Hinge assembly and refrigerator having the hinge assembly attached

Abstract

To provide a hinge assembly that allows electronic equipment including a hinge and a door switch board to be easily attached to a refrigerator body in a short work time, and allows the position of the attached electronic equipment including the door switch board to be held in a sure manner, and to provide a refrigerator to which the hinge assembly is attached.SOLUTION: A hinge assembly attached to a refrigerator body includes: a metal hinge member 10 having a plate-like part 12 and a hinge 14 erected from the plate-like part 12; a resin hinge engagement member 20 having an engagement part that engages with the plate-like part 12; and electronic equipment 30 and 32 with wiring 36 attached to the top face of the hinge engagement member 20, which at least includes a door switch board 30. When the hinge assembly is attached to the refrigerator body, the plate-like part 12 is fixed to the refrigerator body, and part of the hinge engagement member 20 is disposed between the plate-like part 12 and the refrigerator body.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3A

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a hinge assembly including a hinge that serves as a rotation axis for a refrigerator door, and to a refrigerator to which this hinge assembly is attached. [Background technology]

[0002] Some refrigerators have a door switch that detects whether the door is open or closed, located near the door hinge on the top surface of the refrigerator body. Among such refrigerators, a door switch attached to the inside of a hinge cover that covers the hinge has been proposed (see, for example, Patent Document 1). In the refrigerator described in Patent Document 1, the door switch is covered by the hinge cover, so that a refrigerator with excellent appearance can be provided. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2000-18812 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] However, in the refrigerator described in Patent Document 1, two operations must be performed: the installation of the hinge to the refrigerator body and the installation of the door switch to the refrigerator body accompanied by the installation of the hinge cover. In addition, since there is wiring connected to the door switch inside the hinge cover, when the hinge cover is installed to the refrigerator body, the wiring hangs down and interferes, which may take a long time. Furthermore, after the hinge cover is installed, the hinge cover may be pushed up by the wiring inside the hinge cover, and in that case, the door switch may not function properly.

[0005] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems and to provide a hinge assembly that can easily attach an electronic device including a hinge and a door switch board to a refrigerator body in a short amount of time and can reliably maintain the position of the attached electronic device including the door switch board, and a refrigerator equipped with this hinge assembly. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] In the hinge assembly of the present invention, An assembly to be attached to a refrigerator body, a metal hinge member having a plate-like portion and a hinge extending from the plate-like portion; a hinge engagement member made of resin having an engagement portion that engages with the plate-shaped portion; An electronic device with wiring, including at least a door switch board, attached to an upper surface of the hinge engagement member; Equipped with When attached to the refrigerator body, the plate-shaped portion is fixed to the refrigerator body, and a portion of the hinge engaging member is positioned between the plate-shaped portion and the refrigerator body.

[0007] According to the present invention, a hinge assembly in which the hinge engaging member, to which an electronic device with wiring is attached on its upper surface, and the hinge member are integrated, are attached to the refrigerator body, so that both the hinge and the electronic device can be attached to the refrigerator body at the same time in a single attachment operation. Furthermore, since the wiring does not hang down during attachment, the hinge assembly can be easily attached to the refrigerator body in a single attachment operation with a short work time. Furthermore, when the hinge assembly is attached to the refrigerator body, the plate-shaped portion having strength is fixed to the refrigerator body and a part of the hinge engaging member is disposed between the plate-shaped portion and the refrigerator body, so that the hinge engaging member is also pressed by the plate-shaped portion to maintain its position. This allows the position of the electronic device attached to the hinge engaging member to be reliably maintained.

[0008] As described above, in the present invention, the hinge and the electronic device arranged around the hinge can be easily attached to the refrigerator body in a short amount of time, and the position of the attached electronic device can be reliably maintained.

[0009] In addition, in the hinge assembly of the present invention, The present invention is characterized in that the plate-shaped portion is fixed in contact with the refrigerator body without the hinge engaging member being disposed in an area different from the area where a portion of the hinge engaging member is disposed between the plate-shaped portion and the refrigerator body, without the hinge engaging member being disposed therebetween.

