Embedded Refrigerator Sub-Door Hinge for Wide-Angle Sealing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Refrigerators with sub-doors smaller than the main door suffer from gaps that degrade appearance and allow cold air leakage, along with insufficient pivot angles and complex latch device structures that further compromise sealing.
Innovation Solution
A sub-door design with a hinge having a bent structure at its intermediate portion, allowing a wider opening angle without interfering with the main door, and a latch device mounted externally to simplify the mechanism and enhance sealing, using a magnetic gasket for improved insulation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a sub-door smaller than the main door is used to access auxiliary storage compartment, then ease of operation is improved, but gaps are formed that degrade appearance and allow cold air leakage
Solution Approach 1:
The sub-door is nested within the main door structure, with the sub-door opening providing access to the auxiliary storage compartment while the main door provides access to the refrigerating compartment. The sub-door is positioned such that its outer surface substantially coincides with the outer surface of the main door when closed, eliminating visible gaps and preventing cold air leakage while maintaining aesthetic appearance.
2Shape
If the sub-door is embedded in the opening, then appearance is improved, but the pivot angle becomes insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The hinge is configured with a bent structure at its intermediate portion, changing the dimensional arrangement of the hinge from a straight line to an angled configuration. This bent structure includes a first portion extending from the sub-door and a second portion extending from the main door, with the two portions forming an angle. This dimensional change allows the sub-door to achieve a larger pivot angle while maintaining an embedded appearance that coincides with the main door outer surface.
3Reliability
If the latch device is mounted after passing through the sub-door, then the latching function is achieved, but cold air leaks through the mounting portion
Solution Approach 1:
The latch device is extracted from the sub-door structure and mounted separately on the main door. The latch device includes a latch protrusion that engages with a latch groove on the sub-door, and the mounting portion is positioned on the main door rather than passing through the sub-door. This extraction eliminates the cold air leakage path through the sub-door while maintaining the latching function.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The design minimizes cold air leakage and maintains aesthetic appeal by eliminating visible gaps and simplifying the latch operation, while ensuring effective thermal insulation and easy access to auxiliary storage compartments.
Implementation Method 1
a latch device mounted externally to simplify the mechanism and enhance sealing, using a magnetic gasket for improved insulation
Data Source
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AI summary
A refrigerator includes a cabinet (10) having a storage chamber, a main door (100) pivotably mounted to the cabinet (10) while including an opening (170) provided at an inside of the main door (100), and a stepped portion (172) provided around the opening (170), a sub-storage chamber (50) mounted at the inside of the main door (100), a sub-door (200) mounted to the main door (100), to allow a user to have access to the sub-storage chamber (50), the sub-door (200) having opposite side surfaces with front portions protruding forwards of a front surface of the main door (100) while having a greater width than the opening (170) and stepped portion (172) between the front portions of the side surfaces, to cover the stepped portion (172) by the side surfaces, and a hinge (260, 270) pivotably mounted to the main door (100) and coupled to the sub-door (200) while being bent at an intermediate portion thereof, to pivotably support the sub-door (200) with respect to the main door (100).