Refrigerator

Abstract

A refrigerator equipped with a storage container, wherein the storage container includes a container body, a cover slidably laid on the container body to partially cover the top of the container body, rack gears respectively provided at the cover and the container body, and a pinion engaged between the rack gears, to rotate in accordance with a movement of the rack gear provided at the container body to move the rack gear provided at the cover in a direction opposite to that of the rack gear provided at the container body, such that the cover is rearwardly moved when the container body is forwardly moved to be opened, thereby increasing an opened degree of the container body.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 2004-684, filed on Jan. 6, 2004 in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a refrigerator, and, more particularly, to a structure of a storage container equipped in a refrigerator which is capable of increasing an opened degree of the storage container obtained in accordance with an opening operation of the storage container.

2. Description of the Related Art

Generally, refrigerators store various foods at a low temperature in a fresh state in freezing and refrigerating compartments defined in a refrigerator body by circulating cold air in the freezing and refrigerating compartments. In the freezing compartment, food (such as meat or ice cream), to be maintained at a temperature not higher than a freezing temperature thereof, are stored. On the other hand, food (such as vegetables or beverages), to be maintained at a temperature slightly higher than the freezing temperature thereof, are stored in the refrigerating compartment.

With increased consumption of frozen foods and current busy life styles, people have an increased tendency to purchase large amounts of food at once so as to consume the food in small portions after storing the food. In pace with such a tendency, recently-developed refrigerators have a tendency to have an increased size. In accordance with this tendency, use of double swing door type refrigerators has increased. Also, the recent tendency of storage containers to be equipped in refrigerators has led to an increase in size of refrigerators.

Such storage containers equipped in refrigerators may be used for various purposes, and may be mounted to any portion of the refrigerator. However, such storage containers are mainly mounted to a lower portion of the refrigerator to store vegetables and fruits. Where a storage container, equipped in a large-size refrigerator, has a large size in accordance with the large size of the refrigerator, there is a problem in that the storage container may be incompletely opened even in a completely opened state of a door of the refrigerator because the door of the refrigerator interferes with the opening operation thereof. For this reason, although the storage container has a large size, there is a problem in that placing food, having a large size, into the storage container through an access opening provided at the storage container is difficult because the access opening of the storage container is narrow. Furthermore, removing food stored in a rear inner portion of the storage container is difficult.

Also, even where food is small, placing the small food into the storage container and taking the food out of the storage container may be difficult, even though the food has a small size.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Therefore, an aspect of the invention provides a refrigerator including a storage container in which a cover to cover a container body is moved when the container body is moved to be opened, so that the opened degree of the storage container is increased.

According to an aspect of the invention, the storage container of the refrigerator comprises a container body, and a cover slidably laid on the container body to partially cover the top of the container body. The storage container further comprises rack gears respectively provided at the cover and the container body, and a pinion, engaged between the rack gears, to be rotated in accordance with a movement of the rack gear provided at the container body, thereby moving the rack gear provided at the cover in a direction opposite to that of the rack gear provided at the container body, whereby the cover is rearwardly moved when the container body is forwardly moved to be opened, to increase an opened degree of the container body.

According to an aspect of the invention, the pinion may be rotatably mounted to a fixed shaft.

According to an aspect of the invention, the cover may be provided with a groove. The refrigerator may further comprise a guide member, slidably fitted in the groove, to guide the movement of the cover.

In accordance with another aspect of the invention, the storage container of the refrigerator comprises a container body, a cover slidably laid on the container body to cover a front top portion of the container body, and a humidity control member fixedly mounted to cover at least a top portion of the container body not covered by the cover. The refrigerator further comprises a moving unit, to move the cover in a direction opposite to that of the container body, whereby the cover is rearwardly moved when the container body is forwardly moved to be opened in response to a movement of the container body to increase an opened degree of the container body.

According to an aspect of the invention, the moving unit to move the cover may comprise rack gears respectively connected to the cover and the container body while being slidably supported by the humidity control member, and a pinion, engaged between the rack gears, to be rotated in accordance with a movement of the rack gear connected to the container body to move the rack gear connected to the cover in a direction opposite to that of the rack gear connected to the container body.

According to an aspect of the invention, the pinion may be rotatably mounted to the humidity control member.

According to an aspect of the invention, the rack gear mounted to the container body may be separably mounted to a rear end of the container body by a connecting member extending vertically through the humidity control member.

