The present disclosure relates to a storage device and a refrigerator using the storage device.
A refrigerator is provided with a refrigerator main body having an opening in a front side, a door to open and close the opening, and a hinge mechanism to rotatably support the door with respect to the refrigerator main body. As shown in Patent Document 1, the hinge mechanism has a single axis of rotation, and the door is configured to rotate in the axial direction.
A refrigerator may be used by being integrally mounted in a storage space of a kitchen or used by being accommodated in storage furniture.
However, in the above types of use, there may be restrictions on a gap between the refrigerator and an adjacent wall. Accordingly, in a refrigerator having a one-axis hinge structure as described above, when a door is opened, a hinge side edge of the door comes into contact with the adjacent wall, so that the door may not be able to open completely.
The present disclosure is directed to providing a refrigerator capable of sufficiently opening a door by making a hinge side edge of the door difficult to come into contact with an adjacent wall when the door is opened.
An aspect of the present disclosure provides a refrigerator including a main body having an opening on a front side, an upper opening and a lower opening divided in the main body by a partition wall, an upper door to open and close the upper opening, a lower door to open and close the lower opening, and a hinge mechanism configured so that the door is rotatably coupled with respect to the main body, wherein the hinge mechanism includes a multiaxial hinge, and wherein the multiaxial hinge includes a first hinge disposed below the upper door, a second hinge disposed above the lower door, a third hinge disposed above the upper door, a fourth hinge disposed below the lower door, a main body-side member fixed to the main body to connect the first hinge and the second hinge, a door-side member fixed to the upper door or the lower door, and a link mechanism configured to connect the main body-side member and the door-side member.
The link mechanism may include a plurality of shaft members, and the multiaxial hinge may be provided to be rotatable by the plurality of shaft members.
The main body-side member may include an upper protrusion connected to the link mechanism of the first hinge and having a flat plate shape; and a lower protrusion connected to the link mechanism of the second hinge and having a flat plate shape.
The multiaxial hinge may further include a reinforcing member provided between the upper protrusion and the lower protrusion to reinforce a strength of the main body-side member.
The link mechanism may include a plurality of links and a plurality of shaft members, the plurality of links may be rotatably connected to the main body-side member or the door-side member or the other link, and at least one of the plurality of links may include a concave portion to accommodate the shaft member provided on the other link depending on rotation.
The main body-side member and the link mechanism may be arranged to be symmetric up and down.
The plurality of shaft members may be formed in the same shape.
The multiaxial hinge may be mounted on the main body symmetrically left and right.
The multiaxial hinge may be connected by the main body-side member and the plurality of shaft members.
Strengths of the third hinge and the fourth hinge may be greater than strengths of the first hinge and the second hinge.
A strength of the first hinge and a strength of the second hinge may be different from each other.
Lengths of the first hinge and the second hinge may be different from each other in a direction perpendicular to an axis of rotation.
The multiaxial hinge may be mounted on the main body symmetrically left and right or symmetrically up and down.
The door may include a closing surface to close the opening, and the hinge mechanism may be disposed on a surface different from the closing surface.
According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, because a hinge mechanism has multiaxial hinges provided on upper and lower sides of a door, a hinge side edge of the door is prevented from coming into contact with an adjacent wall when the door is opened, so that the door can be sufficiently opened.
Hereinafter, an embodiment in which a refrigerator is configured using the storage device of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. As illustrated in
The hinge mechanism 5 includes a pair of multiaxial hinges 5A and 5B provided on upper and lower sides of the upper door 3, and a pair of multiaxial hinges 5C and 5D provided on upper and lower sides of the lower door 4. The multiaxial hinges 5A to 5D are provided on the front side of the refrigerator main body 2. The multiaxial hinge 5A provided above the upper door 3 is provided on an upper wall 21 of the refrigerator main body 2, and the multiaxial hinge 5B provided below the upper door 3 is provided on the partition wall 22. Also, the multiaxial hinge 5C provided above the lower door 4 is provided on the partition wall 22, and the multiaxial hinge 5D provided below the lower door 4 is provided on a lower wall 23 of the refrigerator main body 2.
Specifically, as shown in
In this embodiment, door bodies 31 and 41 composed of an insulating member of the upper door 3 or the lower door 4 are fixed to one surface (inner surface) of the link mechanism 53 of the door-side member 52, and design panels 32 and 42 are fixed to the other surface (outer surface) opposite to the one surface of the link mechanism 53 of the door-side member 52 (see
The link mechanism 53, which is a seven joint link mechanism, includes a plurality of (first to fourth) links L1 to L4 and a plurality of shaft members (first to seventh) P1 to P7 to rotatably connect the links L1 to L4.
