Hinge device for storage container

Abstract

A hinge device coupling a cover to a container body is minimized in size to be embedded in the cover or the container body without exposure to an outside of the cover and the container body. The hinge device provides the storage container with a neat appearance and is easily installed in a storage container. The hinge device includes a hollow housing attached to one of the cover and the container body, a hinge shaft having a shaft part received in the hollow housing and rotatably supported by the hollow housing, an extension part extended from an end of the shaft part and coupled to the other one of the cover and the container body, and one or more protrusions provided at the shaft part, a movable member inserted around on the shaft part to be moved longitudinally and having cam surfaces contacting the protrusions, and a compression spring received in the housing to bias the movable member toward the protrusions.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This application claims the benefit of Korean Application Nos. 2001-45740 and 2002-19269 filed Jul. 28, 2001 and Apr. 9, 2002 respectively, in the Korean Industrial Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] 1. Field of the Invention

[0003] The present invention relates to a hinge device for a storage container, and more particularly, to a hinge device for a storage container having a container body with a receptacle chamber and a top opening, and a cover closing the top opening of the receptacle chamber.

[0004] 2. Description of the Related Art

[0005] In general, a typical Kimchi storage container has been known as a top opening-type storage container having a top cover attached to a container body and adapted to swingably open and close the container body. As shown in FIG. 1, the above-mentioned Kimchi storage container includes a container body 1, a receptacle chamber 2 formed therein, a top opening, a cover 3 closing the top opening of the receptacle chamber 2, and a hinge device 4 swingably coupling the cover 3 to the container body 1 and mounted on a rear upper portion of a sidewall of the container body 1.

[0006] In the above storage container, the hinge device 4 has a hinge case 4a attached to the rear upper portion of the sidewall of the container body 1, and a hinge shaft 4b disposed in the hinge case 4a to swingably couple the cover 3 to the container body 1. Furthermore, the hinge case 4a is provided therein with an extendable rod 4c causing the cover 3 to be swung to an opened position or a closed position when the cover 3 is opened and closed, a coil spring 4d elastically supporting the extendable rod 4c, and a guide groove 4e guiding extending and swing motions of the extendable rod 4c. With the hinge device 4, the cover 3 is easily opened and closed because the cover 3 is biased to the opened position when being opened while the cover 3 is also biased to the closed position when being closed.

[0007] However, the conventional hinge device for a storage container is complicated in configuration and somewhat bulky and is difficult to be mounted on the storage container during a production process thereof. In addition, the conventional hinge device has disadvantages in that the appearance is not neat and in that it is cumbersome in handling the storage container because the hinge device 4 is outwardly projected from the container body 1 to allow the extending and swing motions of the extendable rod 4c.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0008] Accordingly, the present invention has been made overcome the above and other problems occurring in the prior art, and an object of the present invention is to provide a hinge device which is not projected from a container body of a storage container due to size minimization and is easily installed on the storage container while retaining basic functions of a conventional hinge device.

[0009] Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention.

[0010] In order to achieve the above and other objects, the present invention provides a hinge device rotatably coupling a cover to a container body in a storage container. The hinge device includes a hollow housing attached to one of the cover and the container body, a hinge shaft including a rotatable shaft part received in the housing and rotatably supported by the housing at its opposite ends, an extension part extended from an end of the rotatable shaft part to an outside of the housing and fitted to the other one of the cover and the container body, and one or more protrusions provided at an outer surface of the rotatable shaft part, a movable member inserted around the rotatable shaft part to be moved longitudinally along the rotatable shaft part and provided with cam faces corresponding to the protrusions, and a compression spring received in the housing to bias the movable member toward the protrusions.

[0011] The housing includes a hollow housing body of a predetermined length with opposite open ends and two housing covers attached to the opposite open ends of the housing body, the rotatable shaft part having opposite ends being supported by the two housing covers.

[0012] The hinge device may have one or more guide members received in the housing, and fixedly coupled to the housing covers to pass through the movable member, and disposed to be parallel to the rotatable shaft part so as to prevent a rotation of the movable member and to stably guide a longitudinal movement of the movable member along the rotable shaft part.

