EP1957908A1

EP1957908A1 - Housing for a refrigeration device

Info

Publication number: EP1957908A1
Application number: EP06807474A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Alexander GÖRZ; Hans Ihle
Original assignee: BSH Bosch und Siemens Hausgeraete GmbH
Current assignee: BSH Hausgeraete GmbH
Priority date: 2005-11-30
Filing date: 2006-10-23
Publication date: 2008-08-20
Also published as: DE102005057136A1; CN101317057A; US20090266102A1; CN101317057B; WO2007062929A1; US8083306B2

Abstract

The invention relates to a housing for a refrigeration device with an interior compartment that is surrounded by an insulation layer (6) and an external skin (4) that surrounds the insulation layer (6). Said external skin (4) comprises at least one wall (14) which has at least two zones (16, 18) with different thermal conductivities.

Description

Housing for a refrigeration device

The present invention relates to a housing for a refrigerator, which has an insulating layer surrounded by a solid outer skin.

Conventionally, the housing of refrigerators consist of an inner container and an outer skin, between which there is a thermally insulating foam material as insulation layer. The outer skin is usually composed of sheet metal plates in free-standing refrigerators.

In the prior art free-standing refrigerators are known, which can be placed side by side and connected to each other (side-by-side devices). As a result, a lot of cooling or freezing space is provided without a correspondingly large single device would have to be produced and mounted. Such a single device would also have a significant weight in addition to the large dimensions, whereby the transport would be considerably more difficult.

The juxtaposition is also favorable for the energy consumption of the refrigerators, since only a small amount of heat can penetrate into the interior via the adjacent side walls of the appliances. The adjacent side walls cool down strongly during operation, so that even their outer skin reaches temperatures close to those inside the devices. The outer skin of adjoining walls may also cool down to such an extent that atmospheric moisture condenses out of it.

In order to prevent condensing of humidity at that edge of the outer skin, which is connected to the edge of the inner container, is known

Pipe loop, which is fed with warm, compressed refrigerant, or to lay an electric heater along this edge. A corresponding

Although solution would be conceivable for the edge regions of the opposing walls of two side-by-side housings, but it would be unfavorable for the energy consumption of the devices, and they would also be costly and expensive, because if not known in advance, on which side a refrigeration device housing a second device is to be placed, a suitable heating device must be kept on both sides.

The high thermal conductivity of the metallic outer skin also favors the penetration of heat between the facing walls of two side-by-side devices. The energy consumption of side-by-side devices is therefore higher than that of a combination device of comparable size and quality of insulation.

An object of the present invention is to provide a housing for a refrigerator, which has a particularly low energy consumption in side-by-side installation.

This is inventively achieved in that in a refrigeration appliance housing which has an inner space surrounded by an insulating layer and an outer skin surrounding the insulating layer, the outer skin comprises at least one wall having at least two zones with different thermal conductivities. As a result, the heat conduction in the housing walls is hindered.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, a central zone of at least one housing wall has a higher thermal conductivity than an edge zone. Due to the low thermal conductivity of the edge zone, the heat input into the central zone is reduced.

In another embodiment of the invention, the central zone has a lower thermal conductivity than the edge zone. This reduces heat conduction within the central zone itself.

It may also be advantageous if an intermediate zone, which is arranged between the central zone and the edge zone, has a lower thermal conductivity than the central zone and the edge zone. The intermediate zone reduces heat conduction from the peripheral zone to the central zone, although both the peripheral zone and the central zone should have high thermal conductivity.

Also advantageous may be the provision of several intermediate zones. The reduction in heat conduction is thus enhanced. In a further advantageous embodiment of the invention, the central zone is formed as a metal plate. As a result, the central zone can be manufactured inexpensively using conventional production methods.

Following another inventive idea, the edge zone is formed as a plastic profile. Since plastic is a good thermal insulator and plastic profiles can be produced inexpensively, for example as extrusion profiles, they are particularly suitable here. In addition, plastic extrusion profiles allow others

Cross sections that can not be realized with other materials, or only very complicated.

