CN102384631B

CN102384631B - Shelf assembly for refrigerator and refrigerator with same

Info

Publication number: CN102384631B
Application number: CN 201110320905
Authority: CN
Inventors: 潘舒伟; 文坚; 潘巨忠
Original assignee: Hefei Hualing Co Ltd; Hefei Midea Rongshida Refrigerator Co Ltd
Current assignee: Hefei Hualing Co Ltd; Hefei Midea Refrigerator Co Ltd
Priority date: 2011-10-20
Filing date: 2011-10-20
Publication date: 2013-08-14
Anticipated expiration: 2031-10-20
Also published as: CN102384631A

Abstract

The invention discloses a shelf assembly for a refrigerator. The refrigerator comprises a box body, the shelf assembly comprises a shelf plate, a first supporting bar and a second supporting bar, wherein the shelf plate is suitable to be horizontally arranged in the box body, the first supporting bar extends left and right, is approximately in a U shape, is provided with at least one wave part at the bottom surface, is arranged at the lower side of the shelf plate and can pivot in a vertical position and a horizontal position, the second supporting bar extends left and right, is approximately in the U shape, is provided with at least one wave part at the bottom surface, is vertically positioned and can be movably at the lower side of the shelf from front to back, and the first supporting bar and the second supporting bar are separately arranged along the front and the back directions. When the first supporting bar is pivoted to the horizontal position from the vertical position, the second supporting bar moves from front to back; and when the first supporting bar is pivoted to the vertical position from the horizontal position, the second supporting bar moves from back to front. According to the shelf assembly disclosed by the embodiment of the invention, wine bottles are convenient to store, and the space utilization rate is improved. The invention also discloses the refrigerator with the shelf assembly.

Description

Shelf assembly for refrigerator and refrigerator with shelf assembly

Technical Field

The invention relates to the field of refrigeration equipment, in particular to a refrigerator and a shelf assembly thereof.

Background

At present, wine racks on the market are mostly of injection molding trays, are made of ps or ABS materials and are directly placed on a glass shelf in a refrigerator, mainly used for limiting wine bottles to roll left and right to achieve the purpose of stable storage, and are all-steel wire grid type and mainly formed by welding a plurality of wave-shaped steel wires. When the wine rack is not used, users often take out the wine rack for storage in order to avoid occupying too much space, and the operation is inconvenient.

Disclosure of Invention

The present invention is directed to solving at least one of the problems of the prior art.

To this end, it is an object of the present invention to provide a shelf assembly for a refrigerator that allows wine bottles to be stored conveniently and at low cost.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a refrigerator having the above shelf assembly, which improves the space utilization of the refrigerator.

According to a first aspect embodiment of the present invention, a shelf assembly for a refrigerator including a cabinet, the shelf assembly includes: the shelf is suitable for being horizontally arranged in the box body; a first support bar extending in a left-right direction, the first support bar being substantially U-shaped and having at least one wavy portion on a bottom surface, the first support bar being provided on a lower side of the shelf and being pivotable between a vertical position and a horizontal position; the second supporting strip extends in the left-right direction, is approximately U-shaped, is provided with at least one wavy part at the bottom surface, is positioned at a vertical position and is arranged on the lower side of the shelf in a manner of moving back and forth, and is spaced from the first supporting strip in the front-back direction; when the first supporting strip pivots from the vertical position to the horizontal position, the second supporting strip moves from front to back, and when the first supporting strip pivots from the horizontal position to the vertical position, the second supporting strip moves from back to front.

According to the shelf assembly provided by the embodiment of the invention, the first supporting strip and the second supporting strip are arranged on the lower side of the shelf, the first supporting strip can pivot between a vertical position and a horizontal position, and the second supporting strip can move between a front position and a rear position.

In addition, the shelf assembly according to the invention has the following additional technical features:

according to one embodiment of the invention, each of the first and second support bars comprises: the upper ends of the left connecting section and the right connecting section are respectively connected to the shelf; and the both ends of interlude are connected to respectively the lower extreme of left linkage segment and right linkage segment, wherein wave portion forms on the interlude, make the beverage bottle deposit stably through the wave portion of interlude, avoid rolling.