[0013] The rotatable shaft part may have a flange limiting an axial movement of the rotatable shaft part and to afford free rotation of the rotatable shaft part.

[0014] The compression spring may be a compression coil spring, which surrounds the rotatable shaft part between the flange and one of the housing covers.

[0015] The movable member may have a cylindrical cam part and a pair of cam surfaces formed at an end of the cam part to face the protrusions and to be shaped in saw tooth forms.

[0016] Each cam surface may include a stop surface which is longitudinally formed to limit further movement of the protrusion of the rotatable shaft part when the protrusion reaches a deepest valley portion, i.e., when the cover is completely opened, an opening guide surface obliquely formed on the cam part to guide the protrusion in an opening direction to open the cover, and a closing guide surface of a predetermined length which is located at the highest position of the cam surface and extended from the opening guide surface in a direction perpendicular to an axis of the cam part to guide the protrusion in a closing direction to close the cover.

[0017] The hinge shaft may include a tube member, which is fitted on the rotatable shaft part such that the tube member cannot be rotated with respect to the shaft part, the protrusions being formed on an outer surface of the tube member.

[0018] The tube member may be provided at its inner surface with a flat face portion so as not to be rotated with respect to the hinge shaft, and the rotatable shaft part of the hinge shaft may be provided at its outer surface with a flat cut portion corresponding to the flat face portion of the tube member.

[0019] The protrusions may be a pin, which is fitted into a hole diametrically formed at the rotatable shaft part.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0020] These and other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent and more readily appreciated from the following description of the preferred embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings of which:

[0021] FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a conventional Kimchi storage container as a storage container having a cover and a container body;

[0022] FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view showing a Kimchi storage container having a hinge device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0023] FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing opening and closing operations of a cover employing the hinge device of FIG. 2;

[0024] FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the hinge device of FIG. 3;

[0025] FIG. 5 is a perspective view of an opening position of the hinge device of FIG. 3;

[0026] FIG. 6 is another perspective view of a closing position of the hinge device of FIG. 3;

[0027] FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a movable member of the hinge device of FIG. 3;

[0028] FIG. 8 is a development elevation view of the movable member of the hinge device of FIG. 3; and

[0029] FIG. 9 is an exploded perspective view showing a hinge shaft of the hinge device according to another embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0030] Reference will now be made in detail to the present preferred embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to the like elements throughout. The embodiments are described below in order to explain the present invention by referring to the figures.

[0031] This invention will be described in further detail by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following description, the present invention will be described as being applied to a top opening-type Kimchi storage container in which Kimchi ferments and is preserved.

[0032] As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a Kimchi storage container employs a hinge device 30 according to an embodiment the present invention. The Kimchi storage container includes a container body 10 made of a heat insulating material and having receptacle chambers 11 with a top opening, and covers 20 coupled to of an upper end of the container body 10 to close the corresponding top opening 11 of the receptacle chambers 11 of the container body 10. The receptacle chambers 11 of the container body 10 are divided into left and right compartments by a central partition plate 12. The container body 10 is provided in its walls with an evaporator 13 including a refrigeration pipe surrounding the receptacle chambers 11 cooling the receptacle chambers 11, and a heater 14 heating the receptacle chambers 11 to ferment Kimchi. Furthermore, the container body 10 is provided with a machine room 16 having a compressor 15 coupled to the evaporator 13. The compressor 15 and the heater 14 are coupled to an external power source.

[0033] Two covers 20 are provided to open and close the corresponding top openings of the receptacle chambers 11. Each of the covers 20 is swingably coupled to a rear portion of the upper end of the container body 10 via hinge devices 30.

[0034] The hinge devices 30 not only serve to swingably couple the covers 20 to the container body 10 but also serve to allow the covers 20 to be easily opened and closed. That is, each of the hinge devices 30 enables the cover 20 to be swung to an opened position when a user opens the covers 20 and to a closed position when the user closes the covers 20. As a result, easy opening and closing operations of the covers 20 are performed although the covers 20 have a considerable weight due to the heat insulating material contained in the covers 20.