According to an aspect of the invention, the humidity control member may be provided with a slot to receive the connecting member to allow the connecting member to move therealong during the movement of the container body.

Additional and/or other aspects 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.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and/or other aspects and advantages of the invention will become apparent and more readily appreciated from the following description of the embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings of which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a refrigerator according to an aspect of the present invention the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view illustrating closed states of storage containers according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view illustrating opened states of the storage containers according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view illustrating closed states of storage containers according to another embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 5 is a perspective view illustrating opened states of the storage containers according to the embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 4.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

Reference will now be made in detail to the 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 to explain the present invention by referring to the figures.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a refrigerator 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The refrigerator 1 includes a rectangular box-shaped housing 10, and doors 20 to open and close openings defined at the housing 10, respectively. Refrigerating and freezing compartments are defined in the housing 10. Storage containers 12, 30 may be slidably mounted in the refrigerating and freezing compartments. A handle 21 is attached to each door 20 in order to assist a user to open and close the door 20.

In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, the two storage containers 12 and 30 are mounted in a lower portion of the refrigerating compartment in a vertically arranged state. Of course, according to aspects of the invention, these storage containers may be mounted in the freezing compartment, and can be disposed elsewhere in the compartment. Further, additional or fewer containers could be used and could have other non-horizontal orientations.

The shown storage containers 12 and 30 have a rectangular box structure opened at the top thereof, but can also have other shapes. Each of the storage containers 12 and 30 has a width equal to or slightly smaller than the width of a corresponding portion of the housing 10 so that the storage containers 12 and 30 may be slidably fitted in the corresponding housing portion. In order to cover the opened top portion of each storage container 12 or 30, a cover is detachably mounted to the storage container 12 or 30. Where the storage container 12 or 30 is covered by a shelf mounted to a portion of the housing 10, in which the storage container 12 or 30 is fitted, such a cover may be dispensed with.

In the shown double swing door type refrigerator 1 having a large size, freezing and refrigerating compartments thereof are defined in left and right portions of a refrigerator body 10, respectively. Such a refrigerator 1 includes a plurality of shelves 11 mounted in each compartment, and a plurality of shelves 22 mounted to each door. The refrigerator 1 according to the shown embodiment of the present invention is of such a double swing door type while having a large size. In FIG. 1, the shelves 11 are mounted in each compartment, and the shelves 22 are mounted to each door 20. However, the shelves 22 provided at the refrigerating compartment may interfere with opening operations of the storage containers 12 and 30 resulting in storage containers 12 and 30 being insufficiently opened unless the refrigerator 1 according to an aspect of the present invention further includes interference eliminators to eliminate such interference.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view illustrating closed states of the storage containers 12 and 30 which include such interference eliminators in accordance with the illustrated embodiment of the present invention. The upper storage container 12 is fitted in the housing 10 such that the upper storage container 12 is slidable along rails (not shown) respectively provided at opposite side walls of the housing 10. The lower storage container 30 (hereinafter “the storage container 30”) is fitted in the housing 10 beneath the upper storage container 12 in a manner similar to that of the upper storage container 12. In order to prevent vegetables or fruits stored therein from being dried, the storage container 30 is provided with a cover 31. The cover 31 is slidably arranged on the top of a box-shaped container body 33 included in the storage container 30. In order to guide the sliding movement of the cover 31, a guide member 32 is also mounted to the housing 10. The guide member 32 is slidably fitted in a groove 32a formed at the cover 31.

The cover 31 has a length which is smaller than a length of the storage container 30. Accordingly, the cover 31 partially covers the top of the storage container 30 such that the cover 31 covers a front portion of the top of the storage container 30 without also covering a rear portion of the top of the storage container 30 in the closed state of the storage container 30. The cover 31 has such a length so as to provide a space to allow the cover 31 to move rearwardly along the storage container 30.

A first rack gear 31a is provided at a lower end of the cover 31 contacting an upper end of the container body 33. A second rack gear 33a is also provided at the upper end of the container body 33. A pinion 34 is rotatably mounted to the refrigerator body 10 between the lower end of the cover 31 and the upper end of the container body 33 such that the pinion 34 is engaged with both the first rack gear 31a of the cover 31 and the rack gear 33a of the container body 33. The second rack gear 33a provided at the container body 33 extends rearwardly from substantially the middle portion of the container body 33 by a desired length along the upper end of the container body 33 such that a front end thereof is engaged with the pinion 34 in a closed state of the container body 33. On the other hand, the second rack gear 31a provided at the cover 31 extends forwardly from a position, corresponding to the substantially middle portion of the container body 33 in the closed state of the container body 33, by a desired length along the lower end of the cover 31 such that a rear end thereof is engaged with the pinion 34 in the closed state of the container body 33. In the closed state of the container body 33, accordingly, the first and second rack gears 31a and 33a are not overlapped with each other, except for ends thereof which engage with the pinion 34.

