Refrigerator having door opening apparatus

Abstract

A refrigerator with a handle unit allows a user to open a door with a small force. The refrigerator includes a main body including upper and lower storage chambers, a pair of rotating first doors to open and close the upper storage chamber, a second drawer type door to open and close the lower storage chamber, a handle unit mounted on the second door to slidably move in forward and backward directions of the second door, push members moving forward and backward in a direction of the rear surface of the second door, and interlocking units provided between the handle unit and the push members, wherein the interlocking units move the push members in connection with the forward sliding movement of the handle unit to separate the second door from the main body.

1 . A refrigerator, comprising:
 a main body including an upper storage chamber and a lower storage chamber provided under the upper storage chamber, the upper and lower storage chambers divided from each other;   a pair of rotatable first doors to open and close the upper storage chamber;   a second drawer type door to open and close the lower storage chamber;   a handle unit mounted on the second door in a horizontal direction to slidably move in forward and backward directions of the second door;   push members moving forward and backward in a direction of a rear surface of the second door; and   interlocking units provided between the handle unit and the push members to transmit moving force of the handle unit to the push members,   wherein the interlocking units move the push members in the direction of the rear surface of the second door in connection with the forward sliding movement of the handle unit to pressurize the main body, and separate the second door from the main body.   
     
     
         2 . The refrigerator according to  claim 1 , wherein the handle unit includes a grip part gripped by a user, and a pair of sliding connection parts provided at both ends of the grip part and connected to the second door to slidably move forward and backward. 
     
     
         3 . The refrigerator according to  claim 2 , wherein the second door includes guide parts opened forward at positions corresponding to the sliding connection parts to guide sliding movement of the sliding connection parts. 
     
     
         4 . The refrigerator according to  claim 2 , wherein the handle unit further includes slots to prevent separation of the handle unit from the second door during the sliding movement of the handle unit. 
     
     
         5 . The refrigerator according to  claim 2 , wherein the interlocking units are rotated by the forward sliding movement of the handle unit, and the push members slidably move backward toward the main body by the rotation of the interlocking units. 
     
     
         6 . The refrigerator according to  claim 5 , wherein each of the interlocking units includes a rotary shaft, a first rotating part connected to each sliding connection part, and a second rotating part formed at a position opposite to the first rotating part and connected to each push member. 
     
     
         7 . The refrigerator according to  claim 6 , wherein each of the interlocking units further includes an elastic member to return each push member and the handle unit to backward movement positions if external force applied to the handle unit is removed. 
     
     
         8 . The refrigerator according to  claim 7 , wherein the elastic member includes a coil spring connected to the rotary shaft. 
     
     
         9 . The refrigerator according to  claim 2 , wherein the second door includes a front panel forming an external appearance of the second door, and the front panel is provided with openings having four closed surfaces corresponding to the sliding connection parts. 
     
     
         10 . The refrigerator according to  claim 6 , wherein a distance from the rotary shaft to the first rotating part is longer than a distance from the rotary shaft to the second rotating part. 
     
     
         11 . The refrigerator according to  claim 6 , further comprising base parts to rotatably fix the interlocking units,
 wherein each of the base parts includes a slot to delimit a moving distance of the second rotating part.   
     
     
         12 . The refrigerator according to  claim 9 , wherein:
 the second door further includes a door cap mounted on the upper surface of the second door with exposed parts to mount the interlocking units and covers to close the exposed parts, and   regions of the second door between the sliding connection parts and the covers are exposed by the front panel.   
     
     
         13 . The refrigerator according to  claim 1 , wherein the handle unit has a width corresponding to a width of the second door. 
     
     
         14 . The refrigerator according to  claim 6 , further comprising separation prevention pieces to fix the rotary shaft. 
     
     
         15 . A refrigerator, comprising:
 a main body including storage chambers;   doors to open and close the storage chambers;   a handle unit horizontally mounted on an upper portion of one of the doors to slidably move in forward and backward directions of the door; and   a pair of push members moving forward and backward toward an upper edge of the door corresponding to both ends of the handle unit to separate the door from the main body,   wherein the pair of push members pressurizes an edge of the main body in connection with forward sliding movement of the handle unit to separate the door from the main body, and the handle unit is elastically returned to its initial state.   
     
     
         16 . The refrigerator according to  claim 15 , wherein:
 the storage chambers include upper and lower storage chambers vertically divided from each other; and   the door with the handle unit mounted thereon is a drawer-type door to slidably open and close the lower storage chamber.   
     
     
         17 . The refrigerator according to  claim 15 , wherein the handle unit includes a grip part gripped by a user, and a pair of sliding connection parts provided at both ends of the grip part and connected to the door to slidably move forward and backward. 
     
     
         18 . The refrigerator according to  claim 17 , wherein:
 the door includes a front panel forming an external appearance of the door; and   the front panel is provided with openings having four closed surfaces corresponding to the sliding connection parts.