[0035] In addition to the above-mentioned functions, the hinge devices 30 are relatively small in size so as not to be projected from the container body 10, thereby providing a neat appearance of the Kimchi storage container.

[0036] As illustrated in FIG. 2, the container body 10 is provided at the rear portion of the upper end with a plurality of hinge supports 17 which have a semicircular cross-section and fitting holes 17a having an internal shape corresponding to an outer shape of the hinge device 30 to receive the hinge device 30. Each of the covers 20 is provided at a rear end with a connector 21 adapted to be snugly fitted between the hinge supports 17. When the cover 20 is installed on the container body 10, the hinge device 30 is first inserted into the fitting hole 17a of the hinge support 17, and a hinge shaft 40 is fitted into the connector 21 of the cover 20. By such a configuration, the cover 20 can be swingably coupled to the container body 10, and the hinge device 30 is not exposed to an. outside of the cover 20 and the container body 10. Although this embodiment of the present invention describes the hinge supports 17 provided at the container body 10 and the connectors 21 provided at the covers 20, the hinge supports 17 may be provided at the covers 20, and the connectors 21 may be provided at the container body 10.

[0037] As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, each hinge device 30 includes a housing having a hollow housing body 31 and a pair of housing covers 32 and 33 attached to opposite ends of the housing body 31. The hinge device 30 also includes a hinge shaft 40, a movable member 50 adapted to be moved along the hinge shafts 40 and having a cam part 55, a spring 60 biasing the movable member 50, and a pair of guide rods 70 guiding a linear movement of the movable member 50, all of which are received in the housing of the hinge device 30.

[0038] The housing body 31 includes of a cylindrical body which is opened at the opposite ends, and which includes flat portions 31a and 31b formed at a top and bottom of the cylindrical body such that the housing body 31 can be securely fixed in the fitting hole 17a of the hinge support 17 to be prevented from being rotated therein. The pair of housing covers 32 and 33 have a flat plate shape corresponding to opposite openings of the housing body 31 and are attached to the corresponding opposite ends of the housing body 31 using fastening screws 34. The housing covers 32 and 33 are centrally formed with through holes 32a and 33a such that the hinge shaft 40 can be rotatably supported in the through holes 32a and 33a.

[0039] The hinge shaft 40 includes a rotatable shaft part 41 received in the housing body 31 and an extension part 42 integrally and concentrically connected to the rotatable shaft part 41. The shaft part 41 is rotatably supported in the through holes 32a and 33a formed at the housing covers 32 and 33, and the extension part 42 is extended outwardly and fitted in the connector 21 of the cover 20. The connector 21 of the cover 20 is provided with a fitting groove 22 so that the extension part 42 of the hinge shaft 40 is fitted in the fitting groove 22. The extension part 42 is provided at opposite sides with flat cut portions 42a such that the extension part 42 fitted in the fitting groove 22 is held in a fixed condition without being rotated within the fitting groove 21. Accordingly, the fitting groove 22 of the cover 20 is formed with a shape corresponding to that of the extension part 42. This configuration enables the hinge shaft 40 to be rotated together with the cover 20 when the user opens or closes the cover 20.

[0040] The rotatable shaft part 41, which is supported in the through holes 32a of the housing covers 32, is provided at its end with a flange 43 which serves to allow the rotatable shaft part 41 to be freely rotated while preventing its axial displacement. The flange 43 prevents the hinge shaft 40 from being moved axially even if the hinge shaft 40 receives a considerable axial force by the compression spring 60. In this case, the flange 43 may be manufactured as a separate ring to be fixed on an outer surface of the shaft part 41 or integrally formed on the shaft part 41.

[0041] The rotatable shaft part 41 is also provided at its outer surface with two protrusions 44, which cause the movable member 50 to be moved longitudinally (axially) by a contact between the protrusion 44 and the cam part 55 of the movable member 50 when the hinge shaft 40 is rotated together with the connector 21 of the cover 20. The two protrusions 44 are symmetrically disposed on opposite sides of an outer surface of the rotatable shaft part 41. The two protrusions 44 may be embodied by being integrally formed on the shaft part 41 or by a separate pin, which is inserted into a pin fitting hole 41a radially formed at the shaft part 41 and then exposed to the outside at its opposite ends to serve as a pair of the protrusions 44.