The pinion 34 is rotatably mounted on a shaft (not shown) fixedly mounted to the refrigerator body 10. The pinion 34 is rotated in accordance with a forward or rearward movement of the second rack gear 33a of the container body 33 to cause the first rack gear 31a of the cover 31 to be moved in a direction opposite to the movement direction of the second rack gear 33a, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. For example, when the user draws the storage container 30 forward from an initial position in which the storage container 30 is in the closed state as shown in FIG. 2, the first rack gear 31a is moved in a direction indicated by the arrow in FIG. 3 and the second rack gear 33a is moved in a direction which is opposite to the direction of the area in FIG. 3. As a result, the pinion 34 is rotated in a clockwise direction, thereby causing the first rack gear 31a of the cover 31 to be moved in a direction opposite to the movement direction of the second rack gear 33a. Accordingly, the cover 31 is rearwardly moved into the interior of the refrigerator body 10, as shown in FIG. 3.

In order to provide a space to occupy the pinion 34, a first elongated groove 36 is formed at a lower end portion of the cover 31 corresponding in location to a location of the first rack gear 31a. The first rack gear 31a is formed at a surface of the first elongated groove 36. The first elongated groove 36 has, at front and rear ends thereof, curved surfaces 36a serving as stoppers coming into contact with the pinion 34 in a rearwardly or forwardly moved state of the cover 31 to prevent the first rack gear 31a from being disengaged from the pinion 34 due to a further rotation of the pinion 34.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view illustrating the opened state of the storage container according to the illustrated embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 shows that the upper storage container 12 is arranged over the storage container 30, and the cover 31 is in a state of being moved rearward in accordance with a rearward movement of the rack gear 31 and a guiding operation of the guide member 32 carried out when the storage container 33 is drawn forward to be opened.

In the illustrated embodiment of the present invention, a second elongated groove 37 is also formed at an upper end portion of the container body 33 corresponding to the rack gear 33a, in order to provide the space to occupy the pinion 34 in cooperation with the elongated groove formed at the cover 31.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view illustrating a closed state of a storage container according to another embodiment of the present invention. In accordance with this embodiment of the present invention, the storage container 30′ includes a rectangular box-shaped container body 33′, and a humidity control member 35 arranged to cover a portion of a top of the container body 33′. The humidity control member 35 does not cover a front of the top of the container body 33′.

In order to cover the opened front top portion of the container body 33′, the storage container 30′ also includes a cover 31′. In accordance with this embodiment, a guide member to guide movement of the cover 31′ is not required, in contrast with the need for the guide member 32 of the above described embodiment in FIG. 2. The humidity control member 35, which covers the top portion of the container body 33′ not covered by the cover 31′, serves to control the humidity of the interior of the storage container 30′.

In order to move the cover 31′ in accordance with movement of the storage container 30′, first and second rack gears 31′a and 33′a, and a pinion 34′ are provided. The first rack gear 31′a is separably connected to the cover 31′ by way of a first connecting member 31′b while being slidably supported by an upper surface of the humidity control member 35. The second rack gear 33′a is separably connected to a rear end of the container body 33′ by means of a connecting member 33′b extending vertically through the humidity control member 35. The second rack gear 33′a is also slidably supported by the upper surface of the humidity control member 35. Each of the first and second connecting members 31′b and 33′b has a vertical pin structure so that the associated first and second rack gears 31′a or 33′a may be separated from the associated cover 31′ or container body 33′, respectively, by a simple vertical movement thereof, while being prevented from being separated from the associated cover 31′ or container body 33′, respectively, by a horizontal movement thereof.

