阅读说明：本技术 冰箱及用于冰箱的梁 (Refrigerator and beam for refrigerator ) 是由 李启东 胡春 陈敬辉 于 2020-05-08 设计创作，主要内容包括：本发明实施例提供了一种冰箱及用于冰箱的梁。冰箱包括：储藏室,储藏室具有内壁；用于关闭储藏室的第一门和第二门；以及可转动设置于第一门的梁。梁具有用于容纳隔热材料的容纳空间。梁的端部具有空气阻挡件,在第一门关闭时,空气阻挡件位于端部和内壁之间。空气阻挡件能够有效防止冷气过多泄露,以及凝露的产生。(The embodiment of the invention provides a refrigerator and a beam for the same. The refrigerator includes: a storage compartment having an inner wall; first and second doors for closing the storage chamber; and a beam rotatably disposed at the first door. The beam has a receiving space for receiving an insulation material. The end of the beam has an air barrier located between the end and the inner wall when the first door is closed. The air barrier can effectively prevent the cold air from leaking too much and prevent the condensation from being generated.)

1. A refrigerator (100) comprising:

a storage compartment (102), the storage compartment (102) having an inner wall (103);

a first door (107) and a second door (108) for closing the storage chamber (102);

and a beam (105) rotatably provided to the first door (107), the beam (105) having a receiving space (109) for receiving an insulation material (110);

the method is characterized in that: the beam (105) comprises an air barrier (201a, 201b, 201c) at an end (111) of the beam (105), the air barrier (201a, 201b, 201c) being located between the end (111) and the inner wall (103) when the first door (107) is closed.

2. The refrigerator of claim 1, wherein: the air barrier (201a, 201b, 201c) comprises an air barrier (206a, 206b, 206c), the air barrier (206a, 206b, 206c) having at least one cavity (202a, 202b, 202c) between the end (111) and the inner wall (103).

3. The refrigerator of claim 2, the air barrier (201a, 201b, 201c) comprising a flexible chamber wall (203a, 203b, 203c) forming the cavity (202a, 202b, 202 c).

4. The refrigerator of claim 2, wherein: when the first door (107) is closed, a ratio of a width or a sum of widths of the cavities (202a, 202b, 202c) in a depth direction (D) along the storage compartment (102) to a thickness of the beam (105) in the depth direction (D) along the storage compartment (102) is not less than 1: 2.

5. The refrigerator of claim 2, wherein: the air barrier (201) comprises at least two cavities (202c), at least two cavities (202c) being distributed back and forth in the depth direction (D) of the storage compartment (102) when the first door (107) is closed.

6. The refrigerator of claim 2, wherein: the air barrier (201) comprises at least two of said cavities (202c), and a partition wall (204c) separating adjacent ones of said cavities, at least one end of said partition wall (204c) being connected to a cavity wall (203c) forming an outer surface of said air barrier.

7. The refrigerator of claim 2, wherein: the air barrier (201) further comprises a hard fixing portion (207c) fixed to the end portion (111) of the beam (105).

8. The refrigerator of claim 7, wherein: the fixing part is plate-shaped (207c), and/or the air blocking part (206c) is flat.

9. The refrigerator of claim 7, wherein: the air blocking part (206c) comprises a neck part (208c) formed by extending from one side surface of the fixing part (207c), and a main body part (209c) formed by extending the neck part (208c) to the front wall (312) and/or the rear wall (311) of the beam (105) to form the cavity (202 c).

10. The refrigerator according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein: the end wall of the end portion (111) has a recess (302) located outside the accommodation space, the recess (302) being open toward the inner wall (103), and the air blocking member (201) includes a fixing portion (207c) accommodated in the recess (302).

11. The refrigerator of claim 10, wherein: the groove (302) has a T-shaped cross-section, and the air barrier (201c) includes a neck (208c) that passes through an opening of the groove (302).

12. The refrigerator of claim 10, wherein: the beam (105) comprises a first housing part (303) and a second housing part (301), the first housing part (303) and the second housing part (301) being connected to define the accommodation space (109), the recess (302) being at least partially located between the first housing part (303) and the second housing part (301).