In an alternative embodiment, the central zone is formed as a plastic plate.

Also in this embodiment, a cost-effective production is possible.

In another embodiment of the invention, the intermediate zone may be formed as a rubber insulation. Since rubber is elastic, the central zone and the edge zone can then be joined together by clamping.

When two housings according to the invention are set up in a side-by-side arrangement, a peripheral seal is expediently provided between the mutually facing walls. The seal hermetically seals a gap area between the two walls, thereby preventing moisture-laden air from entering the gap area from condensing on the housing walls between the two refrigerators. In order to achieve a good insulating effect, the seal is preferably provided between two poorly heat-conducting zones of the two walls or between their outer zones. This keeps the seal at a temperature close to ambient, and prevents moisture from condensing on the seal itself.

Furthermore, it may be advantageous if at least one locking component is arranged in the edge zone. By locking side by side

Refrigerators together is prevented, for example, by careless

Moving a refrigerator creates a gap between the two refrigerators. One - A -

such a gap can become so large that a seal placed between the two refrigerators would be ineffective.

Further features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description of embodiments with reference to the accompanying figures.

Show it:

1 is a perspective view of a refrigerator with a housing wall with two zones.

2 shows two refrigerators in a side-by-side arrangement;

Fig. 3 shows a cross section through part of the housing of the refrigerator according to

Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is an analogous to FIG. 3 section according to a modified

design; and

5 shows a cross section through a part of two further inventively designed housings of refrigerators.

1 shows a perspective view of a refrigeration device 2 with a housing 4. The housing 4 comprises a solid outer skin 8 joined together from several parts and an inner container 10 deep-drawn from plastic. A cavity bounded by the outer skin 8 and the inner container 10 is in itself known manner filled with insulating foam material. A side wall 14 of the outer skin facing the viewer comprises a central zone which is formed by a poorly heat-conducting plastic plate 16; a peripheral zone surrounding the central zone is composed of metallic, highly thermally conductive sheets 18.

A sealing tape 6 made of foam is glued to the edge of the plastic plate 16 along and forms a closed frame. 2 shows the refrigeration appliance 2 in a side-by-side arrangement with a second refrigeration appliance 3. The housing of the appliance 3, like the housing 4, has side walls 14, which are joined together by a central plastic plate enclosed in metal sheets.

In a gap 12 between facing side walls of the devices 2, 3, the sealing tape 6 is clamped.

The poor thermal conductivity of the plastic panels 16 of the facing side walls 14 obstructs the heat flow in these side walls from their edges to the center; the sealing strip 6 prevents heat transfer by air circulation in the gap 12. The heat flow into the interior of the two refrigerators 2, 3 on the side walls 14 facing each other is therefore very small. At the same time, a strong cooling of the sheets 18, which could lead to the condensation of moisture in them, avoided because the heat from the sheets 18 only slowly deeper into the gap 12, in the plates 16 into it, can flow.

Fig. 3 shows a cross section through a portion of the housing 4. The plates 18 are bent at right angles to angle profiles with two legs 20, and the legs 20 are each bent twice hairpin-like to form open-edge grooves 22, in each of which an edge of the Plastic plate 16 or the inner container, designated 10, is clamped.

FIG. 4 shows a section similar to FIG. 3 according to a second embodiment. The sheets 18 are here replaced by similarly shaped profiles 24 made of plastic. On the inner sides of the legs 20 of these profiles 24 fitting L-profiles 26 made of metal stiffen the structure. The plastic plate 16 is replaced by a metal plate 28 of the same shape, so that the metal plate 28 form a good thermal conductivity central zone and the plastic profiles 24 a poor heat-conducting edge zone of a side wall of the housing. The sealing tape 6 forms a frame on the edge zone.