[0042] Alternatively, the protrusions 44 may be formed on an outer surface of an additional tube member 46, which is fitted around the rotatable shaft part 41, as shown in FIG. 9. In this case, the protrusions 44 are integrally formed with the tube member 46, and the tube member 46 is symmetrically provided at its inner surface with first flat surface portions 46a so as not to be rotated with respect to the rotatable shaft part 41. Accordingly, the rotatable shaft part 41 is provided at its outer surface with second flat cut portions 41 b corresponding to the first flat surface portions 46a.

[0043] As shown in FIGS. 4 through 7, the movable member 50 includes a central through hole 51 so that the movable member 50 can be rotatably inserted around the rotatable shaft part 41 and can be moved longitudinally therealong. The movable member 50 is also provided with an integral cam part 55 at a side disposed adjacent to the protrusions 44 and is shaped to have a lateral width larger than a height so as not to be rotated during movement along the rotatable shaft part 41. A portion of the movable number 50 having the lateral width is formed with guide holes 52. Furthermore, the movable member 50 is provided at opposite sides with guide recesses 54, which are in sliding contact with guide rails 31 c formed at an inner surface of the housing body 31 to guide the movement of the movable member 50. The guide rails 31c are longitudinally formed at both sides of the inner surface of the housing body 31. The movable member 50 is shaped such that a thickness at its middle portion formed with the through hole 51 is larger than that at its both sides in order to prevent shaking during its longitudinal movement.

[0044] The movable member 50 is formed at both sides with a pair of the guide holes 52 into which the guide rods 70 are inserted so that the movable member 50 can be stably moved back and forth along the rotatable shaft part 41 without rotating with respect to the housing body 31. In order to prevent such shaking of the movable member 50 during a longitudinal movement, the movable member 50 is provided around guide holes 52 with support ribs 53, which are extended therefrom by a certain distance and surround the guide rods 70. The guide rods 70 are disposed to be spaced from and parallel to the rotatable shaft part 41 and are supported at their opposite ends by the housing covers 32 and 33.

[0045] The spring 60 is a compression coil spring and is inserted around the rotatable shaft part 41 to bias the movable member 50 having the cam part 55 toward the protrusions 44. In other words, the spring 60 is inserted around the rotatable shaft part 41 to be disposed between the housing cover 33 at its one end and the movable member 50 at its other end to bias the movable member 50 toward the protrusions 44. Although the spring 60 is described as a compression coil spring, the spring 60 may be any type of elastic component, such as a leaf spring, with a sufficient biasing force to bias the movable member 50 toward the protrusions.

[0046] As shown in FIG. 7, the cam part 55 of the movable member 50 is shaped into a hollow cylindrical form, which is fitted on the rotatable shaft part 41, and is symmetrically provided at its outer end with a pair of cam surfaces 56 facing the protrusions.

[0047] As shown in FIG. 8, each cam surface 56 includes a stop surface 56a which is longitudinally formed to limit further movement of the protrusion 44 of the rotatable shaft part 41 when the protrusion 44 reaches the deepest valley portion (“A” section), an opening guide surface 56b obliquely formed on the cam part to guide the protrusion 44 in a direction of opening the cover 20 (“B” section), and a closing guide surface 56c which is located at the highest position of the cam surface 56 and is extended from the opening guide surface 56b in a direction being perpendicular to an axis of the cam part to guide the protrusion 44 in a direction of closing the cover 20 (“C” section).

[0048] With this configuration of the cam surface 56, when the protrusions 44 reach the deepest valley portion (“A” section), the protrusions 44 are caught by the stop surfaces 56a so that the cover 20 is prevented from being further opened in a state of being completely opened. When the protrusions 44 are positioned on the opening guide surfaces 56b (“B” section), the protrusions 44 are pushed by the opening guide surfaces 56b, thereby causing the cover 20 to be rotated toward the opened position. When the protrusions 44 reach the highest closing guide surfaces 56c and move thereon (“C” section), the cover 20 is closed by its own weight.