Optionally, first support bar and second support bar are respectively by a steel wire bending roll-forming, not only pleasing to the eye and long service life, can bear the weight of beverage bottle and avoid dropping of beverage bottle.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the shelf assembly further comprises: the pair of driving gears are respectively and rotatably arranged on the lower sides of the left end and the right end of the shelf and are connected with two ends of the first supporting strip so as to drive the first supporting strip to pivot; and the pair of driven racks are respectively matched with the pair of driving gears in a one-to-one correspondence manner so as to convert the rotation of the driving gears into the back and forth movement of the driven racks, the pair of driven racks are respectively connected with the two ends of the second supporting bar so as to drive the second supporting bar to move back and forth, the folding and unfolding processes of the shelf assembly are controlled through the meshing of the gear racks, and the rack assembly is simple to operate, stable in operation and convenient to maintain.

Optionally, the driving gear is a sector gear, so that the driving gear runs stably and is convenient to maintain.

Optionally, the central angle of the driving gear is 80-150 degrees.

According to one embodiment of the invention, the shelf assembly further comprises: the pair of hinge seats are respectively fixed on the lower surfaces of the left end and the right end of the shelf, and the pair of driving gears are respectively installed on the pair of hinge seats; the pair of pivot shafts are respectively arranged on the pair of hinge seats in a one-to-one correspondence mode, the driving gear can pivot relative to the corresponding pivot shafts, and the driving gear is connected to the lower side of the shelf through the hinge seats and the pivot shafts so as to drive the first supporting strips to pivot, so that the shelf assembly is convenient to assemble and stable in structure.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the shelf assembly further comprises: the pair of sliding grooves are respectively arranged on the lower surfaces of the left end and the right end of the shelf and extend along the front-back direction, and the pair of driven racks respectively move back and forth in the pair of sliding grooves; wherein all be formed with the opening on each in a pair of spout and the driving gear passes through the opening stretches into in the spout with the driven rack cooperation, thereby through being provided with the spout fixed driven rack, avoided the wearing and tearing to the shelf, prolonged the life of shelf subassembly.

According to one embodiment of the invention, a plurality of protrusions are formed in each sliding groove to increase the friction force between the corresponding driven rack and the sliding groove, so that the first supporting strip is prevented from naturally falling due to gravity when the first supporting strip is in a horizontal position.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, at least one protruding friction portion is formed between each hinge seat and the corresponding driving gear, so as to increase the friction force between the corresponding driving gear and the hinge seat, and prevent the first supporting bar from falling down naturally due to gravity when the first supporting bar is in a horizontal position.

A refrigerator according to an embodiment of a second aspect of the present invention includes: the refrigerator comprises a refrigerator body, a door body and a door body, wherein the front side of the refrigerator body is open, a refrigerating chamber is limited in the refrigerator body, and slots extending along the front-back direction are formed in the left side wall and the right side wall of the refrigerating chamber respectively; the door body is used for opening or closing the front side of the box body; according to the shelf assembly provided by the embodiment of the first aspect of the invention, the left and right side edges of the shelf are matched with the slots to assemble the shelf into the refrigerator body, when the first supporting strips pivot from the vertical position to the horizontal position, the second supporting strips move from front to back to be close to the rear wall of the refrigerator body, and when the first supporting strips pivot from the horizontal position to the vertical position, the second supporting strips move from back to front to support wine bottles together with the first supporting strips.

According to the refrigerator provided by the embodiment of the invention, the rack assembly is adopted, when wine bottles need to be stored, the first supporting bars are pivoted to the vertical position, and meanwhile, the second supporting bars move from back to front to support the wine bottles together with the first supporting bars, so that the wine bottles are placed below the shelf, and the space utilization rate is improved. When the wine bottle does not need to be stored, the first supporting strips are pivoted to the horizontal position, namely, the first supporting strips are stored at the position close to the shelf, meanwhile, the second supporting strips are retreated to the position close to the rear wall of the refrigerating chamber, the purpose of saving space is achieved, and the shelf assembly is lower in cost than the traditional wine rack, so that the cost of the refrigerator is reduced, the installation is convenient, and the use is convenient.

