Refrigerator including multiple storage compartments
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional refrigerators lack efficient storage solutions and user convenience, particularly in terms of accessing and organizing storage compartments, which affects storing efficiency and aesthetic appeal.
Innovation Solution
The design incorporates a first door with a storing device that creates a second storage compartment within the first compartment, accessible via a second door, featuring a frame with baskets and coupling parts for improved load distribution and easy access, while maintaining a unified appearance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If a storing device is coupled to the first door to create a second storage compartment, then storage efficiency and user convenience are improved, but the door structure complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The storing device with the second storage compartment is nested within or coupled to the first door structure. The frame and basket components are integrated into the door assembly, allowing the second storage compartment to be disposed within the first storage compartment when the door is closed, creating a nested configuration that improves storage efficiency while managing structural complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The door structure is segmented into multiple functional parts including the first door, the storing device with frame and basket, and multiple coupling parts. This segmentation allows independent functionality of each component while maintaining overall integration, resolving the complexity issue by making the system modular and manageable through distinct functional segments.
2Ease of operation
If a second door is added to access the second storage compartment independently, then user convenience is improved by allowing access without opening the first door, but the door assembly complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The door assembly is divided into a first door and a second door that are connected but can operate independently. The second door is specifically designed to provide access to the second storage compartment without requiring the first door to be opened, creating segmented access paths that improve ease of operation while distributing the functional complexity across separate components.
Solution Approach 2:
The door assembly incorporates dynamic characteristics by allowing the second door to move independently relative to the first door. This dynamic configuration enables selective access to different storage compartments based on user needs, improving operational convenience while the modular dynamic structure helps manage overall assembly complexity.
3Adaptability or versatility
If multiple coupling parts are provided on the first door for the storing device, then adaptability and installation flexibility are improved, but manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The coupling parts are designed with universal characteristics, where the first coupling parts on the first door can interact with second coupling parts on both the frame and the basket. This multi-functional coupling system allows the same coupling mechanism to serve multiple installation configurations and positions, improving adaptability and installation flexibility while using standardized components that can be manufactured efficiently.
4Productivity
If the second storage compartment is disposed within the first storage compartment when the first door is closed, then storage space utilization is improved, but the available volume of the first storage compartment is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The second storage compartment is disposed within the first storage compartment when the first door is closed, creating a nested storage configuration. This nesting arrangement improves overall storage space utilization by effectively using the door-mounted space that would otherwise be wasted, while the nested design allows both storage compartments to function simultaneously with optimized volume distribution.
Data Source
AI summary
A refrigerator includes a cabinet that defines a first storage compartment; a first door that is opened or closed to allow or prevent access to an interior of the first storage compartment; a storing device coupled to the first door to define a second storage compartment, wherein, when the first door is closed, the second storage compartment is disposed in the first storage compartment; and a second door connected to the first door and configured to be opened or closed to allow or prevent access to an interior of the second storage compartment, wherein the interior of the second storage compartment is accessible when the first door is closed and the second door is opened, wherein the first door includes a plurality of first coupling parts to which the storing device is coupled, wherein the storing device includes: a frame; and a basket installed on the frame, wherein each of the frame and the basket includes at least one second coupling part interacting with at least one of the plurality of first coupling parts, wherein a front surface of the second door is positioned to be generally coplanar with at least a portion of a front surface of the first door.