One end of the first link arm L1 is connected to the main body-side member 51 by the first shaft member P1, and the other end of the first link arm L1 is connected to one end of the second link arm L2 by the second shaft member P2. The other end of the second link arm L2 is connected to the door-side member 52 by the third shaft member P3.
One end of the third link arm L3 is connected to the main body-side member 51 by the fourth shaft member P4, and the other end of the third link arm L3 is connected to the second link arm L2 by the fifth shaft member P5. A position of the second link arm L2 to which the other end of the third link arm L3 is connected is closer to the other end (inner side) of the second link arm L2 than a position of the second link arm L2 to which the other end of the first link arm L1 is connected.
One end of the fourth link arm L4 is connected to the third link arm L3 by the sixth shaft member P6. A position of the third link arm L3 to which one end of the fourth link arm L4 is connected is closer to one end (inner side) of the third link arm L3 than a position of the second link arm L2 to which one end of the third link arm L3 is connected. The other end of the fourth link arm L4 is connected to the door-side member 52 by the seventh shaft member P7.
As illustrated in
The two multiaxial hinges 5B and 5C (hereinafter also referred to as “intermediate hinges 5B and 5C”) positioned between the upper door 3 and the lower door 4 among the plurality of multiaxial hinges 5A to 5D have the main body-side member 51 in common.
The common main body-side member 51 (hereinafter also referred to as “common member 51”) includes an upper protrusion 511 of a flat plate shape to which the link mechanism 53 of the multiaxial hinge 5B provided below the upper door 3 is connected, and a lower protrusion 512 of a flat plate shape to which the link mechanism 53 of the multiaxial hinge 5C provided above the lower door 4 is connected. In this embodiment, cross sections including the protrusions 511 and 512 have a substantially ‘’ shape, and an intermediate part 513 between the upper protrusion 511 and the lower protrusion 512 is screwed to the refrigerator main body 2 (specifically, a front surface of the partition wall 22). The common member 51 is provided such that the upper protrusion 511, the lower protrusion 512, and the intermediate part 513 are integrally formed.
In this embodiment, the two intermediate hinges 5B and 5C are configured such that components other than the door-side member 52, specifically the common member 51 and the link mechanism 53, are symmetric up and down. Also, the two intermediate hinges 5B and 5C are configured such that components other than the common member 51 and the door-side member 52, specifically the link arms L1 to L4 and the shaft members P1 to P7 of the link mechanism 53 have the same shape with each other. In this embodiment, the two intermediate hinges 5B and 5C are configured to be symmetrically mounted in the refrigerator main body 2.
A strength of the two intermediate hinges 5B and 5C configured as above is configured to be less than a strength of the multiaxial hinge 5A provided above the upper door 3 and the multiaxial hinge 5D provided below the lower door 4. By this configuration, most of a load of the upper door 3 is supported by the multiaxial hinge 5A provided above the upper door 3, and most of a load of the lower door 4 is supported by the multiaxial hinge 5D provided below the lower door 4. As a result, the strength of the two intermediate hinges 5B and 5C does not need to be large, so that a thickness of the two intermediate hinges 5B and 5C may be made thin, an inner volume of the main body may be increased by reducing a thickness of the partition wall 22.
In addition, as illustrated in
According to the refrigerator 100 of the present embodiment configured as above, because the hinge mechanism 5 includes the multiaxial hinges 5A to 5D provided above and below the doors 3 and 4, when the hinge mechanism 5 opens the doors 3 and 4, the doors 3 and 4 may be moved forward from the refrigerator main body 2. As a result, even in a case in which the refrigerator 100 is integrally mounted and used in a storage space of a kitchen or accommodated and used in a storage furniture, an edge K of a hinge side door does not come into contact with an adjacent wall W when the doors 3 and 4 are opened (refer
Because the two intermediate hinges 5B and 5C have the common main body-side member 51, the thickness of the partition wall 22 may be reduced, and the inner volume of the main body may be prevented from being reduced compared to a refrigerator having the same height. In addition, because the main body-side member 51 is provided in common at the two intermediate hinges 5B and 5C, even when the thickness of the two intermediate hinges 5B and 5C is thin, a mechanical strength of the common main body-side member 51 may be secured.
Because the common main body-side member 51 is configured such that the intermediate part 513 between the upper protrusion 511 and the lower protrusion 512 is fixed to the refrigerator main body 2, while the mechanical strength of the main body-side member 51 is secured, an installation space into the refrigerator main body 2 may be reduced. Further, because the upper protrusion 511 and the lower protrusion 512 to which the link mechanism 53 is connected are formed in a flat plate shape, the thickness of the two intermediate hinges 5B and 5C may be reduced.
