Shelf bracket and refrigerator having the same

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a shelf bracket and a refrigerator having the same. The shelf bracket includes a seating portion on which a shelf is seated, a mounting portion provided at a rear side of the seating portion, and a reinforcing portion integrally extending from the shelf bracket and folded to overlap at least one of the seating portion and the mounting portion, so that the strength of the shelf bracket is reinforced by the reinforcing portion.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

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/KR2018/009894 filed on Aug. 28, 2018, which claims foreign priority benefit under 35 U.S.C. § 119 of Korean Patent Application No. 10-2017-0109525 filed on Aug. 29, 2017, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the contents of all of which are incorporated herein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to a shelf bracket for supporting a shelf and a refrigerator having the same.

BACKGROUND ART

In general, a refrigerator includes components of a refrigeration cycle therein and may keep foods stored in a storage chamber in a freezing mode or a refrigeration mode by supplying cold air generated from an evaporator of the refrigeration cycle to the storage chamber.

In the refrigerator, a shelf for dividing the storage chamber up and down is disposed in the storage chamber such that contents may be stored separately through the shelf.

A shelf bracket is installed in the storage chamber to install the shelf. The shelf bracket is formed in a cantilever shape extending in the front-rear direction, a rear end of which is mounted to a rear surface of the storage chamber.

Two of the shelf brackets are provided for each shelf such that opposite side ends of the shelf are supported by the respective shelf brackets.

DISCLOSURE

Technical Problem

The present disclosure is directed to providing a refrigerator including a shelf bracket of significantly high strength.

Technical Solution

One aspect of the present disclosure provides a refrigerator including a main body provided in which a storage chamber is provided, a shelf configured to partition the storage chamber in the up-down direction, and a shelf bracket configured to support the shelf, wherein the shelf bracket includes a seating portion on which the shelf is seated, a mounting portion mounted to the storage chamber, and a reinforcing portion integrally extending from the shelf bracket and folded to overlap at least one of the seating portion and the mounting portion.

The reinforcing portion may integrally extend from a rear end of the mounting portion and may be folded to overlap the mounting portion.

The mounting portion may include a hooking portion protruding downward from a rear upper portion thereof, and the reinforcing portion may include a hooking reinforcing portion formed in a shape symmetrical with the hooking portion about the rear end of the mounting portion as a center line.

The mounting portion may include an insertion portion protruding rearward from a rear lower portion thereof, and the reinforcing portion may include an insertion reinforcing portion formed in a shape symmetrical with the insertion portion about the rear end of the mounting portion as the center line.

The refrigerator may further include a coupling protrusion provided on one of the mounting portion and the reinforcing portion, and a coupling hole provided on the other of the mounting portion and the reinforcing portion to allow the coupling protrusion to be coupled.

The reinforcing portion may integrally extend from an upper end of the seating portion and may be folded to overlap the seating portion and the mounting portion.

The refrigerator may further include a coupling protrusion provided on one of the seating portion, the mounting portion, and the reinforcing portion, and a coupling hole provided on the other of the seating portion, the mounting portion, and the reinforcing portion to allow the coupling protrusion to be coupled.

A pair of the shelf brackets may be disposed to be spaced apart from each other to correspond to opposite side ends of the shelf.

The refrigerator may further include a shelf mounting guide extending in the up-down direction, wherein the shelf mounting guide may include a plurality of mounting holes formed the up-down direction.

Another aspect of the present disclosure provides a shelf bracket including a seating portion on which a shelf is seated, a mounting portion provided at a rear side of the seating portion, and a reinforcing portion integrally extending from a rear end of the mounting portion and folded to overlap the mounting portion.

Another aspect of the present disclosure provides a shelf bracket including a seating portion on which a shelf is seated, a mounting portion provided at a rear side of the seating portion, and a reinforcing portion integrally extending from an upper end of the seating portion and folded to overlap the seating portion and the mounting portion.

Advantageous Effects

In a shelf bracket and a refrigerator according to one aspect of the present disclosure, because a reinforcing portion integrally extending from the shelf bracket is folded to overlap at least one of a seating portion and a mounting portion, the strength of the shelf bracket is reinforced by the reinforcing portion.

DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a refrigerator according to the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a shelf and shelf bracket applied to a refrigerator according to a first embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a mounting portion and a reinforcing portion of the shelf bracket applied to a refrigerator according to the first embodiment of the present disclosure, showing a state before the reinforcing portion is folded.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the mounting portion and the reinforcing portion of the shelf bracket applied to a refrigerator according to the first embodiment of the present disclosure, showing a state in which the reinforcing portion is folded.