[0049] An operation of the hinge device according to the embodiment of the present invention will now be described.

[0050] When a user opens or closes the cover 20 of the storage container, the hinge shaft 40 fitted in the cover 20 is rotated together with the protrusions 44 provided at the rotatable shaft part 41. At this point, the protrusions 44 move along the cam surfaces 56 of the movable member 50. Since the movable member 50 is in a condition of being biased toward the protrusions 44 by the elastic force of the spring 60, the movable member 50 is moved longitudinally along the hinge shaft 40, thereby pushing the protrusions 44 rotating together with the hinge shaft 20 during opening or closing of the cover. Due to the longitudinal movement of the movable member 50, the protrusions are biased to cause the cover 20 to be easily opened or closed.

[0051] In the opening and closing operation of the cover, since the cam surfaces 56 push the protrusions 44 when the movable member 50 is moved longitudinally, the hinge shaft 40 is rotated. That is, when the cover 20 of the storage container is positioned in “opening section” of FIG. 3, the hinge shaft 40 is rotated to the opened position. On the other hand, when the cover 20 is positioned in “closing section” of FIG. 3, the hinge shaft 40 is rotated to the closed position. Therefore, the cover 20 can be easily opened and closed.

[0052] More specifically, when the cover 20 is opened, the movable member 50 is moved toward the protrusions 44 while pushing the protrusions 44 by a contact between the protrusions 44 and the opening guide face 56b as shown in FIG. 5. At this point, the protrusions 44 are pushed along the opening guide surfaces 56b, thereby causing the cover 20 to be rotated to the opened position. That is, since the protrusions 44 are pushed to “A” section through “B” section of FIG. 8, the hinge shaft 40 is rotated to the opened position. In this case, if the elastic force of the spring 60 is properly controlled such that an opening force to rotate the hinge shaft 40 to the opened position is almost equal to a closing force of gravity of the cover 20 to rotate the cover 20 to the closed position, the cover 20 can remain in the opening section of FIG. 3 without moving to the opened position and to the closed position. When the protrusions 44 reach “A” section of the cam surfaces 56, the protrusions 44 are caught by the stop surfaces 56a, so that the cover 20 cannot be further opened.

[0053] In the closing operation of the cover 20, since the protrusions 44 are moved to “C” section from “B” section of FIG. 8, the movable member 50 is moved toward the spring 60, thereby compressing the spring 60 as shown in FIG. 6. When the protrusions 44 are positioned on the closing guide surface 56c (“C” section of FIG. 8), a turning force by the elastic force of the spring 60 is not exerted on the hinge shaft 40 because the closing guide surface 56c is parallel to the rotating direction of the hinge shaft 40. Accordingly, the cover 20 is rotated and closed by its own weight. That is, when the cover 20 is positioned in the closing section of FIG. 3, the cover 20 closes by itself.

[0054] As described above, the present invention provides a hinge device for a storage container, which is capable of coupling a cover to a container body without being exposed to the outside of the container body and the cover by being minimized in size. Therefore, the hinge device serves to give the storage container a neat appearance and to reduce a space occupied thereby.

[0055] Furthermore, since the hinge device is minimized in size and simplified in construction as compared with a conventional hinge device, a manufacturing process and installation operation of the hinge device and the storage container can be easily performed.

[0056] Although a few preferred embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, it would be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes may be made in this embodiment without departing from the principles and spirit of the invention, the scope of which is defined in the claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. A hinge device rotatably coupling a cover to a container body in a storage container, comprising:

a hollow housing, attached to one of the cover and the container body;

a hinge shaft including a rotatable shaft part received in the housing and having opposite ends rotatably supported by the housing, an extension part extended from one of the opposite ends of the rotatable shaft part to an outside of the housing and fixedly coupled to the other one of the cover and the container body, and at least one protrusion provided at an outer surface of the rotatable shaft part;

a movable member inserted around the rotatable shaft part to be moved longitudinally and provided with a cam surface corresponding to the protrusion; and

a spring received in the housing to bias the movable member toward the protrusion.