13. The refrigerator of claim 12, wherein: the first housing part (303) comprises a first receiving part (305), the second housing part (301) comprises a second receiving part (304); when the first housing part (303) and the second housing (301) are connected, the first receiving part (305) and the second receiving part (304) at least partially overlap to form the groove (302), and the overlapped parts have a space (a) in a length direction of the beam (105), and the fixing parts (207b, 207c) are at least partially clamped in the space (a).

14. The refrigerator according to any of the preceding claims, said air barrier (201a, 201b, 201c) and said inner wall (103) having a gap (n) therebetween, preferably said gap (n) is not less than 1mm, further preferably said gap (n) is not more than 5 mm.

15. A beam (105) for a refrigerator, said beam (105) being rotatably fixed to a door (107) of said refrigerator (100), characterized in that said beam (105) comprises:

a housing (300), the housing (300) having an accommodating space (109) to accommodate an insulating material (110);

and air barriers (201a, 201b, 201c) fixed to the end (111) of the housing (300).

16. The beam of claim 15, wherein: the air barrier (201a, 201b, 201c) comprises an air barrier (206a, 206b, 206c), the air barrier (206a, 206b, 206c) having at least one cavity (202a, 202b, 202c) located outside the receiving space (109).

17. The beam of claim 15 or 16, wherein: the air barrier (201b, 201c) comprises a fixing portion (207b, 207c) fixed to the housing (300) and a flexible air barrier portion (206b, 206c) located outside the housing (300).

18. The beam defined in claim 15, 16 or 17, wherein: the end part (111) of the shell (300) is provided with a groove (302) positioned outside the accommodating space (109), and the air barriers (206b, 206c) comprise fixing parts (207b, 207c) accommodated in the groove (302).

Technical Field

The embodiment of the invention relates to the field of refrigeration appliances, in particular to a refrigerator and a beam for the refrigerator.

Background

Multi-door refrigerators generally have a rotatably mounted beam for sealing one door to prevent cold air from leaking out of a gap between two doors. However, if the manufacturing error or assembly error of the beam is large, after the two door bodies are closed, a large gap is easily formed between the end part of the beam and the inner wall of the box liner, so that the heat preservation effect of the refrigerator is affected in the use process, and condensation is easily generated at the door seal strip at the gap.

Disclosure of Invention

It is an object of embodiments of the present invention to provide an improved refrigerator and a beam for a refrigerator, which are particularly effective in improving at least one of the above-mentioned technical problems.

An embodiment of the present invention provides a refrigerator, which includes: a storage compartment having an inner wall;

first and second doors for closing the storage chamber; and a beam rotatably provided to the first door, the beam having a receiving space for receiving an insulation material; the beam includes an air barrier at an end of the beam, the air barrier being located between the end and the inner wall when the first door is closed.

The air barrier is provided to facilitate the flow of cold air from the storage compartment toward the door between the end of the beam and the inner wall of the storage compartment opposite the end of the beam, thereby facilitating the reduction of the heat and cold exchange inside and outside the storage compartment, and simultaneously facilitating the reduction of the possibility of condensation.

Optionally, the air barrier may comprise an air barrier, and the air barrier may have at least one cavity between the end and the inner wall. The space of the cavity strengthens the heat insulation performance of the air barrier, thereby improving the performance of the refrigerator.

Optionally, the cavity and the accommodating space are independent of each other.

Alternatively, the air barrier may comprise a flexible chamber wall forming the cavity. The flexible chamber walls may allow the air barrier to deform, which may be advantageous to reduce the likelihood of damage to the air barrier from interfering with the cabinet of the refrigerator, for example, by failing to close the refrigerator door or beam.

Preferably, the chamber wall may be made of an elastic material. The air blocking part is arranged on the door body, and the air blocking part is arranged on the door body.

Alternatively, the cavity may be non-open in a depth direction along the storage compartment when the first door is closed.

Optionally, the cavity may be closed, the closed cavity has relatively better heat insulation effect, and the better heat insulation effect can be achieved by gas (for example, air) in the cavity.

Optionally, when the cavity is a closed cavity, the cavity may be filled with an inert gas.

