U.S. patent application number 11/142465 was filed with the patent office on 2006-03-02 for refrigerator.
This patent application is currently assigned to Samsung Electronics Co., LTD.. Invention is credited to Sang Keun Choi, Young Duck Kim, Jong Hoon Oh, Hae Chan Park, Hyun Sang Yoo.
Application Number | 20060042306 11/142465 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 36093173 |
Filed Date | 2006-03-02 |
United States Patent
Application |
20060042306 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Choi; Sang Keun ; et
al. |
March 2, 2006 |
Refrigerator
Abstract
A refrigerator, which minimizes and easily adjusts a difference
of heights of doors, and reduces the number of contact points with
a floor of an indoor space, thereby being easily moved and
installed. A pair of rear wheels are installed at both corners of a
rear part of a bottom surface of a main body and one front wheel is
installed at an approximately central point of a front part of the
bottom surface so that the refrigerator is moved while the
refrigerator is supported at three points. Height adjustable legs,
heights of which are adjusted, are installed at both corners of the
front part of the bottom surface, and the height adjustable legs
together with the front and rear wheels allow the refrigerator to
be leveled.
Inventors: |
Choi; Sang Keun;
(Gwangju-City, KR) ; Oh; Jong Hoon; (Gwangju-City,
KR) ; Yoo; Hyun Sang; (Gwangju-City, KR) ;
Kim; Young Duck; (Gwangju-City, KR) ; Park; Hae
Chan; (Gwangju-City, KR) |
Correspondence
Address: |
STAAS & HALSEY LLP
SUITE 700
1201 NEW YORK AVENUE, N.W.
WASHINGTON
DC
20005
US
|
Assignee: |
Samsung Electronics Co.,
LTD.
Suwon-si
KR
|
Family ID: |
36093173 |
Appl. No.: |
11/142465 |
Filed: |
June 2, 2005 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
62/407 |
Current CPC
Class: |
F25D 2323/0011 20130101;
F25D 2400/38 20130101; F25D 23/00 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
062/407 |
International
Class: |
F25D 17/04 20060101
F25D017/04 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Aug 28, 2004 |
KR |
2004-0068206 |
Claims
1. A refrigerator comprising: a main body; and a rolling unit at a
bottom surface of the main body and on which the main body is
movable, the rolling unit including one moving member at one of a
front part and a rear part of the bottom surface, and a plurality
of moving members at the other of the front and rear parts.
2. The refrigerator as set forth in claim 1, wherein the one moving
member is at the front part of the bottom surface, the plural
moving members are installed at left and right sides of the rear
part of the bottom surface, and height height adjustable legs are
installed at both corners of the front part of the bottom
surface.
3. The refrigerator as set forth in claim 1, further comprising
height adjustable legs at left and right sides of the one moving
member.
4. The refrigerator as set forth in claim 1, wherein the one moving
member is at an approximately central point of the bottom
surface.
5. The refrigerator as set forth in claim 1, wherein the number of
the plural moving members is two, and the two moving members are
respectively disposed at both corners of the rear part of the
bottom surface.
6. A refrigerator comprising: a main body having a pair of doors
respectively hinged at right and left corners of a front of the
main body; a rolling unit at a bottom surface of the main body and
on which the main body is movable, and including one moving member
at one of a front part and a rear part of the bottom surface, and a
plurality of moving members at the other of the front and rear
parts; and plurality of height height adjustable legs at both
corners of the front part of the bottom surface.
7. The refrigerator as set forth in claim 6, wherein the one moving
member is at the front part of the bottom surface, the plural
moving members are at left and right sides of the rear part of the
bottom surface.
8. The refrigerator as set forth in claim 6, further comprising
height adjustable legs at left and right sides of the one moving
member.
9. The refrigerator as set forth in claim 6, wherein the one moving
member is at an approximately central point of the bottom
surface.
10. The refrigerator as set forth in claim 6, wherein the number of
the plural moving members is two, and the two moving members are
respectively disposed at both corners of the rear part of the
bottom surface.
