US-12624887-B2 - Refrigerator

US12624887B2US 12624887 B2US12624887 B2US 12624887B2US-12624887-B2

Abstract

A refrigerator including a main body with a storage room inside; a door to open and close the storage room; a lever device on the door and including a case, a rotatable lever coupled to the case, and a spring inside the case; a cam on the main body and including a cam face with first and second contact surfaces with an inflection point therebetween. While the door is being rotated to close the storage room, an end of the lever is moved along the first contact surface and the lever is rotated in a first direction compressing the spring, the end of the lever then contacts the inflection point, and the end of the lever is then moved along the second contact surface and the lever is rotated in a second direction while an accumulated elastic force in the spring is transmitted to the door in the closing direction.

Inventors

Inwon KIM
Byoungmok KIM
Wonseok Yang
SeongWoo Kim
Chomin LEE

Assignees

SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD.

Dates

Publication Date: 20260512
Application Date: 20240410
Priority Date: 20230612

Claims (15)

1 . A refrigerator comprising: a main body; a storage room in the main body; a door couplable to the main body so that, while the door is coupled to the main body, the door is rotatable to open and close the storage room; a lever device mountable on the door and including: a case, a lever including: a first end, and a second end couplable to the case so that, while the second end is coupled to the case, the lever is rotatable about the second end, and a spring arrangeable inside the case and couplable to the lever so that, while the spring is coupled to the lever, the spring is compressed and expanded along a direction of a longitudinal length of the spring according to a rotation of the lever; a cam mountable on the main body and including a cam face, and the cam face including: a first contact surface, a second contact surface, and an inflection point between the first contact surface and the second contact surface; wherein, while the lever device is mounted on the door and the cam is mounted on the main body, the lever device and the cam are configured so that: while the door is being rotated to close the storage room, the first end of the lever contacts the cam and is moved along the cam face such that: the first end of the lever is moved along the first contact surface and the lever is rotated in a first direction so as to compress the spring and accumulate an elastic force in the lever device, after the first end of the lever is moved along a length of the first contact surface, the first end of the lever contacts the inflection point, and after the first end of the lever contacts the inflection point, the first end of the lever is moved along the second contact surface and the lever is rotated in a second direction, opposite to the first direction, so that the spring decompresses and the accumulated elastic force is transmitted to the door in a direction of rotating the door to close the storage room.
2 . The refrigerator of claim 1 , wherein the cam face protrudes toward the lever device.
3 . The refrigerator of claim 2 , wherein the door is rotatable to a position at which the first end of the lever does not contact the cam while the storage room is open.
4 . The refrigerator of claim 1 , wherein the door includes: a first door, a second door, and a rotating bar coupled with the first door to rotate, in response to the first door rotating to open and close the storage room, so as to cover a gap between the first door and the second door while the storage room is closed.
5 . The refrigerator of claim 1 , wherein the inflection point is a portion of the cam face that protrudes maximally towards the lever device.
6 . The refrigerator of claim 1 , wherein the lever device includes a support mounted within the case and supporting the spring.
7 . The refrigerator of claim 6 , wherein the case includes: a support mounting groove to which the support is mounted, and a rotation shaft to which the second end of the lever is coupled so that the lever is rotatable about the rotation shaft.
8 . The refrigerator of claim 7 , wherein the support includes: a mounting hole in the support to receive a securing member, and a first support protrusion on which a first end of the spring is supported.
9 . The refrigerator of claim 8 , wherein the lever includes: a rotation hole through which the rotation shaft extends, a second support protrusion on which a second end of the spring is supported, and a roller at the first end of the lever to contact the cam face and move along the cam face.
10 . The refrigerator of claim 9 , wherein the roller includes a plurality of grooves along an outer circumferential surface of the roller.
11 . The refrigerator of claim 9 , wherein the spring elastically biases the lever so that the roller maintains contact with the cam face while the roller is moved along the cam face.
12 . The refrigerator of claim 1 , wherein the spring is a compression spring.
13 . The refrigerator of claim 1 , wherein the lever includes a roller at the first end of the lever and in contact with the cam face while the first end of the lever moves along the cam face, and while the door is being rotated to close the storage room, the roller is in contact with the first contact surface and is moved along the first contact surface towards the inflection point.
