Motorized Refrigerator Drawer with Obstacle Stop and Hidden Handle
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing refrigerator designs, particularly bottom freezer types, face challenges in user convenience and accessibility due to the need for users to stoop to open the freezer compartment, which can be physically challenging for children and the elderly, and the automatic opener systems require a handle that protrudes, increasing dimensions and potential hazards. Additionally, these systems often result in reduced insulation and complex support structures for multiple storage boxes.
Innovation Solution
A drawer movement apparatus with a drive motor and gear assembly integrated into the refrigerator floor, featuring an anti-wobble alignment apparatus and a distance detection sensor, allows for automatic and controlled movement of the storage box without a separate handle, ensuring smooth operation and maintaining insulation integrity by minimizing the need for external handles and reducing the motor's volume impact.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Extent of automation
If an automatic opener system is provided with a protruding handle, then the drawer can be opened automatically, but the dimensions of the refrigerator increase and potential hazards are created
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the protruding handle from the drawer front and relocates the manual operation interface to the rear of the drawer. The handle is extracted from its traditional position and repositioned at the back, allowing the drawer to be pulled backward for opening while eliminating the forward protrusion that increases dimensions and creates hazards.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of pulling the drawer forward to open it (conventional design), the patent inverts the opening motion by pulling the drawer backward. The handle is positioned at the rear and pulls the drawer toward the user, reversing the traditional direction of force application and resolving the contradiction between automation and handle protrusion.
2Quantity of substance
If multiple storage boxes are supported with complex support structures, then the storage capacity is increased, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs universal support structures that can accommodate multiple storage boxes of varying sizes and weights. The same support framework serves all storage boxes, providing a standardized, multi-functional solution that increases storage capacity without proportionally increasing structural complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The support structure is divided into modular segments that can independently support individual storage boxes. Each segment is a simple, standardized component, and multiple segments work together to support multiple boxes, allowing the system to scale capacity while maintaining simplicity through repetition of basic units.
3Force
If the motor volume is increased to provide sufficient driving force, then the drawer can move heavy loads, but the insulation efficiency is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent positions the motor at the rear of the drawer, opposite to the direction of motion, creating a counterbalancing arrangement. This positioning allows the motor to leverage the weight distribution of the drawer and its contents, reducing the peak force requirements and enabling a smaller motor volume that maintains insulation efficiency while still providing sufficient driving force.
Solution Approach 2:
The motor begins driving the drawer before the user applies manual force, pre-positioning the drawer and reducing the initial force required. This preliminary action allows the system to use a smaller motor that doesn't need to overcome static friction and inertia alone, thereby reducing motor volume while maintaining adequate driving capability.
Data Source
AI summary
A system and method for driving a drawer of a refrigerator and a refrigerator employing this system is provided. This system and method allows the drawer to substantially immediately and automatically stop when the drawer encounters an obstacle. This type of automatic control of the drawer may enhance the safe operation of the drawer, prevent injuries to users, and prevent overload and subsequent malfunction of a drive motor used to move the drawer.