EP1866585A1

EP1866585A1 - Refrigerator and/or freezer

Info

Publication number: EP1866585A1
Application number: EP06723866A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Gunnar KÖNIG
Original assignee: Liebherr Hausgeraete Ochsenhausen GmbH
Current assignee: Liebherr Hausgeraete Ochsenhausen GmbH
Priority date: 2005-04-06
Filing date: 2006-03-30
Publication date: 2007-12-19
Anticipated expiration: 2026-03-30
Also published as: KR20070119071A; DE202005008066U1; EP1866585B1; JP2008534908A; US20090038334A1; RU2007140868A; RU2393392C2; WO2006105906A1

Abstract

The present invention relates to a refrigerator and/or freezer having a cooling container (2) and an evaporator (8) which is accommodated in an evaporator accommodation space (7) in the cooling container. According to the invention, the refrigerator and/or freezer is distinguished in that the evaporator has a multi-sided casing (12) which is composed of a soft, elastic and/or pliant padding material.

Description

Fridge and / or freezer

The present invention relates to a refrigerator and / or freezer with a cooling container and an evaporator, preferably a finned evaporator, which is accommodated in an evaporator receiving space in the cooling container.

In such refrigerators or freezers with an embedded in the inner container evaporator this sits relatively accurately in the designated evaporator receiving space. A problem arising here are clicks during device operation. It is believed that this crackling noise is caused by a cyclic freezing of the evaporator on the walls of the evaporator receiving space and a redissolution thereof by the regular defrosting. Since a lot of moisture is present after a defrosting, it comes when it cools down again after defrosting, to a freezing of residual droplets between the evaporator surface and the inner container. With a sudden relaxation and an abrupt breakaway of the freezing points, the unwanted crackling noises can arise. In order to eliminate or at least substantially reduce these clicking noises as a result of the freezing and re-opening of the evaporator, it has already been proposed to provide a sufficient distance between the evaporator module and the rear wall of the appliance, thereby preventing freezing completely. However, such a defined distance leads to a loss of usable interior space.

The present invention is therefore an object of the invention to provide an improved refrigerator and / or freezer of the type mentioned, which avoids the disadvantages of the prior art and the latter further develops in an advantageous manner. In particular, the cracking noises emanating from the evaporator should be avoided or at least substantially reduced, without giving away valuable valuable interior space.

According to the invention this object is achieved by a refrigerator and / or freezer according to claim 1. Preferred embodiments of the invention are the subject of the dependent claims.

To avoid the aforementioned cracking noise from the evaporator is proposed to decouple the latter from the inner container of the refrigerator and / or freezer. According to the invention, the evaporator is provided with a multilateral casing of a soft, elastic and / or deformable padding material. By this jacket, a direct freezing of the evaporator module and the evaporator environment, in particular the Kühlbehälterinnenwandung prevented. Although it can lead to a freezing of the evaporator and the cushioning material on the one hand or the cushioning material and the device inner wall on the other. However, relative movements that occur due to thermal stresses can be compensated for by the deformable cushioning material, so that clicks caused by suddenly breaking connections are excluded. Due to the relative movements that can take place in the padding material, no tensions and no cracking noises. Nevertheless, the available Space used in the interior of the device in the best possible way. Due to the sheathing of padding material instead of the large defined air gap mentioned above no usable space is lost. In addition, the sheath can bring about an air seal, so that no external air can be conducted past the evaporator, which would impair the energy efficiency. The padding material may in particular also have a thermal insulation function and accordingly act as a thermal insulator, which likewise has a positive effect on the energy consumption.

In a further development of the invention, the casing is provided at least on the plant sides of the evaporator, with which the evaporator comes to rest with walls of the cooling tank, in particular of the evaporator receiving space. The jacket is therefore provided where the evaporator could freeze.

For certain applications, it may be sufficient to provide the sheathing only partially, for example in the form of a strip, on the abovementioned installation sides. Preferably, however, the jacket of insulating material covers the contact surfaces of the evaporator over its entire surface. By a complete coverage of the contact surfaces of the evaporator through the cover of cushioning material cracking noises can be largely completely eliminated. Preferably, care is taken here that no open abutting edges remain, but also the edge regions and edges of the evaporator housing are largely completely encased by the insulating material.

Depending on the design of the evaporator different sides of the same contact surfaces can form. According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the sheath covers two broad sides and three flat sides of the evaporator substantially completely.

The sheath can basically consist of different materials. According to an advantageous embodiment of the invention, the sheath consists - A -

a foam, in particular a closed-cell polyethylene foam. Advantageously, the sheath is at least to some extent elastically deformable, so that it allows the described compensatory movements.

According to a particularly advantageous embodiment of the invention, the sheath may be at least partially hydrophobic, i. water repellent, be formed, wherein in particular at least the surface of the sheath is hydrophobic. Advantageously, the sheath does not absorb water during the entire operating time of the device. This can be achieved for example with a sheath made of a closed-cell foam material.

The casing could basically be formed in one piece. The evaporator could be as it were foamed at its contact surfaces. Preferably, however, the sheath consists of several pieces of foam, which are set accurately on the plant sides or surfaces of the evaporator and terminate flush with each other at their abutting edges, so that no open abutting edges of the evaporator remain.

