Patent Grant
10480228
This application claims priority from Korean Patent Application No. 10-2015-0161804 filed on Nov. 18, 2015 in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
Field of the Invention
The present disclosure relates to a hinge supporting apparatus for a door of a refrigerator, and more particularly, to a hinge supporting apparatus for a door of a refrigerator, which can control a gap between a main body and the door of the refrigerator.
Description of the Related Art
In general, a refrigerator includes a main body which is provided substantially in the shape of a cuboidal box that forms an exterior of the refrigerator, and a freezing chamber and a refrigerating chamber are partitioned in the main body. Front sides of the freezing chamber and the refrigerating chamber are opened, and doors are hinge-connected to upper and lower portions of the main body to be opened or closed.
The above-described refrigerator in the related art is provided with a hinge supporting apparatus for hinge-connecting the door to the main body. The hinge supporting apparatus has one side that is fixed to the main body through a plurality of fastening screws or clamps and the other side that is rotatably connected to a hinge shaft coupled to the door.
However, the hinge supporting apparatus provided in the refrigerator in the related art does not have a function that can vary the gap between the main body and the door. Accordingly, the refrigerator in the related art has the problem that if the gap between the main body and the door is set to be narrower than a predetermined gap, the door is not closed well or noise occurs when the door is opened and closed. In contrast, the refrigerator in the related art also has the problem that if the gap between the main body and the door is set to be larger than the predetermined gap, the main body and the door are unable to keep airtight, and thus the air outside may flow in between the main body and the door. This may cause performance deterioration of the refrigerator and an abrupt increase of energy consumption.
Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure overcome the above disadvantages and other disadvantages not described above, and provide a hinge supporting apparatus for a door of a refrigerator, which can easily control a gap between a main body and the door of the refrigerator with a simple structure.
According to an aspect of the present disclosure, a hinge supporting apparatus includes a connection member configured to hinge-connect a door to a main body; a cam member configured to vary an installation position of the connection member in order to control a gap between the main body and the door; and a fixing member configured to fix the connection member to the main body.
The cam member may be set to have at least one posture with respect to the main body, and through the set posture, the cam member may move the connection member in any one of a first direction in which the connection member moves from the main body toward the door and a second direction in which the connection member moves opposite to the first direction.
The connection member may have an insertion hole which is formed thereon and into which the cam member is inserted, and the insertion hole may include a first end portion that corresponds to one side surface of the cam member and a second end portion which corresponds to the other side surface of the cam member that forms a pair with the one side surface of the cam member.
The first and second end portions may be arranged in parallel and may be spaced apart from each other in a direction in which the door goes away from or approaches the main body.
The cam member may include at least two pairs of side surfaces that form pairs, and the side surfaces of any one of the at least two pairs of side surfaces may be arranged at equal distances from one portion of the cam member, and the side surfaces of the other of the at least two pairs of side surfaces may be arranged at different distances from the one portion of the cam member.
The fastening member may be penetratingly coupled to the one portion of the cam member, and may fix the cam member to the main body.
The main body may have a fastening hole which is formed thereon and to which the fastening member is fastened and a plurality of setting holes which are formed thereon in a circumferential direction around the fastening hole, and the cam member may include a setting projection that is inserted into at least one of the plurality of setting holes.
The number of the plurality of setting holes may be equal to or smaller than the number of side surfaces of the cam member by one.
The main body may have a fastening hole which is formed thereon and to which the fastening member is fastened and at least one setting projection that is adjacent to the fastening hole, and the cam member may include a plurality of setting holes into which the at least one setting projection is inserted.
The cam member may include a plurality of indicating portions that correspond to postures of the cam member.
The plurality of indicating portions may be formed in positions that correspond to the respective side surfaces of the cam member on the cam member.
The fixing member may include a bracket that is fixed to the main body; and a pressing lever having one side that is rotatably connected to the bracket so as to clamp the connection member on the main body or to release clamping.
The fixing member may be a plurality of fastening screws configured to separably fasten the connection member to the main body.
According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a hinge supporting apparatus includes a connection member having one side portion that is variably fixed to a main body of a refrigerator and the other side portion that is hinge-connected to a door of the refrigerator; and a cam member configured to be inserted into the one side portion of the connection member to control a gap between the main body and the door in accordance with variation of an installation position of the connection member.
The cam member may have a plurality of side surfaces which are even-numbered to form pairs with the side surfaces that are arranged in opposite directions to each other, the connection member may have an insertion hole which is formed on the one side portion of the connection member and into which the cam member is inserted, and the insertion hole may include a pair of end portions that correspond to the side surfaces of one of the pairs of the cam member.