The present disclosure is not limited to the above embodiment.
For example, although the link mechanism of the above embodiment is a seven-joint link mechanism, other multi joint link mechanisms may be used.
In addition, the hinge mechanism in the above embodiment is configured such that the two intermediate hinges 5B and 5C have one main body-side member in common, but may be configured to have a separate member. Further, in a case in which the two intermediate hinges 5B and 5C have the main body-side member in common, the main body-side member may be composed of a single member or may be composed of a plurality of members.
The two intermediate hinges 5B and 5C in the above embodiment are configured such that components other than the door-side member are symmetrical up and down, but the components may be configured asymmetrically. In addition, the door-side member may also be configured asymmetrically. That is, a mechanical strength of the intermediate hinge 5B and a mechanical strength of the intermediate hinge 5C may be configured differently. For example, because when the upper door is a refrigerating compartment door and the lower door is a freezing compartment door, the upper door becomes heavier than the lower door due to a storage weight of a door pocket of the upper door, it may be considered to make the mechanical strength of the intermediate hinge 5B stronger than that of the intermediate hinge 5C. It may be considered to increase the size of the components as a method of increasing the mechanical strength. In addition, this configuration may be applied to a case in which the two intermediate hinges 5B and 5C have separate main body-side members, as well as the case in which the two intermediate hinges 5B and 5C have one main body-side member in common.
Although
Although
In addition, in the two multiaxial hinges 5B and 5C positioned between the upper door 3 and the lower door 4, the strength of the multiaxial hinge 5B positioned at the upper side and the strength of the multiaxial hinge 5C positioned at the lower side may be different from each other. Specifically, it is appropriate that a thickness viewed in a direction orthogonal to a rotational axis of the multiaxial hinge 5B positioned at the upper side and a thickness viewed in a direction orthogonal to a rotational axis of the multiaxial hinge 5C positioned at the lower side are different from each other. Specifically, a thickness of the link mechanism 53 of the multiaxial hinge 5B positioned at the upper side and a thickness of the link mechanism 53 of the multiaxial hinge 5C positioned at the lower side are different from each other. Both ones positioned at the upper and lower sides may be thick. In addition, in this configuration, it is appropriate that the two multiaxial hinges 5B and 5C positioned between the upper door 3 and the lower door 4 are configured to be mounted symmetrically left and right or symmetrically up and down on the refrigerator main body 2. In this case, the multiaxial hinge (the multiaxial hinge 5A in the case of the multiaxial hinge 5B, and the multiaxial hinge 5D in the case of the multiaxial hinge 5C) supporting the door together with the multiaxial hinge 5B or 5C of the thick side may have a small thickness.
In the above embodiment, the two intermediate hinges 5B and 5C are configured to be mounted symmetrically left and right in the refrigerator main body 2, but may not be configured to be mounted symmetrically left and right.
In addition, although the common member in the above embodiment has a substantially ‘’ shape in cross section including the protrusion, the shape of the common member is not limited thereto.
Further, although the two intermediate hinges in the above embodiment are configured such that the first shaft member and the fourth shaft member are provided separately for each hinge, the two intermediate hinges may be configured such that the first shaft member functions as one common member and may be configured such that the fourth shaft member functions as one common member. In this case, these common members are provided over the upper and lower protrusions of the common member. By this configuration, the two intermediate hinges are configured to be rotatable by mutually common shaft members.
In order to easily secure a portion on the closing surface of the door that seals the opening, it is appropriate that the hinge mechanism 5 is provided on a surface different from the closing surface on which the door closes the opening. That is, the door-side member 52 of the hinge mechanism 5 is provided on surfaces different from the closing surfaces of the doors 3 and 4.
Although in the above embodiment, the two intermediate hinges 5B and 5C are connected by a shaft member separately from the main body-side member 51, as illustrated in
As illustrated in
As illustrated in
In the above embodiment, a refrigerator is described using a storage device, but the present disclosure is not limited to a refrigerator and may be applied to other storage devices.
In addition, the present disclosure is not limited to the above embodiments, and various modifications are possible without departing from the purpose of the present disclosure.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2018-228648 | Dec 2018 | JP | national |
This application is a U.S. National Stage Application which claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. § 371 of International Patent Application No. PCT/KR2019/016063 filed on Nov. 21, 2019, which claims foreign priority benefit under 35 U.S.C. § 119 of Japanese Patent Application 2018-228648 filed on Dec. 6, 2018, in the Japanese Intellectual Property Office, the contents of both of which are incorporated herein by reference.
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
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PCT/KR2019/016063 | 11/21/2019 | WO | 00 |