FIG. 5 is a side view of the mounting portion and the reinforcing portion of the shelf bracket applied to a refrigerator according to the first embodiment of the present disclosure, showing a state in which the reinforcing portion is folded.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along line B-B of FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 is a view illustrating a shelf bracket applied to a refrigerator according to a second embodiment of the present disclosure.

MODE OF THE INVENTION

The embodiments described herein and the configurations shown the drawings are only examples of preferred embodiments of the present disclosure, and various modifications may be made at the time of filing of the present disclosure to replace the embodiments and drawings of the specification.

Like reference numbers or signs in the various figures of the present application represent parts or components that perform substantially the same functions.

The terms used herein are for the purpose of describing the embodiments and are not intended to limit the present disclosure. For example, the singular expressions herein may include plural expressions, unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. The terms “comprises” and “has” are intended to indicate that there are features, numbers, steps, operations, elements, parts, or combinations thereof described in the specification, and do not exclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, numbers, steps, operations, elements, parts, or combinations thereof.

In this specification, the terms “front end,” “rear end,” “upper portion,” “lower portion,” “upper end” and “lower end” used in the following description are defined with reference to the drawings, and the shape and position of each component are not limited by these terms.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present disclosure includes a main body 10 in which storage chambers 10a and 10b are provided, and a pair of doors 20L and 20R rotatably installed on a front surface of the main body 10 to open and close the storage chambers 10a and 10b.

In addition, although not shown in the drawings, the refrigerator includes components of a refrigeration cycle such as a compressor, a condenser, an evaporator, and an expansion valve such that cool air generated from the evaporator is supplied to the storage chambers.

The storage chambers 10a and 10b are partitioned up and down to form the refrigerating chamber 10a at an upper side and the freezing chamber 10b at a lower side.

As illustrated in FIG. 2, the refrigerator also includes shelves 11 configured to partition the refrigerating chamber 10a and the freezing chamber 10b up and down to separately store various foods, shelf brackets 12 formed in a cantilever shape and installed to rear surfaces of the storage chambers 10a and 10b to support the shelves 11, and shelf mounting guides 13 to which rear ends of the shelf brackets 12 are mounted.

The shelf 11 is formed in a substantially rectangular flat plate shape and is arranged horizontally such that food is placed on an upper surface thereof. The shelf 11 includes a rectangular ring-shaped frame 11a, and a rectangular glass plate 11b formed of a transparent or translucent material and installed in the frame 11a.

As illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3, the shelf bracket 12 includes a seating portion 121 on which the shelf 11 is seated, and a mounting portion 122 integrally extending from a rear end of the seating portion 121 and mounted to the shelf mounting guide 13. The shelf brackets 12 are provided as a pair of the shelf brackets 12 to correspond to opposite side ends of the shelf 11. The pair of shelf brackets 12 are disposed to be spaced apart from each other in the right-left direction to correspond to the opposite side ends of the shelf 11 to support the opposite side ends of the shelf 11.

The seating portions 121 extend in the front-rear direction such that the opposite side ends of the shelf 11 are seated on upper ends of the seating portions 121.

The mounting portion 122 includes a hooking portion 122a protruding downward from a rear upper portion thereof, and an insertion portion 122b protruding rearward from a rear lower portion thereof.

The shelf mounting guide 13 extends in the up-down direction, and two of the shelf mounting guides are disposed to be spaced apart from each other in the right-left direction to correspond to two of the shelf brackets 12 disposed to be spaced apart from each other.

The shelf mounting guide 12 is provided with a mounting hole 13a on which the mounting portion 122 of the shelf bracket 12 is mounted. A plurality of the mounting holes 13a is formed on the shelf mounting guide 12 in the up-down direction to adjust a mounting position of the shelf bracket 12 the up-down direction.

The hooking portion 122a of the shelf bracket 12 is caught and supported by the upper mounting hole 13a of two of the mounting holes 13a adjacent to each other in the up-down direction and the insertion portion 122b is inserted into the lower mounting hole 13a of two of the mounting holes, thereby preventing the left and right movement of the shelf bracket 12.

The shelf bracket 12 includes a reinforcing portion 123 to reinforce the strength of the mounting portion 122. The reinforcing portion 123 integrally extends from a rear end of the mounting portion 122 and is folded to overlap the mounting portion 122 to reinforce the strength of the mounting portion 122.