A slight thickness of the cushioning material covering in the range of a few millimeters may already be sufficient. In this case, according to an embodiment of the invention, different wall thicknesses of the casing can be provided on different sides of the evaporator. In particular, the jacket can have a greater wall thickness on the side of the evaporator facing the cooling space than on the side of the evaporator facing away from the cooling space and / or on flat sides of the evaporator. As a result, a heat transfer into the freezer compartment can be prevented or minimized during defrosting. By way of example, the casing may have a thickness of 3 to 5 mm on the side facing the interior of the refrigerator, and a thickness of 1 to 3 mm on the remaining sides of the evaporator. It is understood, however, that according to another embodiment of the invention, a jacket with on all sides of the evaporator constant, sufficient wall thickness is used. In a further development of the invention, the casing is connected to the surface of the respective evaporator surface, preferably non-positively and / or materially attached thereto. In particular, the sheath of foam can be glued to a metal jacket of the evaporator.

The evaporator can be sufficiently secured in itself by accurately fitting in the designated evaporator receiving space. With regard to its shape, the evaporator receiving space is correspondingly adapted to the outer contour of the evaporator. Preferably, it may be provided that the evaporator with a slight interference fit, which is compensated by a slight elastic deformation of the sheath, is inserted into the evaporator receiving space. The slightly compressed foam of the jacket holds the evaporator wackeifrei and shockproof in the evaporator receiving space.

In principle, further fastening means could be completely dispensed with. In order to prevent slippage of the evaporator during assembly nevertheless, according to an embodiment of the invention, the evaporator with a non-positive fastening means, in particular a screw, are attached to the inner container. It proves to be advantageous if the evaporator is not attached by plastic plugs or bayonet, but by several screws at different points of the inner container at this. This further reduces the click sound.

The evaporator receiving space can basically be designed differently. According to one embodiment of the invention, it may consist of a substantially trough-shaped depression in the container inner wall, which can be closed by an inner lid. The evaporator can be used from the interior of the cooling container forth in the evaporator receiving space in the inner container. If the inner lid is then placed on the trough-shaped depression in order to close it, the evaporator or the surrounding material applied to it comes to rest. Sheath made of upholstery material in contact with the tub bottom, the tub edges and the inner lid. It proves to be advantageous if the inner lid, at least in the region of the evaporator, does not have any webs projecting into the evaporator receiving space, but is fastened lying flat on the edges of the trough-shaped depression. For sealing, sealing beads of padding material, in particular foam beads, may be provided at the edges of the inner cover and / or the edges of the trough-shaped depression, so that no cracking noises may occur between the inner cover and the container inner wall.

The invention will be explained in more detail below with reference to a preferred embodiment and associated drawings. In the drawings show:

1 shows a schematic perspective overall view of a cooling device according to a preferred embodiment of the invention,

2 shows a perspective inside view of the cooling container of the apparatus from FIG. 1 with the door open, showing the evaporator receiving space and the evaporator inserted therein in the rear wall of the cooling container, FIG.

3 shows a perspective view of the evaporator of the device from the preceding figures, which shows the jacket of insulating material on the metal jacket of the evaporator,

4 is a perspective view of an inner container lid for closing the evaporator accommodating space in the rear wall of the refrigerated container;

5: a schematic representation of the self-adjusting conditions in the case of the jacket provided with an evaporator and an ambient area, and Fig. 6: the self-adjusting conditions in an evaporator without sheathing and the surrounding area.

The refrigerator 1 shown in the figures comprises a substantially cubic cooling container 2, which can be closed by a door 3. The interior space 4 of the cooling tank 2 shown in FIG. 2 is bounded by the walls of an inner tank 5. In the opposite side of the door 3 of the inner container 5, a trough-shaped depression 6 is formed which defines an evaporator receiving space 7, in which the evaporator 8 is accommodated. In the trough-shaped recess 6, in addition to the evaporator 8 in the illustrated embodiment, a blower 9 is also accommodated, which is arranged at the upper edge of the recess 6.

The trough-shaped depression 6 is substantially rectangular, wherein the lower edge (cf., FIG. 2) is slightly sloping towards the middle.

The trough-shaped depression 6 can be closed by an inner cover 20 shown in FIG. 4, which is adapted to the contour of the depression 6 with respect to its outer contour and is seated on the edge 11 which extends around the depression 6 and can be fastened there. On the lateral edges 11 right and left of the recess 6 of the inner lid 20 sits as airtight as possible, which can be achieved for example by the application of foam beads on said edges 11. At its lower end, however, the inner lid is not airtight on the edge 11 of the recess 6, so that air can be sucked in here. The blower 9 shown in Figure 2 sucks on this gap between the lower portion of the edge 11 of the recess 6 and the inner cover 20 air so that it flows upwards over the evaporator 8 and at the provided at the upper end of the inner cover 20 blower opening again flows.

