SLIDE ASSEMBLIES FOR REFRIGERATORS

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a refrigerator which has one or more storage chambers having an open, front side. An accommodating basket is installed to be slidingly withdrawn toward a front side of the storage chamber of the refrigerator main body. A pair of slide channel units are installed on inner surfaces at both lateral sides of the storage chamber of the refrigerator main body, respectively. A pair of slide assemblies are provided inside the pair of or more slide channel units, respectively, and slidingly couple the refrigerator main body and the accommodating basket to each other. A pair of rack gear units may be provided at outer upper sides or outer lower sides of the pair of or more slide channel units, and a pair pinion units may be installed on the accommodating basket and engage the rack gear units, respectively.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to Korean Patent Application No. 10-2014-0103098, filed on Aug. 11, 2014, with the Korean Intellectual Properly Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to a refrigerator, and more particularly, to a refrigerator which has an accommodating basket that is slidingly withdrawn.

BACKGROUND

In general, a refrigerator is an apparatus that keeps food cold or frozen using vaporization heat of a refrigerant using a cooling cycle. In the refrigerator, a cooler is installed at a rear side of a freezing chamber of a main body, and cold air is circulated by a fan, thereby performing a cooling operation.

The refrigerator has a storage chamber that stores food, and a temperature in the storage chamber is maintained within a predetermined range of temperature that is required to keep food fresh. Further, the storage chamber may be divided into a freezing chamber and a refrigerating chamber based on a temperature.

The storage chamber of the refrigerator has an open front side, and the open front side is opened and closed by a door in order to maintain a temperature in the storage chamber at normal times.

A plurality of accommodating members such as drawers or baskets is installed in the storage chamber in order to easily accommodate food, and the accommodating member is installed to be slidingly withdrawn by a sliding rail device from the interior of the storage chamber toward a front side of the storage chamber.

The slide rail device includes a rail which, is fixedly installed on an inner wall of the storage chamber, and a sliding member which is provided on the accommodating member and engages the rail so that the sliding member may be withdrawn together with the accommodating member that is withdrawn toward a front side of the storage chamber.

By a sliding operation between the rail and the sliding member of the slide rail device, the accommodating member, which is installed in the storage chamber, is slidingly withdrawn forward, or slidingly drawn back into the storage chamber in a state in which the accommodating member has been withdrawn toward the front side of the storage chamber.

However, the slide rail device provided in the refrigerator in the related art has a problem in that the rails and the sliding members in that the accommodating member may deviate leftward and rightward while being withdrawn arid or drawn back in.

SUMMARY

The present disclosure has been made in an effort to provide a refrigerator in which an accommodating basket, which is slidingly withdrawn and or drawn back in, may be stably slide without substantially deviating leftward and rightward, and an accommodation capacity of the accommodating basket may be maximized by implementing a compact slide assembly that allows the accommodating basket to slide.

If An exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure provides a refrigerator including a refrigerator main body, one or more accommodating baskets, one or more pairs of slide channel units, one or more pairs of slide assemblies, and one or more basket alignment members. The refrigerator main body has one or more storage chambers. A pair of slide channel units are coupled to inner surfaces at both lateral sides of a storage chamber of the refrigerator main body, respectively. A pair of slide assemblies are provided inside the pair of slide channel unite, respectively. The pair of slide assemblies are operable for the accommodating basket to slide into and out from an open front side of the storage chamber of the refrigerator main body. A basket alignment member is coupled between the accommodating basket and each later side of the storage chamber of the refrigerator main body. The basket alignment member is operable for the accommodating basket to stably slide without substantially deviating side to side from the linear direction into and out from the open front side of the storage chamber of the refrigerator main body.

The basket alignment member may include a pair of rack gear units and a pair of pinion units which engage the rack gear units. The basket alignment member may further include a pinion rotation shaft coupled between the pair of pinion gear units.

The slide assembly may include: a guide rail which is installed to be adjacent to the slide channel unit; a sliding rail which is installed between the guide rail and the accommodating basket; and a middle rail which is installed between the guide rail and the sliding rail.

The pair of pinion units, which faces each other with the accommodating basket interposed therebetween, may be coaxially rotated.