Alternatively, the cavity may be provided to extend in a width direction along the beam and have a constant cross section. This facilitates an improved constancy of the performance of the air barrier in the width direction of the beam, while it also offers the possibility that the air barrier can be mass-produced by an integrated moulding process.

Optionally, when the first door is closed, a ratio of a width or a sum of widths of the cavities in a depth direction of the storage compartment to a thickness of the beam in the depth direction of the storage compartment is not less than 1: 2. This is advantageous in that the heat insulating performance of the air blocking member is remarkably improved, and also in that the possibility of occurrence of dew condensation in the refrigerator is reduced.

Optionally, the air barrier may comprise at least two of said cavities. At least two of the cavities may be distributed back and forth in a depth direction of the storage chamber when the first door is closed. The plurality of cavities along the depth direction of the storage chamber reduce the heat exchange rate and are beneficial to enhancing the heat insulation effect of the air blocking part.

Optionally, the air blocker comprises a tip face facing the inner wall when the first door is closed, the tip face may be planar.

Optionally, the end face of the air barrier is parallel to the surface of the inner wall. Thereby, it is advantageous to control the gap between the air blocking portion and the inner wall to be relatively constant, and it is expected to improve the heat insulating performance of the air blocking portion on the premise of securing the gap between the air blocking portion and the inner wall.

Alternatively, the air barrier may comprise at least two of said cavities, and a partition separating adjacent ones of said cavities, at least one end of said partition being connected to a wall of the cavity forming an outer surface of the air barrier. The provision of the partition wall facilitates the stabilization of the shape of the cavity and facilitates mass production of the air barrier member including a plurality of cavities.

Alternatively, the thickness of the partition wall may be set to be smaller than the thickness of the chamber wall constituting the outer surface of the air barrier.

Optionally, the thickness of the barrier wall is no greater than two-thirds of the thickness of the chamber wall that forms the outer surface of the air barrier. The thickness design is beneficial to improving the flatness of the cavity wall of the air barrier part and is relatively beneficial to the deformability of the air barrier part.

Alternatively, the air barrier may include at least two of the partition walls which are distributed back and forth in the depth direction of the storage chamber and are parallel to each other when the first door is closed. The parallel cavities distributed along the front and back of the storage chamber in the depth direction are formed by the partition walls, so that the heat exchange rate of cold air and the outside in the storage chamber is favorably reduced, and the heat insulation effect of the air blocking part is favorably improved.

Alternatively, the air barrier may comprise a rigid fixing portion fixed to the end wall of the beam.

Alternatively, the anchoring portion may be formed as part of the wall of the cavity.

Alternatively, the fixing portion may be plate-shaped, and/or the air blocking portion may be flat. This is advantageous in that the dimension of the air barrier in the length direction of the beam is reduced while it is still possible to ensure the insulation performance of the air barrier in the depth direction of the storage compartment.

Alternatively, the air blocking part may include a neck part formed to extend from one side of the fixing part, and a body part formed to extend from the neck part toward the front wall and/or the rear wall of the beam to form a hollow chamber. This is advantageous in increasing the size of the air barrier in the depth direction of the storage chamber, thereby contributing to improving the heat insulating performance of the air barrier.

Alternatively, the end wall of the end portion may have a recess located outside the accommodating space, the recess being open to the inner wall, and the air blocking member may include a fixing portion accommodated in the recess.

Optionally, the air blocking part may be adhered to the bottom wall of the groove.

Alternatively, the fixing portion may be attached to the end portion of the beam by inserting and/or adhering.

Alternatively, the groove may be formed in a T-shaped section.

Optionally, the air barrier may include a neck portion passing through the groove. In the case where the distance between the beam and the inner wall is limited, the air blocking portion is maximized, contributing to the improvement of the heat insulating performance of the air blocking member.

Optionally, the beam may comprise a first housing portion and a second housing portion, the first and second housing portions being connected to define the receiving space, the recess being at least partially located between the first and second housing portions.

Alternatively, the bottom wall of the recess may be formed by only one of the first and second housing parts.