2. The hinge device of claim 1, wherein the housing comprises a hollow housing body of a predetermined length with opposite opening ends and two housing covers attached the opposite opening ends of the housing body, and the opposite ends of the rotatable shaft part are supported by the two housing covers.

3. The hinge device of claim 2, further comprising at least one guide member received in the housing to pass through the movable member such that the at least one guide member is parallel to the rotatable shaft part, wherein the at least one guide member is fixed to the housing covers so as to prevent a rotational movement of the movable member and to stably guide a longitudinal movement of the movable member.

4. The hinge device of claim 2, wherein the rotatable shaft part is provided with a flange, which limits an axial movement of the rotatable shaft part and allows the rotatable shaft part to rotate with respect to the movable member.

5. The hinge device of claim 1, wherein the spring is a compression coil spring disposed around the rotatable shaft part.

6. The hinge device of claim 1, wherein the movable member comprises a cylindrical cam part, and the cam surface is formed at an end of the cam part facing the protrusion and shaped in a sawtooth form.

7. The hinge device of claim 6, wherein the cam surface comprises a stop surface longitudinally formed to limit a further movement of the protrusion of the rotatable shaft part when the protrusion reaches a deepest valley portion to completely open the cover, an opening guide surface obliquely formed on the cam part to guide the protrusion in a direction to open the cover, and a closing guide surface of a predetermined length to be disposed at the highest position of the cam surface and extended from the opening guide surface in a direction perpendicular to an axis of the cam part to guide the protrusion in a direction to close the cover.

8. The hinge device of claim 1, wherein the hinge shaft comprises a tube member fixedly coupled to the rotatable shaft part such that the tube member cannot be rotated with respect to the shaft part, and the protrusion is formed on an outer surface of the tube member.

9. The hinge device of claim 8, wherein the tube member comprises a flat face portion, and the rotatable shaft part comprises a flat cut out portion corresponding to the flat face portion of the tube member so as not to be rotated with respect to the hinge shaft.

10. The hinge device of claim 1, wherein the rotatable shaft part comprises a hole diametrically formed on the rotatable shaft part, and the protrusion comprises a pin inserted into the hole.

11. A hinge device rotatably coupling a cover to a container body in a storage container, comprising:

a housing;

a hinge shaft fixedly coupled to one of the cover and the container body at one end and rotatably coupled to the other one of the cover and the container body at the other end, having a rotating part and at least one protrusion formed on the rotating part;

a movable member inserted around the hinge shaft to be moved longitudinally without rotating with respect to the housing and provided with at least one cam surface respectively corresponding to the at least one protrusion; and

a spring biasing the movable member toward the at least one protrusion contacting the cam surface.

12. The hinge device of claim 11, wherein the hinge shaft comprises a tube member fixedly coupled to the rotatable shaft part such that the tube member cannot be rotated with respect to the shaft part, and the at least one protrusion is formed on an outer surface of the tube member.

13. The hinge device of claim 12, wherein the tube member a flat face portion, and the rotating part comprises a flat cut portion corresponding to the flat face portion of the tube member so as not to be rotated with respect to the hinge shaft.

14. A hinge device coupling a cover to a container body in a storage container, comprising:

a housing body;

a hinge shaft rotatably disposed in the housing body to protrude from the housing body, having a protrusion formed on the hinge shaft;

a movable member slidably disposed in the housing body, having a central through hole into which the hinge shaft is rotatably and slidably inserted, and having a cam with a variable cam surface formed to face the protrusion of the hinge shaft; and

an elastic member disposed between the movable member and the housing body to generate an elastic force to control the movable member to move along the hinge shaft toward the protrusion of the hinge shaft so that the cam surface of the cam of the movable member is engaged with the protrusion of the hinge shaft.

15. The hinge device of claim 14, wherein the hinge shaft is fixedly coupled to the cover, and the housing body is fixedly coupled to the container body.

16. The hinge device of claim 14, wherein the cover comprises a connector with a fitting groove, and the container body comprises a support with a fitting hole, and the housing body is fixedly disposed in the fitting hole of the support of the container body, the hinge shaft fixedly coupled to the fitting groove of the connector of the cover.

