U.S. patent application number 11/104539 was filed with the patent office on 2006-02-02 for bottom drawer type refrigerator having basket lift device.
This patent application is currently assigned to LG Electronics Inc.. Invention is credited to Kyung-Han Jeong, Seung-Hwan Oh.
Application Number | 20060021373 11/104539 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 35427971 |
Filed Date | 2006-02-02 |
United States Patent
Application |
20060021373 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Oh; Seung-Hwan ; et
al. |
February 2, 2006 |
Bottom drawer type refrigerator having basket lift device
Abstract
In a refrigerator which includes a main body having a lower
cooling chamber disposed at a lower portion of the main body, a
base frame is disposed to be moved in inward/outward directions at
a lower cooling chamber and has a drawer door at a front side
thereof. A lift frame is disposed above the base frame, on which a
basket is placed. A rotatable lead screw is vertically disposed at
a rear surface of the drawer door, and a lift unit is formed at
front of the lift frame for moving up and down along the lead
screw. A driving unit rotates the lead screw clockwise or
counterclockwise. When the basket is drawn out, the basket can be
lifted to allow the user to take a food item out of the basket
without bending his/her back. Thus, users' convenience can be
enhanced.
Inventors: |
Oh; Seung-Hwan;
(Gyeonggi-do, KR) ; Jeong; Kyung-Han; (Seoul,
KR) |
Correspondence
Address: |
GREENBLUM & BERNSTEIN, P.L.C.
1950 ROLAND CLARKE PLACE
RESTON
VA
20191
US
|
Assignee: |
LG Electronics Inc.
Seoul
KR
|
Family ID: |
35427971 |
Appl. No.: |
11/104539 |
Filed: |
April 13, 2005 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
62/407 |
Current CPC
Class: |
F25D 25/04 20130101;
A47B 2210/17 20130101; F25D 25/025 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
062/407 |
International
Class: |
F25D 17/04 20060101
F25D017/04 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Jul 29, 2004 |
KR |
59930/2004 |
Claims
1-12. (canceled)
13. A refrigerator comprising: a body having a cooling chamber; a
base frame arranged at the cooling chamber to be drawn out and
having a door at a front side thereof; a lifting frame arranged at
the cooling chamber and on which a basket is positioned; a lead
screw rotatably arranged at the door and connected to the lifting
frame by a screw; and a driving unit for rotating the lead
screw.
14. The refrigerator of claim 13, wherein a guide rail for guiding
the base frame to be slid in back and forth directions of the body
is installed between the base frame and the cooling chamber.
15. The refrigerator of claim 13, further comprising a first guide
unit installed between the lifting frame and the door for guiding
the lifting frame to be moved.
16. The refrigerator of claim 15, wherein the first guide unit
comprises: a guide bar fixed to both edges of the door; and a guide
portion formed at a rear surface of the lifting frame and inserted
into the guide bar thereby to be moved.
17. The refrigerator of claim 13, further comprising a second guide
unit installed between the lifting frame and the base frame for
guiding the lifting frame to be moved up.
18. The refrigerator of claim 17, wherein the second guide unit
comprises: a guide rail fixed to both side of the base frame in a
perpendicular direction; and a guide protrusion formed at both side
of the lifting frame and inserted into the guide rail.
19. The refrigerator of claim 13, wherein the lead screw is
arranged at the door in a perpendicular direction, an upper end
thereof is rotatably supported at an upper hinge portion fixed to
the door, and a lower end thereof is rotatably supported at a lower
hinge portion fixed to the door.
20. The refrigerator of claim 13, wherein the lifting frame is
provided with a lifting unit inserted into the lead screw and moved
up and down when the lead screw is rotated at a lateral surface
thereof.
21. The refrigerator of claim 13, wherein the driving unit is
constructed as a driving motor connected to a lower end of the lead
screw for rotating the lead screw in a forward direction or in a
backward direction when a power is applied thereto.
22. The refrigerator of claim 13, wherein the driving unit
comprises: a square protrusion formed at an upper end of the lead
screw; and a rotation handle inserted into the square protrusion
for manually rotating the lead screw.
23. The refrigerator of claim 13, further comprising a control unit
for controlling the driving unit and thereby lifting the basket
when the basket is drawn out.
24. The refrigerator of claim 23, wherein the control unit
comprises: a switch adjusted by a user so as to lift the basket; a
first sensor mounted at a rear upper portion of the door for
sensing a position that the lifting basket is lifted to the
maximum; a second sensor mounted at a rear lower portion of the
door for sensing a position that the lifting basket is descended to
the maximum; and a controller for turning on/off a power applied to
the driving motor according to a signal applied from the switch,
the first sensor, and the second sensor.
