Refrigerator including door open module

Abstract

In a refrigerator according to the present invention, since the door open module disposed on the lower inner surface of the storage compartment can move the drawer assembly forward and rearward by pushing and pulling the drawer assembly disposed on the lower inner surface of the storage compartment, the drawer assembly can be pulled in or out without the gear rack or pinion gear of the door open module being directly fastened to the drawer assembly.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A refrigerator comprising:
 a cabinet including one or more storage compartments;   a drawer assembly including a door unit for opening and closing a front surface of the storage compartment and a storage unit accommodated within the storage compartment;   a rail assembly that guides movement of the drawer assembly in a front-rear direction; and   a door open module that is disposed on a lower inner surface of the storage compartment, pushes and moves the drawer assembly forward, and pulls and moves the drawer assembly rearward.   
     
     
         2 . The refrigerator of  claim 1 , wherein the door open module includes:
 one or more multi-stage rack-and-pinion assemblies;   one or more driving assemblies that drive the rack-and-pinion assemblies; and   a locking assembly configured to engage with and disengage from the storage unit.   
     
     
         3 . The refrigerator of  claim 2 , further comprising a machine compartment disposed behind the storage compartment,
 wherein the multi-stage rack-and-pinion assembly includes three or more gear racks.   
     
     
         4 . The refrigerator of  claim 2 , wherein, when the door open module moves the drawer assembly forward in a state in which the drawer assembly completely moves rearward,
 the rack-and-pinion assembly pushes a rear surface of the door unit to release contact between the door unit and the cabinet.   
     
     
         5 . The refrigerator of  claim 4 , wherein the rack-and-pinion assembly includes a plurality of gear racks, and
 a gear rack pulled out the shortest distance forward from the rack-and-pinion assembly among the plurality of gear racks pushes the rear surface of the door unit.   
     
     
         6 . The refrigerator of  claim 2 , wherein the door open module further includes one or more pushing members that are disposed at a rear of the storage unit and push a rear surface of the storage unit to move the drawer assembly forward. 
     
     
         7 . The refrigerator of  claim 6 , wherein the pushing member pushes the rear surface of the storage unit after the rack-and-pinion assembly pushes a rear surface of the door unit. 
     
     
         8 . The refrigerator of  claim 2 , wherein the locking assembly is provided with a hook member that configured to engage with the storage unit when the drawer assembly moves forward or rearward and is configured to disengage from the storage unit in a closed state of the drawer assembly. 
     
     
         9 . The refrigerator of  claim 2 , wherein the rack-and-pinion assembly includes a first rack-and-pinion assembly and a second rack-and-pinion assembly that are respectively disposed on one side and the other side of the storage compartment, and
 the driving assembly includes a first driving assembly and a second driving assembly that drive the first rack-and-pinion assembly and the second rack-and-pinion assembly, respectively.   
     
     
         10 . The refrigerator of  claim 9 , wherein the locking assembly includes a locking assembly extension bar extending in the left-right direction of the storage compartment so that one side and the other side are connected to the first rack-and-pinion assembly and the second rack-and-pinion assembly, respectively, and
 the locking assembly extension bar synchronizes the operation of the first rack-and-pinion assembly and the second rack-and-pinion assembly.   
     
     
         11 . The refrigerator of  claim 1 , wherein the drawer assembly is movable along the rail assembly in the front-rear direction by driving the door open module in an automatic door open mode, and
 the drawer assembly is movable along the rail assembly in the front-rear direction by a user in a state in which the door open module is not driven in a manual open mode.   
     
     
         12 . The refrigerator of  claim 1 , wherein the rail assembly is provided as a pair of rail assemblies and is disposed on each of both sides of the storage unit. 
     
     
         13 . The refrigerator of  claim 12 , further comprising a rail connection bar extending in a left-right direction of the storage compartment so that one side and the other side are connected to the pair of rail assemblies, respectively,
 wherein the door open module further includes one or more pushing members that are located at a rear of the storage unit to push the rail connection bar and push the drawer assembly supported by the pair of rail assemblies.   
     
     
         14 . The refrigerator of  claim 1 , wherein the rail assembly supports the storage unit so that a clearance space is formed between a lower surface of the storage unit and an upper surface of the door open module, and
 the clearance space is maintained when the drawer assembly moves forward and rearward.   
     
     
         15 . The refrigerator of  claim 14 , wherein the rail assembly is a multi-stage rail assembly whose length is extendable and retractable, depending on the forward and rearward movements of the drawer assembly. 
     
     
         16 . A refrigerator comprising:
 a cabinet including one or more storage compartments;   a storage unit disposed within the storage compartment;   one or more rail assemblies that guide movement of the storage unit; and   a door open module that is disposed on a lower inner surface of the storage compartment and moves the storage unit in a front-rear direction,   wherein the door open module is driven by a rack-and-pinion driving method by including a plurality of gear racks and a plurality of pinion gears, and   a rotational axis of the pinion gear extends in a vertical direction of the storage compartment.   
     
     
         17 . The refrigerator of  claim 16 , wherein the plurality of gear racks and the plurality of pinion gears are not in contact with a lower surface of the storage unit. 
     
     
         18 . The refrigerator of  claim 16 , wherein the door open module moves the storage unit forward by pushing a rear surface of the storage unit and moves the storage unit rearward by pulling the rear surface of the storage unit. 
     
     
         19 . The refrigerator of  claim 16 , wherein the storage unit and the door open module are disengaged in a state in which the storage unit is completely stored in the storage compartment. 
     
     
         20 . The refrigerator of  claim 16 , wherein the storage unit and the door open module are engaged in a state in which the storage unit is spaced a predetermined distance from a rear surface of the storage compartment.