17. The hinge device of claim 14, wherein the hinge shaft is coupled to the container body, and the housing body is coupled to the cover.

18. The hinge device of claim 14, wherein the housing body comprises opposite ends, an opening formed on the respective opposite ends, and a pair of housing covers attached to the opposite ends of the housing body, and the hinge shaft is supported by the housing covers.

19. The hinge device of claim 18, wherein each housing cover comprises a cover through hole, and the hinge shaft protrudes through one of the second through holes.

20. The hinge device of claim 14, wherein the movable member comprises a guide hole, and the housing body comprises a guide rod disposed to be parallel to the hinge shaft, fixedly coupled to the housing body, and inserted into the guide hole of the movable member to guide the movable member to move along the hinge shaft.

21. The hinge device of claim 20, wherein the housing body comprises a cylindrical hollow body having an axial axis, and the hinge shaft and the guide rod are parallel to the axial axis of the cylindrical hollow body.

22. The hinge device of claim 20, wherein a portion of the movable member formed with the central through hole is greater than another portion of the movable member formed with the guide hole in thickness in a direction parallel to the axial axis to prevent a movement of the movable member in a radial direction of the hinge shaft.

23. The hinge device of claim 14, wherein the movable member comprises a pair of guide holes formed on opposite sides of the central through hole, and the housing body comprises a pair of guide rods disposed to be parallel to the hinge shaft, the guide rods fixedly coupled to the housing body and inserted into corresponding guide holes of the movable member to guide the movable member to move along the hinge shaft.

24. The hinge device of claim 14, wherein the cam comprises a hollow cylinder formed parallel to the hinge shaft to define the central through hole, and the variable cam surface is formed on a side wall of the hollow cylinder perpendicular to an axial direction of the hinge shaft.

25. The hinge device of claim 14, wherein the movable member comprises a plate disposed perpendicular to the hinge shaft, and the cam and the cam surface is formed on the plate in an axial direction of the hinge shaft.

26. The hinge device of claim 14, wherein the movable member has the same shape of the housing body in cross-section perpendicular to an axial direction of the hinge shaft.

27. The hinge device of claim 14, wherein the movable member comprises a guide recess, and the housing body comprises a guide rail corresponding to the guide recess of the movable member, the guide rail being engaged with the guide recess to guide the movable member to move in an axial direction of the housing body when the movable member is inserted into the housing body.

28. The hinge device of claim 14, wherein the hinge shaft comprises a rotatable shaft part and an extension part integrally and concentrically connected to the rotatable shaft part, and the extension part is extended outwardly from the housing body, the rotatable shaft part inserted into the movable member.

29. The hinge device of claim 28, wherein the cover comprises a connector with a fitting groove having a first flat portion, and the extension part of the hinge shaft comprises a second flat cut portion corresponding to the first flat portion, the extension part of the hinge shaft inserted into the fitting groove to rotate together with the cover.

30. The hinge device of claim 28, wherein the hinge shaft comprises a flange formed between the rotatable shaft part and the extension part to control the rotatable shaft part to be freely rotated within the housing body while preventing the hinge shaft from moving in an axial direction of the hinge shaft.

31. The hinge device of claim 30, wherein the flange is integrally formed with the rotatable shaft part and the extension part or is made of a separate ring to be fixed on an outer surface of the rotatable shaft part 41.

32. The hinge device of claim 14, wherein the protrusion protrudes from an outer surface of the hinge shaft in a radial direction of the hinge shaft.

33. The hinge device of claim 14, wherein the hinge shaft comprises a hole formed in a radial direction of the hinge shaft, and the protrusion is made of a pin fixedly inserted into the hole, both ends of the pin to protruding from opposite portion of the hole of the hinge shaft in the radial direction to contact the variable cam surface of the cam of the movable member.

34. The hinge device of claim 14, wherein the protrusion comprises a pair of protrusions symmetrically protruding from opposite sides of an outer surface of the hinge shaft in a redial direction of the hinge shaft to contact the variable cam surface of the cam.