14 . The refrigerator of claim 13 , wherein the spring is compressed by rotation of the lever while the roller is moved along the first contact surface.
15 . The refrigerator of claim 14 , wherein when the roller passes the inflection point and is moved along the second contact surface, the lever device is configured to transmit the accumulated elastic force to the door in a direction of rotating the door to close the storage room.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a continuation application, under 35 U.S.C. § 111(a), of International Application No. PCT/KR2024/004048, filed on Mar. 29, 2024, which claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119 to Korean Patent Application 10-2023-0075150, filed on Jun. 12, 2023, and Korean Patent Application 10-2023-0097810, filed on Jul. 26, 2023, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosures of which are incorporated by reference herein in their entireties. TECHNICAL FIELD The disclosure relates to a refrigerator that improves a closing force of a door by using elastic force of a spring. BACKGROUND ART In general, a refrigerator, an appliance for keeping food fresh, includes a main body having a storage compartment and a cold air supply device for supplying cold air to the storage compartment. The storage compartment includes a refrigerating compartment in which the food is kept refrigerated at a temperature of approximately 0° C. to 5° C., and a freezing compartment in which the food is kept frozen at a temperature of approximately 0° C. to −30° C. A door is provided on a front surface of the main body to open or close the storage compartment. The door is rotatably provided on the front surface of the main body to open or close the storage compartment. After closing at a certain angle, the door may be closed by means of a door closer. DISCLOSURE Technical Problem The present disclosure is directed to a refrigerator capable of improving a closing force of a door. Further, the present disclosure is directed to a refrigerator having an improved closing force of a door by using an elastic force of a spring. Further, the present disclosure is directed to a refrigerator having an improved door closing force to be completely closed without stopping during a door closing process. Further, the present disclosure is directed to a refrigerator having an improved door closing force to allow a door to be closed with a small force. Further, the present disclosure is directed to a refrigerator capable of visually identifying whether a door is open or closed by using an elastic force of a spring. Technical tasks to be achieved in this document are not limited to the technical tasks mentioned above, and other technical tasks not mentioned will be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the description below. Technical Solution Aspects of embodiments of the disclosure will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be apparent from the description, or may be learned by practice of the presented embodiments. According to an embodiment of the disclosure, a refrigerator includes a main body; a storage room in the main body; a door couplable to the main body so that, while the door is coupled to the main body, the door is rotatable to open and close the storage room; a lever device mountable on the door and including a case, a lever including a first end, and a second end couplable to the case so that, while the second end is coupled to the case, the lever is rotatable about the second end, and a spring arrangeable inside the case and couplable to the lever so that, while the spring is coupled to the lever, the spring is compressed and expanded according to a rotation of the lever; a cam mountable on the main body and including a cam face, and the cam face including a first contact surface, a second contact surface, and an inflection point between the first contact surface and the second contact surface; wherein, while the lever device is mounted on the door and the cam is mounted on the main body, the lever device and the cam are configured so that, while the door is being rotated to close the storage room, the first end of the lever contacts the cam and is moved along the cam face such that the first end of the lever is moved along the first contact surface and the lever is rotated in a first direction so as to compress the spring and accumulate an elastic force in the lever device, after the first end of the lever is moved along a length of the first contact surface, the first end of the lever contacts the inflection point, and, after the first end of the lever contacts the inflection point, the first end of the lever is moved along the second contact surface and the lever is rotated in a second direction, opposite to the first direction, so that the spring decompresses and the accumulated elastic force is transmitted to the door in a direction of rotating the door to close the storage room. According to an embodiment of the disclosure, the cam face may protrude toward the lever device. According to an embodiment of the disclosure, the door may be rotatable to a position at which the first end of the lever does not contact the cam while the storage room is open. According to an embodiment of the disclosure, the door may include a first door, a second door, and a rotating bar coupled with the first door to rotate, in response to the first door r