In the refrigerator, the rack gear unit may be installed relatively below the slide assembly, and teeth of the rack gear unit may protrude downward.

In the refrigerator, the rack gear unit may be installed relatively above the slide assembly, and teeth of the rack gear unit may protrude upward.

According to the refrigerator according to the exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the accommodating basket, which is slidingly withdrawn, may be stably withdrawn without deviating leftward and rightward, and an accommodation capacity of the accommodating basket may be maximized by implementing the compact slide assembly that allows the accommodating basket to slide.

The foregoing summary is illustrative only and is not intended to be in any way limiting. In addition to the illustrative aspects, embodiments, and features described above, further aspects, embodiments, and features will become apparent by reference to the drawings and the following detailed description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a refrigerator according to a first exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view mainly illustrating a slide assembly of the refrigerator of FIG, 1.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view mainly illustrating the slide assembly of the refrigerator of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view mainly illustrating a slide assembly of a refrigerator according to a second exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view mainly illustrating a slide assembly of a refrigerator according to a third exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following detailed description, reference is made to the accompanying drawing, which forms a part hereof. The illustrative embodiments described in the detailed description, drawing, and claims are not meant to be limiting. Other embodiments may be utilized, and other changes may be made, without departing from the spirit or scope of the subject matter presented here.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings so that those skilled in the technical field to which the present disclosure pertains may easily carry out the exemplary embodiments. The present disclosure may he implemented in various different forms, and is not limited to the exemplary embodiments described herein.

In several exemplary embodiments, constituent elements having the same configuration will be representatively described using the same reference numerals in a first exemplary embodiment, and in the other exemplary embodiments, only configurations, which are different from the configuration described in the first exemplary embodiment, will be described.

It should be noted that the drawings are schematically illustrated, and the scales of the drawings may be different from the actual scales. Relative dimensions and ratios of the parts illustrated in the drawings are exaggerated or reduced in terms of sizes thereof for clarification of the drawings and convenience, and any dimension is only illustrative, and is not limited thereto. Further, the same structures, elements or components illustrated in two or more drawings are designated by the same reference numerals so as to illustrate similar features.

The exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure is specifically presented as an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. As a result, various modifications of the drawings are expected. Therefore, the exemplary embodiments are not limited to specific forms in regions illustrated in the drawings, and for example, include modifications of forms by the manufacture.

Hereinafter, a refrigerator according to a first exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3. The term refrigerator used herein is intended to include the class of cooling apparatus commonly referred to as refridgerators, freezers, fridges, refridgerator-freezers and the like.

As illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 3, the refrigerator 101 according to the first exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure includes a refrigerator main body 200, a door 400, an accommodating basket 300, a slide channel unit 250, a slide assembly 500, and a basket alignment member. Here, the basket alignment member may include a rack gear unit 610, and a pinion gear unit 620.

The refrigerator may further include a basket bracket 350, and a pinion rotation shaft 621.

The refrigerator main body 200 has one or more storage chambers 205, and a cold air supply device (not illustrated) which supplies cold air to the storage chamber 205. In FIG. 1, the refrigerator main body 200 may have, for example, a pair of storage chambers 205 that are disposed vertically, but the first exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure is not limited thereto. That is, the refrigerator main body 200 may have a single storage chamber 205, or may have three or more storage chambers 205.

The storage chambers 205 of the refrigerator main body 200 may be divided into a refrigerating chamber and a freezing chamber based on a temperature. That is, the respective storage chambers 205 may keep food cold or frozen, as necessary.

In the first exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the storage chamber 205 of the main body 200 has an front side that may be opened and closed by the door 400, which will be described below.

The cold air supply device (not illustrated) may include a compressor, a condenser, an expansion valve, an evaporator, a blower fan, a cold air duct, and the like. The cold aire supply device generates cold air to maintain a desired temperature range in the storage chamber 205. Further, the refrigerator main body 200 may farther include a thermal insulator for preventing cold air from leaking.

A machine room, in which the compressor for compressing refrigerant and the condenser for condensing the compressed refrigerant are installed, may be provided at a rear lower side of the refrigerator main body 200.

