REFRIGERATOR AND BEAM FOR REFRIGERATOR

Abstract

A refrigerator contains a storage compartment, the storage compartment has an inner wall. A first door and a second door close off the storage compartment and a beam being rotatably disposed on the first door. The beam has an accommodating space for accommodating heat-insulation material. An end portion of the beam has an air blocking member, and when the first door is closed, the air blocking member is located between the end portion and the inner wall. The air blocking member is capable of effectively preventing excessive leakage of cold air and generation of condensation.

Claims

1. A refrigerator, comprising: a storage compartment having an inner wall; a first door and a second door for closing said storage compartment; heat-insulation material; and a beam rotatably disposed on said first door and having an end portion, said beam containing an accommodating space accommodating said heat-insulation material, said beam having an air blocking member disposed at said end portion of said beam, and when said first door is closed, said air blocking member is disposed between said end portion and said inner wall.

2. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein said air blocking member has an air blocking portion, said air blocking portion having at least one cavity disposed between said end portion and said inner wall.

3. The refrigerator according to claim 2, wherein said air blocking member has a flexible cavity wall forming said at least one cavity.

4. The refrigerator according to claim 2, wherein when said first door is closed, a ratio of a width or a sum of widths of said at least one cavity along a depth direction of said storage compartment to a thickness of said beam along the depth direction of said storage compartment is not less than 1:2.

5. The refrigerator according to claim 2, wherein said air blocking member has at least two cavities, said at least two cavities being disposed front and back along a depth direction of said storage compartment when said first door is closed.

6. The refrigerator according to claim 2, wherein: said air blocking member has a cavity wall forming an outer surface of said air blocking member; and said air blocking member has at least two cavities and a partition wall partitioning said at least two cavities being adjacent cavities, at least one end of said partition wall being connected to said cavity wall forming said outer surface of said air blocking member.

7. The refrigerator according to claim 2, wherein said air blocking member further comprises a rigid fixing portion coupled to said end portion of said beam.

8. The refrigerator according to claim 7, wherein said rigid fixing portion is plate-shaped, and/or said air blocking portion is flat.

9. The refrigerator according to claim 7, wherein said air blocking portion has a neck portion extending from one side surface of said rigid fixing portion, and a main body portion forming said at least one cavity and extending from said neck portion to a front wall and/or a back wall of said beam.

10. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein said end portion has an end wall with a groove formed therein and disposed outside said accommodating space, said groove being open toward said inner wall, and said air blocking member having a fixing portion accommodated in said groove.

11. The refrigerator according to claim 10, wherein said groove has a T-shaped cross-section, and said air blocking member has a neck portion passing through an opening of said groove.

12. The refrigerator according to claim 10, wherein said beam has a first housing portion and a second housing portion, said first housing portion and said second housing portion being connected to define said accommodating space, and at least a part of said groove being disposed between said first housing portion and said second housing portion.

13. The refrigerator according to claim 12, wherein: said first housing portion has a first receiving portion; and said second housing portion has a second receiving portion; and when said first housing portion is connected to said second housing portion, at least parts of said first receiving portion and said second receiving portion are overlapped to define said groove, and a first gap exists between overlapped parts in a length direction of said beam, and at least a part of said fixing portion is disposed in said first gap.

14. The refrigerator according to claim 13, wherein there is a second gap between said air blocking member and said inner wall.

15. The refrigerator according to claim 14, wherein said second gap is not less than 1 mm and not greater than 5 mm.

16. A beam for a refrigerator, the beam being rotatably coupled to a door of the refrigerator, the beam comprising: heat insulation material; a housing having an end portion and an accommodating space for accommodating said heat-insulation material; and an air blocking member attached to said end portion of said housing.

17. The beam according to claim 16, wherein said air blocking member has an air blocking portion, said air blocking portion having at least one cavity disposed outside said accommodating space.

18. The beam according to claim 16, wherein said air blocking member has fixing portions attached to said housing and a flexible air blocking portion disposed outside said housing.

19. The beam according to claim 18, wherein said end portion of said housing has a groove formed therein and disposed outside said accommodating space, and said air blocking member has at least one of said fixing portions accommodated in said groove.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING

[0050] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0051] FIG. 2 is a schematic partial cross-sectional view of an embodiment along the line II-II shown in FIG. 1;

[0052] FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view of an air blocking member according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0053] FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the air blocking member according to another embodiment of the present invention;

[0054] FIG. 5 is a partial three-dimensional view of a beam according to another embodiment of the present invention;

[0055] FIG. 6 is an exploded, perspective view of the beam shown in FIG. 5; and

[0056] FIG. 7 is a schematic partial cross-sectional view of another embodiment along the line II shown in FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0057] To make the above objects, features and advantages of the present invention easier to understood, specific embodiments of the present invention will be explained in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings, but not used to limit the scope of the present invention.