Again, the poorly heat-conducting zone hinders the heat flow in the side wall from the edge to the center, and the sealing strip 6 prevents heat transfer by air circulating in the gap between two housings. 5 shows a section through mutually facing side walls 14 of refrigeration device housings according to a third embodiment of the invention. A central zone of the walls 14 is again formed here by a metal plate 30 and therefore good heat conducting. At the four edges of the plate 30 each webs 32 are angled at right angles into the interior of the housing inside. Along the inner sides of these webs 32 extends a circumferential flexible band 34, for example of rubber, a solid foam or other flexibly compressible, poorly heat-conducting material.

An edge zone of each wall 14 is formed by four metal profiles 36 connected to a frame. These metal profiles form a circumferential groove, the webs 32 and the

Record volume 34. The band 34 is in each case clamped between one of the webs 32 and an inside wall 38 of the groove and thus connects the sheet metal plate foam-tight with the surrounding metal profiles. Between the outside walls 40 of the grooves and the webs 32 an air gap 42 is kept free. The plate 30 and the metal profiles do not touch each other immediately, so that the band 34 and the

Air gap 42 form a poor thermal conductivity intermediate zone between the metal profiles 36 and the plate 30.

On one of the two housings the air gap 42 is pasted over with a sealing tape 6.

At a rear corner of the walls 14 are complementary hinge parts 44 which can be intermeshed and assembled by inserting a hinge pin into a hinge which allows the two housings to pivot about an axis defined by the hinge. In this way, when the side walls 14 are pivoted against each other, brackets 46 mounted near a front corner of the walls 14 each come to a position where they overlap each other and can be locked to each other by passing a bar (not shown) through both brackets 46 , In this position, the sealing band 6 is compressed between the two walls 14, so that heat can penetrate neither by air flows in the gap 12 nor by heat flow in the walls 14 in larger quantities between the two housings. Thus, the metal profiles 36 remain warm, without having to be heated energy consuming for it, and it condenses no air humidity at them.

Claims

claims

1. housing for a refrigeration device with one of an insulating layer (6) surrounded interior and the insulating layer (6) surrounding the outer skin (4), characterized in that the outer skin (4) comprises at least one wall (14), the at least two zones (16, 18, 24, 28, 30, 34, 40, 36) having different thermal conductivities.

2. Housing according to claim 1, characterized in that a central zone (28) of the wall (14) has a higher thermal conductivity than an edge zone (24).

3. Housing according to claim 1, characterized in that a central zone (16) of the wall (14) has a lower thermal conductivity than an edge zone (18).

4. Housing according to claim 1, characterized in that a central zone (30) and an edge zone (36) of the wall (14) have a higher thermal conductivity than at least one intermediate zone (34, 40) between the central zone (30). and the edge zone (36) is arranged.

5. Housing according to claim 2 or 4, characterized in that the central zone is formed as a sheet metal blank (28: 30).

6. Housing according to claim 2, characterized in that the edge zone (24) is formed of thermally insulating material and the zone (28) surrounds like a frame.

7. Housing according to claim 2 or 6, characterized in that the edge zone (24) is designed as a plastic profile (24).

8. Housing according to claim 7, characterized in that the plastic profile (24) is formed like a frame.

9. Housing according to claim 7 or 8, characterized in that the plastic profile (24) is composed of extrusion profiles.

10. Housing according to claim 3, characterized in that the central zone is formed as a plastic plate (16).

1 1. Housing according to claim 4, characterized in that the intermediate zone comprises a clamped flexible band (34).

12. Side-by-side arrangement of housings (4) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein between outer or poorly heat-conducting zones (16; 24, 40) of mutually facing side walls of the housing (4) a seal (6) is provided ,

13. Side-by-side arrangement of refrigerators according to one of claims 7 to 9 or 12, characterized in that the plastic profile (24) has the seal (6).

14. Side-by-side arrangement of refrigerators according to one of the preceding claims 2, 3, 4 or 5, wherein in the edge zone (8) at least one locking member (46) is arranged.