Back to results
US 9,790,722 B2Granted
Refrigerator and lower hinge module
AssigneeSamsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
InventorsMu Yeol Sun, Dong In Shin, Hong Joo Mun, Sung Wook Kang, Teleginyury
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A refrigerator, with respect to the refrigerator having a plurality of doors to open/close a storage compartment, capable of adjusting the height of the plurality of doors as to adjust the height difference that occurs between the plurality of doors. A lower hinge module of the refrigerator includes a hinge shaft being inserted into a lower portion of the door, a worm wheel coupled to the hinge shaft so as to be ascended/descended while supporting the weight of the door, and a worm engaged with the worm wheel to rotate the worm wheel.
Claims19
A refrigerator, comprising:
- a body;
- a storage compartment provided at an inside of the body;
- a door rotatably provided at the body to open/close the storage compartment;
- a hinge bracket having a fixation part being fixed to a lower surface of the body, and an extension part extended from the fixation part to be disposed below the door;
- a hinge shaft protruded upward from the extension part to be inserted into a lower portion of the door, the hinge shaft provided at an outer circumferential surface thereof with a male screw part;
- a worm wheel provided at an inner circumferential surface thereof with a female screw part corresponding to the male screw part of the hinge shaft to be screw-coupled to the hinge shaft so as to ascend/descend while supporting a weight of the door;
- a worm engaged with the worm wheel to rotate the worm wheel,
- wherein
- the worm includes a worm shaft,
- a portion of the worm which is engaged with the worm wheel is provided at an outer circumferential part of the worm shaft, and
- one end of the worm shaft is externally exposed outside of the body and is configured to receive a tool outside of the body so that when the tool is received by the one end of the worm shaft and the tool is operated, the worm shaft is rotated;
- a cam unit to allow the door to be semi-automatically opened/closed, the cam unit including a lower cam unit supported by the worm wheel, and an upper cam unit fixed to the door to interoperate with the lower cam unit,
- wherein
- the hinge shaft is inserted through an insertion hole provided in each of the lower cam unit and the upper cam unit;
- and
- a worm housing elongated in a longitudinal direction that is perpendicular to a front to rear direction of the body and configured to rotatably support the worm,
- wherein
- one longitudinal side of the worm housing faces the fixation part, and another longitudinal side of the worm housing faces away from the fixation part, and
- a side surface of the another longitudinal side of the worm housing includes an opening for the worm to be engaged with the worm wheel, the worm wheel being disposed outside of the worm housing and adjacent to the another longitudinal side of the worm housing.
16 more elements
A refrigerator, comprising:
- a body;
- a plurality of storage compartments provided at an inside of the body;
- a plurality of doors rotatably provided at the body to open/close the plurality of storage compartments;
- and
- a plurality of lower hinge modules configured to respectively support the plurality of doors, and respectively adjust heights of the plurality of doors,
- wherein at least one of the lower hinge modules comprises:
- a hinge bracket connecting the body to the door;
- a hinge shaft inserted into a lower portion of the door;
- a worm wheel screwed to the hinge shaft so as to ascend/descend while supporting a weight of the door;
- a worm engaged with the worm wheel to rotate the worm wheel,
- wherein
- the worm includes a worm shaft,
- a portion of the worm which is engaged with the worm wheel is provided at an outer circumferential part of the worm shaft, and
- one end of the worm shaft is externally exposed outside of the body and is configured to receive a tool outside of the body so that when the tool is received by the one end of the worm shaft and the tool is operated, the worm shaft is rotated;
- and
- a cam unit to allow the door to be semi-automatically opened/closed, the cam unit including a lower cam unit supported by the worm wheel, and an upper cam unit fixed to the door to interoperate with the lower cam unit,
- wherein
- the hinge shaft is inserted through an insertion hole provided in each of the lower cam unit and the upper cam unit;
- and
- a worm housing elongated in a longitudinal direction that is perpendicular to a front to rear direction of the body and configured to rotatably support the worm,
- wherein
- one longitudinal side of the worm housing faces toward the rear of the body, and another longitudinal side of the worm housing faces toward the front of the body, and
- a side surface of the another longitudinal side of the worm housing includes an opening for the worm to be engaged with the worm wheel, the worm wheel being disposed outside of the worm housing and adjacent to the another longitudinal side of the worm housing.
20 more elements
A lower hinge module configured to support a door of a refrigerator, the lower hinge module comprising:
- a hinge bracket having a fixation part configured to be fixed to a lower surface of a body of the refrigerator, and an extension part extended from the fixation part and configured to be disposed below the door;
- a hinge shaft protruded upward from the extension part and configured to be inserted into a lower portion of the door;
- a worm wheel screw-coupled to the hinge shaft and configured to ascend/descend while supporting a weight of the door;
- a worm engaged with the worm wheel to rotate the worm wheel,
- wherein
- the worm includes a worm shaft,
- a portion of the worm which is engaged with the worm wheel is provided at an outer circumferential part of the worm shaft, and
- one end of the worm shaft is externally exposed outside of the body and is configured to receive a tool outside of the body so that when the tool is received by the one end of the worm shaft and the tool is operated, the worm shaft is rotated;
- and
- a cam unit to allow the door to be semi-automatically opened/closed, the cam unit including a lower cam unit supported by the worm wheel, and an upper cam unit to be fixed to the door to interoperate with the lower cam unit,
- wherein
- the hinge shaft is inserted through an insertion hole provided in each of the lower cam unit and the upper cam unit;
- and
- a worm housing elongated in a longitudinal direction that is perpendicular to a front to rear direction of the body and configured to rotatably support the worm,
- wherein
- one longitudinal side of the worm housing faces the fixation part, and another longitudinal side of the worm housing faces away from the fixation part, and
- a side surface of the another longitudinal side of the worm housing includes an opening for the worm to be engaged with the worm wheel, the worm wheel being disposed outside of the worm housing and adjacent to the another longitudinal side of the worm housing.
14 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.