Additional 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.

Drawings

The above and/or additional aspects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent and readily appreciated from the following description of the embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings of which:

FIG. 1 is a top view of a shelf assembly according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a front view of the shelf assembly of FIG. 1 with the first support bar in an upright position;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line A-A of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a schematic view of the first support bar of the shelf assembly of FIG. 1 in an upright position;

FIG. 5 is a front view of the shelf assembly of FIG. 1 with the first support bar in a horizontal position;

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along line B-B of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a schematic view of the shelf assembly of FIG. 1 with the first support bar in a horizontal position;

FIG. 8 is a schematic view of a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention, wherein a first support bar of a shelf assembly is in a horizontal position;

FIG. 9 is a schematic view of another angle of the refrigerator shown in FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a schematic view of a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention, wherein a first support bar of a shelf assembly is in a vertical position;

FIG. 11 is a schematic view of another angle of the refrigerator shown in FIG. 10; and

fig. 12 is a schematic view illustrating a state in which the rack assembly stores wine bottles in the refrigerator.

Detailed Description

Reference will now be made in detail to embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like or similar reference numerals refer to the same or similar elements or elements having the same or similar function throughout. The embodiments described below with reference to the accompanying drawings are illustrative only for the purpose of explaining the present invention, and are not to be construed as limiting the present invention.

In the description of the present invention, it is to be understood that the terms "upper", "lower", "front", "rear", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "top", "bottom", "inner", "outer", etc., indicate orientations or positional relationships based on those shown in the drawings, and are only for convenience of description and simplicity of description, but do not indicate or imply that the device or element being referred to must have a particular orientation, be constructed and operated in a particular orientation, and thus, are not to be construed as limiting the present invention. Furthermore, the terms "first" and "second" are used for descriptive purposes only and are not to be construed as indicating or implying relative importance.

In the description of the present invention, it should be noted that, unless otherwise explicitly specified or limited, the terms "mounted," "connected," and "connected" are to be construed broadly, e.g., as meaning either a fixed connection, a removable connection, or an integral connection; may be a mechanical connection; they may be connected directly or indirectly through intervening media, or they may be interconnected between two elements. The specific meanings of the above terms in the present invention can be understood in specific cases to those skilled in the art. In addition, in the description of the present invention, "a plurality" means two or more unless otherwise specified.

A shelf assembly 100 for a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the first aspect of the present invention will be described with reference to fig. 1 to 7, wherein the refrigerator includes a case 9, and the shelf assembly 100 is provided in the case 9 for storing wine bottles and other articles.

According to the shelf assembly 100 for the refrigerator according to the embodiment of the present invention, as shown in fig. 1 to 7, the shelf assembly 100 includes: shelf 1, first support bar 2 and second support bar 3, wherein shelf 1 is adapted to be horizontally positioned within a box 9 for holding food.

The first supporting bar 2 extends in the left-right direction, the first supporting bar 2 is substantially U-shaped and has at least one wave portion 20 on the bottom surface for storing wine bottles, and the wine bottles are prevented from rolling left and right and falling, and the first supporting bar 2 is provided on the lower side of the shelf 1 and can pivot between a vertical position and a horizontal position. The second supporting strip 3 extends in the left-right direction, the second supporting strip 3 is approximately U-shaped, the bottom surface of the second supporting strip 3 is provided with at least one wave part 30 for storing wine bottles, the second supporting strip 3 is located at a vertical position and is arranged at the lower side of the shelf 1 in a front-back moving mode, the second supporting strip 3 and the first supporting strip 2 are arranged at intervals in the front-back direction, when the first supporting strip 2 pivots from the vertical position to the horizontal position, the second supporting strip 3 moves from front to back, and when the first supporting strip 2 pivots from the horizontal position to the vertical position, the second supporting strip 3 moves from back to front.