The door 400 is installed at the front side of the storage chamber 205, and may selectively open and. close the interior of the storage chamber 205.

In the first exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the door 400 is slidingly closed and opened toward a front side of the storage chamber 205. in this case, the door 400 slides together with an accommodating basket 300 that will be described below. Further, the door 400 may be formed integrally with the accommodating basket 300, or may be manufactured separately from the accommodating basket 300 and then coupled to the accommodating basket 300.

A knob, which may be gripped by a user, may be provided on the door 400.

As described above, the accommodating basket 300 is installed so as to be slidingly withdrawn from and drawn back in, together with, the door 400, to the interior of the storage chamber 205 of the refrigerator main body 200.

The accommodating basket 300 accommodates food or various items to be stored in the storage chamber 205.

The slide channel units 250 may be fixedly installed on inner surfaces at both lateral sides of the storage chamber 205 of the refrigerator main body 200, respectively. That is, one or more pairs of slide channel units 250 may be provided, respectively, at both lateral sides of the storage chamber 205 which face each other.

For example, the slide channel unit 250 may be formed in a “⊂” or “C” shape. In this case, open regions of the slide channel units 250 are directed toward a center of the storage chamber 205, respectively.

The slide assembly 500 is provided inside the slide channel unit 250, and slidably couples the refrigerator main body 200 and the accommodating basket 300 to each other.

The slide assembly 500 includes a guide rail 510 which is installed to be adjacent to the slide channel unit 250, a sliding rail 530 which is installed between the guide rail 510 and the accommodating basket 300, and a middle rail 520 which is installed between the guide rail 510 and the sliding rail 530.

The middle rail 520 serves to extend the guide rail. 510 in order to increase a length by which the accommodating basket 300 is withdrawn. The middle rail 520 may be omitted, as necessary.

The sliding rail 530 allows the accommodating basket 300 to be withdrawn forward while sliding along the guide rail 510 and the middle rail 520.

Although not illustrated, various types of bearings, which are publicly known to those skilled in the art, may be provided between the guide rail 510, the middle rail 520, and the sliding rail 530.

The rack gear units 610 may be provided at outer lower sides of the one or more pairs of slide channel units 250. That is, in the first exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the rack gear unit 610 is installed relatively below the slide assembly 500, and teeth of the rack gear unit 610 protrude downward.

The pinion, gear unit 620 is installed on the accommodating basket 300 and engages with the rack gear unit 610, Further, in the first exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the pinion gear unit 620 is positioned below the slide assembly 500. That is, the pinion gear unit 620 overlaps the slide assembly 500 in a vertical direction.

A pair of pinion gear units 620, which face each other, are provided with the accommodating basket 300 interposed therebetween. Further, the pair of pinion, gear units 620, which feces each other with the accommodating basket 300 therebetween, are coaxially rotated, that is, identically rotated. The pair of pinion gear units 620 may be connected to the same pinion rotation shaft 621. The pinion rotation shaft is operable for the pinion gear unit to coaxially rotate together when the accommodating basket slides in a linear direction, into and out from the open front side of the storage chamber of the refrigerator main body along a pair of slide assemblies.

The basket bracket 350 supports the pinion gear unit 620 and the sliding rail 530 of the slide assembly 500, and couples the pinion gear unit 620 and the sliding rail 530 to the accommodating basket 300.

According to the first exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure as described above, as the pinion gear unit 620 engages with the rack gear unit 610 and rotates, the slide assembly 500 moves the accommodating basket 300 forward and rearward.

Therefore, the slide assemblies 500, which are provided at the lateral sides of the accommodating basket 300, respectively, are operated in conjunction with the accommodating basket 300 when the accommodating basket 300 is slidingly drawn in and out. Accordingly, it is possible to prevent the accommodating basket 300 from deviating leftward and rightward while being eccentrically withdrawn toward any one side because one slide assembly 500 is withdrawn before or after the other slide assembly 500 is withdrawn.

