While the joke is humorous- why couldn’t Steven Hawking climb the stairs himself if he was so smart? Being smart and being able aren’t the same thing. To close the door itself would require at the least an actuator or motor and sensors, as well as a linkage or drive. Then you get into details like how to program the fridge so that t knows you are using it vs. not (so it doesn’t close the door when you’re trying to cook)- and perhaps more importantly: liability. How do you avoid having the door close with a pet or child inside or in the way? Etc. in the end they were probably smart enough at Samsung to know that a fridge that closes itself wasn’t something realistic for Most consumers in a litigious and often careless society.
I have a plain old dumb fridge and it's door is set on a hinge that automatically causes it to swing closed (unless you open it so the door is swung all the way out to the other side but if you do that I can only assume you're trying to crawl INTO the fridge itself)
Yea, it's actually rather easy to make it so that a "gliding" moving part (anything that moves rather smoothly like a door to a fridge or a rocking chair) have a set point it returns to just off of basic physics. The problem with that is it won't get a good seal on the door unless it can pick up enough momentum during the movement which isn't likely in a fridge door. Without a motor it would very likely not be air tight and this pinging system would still be warranted
Perhaps, though none of mine have ever had a problem getting a seal just swinging shut this way (they tend to pick up momentum a bit as they go). Never bothered to scope the border of the fridge to find out if it's completely sealed but it never showed any signs of not being sealed
But now we get to the heart of the matter: if designing a fridge which self closes is a simple and reliable matter, what need would there ever be to complicate the matter with a mechanized example? Of course... if such mechanisms as hinges designed to self close were so simple and reliable, one has to wonder by o oh why a fridge would need to tell you the door is open: but why more doors don’t close themselves using gravity and hinges.
It could get surprisingly complex. But- the missing elements are two fold: firstly, a fridge with “self closing” hinges by design still generally requires a human operator. The hinge isn’t “spontaneously active” but instead more or less becomes active when opened. While it’s possible if things are just so to open the fridge and have the closing be delayed, it’s unlikely and if so by much. Meaning the one who operated the fridge would then be present.
A power closing fridge introduces an element of spontaneity: the operator may or may not be near. The circumstances are unknown. What’s more, with a hinge, the weight of the door on a vertical plane is all that is applied. With a power closing door, enough force must be applied my mechanical means to overcome the weight of the door. For similar reasons many cars have “one touch down” windows but not up, and those which have up often use a sensor in the glass for safety reasons and liability. Resistance can also be measured to the motor,
But to know the resistance of a stalled motor and limit the fore you must have some idea of the weight said motor is moving. In a power vehicle window the weight of the glass is static and known, and then a margin of error for dirt in the tracks, improper lubrication etc. can be set. But a fridge door has a very wide margin for what weight it might hold.
When all factors are weighted, and with the relative reliability of gravity assist hinges, it would seek most likely that they simply felt that it was an easy feature to add and presented a greater value at lower risk than a self closing design, its complexity, and issues of it malfunctioned- let alone repair and calibration etc. plus being notified of an open door has added value as if one leaves the door open intentionally, the head of household will be notified.
You DO KNOW you can make your phone ring (even if its on silent mode btw) by connecting to your account right ? (how exactly probably depends on your phone). You can also access its GPS location through google. (all this assumes it has battery and service)
There is also a product called “tile” that’s really neat. They make different sizes and styles including “credit card” sized ones that fit in a water slot, or tiny squares. You can place them on keys, laptops, bikes etc. then you can track the location of those items from your phone and signal them to emit a tone to help locate them. But from (most) tile you can click the tile and your phone will make noise until you find it! Pretty cool. I use them for many things.
I used to have a tile. Someone stole my car keys at Walmart so I turned on the tile ringer and caught them checking out. They claimed it was their key and i told them if it was their key then why would my phone have access to it.
Police got involved. Got my keys. Good times
Man. Lol. I’m glad you got your keys back, sorry for the trouble though. Yeah. They’ve saved my bacon a few times. I also usually drop one in my bags when I travel, especially checked luggage. The new ones have replaceable batteries too. So that’s really cool.
Police got involved. Got my keys. Good times