Refrigerator Door-Within-Door Structure for Larger Storage Access
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing refrigerator designs lack enhanced user convenience, particularly in terms of storage chamber size and door opening/closing mechanisms.
Innovation Solution
A side-by-side refrigerator design with a first storage chamber and a second storage chamber in the door, where the second storage chamber is accessible from the outside without opening the main door, featuring a second door that rotates identically to the main door, allowing for enlarged storage space and improved convenience through identical rotational directions and shared rotational shafts.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If a door storage chamber is provided in the door, then storage capacity is improved, but the door structure becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The door storage chamber is segmented from the main door structure, allowing independent access through a separate auxiliary door. This segmentation enables the storage function to be added without complicating the main door's opening/closing mechanism, as the auxiliary door operates independently while still being part of the overall door assembly.
Solution Approach 2:
The auxiliary door is nested within the main door structure, creating a door-within-a-door configuration. The auxiliary door is positioned within the main door's thickness, allowing it to provide additional storage access without significantly increasing the overall door volume or complicating the main door's external appearance and primary function.
2Ease of operation
If an auxiliary door is added for external access to door storage chamber, then user convenience is improved, but the door structure becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The door system is segmented into a main door for primary access and an auxiliary door for secondary access to the storage chamber. This segmentation allows users to access frequently used items in the door storage chamber without opening the main door, improving convenience while keeping the auxiliary door's structure simple and integrated within the main door assembly.
3Ease of manufacture
If the rotational direction of the second door is identical to the first door, then manufacturing is simplified, but the door opening space may be limited
Solution Approach 1:
The auxiliary door is segmented as a separate component with its own hinge and opening mechanism, allowing it to rotate in the same direction as the main door without interfering with the main door's full opening capability. The auxiliary door's smaller size and separate mounting enable it to share the rotational space efficiently.
Solution Approach 2:
The auxiliary door utilizes the thickness dimension of the main door by being nested within it, rather than extending the door's external dimensions. This dimensional arrangement allows both doors to share the same rotational arc without compromising the main door's opening space, while simplifying manufacturing by using identical hinge configurations.
Data Source
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AI summary
A refrigerator is disclosed. The refrigerator includes a cabinet configured to define an exterior boundary of the refrigerator with at least one opening therein. The refrigerator also includes a first storage chamber defined by interior walls of the cabinet and configured to store food stuffs and a first door configured to open and close the first storage chamber by rotating about a rotational axis. The refrigerator further includes a second storage chamber that is smaller than the first storage chamber defined at a side of the first door, and that is configured to enable access to food stuffs while the first door remains closed and a second door, located in a predetermined portion of the first door, configured to open and close the second storage chamber by rotating the rotational axis, wherein a rotation direction of the second door is identical to the rotation direction of the first door. In addition, the refrigerator includes a rotational shaft coupled to an upper surface of second door to establish the rotational axis, a first connection member configured to connect the rotational shaft to the cabinet and a second connection member connected to the rotational shaft to the first door.