In the description of the present invention, the first supporting bars 2 are located at the "vertical position" to mean that the plane of the first supporting bars 2 is approximately vertical to the shelf 1, similarly, the second supporting bars 3 are located at the "vertical position" to mean that the plane of the second supporting bars 3 is approximately vertical to the shelf 1, and the first supporting bars 2 are located at the "horizontal position" to mean that the plane of the first supporting bars 2 is approximately parallel to the shelf 1, that is, adjacent to and parallel to the shelf 1.

When shelf assembly 100 is in the expanded state, that is, first support bar 2 is in the vertical position, second support bar 3 and first support bar 2 are spaced apart in the fore-and-aft direction, and wine bottles can be stored through wave portions 20 and 30, and when wine bottles do not need to be stored, shelf assembly 100 is folded, that is, first support bar 2 is pivoted to the horizontal position, and at the same time, second support bar 3 is moved backward to the position close to the rear wall of box 9.

According to the shelf assembly 100 provided by the embodiment of the invention, the first supporting strips 2 and the second supporting strips 3 are arranged on the lower side of the shelf 1, the first supporting strips 2 can pivot between a vertical position and a horizontal position, and the second supporting strips 3 can move between a front position and a rear position, when the first supporting strips 2 are in the vertical position, the first supporting strips 2 and the second supporting strips 3 can jointly support wine bottles, so that the wine bottles can be placed below the shelf 1, when the wine bottles do not need to be stored, the first supporting strips 2 can pivot to the horizontal position, and meanwhile, the second supporting strips 3 are driven to move backwards to the rear wall of the box body 9, so that the space in the box body 9 is greatly saved, the space utilization rate is improved, the cost is low, the operation is simple, and the.

As shown in fig. 3, in one embodiment of the present invention, each of the first and

second support bars

2 and 3 includes: left and

right connection sections

2a and 3a, 2b and 3b, and

middle sections

2c and 3c, wherein upper ends of the left and

right connection sections

2a and 3a and 2b and 3b are connected to the shelf 1, respectively, and both ends of the

middle sections

2c and 3c are connected to lower ends of the left and

right connection sections

2a and 3a and 2b and 3b, respectively, wherein the wave parts 20 and 30 are formed on the

middle sections

2c and 3 c. That is, each of the first support bars 2 includes: a left connection section 2a, a right connection section 2b, and an intermediate section 2c, wherein upper ends of the left connection section 2a and the right connection section 2b are connected to the shelf 1, respectively, and both ends of the intermediate section 2c are connected to lower ends of the left connection section 2a and the right connection section 2b, respectively, wherein a wave portion 20 is formed on the intermediate section 2 c. Each of the second supporting bars 3 includes: a left connection section 3a, a right connection section 3b, and an intermediate section 3c, wherein upper ends of the left connection section 3a and the right connection section 3b are connected to the shelf 1, respectively, and both ends of the intermediate section 3c are connected to lower ends of the left connection section 3a and the right connection section 3b, respectively, wherein a wave portion 30 is formed on the intermediate section 3 c.

In an example of the present invention, the first supporting bar 2 and the second supporting bar 3 are respectively formed by bending and rolling a steel wire, which is not only beautiful, but also has a long service life, and can bear the weight of a wine bottle to prevent the wine bottle from falling. As shown in fig. 3, the upper end of the left connecting section 2a of the first supporting bar 2 is connected to the left lower side of the shelf 1, the upper end of the right connecting section 2b is connected to the right lower side of the shelf 1, the left connecting section 2a and the right connecting section 2b extend downwards in the direction from top to bottom respectively, the two ends of the middle section 2c are connected to the lower ends of the left connecting section 2a and the right connecting section 2b respectively and are horizontally arranged, and at least one wave part 20 is formed on the middle section 2c and is used for being matched with a cylindrical body of a common wine bottle to store the wine bottle. The shape of the second support strip 3 corresponds to the shape of the first support strip 2 and will not be described in detail here.

