Refrigerator Door-Guard Lighting With Door-Triggered Illumination
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Solution Overview
Problem
In refrigerators with double doors, users face difficulty in identifying food stored in door guards, especially when the doors are opened, due to inadequate lighting, which affects visibility and convenience.
Innovation Solution
A refrigerator design featuring lamps installed at the sidewalls of the opening in the first door that emit light when the door is opened, utilizing an opening/closing detection sensor to activate the lamp, ensuring improved visibility of food stored in the door guard without unnecessary light consumption when the door is closed.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Illumination intensity
If a lamp is installed in the storage compartment, then the user can easily identify food stored in the storage compartment, but the user cannot easily identify food inside a door guard disposed at a rear side of the door
Solution Approach 1:
The patent relocates the lamp from the storage compartment interior to the door guard area, changing the spatial dimension of illumination. The lamp is specifically positioned at the rear side of the door where the door guard is located, providing targeted lighting in the previously dark area where food items are stored in the door guard.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent provides localized illumination specifically at the door guard area rather than general illumination of the entire storage compartment. The lamp is positioned to emit light toward the rear side of the door where the door guard is disposed, creating a locally optimized lighting solution for the specific problem area.
2Ease of operation
If the lamp emits light continuously, then the visibility of food in the door guard is improved, but energy is consumed unnecessarily when the door is closed
Solution Approach 1:
The patent makes the lamp's operation dynamic by linking it to the door's opening/closing state through a sensor. The lamp automatically turns on when the door is opened and turns off when the door is closed, adapting its operation to the actual usage condition rather than operating continuously or never.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs a sensor to detect the door's opening/closing state and uses this feedback information to control the lamp's operation. The sensor provides real-time information about door position, and this feedback loop ensures the lamp operates only when needed (when the door is open), eliminating unnecessary energy consumption.
3Device complexity
If the lamp is installed in the storage compartment, then the structure is simple, but the visibility of food in the door guard is insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The patent relocates the lamp from the storage compartment interior to the door guard area, changing the spatial dimension of illumination. The lamp is specifically positioned at the rear side of the door where the door guard is located, providing targeted lighting in the previously dark area where food items are stored in the door guard.
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
Enhances user convenience by providing better visibility of food stored in door guards when the doors are opened, while minimizing energy usage by cutting off light when the doors are closed, thus optimizing lighting and energy efficiency.
Implementation Method 1
an opening/closing detection sensor that is disposed in the hinge unit, detects whether the first door is opened/closed
Implementation Method 2
a sensor detection unit that is disposed in an upper portion of the second door in a position corresponding to the opening/closing detection sensor, transfers the result of detection regarding whether the second door is opened/closed
Implementation Method 3
at least one lamp fixed to the at least one lamp fixing member through the at least one lamp installation hole from an outside of the sidewalls of the opening
Data Source
Figure 1
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AI summary
A refrigerator having a structure in which, when a first door (40) or a second door (50) is opened, a lamp (320) installed at sidewalls of an opening (41) in the first door emits light so that food stored in a door guard (33) disposed in the opening can be illuminated. The refrigerator includes a main body (10) having a storage compartment (20); the first door (40) that is rotatably disposed in front of the main body (10) and opens/closes the storage compartment (20), and has an opening (41) formed therein, where at least one door guard (33) is disposed in the opening; the second door (50) that is rotatably disposed in front of the first door (40), opens/closes the opening (41), and is rotated in the same direction as the first door (40); and the lamp (320) installed at the sidewalls of the opening.