Refrigerator
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional refrigerators with displays on doors are not rotatable, limiting user convenience and making maintenance difficult due to the fixed display structure.
Innovation Solution
A rotatable display system for refrigerators, featuring a sliding plate, a cover display, rotation limitation parts, and a release screw that allows the display to be rotated 90 degrees or more, enabling horizontal or vertical orientation and easy detachment from the sliding plate for maintenance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the display is firmly fixed to the front side of the door, then the display structure is simple and reliable, but the screen cannot be switched horizontally or vertically and maintenance is difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The display assembly is divided into separate components: the display unit, the cover display, the sliding plate, and the rotation limitation parts. This segmentation allows the display to be rotated and detached independently from the door, enabling screen switching while maintaining a relatively simple overall structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The display structure is transformed from a static fixed mounting to a dynamic rotatable assembly. The sliding plate enables linear movement, while the rotation limitation parts (stopper and locking jaw) enable controlled rotational movement, allowing the screen to switch between horizontal and vertical orientations dynamically.
2Ease of repair
If the display is firmly fixed to the front side of the door, then the display structure is simple, but maintenance is difficult due to inability to separate the display
Solution Approach 1:
The display assembly is segmented into detachable components including the display unit, cover display, and sliding plate. The release screw mechanism allows these segments to be easily separated for maintenance while maintaining structural integrity during normal operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The display unit can be extracted from the door assembly by releasing the rotation limitation parts and sliding the display plate outward. This extraction capability enables easy maintenance and replacement of the display without disassembling the entire door structure.
3Reliability
If rotation limitation parts are provided to define rotation range, then the display can be rotated reliably within specific angles, but the structure becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The rotation limitation parts (stopper and locking jaw) automatically engage and disengage based on the rotation angle, providing self-regulating rotation control. The stopper limits rotation in one direction while the locking jaw limits rotation in the opposite direction, creating reliable angular constraints without requiring complex control mechanisms.
Data Source
AI summary
A refrigerator including a sliding plate provided to be slidably moveable and couplable to a front surface of the door, a cover display provided to be rotatable and supported on the sliding plate, a display to which the cover display is couplable to be rotated together with the cover display, a plurality of rotation limitation parts provided to define a rotation range of the cover display, and a release screw provided to allow at least one of the plurality of rotation limitation parts to be adjusted to thereby release a rotation limitation of the defined rotation range of the cover display. As the cover display is being rotated beyond the defined rotation range as the rotation limitation of the cover display is released, the cover display is separated from the sliding plate together with the display and the cover display is no longer supported by the sliding plate.