In one embodiment of the present invention, as shown in fig. 2 to 7, the shelf assembly 100 further includes a pair of

driving gears

4a, 4b and a pair of driven

racks

5a, 5b, wherein the pair of

driving gears

4a, 4b are rotatably disposed at lower sides of left and right ends of the shelf 1, respectively, and are connected to both ends of the first support bar 2 to drive the first support bar 2 to pivot, and optionally, the pair of

driving gears

4a and 4b are sector gears. Alternatively, the central angle of the

drive gears

4a and 4b is 80-150 degrees. The pair of driven

racks

5a and 5b are respectively matched with the pair of

driving gears

4a and 4b in a one-to-one correspondence manner to convert the rotation of the

driving gears

4a and 4b into the front and back movement of the driven

racks

5a and 5b, and the pair of driven

racks

5a and 5b are respectively connected with two ends of the second supporting bar 3 to drive the second supporting bar 3 to move front and back.

For example, as shown in fig. 3 and 7, a driving gear 4a is rotatably provided at a lower side of a left end of the shelf 1, a driving gear 4b is rotatably provided at a lower side of a right end of the shelf 1, and the driving gear 4a is connected with a left connecting section 2a of the first support bar 2, and the driving gear 4b is connected with a right connecting section 2b of the first support bar 2 to drive the first support bar 2 to pivot. Meanwhile, the driven rack 5a is matched with the driving gear 4a to convert the rotation of the driving gear 4a into the front and back movement of the driven rack 5a, the driven rack 5b is matched with the driving gear 4b to convert the rotation of the driving gear 4b into the front and back movement of the driven rack 5b, the driven rack 5a is connected with the left connecting section 3a of the second supporting strip 3, and the driven rack 5b is connected with the right connecting section 3b of the second supporting strip 3 to drive the second supporting strip 3 to move back and forth.

At this moment, when the beverage bottle needs to be deposited, the first supporting strip 2 is pushed by a hand to rotate from the horizontal position to the vertical position, the pair of driving

gears

4a and 4b connected with the first supporting strip 2 rotate at this moment, the driven

racks

5a and 5b move back and forth through the matching of the driving gears 4a and 4b and the driven

racks

5a and 5b, so that the second supporting strip 3 is driven to move back and forth, the folding and unfolding processes of the shelf assembly 100 are controlled through the meshing of the racks and the gears, the operation is simple, the operation is stable, and the maintenance is convenient.

As shown in fig. 2 to 7, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the shelf assembly 100 further includes a pair of

hinge bases

6a and 6b and a pair of pivot shafts 7a and 7b, wherein the pair of

hinge bases

6a and 6b are respectively fixed on lower surfaces of left and right ends of the shelf 1, and the pair of driving

gears

4a and 4b are respectively installed on the pair of

hinge bases

6a and 6b, the pair of pivot shafts 7a and 7b are respectively provided on the pair of

hinge bases

6a and 6b in a one-to-one correspondence, and the driving gears 4a and 4b are pivotable with respect to the corresponding pivot shafts 7a and 7b, and the driving gears 4a and 4b are connected to a lower side of the shelf 1 through the

hinge bases

6a and 6b and the pivot shafts 7a and 7b to drive the first support bar 2 to pivot, so that the shelf assembly 100 is convenient to assemble and stable in structure.

Specifically, as shown in fig. 2 to 7, a hinge base 6a is fixed on a lower surface of the left end of the shelf 1, a driving gear 4a is mounted on the hinge base 6a, a pivot shaft 7a is provided on the hinge base 6a and the driving gear 4a is pivotable with respect to the pivot shaft 7 a. A hinge base 6b is fixed on the lower surface of the right end of the shelf 1, a driving gear 4b is mounted on the hinge base 6b, a pivot shaft 7b is provided on the hinge base 6b and the driving gear 4b is pivotable with respect to the pivot shaft 7 b.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, as shown in fig. 2 to 7, the shelf assembly 100 further includes a pair of sliding grooves 8a, 8b, the pair of sliding grooves 8a, 8b are respectively provided on the lower surfaces of the left and right ends of the shelf 1 and extend in the front-rear direction, wherein the pair of driven

racks

5a, 5b respectively move back and forth in the pair of sliding grooves 8a, 8b, wherein openings 80a and 80b are formed on each of the pair of sliding grooves 8a, 8b and the driving gears 4a, 4b protrude into the sliding grooves 8a, 8b through the openings 80a and 80b to be engaged with the driven

racks

5a, 5b, and the driven

racks

5a, 5b are fixed by providing the sliding grooves 8a, 8b, thereby preventing the abrasion of the shelf 1 and extending the lifespan of the shelf assembly 100.