Optionally, the first housing part includes a first receiving portion, and the second housing part includes a second receiving portion; when the first and second housing portions are connected, the first and second receiving portions at least partially overlap to form the recess, and the overlapping portions have a spacing in a length direction of the beam in which the fixing portion is at least partially sandwiched.

Optionally, the air barrier and the inner wall may have a gap therebetween. This is advantageous in preventing or reducing interference between the beam and the cabinet during use of the refrigerator.

Optionally, the gap is not smaller than 1mm, and is beneficial to ensuring the heat insulation effect of the air barrier, and the gap is preferably not larger than 5 mm. For example: the gap is between 2 and 3 mm.

Optionally, a side of the fixing portion remote from the air blocking portion may be bonded to a portion of the beam.

Optionally, the fixing portion may be provided with an insertion portion having an inclined outer surface, the insertion portion is inserted into the groove, and an inner wall surface of the groove is provided with an inner wall surface inclined and matched with the outer surface. This is provided to facilitate the mounting of the fixing portion.

Optionally, the fixing portion and the air blocking portion may be made of different materials.

Alternatively, the fixing portion and the air blocking portion may be formed by integral molding, for example: a soft and hard co-extrusion integral forming process.

Optionally, the refrigerator further has a guide member guiding the beam to be turned when the first door is opened or closed.

Optionally, the beam may further comprise a front panel, the air barrier and the front panel being non-contactingly secured to the beam. This arrangement reduces heat exchange between the air barrier and the front panel or the heating member in the front panel.

Optionally, one end of the air blocking part close to the front wall of the beam does not exceed the front wall, so as to prevent the beam from interfering with the side of the door body when rotating.

Another aspect of embodiments of the present invention relates to a beam for a refrigerator, the beam being rotatably fixed to a door of the refrigerator, the beam comprising: a housing having an accommodating space to accommodate an insulation material; and an air blocking member fixed to one end of the housing.

Therefore, the cold air in the storage chamber can be reduced to flow towards the door of the refrigerator through the space between the beam and the inner wall of the storage chamber to exchange heat with the outside, and the probability of the refrigerator generating condensation is reduced.

Optionally, the air barrier comprises an air barrier having at least one cavity between the end and the inner wall, the cavity and the receiving space being independent of each other.

Alternatively, the air barrier may comprise a fixed portion fixed to the housing and a flexible air barrier portion located outside the housing.

Alternatively, the end of the housing may have a recess located outside the receiving space, the recess being open to an inner wall of the refrigerator, and the air blocking member may include a fixing portion received in the recess.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a refrigerator according to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic partial cross-sectional view of one embodiment taken along line A-A of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view of an air barrier according to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view of an air barrier according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a schematic partial perspective view of a beam according to yet another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a schematic exploded view of the beam shown in FIG. 5;

fig. 7 is a schematic partial cross-sectional view of yet another embodiment taken along line a-a of fig. 1.

Detailed Description

In order to make the aforementioned objects, features and advantages of the present invention comprehensible, specific embodiments accompanied with figures are described in detail below without limiting the scope of the present invention.

As shown in fig. 1-2, in the present embodiment, a refrigerator 100 includes a cabinet 101 having a storage chamber 102. The storage chamber 102 has an inner wall 103.

The refrigerator 100 includes a first door 107 and a second door 108 for closing the storage chamber 102.

A rotatable beam 105 is provided between a first door 107 and a second door 108 that close the storage chamber 102. When the first door 107 and the second door 108 are in the closed state, the beam 105 overlaps the sealing strips 112 of the first door 107 and the second door 108 and closes the gap between the first door 107 and the second door 108.

The beam 105 is rotatably fixed to the first door 107. When the first door 107 is opened from the closed position or closed from the open position, the beam 105 is rotated relative to the first door 107 by the guide mechanism 106 between the beam 105 and the cabinet 101.

Alternatively, the guide mechanism 106 may comprise a guide member at one end of the beam 105 and a cooperating guide at the box 101. The mating guide may be located on an opposite inner wall of the other end of the beam.

The beam 105 may include a housing 300, the housing 300 having a receiving space 109 for receiving the insulation material 110.