[0010] According to the present invention, since the metal plate-shaped part is fixed in contact with the refrigerator body without using a resin hinge engaging member, a hinge having high rigidity and high positional accuracy can be obtained. At the same time, since a part of the hinge engaging member is disposed between the plate-shaped part and the refrigerator body in another region, the hinge engaging member can also be reliably held.

[0011] In addition, in the hinge assembly of the present invention, The engaging portion includes a hook portion having an uneven shape, The present invention is characterized in that, when the plate-shaped portion is fixed to the refrigerator body, the plate-shaped portion is positioned in a recess of the hook portion, and the protrusion of the hook portion is positioned between the plate-shaped portion positioned in the recess and the refrigerator body.

[0012] According to the present invention, when the hinge assembly is attached to the refrigerator body, the hook portion having a concave and convex shape can reliably hold the hinge engaging member on the refrigerator body.

[0013] In addition, in the hinge assembly of the present invention, The hinge engaging member is characterized by comprising a snap mechanism that, when engaging with the plate-shaped portion, causes the plate-shaped portion to climb over a protrusion of the hook portion and enter a recess of the hook portion.

[0014] According to the present invention, the hinge assembly can be easily assembled in a short time because the snap mechanism can easily engage the hinge engaging member with the plate-shaped portion. At the same time, the engagement between the hinge member and the hinge engaging member can be reliably maintained by fitting the concave and convex shapes.

[0015] In addition, the refrigerator of the present invention is The hinge assembly is attached to a refrigerator body.

[0016] According to the present invention, a refrigerator can be provided that can be manufactured at low manufacturing costs and that can accurately detect whether a door is open or closed using a door switch board. Effect of the Invention

[0017] As described above, the present invention provides a hinge assembly that can easily attach an electronic device including a hinge and a door switch board to a refrigerator body in a short amount of time and can reliably hold the position of the attached electronic device including the door switch board. Also, a refrigerator equipped with this hinge assembly can be manufactured at low cost and can accurately detect whether the door is open or closed by the door switch board. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0018] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the exterior of a refrigerator to which a hinge assembly according to one embodiment of the present invention is attached. [Figure 2A] 2 is an enlarged perspective view of the periphery of the upper hinge of the refrigerator shown in FIG. 1, showing a state in which the hinge cover has been removed and the hinge assembly is visible. FIG. [Figure 2B] 2B is a perspective view showing the state in which the hinge assembly has been removed from the refrigerator body from the state shown in FIG. 2A. [Figure 3A] FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of a right hinge assembly according to one embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 3B] FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of a left hinge assembly according to one embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 4A] FIG. 11 is a perspective view showing a first step of engaging the hinge member with the hinge engaging member. [Figure 4B] 13 is a perspective view showing a second step of engaging the hinge member with the hinge engaging member. FIG. [Diagram 5] 10 is a perspective view showing a state in which the hinge member and the hinge engaging member are engaged with each other in a first step and a second step. FIG. [Figure 6A] FIG. 11 is a perspective view showing how the assembled hinge assembly is attached to the refrigerator body. [Figure 6B] 11 is a perspective view showing the hinge assembly placed on the refrigerator body being fixed with a fastening member. FIG. [Figure 7] 13 is a diagram explaining the function of maintaining the installation position of the hinge engagement member when the hinge assembly is attached to the refrigerator body. FIG. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0019] Hereinafter, an embodiment for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that the writing implement described below is intended to embody the technical concept of the present invention, and unless otherwise specified, the present invention is not limited to the following. In each drawing, components having the same function may be denoted by the same reference numerals. The size and positional relationship of components shown in each drawing may be exaggerated for clarity of explanation. In this specification, the refrigerator is placed on a horizontal floor surface, and the door side is the front side and the opposite side is the rear side. The directions of up, down, front, back, left and right are indicated by arrows in the drawings.