For example, as shown in fig. 2 to 7, a slide groove 8a is provided on a lower surface of the left end of the shelf 1 and extends in the front-rear direction, the driven rack 5a moves back and forth in the slide groove 8a, and an opening 80a is formed in the slide groove 8a, through which the driving gear 4a extends into the slide groove 8a to be engaged with the driven rack 5 a. The sliding groove 8b is formed in the lower surface of the right end of the shelf 1 and extends in the front-rear direction, the driven rack 5b moves back and forth in the sliding groove 8b, an opening 80b is formed in the sliding groove 8b, and the driving gear 4b extends into the sliding groove 8b through the opening 80b to be matched with the driven rack 5 b.

Since the first support bar 2 may naturally fall due to gravity when the first support bar 2 is in the horizontal position, in an embodiment of the present invention, a plurality of protrusions (not shown) are formed in each sliding slot 8a, 8b to increase the friction between the corresponding driven

rack

5a, 5b and the sliding slot 8a, 8b, that is, a plurality of protrusions are formed in the sliding slot 8a to increase the friction between the driven rack 5a and the sliding slot 8a, and a plurality of protrusions are formed in the sliding slot 8b to increase the friction between the driven rack 5b and the sliding slot 8b, so that the first support bar 2 is prevented from naturally falling due to gravity when the first support bar 2 is in the horizontal position.

Of course, it should be understood by those skilled in the art that the present invention is not limited thereto, and in another embodiment of the present invention, at least one raised friction portion (not shown) may be further formed between each hinge

seat

6a, 6b and the opposite surface of its

corresponding driving gear

4a, 4b to increase the friction force between the

corresponding driving gear

4a, 4b and the

hinge seat

6a, 6b, that is, at least one raised friction portion is formed between the hinge seat 6a and the opposite surface of the driving gear 4a to increase the friction force between the driving gear 4a and the hinge seat 6a, and at least one raised friction portion is formed between the hinge seat 6b and the opposite surface of the driving gear 4b to increase the friction force between the driving gear 4b and the hinge seat 6b, so as to prevent the first support bar 2 from naturally falling down due to gravity when the first support bar is in the horizontal position.

In some embodiments of the invention, as shown in fig. 1, the shelf 1 is made of toughened glass 10, and the perimeter of the shelf 1 is provided with an injection moulded rim 11, and the runners 8a, 8b are injection moulded integrally with the injection moulded rim 11. Of course, the invention is not limited thereto and in other embodiments of the invention the shelf 1 is made of a rigid plastics material and the runners 8a, 8b are injection moulded integrally with the shelf 1.

A refrigerator 200 for refrigerating articles such as wine bottles or the like according to an embodiment of the second aspect of the present invention will be described with reference to fig. 8 to 12.

The refrigerator 200 according to the embodiment of the present invention, as shown in fig. 8 to 12, includes: the refrigerator comprises a refrigerator body 9, a door body (not shown) and a shelf assembly 100, wherein the front side of the refrigerator body 9 is opened, a refrigerating chamber 90 is defined inside the refrigerator body for containing articles, and slots 90 extending in the front-back direction are formed on the left side wall and the right side wall of the refrigerating chamber 90 respectively. The door body is used to open or close the front side of the cabinet 9. The shelf assembly 100 is the shelf assembly 100 for the refrigerator according to the embodiment of the first aspect of the present invention, the left and right side edges of the shelf 1 are matched with the insertion grooves 90 to assemble the shelf 1 into the refrigerator body 9, wherein when the first support bar 2 is pivoted from the vertical position to the horizontal position, the second support bar 3 is moved from front to back to be close to the rear wall of the refrigerator body 90, when the first support bar 2 is pivoted from the horizontal position to the vertical position, the second support bar 3 is moved from back to front to support the wine bottle together with the first support bar 2, wherein the wine bottle is supported together by the plurality of wave parts 20 and 30 provided on the middle section 2c of the first support bar 2 and the middle section 3c of the second support bar 3, and the wave trough of each wave part corresponds to the position of one wine bottle respectively.

