Expandable Refrigerator Door Assembly for Adjustable Compartment Sealing

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Solution Overview

Problem

Conventional refrigerators lack the ability to adjust the size of their compartments and doors to accommodate changing storage needs, leading to inefficiencies in space utilization and temperature control.

Innovation Solution

A refrigerator design featuring an adjustable interior compartment with a pivotally coupled door and an adjustable bottom wall that can be vertically moved to change the compartment's volume, allowing the door to extend or retract to maintain a seal and accommodate varying compartment sizes.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Adaptability or versatility

If the compartment size is adjusted to accommodate changing storage needs, then the adaptability is improved, but the door sealing reliability deteriorates

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvecompartment size adjustmentVSAvoiddoor sealing

Core Design Contradiction:

Adaptability or versatilityVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The door is designed with movable members that can extend and retract dynamically to match the changing compartment dimensions. The door assembly includes a fixed member and a moving member with flanges that slide within slots, allowing the door to adapt its size while maintaining a reliable seal against the adjustable compartment opening.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #15Dynamics

Solution Approach 2:

The moving member is nested within the door structure, with flanges that slide within slots formed in the door members. This nested configuration allows the moving member to extend and retract within the door assembly, enabling size adjustment while preserving seal integrity through the interlocking flange-and-slot mechanism.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #7Nested doll (Nesting)

2Ease of manufacture

If the door is designed to be fixed, then the manufacturing simplicity is improved, but the adaptability to different compartment sizes deteriorates

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvedoor structure simplicityVSAvoidcompartment size accommodation

Core Design Contradiction:

Ease of manufactureVSAdaptability or versatility

Solution Approach 1:

The door is segmented into a fixed member and a moving member that can independently adjust. The moving member includes flanges that slide within slots, creating a modular structure that maintains manufacturing simplicity for each component while enabling overall adaptability through their coordinated movement.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

3Reliability

If the door members are extended to seal larger compartment openings, then the sealing effectiveness is improved, but the door retraction capability deteriorates

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvesealing effectivenessVSAvoiddoor retraction

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSEase of operation

Solution Approach 1:

The flanges act as intermediaries between the moving member and the door structure, sliding within slots to transmit movement forces. This intermediary mechanism enables smooth extension for sealing and retraction for storage, with the flange-and-slot interface facilitating bidirectional movement while maintaining structural integrity.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Data Source

PatentUS10126040B1Adjustable refrigerator compartment and door assembly

Publication Date: 2018.11.13 WHIRLPOOL CORP

AI summary

A refrigerator includes an interior compartment having an adjustable interior volume operable between first and second volumetric settings and a number of intermediate settings provided therebetween. A door is pivotally coupled to the interior compartment and operable between open and closed positions relative to the interior compartment. The door includes a moving member that is slideably coupled to a fixed member. The moving member is operable between extended and retracted positions with respect to the fixed member, such that the door is an expandable door configured to cover an open front portion of the interior compartment as the interior compartment moves between various volumetric settings.