EP1444470A1

EP1444470A1 - Table refrigerator

Info

Publication number: EP1444470A1
Application number: EP02802634A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Christoph Becke
Original assignee: BSH Bosch und Siemens Hausgeraete GmbH
Current assignee: BSH Hausgeraete GmbH
Priority date: 2001-11-05
Filing date: 2002-10-29
Publication date: 2004-08-11
Also published as: US20040226314A1; DE10154273A1; WO2003040632A1

Abstract

invention concerns a table refrigerator (1) comprising a housing (2) enclosing an internal volume, the latter being subdivided into a normal cooling compartment (9) and a freezer compartment (10) arranged beneath the normal cooling compartment (9) and equipped with a drawer-type support (17) for deep frozen products.

Description

Table refrigerator

The present invention relates to a table top refrigerator with a housing enclosing an interior, in which the interior is subdivided into at least one freezer compartment and one normal refrigerator compartment.

Conventionally, in such refrigerators, the freezer compartment forms an upper section of the interior, and the bottom of the freezer compartment is also the ceiling of the normal refrigerator compartment. The normal refrigerator compartment is partially cooled by heat exchange with the freezer compartment, taking advantage of the fact that air that has cooled down on the ceiling of the normal refrigerator compartment flows downwards in the normal refrigerator compartment, thus ensuring an even temperature distribution in it.

The overall height of so-called table cooling devices is generally not higher than about 1, 20 m. In such table-top refrigerators, the conventional attachment of the freezer compartment in the upper region of the interior means that a user has to bend his knees in front of the appliance in order to be able to look into the freezer compartment. In this position, he is forced to look in the horizontal direction, which leads to an unnatural and uncomfortable posture, which can be difficult to take, especially for the elderly or disabled.

The object of the present invention is to provide a table-top cooling device in which, despite a low overall height, convenient access to the freezer compartment is possible.

According to the invention, the object is achieved in that the freezer compartment is arranged below the normal refrigerator compartment and is equipped with an extendable frozen goods carrier.

It would be conceivable to also equip a freezer compartment in the conventional position in the upper area of the interior with an extendable frozen goods carrier. However, such a carrier is mechanically very complex and costly, since in order to be able to access this carrier from above, it is necessary to guide it over a distance in pull-out rails which is longer than the depth of the carrier itself. Besides, is it is only possible to pull out the carrier as far as necessary if the door of the cooling unit is opened by more than 90 °.

Relocating the freezer compartment from the conventional position in the upper area of the interior to the lower area alone is not a solution to the problem posed, because the lower the freezer compartment is located, the deeper a user must lower his head in order to start from the front to be able to look into the subject.

Surprisingly, however, the combination of the positioning of the freezer compartment underneath the normal refrigerator compartment and the provision of a pull-out freezer rack significantly improve the accessibility of the freezer compartment, because in this position it is sufficient that the pull-out can be pulled out by a maximum depth corresponding to free access to it at the top. In order to examine the contents of the freezer compartment, a user kneeling in front of the refrigerator no longer has to look horizontally, but can look downwards at an angle, as is natural in the posture in front of the refrigerator.

In order to be able to provide the largest possible volume for the freezer compartment in the lower area of the interior, the compressor of the cooling device is preferably housed in an upper area of the same.

It is further preferred that the freezer compartment can be closed with a flap which can be pivoted downward about a horizontal axis for opening. In the pulled-out state, this flap can simultaneously serve to support the pulled-out frozen food carrier, so that a complex rail mechanism for guiding it is not necessary.

In a particularly simple and mechanically robust construction, the flap lies on the floor of the interior in its open state, so that the weight of the refrigerated goods carrier essentially carried by the flap in the pulled-out state is transferred directly to the floor of the interior via this.

A stop, which limits the pull-out movement of the refrigerated goods carrier, can be formed by a projection on the door of the refrigerator, in particular by a projection on the door. molded-on spar to which a door storage compartment can be attached, or by means of a storage compartment.

Alternatively, such a stop can also be formed directly by a projection formed on the flap itself.

If the freezer compartment is arranged in the lower region of the interior of the refrigerator, unlike in the conventional arrangement, heat exchange between the freezer compartment and the normal refrigerator compartment is undesirable since it would lead to temperature stratification in the normal refrigerator compartment. The freezer compartment is therefore effectively thermally insulated both from the surroundings of the refrigerator and from the normal refrigerator compartment, preferably by a hollow wall arranged between the freezer compartment and the normal refrigerator compartment and filled with heat-insulating material, by designing the flap as a hollow body filled with heat-insulating material and last but not least in that the wall thickness of the housing in the vicinity of the freezer compartment is greater than in the vicinity of the normal refrigerator compartment.