The side surfaces that form the pairs of the cam member may be arranged in parallel.
The cam member may have a through-hole to which a fastening member that is separably fixed to the main body is penetratingly coupled, and any one of the side surfaces that form the pairs of the cam member may be arranged at equal distances from the through-hole, and the side surfaces that form the remaining pairs may be arranged at different distances from the through-hole.
The cam member may further include at least one setting projection for maintaining the cam member in any one of predetermined postures and a plurality of setting holes into which the at least one setting projection is inserted.
The setting projection may be formed on any one of the cam member and the main body, and the plurality of setting holes may be formed on the remaining one of the cam member and the main body.
The apparatus may further include a fixing member configured to fix the connection member to the main body in order to maintain an installation position of the connection member.
Additional and/or other aspects and advantages of the disclosure will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the disclosure.
The above and/or other aspects of the present disclosure will be more apparent by describing certain exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
Hereinafter, various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, it should be understood that the present disclosure is not limited to the specific embodiments described hereinafter, but includes various modifications, equivalents, and/or alternatives of the embodiments of the present disclosure. In relation to explanation of the drawings, similar drawing reference numerals may be used for similar constituent elements.
In the description, the terms “first, second, and so forth” are used to describe diverse elements regardless of their order and/or importance and to discriminate one element from other elements, but are not limited to the corresponding elements. For example, a first user appliance and a second user appliance may indicate different user appliances regardless of their order or importance. For example, without departing from the scope of the present disclosure, the first element may be called the second element, and the second element may be called the first element in a similar manner.
The terms used in the description are used to merely describe a specific embodiment, but may not intend to limit the scope of other embodiments. A singular expression may include a plural expression unless specially described. All terms (including technical and scientific terms) used in the description could be used as meanings commonly understood by those ordinary skilled in the art to which the present disclosure belongs. The terms that are used in the present disclosure and are defined in a general dictionary may be used as meanings that are identical or similar to the meanings of the terms from the context of the related art, and they are not interpreted ideally or excessively unless they have been clearly and specially defined. According to circumstances, even the wordings that are defined in the present disclosure are not interpreted to exclude the embodiments of the present disclosure.
A hinge supporting apparatus disclosed in this document is exemplified to be applied to a refrigerator, but is not limited thereto. The hinge supporting apparatus can be applied to any case where it is required to vary a gap between a door and a specific structure on which the door is installed.
Hereinafter, referring to
The hinge supporting apparatus 100 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may include a connection member 110, a fixing member 130, a cam member 150, and a fastening member 170.
Referring to
The one side portion 111 of the connection member 110 is fixed to the upper surface 12 of the main body 11 by the fixing member 130 that is installed on the main body 11. The position in which the other side portion 113 of the connection member 110 is fixed to the upper surface 12 of the main body 11 may be varied in accordance with the setting of the cam member 150, and thus the installation position of the connection member 110 may also be varied. As the installation position of the connection member 110 is varied as described above, a gap between the main body 11 and the door 30 is also varied. That is, if the installation position of the connection member 110 moves in a direction of an arrow Y1 as shown in
Referring to
The connection member 110 has an insertion hole 115 which is formed thereon and into which the cam member 150 is inserted. The insertion hole 115 may be substantially in a rectangular shape, and first and second end portions 115a and 115b that face each other in the Y-axis direction may be arranged in parallel. The first and second end portions 115a and 115b are set to have a gap (e.g., a gap that corresponds to a sum of lengths (D1+D2) as illustrated in
Referring to
The fixing member 130 may include a bracket 130a that is arranged on a portion of an inside of the main body 11 that corresponds to the upper surface 12 of the main body 11, and a pressing lever 135 to which one side of the bracket 130a is rotatably coupled.
The bracket 130a includes the first support portion 131, the second support portion 132, and the fixing portion 133, which project at predetermined heights from the upper surface 12 through first to third through-holes 14a, 14b, and 14c that are formed from the inside of the main body 11 to the upper surface 12 of the main body 11. The first and second support portions 131 and 132 are arranged in places that substantially face each other in the X-axis direction, and have first and second coupling grooves 131a and 132a which are formed thereon and to which a pair of hinge projections 137a and 137b of the pressing lever 135 are rotatably coupled. The first support portion 131 has a fastening hole 131b which is formed thereon and to which a fastening screw 139 for maintaining a posture for clamping the connection member 110 is fastened through rotation of the pressing lever 135 toward the connection member 110. In this case, the fastening screw 139 is penetratingly coupled to a fastening hole 136 of the pressing lever 135 and the fastening hole 131b of the first support portion 131 at the same time. The fixing portion 133 has a predetermined space portion 133a formed thereon so that the locking portion 112c of the connection member 110 can be separably inserted into the space portion 133a.
