Refrigerator

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9709317-B2
Application number	US-201414898081-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 16, 2014
Priority date	Jun 14, 2013
Publication date	Jul 18, 2017
Grant date	Jul 18, 2017

Abstract

Disclosed herein is a refrigerator including a cabinet ( 10 ) defining a first storage region ( 2 ) for storing food, a door ( 20 ) for opening and closing the first storage region ( 2 ), a gasket ( 26 ) which is provided on an inner surface of the door ( 20 ) and seals the first storage region ( 2 ) from outdoor air by forming a sealing boundary when the door ( 20 ) closes the first storage region ( 2 ), a first hinge member ( 40 ) which has a rotary shaft ( 42 ) and rotatably connects the door ( 20 ) to the cabinet ( 10 ) out of the sealing boundary, a container ( 100 ) which defines a second storage region for storing food and is received in the first storage region ( 2 ), and a second hinge member ( 200 ) which is fixed, at one side thereof, to the container ( 100 ) within the sealing boundary while being rotatably connected, at the other side thereof, to the door ( 20 ), the second hinge member ( 200 ) having a rotary shaft ( 206 ) which is vertically and linearly aligned with the rotary shaft ( 42 ) of the first hinge member ( 40 ).

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A refrigerator comprising:
a cabinet defining a first storage region and configured to store food;
a door rotatably connected to the cabinet and configured to open and close the first storage region;
a gasket provided on an inner surface of the door and configured to define a sealing boundary that seals the first storage region from outdoor air in a state in which the door closes the first storage region;
a first hinge member that comprises a first rotary shaft and that is configured to rotatably connect the door to the cabinet about the first rotary shaft, wherein the first rotary shaft is positioned at an outer side of the sealing boundary towards a front surface of the door;
a container defining a second storage region configured to store food, the container configured to rotate relative to the door and relative to the cabinet such that the container is configured to be received within the first storage region of the cabinet; and
a second hinge member that comprises a second rotary shaft and that is configured to rotatably connect the container to the cabinet about the second rotary shaft, wherein:
a first end of the second hinge member is fixedly attached to the container at a fixed portion that is positioned at an inner side of the sealing boundary towards the inner surface of the door,
a second end of the second hinge member is rotatably connected to the door about the second rotary shaft, and
the second rotary shaft of the second hinge member is vertically aligned with the first rotary shaft of the first hinge member at the outer side of the sealing boundary.

2. The refrigerator according to claim 1 , wherein the second hinge member is configured such that the container is rotatable relative to the door of the refrigerator, the second hinge member comprising:
a rotation portion that comprises the second rotary shaft of the second hinge member and that is rotatably connected to the door; and
a connection portion connecting the rotation portion to the fixed portion.

3. The refrigerator according to claim 2 , wherein the second hinge member is configured such that, in a state in which the container is received within the first storage region and the door closes the first storage region, the connection portion of the second hinge member extends from the inner side of the sealing boundary to the outer side of the sealing boundary.

4. The refrigerator according to claim 2 , wherein the second hinge member is configured such that a horizontally spaced distance between the rotation portion and a portion of the connection portion furthest from the rotation portion is longer than a horizontally spaced distance between the rotation portion and the fixed portion.

5. The refrigerator according to claim 2 , wherein:
the gasket of the door follows a rotation trajectory as the door rotates about the first rotary shaft, and
the connection portion of the second hinge member comprises:
a first extension portion extending from the rotation portion in a direction towards a front surface of the door;
a second extension portion extending from the fixed portion in a direction towards the front surface of the door; and
a third extension portion connecting the first extension portion to the second extension portion,
wherein the first extension portion is horizontally angled toward the second extension portion, and
wherein the second extension portion comprises a curved portion that is curved to correspond to a rotation trajectory of the gasket as the door rotates about the first rotary shaft in a stationary state of the second hinge member of the container.

6. The refrigerator according to claim 2 , wherein the door is provided with a receiving portion configured to receive a portion of the connection portion and the rotation portion.

7. The refrigerator according to claim 6 , wherein the door is provided with an opening portion through which the portion of the connection portion passes based on the door rotating relative to the container.

8. The refrigerator according to claim 7 , wherein the opening portion through which the portion of the connection portion passes is located at the inner side of the sealing boundary.

9. The refrigerator according to claim 7 , wherein the opening portion through which the portion of the connection portion passes is provided with an opening-and-closing member configured to elastically open and close the opening portion such that, based on the door being opened, the opening-and-closing member is unfolded by elasticity so as to cover the opening portion, and, based on the door being closed, the opening-and-closing member is compressed by the second hinge member so as to enter an inside of the opening portion.

10. The refrigerator according to claim 7 , wherein, in a state in which the container is received within the first storage region and the door rotatably opens, the container is maintained within the first storage region until the door is opened by more than a predetermined angle at which interference is generated between the opening portion and the second hinge member.

11. The refrigerator according to claim 10 , wherein one side of the opening portion through which the portion of the connection portion passes is provided with a clearance-maintaining portion made of an elastic material, and the clearance maintaining portion is configured to be elastically deformed during generation of the interference between the opening portion and the second hinge member.

12. The refrigerator according to claim 7 , wherein the receiving portion extends from the opening portion to the outer side of the sealing boundary.

13. The refrigerator according to claim 6 , wherein the door comprises:
an inside panel defining an inside surface of the door;
an outside panel defining an outside surface of the door;
a foam thermal insulator provided between the inside panel and the outside panel; and
a reinforced thermal insulator provided parallel to the foam thermal insulator between the receiving portion and the outside panel and having a thermal conductivity that is lower than a thermal conductivity of the foam thermal insulator.

14. The refrigerator according to claim 13 , wherein the reinforced thermal insulator is a vacuum thermal insulator that has a plate shape, and the reinforced thermal insulator is pressed against an inner surface of the outside panel.

15. The refrigerator according to claim 14 , wherein the reinforced thermal insulator extends from a front surface of the door to a side surface thereof so as to enclose a receiving space of the receiving portion.

16. The refrigerator according to claim 1 , wherein the first hinge member is located at the outer side of the sealing boundary.

17. The refrigerator according to claim 1 , wherein a vertical axis of rotation of the first rotary shaft of the first hinge member and a vertical axis of rotation of the second rotary shaft of the second hinge member are located along a common vertical line.

18. The refrigerator according to claim 1 , further comprising a latch configured to selectively couple the container to the door,
wherein the container and the door are configured to be opened together during coupling therebetween through the latch, and
wherein the door is configured to be opened while the container is maintained within the first storage region during decoupling therebetween through the latch.

19. The refrigerator according to claim 1 , wherein the container further comprises a fixing device configured to selectively coupl

Assignees

• Lg Electronics Inc

Inventors

• Lee Jaeyoul
• Kim Nami
• Park Raeyoung
• Kim Hyunbum
• Kim Jindong
• Im Jihyun
• Choo Ayoung
• Kim Myunghwan

Classifications

• E05D3/022

  allowing an additional lateral movement, e.g. for sealing · CPC title

• E05D2005/067

  gooseneck shaped · CPC title

• F25D23/087

  Sealing strips · CPC title

• E05D5/10

  Pins, sockets or sleeves; Removable pins (E05D15/522 takes precedence) · CPC title

• E05D11/0054

  Covers, e.g. for protection · CPC title