11. The refrigerator as set forth in claim 6, wherein the one
moving member is proximate to a point on the bottom surface at
which unhinged sides of the doors oppose each other when the doors
are closed, and wherein the one moving member supports the unhinged
sides of the doors so as to level the doors and retard a tilting of
the doors.
12. A refrigerator moving system, comprising: a pair of height
height adjustable legs extending from a bottom surface of the
refrigerator at opposing front corners of a side of the bottom
surface; and a rolling unit providing three rollable points of
support to the bottom surface, one point of support being at the
side or at another side of the bottom surface opposing the side and
two points of support being at the other of the side or the another
side.
13. The refrigerator moving system as set forth in claim 12,
wherein the rolling unit includes rollers at each point of
support.
14. The refrigerator moving system as set forth in claim 12,
wherein the rolling unit includes rolling balls at each
support.
15. The refrigerator moving system as set forth in claim 12,
wherein the side is a front side and the another side is a rear
side.
16. The refrigerator moving system as set forth in claim 12,
wherein heights of the pair of height adjustable legs are
separately adjustable to maintain a level condition of the
refrigerator when a support surface supporting the refrigerator is
not level.
17. The refrigerator moving system as set forth in claim 12,
wherein the side is a front side, the one point is at the
substantial center of the front side so as to cause the
refrigerator to tilt when the refrigerator is not level.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] This application claims the benefit of Korean Patent
Application No. 2004-68206, filed Aug. 28, 2004, in the Korean
Intellectual 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 refrigerator, and more
particularly, to a refrigerator which is smoothly moved and is
rapidly leveled.
[0004] 2. Description of Related Art
[0005] Generally, a refrigerator serves to store various foods in a
fresh state for a long time by supplying cold air, generated from
an evaporator, to storage chambers, such as a chilling chamber and
a freezing chamber. Recently, refrigerators having a large volume
for storing a large quantity of foods have been manufactured and
sold.
[0006] Such a refrigerator having a large volume includes a main
body, the front surface of which is opened, a chilling chamber and
a freezing chamber divided by a partition vertically disposed in
the main body and positioned in parallel at left and right sides,
and a chilling chamber door and a freezing chamber door installed
on the opened front surface of the main body for opening and
closing the chilling and freezing chambers such that the chilling
and freezing chamber doors are rotated with respect to respective
side ends of the main body.
[0007] The refrigerator also includes a plurality of wheels
installed on the bottom surface thereof for easily moving the
refrigerator, and a plurality of height adjustable legs for
horizontally installing the refrigerator when the refrigerator is
located at a desired position.
[0008] For example, Korean Patent Laid-open Publication No.
2001-0003377 discloses a refrigerator, as shown in FIG. 1,
including four wheels installed at four corners of the bottom
surface thereof, and two height adjustable legs installed at front
corners of the bottom surface thereof.
[0009] Since the four wheels are installed at the four corners of
the bottom surface of the refrigerator, the above conventional
refrigerator cannot be smoothly moved, and increases the
probability of damaging a floor of an indoor space, and after
movement, it is difficult to level the refrigerator.
[0010] That is, the conventional refrigerator is moved while
supported at four points on the floor of the indoor space by the
four wheels, thus requiring a large force for movement. Further,
the conventional refrigerator requires excessive support points on
the floor of the indoor space, thus increasing the probability of
damaging the floor of the indoor space during movement.
[0011] Since the refrigerator must be leveled via the two wheels
installed at both front corners of the bottom surface thereof when
the refrigerator is located at a desired position, it is difficult
to level the refrigerator and it takes considerable time to level
the refrigerator.
[0012] When the floor of the indoor space is not even, it is more
difficult to move and level the refrigerator.
[0013] Since a refrigerator having a large volume has a large
weight, it is more difficult to move the refrigerator while
supported at four points in the same manner as the above
conventional refrigerator. Further, in this case, since it is
difficult to precisely level the refrigerator having the large
volume, freezing and chilling chamber doors of the refrigerator
sag, thereby decreasing sealing force of the freezing and chilling
chamber doors and generating noise when the freezing and chilling
chamber doors are opened and closed.