[0020] (Hinge Assembly According to One Embodiment of the Present Invention) FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the outer shape of a refrigerator 100 to which a hinge assembly 2 according to one embodiment of the present invention is attached. FIG. 2A is an enlarged perspective view of the periphery of the upper hinge of the refrigerator 100 shown in FIG. 1, showing a state in which the hinge cover 4 has been removed and the hinge assembly 2 is visible. FIG. 2B is a perspective view showing a state in which the hinge assembly 2 has been removed from the refrigerator body from the state shown in FIG. 2A. FIGS. 3A and 3B are exploded perspective views showing hinge assemblies 2, 2' according to one embodiment of this embodiment, where FIG. 3A shows the right hinge assembly 2 and FIG. 3B shows the left hinge assembly 2'.

[0021] FIG. 1 shows the upper area of ​​the refrigerator 100 from the oblique front side. The refrigerator 100 includes a refrigerator body 50 and two doors 52A and 52B rotatably attached to the refrigerator body 50. The two doors 52A and 52B are double doors that open to the left and right. Of the hinges that serve as the rotation axis of the doors 52A and 52B, the upper hinge is attached to the top surface 50A of the refrigerator body 50. The upper hinge is covered with hinge covers 4 and 4'. FIG. 2A shows an enlarged view of the upper hinge of the right door 52A and its surroundings, with the hinge cover 4 removed and a hinge assembly 2 according to one embodiment of the present invention attached to the top surface 50A of the refrigerator body 50. Furthermore, FIG. 2B shows the state in which the fastening member 40 that fixes the hinge assembly 2 to the refrigerator body 50 is removed and the hinge assembly 2 is removed from the refrigerator body 50. The hinge assembly 2', which is covered with the hinge cover 4' around the upper hinge of the left door 52B, is attached to the refrigerator body 50.

[0022] Fig. 3A shows the disassembled components of the right hinge assembly 2 that has been removed. Fig. 3B shows the disassembled components of the left hinge assembly 2' that has been removed. The hinge assemblies 2, 2' each include a metal hinge member 10 having a plate-shaped portion 12 and a hinge 14 that serves as a rotation axis of the door erected from the plate-shaped portion 12. The hinge assemblies 2, 2' each include a resin hinge engaging member 20 that engages with the plate-shaped portion 12, and electronic devices 30, 32, 34 with wiring 36 attached to the upper surface of the hinge engaging member 20. The plate-shaped portions 12 and the hinge engaging members 20 of the left and right hinge assemblies 2, 2' each have a symmetrical shape.

[0023] To describe the electronic devices 30, 32, 34 in more detail, the door switch board 30, the humidity sensor 32, and the WIFI communication unit 34 are attached to the upper surface of the hinge engagement member 20. In particular, the door switch board 30 is attached to both the left and right hinge assemblies 2, 2'. The humidity sensor 32 is attached only to the right hinge assembly 2. The WIFI communication unit 34 is attached only to the left hinge assembly 2'. Wires 36 are connected to each of the electronic devices 30, 32, 34, and terminals 36A are attached to the ends of some of the wires 36. The wires 36 are connected to the door switch board 30 by a connector 30A.

[0024] The door switch board 30 is disposed so as to be located at the front end of the refrigerator body 50 when the hinge assemblies 2, 2' are attached to the refrigerator body 50. Examples of the door switch board 30 include a tact switch or a toggle switch that turns on and off by physical contact with the door 52A, and a proximity switch that electromagnetically determines whether or not it is in proximity to the door 52A. By positioning the door switch board 30 at the front end of the refrigerator body 50, it is possible to accurately detect whether the door 52A is open or closed.

[0025] An opening is provided in the hinge cover 4, and the air around the refrigerator body 50 enters the hinge cover 4 through this opening. This allows the humidity sensor 32 attached to the hinge assembly 2 covered by the hinge cover 4 to detect the humidity of the air around the refrigerator.

[0026] In recent years, there has been an increasing demand for connecting a refrigerator to the Internet, operating the refrigerator with an electronic device such as a smartphone, and checking the internal state of the refrigerator. In order to meet such demands, in this embodiment, a WIFI communication unit 34 is attached to the hinge assembly 2'. Since any of the electronic devices 30, 32, 34 with wiring 36 are attached to the upper surface of the hinge engagement member 20, the wiring 36 does not hang down compared to when the electronic device with wiring is attached to the hinge cover, and therefore the installation work can be easily performed.

