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US 8,132,876 B2Granted
Refrigerator and door opening apparatus thereof
AssigneeSamsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
InventorsJae Koog An, Clive Good, Eun Jung Lim
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A refrigerator with: a main body having at least one storeroom, at least one door hinged to the main body to open and close the storeroom, and a door opening apparatus gradually decreasing a magnetic binding force between the door and the main body as a rotation angle of the door is increased.
Claims19
A refrigerator comprising:
- a main body having at least one storeroom;
- at least one door hinged to the main body to open and close the storeroom;
- and
- a door opening apparatus configured to decrease a magnetic binding force between the door and the main body as a rotation angle of the door is increased, the door opening apparatus comprising
- a pair of operating levers disposed at upper and lower ends of the door;
- a door handle connecting the pair of operating levers and being disposed longitudinally in front of the door;
- a roller rotatably coupled to one end of each operating lever;
- a guide member installed to the main body and guiding a rolling motion of the roller, the guide member including a cover having a guide surface, the guide surface being inclined and curved to form part of a locus drawn by the roller when the operating lever rotates;
- and
- a pair of coupling units rotatably coupling the pair of operating levers at the upper and lower ends of the door,
- wherein the guide member includes a magnet to provide the magnetic binding force with the roller and the cover surrounding the magnet has an inclined surface to increase a distance between the roller and the magnet as each operating lever is rotated to open the door.
8 more elements
A refrigerator comprising:
- a main body having at least one storeroom;
- at least one door hinged to the main body to open and close the storeroom, and provided on a rear surface thereof with a gasket in close contact with the main body when the door is closed;
- a door handle;
- operating levers coupled with the door handle, rotationally coupled with the door, and capable of being rotated by manipulation of the door handle;
- a roller rotatably coupled to one end of each operating lever;
- a guide member installed to the main body and guiding a rolling motion of the roller;
- and
- a first magnet installed on one of the main body and the door, the guide member comprising:
- a second magnet forming the magnetic binding force with the roller, and
- a cover surrounding the second magnet and having an inclined surface to increase a distance between the roller and the second magnet as each operating lever is rotated to open the door,
- wherein an upper surface of the main body and an upper surface of the door are disposed proximate to a horizontal plane,
- wherein the operating levers and the roller are disposed above both the main body and the door, and
- wherein the guide member is protruded from the upper surface of the main body such that the roller can contact with the guide member.
10 more elements
A door opening apparatus in combination with a refrigerator comprising:
- a door handle;
- operating levers coupled with the door handle, rotatably coupled with a door of the refrigerator, and capable of being rotated by manipulation of the door handle;
- coupling units rotatably coupling the operating levers at upper and lower ends of the door, respectively;
- a first magnet installed on at least one of a refrigerator main body and the door;
- a pair of rollers rotatably coupled to one end of each operating lever;
- and
- a pair of guide members installed to the main body and guiding a rolling motion of the rollers;
- the guide members comprising:
- a pair of second magnets forming the magnetic binding force with the rollers;
- and
- a pair of covers surrounding the second magnets and having an inclined surface to increase a distance between the rollers and the second magnets as each operating levers are rotated to open the door,
- wherein a upper surface of the main body and a upper surface of the door are disposed proximately a horizontal plane,
- wherein the operating levers and the rollers are disposed above both the main body and the door,
- wherein the guide members are protruded from the upper surface of the main body.
11 more elements
A door opening apparatus in combination with a refrigerator, comprising:
- a pair of operating levers rotatably coupled to opposing ends of a refrigerator door hingedly connected to a refrigerator main body;
- a handle coupled between respective first ends of the operating levers;
- a pair of contactors respectively disposed at second ends of the operating levers, opposite to the first ends, each contactor comprising a roller rotatably disposed at the second end of the respective operating lever;
- a pair of guide members having a pair of guide surfaces disposed on the main body and corresponding to the pair of contactors, each of the guide surfaces isbeing inclined and curved to form part of a locus drawn by the corresponding contactor when the corresponding operating lever rotates;
- and
- a pair of magnets disposed on one of the main body and the pair of contactors,
- wherein the magnets are respectively disposed within the pair of guide members and the guide surfaces are respectively disposed on the guide members.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.