BRIEF SUMMARY
[0014] One aspect of the invention is to provide a refrigerator, in
which one moving member is installed at one of front and rear parts
of a main body, thereby minimizing a difference of heights of
doors, and easily adjusting the difference of heights of the doors
when the refrigerator is installed.
[0015] Another aspect of the invention is to provide a
refrigerator, which reduces the number of contact points between a
main body thereof and a floor of an indoor space, thereby being
easily moved and installed.
[0016] In accordance with an aspect of the present invention, there
is provided a refrigerator including: a main body; and a rolling
unit at a bottom surface of the main body and on which the main
body is movable, the rolling unit including one moving member at
one of a front part and a rear part of the bottom surface, and a
plurality of moving members at the other of the front and rear
parts.
[0017] The one moving member may be installed at the front part of
the bottom surface of the main body, the plural moving members may
be installed at the rear part of the bottom surface of the main
body, and height height adjustable legs may be installed at both
corners of the front part of the bottom surface of the main
body.
[0018] The one moving member may be disposed at an approximately
central point of the bottom surface of the main body.
[0019] According to another aspect of the present invention, there
is provided a refrigerator including: a main body having a pair of
doors respectively hinged at right and left corners of a front of
the main body; a rolling unit at a bottom surface of the main body
and on which the main body is movable, and including one moving
member at one of a front part and a rear part of the bottom
surface, and a plurality of moving members at the other of the
front and rear parts; and plurality of height height adjustable
legs at both corners of the front part of the bottom surface.
[0020] According to another aspect of the present invention, there
is provided a refrigerator moving system, including: a pair of
height height adjustable legs extending from a bottom surface of
the refrigerator at opposing front corners of a side of the bottom
surface; and a rolling unit providing three rollable points of
support to the bottom surface, one point of support being at the
side or at another side of the bottom surface opposing the side and
two points of support being at the other of the side or the another
side.
[0021] Additional and/or other aspects and advantages of the
present 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
[0022] These and/or other aspects and advantages of the present
invention will become apparent and more readily appreciated from
the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the
accompanying drawings of which:
[0023] FIG. 1 is a schematic exploded perspective view illustrating
a bottom surface of a refrigerator in accordance with a first
embodiment of the present invention;
[0024] FIG. 2 is a partial front view of the refrigerator of FIG.
1, in a state in which the position of the refrigerator is moved
when the refrigerator is supported at three points;
[0025] FIG. 3 is a partial front view of the refrigerator of FIG.
1, in a state in which the position of the refrigerator is
fixed;
[0026] FIG. 4 is a schematic exploded perspective view illustrating
a bottom surface of a refrigerator in accordance with a second
embodiment of the present invention; and
[0027] FIG. 5 is a schematic exploded perspective view illustrating
a bottom surface of a refrigerator in accordance with a third
embodiment of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS
[0028] Reference will now be made in detail to 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.
[0029] FIG. 1 is a schematic exploded perspective view illustrating
a bottom surface of a refrigerator in accordance with a first
embodiment of the present invention.
[0030] As shown in FIG. 1, the refrigerator 1 in accordance with
the first embodiment of the present invention includes a main body
10 provided with an opened front surface and including a freezing
chamber (not shown) and a chilling chamber (not shown) for
containing foods therein, a freezing chamber door 11 and a chilling
chamber door 12 installed on the opened front surface of the main
body 10 for respectively opening and closing the freezing chamber
and the chilling chamber, and a rolling unit 20 and a plurality of
height adjustable legs 30 installed on a bottom surface 10a of the
main body 10.
[0031] The freezing chamber door 11 is hinged to one side end of
the main body 10 by a hinge member 13 such that the freezing
chamber door 11 can be rotated, and the chilling chamber door 12 is
hinged to the other side end of the main body 10 by a hinge member
14 such that the chilling chamber door 12 can be rotated.