According to the first exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the slide assemblies 500, which allow the accommodating basket 300 to slide, and the pinion gear unit 620 and the rack gear unit 610, which synchronize operations of the slide assemblies 500 installed at both of the lateral sides, are disposed to overlap each other in the vertical direction, thereby minimizing a gap between the inner surface of the storage chamber 205 of the refrigerator main body 200 and the accommodating basket 300. That is, it is possible to maximize an accommodation capacity of the accommodating basket 300.

With the aforementioned configuration, in the refrigerator 101 according to the first exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the accommodating basket 300, which is slidingly withdrawn, may be stably withdrawn without deviating leftward and rightward, and an accommodation capacity of the accommodating basket 300 may be maximized by implementing the compact slide assembly 500 that allows the accommodating basket 300 to slide.

Hereinafter, a second exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure will be described with reference to FIG. 4.

As illustrated in FIG. 4, a rack gear unit 610 of a refrigerator 102 according to the second exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure is provided at an outer upper side of each of one or more pairs slide channel units 250. That is, the rack gear unit 610 is installed relatively above a slide assembly 500, and teeth of the rack gear unit 610 protrude upward.

A pinion gear unit 620 is installed on an accommodating basket 300 and engages with the rack gear unit 610. Further, in the second exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the pinion gear unit 620 is positioned above the slide assembly 500, and overlaps the slide assembly 500 in a vertical direction.

With the aforementioned configuration, in the refrigerator 102 according to the second exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the pinion gear unit 620 and the rack gear unit 630 may stably engage each other.

Specifically, since the pinion gear unit 620, which is installed on the accommodating basket 300, is disposed above the rack gear unit 610 and engages the rack gear unit 610, a load of the accommodating basket 300 is applied in a direction in which die pinion gear unit 620 and the rack gear unit 610 engage each other.

Therefore, even if a large amount of load is applied to the accommodating basket 300 or the accommodating basket 300 deviates, the pinion gear unit 620 may not deviate from, the rack gear unit 610 and maintain the state in which the pinion gear unit 620 and the rack gear unit 610 stably engage each other.

Hereinafter, a third exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure will be described with reference to FIG. 5.

As illustrated in FIG. 5, in a refrigerator 103 according to the third exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, one or more pairs of .rack gear units 630 are installed on an accommodating basket 300, one or more pairs of pinion gear units 620, which engage the rack gear units 610, are installed on inner surfaces at both lateral sides of a storage chamber 205 of a refrigerator main body 200, respectively.

Specifically, the rack gear units 610 are installed on the accommodating basket 300 so as to be directed toward the inner surfaces at both lateral sides of the storage chamber 205 of the .refrigerator main body 200, respectively. Further, the pinion gear unit 620 engages the rack gear unit 610. in this case, the pinion gear unit 620 may be positioned above or below a slide assembly 500 so as to overlap the slide assembly 500 in a vertical direction.

In the third exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the rack gear unit 610 installed on the accommodating basket 300 is disposed to be positioned above the pinion gear unit 620 installed on the refrigerator main body 200.

With the aforementioned configuration, in the refrigerator 103 according to the third exemplary embodiment of the present, disclosure, the pinion gear unit 620 and the rack gear unit 610 may stably engage each other.

Specifically, since the rack gear unit 610, which is installed on. the accommodating basket 300, is disposed above the pinion gear unit 620 and engages the pinion gear unit 620, a load of the accommodating basket 300 is applied in a direction in which the rack gear unit 630 and the pinion gear unit 620 engage each other.

Therefore, even if a large amount of load is applied to the accommodating basket 300 or the accommodating basket 300 deviates, the pinion gear unit 620 may not deviate from the rack gear unit 610 and maintain the state in which the pinion gear unit 620 and the rack gear unit 610 stably engage each other.

As illustrated in FIG. 3, in a refrigerator 103 according to a fourth exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, one or more pairs of rack gear units 610 are provided at lowers edges of the respective slide rails. One or more pairs of pinion gear units 620 are coupled to respective guide rails and engage the rack gear units. With the aforementioned configuration, according to the fourth examplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the pinion gear unit 620 and the rack gear unit 610 may stably engage each other.

