Refrigerator Door Flap Mechanism for Full-Width Jam-Free Access
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current door storage compartments in refrigerators, such as butter compartments, often require manual support to maintain an open position, risking damage when the door closes and face challenges with incomplete engagement and jamming, especially when wider, making it difficult to access contents.
Innovation Solution
A door storage compartment with a movable flap that uses a spring element to automatically transition from a closed to an open position, guided by tracks that run between the box's floor and ceiling panels, ensuring reliable and tilt-free movement, and incorporating a damper to prevent hard stops, with dual spring connections for stability and a rotary damper for smooth operation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a flap is used to close the storage compartment, then the compartment can be sealed, but the flap will hit the body and break when the door closes with the flap open
Solution Approach 1:
The invention employs a dynamic opening mechanism where the flap automatically transitions from closed to open position when the door closes, using the door's closing motion to drive the flap's rotation. This eliminates the need for manual support while preventing damage by ensuring the flap is always in the safe open position during door closure.
Solution Approach 2:
The flap opening mechanism is self-actuating, utilizing the door's closing force to automatically open the flap without requiring user intervention. The mechanism serves itself by converting the door closure energy into flap opening motion, eliminating the need for manual support while maintaining reliability.
2Ease of operation
If sliding doors are used to make part of the compartment accessible, then accessibility is improved, but the compartment cannot be opened over its entire width
Solution Approach 1:
The invention uses a dynamic flap mechanism that can rotate through a large angle to provide full-width access when needed, unlike fixed sliding doors. The flap can be positioned at different angles depending on the access requirement, offering both partial access for small items and full access for larger items.
3Volume of stationary object
If the compartment is made wider to increase storage capacity, then storage space is improved, but the flap is more likely to jam when pushed into the gap
Solution Approach 1:
The invention replaces the push-in gap mechanism with a dynamic rotation mechanism where the flap pivots on an axis. This eliminates the jamming problem associated with wider compartments by using rotational motion instead of linear insertion, allowing the flap to clear the opening smoothly regardless of compartment width.
4Reliability
If the flap is sunk into a gap between bottom panels when open, then the flap is protected against damage, but it may not engage fully and remains in an incompletely pushed-in position
Solution Approach 1:
The invention uses a dynamic rotation mechanism where the flap pivots to an open position that clears the compartment opening. This eliminates the engagement uncertainty of gap-based mechanisms while maintaining protection, as the rotating flap can be precisely controlled to reach its final position without jamming.
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
The solution allows the flap to reliably and automatically open fully, preventing damage from door closure and ensuring easy access to contents without manual support, reducing the risk of jamming and improving user convenience.
Implementation Method 1
at least one spring element is provided which connects the flap to the box and is more tightly tensioned in the closed position than in the open position
Implementation Method 2
incorporating a damper to prevent hard stops, with dual spring connections for stability and a rotary damper for smooth operation
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2~4
Figure 5~6
AI summary
The tray has and a cover (2) movable between closed and open positions, where the cover is overlapped at an open front side of a cabinet (1) at the closed position. The cover is partially overlapped with a base plate (6) of the cabinet in the open position. A spring element i.e. torsion loaded leg spring, connects the cover with the cabinet, where the spring element is highly tensed in the closed position than that in the open position. Swivel pins (17, 18) of the cover are movable on the cabinet in a controlled manner through guide slots (9, 10) along the depth of the cabinet, respectively.