[0058] Referring now to the figures of the drawings in detail and first, particularly to FIGS. 1 and 2 thereof, there is shown in a first embodiment, a refrigerator 100 includes a refrigerator body 101 having a storage compartment 102. The storage compartment 102 has an inner wall 103.

[0059] The refrigerator 100 includes a first door 107 and a second door 108 for closing the storage compartment 102.

[0060] A rotable beam 105 is disposed between the first door 107 and the second door 108 that are used for closing the storage compartment 102. When the first door 107 and the second door 108 are closed, the beam 105 is concatenated to sealing strips 112 of the first door 107 and the second door 108, and a gap between the first door 107 and the second door 108 is sealed.

[0061] The beam 105 may be rotatably attached to the first door 107. When the first door 107 is opened from a closed position or closed from an open position, the beam 105 rotates relative to the first door 107 by a guiding mechanism 106 between the beam 105 and the refrigerator body 101.

[0062] Optionally, the guiding mechanism 106 may include a guiding member located at one end of the beam 105 and a matching guiding portion located in the refrigerator body 101. The matching guiding portion may be located on an inner wall opposite to the other end of the beam.

[0063] The beam 105 may include a housing 300, the housing 300 including an accommodating space 109 for accommodating heat-insulation material 110.

[0064] The beam 105 may include an air blocking member 201a located on an end portion 111. When the first door is closed, the air blocking member 201a is located between the end portion 111 and the inner wall 103 of the beam 105.

[0065] In a state of use, the air blocking member 201a may reduce a flow of cold air in the storage compartment 102 from between the end portion 111 of the beam 105 and the inner wall 103 opposite the end portion 111 toward the doors 107, 108 of the refrigerator 100, thereby reducing the heat exchange of cold air with outside. This also helps to reduce the possibility of condensation generation.

[0066] FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view of an air blocking member according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, the air blocking member 201a includes an air blocking portion 206a, and the air blocking portion 206a may include a cavity 202a. When the first door 107 is closed, the cavity 202a is located between the end portion 111 and the inner wall 103 of the beam 105. In this way, it is conducive to improve the thermal insulation property of the air blocking member 201a, and further reduce the heat exchange between the storage compartment 102 and the outside.

[0067] The air blocking portion 206a includes a cavity wall 203a that forms the cavity. In an embodiment of the present invention, the cavity wall 203a can be flexible. In this way, when a door body sinks beyond a design value, it is conducive for the flexible cavity wall 203a to be capable of deforming under an action of a very small force, thereby reducing the possibility of the air blocking portion 206a interfering with the refrigerator body and damaging. Preferably, the cavity wall 203a is made of an elastic material.

[0068] When the first door 107 is closed, a second gap n may exist between the air blocking member 201a and the inner wall 103. Therefore, the air blocking member 201a does not interfere with the refrigerator body 101, and the air blocking member 201a may have a greater design space for improving the thermal insulation property of the air blocking member 201a.

[0069] An end surface 205a of the air blocking portion 206a may be a plane.

[0070] At least a part of the cavity 202a is located outside the accommodating space 109. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, the cavity 202a is completely located outside the accommodating space 109.

[0071] The cavity 202a and the accommodating space 109 may be independent of each other and do not communicate with each other. In this way, no impact is caused.

[0072] At least a part of the air blocking member 201a may adhere to the end portion 111 of the beam 105. A width of the cavity wall at the adhesion part may be greater than widths of the cavity wall of other parts. Certainly, the method that the air blocking member 201a and the beam 105 are fixed is not limited to adhesion.

[0073] FIG. 4 is a structural cross-sectional view of an air blocking member according to another embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 4, the air blocking member 201b includes an air blocking portion 206b and a fixing portion 207b. The air blocking member is fixedly connected to the end portion 111 of the beam 105 through the fixing portion 207b.

[0074] The air blocking portion 206b includes a cavity 202b. The cavity 202b is formed by a cavity wall 203b extending from a side surface of the fixing portion 207b. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 4, the cross-section of the cavity 202b is bowl-shaped, and the fixing portion 207b is plate-shaped.

[0075] When the first door 107 is closed, ratio of width or a sum of the widths of the cavity 202b of the air blocking member 201b along a depth direction D of the storage compartment 102 to a thickness of the beam along the depth direction D of the storage compartment 102 is greater than 1:2. This helps significantly improve thermal insulation property of the air blocking member 201b, and also helps reduce the possibility of condensation generation in the refrigerator 100.

[0076] The fixing portion 207b includes a plugging portion 210b. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 4, the plugging portion 210b may protrude toward a front wall 312 or/and a back wall 311 of the beam relative to the air blocking portion 206b.