According to the refrigerator 200 of the embodiment of the invention, by adopting the shelf assembly 100, when wine bottles need to be stored, the first supporting bars 2 are pivoted to a vertical position, and meanwhile, the second supporting bars 3 move forwards from the back to support the wine bottles together with the first supporting bars 2, so that the wine bottles are hung below the shelf 1, and the space utilization rate is improved. When the wine bottle does not need to be stored, the first supporting strips 2 are pivoted to the horizontal position, namely, the first supporting strips are stored at the position close to the shelf 1, meanwhile, the second supporting strips 3 are retreated to the position close to the rear wall of the refrigerating chamber 90, the purpose of saving space is achieved, and the shelf assembly 100 is lower than the traditional wine rack in cost, so that the cost of the refrigerator 200 is reduced, and the wine rack is convenient to install and convenient to use.

The assembly and use of the shelf assemblies 100 in the refrigerator 200 according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to fig. 1 to 12, and the following description will be made by taking only one shelf assembly 100 installed in the refrigerator 200 as an example.

The shelf assembly 100 is assembled into the refrigerator body 9 by fitting the left and right side edges of the shelf 1 in the shelf assembly 100 into the insertion grooves 90.

At this time, the shelf assembly 100 is in a folded state, i.e., the first support strip 2 is in a horizontal position, received in a position adjacent to the shelf 1, and the second support strip 3 is adjacent to the rear wall of the refrigerating compartment 90.

When a user needs to store wine bottles, the first supporting bar 2 is pivoted from a horizontal position to a vertical position, in the pivoting process, the driving gears 4a and 4b are connected with the first supporting bar 2 through the pivoting shafts 7a and 7b, at the moment, the driving gears 4a and 4b rotate, the driving gear 4a is meshed with the driven rack 5a through the meshing of the driving gear 4a and the driven rack 5b, the rotation of the driving gears 4a and 4b is converted into the back and forth movement of the driven racks 5a and 5b, the driven rack 5a moves from back to front in the sliding chute 8a under the driving of the driving gear 4a, the driven rack 5b moves from back to front in the sliding chute 8b under the driving of the driving gear 4b, and meanwhile, because two ends of the second supporting bar 3 are respectively connected to the pair of driven racks 5a and 5b, the second supporting bar 3 is driven to move from back to front, when first stay 2 is in vertical position, second stay 3 moves to and first stay 2 interval predetermined position department, and the beverage bottle is supported jointly to a plurality of wave portions 20 and 30 that set up on the interlude 2c of first stay 2 and the interlude 3c of second stay 3 this moment, makes the beverage bottle hang to the below of shelf 1 to improve space utilization.

When the user does not need to store wine bottles, the first supporting strips 2 can be pivoted to the horizontal position by hand and stored at the position close to the shelf 1, meanwhile, through the meshing of the driving gear 4a and the driven rack 5a, the meshing of the driving gear 4b and the driven rack 5b, the second supporting strips 3 are also retreated to the position close to the rear wall of the refrigerating chamber 90, and the purpose of saving space is achieved.

Other configurations of the refrigerator according to the embodiment of the present invention, such as a refrigerating function, etc., and operations are known to those of ordinary skill in the art and will not be described in detail herein.

In the description herein, references to the description of the term "one embodiment," "some embodiments," "an illustrative embodiment," "an example," "a specific example," or "some examples" or the like mean that a particular feature, structure, material, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment or example is included in at least one embodiment or example of the invention. In this specification, the schematic representations of the terms used above do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment or example. Furthermore, the particular features, structures, materials, or characteristics described may be combined in any suitable manner in any one or more embodiments or examples.