The reinforcing portion 123 includes a hooking reinforcing portion 123a formed in a shape symmetrical with the hooking portion 122a about the rear end of the mounting portion 122 as a center line (hereinafter referred to as line A-A), and an insertion reinforcing portion 123b formed in a shape symmetrical with the insertion portion 122b about the rear end of the mounting portion 122 as the center line A-A.

In addition, the mounting portion 122 includes coupling protrusions 122c protruding from one side surface thereof, and the reinforcing portion 123 includes coupling holes 123c to which the coupling protrusions 122c are coupled. The coupling protrusion 122c and the coupling hole 123c are provided at positions symmetrical with respect to the line A-A as the center line.

Thus, when the reinforcing portion 123a is folded about the line A-A as the center line, the hooking reinforcing portion 123a overlaps the hooking portion 122a, and the insertion reinforcing portion 123b overlaps the insertion portion 122b.

Therefore, the strength of the hooking portion 122a is reinforced by the hooking reinforcing portion 123a in contact with the side surface thereof, and the strength of the insertion portion 122b is reinforced by the insertion reinforcing portion 123b in contact with the side surface thereof.

In addition, as described above, as illustrated in FIGS. 5 and 6, the coupling protrusion 122c is coupled to the coupling hole 123c in a process in which the reinforcing portion 123 is folded to overlap the mounting portion 122, so that the reinforcing portion 123 is fixed to the mounting portion 122.

Therefore, a welding operation and the like for fixing the reinforcing portion 123 to the mounting portion 122 may be omitted, so that the reinforcing portion 122 can be more easily reinforced.

In addition, because the reinforcing portion 123 and the mounting portion 122 are integrally formed and connected to each other, an excellent reinforcing effect may be obtained compared to a case where the reinforcing portion 123 is formed separately.

The present disclosure illustrates that the reinforcing portion 123 extends from the rear end of the mounting portion 122, but is not limited thereto, and the reinforcing portion may extend from an upper end or a lower end of the mounting portion.

The present disclosure illustrates that the coupling protrusion 122c is provided on the mounting portion 122 and the coupling hole 123c is provided on the reinforcing portion 123, but on the contrary, the coupling protrusion may be provided on the reinforcing portion and the coupling hole may be provided on the mounting portion.

Hereinafter, a shelf bracket applied to a refrigerator according to a second embodiment of the present disclosure will be described.

As illustrated in FIG. 7, a shelf bracket 14 includes a seating portion 141 on which a shelf is seated, a mounting portion 142 provided on a rear side of the seating portion 141 and mounted on the shelf mounting guide 13 installed to the rear surfaces of the storage chambers 10a and 10b, and reinforcing portions 143 and 144 integrally extending from an upper end of the seating portion 141.

The reinforcing portions 143 and 144 are formed in a shape symmetrical with the seating portion 141 and the mounting portion 142 about an upper end of the seating portion 141 as a center line (line C-C). The reinforcing portions 143 and 144 include the seating reinforcing portion 143 formed in a shape symmetrical with the seating portion 141 and the mounting reinforcing portion 144 formed in a shape symmetrical with the reinforcing portion 143.

The mounting portion 142 includes a hooking portion 142a extending downward from a rear upper portion thereof and an insertion portion 142b protruding rearward from a rear lower portion thereof.

The mounting reinforcing portion 144 includes a hooking reinforcing portion 144a formed in a shape symmetrical with the hooking portion 142a and a insertion reinforcing portion 144b formed in a shape symmetrical with the insertion portion 142b.

The seating portion 141 and the mounting portion 142 include coupling protrusions 141a and 142c protruding from side surfaces thereof, respectively, and the reinforcing portions 143 and 144 include coupling holes 143a and 144c provided at positions symmetrical with the coupling protrusions 141a and 142c, respectively.

Thus, when the reinforcing portions 143 and 144 are folded about the line C-C as the center line, the coupling protrusions 141a and 142c are coupled to the coupling holes 143a and 144c, respectively. Therefore, the seating reinforcing portion 143 is coupled to a side surface of the seating portion 141 to reinforce the strength of the seating portion 141, and the mounting reinforcing portion 144 is coupled to a side surface of the mounting portion 142 to reinforce the strength of the mounting portion 142. In addition, because the mounting portion 142 includes the hooking portion 142a and the insertion portion 142b, the strength of the hooking portion 142a is reinforced by the hooking reinforcing portion 144a, and the strength of the insertion portion 142b is reinforced by the insertion reinforcing portion 144b.

While the present disclosure has been particularly described with reference to exemplary embodiments, it should be understood by those of skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.

