Refrigerator Inner Door Layout for Full Door Guard Access
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional refrigerators with auxiliary doors limit user access to all door guards at the rear of the main door, requiring the main door to be opened, which restricts food storage variety and cold air preservation efficiency.
Innovation Solution
A refrigerator design featuring an inner door with flat, uniformly spaced inner sidewalls that support door guards, an outer door for independent opening, and a door trim to prevent foaming solution leakage, allowing users to access all door guards without opening the main door, enhancing food storage variety and cold air preservation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If door guards are disposed at the rear portion of the main door, then food storage variety is improved, but user accessibility to all door guards deteriorates when auxiliary door size is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The door structure is segmented into a main door and an auxiliary door, with the auxiliary door providing access to door guards. The inner door is further segmented with multiple flat inner sidewalls creating uniform spaces for multiple door guards, allowing selective access to different storage compartments without opening the entire main door.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transitions from a single-door design to a multi-door design by adding an auxiliary door at the rear portion of the main door. This dimensional change in door configuration allows users to access door guards through the smaller auxiliary door, improving accessibility while maintaining the ability to store various foods in multiple door guards.
2Ease of operation
If main door is opened to access door guards, then user accessibility is improved, but cold air preservation deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The door system is divided into a main door and a separate auxiliary door. Users can open only the small auxiliary door to access door guards, rather than opening the entire main door. This segmentation minimizes the volume of cold air that escapes during access, thereby improving cold air preservation while maintaining user accessibility.
Solution Approach 2:
The auxiliary door is extracted as a separate access point from the main door structure. This extracted component provides a dedicated, small opening for accessing door guards, isolating the cold air loss to only the minimal area of the auxiliary door opening rather than the much larger main door opening.
3Manufacturing precision
If inner sidewalls are made flat and uniformly spaced, then door guard support and manufacturing precision are improved, but injection molding complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The inner sidewalls are designed with specific geometric parameters - flat surfaces and uniform spacing - that are optimized for injection molding. By controlling these parameters during the molding process, the patent achieves high manufacturing precision for door guard support while managing the complexity through standardized geometric features rather than irregular shapes.
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
Enables full access to door guards without opening the main door, improving food storage variety and minimizing cold air leakage, thus enhancing the refrigerator's storage capacity and energy efficiency.
Implementation Method 1
an outer plate in which a foaming space between the outer plate and the inner plate is formed, and a heat insulating material that foams in the foaming space
Implementation Method 2
a door trim combined in a space between the inner plate and the outer plate so as to prevent a foaming solution in the foaming space from leaking toward the opening
Data Source
AI summary
A refrigerator includes a storage compartment, an inner door including an opening having a size corresponding to the size of the storage compartment, a plurality of door guards disposed in the opening, and an outer door that opens or closes the opening, wherein the inner door includes inner sidewalls that are disposed at both sides of the opening and are flat from an inlet of the opening to an outlet of the opening without any curve.