Drawer assembly and refrigerator
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing refrigerator drawer assemblies often suffer from flavor tainting among stored foods due to inadequate sealing, making it difficult to open and close the drawers with ease, which affects user experience.
Innovation Solution
A drawer assembly with a cap and sealing member featuring a rough sealing surface, allowing for reduced contact area and easy opening with minimal thrust, and incorporating rollers and recesses to facilitate smooth operation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a smooth sealing surface is used, then the sealing contact area is large providing good sealing, but the drawer requires large thrust to open making it difficult to operate
Solution Approach 1:
The sealing surface is designed with localized rough features (convex-concave structures) distributed across the surface, rather than being uniformly smooth or rough. This allows different regions of the sealing surface to have different properties: some areas provide strong sealing through rough features, while other areas allow easier separation. The rough features are strategically positioned to maintain sealing effectiveness without creating excessive adhesion across the entire surface.
Solution Approach 2:
The sealing surface topology is changed from a smooth plane to a surface with convex-concave rough features. This parameter change in surface geometry reduces the actual contact area between the sealing member and the drawer/cap, thereby reducing the adhesion force and making the drawer easier to open while still maintaining adequate sealing through the distributed rough features.
2Reliability
If the sealing surface has large contact area, then sealing effect is improved, but negative pressure is difficult to eliminate when opening
Solution Approach 1:
The sealing surface incorporates localized rough features that create a non-uniform contact distribution. This allows the sealing function to be concentrated in specific regions while other regions provide air passage channels. When opening the drawer, air can flow through these channels to equalize pressure more easily, reducing the thrust required to overcome negative pressure while maintaining sealing where the rough features are positioned.
Solution Approach 2:
The convex-concave rough features act as intermediary structures between the sealing surfaces. These features create micro-gaps and air channels that facilitate air flow during the opening process, serving as a mediator to equalize pressure between the sealed space and the external environment, thereby reducing the force needed to open the drawer.
3Ease of operation
If a rough sealing surface is used, then contact area is reduced making opening easier, but sealing effectiveness may be compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The sealing surface is designed with heterogeneous properties: convex-concave rough features are distributed across the surface to reduce overall contact area and facilitate opening, while strategically positioned regions maintain adequate contact for sealing. This local differentiation allows the surface to simultaneously provide ease of opening and effective sealing without compromising either function.
Solution Approach 2:
The sealing surface geometry is modified by introducing convex-concave rough features with controlled dimensions and distribution. This parameter change reduces the real contact area compared to a smooth surface, thereby reducing adhesion forces and making opening easier, while the distributed nature of these features maintains sufficient sealing contact at critical locations.
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
Improves user experience by allowing easy opening and closing of the drawer with reduced thrust, enhancing the sealing effect and preventing contamination.
Implementation Method 1
the sealing member is extruded by the cap and the drawer to expel at least part air between the sealing member and the drawer or the cap and suck in the drawer or the cap to seal the drawer assembly
Implementation Method 2
because the sealing surface of the sealing member is provided with the rough feature, when the cap closes the opening, a contact area between the sealing member and the drawer or the cap is relatively reduced
Implementation Method 3
when the cap closes the opening, the roller entering the recess to eliminate the gap, and when the cap slides relative to the drawer to open the opening, the roller sliding out from the recess to form the gap
Data Source
AI summary
A drawer assembly contains a drawer, a cap, and a sealing member. The drawer has an upward opening. The cap being capable of sliding forward and backward relative to the drawer to open or close the opening. The sealing member is disposed between the cap and the drawer and has a sealing surface between the sealing member and the drawer or the cap, and the sealing surface has a rough feature. More specifically, the sealing surface has the rough feature. Therefore, when the cap closes the opening, a contact area between the sealing member and the drawer or the cap is relatively reduced, binding is relatively weakened, and suction is relatively reduced. The cap can be easily pushed away by merely applying relatively little thrust to open the opening when the opening of the drawer needs to be opened, greatly facilitating use by a user.