Further features and advantages of the invention result from the following description of exemplary embodiments with reference to the attached figures. Show it:

Figure 1 is a perspective sectional view of a refrigerator according to the invention with the door open, with the flap of the freezer compartment closed.

FIG. 2 shows a view of the table cooling device from FIG. 1 with the flap open and the frozen goods carrier partially pulled out;

3A shows a horizontal section through the table cooling device shown in FIG

Height of its freezer compartment;

3B shows a section through the table cooling device of FIG. 2 at the same height as in FIG. 3A;

4 shows a perspective view of a flap of the freezer compartment according to a second embodiment of the invention; and Fig. 5 is a partial section through a refrigerator with the freezer door

Fig. 1 and a frozen food carrier specially adapted to this flap.

Fig. 1 shows a schematic section through a table cooling device 1 according to a first embodiment of the invention. The housing 2 of the device 1 is constructed in a manner known per se from an outer wall 3, an inner container 4 which is deep-drawn from a plastic plate and insulating foam material 5 which fills an intermediate space between the outer wall 3 and the inner container 4.

In a rear upper corner of the housing 2 facing away from the door 6, a compressor 7 is accommodated, which together with evaporators, a heat exchanger etc., not shown, forms the refrigerator of the table cooling device 1.

The interior 8 of the table cooling device 1 is divided into a normal cooling compartment 9 and a freezer compartment 10. The normal cooling compartment 9 takes up the top three quarters of the interior and is divided by several shelves 11. In the bottom of the compartments divided in this way there is a pull-out box 12 for vegetables or the like.

The freezer compartment 10 is divided up towards the normal refrigerator compartment 9 by a horizontal hollow wall 13 which, like the side walls of the housing 2, is filled with foam material 5. This hollow wall 13 can be produced in one piece with the inner container 4 in the same deep-drawing process in which it was formed; it can also be retrofitted as an intermediate wall into the inner container 4 originally formed with a continuous cavity.

As can be seen in FIG. 1 for the rear wall and the bottom of the housing 2, the thickness of the foam material 5, which isolates the freezer compartment 10 from the surroundings, is greater than in the case of the insulation of the normal cooling compartment 9. At the bottom of the inner container 4 there is one Level 14 formed, which is a front of the freezer compartment 10 towards the door 6. The height of this step corresponds to the thickness of a flap 15 which closes the front of the freezer compartment 10. The flap 15 is a hollow body made of plastic, which is filled with the same insulating foam material 5 as the side walls. The flap 15 is pivotable about a horizontal axis of rotation through a lower end portion 16 of the Flap 15 runs with a rounded cross section. On the inside of the flap 15 facing the freezer compartment 10, a central section 19 is formed, the thickness of which is greater than the peripheral areas surrounding it. In the closed state of the flap 15, the edge areas lie against the step 14, against the front edge of the wall 13 and against corresponding shoulder surfaces of the side walls, while the central section 19 projects into the interior of the freezer compartment 10.

Inside the freezer compartment 10 there is a freezer drawer 17, here in the form of a plastic box similar to the pull-out box 12, but with a somewhat smaller base area than this.

Fig. 2 shows a second, analogous to Fig. 1 representation of the table cooling device, in which the flap 15 is pivoted from its closed position shown in Fig. 1 into an open position in which it lies flat on the bottom 18 of the inner container. Since the height of the step 14 corresponds to the thickness of the flap 15, in this open position the flap 15 has its inner surface, more precisely its central section 19 projecting into the inside of the freezer compartment 10 in the closed state, at a height with the bottom 20 of the freezer compartment 10. The height of the flap 15 is selected so that when the door 6 is open at an angle of 90 °, projections attached to the inside of the door 6, in particular shelves 21 or shelves 21 supporting, on the inside te of the door 6 molded rails 22 do not hinder the pivoting of the flap 15 to the bottom 18.

FIG. 3A shows a section through the table-top refrigerator at the level of the freezer compartment 10 with the flap 15 closed. It can be seen that a gap at the side edges of the flap 15, just as can be seen in FIG. 1 for its upper and lower edge 23 is angled twice between the inner container 4 and the flap 15, so that, if at all, only a small amount of air can be exchanged through the gap 23 between the freezer compartment 10 and the normal cooling compartment 9.