As Figure 2 shows, the evaporator 8 sits snugly in the trough-shaped depression 6. Its two vertical flat sides and its lower flat side sit fit exactly to the side walls of the trough-shaped recess 6 and are in contact with these. Towards the top, the evaporator receptacle 7 is larger than the evaporator formed so that free space remains, which receives the supply and discharge lines of the evaporator and other wiring.

Furthermore, the evaporator 8 corresponds in thickness to approximately the depth of the trough-shaped recess 6, which would be measured perpendicular to the plane in Figure 2. If the inner lid is placed over the trough-shaped depression 6 in the inner container 5 in order to close it, a system of the evaporator 8 sets on the one hand on the bottom of the recess 6 and on the other on the inner lid. Although the evaporator 8 per se is accurately accommodated in the evaporator receiving space 7 and would be sufficiently secured in itself, the evaporator by a screw, preferably at the bottom of the trough-shaped recess 6, be screwed. This prevents in particular a Nachsteckrutschen the evaporator in the casing or wiring receiving cavity, z. B. during assembly.

As FIG. 3 shows, the evaporator 8 is encased in a sheath 12 made of closed-cell hydrophobic foam. The sheath 12 covers each of the entire surface of the contact surfaces of the evaporator housing 8, with which the evaporator 8 is present on the walls of the trough-shaped recess 6 and the inner lid. The evaporator 8 itself has an aluminum sheet metal jacket, which forms the abovementioned contact surfaces and, as it were, forms a housing of the evaporator 8. On this aluminum sheet metal jacket 12 foam is glued surface, so that the evaporator 8 is coated on all sides of said contact surfaces.

If the evaporator 8 has the above-described casing 12 made of soft resilient padding material, the freezing condition shown in FIG. 5 results if renewed cooling takes place after a defrosting process. Although on the one hand the surface of the evaporator 8 with the sheath 12 and on the other hand, the sheath 12 with the surface of the device environment, in particular the device inner wall of the recess 6, freeze together. In Figure 5, an ice layer between the sheath 12 and the evaporator 8 and the sheath 12 and the recess 6 is shown in each case. If there are thermal relative movements between the evaporator 8 and the inner wall of the device, they would lead to chipping the frozen ice drops without the sheath 12. However, the sheath 12 can compensate for these relative movements and therefore avoid corresponding cracking noises.

In contrast, Figure 6 shows the immediate freezing of an evaporator 8 without sheath directly on the inner surface of the recess 6, as they would set in the prior art without the sheath 12 according to the invention. If relative movements occur here, they can not be compensated for and the unwanted crackling noises occur.

Claims

Liebherr-Hausgeräte Ochsenhausen GmbH D-88416 OchsenhausenCooling and / or freezer claims

1. refrigerator and / or freezer with a cooling container (2) and an evaporator (8) which is accommodated in an evaporator receiving space (7) in the cooling container (2), characterized in that the evaporator (8) a multi-sided casing ( 12) of a soft, elastic and / or resilient padding material.

2. Cooling and / or freezing appliance according to the preceding claim, wherein the sheath (12) is provided at least on all sides of the plant evaporator (8), with which the evaporator (8) comes into contact with walls of the evaporator receiving space (7).

3. refrigerator and / or freezer according to the preceding claim, wherein the abutment surfaces (13, 14, 15, 16, 17) of the evaporator (8) are completely covered by the sheath (12).

4. Cooling and / or freezing appliance according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the sheath (12) has two broad sides (16, 17) and / or more Flachbzw. End faces (13, 14, 15) of the evaporator (8) substantially completely covers.

5. Cooling and / or freezing appliance according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the sheath (12) consists of a foam, in particular a closed-cell polyethylene foam.

6. Cooling and / or freezing appliance according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the sheath (12) is at least partially hydrophobic, in particular has a hydrophobic surface.

7. Cooling and / or freezing appliance according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the sheath (12) is permanently formed water absorption-free.

8. The refrigerator and / or freezer according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the sheath (12) formed in several pieces, preferably consists of a plurality of plates, each covering an evaporator side.

9. The refrigerator and / or freezer according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the sheath (12) with the respective evaporator surface area, preferably non-positively and / or materially connected, in particular glued.

10. The refrigerator and / or freezer according to one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the sheath (12) with the respective surface surrounding the evaporator (8) surface, preferably non-positively and / or materially connected, in particular glued.

11. The refrigerator and / or freezer according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the evaporator (8) fits accurately into the evaporator receiving space (7) a is set, preferably with a slight interference fit, which slightly compresses the Ummante- (12) is inserted.

12. The refrigerator and / or freezer according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the evaporator receiving space (7) has a trough-shaped depression (6) in an inner wall of the cooling container (2) which can be closed by an inner lid.

13. The refrigerator and / or freezer according to the preceding claim, wherein the inner lid is formed at least in the region of the evaporator (8) without protruding into the evaporator receiving space in webs, preferably flat on an edge (11) of the trough-shaped recess (6) can be placed ,

14. The refrigerator and / or freezer according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the evaporator (8) is fastened with a screw connection to the inner wall of the cooling container (2).

15. The refrigerator and / or freezer according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the evaporator (8) is designed as a fin evaporator and / or has a metal jacket on which the sheath (12) is applied from insulating material.