The pressing lever 135 is rotated in one direction (i.e., direction that gets closer to the connection member 110) around the pair of hinge projections 137a and 137b to clamp the connection member 110 on the upper surface 12 of the main body 11. If the installation position of the connection member 110 is changed, the pressing lever 135 is rotated in an opposite direction (i.e., direction that goes away from the connection member 110) around the pair of hinge projections 137a and 137b to release the clamping of the connection member 110. When clamping the connection member 110, the pressing lever 135 may be substantially in an “L” shape so as not to interfere with the cam member 150 as shown in
Referring to
Referring to
The first and second side surfaces 150a and 150b are positioned at equal distances (D1=D2) from the center of the through-hole 151, and are defined as initial positions. In order to make a user recognize such initial positions, a portion of the upper surface of the cam member 150, which is adjacent to the first side surface 156a, may include a indicating portion that is composed of characters (specifically, figures) of “0.0”. Such a indicating portion may be provided on not only the portion that is adjacent to the first side surface 156a but also the portions that are adjacent to the third to eighth side surfaces 156c to 156h. The respective indicating portions may be composed of different figures corresponding to the distances between the side surfaces and the through-hole 151. In this case, the indicating portions may be formed on the upper surface of the cam member 150 using intaglio engraving or relief engraving. Further, the indicating portions are provided corresponding to set postures of the cam member 150. That is, seven indicating portions (0.0, +1.0, +2.0, +3.0, −1.0, −2.0, and −3.0) correspond to seven postures of the cam member 150.
Referring to
Referring to
In the same manner as the third and fourth side surfaces 156c and 156d, the fifth and sixth side surfaces 156e and 156f and the seventh and eighth side surfaces 156g and 156h are respectively arranged to correspond to the first and second end portions 115a and 115b of the insertion hole 115 to vary the installation position of the connection member 110.
Specifically, the fifth and sixth side surfaces 156e and 156f are positioned at different distances (D5<D6) from the center of the through-hole 151. The distance D5 may be set to be smaller than the distance D1 of the initial position by 2 mm, and the distance D6 may be set to be larger than the distance D1 of the initial position by 2 mm. In this case, characters of “−2.0” may be displayed on the portion of the upper surface of the cam member 150, which is adjacent to the fifth side surface 156e, and characters of “+2.0” may be displayed on the portion that is adjacent to the sixth side surface 156f. If the cam member 150 is inserted into the insertion hole 115 of the connection member 110 so that the fifth side surface 156e corresponds to the first end portion 115a of the insertion hole 115 and the sixth side surface 156f corresponds to the second end portion 115b of the insertion hole 115, the installation position of the connection member 110 moves from the initial position to a place that is 2 mm away from the initial position in the direction of Y1. In this case, the gap between the main body 11 and the door is widened by 2 mm. In contrast, if the cam member 150 is inserted into the insertion hole 115 of the connection member 110 so that the fifth side surface 156e corresponds to the second end portion 115b of the insertion hole 115 and the sixth side surface 156f corresponds to the first end portion 115a of the insertion hole 115, the installation position of the connection member 110 moves from the initial position to a place that is 2 mm away from the initial position in the direction of Y2. In this case, the gap between the main body 150 and the door is narrowed by 2 mm.
The seventh and eighth side surfaces 156g and 156h are positioned at different distances (D7<D8) from the center of the through-hole 151. The distance D7 may be set to be smaller than the distance D1 of the initial position by 3 mm, and the distance D8 may be set to be larger than the distance D1 of the initial position by 3 mm. In this case, characters of “−3.0” may be displayed on the portion of the upper surface of the cam member 150, which is adjacent to the seventh side surface 156g, and characters of “+3.0” may be displayed on the portion that is adjacent to the eighth side surface 156h. If the cam member 150 is inserted into the insertion hole 115 of the connection member 110 so that the seventh side surface 156g corresponds to the first end portion 115a of the insertion hole 115 and the eighth side surface 156h corresponds to the second end portion 115b of the insertion hole 115, the installation position of the connection member 110 moves from the initial position to a place that is 3 mm away from the initial position in the direction of Y1. In this case, the gap between the main body 11 and the door is widened by 3 mm. In contrast, if the cam member 150 is inserted into the insertion hole 115 of the connection member 110 so that the seventh side surface 156g corresponds to the second end portion 115b of the insertion hole 115 and the eighth side surface 156h corresponds to the first end portion 115a of the insertion hole 115, the installation position of the connection member 110 moves from the initial position to a place that is 3 mm away from the initial position in the direction of Y2. In this case, the gap between the main body 150 and the door is narrowed by 3 mm.