[0027] As described above, the basic structure of the left hinge assembly 2' is similar to the structure of the right hinge assembly 2. Therefore, in the following, the hinge assemblies 2, 2' will be described in detail using the right hinge assembly 2 as an example.

[0028] (Assembling the hinge assembly) FIG. 4A is a perspective view showing a first step of engaging the hinge member 10 with the hinge engaging member 20. FIG. 4B is a perspective view showing a second step of engaging the hinge member 10 with the hinge engaging member 20. FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a state in which the hinge member 10 and the hinge engaging member 20 are engaged in the first step and the second step. FIG. 4A (b) is a perspective view showing an enlarged view of the periphery of the first hook portion 22 which is an engaging portion. FIG. 4B (b) is a perspective view showing an enlarged view of the periphery of the second hook portion 24 which is an engaging portion, and FIG. 4B (c) is a perspective view seen from the cross section AA of FIG. 4B (b) and (c) show a state after the second insertion portion 12B of the plate-shaped portion 12 is engaged with the second hook portion 24 of the hinge engaging member 20.

[0029] First, a detailed description will be given of the process of assembling the hinge assembly 2. In all of Fig. 4A, Fig. 4B, and Fig. 5, the lower surface side that faces the upper surface 50A of the refrigerator body 50 faces upward when the hinge assembly 2 is attached to the upper surface 50A of the refrigerator body 50.

[0030] The hinge engaging member 20 according to this embodiment includes a first hook portion 22 and a second hook portion 24 as engaging portions that engage with the hinge member 10. The first hook portion 22 has an uneven shape composed of a protrusion 22A and a recess 22B. The second hook portion 24 has an uneven shape composed of a protrusion 24A and a recess 24B. Here, a description will be given of how the hinge engaging member 20, to which electronic devices 30, 32, 34 with wiring 36 have been attached, is engaged with the plate-shaped portion 12 of the hinge member 10.

[0031] [First step] First, as shown by the dashed arrow in FIG. 4A, the first insertion portion 12A provided on both sides of the end portion opposite the end portion at which the hinge 14 of the hinge member 10 is arranged is inserted obliquely into the recess 22B, avoiding the convex portion 22A of the first hook portion 22 of the hinge engagement member 20.

[0032] [Second step] Next, as indicated by the dashed double-dashed arrow in FIG. 4A, the end portion on which the hinge 14 is located is rotated in a direction approaching the hinge engaging member 20, with the first insertion portion 12A engaged with the first hook portion 22 of the hinge engaging member 20 as the center of rotation.

[0033] When the hinge member 10 is rotated, the second insertion portion 12B of the plate-shaped portion 12 of the hinge member 10 comes into contact with the convex portion 24A of the second hook portion 24 of the hinge engagement member 20. When the hinge member 10 is further pressed in the same rotational direction, the hinge engagement member 20 is elastically deformed, and the second insertion portion 12B of the plate-shaped portion 12 passes over the convex portion 24A of the second hook portion 24 and enters the concave portion 24B of the second hook portion 24. As a result, the second insertion portion 12B of the plate-shaped portion 12 is engaged with the second hook portion 24 of the hinge engagement member 20. In this way, a snap mechanism is formed by the first and second hook portions 22, 24, which are engagement portions provided on the hinge engagement member 20.

[0034] Such a snap mechanism allows the plate-like portion 12 and the hinge engaging member 20 to be easily engaged with each other, and therefore the hinge assembly 2 can be easily assembled in a short amount of time. At the same time, the engagement between the hinge member 10 and the hinge engaging member 20 can be reliably maintained by the engagement with the concave and convex shapes.

[0035] The external shape of the hinge assembly 2 assembled in this manner is shown in FIG. 5. The lower surface of the plate-shaped portion 12 of the hinge member 10 indicated by the arrow S becomes a contact and fixing surface that contacts the upper surface 50A of the refrigerator body 50. The plate-shaped portion 12 is fixed to the refrigerator body 50 by passing a fastening member 40 such as a screw through three through holes 12C provided on the lower surface of the plate-shaped portion 12. The first and second insertion portions 12A and 12B provided on the plate-shaped portion 12 are located a predetermined distance above the contact and fixing surface indicated by the arrow S when the hinge assembly 2 is attached to the refrigerator body 50. This ensures an arrangement space for the protrusions 22A and 24A of the first and second hook portions 22 and 24 located below the first and second insertion portions 12A and 12B when the hinge assembly 2 is attached to the refrigerator body 50.

