• Journal of the Korean Society of Manufacturing Process Engineers
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• v.20 no.7
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• pp.66-71
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• 2021

In this study, the shape design optimization of a refrigerator door hinge stopper was performed to reduce the discrepancy in the opening forces of the left and right doors of a double-door refrigerator. A finite element model was constructed and analyzed by quasi-static analyses to evaluate the structural performance of the door hinge stopper. The reaction moment calculated at the hinge axis was used as a measure of the door opening and closing forces. The design objective is to increase the door opening force by 50% while maintaining the door closing force and the maximum stress calculated in the body of the hinge stopper at the current level. A new design concept with a contacting slot was proposed to decouple the door closing and opening forces. Shape optimization was performed to determine the dimensions of the new design of the hinge stopper, and the rib pattern was determined by topological optimization to further increase the door opening force. It was observed that the new design met all design requirements.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Emotion and Sensibility Conference
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• 2003.05a
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• pp.90-93
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• 2003

This study aims to validate the effectiveness of VE system with an arm-master in the evaluation of virtual prototype. A virtual kitchen with a refrigerator was presented in a CAVE system. Subjects put in and pull out virtual objects by using the arm-master. Twelve subjects participated in six experimental conditions: three types of refrigerator door grips and two reaction forces. After each trial, subjects evaluated a virtual refrigerator in terms of easiness of operation, similarity in force, presence etc. The results show the subjects preferred vertical grip than horizontal grip and light reaction force than heavy one. The VE system with the arm-master will be very helpful in the design evaluation of virtual prototypes.

• Proceedings of the SAREK Conference
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• 2003.07a
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• pp.219-219
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• 2003

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.373-379
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• 2020

This study performed stress and fatigue life analysis of the damping hinge of a built-in side-by-side refrigerator that occurs when the door is opened to the maximum angle. An analysis of the initial design showed that stress concentration occurred at the corner between the cylinder and upper disk of the bracket pin, and the maximum stress exceeded the yield strength. The maximum stress location and the calculated fatigue life were consistent with the door opening-and-closing endurance test results for a prototype. Three cases of design improvement for the bracket pin were derived with the aim of reducing the stress concentration that appeared in the initial design. An analysis of the cases showed that inserting a fillet between the disk and the cylinder of the bracket pin reduced the stress and increased the fatigue life. Moreover, changing the disk into two steps was more favorable. In conclusion, the best design improvement was the case that the disk was changed to two steps and the fillet with a large radius was inserted. In that case, the stress was the smallest and the fatigue life was infinite.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.59-66
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• 2014

The central seam, the vertical 'line' between doors, in the front view of a refrigerator must have its gap and flush within certain ranges to meet functional and aesthetic requirements. The conventional criteria for gap and flush control in the industry are to keep the gap and flush within certain ranges at each of various points along the seam. For aesthetics, however, the uniformity of the gap is also as important because a 'tapered' seam is negatively perceived by human eyes. This paper shows a case study of tolerance design for a refrigerator door system. It presents a step-by-step procedure, which consists of datum flow chain analysis, identification of assembly features, computer modeling of feature tolerances, assembly operations and measurements, tolerance simulation, and tolerance adjustments based on the simulation results. It is found that extra care may need to be used to satisfy the aesthetical criterion for gap uniformity.

• Journal of Applied Reliability
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.273-287
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• 2005

Accelerated life test models and procedure are developed to assess the reliability of Refrigerator door switch. The main function of door switch is to operate bulb lamp and fan motor in the refrigerating room. The accelerated life test method and test equipments are developed using the relationship between stresses and life characteristics of the products. Using the developed accelerated life test method, the parameters of the ALT model and life time distribution are estimated and the reliability of the Door S/W at use condition if assessed. The proposed accelerated life test method and procedure may be extended and applied to testing similar kinds of products to reduce test time and costs of the tests remarkably.

• Journal of the FoodService Safety
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.7-20
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• 2023

This study was conducted to investigate the impact of refrigerator type and temperature fluctuations on the quality changes of refrigerated foods. Phycochemical and sensory quality, as well as microbial growth, were measured for various foods stored in open- or door-type refrigerators set at 5℃ during storage. The average temperatures recorded were 11.50±1.14℃ in an open refrigerator, and 6.34±0.97℃ in a closed refrigerator. The average surface temperatures of the food items were 9.60±1.20 and 6.00±0.80℃ for open and closed refrigerators, respectively. Significant changes in color and appearance quality were observed in lettuce, mackerel, ground beef, and cut pineapples when stored in open refrigerators. Ready-to-Eat foods such as gimbap and sandwiches exhibited higher levels of microbiological proliferation when stored in open refrigerators compared to closed refrigerators. Processed foods, such as sterilized milk and packaged tofu, did not show significant differences in quality among various types of refrigerators. The installation of refrigerator doors can effectively minimize temperature fluctuations caused by external factors, thereby reducing variations in food quality. These findings provide essential insights into the quality changes associated with the implementation of refrigerator doors, serving as fundamental data for ensuring optimal food preservation.