft (131) is always located in the sliding groove A of the first guide groove (121) and gradually approaches the sliding groove B, and the end D of the second guide groove (122) gradually approaches the second hinge shaft (132), so that the door body (12) is subjected to a horizontal displacement in a direction away from the hinge component.

6. The refrigerator (10) according to claim 1, wherein when an opening angle of the door body (12) is greater than 90°, the first hinge shaft (131) is located in the sliding groove B of the first guide groove (121), and the second hinge shaft (132) is located at the end C of the second guide groove (122).