Refrigerator Sub-Door Hinge Design to Reduce Cold Air Leakage
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Solution Overview
Problem
Refrigerators with sub-doors smaller than the main door suffer from gaps that degrade appearance and allow cold air leakage, and have complex latch devices that can also leak air due to the sub-door's insufficient pivot angle and embedded mounting structure.
Innovation Solution
A sub-door design with a hinge having a bent structure at its intermediate portion to increase the opening angle without interfering with the main door, and a latch device mounted outside the sub-door to simplify the structure and prevent cold air leakage, featuring a magnetic gasket for enhanced sealing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the sub-door is smaller than the main door to allow independent access to auxiliary storage compartment, then the user can access the auxiliary storage compartment without opening the main door, but a gap is formed between the edge of the opening and the edge of the sub-door which degrades appearance beauty and allows cold air leakage
Solution Approach 1:
The sub-door is embedded within the opening of the main door, creating a nested structure where the smaller door is positioned inside the larger door's opening. This nesting arrangement allows the sub-door to provide independent access to the auxiliary storage compartment while being contained within the main door's structure, reducing the visual impact of the gap and improving thermal sealing.
2Shape
If the sub-door is embedded in the opening to improve appearance, then the gap is less visible, but the pivot angle of the sub-door is insufficient and the latch device structure becomes complex
Solution Approach 1:
The latch device is relocated from an embedded position within the sub-door to an external position on the main door. This dimensional relocation allows the latch mechanism to operate in a different spatial plane, simplifying its structure by eliminating the need for complex internal mounting arrangements while still effectively securing the embedded sub-door.
3Reliability
If the latch device is mounted after passing through the sub-door to secure the sub-door to the main door, then the sub-door can be coupled to the main door, but cold air may leak through the mounting portion of the latch device and the structure becomes complex
Solution Approach 1:
The latch device is extracted from the sub-door structure and repositioned on the main door. This extraction eliminates the need for the latch device to pass through the sub-door, thereby removing the source of cold air leakage through the mounting portion. The latch device continues to perform its coupling function while being positioned externally on the main door, simplifying the overall structure.
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 design minimizes cold air leakage while maintaining appearance beauty by hiding the gap between the main door and sub-door, allowing a larger opening angle for the sub-door and simplifying the latch device operation.
Implementation Method 1
a latch device mounted outside the sub-door to simplify the structure and prevent cold air leakage, featuring a magnetic gasket for enhanced sealing
Data Source
AI summary
A refrigerator includes a cabinet having a storage chamber, a main door pivotably mounted to the cabinet while including an opening provided at an inside of the main door, and a stepped portion provided around the opening, a sub-storage chamber mounted at the inside of the main door, a sub-door mounted to the main door, to allow a user to have access to the sub-storage chamber, the sub-door having opposite side surfaces with front portions protruding forwards of a front surface of the main door while having a greater width than the opening and stepped portion between the front portions of the side surfaces, to cover the stepped portion by the side surfaces, and a hinge pivotably mounted to the main door and coupled to the sub-door while being bent at an intermediate portion thereof, to pivotably support the sub-door with respect to the main door.