35. The hinge device of claim 34, wherein the variable cam surface of the cam comprises a pair of cam surfaces symmetrically formed to be disposed on the movable member around the hinge shaft, and the protrusions are engaged with corresponding one of the cam surfaces.

36. The hinge device of claim 35, wherein the movable member moves in an axial direction of the hinge shaft when the protrusions slide along the corresponding one of the cam surfaces while the hinge shaft rotates with respect to the housing body.

37. The hinge device of claim 36, wherein each cam surface comprises an opening guide surface, a closing guide surface, and a stop guide surface, and the elastic force of the elastic member varies when the movable member moves in an axial direction of the hinge shaft in response to a contact between the protrusion of the hinge shaft and one of the opening guide surface, the closing surface, and a stop guide surface of the cam surface of the cam of the movable member.

38. The hinge device of claim 14, wherein the elastic member disposed between the movable member and the housing body to push the movable member toward the protrusion of the hinge shaft.

39. A storage container, comprising:

at least one hinge device having a housing body, a movable member disposed in the housing body, a cam formed on the movable member, a hinge shaft movably inserted into the movable member, a protrusion formed on the hinge shaft to be engaged with the cam, and an elastic member controlling the cam to be engaged with the protrusion of the hinge shaft, and

a container body having at least one support and a fitting hole formed in each support to receive the housing body of the hinge device; and

a cover having a connector and a connecting hole formed in the connector to be coupled to the hinge shaft.

40. The storage container of claim 39, wherein the hinge device does not project from a surface formed by the container body and the cover.

41. The storage container of claim 39, wherein the at least one hinge device comprises two hinge devices, the at least one support comprising two supports each having the fitting hole receiving a corresponding housing body of the hinge devices, the storage container comprising a second connecting hole, the connecting and second connecting holes connected to a corresponding hinge shaft of the hinge devices.

42. The storage container of claim 39, wherein the at least one hinge device comprises four hinge devices, the at least one support comprising first, second, and third supports, the first and second supports each having the fitting hole while the third support is disposed between the first and second supports to have two fitting holes on both sides facing one of the first and second supports, each fitting hole receiving one of the hinge devices, and the storage container comprising a second cover having a second connector, the connector and the second connector each having two connecting holes, each connecting hole coupled to a corresponding hinge shaft of the hinge devices.

43. The storage container of claim 39, wherein the container body is a Kimchi storage container.

44. The storage container of claim 39, wherein the container body is made of a heat insulating material and comprises a receptacle chamber, a heater heating the receptacle chamber, and an evaporator cooling the receptacle chamber.

45. The storage container of claim 39, wherein the container body comprises a compressor coupled to the evaporator, and the compressor and the heater are coupled to an external power source.

46. The storage container of claim 39, wherein the support is formed on a top surface of the container body, and the hinge device is disposed on the top surface of the container body when the housing body of the hinge device is inserted into the support.

47. The storage container of claim 39, wherein the fitting hole of the support has the same semicircular shape as the housing body, and the housing body is prevented from rotating when inserted into the fitting hole of the support while the hinge shaft rotates with respect to the housing body.

48. The storage container of claim 39, wherein the fitting hole of the support has the same flat portion as the housing body, and the housing body is prevented from rotating when inserted into the fitting hole of the support while the hinge shaft rotates together with the cover.

49. The storage container of claim 39, further comprising a cover having a connecting hole having the same shape of the hinge shaft in cross-section, wherein the hinge device is coupled to the cover when the hinge shaft is inserted into the connecting hole of the cover, and the cover rotates together with the hinge shaft.

50. The storage container of claim 39, wherein the cover is made of a heat insulating material.

51. The storage container of claim 39, wherein the cover rotates about hinge device in a closing section and an opening section, and the cam of the movable member and the protrusion of the hinge shaft control the elastic member to generate an elastic force in response to a rotation of the cover, the elastic force being greater than a rotating force of the cover by a self weight of the cover when the cover is in the opening section, the elastic force being smaller than the rotating force of the cover by the self weight of the cover when the cover is in the closing section.