The beam 105 may include an air barrier 201a at its end 111. When the first door is closed, the air barrier 201a is located between the end 111 of the beam 105 and the inner wall 103.

In the use state, the air barrier 201a can reduce the flow of cold air in the storage chamber 102 from between the end 111 of the beam 105 and the inner wall 103 opposite to the end 111 toward the doors 107, 108 of the refrigerator 100, thereby reducing the heat exchange of cold air with the outside, and further contributing to the reduction of the probability of condensation.

Figure 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view of an air barrier according to one embodiment of the present invention. As shown in fig. 2-3, the air barrier 201a includes an air barrier 206a, and the air barrier 206a may include a cavity 202 a. When the first door 107 is closed, the cavity 202a is located between the end 111 of the beam 105 and the inner wall 103. This is advantageous in enhancing the heat insulating performance of the air barrier 201a, further reducing the heat exchange between the storage chamber 102 and the outside.

The air blocker 206a includes a cavity wall 203a forming a cavity. In one embodiment of the invention, the chamber wall 203a may be flexible. Therefore, the flexible cavity wall 203a can deform under the action of small force under the condition that the door body sinks beyond the designed value, and the probability that the air blocking part 206a is interfered with the box body to be damaged is reduced. Preferably, the cavity wall 203a is made of an elastic material.

When the first door 107 is closed, the air barrier 201a and the inner wall 103 may have a gap n therebetween. Therefore, the air barrier 201a and the case 101 do not interfere with each other, and the air barrier 201a may have a larger design space, thereby improving the heat insulating performance of the air barrier 201.

The distal end face 205a of the air blocker 206a may be planar.

The cavity 202a is at least partially located outside the receiving space 109. In the embodiment shown in fig. 2, the cavity 202a is located completely outside the receiving space 109.

The cavity 202a and the receiving space 109 may be independent from each other without communication. So that they do not affect each other.

Air barrier 201a may be at least partially affixed to end wall 111 of beam 105. The wall thickness of the cavity wall at the bonding part can be larger than that of the cavity wall at other parts. Of course, the manner of fixing between the air barrier 202a and the beam 105 is not limited to adhesion.

Fig. 4 is a structural sectional view showing an air barrier according to another embodiment of the present invention. As shown in fig. 4, the air barrier 201b includes an air barrier portion 206b and a fixing portion 207 b. And is fixedly connected to the end 111 of the beam 105 by the fixing portion 207 b.

The air blocker 206b includes a cavity 202 b. The cavity 202b is formed by extending the cavity wall 203b from one side of the fixing portion 207 b. In the embodiment shown in fig. 4, the cavity 202b has a bowl-shaped cross-section and the fixing portion 207b has a plate-like shape.

When the first door 107 is closed, the ratio of the width of the cavity 202b of the air barrier 201b in the depth direction D along the storage chamber 102 to the thickness of the beam in the depth direction D along the storage chamber 102 is greater than 1: 2. This is advantageous in significantly improving the heat insulating performance of the air barrier 201b and also in reducing the possibility of occurrence of dew condensation of the refrigerator 100.

The fixing portion 207b includes a socket portion 210 b. In the embodiment shown in fig. 4, the plug portion 210b may protrude towards the front wall 312 or/and the rear wall 311 of the beam relative to the air blocking portion 206 b.

Of course, the structure of the insertion portion 206b is not limited to that shown in the embodiment of fig. 4, and it may be formed to protrude from the fixing portion 207b on the side away from the air blocking portion 206 b.

The socket 210b may be provided with a surface 211b inclined toward the air blocking part. The inclined surface 211b facilitates quick mounting of the air barrier 201b, enabling the air barrier 201b to be secured to the end 111 of the beam 105 in a more secure manner by means of a bayonet-type structure fitting stop (see fig. 7).

Fig. 5 is a schematic partial perspective view of a beam for a refrigerator in accordance with still another embodiment of the present invention, and as shown in fig. 5 to 7, an air barrier 201c is provided at an end of the beam 105, and the air barrier 201c includes an air barrier 206c and a hard fixing portion 207 c.

