The double-door balance hinge of the stainless steel vertical refrigerator is the core component to ensure the smooth and stable opening and closing of the door body. Its design integrates the consideration of mechanical balance and structural stability. Through precise structural coordination, the door body can rotate flexibly during opening and closing, and can remain stable at any angle to avoid shaking or accidental closing.
The structural design of the hinge first focuses on the balanced distribution of force. The two doors of the vertical refrigerator are connected to the box body through hinges. Each hinge contains a fixed shaft and a movable arm. The fixed shaft is firmly embedded in the side panel of the box body, and the movable arm is connected to the door body. The two are flexibly rotated through bearings. When designing, the fixed point of the hinge is on the same vertical line as the center of gravity of the door body, so that the weight of the door body acts evenly on the hinge, avoiding excessive force on one side of the hinge due to the offset of the center of gravity, so that it remains stable when opening and closing the door, and there will be no tilt or jam. This force-balanced design allows the force required by the door body to remain uniform during the rotation process, so that it can be easily operated whether it is opened or closed, reducing the feeling of jamming.
The damping device inside the hinge is the key to ensuring smooth opening and closing. The damping structure is usually composed of a spring and a friction plate. When the door is opened, the spring is gradually compressed to generate reverse resistance, so that the door will not bounce open quickly due to gravity, but will open slowly at a uniform speed; when the door is closed, the spring releases elastic force to assist the door to move in the closing direction, and the friction plate will provide appropriate resistance to prevent the door from hitting the box due to inertia, so as to achieve gentle closing. This damping effect buffers the opening and closing process of the door, which is neither too heavy to push nor too light to cause loss of control, ensuring that every operation is smooth and textured.
The linkage balance design between the two doors further improves the overall stability. The hinges of the two door bodies do not work independently, but are coordinated through a hidden linkage mechanism. When one door is opened, the linkage mechanism will fine-tune the hinge force of the other door body to avoid uneven force on the box body due to the opening of one side of the door, thereby affecting the stability of the other door body. For example, when the left door is opened to a larger angle, the hinge of the right door will obtain additional support through the linkage mechanism to prevent it from shaking due to slight deformation of the box. This double-door linkage balance design allows the two doors to maintain their own stability when opened separately or simultaneously without interfering with each other.
The connection between the hinge and the door and the box adopts a reinforced structure to ensure long-term stability. The connection points are usually made of thickened metal plates, which are fixed multiple times by screws or rivets to form a rigid connection between the hinge and the door and the box to avoid loosening when opening and closing the door. The contact surface of the connection part is precisely processed to keep it flat and smooth, reduce friction resistance, and prevent the door from getting stuck due to uneven contact surfaces when it rotates. At the same time, these connection points will be treated with rust prevention to prevent the connection strength from decreasing due to rust during long-term use, ensuring that the hinge can always firmly support the door and maintain a stable structure.
The hinge's rotating shaft is made of high-strength material and is surface hardened to improve wear resistance and deformation resistance. The rotating shaft is the core of the door body rotation. It needs to bear the weight of the door body and the friction during rotation. High-strength materials can ensure that it will not bend or break during long-term use. Surface hardening treatment reduces wear during rotation, so that the fit between the shaft and the bearing is always precise and there will be no gap due to wear. This high-precision fit allows the door body to rotate without shaking. Whether it is opened to a small angle or a large angle, the door body can stay stably in the set position without rotating or sagging on its own, ensuring safety and convenience during use.
Adaptive design for different door weights allows the hinge to flexibly cope with the weight difference of the double doors. The two door bodies of a vertical refrigerator may have different weights due to different internal accessories. The hinge will match the weight requirements of different door bodies by adjusting the elastic force of the internal spring or the thickness of the damping plate. The heavier door body is equipped with a spring with greater elasticity and a thicker damping plate to ensure moderate force when opening and closing; the lighter door body is adjusted to a smaller elasticity to avoid excessive weight when opening and closing. This adaptability design allows the opening and closing feel of the two doors to remain consistent, while ensuring that each door can remain stable under its own weight, and that one of the doors will not open or close smoothly due to the weight difference.
The dust-proof and anti-fouling design of the hinge also indirectly guarantees the smoothness of the opening and closing. A dust cover or sealing ring will be set inside the hinge to prevent dust and food debris generated during the use of the refrigerator from entering the hinge, so as to prevent these impurities from affecting the rotation of the bearing or the operation of the damping device. If impurities enter, the hinge rotation may be blocked, causing jamming or abnormal noise, affecting the smoothness of the opening and closing. The dust-proof design keeps the inside of the hinge clean, ensuring that all components can always cooperate flexibly, maintain a long-term stable working state, and prevent the smoothness of the door opening and closing from decreasing with the increase in usage time.
In addition, the gap control between the hinge and the door and cabinet is also very precise. If the gap is too large, the door will shake when it rotates; if the gap is too small, the smoothness of the rotation will be affected due to excessive friction. During the design, precise size calculations are performed to maintain a proper gap between the hinge, the door body, and the box body, ensuring that the door body can rotate freely without obvious shaking. This precise gap control allows the door body to always remain parallel to the box body during the opening and closing process without any skew, further enhancing the stability of the door body and ensuring that each opening and closing is accurate.