[0077] Certainly, a structure of the plugging portion 210b is not only limited to as shown in the embodiment of FIG. 4, and may also be formed by protruding from a side of the fixing portion 207b away from the air blocking portion 206b.

[0078] The plugging portion 210b may be provided with an inclined surface 211b toward the air blocking portion. The inclined surface 211b facilitates the quick installation of the air blocking member 201b, and a combination of the plugging structure with limits (referring to FIG. 7) allows the air blocking member 201b to be attached to the end portion 111 of the beam 105 in a more reliable manner.

[0079] FIG. 5 is a schematic partial three-dimensional diagram of a beam for a refrigerator according to another embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIGS. 5 to 7, the end portion of the beam 105 is provided with an air blocking member 201c, and the air blocking member 201c includes an air blocking portion 206c and a rigid fixing portion 207c.

[0080] The air blocking member 201c may have the air blocking portion 206c, and the air blocking portion 206c may include a plurality of cavities 202c. The plurality of cavities 202c may be disposed front and back along a depth direction D of the storage compartment 102 when the first door 107 is closed. The plurality of cavities 202c disposed along the depth direction D of the storage compartment 102 reduces the rate of heat exchange between the cold air inside the storage compartment 102 and the outside, thereby improving the thermal insulation property of the air blocking portion 206c.

[0081] When the first door 107 is closed, ratio of widths or a sum of the widths of the cavity 202c of the air blocking member 201c along the depth direction D of the storage compartment 102 to a thickness of the beam 105 along the depth direction D of the storage compartment 102 may be greater than 1:2. This helps significantly improve thermal insulation property of the air blocking member 201c, and also helps reduce the possibility of condensation generation in the refrigerator 100.

[0082] The air blocking portion 206c includes a plurality of partition walls 204c partitioning the adjacent cavities 202c. At least an end of the partition wall 204c is connected to a cavity wall 203c forming the air blocking portion 206c. On the one hand, the air blocking portion 206c is separated into a plurality of cavities 202c that are not connected in the depth direction D of the storage compartment 102 by the partition wall 204c. On the other hand, the partition wall 204c facilitates maintaining a shape stability of the cavities 202c.

[0083] The plurality of partition walls 204c may extend along the width direction of the beam 105 and may have constant sections. This helps improve a constancy of a property of the air blocking member along the width direction of the beam, and this also provides a possibility that it is conducive for the partition walls 204c of the air blocking member 201c and the cavity walls 203c to be mass-produced by an integral molding process.

[0084] The plurality of partition walls 204c may be disposed front and back along the depth direction D of the storage compartment 102 when the first door 107 is closed. The plurality of partition walls 204c form the plurality of cavities 202c that are disposed front and back along the depth direction D of the storage compartment 102 and parallel to each other, which helps to reduce the rate of heat exchange and improve the heat-insulation effect of the air blocking portion 206c.

[0085] A thickness of the partition wall 204c may be less than a thickness of the cavity wall 203c forming an outer surface of the air blocking portion 206c. Preferably, ratio of the two is not greater than two thirds. Such a thickness design helps to improve a flatness of the cavity wall 203c of the air blocking member 201c, and is relatively conducive to the deformability of the air blocking portion 206c. The fixing portion 207c may form a part of the cavity wall of the cavity 202c. That the fixing portion 207c forms a part of the cavity wall 203c of the cavity 202c helps reduce an overall thickness of the air blocking member 201c.

[0086] In the embodiment shown in FIG. 7, the fixing portion 207c is plate-shaped, and the air blocking portion 206c is flat. A plate-shaped structure of the fixing portion 207c and a flat structure of the air blocking portion 206c help make it possible to still ensure the thermal insulation property of the air blocking member 201c in the depth direction D of the storage compartment 102 while reducing the overall thickness of the air blocking member 201c.

[0087] The air blocking portion 206c may include a neck portion 208c extending from one side surface of the rigid fixing portion 207c, and a main body portion 209c forming the cavity 202c extending from the neck portion 208c toward a front wall 312 and a back wall 311 of the beam 105. This is conducive to maximize a height of the cavity 202c of the air blocking portion 206c, thereby improving the heat-insulation effect of the air blocking portion 206c.

[0088] The beam 105 may include a first housing portion 303 and a second housing portion 301, and the first housing portion 303 is connected to the second housing portion 301 to form an accommodating space 109 for accommodating heat-insulation material 110.

[0089] An end wall of the end portion 111 of the beam 105 may be provided with a groove 302 located outside the accommodating space 109, the groove 302 is open toward the inner wall 103, and at least a part of the fixing portion 207c may be accommodated in the groove 302. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 7, the fixing portion 207c is completely accommodated in the groove 302.