The humidity control member 35 is fixedly mounted to a desired portion of the housing 10. In order to prevent the humidity control member 35 from interfering with the second connecting member 33′b, and thus, to allow the container body 33′ to move forwardly, an elongated slot 35a is formed at the humidity control member 35 to extend in a longitudinal direction of the humidity control member 35. The second connecting member 33′b is received in the slot 35a such that the second connecting member 33′b is movable along the slot 35a. The pinion 34′ is rotatably mounted on the upper surface of the humidity control member 35 between the first and second rack gears 31′a and 33′a while being engaged with the first and second rack gears 31′a and 33′a.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view illustrating an opened state of the storage container according to the embodiment of FIG. 4. As shown in FIG. 5, the humidity control member 35 is arranged on the top of the container body 33′. It can also be seen that the second rack gear 33′a connected to the container body 33′, is laid on the humidity control member 35, and the first rack gear 31′a is connected to a lower surface of the cover 31′ while being laid on the humidity control member 35 elongated.

The slot 35a extends longitudinally from a rear end of the humidity control member 35 toward a front end of the humidity control member by a desired length. The slot 35a allows the second connecting member 33b′ to move therein, to allow the container body 33′ to move forward or rearward. Guide members 35b, not to be confused with guide member 32, are attached to the upper surface of the humidity control member 35 outside the rack gears 31′a and 33′a, respectively. The guide members 35b guide the first and second rack gears 31′a and 33′a during movements of the first and second rack gears 31′a and 33′a so that the first and second rack gears 31′a and 33′a move without being laterally joggled.

Although a rack-and-pinion mechanism including the rack gears 31a, 33a, 31′a, and 33′a, and the pinions 34′ are shown, and the first and second rack gears 31a, 33a, 31′a, and 33′a are connected to the cover 31, and 31′ and container body 33, and 33′ by way of the first and second connecting members 31b, 33b, 31′b, and 33′b each having a pin structure, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that other members may be used within the scope of the invention. Moreover, it is understood that other mechanisms (such as hydraulic, elastic, pulley systems) can be used to create similar relative movement between the cover and the storage container body.

Now, respective operations of the refrigerator 1 equipped with the storage containers 12, 30 according to the above described embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail.

In the case of a conventional refrigerator equipped with a storage container having a large size, as described above, there is a problem in that the storage container may be incompletely opened even in a completely opened sate of a door of the refrigerator because the door of the refrigerator interferes with the opening operation thereof. For this reason, it is impossible to put food having a large size into the storage container through an access opening provided at the storage container because the access opening of the storage container is narrow. Typically, the opening operation of the storage container is carried out as the user draws the storage container forward from a front end of the refrigerator.

FIGS. 2 and 3 illustrate opened and closed states of the storage container according to one first embodiment of the present invention, respectively. The operation of the storage container 30 according to this embodiment will now be described.

The storage container 30 is arranged beneath the upper storage container 12. Although the storage container 30 is laid on a bottom surface of the housing 10 in the illustrated embodiment of the present invention, the storage container 30 may be installed at other portions of the housing 10. For instance, if the storage container 30 was installed below a shelf 11, the shelf 11 could be movable or have a movable cover portion. Further, the storage container 30 could be installed on a door 20 as needed. The storage container 30 can be drawn forward by a predetermined length beyond the upper storage container 12, so that the storage container 30 may be opened from the closed state thereof shown in FIG. 2.

When the user draws the storage container 30 forward out of the housing 10, the container body 33 of the storage container 30, as shown in FIG. 3, is moved forward, along with the second rack gear 33a, while rotating the pinion 34 engaged with the second rack gear 33a in a clockwise direction in FIG. 3. In accordance with the rotation of the pinion 34, the first rack gear 31a engaged with the pinion 34 is moved rearward, so that the cover 31 is rearwardly moved into the housing 10 by a length corresponding to the length the first rack gear 31a is moved.

At this time, the guide member 32 slidably fitted in the groove of the cover 31 guides the movement of the cover 31. The guide member 32 may also prevent the cover 31 from moving into the housing 10 beyond a predetermined length. Of course, the curved surfaces provided at the front and rear ends of the elongated groove of the cover 31 serve as stoppers ensuring that the cover 31 may move forward and rearward within a given movement length. However, it is understood that such stoppers are not always required, such as to allow removal of the container 33 for cleaning, and that additional guides can be used to regulate movement.

Thus, when the user draws the storage container 30 forward, the container body 33 moves forward and the cover 31 is moved rearward into the housing 10 by a length that corresponds to the length the container body 33 is moved forward within a movement length range determined by the length of the first and second rack gear 31a or 33a. Accordingly, there is an effect that the opened degree of the access opening of the container body 33 is doubled. There is also an advantage in that such an effect is achieved in accordance with an operation of simply opening the container body 33 without using an additional driving device. However, it is understood that a 1:1 forward-rearward ratio need not always be used, and that other ratios may be desired. It is further understood that driving devices, both manual and mechanical, can be additionally used to facilitate the opening/closing process.