[0032] The refrigerator 1 has a side-by-side structure such that
the freezing chamber door 11 and the chilling chamber door 12 are
respectively hinged to both side ends, i.e., left and right ends,
of the main body 10 and are disposed in parallel, thus having a
large storage volume. The above side-by-side refrigerator 1 has a
large total weight of the main body 10, and the freezing and
chilling chamber doors 11 and 12.
[0033] When the refrigerator 1 is installed on a floor 5 (as shown
in FIG. 2) of the indoor space and the refrigerator 1 is not
positioned in parallel with the floor 5, the heavy freezing and
chilling chamber doors 11 and 12 sag in transverse and longitudinal
directions, resulting in reduced sealing force between the doors
and the refrigerator and generating noise when the freezing and
chilling chamber doors 11 and 12 are opened and closed.
[0034] The rolling unit 20 installed on the bottom surface 10a of
the main body 10 serves to allow the refrigerator 1 to be easily
and rapidly moved, and a plurality of the height adjustable legs 30
installed on the bottom surface 10a of the main body 10 together
with the rolling unit 20 serve to allow the refrigerator 1 to be
installed on the floor 5 of the indoor space in parallel with the
floor 5 together with the operation of the rolling unit 20.
[0035] The rolling unit 20 includes one front wheel 20a installed
at an approximately central point of the front part of the bottom
surface 10a of the main body 10 and serving as an moving member,
and a pair of rear wheels 20b installed at both corners of the rear
part of the bottom surface 10a and serving as other moving members,
thereby causing the refrigerator 1 to be moved while supported on
the floor 5 at three points. The front wheel 20a and the rear
wheels 20b are respectively made of rollers, which are rotatably
installed on the bottom surface 10.
[0036] The front wheel 20a is installed close to a point on the
bottom surface 10a of the main body 10 at which a an unhinged side
of the freezing chamber door 11 faces an unhinged side of the
chilling chamber door 12, and supports the unhinged sides of the
freezing and chilling chamber doors 11 and 12 of the side-by-side
refrigerator 1 having a comparatively large weight, thereby
leveling the freezing and chilling chamber doors 11 and 12 so as
not to be tilted in the transverse or longitudinal direction.
[0037] Further, the height adjustable legs 30 are installed at both
corners of the front part of the bottom surface 10a such that
heights of the height adjustable legs 30 can be adjusted, thereby
allowing the refrigerator 1 to be installed at a desired position
when the refrigerator 1 is leveled.
[0038] Hereinafter, with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3, a process for
moving the refrigerator 1 to a target position and leveling the
refrigerator by means of the above-described rolling unit 20 and
height adjustable legs 30 will be described.
[0039] FIG. 2 is a partial front view of the refrigerator 1 when
the refrigerator 1 is moved while supported at three points by the
front and rear wheels 20a and 20b, and FIG. 3 is a partial front
view of the refrigerator 1 when the refrigerator 1 is installed on
the floor 5 of the indoor space when the refrigerator 1 is leveled
on the floor 5 by the front and rear wheels 20a and 20b and the
height adjustable legs 30.
[0040] As shown in FIG. 2, in order to move the position of the
refrigerator 1, when the refrigerator 1 is pushed when the height
adjustable legs 30 are raised so that the front and rear wheels 20a
and 20b contact the floor 5 of the indoor space, the front and rear
wheels 20a and 20b are rotated and the refrigerator 1, which is
supported at three points on the floor 5 of the indoor space, is
moved.
[0041] As described above, the refrigerator 1 is moved while
supported at three points on the floor 5 of the indoor space, thus
being capable of being smoothly and rapidly moved even when the
floor 5 of the indoor space is not even, compared to the
conventional refrigerator, which is moved while supported at four
points, and decreasing the probability of damaging the floor 5 of
the indoor space due to the careless movement.
[0042] After the refrigerator 1 is moved to a desired position, the
front part of the main body 10 is supported at one point by the
front wheel 20a installed at the approximately central point of the
bottom surface 10a of the main body 10. Accordingly, as long as the
rear part of the main body 10 supported by the rear wheels 20b is
horizontally disposed, the front part of the main body 10 can be
horizontally disposed.