25. The refrigerator of claim 24, wherein the switch comprises: a
first switch mounted at a front surface of the door and adjusted by
a user to lift up the lifting frame; and a second switch mounted at
the front surface of the door and adjusted to descend the lifting
frame.
26. The refrigerator of claim 22, wherein the first sensor and the
second sensor are constructed as a limit switch or an optical
sensor.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] The present invention relates to a refrigerator having a
basket lift device and more particularly, to a basket lift device
capable of making a basket received at a lower portion of a main
body lifted to enhance users' convenience.
[0003] 2. Description of the Background Art
[0004] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a refrigerator and FIG. 2 is
a sectional view of a lower portion of the refrigerator showing how
a basket is received in a main body of the refrigerator in
accordance with the conventional art.
[0005] A typical bottom drawer-type refrigerator includes a main
body 102 having an opened front side and a receiving space, an
upper cooling chamber 106 disposed at an upper portion of the main
body 102, having a pair of upper (`French` style side-by-side)
doors 104 respectively opening swingably at both sides, for keeping
food items stored therein cold, and a lower cooling chamber 112
(e.g. a freezer compartment) disposed at a lower portion of the
main body 102, separated by a barrier wall 108 from the upper
cooling chamber 106 and having a drawer door 110 opening slidably
outwardly.
[0006] A mechanical chamber 116, which includes a compressor 114
and other components for generating cooling air supplied to the
upper cooling chamber 106 and the lower cooling chamber 112, is
provided at a rear portion of the main body 102.
[0007] A basket 120 for receiving food items therein is slidably
disposed in the lower cooling chamber 112, and the drawer door 110
is fixed at the front side of the basket 120 like a drawer front
panel. Accordingly, when the drawer door 110 is pulled out, the
basket 120 is thereby opened, and when the drawer door 110 is
pushed in, the basket 120 is thereby closed. A guide rail 124 is
respectively installed between each of the outer sides of the
basket 120 and iner sides of the lower cooling chamber 112 to guide
the basket 120 to be slid the inward/outward directions.
[0008] One or more of drawers 126 for keeping food items therein
may be provided above the basket 120 so as to be slidably
opened.
[0009] In such conventional bottom drawer-type refrigerator, when a
food item kept in the lower cooling chamber 112 needs to be taken
out or a food item needs to be put into the lower cooling chamber
112, the drawer door 110 is pulled outwardly so that the basket 120
can be slidably moved and opened. After the food item stored in the
basket 120 is taken out or the food item is put into the basket
120, the drawer door 110 is pushed inwardly so that the basket 120
can be slidably closed.
[0010] However, the conventional bottom drawer-type refrigerator
has a problem in that, because the installation position of the
basket is too low, a user must lower his/her posture, that is, for
example, the user must bend his/her back or crouch down in order to
put in or take out the food items, causing users'
inconvenience.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0011] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide
a bottom drawer type refrigerator having a basket lift device
capable of enhancing users' convenience by lifting a position of
the basket in such a manner that when a basket disposed at a lower
portion of a main body of the refrigerator is drawn out, it is
lifted upwardly.
[0012] To achieve these and other advantages and in accordance with
the purpose of the present invention, as embodied and broadly
described herein, there is provided a bottom drawer refrigerator
including: a main body having at least a lower cooling chamber
disposed at a lower portion of the main body, a base frame disposed
to be moved inwardly and outwardly at the lower cooling chamber and
having a drawer door at a front side thereof; a lift frame disposed
at an upper surface of the drawer base frame, on which lift frame a
basket may be placed, a lead screw disposed vertically at a rear
surface of the drawer door; a lift unit provided at a side of the
lift frame and movable up and down along the lead screw by
clockwise or counterclockwise rotation of the lead screw; and a
driving unit for rotating the lead screw clockwise or
counterclockwise.
[0013] A first guide unit for guiding the lift frame to ascend and
descend is provided between the lift frame and the drawer door. The
first guide unit includes at least one vertical guide bar attached
to a rear surface of the drawer door; and at least one guide
portion provided at the rear surface of the lift frame and
receiving the guide bar such that the guide portion can move
vertically along the guide bar.
[0014] The foregoing and other objects, features, aspects and
advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from
the following detailed description of the present invention when
taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0015] The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a
further understanding of the invention and are incorporated in and
constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of
the invention and together with the description serve to explain
the principles of the invention.