While embodiments of the invention have been shown and described, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that: various changes, modifications, substitutions and alterations can be made to the embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the invention, the scope of which is defined by the claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. A shelf assembly for a refrigerator, the refrigerator including a cabinet, comprising:

the shelf is suitable for being horizontally arranged in the box body;

a first support bar extending in a left-right direction, the first support bar being substantially U-shaped and having at least one wavy portion on a bottom surface, the first support bar being provided on a lower side of the shelf and being pivotable between a vertical position and a horizontal position;

the second supporting strip extends in the left-right direction, is approximately U-shaped, is provided with at least one wavy part at the bottom surface, is positioned at a vertical position and is arranged on the lower side of the shelf in a manner of moving back and forth, and is spaced from the first supporting strip in the front-back direction; wherein,

when the first supporting bar pivots from the vertical position to the horizontal position, the second supporting bar moves from front to back, and when the first supporting bar pivots from the horizontal position to the vertical position, the second supporting bar moves from back to front;

the pair of driving gears are respectively and rotatably arranged on the lower sides of the left end and the right end of the shelf and are connected with two ends of the first supporting strip so as to drive the first supporting strip to pivot; and

the pair of driven racks are respectively matched with the pair of driving gears in a one-to-one correspondence mode so as to convert the rotation of the driving gears into the front and back movement of the driven racks, and the pair of driven racks are respectively connected with the two ends of the second supporting strip so as to drive the second supporting strip to move back and forth.

2. The shelf assembly of claim 1, wherein each of the first and second support bars comprises:

the upper ends of the left connecting section and the right connecting section are respectively connected to the shelf; and

and the two ends of the middle section are respectively connected to the lower ends of the left connecting section and the right connecting section, and the wavy part is formed on the middle section.

3. The shelf assembly according to claim 2, wherein the first and second support bars are each formed by bending and rolling a single steel wire.

4. The shelf assembly of claim 1, wherein the drive gear is a sector gear.

5. A shelf assembly as defined in claim 4, wherein the drive gear has a central angle of 80-150 degrees.

6. The shelf assembly of claim 1, further comprising:

the pair of hinge seats are respectively fixed on the lower surfaces of the left end and the right end of the shelf, and the pair of driving gears are respectively installed on the pair of hinge seats;

the pair of pivot shafts are respectively arranged on the pair of hinge bases in a one-to-one correspondence mode, and the driving gear can pivot relative to the corresponding pivot shafts.

7. The shelf assembly of claim 6, further comprising:

the pair of sliding grooves are respectively arranged on the lower surfaces of the left end and the right end of the shelf and extend along the front-back direction, and the pair of driven racks respectively move back and forth in the pair of sliding grooves;

wherein an opening is formed on each of the pair of sliding grooves, and the driving gear extends into the sliding groove through the opening to be matched with the driven rack.

8. A shelf assembly as defined in claim 7, wherein a plurality of projections are formed in each of the runners.

9. A shelf assembly as defined in claim 7, wherein at least one raised friction portion is formed between each hinge block and the opposing face of its respective drive gear.

10. A refrigerator, characterized by comprising:

the refrigerator comprises a refrigerator body, a door body and a door body, wherein the front side of the refrigerator body is open, a refrigerating chamber is limited in the refrigerator body, and slots extending along the front-back direction are formed in the left side wall and the right side wall of the refrigerating chamber respectively;

the door body is used for opening or closing the front side of the box body;

the shelf assembly of any of claims 1-9, wherein left and right side edges of the shelf cooperate with the slots to fit the shelf within the refrigerated compartment, wherein the second support bar moves from front to back to be proximate to a rear wall of the refrigerated compartment when the first support bar is pivoted from the vertical position to the horizontal position, and wherein the second support bar moves from back to front to support a wine bottle in cooperation with the first support bar when the first support bar is pivoted from the horizontal position to the vertical position.