From the foregoing, it will be appreciated that various embodiments of the present disclosure have been described herein for purposes of illustration, and that various modifications may be made without departing from the scope and spirit of the present disclosure. Accordingly, the various embodiments disclosed herein are not intended to be limiting, with the true scope and spirit being indicated by the following claims.

Claims

1. A refrigerator comprising:

a refrigerator main body which, has a storage chamber having an open front side, a pair of lateral sides and a back side;

an accommodating basket;

a pair of slide channel units which are installed on inner surfaces at both of the lateral sides of the storage chamber of the refrigerator main body, respectively;

a pair of slide assemblies which are provided inside the pair of slide channel units, respectively, and are operable for the accommodating basket to slide In a linear direction into and out from the open front side of the storage chamber of the refrigerator main body; and

a basket alignment member coupled between the accommodating basket and. each lateral side of the storage chamber of the refrigerator main body, wherein the basket, alignment member is operable for the accommodating basket to stably slide without substantially deviating side to side from the linear direction into and out from the open front side of the storage chamber of the refrigerator main body.

2. The refrigerator of claim t, wherein the basket alignment member includes:

a pair rack gear units which are provided at outer upper sides or outer lower sides of the pair of slide channel units; and

a pair of pinion gear units coupled to the accommodating basket and engage the rack gear units, respectively.

3. The refrigerator of claim 2, wherein the basket alignment member further includes a pinion rotation shaft coupled between the pair of pinion gear units.

4. The refrigerator of claim 2, wherein the slide assembly includes:

a guide rail, which is installed to be adjacent to the slide channel unit;

a sliding rail which is installed between the guide rail and the accommodating basket; and

a middle rail which is installed between the guide rail and the sliding rail.

5. The refrigerator of claim 2, wherein the pair of pinion gear units, which faces each other with the accommodating basket interposed therebetween, are coaxially rotated when the accommodating basket slides in a linear direction into and out from the open front side of the storage chamber of the refrigerator main body.

6. The refrigerator of claim 2, wherein the rack gear unit is installed relatively below the slide assembly, and teeth of the rack gear unit protrude downward.

7. The refrigerator of claim 2, wherein the rack gear unit is installed relatively above the slide assembly, and teeth of the rack gear unit protrude upward.

8. The refrigerator of claim 1, wherein the basket alignment member includes:

a pair of rack gear units coupled to the accommodating basket so as to be directed toward inner surfaces at both lateral sides of the storage chamber of the refrigerator main body, respectively, and spaced apart from the slide channel units; and

a pair of pinion gear units coupled to the inner surfaces at both of the lateral sides of the storage chamber of the refrigerator main body and engage the rack gear units, respectively.

9. The refrigerator of claim 8, wherein the basket alignment member further includes a pinion rotation shaft coupled between the pair of pinion gear units.

10. The refrigerator of claim S, wherein the slide assembly includes:

a guide rail which is installed to be adjacent to the slide channel unit;

a sliding tail which is installed between the guide rail and the accommodating basket; and

a middle rail which is installed between the guide rail and the sliding rail.

11. The refrigerator of claim 8, wherein the pair of pinion gear units, which feces each other with the accommodating basket interposed therebetween, are coaxially rotated when the accommodating basket slides in a linear direction into and out from the open front side of the storage chamber of the refrigerator main body.

12. The refrigerator of claim 8, wherein the rack gear unit is positioned, above the pinion gear unit.

13. The refrigerator of claim 1, wherein

the pair of slide assemblies each includes, a guide rail which is installed to be adjacent to the slide channel unit; and a slide rail which is installed between the guide rail and the accommodating basket, and

the basket alignment member includes, a pair of rack gear units which are provided at lowers edges of the respective slide rails of the pair of slide assemblies, and a pair of pinion gear traits coupled to. the respective guide rails of the pair of slide assemblies and engage the rack gear units.

14. The refrigerator of claim 13, wherein the basket alignment member further includes a pinion rotation shaft coupled between the pair of pinion gear units.

15. The refrigerator of claim 13, wherein the pair of pinion gear units coupled together by the pinion rotation shaft are coaxially rotated together when the accommodating basket slides in the linear direction into and out from the open front side of the storage chamber of the refrigerator main body along the pair of slide assemblies.