[0016] In the drawings:
[0017] FIG. 1 is a frontal perspective view of a bottom drawer type
refrigerator in accordance with the conventional art;
[0018] FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a lower portion of the
bottom drawer refrigerator in accordance with the conventional
art;
[0019] FIG. 3 is a frontal perspective view of a bottom drawer type
refrigerator in accordance with a first embodiment of the present
invention with a basket thereof opened;
[0020] FIG. 4 is a side elevation view showing a basket lift device
of the refrigerator in accordance with the first embodiment of the
present invention;
[0021] FIG. 5 is a rear perspective view of the basket lift device
of the refrigerator in accordance with the first embodiment of the
present invention;
[0022] FIG. 6 is top plan view of the basket lift device of the
refrigerator in accordance with the first embodiment of the present
invention;
[0023] FIG. 7 is an enlarged view of a portion `A` in FIG. 6;
[0024] FIG. 8 is a schematic block diagram of a control unit of the
basket lift device of the refrigerator in accordance with the first
embodiment of the present invention;
[0025] FIG. 9 is a side elevation view showing an operation state
of the basket lift device of the refrigerator in accordance with
the first embodiment of the present invention;
[0026] FIG. 10 is a rear perspective view of a basket lift device
of a bottom drawer type refrigerator in accordance with a second
embodiment of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0027] A bottom drawer type refrigerator having a basket lift
device in accordance with the present invention will now be
described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
[0028] There can be several embodiments of the refrigerator having
a basket lift device, of which the most preferred ones will be
described.
[0029] FIG. 3 is a frontal perspective view of a refrigerator with
a basket opened in accordance with a first embodiment of the
present invention, and FIG. 4 is a side view showing a basket lift
device of the refrigerator in accordance with the first embodiment
of the present invention.
[0030] A refrigerator implementing the basket lift device of the
present invention includes: a main body 10 having a receiving
space, an upper cooling chamber 14 disposed at an upper portion of
the main body 10 and having a pair of upper (e.g. `French`)
swinging doors 12 open at both sides, a lower cooling chamber 18
separated by a barrier wall 16 from the upper cooling chamber 14
and disposed at a lower portion of the main body 10, a basket 20
disposed to be slidable in inward/outward directions at the lower
cooling chamber 18 for keeping food items therein, and a lift unit
for lifting the basket 20 upward when the basket 20 is drawn
out.
[0031] The upper cooling chamber 14 is preferably used as a
refrigerating chamber for keeping refrigerated food items, and the
lower cooling chamber 18 is preferably used as a freezing chamber
for keeping frozen food items.
[0032] A drawer door 22 is disposed at a front side of the lower
cooling chamber 18 and pushes in or draws out the basket 20 while
being moved inwardly/outwardly of the main body 10. A plurality of
drawers 24 are optionally disposed at an upper portion of the lower
cooling chamber 18, to keep food items, e.g. ice cubes, therein and
can be drawn in or out.
[0033] The drawer door 22 includes a handle 26 at its front side,
and includes one or more operation switches 28a and 28b for
operating the lift unit. At an inner side of the drawer door, a
base frame 30 is mounted, on which the basket 20 is mounted, and a
pair of guide rails 32 are installed between the lower cooling
chamber 18 and the base frame 30 to guide the base frame 30
inwardly/outwardly of the main body 10.
[0034] Each guide rail 32 includes a fixed rail 32a fixed at the
bottom surface of the lower cooling chamber 18, a middle rail 32b
slidably connected with the fixed rail 32a, and a moving rail 32c
slidably connected with the middle rail 32b and fixed at the lower
surface of the base frame 30.
[0035] FIG. 5 is a rear perspective view of the basket lift device
of the refrigerator in accordance with the first embodiment of the
present invention, and FIG. 6 is a top plan view of the basket lift
device of the refrigerator in accordance with the first embodiment
of the present invention.
[0036] The lift unit includes a lift frame 36, on which the basket
20 is placed, disposed above the base frame 30, a driving unit 38
driving the lift frame 38 up and down, a guide unit guiding the
lift frame 36 to be linearly moved up and down, and a control unit
controlling the driving unit 32 for lifting the basket 20 when the
basket 20 is drawn out.
[0037] The driving unit 38 includes a rotatable lead screw 40
mounted vertically at a rear surface of the drawer door 22, a lift
arm 42 extending forwardly from a vertical riser at a front side of
the lift frame 36 and engaged with the lead screw 40 so as to be
moved up and down when the lead screw 40 is rotated, and a drive
motor 44 connected with a lower end of the lead screw 40 and
rotating the lead screw 40 clockwise or counterclockwise when power
is applied thereto.
[0038] An upper end of the lead screw 40 is rotatably supported by
an upper support bearing or bushing 46 fixed at the rear surface of
the drawer door 22 and a lower end of the lead screw 40 is
rotatably supported by a lower support bearing 48 also fixed at the
rear surface of the drawer door 22.
