Adjustable Refrigerator Door Hinge for Post-Assembly Leveling
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional refrigerators face issues with door height discrepancies due to assembly tolerance, requiring inefficient repositioning of hinge frames to achieve level doors, especially in side-by-side models with freezing and refrigerating chambers.
Innovation Solution
A height-adjustable door mechanism using a threaded adjustment bolt coupled to a screw hole on a hinge frame, allowing upward or downward movement of a hinge bush to adjust the door's height, ensuring accurate positioning and easy leveling of doors.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If hinge frames are fixed to the body with bolts or welding during initial assembly, then the door height is determined, but the door height cannot be adjusted after assembly due to assembly tolerance and repeated opening/closing operations
Solution Approach 1:
The hinge frame is designed with a movable portion that can be repositioned vertically along the body, transforming the static fixed connection into a dynamic adjustable system. This allows the door height to be modified after initial assembly by moving the movable portion to different positions, thereby resolving the contradiction between stability and adjustability.
Solution Approach 2:
The hinge frame is divided into a fixed portion and a movable portion that can be independently positioned. The movable portion can be detached and repositioned to adjust door height, while the fixed portion remains anchored to the body. This segmentation enables both stable mounting and height adjustment functionality.
2Ease of manufacture
If the door height is determined during initial assembly, then the manufacturing process is simple, but correcting height discrepancies requires complete disassembly and inefficient repositioning
Solution Approach 1:
The hinge frame incorporates a movable portion that can be easily repositioned without complete disassembly. This dynamic design allows service personnel to adjust door height by simply moving the movable portion to a new position, significantly simplifying the repair process compared to complete disassembly and repositioning.
3Ease of operation
If conventional hinge frames are used, then the door rotation is supported, but the doors may not be completely level due to assembly tolerance and repeated opening/closing operations
Solution Approach 1:
The movable portion of the hinge frame can be repositioned vertically to compensate for assembly tolerances and settling that occur during repeated opening/closing operations. This dynamic adjustment capability ensures that doors remain level and properly aligned without requiring high-precision initial manufacturing.
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 easy adjustment of door height to eliminate discrepancies, maintaining accurate door alignment and improving the reliability of side-by-side refrigerators by allowing height adjustments post-assembly without disassembly.
Implementation Method 1
an adjustment bolt, which has a thread formed on its outer peripheral edge, is screw-coupled to a screw hole, which is formed on a plate-shaped member, so that the height of a door can be adjusted by rotating the adjustment bolt for its upward/downward movement
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed is a refrigerator having a height-adjustable door. The body of the refrigerator has at least one storage space having a front opening. The door is coupled to the body so as to cover/uncover the storage space, and a hinge hole is formed on the bottom surface of the door. A hinge frame is fixed to a front surface of a lower portion of the body and has a hinge shaft inserted into the hinge hole so as to rotatably support the door. The hinge shaft is covered with a hinge bush, a part of which is inserted into the hinge hole. The hinge bush has a flange portion on its lower end for supporting the bottom surface of the door. A height adjustment screw is screw-coupled to a screw hole of the hinge frame so as to travel vertically. The upper end of the height adjustment screw abuts the bottom surface of the hinge bush so that, when rotated, the height adjustment screw lifts/lowers the hinge bush, in order to adjust the height of the door.