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.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]This application claims the benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 10-2009-0121434, filed on Dec. 8, 2009 in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.BACKGROUND[0002]1. Field[0003]Example embodiments relate to a refrigerator with a door opening apparatus to allow a user to easily open a door of the refrigerator.[0004]2. Description of the Related Art[0005]In general, a refrigerator is an apparatus having a separate cooling unit chamber provided in the rear of a freezing chamber, an evaporator provided in the cooling unit chamber, and cool air generated from the evaporator provided by operation of a compressor which is forcibly supplied to the freezing chamber or a refrigerating chamber. The cool air in the freezing chamber or the refrigerating chamber is returned to the cooling unit chamber, to freeze or refrigerate the corresponding chamber to maintain freshness of food stored...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0017]The handle unit may further include slots to prevent separation of the handle unit from the second door during the sliding movement of the handle unit.

Problems solved by technology

Therefore, when opening the door the negative pressure is generated in the freezing chamber or the refrigerating chamber, and the door may be difficult to open without forcibly removing the negative pressure.

This may cause greater difficulty when opening of the freezing chamber due to weight of the door, magnetic force of a gasket at the edge of the rear surface of the door, weights of articles stored on racks, and a pressure difference between the inside and the outside of the lower freezing chamber.

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