[0036] In the above description, the hinge engaging member 20 to which the electronic devices 30, 32, 34 with the wiring 36 are attached is engaged with the plate-shaped portion 12 of the hinge member 10, but this is not limited to the above. First, the hinge engaging member 20 can be engaged with the plate-shaped portion 12, and then the electronic devices 30, 32, 34 with the wiring 36 can be attached to the hinge engaging member 20.

[0037] (Installing the hinge assembly to the refrigerator body) Fig. 6A is a perspective view showing how the assembled hinge assembly 2 is attached to the refrigerator body 50. Fig. 6B is a perspective view showing how the hinge assembly 2 placed on the refrigerator body 50 is fixed with fastening members 40. Next, how the hinge assembly 2 assembled in the first and second steps as described above is attached to the upper surface 50A of the refrigerator body 50 will be described.

[0038] The assembled hinge assembly 2 is placed on the right front side of upper surface 50A of refrigerator body 50, and screw holes 54 provided on the refrigerator body 50 side are aligned with through holes 12C (see FIG. 5 ) provided in plate-shaped portion 12 of hinge member 10 constituting hinge assembly 2. Then, three fastening members 40 are passed through screw holes 12C provided in plate-shaped portion 12 and fastened to screw holes 54 provided in refrigerator body 50. This makes it possible to fix hinge member 10 to refrigerator body 50, and ultimately to fix entire hinge assembly 2 to refrigerator body 50.

[0039] Because the metallic hinge member 10 is fixed in contact with the refrigerator body 50, the hinge member 10 can be fixed to the refrigerator body 50 with high strength and high positional accuracy. However, this is not limited to this, and the hinge member 10 and the refrigerator body 50 may be fixed by inserting a highly rigid plate-like member made of metal or the like between the hinge member 10 and the refrigerator body 50.

[0040] When attaching the hinge assembly 2 to the refrigerator body 50, the hinge assembly 2 is handled as an integrated assembly in which the hinge engaging member 20, to which the electronic devices 30, 32, 34 with wiring 36 are attached in advance, is engaged with the hinge member 10, and therefore positioning and attachment can be easily performed. In particular, since the electronic devices 30, 32, 34 with wiring 36 are attached to the upper surface of the hinge engaging member 20, the wiring 36 does not hang down and cause interference, unlike when the electronic devices are attached to the inside of the hinge cover 4. Therefore, the hinge member 10 and the electronic devices 30, 32, 34 with wiring 36 can be attached to the upper surface of the refrigerator body 50 at the same time with a short work time.

[0041] Thereafter, the hinge cover 4 is attached so as to cover the hinge assembly 2. The hinge cover 4 can be easily attached since no electronic devices are attached to it. Even if the hinge cover 4 is lifted up, the installation positions of the electronic devices including the door switch board 30 are maintained.

[0042] (Hinge assembly fixing structure) Fig. 7 is a diagram for explaining a function of maintaining the installation position of the hinge engagement member 20 in a state in which the hinge assembly 2 is attached to the refrigerator body 50. Next, a fixing structure of the hinge assembly 2 will be described with reference to Fig. 7.

[0043] Convex portions 22A, 24A of first and second hook portions 22, 24 of hinge engagement member 20, which are part of hinge engagement member 20, are disposed between insertion portions 12A, 12B of plate-shaped portion 12 and refrigerator body 50. Furthermore, in an area (see arrow S) different from the area where such a part of hinge engagement member 20 is disposed between plate-shaped portion 12 and refrigerator body 50, plate-shaped portion 12 is fixed in a state of contact with refrigerator body 50 without hinge engagement member 20 therebetween.