FIGS. 4 and 5 illustrate opened and closed states of the storage container 30′ according to the another embodiment of the present invention, respectively. The operation of the storage container 30′ according to this embodiment will now be described. Similar to the embodiment shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the cover 31′ is moved rearward into the housing 10 in accordance with operations of the first and second rack gears 31′a and 33′a, and pinion 34′ carried out as the user draws the container body 33′ forward. In this case, the humidity control member 35 mounted to the housing 10 is configured to allow the movement of the container body 33′. However, where no humidity control member 35 is to be used, it is understood that the gear 33′a can be attached at the container body 33′.

Since the second rack gear 33′a is connected to the container body 33′ using of the connecting member 33′b, the second rack gear 33a is moved forward out of the housing 10 in a state of being engaged with the pinion 34′ when the user forwardly draws the container body 33′. At this time, the pinion 34′ is rotated. As a result, the first rack gear 31′a engaged with the pinion 34′ is moved rearward into the housing 10 because the pinion 34′ is rotatably mounted to the fixed humidity control member 35.

As is apparent from the above description, the refrigerator according to an aspect of the present invention includes the storage container in which the cover adapted to cover the container body is rearwardly moved when the container body is drawn forward to be opened, so that the opened degree of the storage container is increased. Accordingly, placing food, having a large size into the storage container and removing food stored in a rear inner portion of the storage container is possible, thereby securing the utility of the large-size storage container while providing an improved convenience in use to the user.

While described in terms of refrigerators, it is understood that such a system could be used in other types of storage containers, such as in coolers, food bins in a pantry, clothing drawers, file cabinets, computers and disc drives, or in any device where access to hold items is required and space is restricted.

Although a few 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 these embodiments 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 refrigerator including a storage container, the storage container comprising:

a container body;

a cover, slidably at on the container body, to partially cover a top of the container body; rack gears respectively provided at the cover and the container body; and

a pinion, engaged between the rack gears, to rotate in accordance with a movement of the rack gear provided at the container body in a first direction to move the rack gear provided at the cover in a second direction opposite to the first direction to move the cover in the second direction when the container body is moved in the first direction to be opened to increase an opened degree of the container body when the storage container is opened.

2. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein the pinion is rotatably mounted to a fixed shaft.

3. The refrigerator according to claim 1, further comprising:

a groove provided along a long axis of the cover; and

a guide member, slidably fitted in the groove, to guide the movement of the cover.

4. A refrigerator including a storage container, further comprising:

a container body;

a cover, slidably at the container body, to cover a front top portion of the container body;

a humidity control member fixedly mounted to cover at least a top portion of the container body not covered by the cover; and

a moving unit to move the cover in response to a movement of the container body in a first direction, in a second direction opposite to the first direction, whereby the cover is moved into the refrigerator when the container body is moved to extend out of the refrigerator to be opened to increase an opened degree of the container body.

5. The refrigerator according to claim 4, wherein the moving unit the cover comprises:

rack gears respectively connected to the cover and the container body while being slidably supported by the humidity control member; and

a pinion, engaged between the rack gears, to rotate in accordance with a movement of the rack gear connected to the container body to move the rack gear connected to the cover in the second direction opposite to the first direction of the rack gear connected to the container body.

6. The refrigerator according to claim 4, wherein the pinion is rotatably mounted to the humidity control member.

7. The refrigerator according to claim 5, wherein:

the rack gear mounted to the container body is separably mounted to a rear end of the container body by a connecting member extending vertically through the humidity control member; and

the humidity control member includes a slot to receive the connecting member to allow the connecting member to move therealong during the movement of the container body.

8. A refrigerator including a storage container having a container body, the storage container comprising:

a cover, slidably disposed at the container body, to at least partially cover the opening of the container body;

first and second rack gears respectively provided at the cover and the container body; and

a pinion, coupled with the first and second rack gears, to rotate in accordance with a movement of the second rack gear, to cause the first rack gear to move in a direction opposite to the direction of the movement of the second rack gear to move the cover rearward when the container body is moved forward.

9. The refrigerator according to claim 8, further comprising:

a groove along a length of the cover in a direction that corresponds with the sliding direction of the cover; and

a guide member to cooperate with the groove to guide the sliding of the cover.

