Hinge supporting apparatus for door of refrigerator

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10480228-B2
Application number	US-201615354438-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 17, 2016
Priority date	Nov 18, 2015
Publication date	Nov 19, 2019
Grant date	Nov 19, 2019

Abstract

A hinge supporting apparatus is provided, which 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.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A hinge supporting apparatus comprising:
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,
wherein the connection member has an insertion hole which is formed thereon and into which the cam member is inserted,
wherein the insertion hole includes a first end portion that corresponds to one flat side surface of the cam member and a second end portion which corresponds to another flat side surface of the cam member that forms a pair with the one flat side surface of the cam member, and
wherein the first and second end portions are spaced apart from each other in a direction in which the door moves away from or approaches the main body, and form a gap that is equal to a gap between the one flat side surface and the other flat side surface of the cam member, so that the one flat side surface and the other flat side surface of the cam member are in contact with the first and second end portions, respectively, when the cam member is inserted into the insertion hole.

2. The hinge supporting apparatus as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the first and second end portions are arranged in parallel.

3. The hinge supporting apparatus as claimed in claim 2 , wherein the cam member comprises at least two pairs of flat side surfaces that form pairs, and the flat side surfaces of any one of the at least two pairs of flat side surfaces are arranged at equal distances from one portion of the cam member, and the flat side surfaces of the other of the at least two pairs of flat side surfaces are arranged at different distances from the one portion of the cam member.

4. The hinge supporting apparatus as claimed in claim 3 , wherein a fastening member is penetratingly coupled to the one portion of the cam member, and fixes the cam member to the main body.

5. The hinge supporting apparatus as claimed in claim 4 , wherein the main body has 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 includes a setting projection that is inserted into at least one of the plurality of setting holes.

6. The hinge supporting apparatus as claimed in claim 5 , wherein the number of the plurality of setting holes is equal to or smaller than the number of flat side surfaces of the cam member by one.

7. The hinge supporting apparatus as claimed in claim 4 , wherein the main body has 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 includes a plurality of setting holes into which the at least one setting projection is inserted.

8. The hinge supporting apparatus as claimed in claim 3 , wherein the cam member comprises a plurality of indicating portions that correspond to postures of the cam member.

9. The hinge supporting apparatus as claimed in claim 8 , wherein the plurality of indicating portions are formed in positions that correspond to the respective flat side surfaces of the cam member on the cam member.

10. The hinge supporting apparatus as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the fixing member comprises: 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.

11. The hinge supporting apparatus as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the fixing member comprises a plurality of fastening screws configured to separably fasten the connection member to the main body.

12. A hinge supporting apparatus comprising:
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,
wherein the cam member has a plurality of flat side surfaces which are even-numbered to form pairs with the flat side surfaces that are arranged in opposite directions to each other,
wherein the connection member has an insertion hole which is formed on the one side portion of the connection member and into which the cam member is inserted,
wherein the insertion hole includes first and second end portions that correspond to the flat side surfaces of one of the pairs of flat side surfaces of the cam member, and
wherein the first and second end portions of the insertion hole are spaced apart from each other in a direction in which the door moves away from or approaches the main body, and form a gap that is equal to a gap between the flat side surfaces of the one of the pairs of flat side surfaces of the cam member, so that the flat side surfaces of the one air of flat side surfaces of the cam member are in contact with the first and second end portions when the cam member is inserted into the insertion hole.

13. The hinge supporting apparatus as claimed in claim 12 , wherein the flat side surfaces that form the pairs of the cam member are arranged in parallel.

14. The hinge supporting apparatus as claimed in claim 12 , wherein the cam member has a through-hole to which a fastening member that is separably fixed to the main body is penetratingly coupled, and any one of the flat side surfaces that form the pairs of the cam member is arranged at equal distances from the through-hole, and the flat side surfaces that form the remaining pairs are arranged at different distances from the through-hole.

15. The hinge supporting apparatus as claimed in claim 14 , wherein the cam member further includes: 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.

16. The hinge supporting apparatus as claimed in claim 15 , wherein the setting projection is formed on any one of the cam member and the main body, and the plurality of setting holes are formed on the remaining one of the cam member and the main body.

17. The hinge supporting apparatus as claimed in claim 12 , further comprising a fixing member configured to fix the connection member to the main body in order to maintain an installation position of the connection member.

Assignees

• Samsung Electronics Co Ltd

Inventors

• Kim Jin-Ho
• KO Cheon-seok
• Park Sung-Cheul

Classifications

• E05D2007/0484

  in a radial direction · CPC title

• E05D7/0415 Primary

  with adjusting drive means · CPC title

• F25D23/028 Primary

  Details · CPC title

• F25D2323/024

  Door hinges · CPC title

• E05Y2900/31

  for refrigerators · CPC title