Refrigerator Door-in-Door Hinge for Full Access and Auto-Closing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional refrigerators have limited access to the entire storage compartment due to the size of the opening provided by the compartment door, making it inconvenient to retrieve items from non-designated spaces, and lack an efficient auto-closing mechanism for the outer door.
Innovation Solution
A refrigerator design featuring a rotatable outer door coupled to the inner door on a single hinge shaft, with a cam unit and connector system that allows the outer door to be automatically closed by gravity, enabling full access to the compartment and minimizing cold air loss.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If an opening of predetermined size is provided in the refrigerator compartment door, then the door structure is simple and manufacturing is easy, but the user cannot access the entire storage compartment without opening the whole door
Solution Approach 1:
The door system is divided into two functional parts: the inner door with a predetermined opening and the outer door that can be independently opened. This segmentation allows users to access the storage compartment through the outer door without opening the entire inner door, improving ease of operation while maintaining a relatively simple overall structure
Solution Approach 2:
The outer door is disposed to overlap the inner door when opened, creating a nested configuration where one door is positioned in front of the other. This nesting arrangement allows the outer door to provide full access to the storage compartment while the inner door remains partially closed, resolving the contradiction between accessibility and structural simplicity
2Ease of operation
If the outer door is made detachable or separable, then the structure becomes more complex, but the door can be opened to a greater extent for full compartment access
Solution Approach 1:
The hinge shaft serves a dual function by being coupled to both the inner door and the outer door, allowing both doors to rotate on a common axis. This merging of the hinge function into a single component enables the outer door to be opened to a greater extent for full compartment access while avoiding the need for separate, complex coupling mechanisms
3Device complexity
If the hinge shaft is shared between inner door and outer door, then the structure is simplified, but the doors may interfere with each other during rotation
Solution Approach 1:
The outer door is designed to be movable relative to the inner door in the vertical direction, allowing dynamic adjustment of the outer door's position. This dynamic configuration enables the outer door to clear the inner door during rotation, ensuring smooth operation and preventing interference while both doors share the same hinge shaft
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
This design enhances user convenience by allowing full access to the compartment without opening the entire door and ensures efficient auto-closing of the outer door, minimizing cold air loss and maintaining a simple structural configuration.
Implementation Method 1
a first connector that is coupled to the second upper hinge to be movable in a vertical direction, such that if the outer door is opened, the first connector rotates together with the outer door and moves in an upward direction along the first cam surface, after which the first connector is adapted to move in a downward direction due to gravity, and to thereby transmit a rotational force to the outer door in a direction in which the outer door is closed
Data Source
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AI summary
A refrigerator in which an opening having a size corresponding to the size of a refrigerator compartment is provided in a refrigerator compartment door and an outer door to open/close the opening is rotatably coupled to the refrigerator compartment door so that a plurality of door guards provided in a space corresponding to the size of the refrigerator compartment may be used by only opening/closing the outer door, and the refrigerator compartment door and the outer door may be rotated on one hinge shaft and the outer door has an auto closing structure so that the outer door may be automatically closed when a predetermined portion of the outer door is opened.