[0090] The first housing portion 303 may include a first receiving portion 305, and the second housing portion 301 includes a second receiving portion 304. When the first housing portion 303 is connected to the second housing portion 301, the first receiving portion 305 and the second receiving portion 304 are overlapped to form the groove 302, a first gap a exists between the overlapped parts in a length direction of the beam, and a plugging portion 210c of the fixing portions 207c is disposed in the first gap a. Such a groove limiting structure helps to simplify an installation process of the air blocking member.

[0091] In the embodiment shown in FIG. 7, the first receiving portion 305 may be used as a forming part of the accommodating space 109. In this way, when the first receiving portion 305 is capable of supporting the heat-insulation material 110, it is conducive that the cavity 202c of the air blocking member 201c and the accommodating space 109 may be independent of each other and do not communicate with each other, thereby not interfering with each other.

[0092] The groove 302 may have a T-shaped cross-section, and the neck portion 208c passes through an opening of the groove 302. The neck portion 208c is adapted to a shape of the opening of the groove 302, thereby helping reduce an overall thickness of the air blocking member 201c.

[0093] An end of the air blocking portion 206c near the front wall 312 of the beam preferably does not extend beyond the front wall 312 to prevent the beam 105 from interfering with a side surface of the door body when the beam 105 rotates.

[0094] In the embodiment shown in FIG. 6, when the first door 107 is closed, the cavity 202c of the air blocking portion 206c is non-open along the depth direction D of the storage compartment 102, which helps reduce the heat exchange rate on the depth direction D of the storage compartment 102.

[0095] At the same time, the cavity 202c of the air blocking portion 206c is open in the width direction along the beam 105. In this way, it makes a molding process of the air blocking member 201c relatively simple and a cost relatively low.

[0096] However, in other embodiments of the present invention, the cavity 202a of the air blocking member 201a may be closed, and the closed cavity 202a is beneficial for improving the thermal insulation property of the air blocking member 201a. Furthermore, the closed cavity 201a may be filled with inert gases. In this way, the thermal insulation property of the air blocking member 202a is further improved.

[0097] In the embodiment in FIG. 7, when the first door 107 is closed, a second gap n exists between an end surface 205c of the air blocking member 201c facing the inner wall 103 of the storage compartment 102 and the inner wall 103 of the storage compartment 102. This helps to prevent or reduce the interference of the beam with the refrigerator body when the refrigerator is in use.

[0098] Preferably, the second gap is not less than 1 mm. In addition, it is conducive to safeguard the heat-insulation effect of the air blocking member, and the second gap is preferably not greater than 5 mm.

[0099] A front panel 306 is disposed at the front wall 312 of the beam 105. An inner side of the front panel 306 may be provided with a heating member 307 to prevent condensation. The air blocking member 201c and the front panel 306 are coupled to the beam 105 in a non-contact manner, thereby facilitating a prevention of heat exchange between the air blocking member 201c and the front panel 306 or the heating member 307 in the front panel 306.

[0100] The air blocking member 201a, 201b, or 201c may be mass-produced by an integral molding process. The fixing portions 207b and 207c of the air blocking member 201b or 201c may be of different materials than the air blocking portion 206b or 206c. For example, the fixing portion 207 or 207c is made of ABS plastic and the air blocking portion 206b or 206c is made of rubber. In this case, soft and rigid co-extrusion molding process may be applied to mass produce.

[0101] According to the embodiment shown in FIG. 7, installation steps of the air blocking member 201c may include:

[0102] connecting the air blocking member 201c to the first housing portion 303; and

[0103] connecting the first housing portion 303 to the second housing portion 301.

[0104] In step 1, the connecting the air blocking member 201c to the first housing portion 303 may include adhering the air blocking member 201c to the first housing portion 303.

[0105] In step 1, the connecting the air blocking member 201c to the first housing portion 303 may include inserting a part (e.g., the plugging portion 210c) of the fixing portion 207c of the air blocking member 201c to the first receiving portion 305 located in the first housing portion.

[0106] In step 2, the connecting the first housing portion 303 to the second housing portion 301 may include covering another part of the fixing portion 207c of the air blocking member 201c by using a part of the first housing portion 303.

[0107] In an embodiment, the air blocking member 201c is connected to the first housing portion 303 to form a pre-assembled member to participate in assembling the beam. In other words, the step of connecting the air blocking member 201c to the first housing portion 303 precedes the step of matching an insulation material with the first housing portion 303.

[0108] At this point, it should be recognized by those skilled in the art that, although a plurality of exemplary embodiments of the present invention have been exhaustively shown and described herein, many other variations or modifications consistent with the principles of the present invention can still be directly determined or deduced from the disclosure of the present invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Therefore, the scope of the present invention should be understood and held to cover all such other variations or modifications.