[0044] Since the metal plate-shaped portion 12 is fixed in contact with the refrigerator body 50 without using a resin member having a lower strength than metal, it is possible to obtain the hinge 14 having high rigidity and high positional accuracy. At the same time, since a part of the hinge engaging member 20 (e.g., the convex portions 22A, 24A) is disposed between the plate-shaped portion 12 and the refrigerator body 50 in other regions, the hinge engaging member 20 can also be securely held.

[0045] In particular, in the above embodiment, the hinge assembly 2 is provided with hook portions 22, 24 having a concave and convex shape as engagement portions, and when the plate-shaped portion 12 is fixed to the refrigerator body 50, the plate-shaped portion 12 is positioned in the concave portions 22B, 24B of the hook portions 22, 24, and the convex portions 22A, 24A of the hook portions 22, 24 are positioned between the plate-shaped portion 12 positioned in the concave portions 22B, 24B and the refrigerator body 50.

[0046] When the hinge assembly 2 is attached to the refrigerator body 50, the insertion parts 12A and 12B of the plate-shaped part 12 are formed above the surface of the plate-shaped part 12 that contacts the refrigerator body 50, indicated by the arrow S, by a distance corresponding to the thickness (height dimension) of the protrusions 22A and 24A of the hinge engagement member 20. As a result, the lower surfaces of the protrusions 22A and 24A located below the insertion parts 12A and 12B of the plate-shaped part 12 are arranged so as to be almost in contact with the upper surface 50A of the refrigerator body 50. However, this is not limited to this, and when the fastening member 40 is fastened to fix the plate-shaped part 12 to the refrigerator body 50, the protrusions 22A and 24A of the hinge engagement member 20 can be slightly compressed and deformed by being pressed by the insertion parts 12A and 12B located above and the refrigerator body 50 located below. In this case, the position of the hinge engagement member 20 can be maintained even more firmly.

[0047] In the above embodiment, the hinge member 10 and the hinge engaging member 20 engage with each other by a snap mechanism, so it is necessary to take into consideration that after the hinge assembly 2 is attached to the refrigerator body 50, the engagement between the two members will be released in the reverse order to that of assembly, and the hinge engaging member 20 will be removed from the refrigerator body 50.

[0048] However, as shown by arrows F and F' in Figure 7, when force is applied to hinge engagement member 20 so that insertion portion 12A or insertion portion 12B overcomes convex portion 22A of first hook portion 22 or convex portion 24A of second hook portion 24, a reaction force as shown by arrows R and R' is received from refrigerator main body 50, and rotation in the direction of disengaging from hinge engagement member 20 is restricted.

[0049] As described above, when the hinge assembly 2 is attached to the refrigerator body 50, the hinge engaging member 20 can be securely held on the refrigerator body 50 by the hook portions 22, 24 having the concave and convex shapes.

[0050] In the above embodiment, the hinge assembly 2 includes the hook portions 22, 24 having a concave-convex shape as the engagement portion, but the engagement portion is not limited to this. An engagement portion having any other structure can be adopted as long as the structure is such that when the hinge assembly 2 is attached to the refrigerator body 50, the plate-shaped portion 12 is fixed to the refrigerator body 50 and a part of the hinge engagement member 20 is disposed between the plate-shaped portion 12 and the refrigerator body 50. For example, the engagement portion may be one that engages the plate-shaped portion 12 and the hinge engagement member 20 using a detachable member or a fastening member.

[0051] Also, in the above embodiment, the hinge assembly 2 is attached to the upper surface 50A of the refrigerator body 50, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the hinge assembly 2 may be attached to the lower surface or side surface of the refrigerator body 50. In either case, when the hinge assembly 2 is attached to the refrigerator body 50, the electronic devices 30, 32, 34 with the wiring 36 are arranged on the upper surface in the state where the hinge assembly 2 is attached to the refrigerator body 50 so that the wiring 36 does not hang down.