[0043] Further, in the case that the refrigerator 1 is not leveled,
it can be easily determined whether or not the refrigerator 1 is
tilted to one side by means of the front wheel 20a installed at the
approximately central point of the bottom surface 10a of the main
body.
[0044] Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 3, when the height adjustable
legs 30 installed at both corners of the front part of the bottom
surface 10 are lowered so that the heights of the height adjustable
legs 30 are adjusted, the refrigerator 1, which was leveled, is
supported by the front and rear wheels 20a and 20b and a pair of
the height adjustable legs 30.
[0045] FIGS. 4 and 5 illustrate alternative structures or positions
of the rolling unit 20 of the refrigerator 1 according to
alternative embodiments of the present invention. Hereinafter, as
the alternative embodiments shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 will be
described.
[0046] FIG. 4 is a schematic exploded perspective view illustrating
a bottom surface of a refrigerator in accordance with a second
embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 4, the
refrigerator 1 of the second embodiment is the same as that of the
first embodiment except that the front and rear wheels 20a and 20b
of the rolling unit 20 are rolling balls.
[0047] That is, in the refrigerator 1 of the second embodiment, the
rolling unit 20 includes one front wheel 20a, having a ball
structure, installed at the approximately central point of the
front part of the bottom surface 10a of the main body 10, and a
pair of rear wheels 20b, each having a ball structure, installed at
both corners of the rear part of the bottom surface 10a of the main
body 10.
[0048] Accordingly, the refrigerator 1 of the second embodiment can
be rapidly moved rectilinearly or curved by a small force, compared
to the refrigerator 1 of the first embodiment in which the front
and rear wheels 20a and 20b of the rolling unit 20 are respectively
made of rollers.
[0049] FIG. 5 is a schematic exploded perspective view illustrating
a bottom surface of a refrigerator in accordance with a third
embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 5, the
refrigerator 1 of the third embodiment is the same as that of the
first embodiment except that positions of the front and rear wheels
20a and 20b of the rolling unit 20 are modified.
[0050] That is, in the refrigerator 1 of the third embodiment, the
rolling unit 20 includes a pair of front wheels 20a installed at
both corners of the front part of the bottom surface 10a of the
main body 10 and serving as one moving member, and one rear wheel
20b installed at the approximately central point of the rear part
of the bottom surface 10a and serving as other moving members.
[0051] Accordingly, the refrigerator 1 of the third embodiment is
moved while supported at three points on the floor 5 of the indoor
space in the same manner as those of the first and second
embodiments, thus being easily and rapidly moved.
[0052] The above-described embodiments of the present invention
provide a refrigerator, which is moved while supported at three
points, thus being easily and rapidly moved compared to
conventional refrigerators. Further, the refrigerator is easily and
rapidly leveled when the refrigerator is located at a desired
position, thus being rapidly handled. Moreover, since freezing and
chilling chamber doors of the refrigerator are leveled without
tilting in the transverse and longitudinal directions, sealing
force of the freezing and chilling chamber doors is improved and
opening and closing operation of the freezing and chilling chamber
doors is smoothly performed.
[0053] Since the refrigerator of the above-described embodiments of
the present invention is moved and installed while supported at
three points, a difference of heights of the doors can be
efficiently adjusted. Thereby, gaskets installed on the doors more
firmly contact a main body of the refrigerator, thereby preventing
cold air from being discharged to the outside of the main body and
improving cooling efficiency of the refrigerator.
[0054] The refrigerator of the above-described embodiments of the
present invention prevents fan noise, generated therefrom, from
being audible due to firm contact between the main body and the
doors, and efficiently adjusts a difference of heights of the
doors, thereby easily adjusting the gradient of a machinery chamber
in the main body, thus easily and efficiently reducing noise
generated from compressors and fans installed in the machinery
chamber.
[0055] Although a few embodiments of the present invention have
been shown and described, the present invention is not limited to
the described embodiments. Instead, it would be appreciated by
those skilled in the art that changes may be made to these
embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the
invention, the scope of which is defined by the claims and their
equivalents.
* * * * *