Refrigerator

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10775095-B2
Application number	US-201716069321-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 13, 2017
Priority date	Jan 14, 2016
Publication date	Sep 15, 2020
Grant date	Sep 15, 2020

Abstract

A refrigerator includes a cabinet having a storage chamber, an inner case that defines the storage chamber, a first door rotatably installed on the cabinet and configured to open and close one side of the storage chamber, a second door that includes a pillar configured to rotate and contact the first door and that is installed on the cabinet and configured to open and close another side of the storage chamber, and a transfer member provided inside the inner case and configured to sense rotation of the second door and to guide rotation of the pillar. The transfer member includes a lifting guide portion that is configured to, based on the pillar approaching the lifting guide portion, move downward and contact the pillar while the pillar remains unfolded.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A refrigerator comprising:
a cabinet;
an inner case that is located inside of the cabinet and that defines a storage compartment;
a first door rotatably coupled to the cabinet and configured to open and close a first side of the storage compartment;
a second door rotatably coupled to the cabinet and configured to open and close a second side of the storage compartment, the second door comprising a pillar that includes a first pillar magnetic member disposed at an upper side of the pillar, that is configured to rotate between a folded state and an unfolded state relative to the second door, and that is configured to contact the first door based on the first and second doors being closed and the pillar being oriented in the unfolded state; and
a transmission unit that is located in the inner case and that is configured to guide rotation of the pillar based on rotation of the second door,
wherein the pillar is spaced apart from a top wall of the inner case and a bottom wall of the inner case without contacting the inner case in a state in which the second door closes the second side of the storage compartment,
wherein the transmission unit comprises a lifting guide unit that includes a steel plate member configured to magnetically interfere with the first pillar magnetic member, that is configured to move down toward the pillar by magnetic force applied between the steel plate member and the first pillar magnetic member based on the second door being closed, and that is configured to contact the pillar based on rotation of the pillar from the folded state to the unfolded state, and
wherein the pillar comprises a pillar protrusion that protrudes from the upper side of the pillar toward the top wall of the inner case, that is spaced apart from the top wall of the inner case, and that is configured to contact the lifting guide unit to thereby guide rotation of the pillar from the unfolded state to the folded state.

2. The refrigerator according to claim 1 , wherein the pillar protrusion is configured to be positioned on a rear side of the lifting guide unit based on the lifting guide unit having moved down toward the pillar.

3. The refrigerator according to claim 1 , wherein the lifting guide unit comprises:
a guide case that accommodates the steel plate member; and
an elastic member that is configured to support the guide case upward in a direction away from the pillar.

4. The refrigerator according to claim 3 , wherein the elastic member is configured to, based on the pillar approaching the lifting guide unit, extend toward the pillar to move the guide case down toward the pillar.

5. The refrigerator according to claim 1 , wherein the transmission unit further comprises a rotary arm that is configured to rotate relative to the inner case based on rotation of the first door relative to the cabinet.

6. The refrigerator according to claim 5 , wherein the rotary arm includes a first magnetic member at a first end of the rotary arm and a second magnetic member at a second end of the rotary arm, the second end being opposite to the first end.

7. The refrigerator according to claim 6 , wherein the rotary arm is configured to rotate about a rotation center located between the first magnetic member and the second magnetic member.

8. The refrigerator according to claim 6 , wherein the first door includes:
a first door magnetic member that is located at an upper side of the first door and that is configured to magnetically interfere with the first magnetic member; and
a second door magnetic member that is located at a lateral surface of the first door, and
wherein the pillar includes a second pillar magnetic member that is located at a lateral surface of the pillar and that is configured to magnetically interfere with the second door magnetic member.

9. The refrigerator according to claim 1 , wherein the pillar is configured to rotate relative to the second door in a state in which the first door opens the first side of the storage compartment and the second door closes the second side of the storage compartment.

10. The refrigerator according to claim 1 , wherein the pillar is configured to contact the first door and the second door in a state in which the first door and the second door close the first side of the storage compartment and the second side of the storage compartment, respectively.

11. The refrigerator according to claim 10 , wherein the pillar is configured to, based on rotation from the folded state to the unfolded state, cover a space of the storage compartment between the first door and the second door.

12. The refrigerator according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a first drawer located in the storage compartment at a first position that is closer to the first door than to the second door; and
a second drawer located in the storage compartment at a second position that is closer to the second door than to the first door,
wherein a width of the first drawer is equal to a width of the second drawer.

13. The refrigerator according to claim 12 , wherein the first drawer and the second drawer are disposed in a same horizontal plane in the storage compartment, and
wherein the first drawer and the second drawer are configured to independently withdraw outward from the storage compartment.

14. The refrigerator according to claim 13 , wherein the pillar is configured to allow, based on rotation from the unfolded state to the folded state, allow withdrawal of the first drawer from the storage compartment in a state in which the second door closes the second side of the storage compartment.

15. The refrigerator according to claim 1 , wherein a width of the first door is equal to a width of the second door.

16. The refrigerator according to claim 1 , wherein the first side of the storage compartment and the second side of the storage compartment are arranged side by side.

17. The refrigerator according to claim 1 , wherein the lifting guide unit is further configured to, based on the pillar moving away from the lifting guide unit, move upward from the pillar to be spaced apart from the pillar.

18. The refrigerator according to claim 1 , wherein the lifting guide unit is further configured to, based on the pillar moving away from the lifting guide unit, insert into the transmission unit.

Assignees

• Lg Electronics Inc

Inventors

• Gwon Seongwon
• Kim Hyunbum

Classifications

• E06B7/20

  automatically withdrawn when the wing is opened {, e.g. by means of magnetic attraction, a pin or an inclined surface, especially for sills} · CPC title

• F25D25/025

  Drawers · CPC title

• G01N27/725 Primary

  by using magneto-acoustical effects or the Barkhausen effect · CPC title

• G01N27/87

  using probes · CPC title

• F25D2323/021

  French doors · CPC title