[0052] Taking the above into consideration, the hinge assembly 2 is an assembly to be attached to the refrigerator main body 50, and comprises a metal hinge member 10 having a plate-shaped portion 12 and a hinge 14 erected from the plate-shaped portion 12, a resin hinge engaging member 20 having an engaging portion that engages with the plate-shaped portion 12, and electronic devices 30, 32, 34 with wiring 36 including at least a door switch board 30 attached to the upper surface of the hinge engaging member 20, and when attached to the refrigerator main body 50, the plate-shaped portion 14 is fixed to the refrigerator main body 50, and a part of the hinge engaging member 20 is arranged between the plate-shaped portion 14 and the refrigerator main body 50.

[0053] In such hinge assembly 2, the assembly 2 in which the hinge engaging member 20, to which the electronic devices 30, 32, 34 with wiring 36 are attached on the upper surface, and the hinge member 10 are integrated is attached to the refrigerator body 50, so that the hinge 14 and the electronic devices 30, 32, 34 can be simultaneously attached to the refrigerator body 50 in a single attachment operation. In addition, since the wiring 36 does not hang down during attachment, the hinge assembly 2 can be easily attached to the refrigerator body 50 in a short work time.

[0054] Furthermore, when the hinge assembly 2 is attached to the refrigerator body 50, the plate-shaped portion 12 having strength is fixed to the refrigerator body 50, and a part of the hinge engagement member 20 is disposed between the plate-shaped portion 12 and the refrigerator body 50, so that the hinge engagement member 20 is also held by the plate-shaped portion 12 and does not float up. As a result, the positions of the electronic devices 30, 32, 34 attached to the hinge engagement member 20 can also be reliably maintained.

[0055] As a result, it is possible to provide a hinge assembly 2 that can easily attach the hinge 14 and the electronic devices 30, 32, 34 arranged around the hinge to the refrigerator body 50 in a short amount of time, and can reliably maintain the positions of the attached electronic devices 30, 32, 34, including the door switch board 30.

[0056] A refrigerator 100 in which such a hinge assembly 2 is attached to a refrigerator body 50 can be manufactured at low manufacturing costs, and the door switch board 30 can accurately detect whether the door 52A is open or closed.

[0057] Although the embodiments and modes of implementation of the present invention have been described, the disclosed contents may vary in details of the configuration, and changes in the combination and order of elements in the embodiments and modes of implementation may be realized without departing from the scope and spirit of the claimed invention. [Explanation of symbols]

[0058] 2,2' Hinge Assembly 4,4' Hinge cover 10 Hinge member 12 Plate-shaped part 12A First Insertion Part 12B Second Insertion Part 12C through hole 14 Hinge 20 Hinge engagement member 22 First hook part 22A Convex 22B Recess 24 Second hook part 24A Convex 24B Recess 30 Door switch board 30A Connector 32 Humidity Sensor 34 WIFI communication unit 36 Wiring 36A Terminal 40 Fastening members 50 Refrigerator body 50A top 52A, 52B Door 54 Screw hole 100 Refrigerator

Claims

1. An assembly to be attached to a refrigerator body, a metal hinge member having a plate-like portion and a hinge extending from the plate-like portion; a hinge engagement member made of resin having an engagement portion that engages with the plate-shaped portion; An electronic device with wiring, including at least a door switch board, attached to an upper surface of the hinge engagement member; Equipped with A hinge assembly characterized in that, when attached to the refrigerator body, the insertion portion of the plate-shaped portion is inserted into the recess of the engagement portion, the plate-shaped portion is fixed to the refrigerator body, and a portion of the hinge engagement member is positioned between the plate-shaped portion and the refrigerator body.

2. The hinge assembly according to claim 1, characterized in that a portion of the hinge engaging member is fixed in a state in which the plate-shaped portion is in contact with the refrigerator body, without the hinge engaging member therebetween, in an area different from the area located between the plate-shaped portion and the refrigerator body.

3. The engaging portion includes a hook portion having a concave portion different from the concave portion, A hinge assembly as described in claim 1 or 2, characterized in that when the plate-shaped portion is fixed to the refrigerator body, the plate-shaped portion is positioned in a recess of the hook portion, and the convex portion of the hook portion is positioned between the plate-shaped portion positioned in the recess of the hook portion and the refrigerator body.

4. A refrigerator comprising the hinge assembly according to any one of claims 1 to 3 attached to a refrigerator body.

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