Claims

1. A refrigerator comprising: a main body providing a storage chamber;a shelf configured to partition the storage chamber in an up-down direction; anda shelf bracket configured to support the shelf, and comprising: a seating portion on which the shelf is seated,a mounting portion mounted to the storage chamber,a reinforcing portion integrally extending from the mounting portion,a coupling protrusion on one of the mounting portion and the reinforcing portion, anda coupling hole on the other of the mounting portion and the reinforcing portion to which the coupling protrusion is coupleable,wherein the reinforcing portion is folded at a folding line from the mounting portion to overlap the mounting portion, and the coupling protrusion and the coupling hole are provided at positions symmetrical with respect to the folding line, so that the reinforcing portion overlaps symmetrically with the mounting portion when the coupling protrusion is coupled to the coupling hole.

2. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein the reinforcing portion integrally extends from a rear end of the mounting portion.

3. The refrigerator according to claim 2, wherein the mounting portion comprises a hooking portion protruding downward from a rear upper portion of the mounting portion, andthe reinforcing portion comprises a hooking reinforcing portion formed in a shape symmetrical with the hooking portion about the rear end of the mounting portion as a center line.

4. The refrigerator according to claim 3, wherein the mounting portion comprises an insertion portion protruding rearward from a rear lower portion of the mounting portion, andthe reinforcing portion comprises an insertion reinforcing portion formed in a shape symmetrical with the insertion portion about the rear end of the mounting portion as the center line.

5. The refrigerator according to claim 4, further comprising a shelf mounting guide extending in the up-down direction,wherein the shelf mounting guide comprises a plurality of mounting holes formed in the up-down direction.

6. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein the shelf bracket is configured to support a first end of the shelf, andthe refrigerator further comprises an additional shelf bracket configured to support a second end of the shelf that is opposite to the first end, the additional shelf bracket comprising: a seating portion on which the shelf is seated,a mounting portion mounted to the storage chamber,a reinforcing portion integrally extending from the mounting portion of the additional shelf bracket,a coupling protrusion on one of the mounting portion of the additional shelf bracket and the reinforcing portion of the additional shelf bracket, anda coupling hole on the other of the mounting portion of the additional shelf bracket and the reinforcing portion of the additional shelf bracket,wherein the reinforcing portion of the additional shelf bracket is folded to overlap the mounting portion of the additional shelf bracket and so that the coupling protrusion of the additional shelf bracket is coupled to the coupling hole of the additional shelf bracket.

7. A refrigerator comprising: a main body providing a storage chamber;a shelf configured to partition the storage chamber in an up-down direction; anda shelf bracket configured to support the shelf, and comprising: a seating portion on which the shelf is seated,a mounting portion mounted to the storage chamber,a reinforcing portion integrally extending from an upper end of the seating portion,a coupling protrusion on one of the seating portion and the reinforcing portion, anda coupling hole on the other of the seating portion and the reinforcing portion to which the coupling protrusion is coupleable,wherein the reinforcing portion is folded at a folding line from the seating portion to overlap the seating portion, and the coupling protrusion and the coupling hole are provided at positions symmetrical with respect to the folding line, so that the reinforcing portion overlaps symmetrically with the seating portion when the coupling protrusion is coupled to the coupling hole.

8. A refrigerator comprising: a main body providing a storage chamber;a shelf configured to partition the storage chamber in an up-down direction; anda shelf bracket configured to support the shelf, and comprising: a seating portion on which the shelf is seated,a mounting portion mounted to the storage chamber,first and second reinforcing portions integrally extending from an upper end of the seating portion,a first coupling protrusion on one of the mounting portion and the first reinforcing portion,a first coupling hole on the other of the mounting portion and the first reinforcing portion to which the first coupling protrusion is coupleable,a second coupling protrusion on one of the seating portion and the second reinforcing portion, anda second coupling hole on the other of the seating portion and the second reinforcing portion to which the second coupling protrusion is coupleable,wherein the first and second reinforcing portions are folded at a folding line from the seating portion to overlap the mounting portion and the seating portion, respectively,wherein the first coupling protrusion and the first coupling hole are provided at positions symmetrical with respect to the folding line so that the first reinforcing portion overlaps symmetrically with the mounting portion when the first coupling protrusion is coupled to the first coupling hole, andwherein the second coupling protrusion and the second coupling hole are provided at positions symmetrical with respect to the folding line so that the second reinforcing portion overlaps symmetrically with the seating portion when the second coupling protrusion is coupled to the second coupling hole.