As described above, the cam member 150 makes a pair of side surfaces that are positioned opposite to each other among the first to eighth side surfaces correspond to the first and second end portions 115a and 115b of the insertion hole 115, and thus the installation position of the connection member 110 can be selectively set.
In this embodiment, it is exemplified that the cam member 150 is in the shape of an octagon, but is not limited thereto. The cam member 150 may be in any shape of a rectangle, a hexagon, a decagon, and the like, which have even-numbered side surfaces. For example, if the cam member 150 is in the shape of a rectangle, four side surfaces that form two pairs of opposite side surfaces are provided, and thus one installation position in the direction of Y1 and one installation position in the direction of Y2 can be set from the initial installation position (position in which distances between the through-hole 151 and the respective side surfaces are equal to each other). If the cam member 150 is in the shape of a rectangle as described above, it is preferable that three setting holes are formed on the upper surface 12 of the main body 11 at total. In this case, if the setting projection 155 of the cam member 150 is inserted into one of the three setting holes, the cam member 150 is set to be in the first posture, and thus the installation position of the connection member 110 can be set to the initial position. If the setting projection 155 of the cam member 150 is inserted into another of the three setting holes, the cam member 150 is set to be in the second posture, and thus the installation position of the connection member 110 can be set to a position that is obtained by moving the installation position for a predetermined distance in the direction of Y1. If the setting projection 155 of the cam member 150 is inserted into the remaining one of the three setting holes, the cam member 150 is set to be in the third posture, and thus the installation position of the connection member 110 can be set to a position that is obtained by moving the installation position for a predetermined distance in the direction of Y2.
Referring to
Referring to
As described above, the hinge supporting apparatus 100 for a refrigerator door according to an embodiment of the present disclosure has a structure in which the fixing member 130 fixes the connection member 110 to the main body 11 through the clamping operation using the bracket 130a and the pressing lever 135. However, the fixing member 130 is not limited to the above-described structure, but may be composed of a plurality of fastening screws. This will be described in detail hereinafter.
Referring to
A part of the connection member 210 and the fixing member 230 have different structures from those of the hinge supporting apparatus 100 for a refrigerator door according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, and the cam member 250 and the fastening member 270 have the same structures as those of the cam member 150 and the fastening member 170 of the hinge supporting apparatus 100 for a refrigerator door according to an embodiment of the present disclosure as described above. Accordingly, only the part of the connection member 210 and the fixing member 230, which have the different structures from those of the hinge supporting apparatus 100 for a refrigerator door according to an embodiment of the present disclosure as described above, will be described hereinafter.
The fixing member 230 is composed of a plurality of fastening screws which are fastened to the upper surface 12 of the main body 11 through penetration of four points of one side portion 211 of the connection member 230. In this case, a plurality of long holes 212, which are formed with a predetermined length in the Y-axis direction, are formed on the one side portion 211 of the connection member 230 that are penetrated by the plurality of fastening screws. In this case, a plurality of fastening holes 270, to which the fixing member 230 is fastened, are formed on the upper surface 12 of the main body 11.
The length of the plurality of long holes 212 will suffice unless they interfere with the movement of the connection member 210 in a state where the fixing member 230 is fastened to the plurality of long holes 212 when the installation position of the connection member 210 is varied in accordance with the setting of the cam member 250.
As s structure for maintaining the set state of the cam member 250, a plurality of setting projections 291 that are formed to project from the upper surface 12 of the main body 11 and a plurality of setting holes (see
In
The foregoing exemplary embodiments and advantages are merely exemplary and are not to be construed as limiting the present disclosure. The present teaching can be readily applied to other types of apparatuses. Also, the description of the exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure is intended to be illustrative, and not to limit the scope of the claims, and many alternatives, modifications, and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art.
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|---|---|---|---|
| 10-2015-0161804 | Nov 2015 | KR | national |
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| Number | Date | Country | |
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| 20170138104 A1 | May 2017 | US |