The air barrier 201 may have an air barrier 206c, and the air barrier 206c may include a plurality of cavities 202 c. The plurality of cavities 202c may be distributed back and forth along the depth direction D of the storage chamber 102 when the first door 107 is closed. The plurality of cavities 202c distributed along the depth direction D of the storage chamber 102 reduces the rate of heat exchange between the cold air inside the storage chamber 102 and the outside, which is advantageous for improving the heat insulation performance of the air blocking portion 206 c.

When the first door 107 is closed, the ratio of the sum of the widths of the cavities 202c of the air barriers 201c in the depth direction D along the storage chamber 102 to the thickness of the beam 105 in the depth direction D along the storage chamber 102 may be greater than 1: 2. This is advantageous in that the heat insulating performance of the air barrier 201 is remarkably improved, and also in that the possibility of occurrence of dew condensation of the refrigerator 100 is reduced.

The air blocker 206c includes a plurality of partitions 204c that separate adjacent cavities 202 c. The partition wall 204c is connected at least at one end to a cavity wall 203c constituting an air blocking portion 206 c. On the one hand, the air blocking portion 206c is partitioned into a plurality of cavities 202c that do not communicate in the depth direction D of the storage chamber 102 by partition walls 204 c; on the other hand, the partition wall 204c is advantageous in maintaining the shape stability of the cavity 202 c.

The plurality of partition walls 204c may extend in the width direction of the beam 105 and have a constant cross section. This contributes to an improved constancy of the performance of the air barrier in the direction along the width of the beam, and it also offers the possibility of facilitating mass production of the partition wall 204c of the air barrier 201c integrally formed with its chamber wall 203 c.

The plurality of partition walls 204c may be arranged in parallel and in front and rear along the depth direction D of the storage chamber 102 when the first door 107 is closed. The partitions 204 form parallel cavities 202c that are distributed front to back in the depth direction D of the storage compartment 102, which is advantageous for reducing the heat exchange rate, thereby improving the heat insulation effect of the air barrier 206 c.

The thickness of the partition wall 204c may be smaller than the thickness of the cavity wall 203c forming the outer surface of the air blocking portion 206 c. Preferably, the ratio is no greater than two-thirds. Such a thickness design is advantageous for improving the flatness of the cavity wall 203c of the air barrier 201c and for relatively facilitating the flexibility of the air barrier 206 c.

The fixation portion 207c may be formed as a part of the wall of the cavity 202 c. The retainer portion 207c forms a portion 203c of the wall of the cavity 202c to facilitate reducing the overall thickness of the air barrier 201 c.

In the embodiment shown in fig. 7, the fixing portion 207c has a plate shape, and the air blocking portion 206c has a flat shape. The plate-like structure of the fixing portion 207c and the flat-like structure of the air blocking portion 206c contribute to reducing the overall thickness of the air barrier 201c while making it possible to ensure the heat insulating performance of the air barrier 201c in the depth direction D of the storage chamber 102.

The air blocker 206c may include a neck portion 208c extending from one side of the rigid retainer portion 207c and a body portion 209c extending from the neck portion 208c toward the front wall 312 and the rear wall 311 of the beam 105 to form the cavity 202 c. This is advantageous to maximize the height of the cavity 202c of the air blocker 206c, thereby improving the insulating effect of the air blocker 206 c.

The beam 105 may include a first housing portion 301 and a second housing portion 303, and the first housing portion 301 and the second housing portion 303 may be connected to form an accommodating space 109 in which the heat insulating material 110 is accommodated.

The end wall of the end portion 111 of the beam 105 may be provided with a recess 302 located outside the receiving space 109, the recess 302 being open towards the inner wall 103, and the fixing portion 207c may be at least partially received in the recess 302. In the embodiment of fig. 7, the fixing portion 207c is entirely received in the recess 302.

The first housing part 303 may comprise a first receiving portion 305 and the second housing part 301 comprises a second receiving portion 304. When the first housing part 303 is coupled to the second housing part 301, the first receiving portion 305 and the second receiving portion 304 are overlapped to form the groove 302, and the overlapped portion has a distance a in the length direction of the beam, and the insertion portion 210c of the fixing portion 207c is clamped in the distance a. The groove limiting structure is beneficial to simplifying the installation process of the air barrier.