10. The refrigerator according to claim 8, wherein the cover has a length which is shorter than that of the storage container and covers only a front portion of the opening of the storage container when the storage container is closed.

11. The refrigerator according to claim 8, wherein a front end of the first rack gear engages the pinion when the storage container is closed and a remaining portion of the first rack gear extends rearwardly from substantially the middle portion of the container body.

12. The refrigerator according to claim 8, wherein a rear end of the second rack gear engages the pinion when the storage container is closed and a remaining portion of the second rack gear extends forwardly from substantially the middle portion of the container body.

13. The refrigerator according to claim 8, wherein the pinion is rotatably mounted on a shaft which is fixedly mounted to the refrigerator.

14. The refrigerator according to claim 8, wherein, when a user draws the storage container forward from a closes position, the second rack gear is moved in accordance with the storage container to cause the pinion to rotate to cause the first rack gear to move in a direction which is opposite to the direction the storage container is moved.

15. The refrigerator according to claim 8, further comprising a first elongated groove in the cover, having curved surfaces at ends thereof, in which the first rack gear is located, the curved surfaces serving as stoppers when the curved surfaces contact with the pinion during operation of the storage container.

16. The refrigerator according to claim 15, wherein the curved surfaces prevent the first rack gear from disengaging from the pinion.

17. The refrigerator according to claim 8, further comprising a second elongated groove in the container body, in which the second rack gear is located.

18. The refrigerator according to claim 8 further comprising a humidity control member to at least partially cover the opening of the container body not covered by the cover and to control a level of humidity in the storage container.

19. The refrigerator according to claim 18, further comprising:

a first connecting member to connect the first rack gear to the cover;

a second connecting member, extending through the humidity control member, to connect the second rack gear to the container body.

20. The refrigerator according to claim 19, wherein the first and second connecting members comprise vertical pin structures, respectively.

21. The refrigerator according to claim 19, wherein the humidity control member is fixedly combined with the storage container and comprises an elongated slot to receive the second connecting member such that the second connecting member is movable in the slot.

22. The refrigerator according to claim 21, wherein the elongated slot extends longitudinally from a rear end of the humidity control member toward a front end of the humidity control member by a length.

23. The refrigerator according to claim 22, wherein the humidity control member further comprises guiding members attached to an upper surface of the humidity control member to guide the first and second rack gears during movements of the first and second rack gears.

24. A reverse movement mechanism for use in a refrigerator including a storage container having a container body and a cover, slidably laid on the container body, to partially cover the top of the container body, the mechanism comprising:

first and second rack gears respectively provided at the cover and the container body; and

a pinion, coupled with the first and second rack gears, to rotate in accordance with a movement of the second rack gear, to cause the first rack gear to move in a direction opposite to a direction of the movement of the second rack gear to move the cover rearward when the container body is moved forward.

25. A refrigerator including a storage container having a container body with can opening, the storage container comprising:

means for at least partially covering the opening of the container body;

means for moving the cover in a first direction when the container body is moved in a second direction other than the first direction.

26. A refrigerator including a storage container having a container body, the storage container comprising:

a cover, slidably disposed at the container body, to at least partially cover the opening of the container body;

a reverse movement mechanism that, in response to a first direction, moves the cover relative to the opening in a second direction.

27. The refrigerator according to claim 26, wherein the reverse movement mechanism comprises first and second rack gears respectively provided at the cover and the container body.

28. The refrigerator according to claim 27, wherein the reverse movement mechanism further comprises a pinion, coupled with the first and second rack gears, to rotate in accordance with a movement of the second rack gear, to cause the first rack gear to move in a direction opposite to the direction of the movement of the second rack gear to move the cover rearward when the container body is moved forward.

29. A storage container comprising:

a container body having an opening;

a cover, slidably disposed at the container body, to at least partially cover the opening of the container body; and

a reverse movement mechanism that, in response to movement of the container body in a first direction, moves the cover relative to the opening in a second direction.

30. The storage container according to claim 29, wherein the reverse movement mechanism comprises first and second rack gears respectively provided at the cover and the container body.

31. The storage container according to claim 30, wherein the reverse movement mechanism further comprises a pinion, coupled with the first and second rack gears, to rotate in accordance with a movement of the second rack gear, to cause the first rack gear to move in a direction opposite to the direction of the movement of the second rack gear to move the cover rearward when the container body is moved forward.