3B shows an analogous section through the table cooling device 1 with the flap 15 open, with the frozen food pull-out 17 pulled out of the freezer compartment 10. The front edge abuts a spar 22 of the door 6, which is open at 90 °, thus limiting the pull-out Freedom of movement of the frozen food pull-out 17 so that it does not can be accidentally pulled out too far and fall out of the table cooling unit 1. However, it is possible to completely remove the frozen food pull-out 17 by lifting it at its front edge in the position shown in FIG. 3B and tilting it into a vertical position. A cutout 24 in the side walls of the frozen food pull-out 17, which enables such a lifting and pivoting, can be seen in FIG. 2.

While in the in Figs. 1 and 2 shown embodiment, the depth of the freezer compartment 10 or the frozen food pull-out 17 is significantly greater than that between the front edge of the wall 13 and the stop formed here by the spar 22, it is also possible to borrow both sizes the same or the depth at most to be selected slightly larger than the distance, so that when the freezer drawer 17 is completely pulled out, practically its entire top is freely accessible and the extract 17 can be lifted out of the appliance without difficulty. In this case, the cutout 24 is not necessary.

Fig. 4 shows a perspective view of the flap 15 'of a table cooling device according to a second embodiment of the invention in the opened position. A pin 25 on the side flank of the flap 15 ', concentric to round off its lower section 16', forms a pivot axis for the opening and closing movement of the flap.

The flap differs from that shown in FIG. 2 by a plurality of stop projections 26, which are arranged along the upper inner edge in the closed state of the flap 15 ', in the open position of FIG. 4 the upper right edge thereof. The stop projections 26 serve as stops for limiting the pull-out movement of the frozen food pull-out 17. They also reliably limit the pull-out movement when the door 6 of the table-top refrigerator can be opened by more than 90 ° and the bars 22 and shelves 21 therefore do not give off a secure stop ,

The bottom of the frozen food pull-out 17 can here as well as that with reference to Figs. 1 to 3 described configuration to be flat, so that in each case one of the front wall of the frozen food pull-out 17 facing the door strikes against the stop projections 26. 5, on the other hand, grooves 27 are provided on the bottom thereof at the stop projections 26 of the flap 15 ', starting from the front wall 28 of the pull-out 17', but which are the rear wall 29 of the pull-out 17 'do not reach. As can be seen in FIG. 5, the length of the grooves 27 is defined such that the stop projections 26 each abut one end surface 30 of the groove 27, shortly before the rear wall 29 emerges under the horizontal hollow wall 13 when the frozen food pull-out 17 'is pulled out. Thus, the frozen food pull-out 17 ', even if its depth is substantially greater than its height, can be pulled out of the freezer compartment 10 practically completely without the risk of falling out, and the entire contents of the frozen goods pull-out 17' are in front of the eyes of a user.

Claims

claims

1. Table-top refrigerator (1) with a housing (2) enclosing an interior (8), in which the interior (8) is divided into at least one freezer compartment (10) and a normal refrigerator compartment (9), characterized in that the freezer compartment (10 ) is arranged below the normal refrigerator compartment (9) and is equipped with an extendable frozen food rack (17, 17 ').

2. Table cooling device according to claim 1, characterized in that a compressor

(7) is housed in an upper area of the device (1).

3. Table cooling device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the freezer compartment (10) with a flap (15, 15 ') can be closed, which can be pivoted downward about a horizontal axis for opening.

4. Table top refrigerator according to claim 3, characterized in that an inner surface (19) of the flap (15, 15 ') supports the frozen goods carrier (17, 17') in its pulled-out state.

5. Table cooling device according to claim 3 or 4, characterized in that an outer side of the flap (15, 15 ') in its open state rests on the floor (21) of the interior (8).

6. Table cooling device according to one of claims 3 to 5, characterized in that a projection (22, 23) on a door (6) of the device (1) forms a stop for the pull-out movement of the frozen food carrier (17).

7. Table cooling device according to one of claims 3 to 5, characterized in that a projection (26) on the flap (15 ') forms a stop for the pull-out movement of the frozen food carrier (17, 17').

8. Table cooling device according to one of claims 3 to 7, characterized in that the flap (15, 15 ') is a hollow body filled with a heat-insulating material.

9. Table cooling device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the wall thickness of the housing (2) in the vicinity of the freezer compartment (10) is greater than in the vicinity of the normal cooling compartment (9).

10. Table cooling device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a hollow wall (13) filled with heat-insulating material (5) is arranged between the freezer compartment (10) and the normal cooling compartment (9).