In the embodiment shown in fig. 7, the first receiving portion 305 may be a constituent of the accommodating space 109. Thus, the first receiving portion 305 can support the heat insulating material 110, and at the same time, the accommodating space 109 and the cavity 202c of the air barrier 201c are independent from each other and are not communicated with each other, so that they do not interfere with each other.

The groove 302 may have a T-shaped cross-section with the neck 208c passing through the opening of the groove 302. The overall thickness of the air barrier 201c is advantageously reduced by the neck 208c being adapted to the shape of the opening of the groove 302.

The end of the air blocker 206c near the front wall 312 of the beam preferably does not extend beyond the front wall 312 to prevent interference with the side of the door body when the beam 105 is rotated.

In the embodiment shown in fig. 6, the cavity 202c of the air blocker 206c is not open along the depth direction D of the storage compartment 102 when the first door 107 is closed, which facilitates reducing a heat exchange rate in the depth direction D of the storage compartment 102.

Meanwhile, the cavity 202c of the air blocking portion 206c is open in the width direction along the beam 105. This makes the molding process of the air barrier 201c relatively simple and relatively low in cost.

However, in other embodiments of the present invention, the cavity 202a of the air barrier 201a may be closed, and the closed cavity 202a is advantageous for improving the heat insulation performance of the air barrier 201 a. Also, the closed cavity 202a may be filled with an inert gas. It is advantageous to further improve the heat insulating performance of the air barrier 202 a.

In the embodiment shown in fig. 7, when the first door 107 is closed, a gap n is provided between the distal end face 205c of the air barrier 201c facing the inner wall 103 of the storage chamber 102 and the inner wall 103 of the storage chamber 102. This is advantageous in preventing or reducing interference between the beam and the cabinet during use of the refrigerator.

Preferably, the gap n is not less than 1mm, and is beneficial to guaranteeing the heat insulation effect of the air barrier, and the gap n is preferably not more than 5 mm.

The front wall 312 of the beam 105 provides a front panel 306. A heating part 307 may be provided inside the front panel 306 to prevent condensation. The air barrier 201 and the front panel 306 are fixed to the beam 105 in a non-contact manner, and thus it is advantageous to prevent the air barrier 202c from exchanging heat with the front panel 306 or the heating member 307 in the front panel 306.

The air barriers 201a, 201b, 201c may be mass-produced by an integral molding process.

The fixing portions 207b and 207c of the air barriers 201b and 201c may be made of different materials from the air barriers 206b and 206 c. For example, the fixing portions 207b and 207c are made of ABS plastic, and the air stoppers 207b and 207c are made of rubber. At the moment, the mass production can be carried out through a soft and hard co-extrusion integral forming process.

The step of installing the air barrier 201 according to the embodiment shown in fig. 7 may include:

1) attaching the air barrier 201c to the first housing portion 303; and

2) the first housing part 303 and the second housing part 301 are connected.

In step 1), attaching the air barrier 201c to the first housing portion 303 may include adhering the air barrier 201c to the first housing portion 303.

Step 1), attaching the air barrier 201c to the first housing portion 303 may include inserting a portion (e.g., the insertion portion 210c) of the fixing portion 207c of the air barrier 201c into the second receiving portion 305 of the first housing portion.

In step 2), the connecting of the first housing portion 301 and the second housing portion 301 may include covering a portion of the first housing portion 301 with another portion of the fixing portion 207c of the air barrier 207 b.

In one embodiment, the assembly of the beam is engaged after attaching the air barrier 201c to the first housing portion 303 to form a pre-assembly. In other words, the step of attaching the air barrier 201c to the first housing portion 303 precedes the step of mating the insulating material with the first housing portion 303.

Thus, it should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that while a number of exemplary embodiments of the invention have been illustrated and described in detail herein, many other variations or modifications consistent with the principles of the invention may be directly determined or derived from the disclosure of the present invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the scope of the invention should be understood and interpreted to cover all such other variations or modifications.