[0039] The guide unit includes at least one guide rod 50 mounted
vertically to a rear surface of the drawer door 22, and at least
one guide arm 52 extending forwardly from the vertical riser of the
lift frame 36 and receiving the guide rod 50 therethrough such that
the guide arm 52 can move vertically along the guide rod. Both ends
of the guide bar 50 are fixed at the rear surface of the drawer
door 22 by respectively fixing brackets 54.
[0040] With reference to FIG. 7, a pair of guide rails 56 are fixed
vertically at respective sides of the base frame 30, and
corresponding guide protrusions 58 are formed at the sides of the
lift frame 36 and inserted to be linearly movable in the guide
rails 56, for further guiding and supporting vertical movement of
the lift frame 36.
[0041] With reference to FIG. 8, the control unit includes switches
28a and 28b operated by a user in order to lift the basket 20, a
first sensor 60 mounted at an upper portion of the rear surface of
the drawer door 22 and sensing when the lift frame 36 located at a
maximum lifted position, a second sensor 62 mounted at a lower
portion of the rear surface of the drawer door 22 and sensing when
the lift frame 36 is located at its bottommost lowered position,
and a controller 64 for turning on/off the supply of power applied
to the driving motor 44 according to a signal applied from the
switches 28a and 28b, the first sensor 60 and the second sensor
62.
[0042] The switches 28a and 28b are installed at the front surface
of the drawer door 22. When the lift frame 36 is to be lifted, the
user operates the first switch 28a. When the lift frame 36 is to be
lowered, the user operates the second switch 28b.
[0043] Preferably, the first sensor 60 and the second sensor 62 are
formed as limit switches or as optical sensors for supplying
signals to the controller 64 when the lift frame 36 is lifted up or
lowered down.
[0044] The basket lift device constructed as described above
operates as follows.
[0045] FIG. 9 shows an operation state of the basket lift device of
the bottom drawer refrigerator in accordance with the first
embodiment of the present invention.
[0046] When the user wants to put or take a food item to or out of
in the basket 20, the user pulls the drawer door 22 in an outward
direction to draw the basket 20 out of the lower cooling chamber 28
and operates the first switch 28a mounted at the front surface of
the drawer door 22. Then, a signal is applied from the first switch
28a to the controller 64 and the controller 64 applies power to the
driving motor 44 to drive the driving motor 44 in a forward
direction (in the direction of lifting the basket.
[0047] Then, as the lead screw 40 is rotated according to the
driving of the driving motor 44, the lift arm 42 engaged with the
lead screw 40 is moved up along the lead screw 40, and the lift
frame 36 is thereby lifted. When the lift frame 36 reaches the
highest point, the first sensor 60 senses that and applies a
corresponding signal to the controller 64, and the controller 64
cuts off power supply to the driving motor 44.
[0048] In such a state, the user puts a food item in the basket 20
or takes a food item out of the basket 20 and then operates the
second switch 28b. Then, the controller 64 applies power to the
driving motor 44 in the opposite direction to drive the driving
motor 44 in a reverse direction, according to which, the lead screw
40 is rotated in the opposite direction to lower the lift arm 42
and thereby the lift frame 36.
[0049] When the lift frame 36 is completely lowered, the second
sensor 62 senses that and applies a corresponding signal to the
controller 64 and the controller cuts off power supply to the
driving motor 44. When the user pushes the drawer door 22 back in,
the basket 20 is received in the lower cooling chamber 18.
[0050] FIG. 10 is a perspective view of a basket lift device of the
refrigerator in accordance with a second embodiment of the present
invention.
[0051] The basket lift device in accordance with the second
embodiment of the present invention has the same basic structure as
the basket lift device of the first embodiment, except that the
lead screw 40 is operated manually.
[0052] In detail, a square or hexagonal drive protrusion 70, onto
which a tool may be inserted, is formed at an upper end of the lead
screw 40. When a tool, namely, a crank handle 72, is inserted onto
the drive protrusion 70 and rotated, the lead screw 40 is rotated
to thereby lift up or lower down the lift frame 36.
[0053] As so far described, the refrigerator having the basket lift
device has many advantages.
[0054] That is, for example, the basket lift device is provided for
the basket disposed at the lower portion of the refrigerator. Thus,
when the basket is drawn out, the basket can be lifted to allow the
user to take a food item out of the basket without having to bend
his/her back. Thus, users' convenience can be enhanced.
[0055] As the present invention may be embodied in several forms
without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics
thereof, it should also be understood that the above-described
embodiments are not limited by any of the details of the foregoing
description, unless otherwise specified, but rather should be
construed broadly within its spirit and scope as defined in the
appended claims, and therefore all changes and modifications that
fall within the metes and bounds of the claims, or equivalents of
such metes and bounds are therefore intended to be embraced by the
appended claims.
* * * * *