Refrigerator Storage Cover Rail for Humidity-Sealed Food Compartments
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Refrigerators face challenges in maintaining appropriate humidity and preventing moisture loss and flavor mixing between stored foods, leading to reduced freshness and sealability issues.
Innovation Solution
A refrigerator design featuring a storage compartment with a storage member cover and rail system, including a sealing member with pleat and adhesion portions, and a water trapping pattern on the storage member cover to enhance sealability and water management, allowing controlled sealing and opening of the storage space.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a storage member cover is used to seal the storage space, then sealability is improved, but the structure complexity increases due to the rail system and sealing mechanisms
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs a flexible sealing member with a pleat portion that can deform and adapt to the storage member surface, achieving effective sealing without complex rigid structures. The pleat portion acts as a flexible film that conformally seals the storage space while maintaining simplicity in the overall structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The rail serves as an intermediary component that guides the movement of the storage member cover while the sealing member mediates between the cover and the storage member to create the seal. This intermediary approach allows independent optimization of each component, reducing overall structural complexity.
2Loss of substance
If the storage member cover is tightly sealed to the storage member, then moisture loss is prevented, but the adhesion portion may be damaged due to excessive contact pressure
Solution Approach 1:
The sealing system is designed to be dynamic rather than static. The adhesion portion can adapt its contact pressure based on the movement state of the storage member cover, providing strong sealing when closed but reducing stress during opening/closing operations, thus preventing damage while maintaining moisture prevention.
Solution Approach 2:
The pleat portion structure provides inherent cushioning by allowing controlled deformation during the sealing process. This pre-designed flexibility absorbs excessive contact pressure before it can reach the adhesion portion, protecting it from damage while still achieving effective sealing for moisture loss prevention.
3Ease of operation
If the storage member cover moves freely along the rail, then ease of operation is improved, but sealing consistency deteriorates due to positioning variability
Solution Approach 1:
The rail structure provides geometric feedback that guides the storage member cover into the correct positioning. As the cover moves along the rail, the rail's shape and features provide continuous positional feedback, ensuring that the cover settles into a consistent sealing position regardless of movement variations, thus maintaining sealing consistency while preserving ease of operation.
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed herein is a refrigerator including a structure to improve sealability of a storage compartment and in turn, help to improve the preservability of food. The refrigerator may include a storage compartment including a front side provided to be opened, a storage member provided inside the storage compartment to be put into or taken out, a storage member cover coupled to the storage member to selectively open or close a storage space of the storage member, and a rail which guides movement of the storage member cover, and includes a step to control a sealing state of the storage space of the storage member according to the movement of the storage member cover.