Refrigerator

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10047999-B2
Application number	US-201715424114-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 3, 2017
Priority date	Feb 5, 2016
Publication date	Aug 14, 2018
Grant date	Aug 14, 2018

Abstract

A refrigerator includes a cabinet defining a storage compartment, a door, a drawer, a roller at a side of the drawer, a support rail at a side of the storage compartment for guiding movement of the roller in a forward-rearward direction, and a support surface in the support rail for supporting the roller, the support surface including a downhill guide section that slopes downward from a rear of the refrigerator to a front of the refrigerator and a slide guide section that extends from the downhill guide section.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A refrigerator comprising:
a cabinet that defines a storage compartment with an opening;
a door rotatably coupled to the cabinet and configured to open and close the opening;
a drawer located in the storage compartment and configured to store food;
a roller located at a side of the drawer;
a support rail that is located at a side of the storage compartment and that is configured to guide movement of the roller in a forward-rearward direction; and
a support surface that is located in the support rail, that is configured to support the roller, and that includes (i) a downhill guide section that slopes downward from a rear of the refrigerator to a front of the refrigerator and (ii) a slide guide section that extends from the downhill guide section,
wherein the door comprises a door storage unit that defines a space configured to store food, that protrudes rearward from a rear part of the door, that faces the storage compartment, and that contacts the drawer based on the door being closed while the roller is located on the downhill guide section, and
wherein the slide guide section is configured to guide the roller to the front of the refrigerator based on the door being opened and at least a part of the drawer being withdrawn through the opening.

2. The refrigerator according to claim 1 , wherein the downhill guide section defines a downhill guide section angle between 30 degrees and 90 degrees with respect to a bottom of the refrigerator.

3. The refrigerator according to claim 1 , wherein the slide guide section comprises a recessed section that defines a recess.

4. The refrigerator according to claim 3 , wherein the recessed section comprises:
a first inclined section that slopes downward from a front end of a horizontal section of the slide guide section to a lowest point of the recess, the front end of the horizontal section being nearer to the front of the refrigerator than to the rear of the refrigerator; and
a second inclined section that slopes upward from the lowest point of the recess to the front of the refrigerator.

5. The refrigerator according to claim 3 , wherein:
the slide guide section further comprises a first horizontal section that extends horizontally towards a front of the refrigerator from a front end of the downhill guide section, and
the recessed section that is located at a front end of the first horizontal section.

6. The refrigerator according to claim 5 , wherein a lowest point of the recessed section is lower than the first horizontal section.

7. The refrigerator according to claim 6 , wherein a height of a front end of the recessed section with respect to a bottom of the support rail is less than or equal to a height of the first horizontal section with respect to the bottom of the support rail.

8. The refrigerator according to claim 3 , wherein the slide guide section comprises a second horizontal section that extends horizontally from a front end of the recessed section towards a front of the refrigerator.

9. The refrigerator according to claim 8 , wherein the slide guide section comprises an inclined slide section that slopes downward from a front end of the second horizontal section towards the bottom of the refrigerator.

10. The refrigerator according to claim 9 , wherein the inclined slide section defines an inclined slide section angle with respect to the bottom of the refrigerator, the inclined slide section angle being less than the downhill guide section angle.

11. The refrigerator according to claim 9 , wherein the slide guide section further comprises a slide limit section that extends upward from a front end of the inclined slide section and that is configured to stop the roller.

12. The refrigerator according to claim 11 , wherein the slide limit section is concave.

13. The refrigerator according to claim 10 , wherein the support surface further comprises a manual withdrawal guide section that extends forward from a front end of the slide limit section to the front of the refrigerator.

14. A refrigerator comprising:
a cabinet that defines a storage compartment with an opening;
a door rotatably coupled to the cabinet and configured to open and close the opening;
a drawer located in the storage compartment and configured to store food;
a roller located at a side of the drawer;
a support rail that is located at a side of the storage compartment and that is configured to guide movement of the roller in a forward-rearward direction;
a support surface that is located in the support rail, that is configured to support the roller, and that includes (i) a downhill guide section that slopes downward from a rear of the refrigerator to a front of the refrigerator and (ii) a slide guide section that extends from the downhill guide section;
a door storage unit that defines a space configured to store food, that protrudes rearward from a rear part of the door, and that faces the storage compartment; and
a pad that is located on a surface of the door storage unit, that faces the storage compartment, and that is configured to contact the drawer based on the door being closed while the roller is located on the downhill guide section,
wherein the slide guide section is configured to guide the roller to the front of the refrigerator based on the door being opened and at least a part of the drawer being withdrawn through the opening.

15. The refrigerator according to claim 1 , further comprising:
additional drawers that are located above or below the drawer;
additional rollers that are located at the drawers; and
additional support rails that are located above or below the support rail.

Assignees

• Lg Electronics Inc

Inventors

• Yang Changwoan
• Kim Hyeongil
• Jang Heonjae
• Lee Booyoun

Classifications

• A47B88/437

  Rollers for slides or guides · CPC title

• A47B96/16

  Drawers or movable shelves coupled to doors · CPC title

• A47B88/463

  self-opening · CPC title

• F25D23/04

  with special compartments, e.g. butter conditioners · CPC title

• F25D2500/02

  Geometry problems · CPC title