EP1999416B1

EP1999416B1 - A refrigerating apparatus

Info

Publication number: EP1999416B1
Application number: EP07727472A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Gokhan Karadede; Emre Ozyuksel; Ridvan Kadir Celik; Osman Vardar
Original assignee: Arcelik AS
Current assignee: Arcelik AS
Priority date: 2006-03-29
Filing date: 2007-03-29
Publication date: 2012-11-07
Anticipated expiration: 2027-03-29
Also published as: EP1999416A2; WO2007110444A2; WO2007110444A3

Description

The present invention relates to refrigerating apparatuses comprising a dispenser unit.
In refrigerating apparatuses, various dispenser units are utilized for storing cylindrical beverage cans and bottles. One of these is the dispenser unit that operates with the effect of gravity on the basis of first-in-first out (FIFO) principle for taking out the earlier stored in and thus the more cooled can first.
These types of dispenser units basically comprise a separator that is inclined backwards and a conveyor surface underneath that is sloped forwards. A can that is emplaced from the loading opening at the front of the separator is rolled backwards due to the inclination and goes down to the carrier surface below from a window. Here it rolls towards the unloading opening at the front because of the slope. Consequently, a can that is put through the loading opening at the upper front is taken out from the unloading opening at the lower front. So the user always takes out the coldest can.
In refrigerating apparatuses, the number and size of the cans that should be stored can vary according to the need of the user. Therefore more than one fixed volume dispenser units can be required to be used all at once. However, when the second dispenser unit is empty, it will take up space in the refrigerating apparatus and prevent the efficient use of the inner volume.
In state of the art, dispenser units that can hold up various numbers and sizes of cans are suggested.
For example, in the United States of America patent application no. US2004200789 a dispenser unit is described which is composed of two components that are slidably attached with comb-like matching protrusions and recesses. By sliding the components, cans of different sizes can be stored.
In the United States of America patent no. US4785945 , the described dispenser unit is made of by combinations of laterally-interlocked identical molded-plastic separable modules joined side by side.
In the International patent application no. WO2005059458 a bottle carrier is explained wherein the unused bottle holders can slide into one another.
Another refrigerating apparatus according to the preamble of claim 1 is known from patent no. US3805964 . The objective of the present invention is to design a refrigerating apparatus comprising a dispenser unit that enables the inner volume thereof to be used more efficiently.
The refrigerating apparatus designed to fulfill the objective of the present invention is explicated in the attached claims. The dispenser unit used in the said refrigerating apparatus comprises at least two modules, arranged side by side, the total volume of which can be changed by sliding the first into the second.
In order to entirely slide the first module under the second one, the second module is made larger than the first one and comprises an opening on the side wall thereof wherein the first one can enter. However, due to the S shaped configuration of the dispenser unit, the first module has a cutout on its side wall through which the second module can enter. Hence, the dispenser unit helps to efficiently utilize the unused volume. Furthermore, when the first module is partially inserted into the second one, the second module can still be used. In this position the second module can be used in storing cans with a smaller size than its widh.
The refrigerating apparatus designed to fulfill the objective of the present invention is illustrated in the attached figures, where:
Figure 1 - is the perspective view of a refrigerating apparatus.
Figure 2 - is the exploded perspective view of the shelf and the dispenser unit.
Figure 3 - is the perspective view of the assembled shelf and the dispenser unit.
Figure 4 - is the detailed perspective view of the shelf and the dispenser unit.
The elements illustrated in the figures are numbered as follows:

1. Refrigerating apparatus
2. Body
3. Shelf
4. , 40. Rail
5. , 50. Guide
6. Dispenser unit
7. ,70. Module
8. , 80. Separator
9. , 90. Carrier surface
10. ,100. Window
11. ,110. Side wall
12. Cutout
13. 130. Loading port
14. , 140 Unloading port
15. Opening

The refrigerating apparatus (1) of the present invention comprises

a body (2)
at least one shelf (3) situated inside the body (2) and
a dispenser unit (6) inside which the cylindrical beverage cans (K) are stored, attached to the shelf (3),
having two modules (7, 70) that can be used side by side or the first one can be slid into the second one when required (Figure 1).

The first module (7) comprises

two side walls (11) parallel to each other,
a carrier surface (9) arranged between the two side walls (11) in a forward sloping manner,
a separator (8) between the two side walls (11) situated above the carrier surface (9), sloping backwards,
a window (10) behind the separator (8) allowing the passage of cans (K) to the carrier surface (9),
a loading port (13) providing the cans (K) to be emplaced on the separator (8) from the front and
an unloading port (14) allowing the cans (K) on the carrier surface (9) to be taken out (Figure 2 and Figure 3).

The second module (70) comprises

two side walls (110),
a carrier surface (90) attached to this wall (110) arranged such that it is sloping forwards,
a separator (80) attached to this wall (110), situated above the carrier surface (90), sloping backwards,
a window (100) behind the separator (80) allowing the passage of cans (K) to the carrier surface (90),
a loading port (130) providing the cans (K) to be emplaced on the separator (80) from the front and
an unloading port (14) allowing the cans (K) on the carrier surface (90) to be taken out (Figure 2 and Figure 3).

The dispenser unit (6) comprises

an opening (15) on the side wall (110) of the second module (70) facing the first module (7), shaped and sized such that the first module (7) can fit in,
a cutout (12) on the side wall (11) of the first module (7) facing the second module (70) sized such that the separator (80) of the second module (70) can pass, so that the first module (7) can slide into the second module (70) when required.

In order to allow for the sliding motion, the second module (70) is made a little larger than the first module (7). As the first module (7) goes into the second module (70) from the opening (15) on the side of the second module (70), the separator (80) of the second module (70) enters into the first module (7) from the cutout (12) on the side of the first module (7). Since the separators (8, 80) of the two modules (7, 70) are at different heights an overlapping is out of the question during sliding one into the other. By means of this configuration, it is possible to slide the first module (7) into the second module (70).
While the two modules (7, 70) are used side by side, the side wall (11) of the first module (7) separates the inner volume of the two modules (7, 70) from each other and serves as a common wall for both of the two modules (7, 70).
In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the cutout (12) is disposed between the separator (8) and the carrier surface (9). In this embodiment, during sliding,

the separator (8) of the first module (7) moves above the separator (80) of the second module (70) and
the carrier surface (9) of the first module (7) moves above the carrier surface (90) of the second module (70).

The rear wall of the first module (7) is in front of the rear wall of the second module (70). When the two modules (7, 70) are moved with respect to each other, since the windows (10, 100) overlap, the movement of the cans (K) from the top towards the bottom is prevented. When the modules (7, 70) are entirely in one another, the windows (10, 100) as well as the loading and unloading ports (13 and 130, 14 and 140) also overlap.
In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, both of the two modules (7, 70) are made of plastic.
In the refrigerating apparatus (1) of the present invention, when a large number of beverage cans have to be stored, both of the modules (7, 70) are used. However, when one of the modules is not required, the first module (7) is entirely inserted into the second module (70) gaining space inside the refrigerating apparatus (1). Furthermore, when smaller cans (K) are desired to be stored in the second module (70), the first module (7) is partially inserted into the second module (70) and the distance between the side wall (11) of the first module (7) and the side wall (110) of the second module (70) is shortened in accordance with the size of the can (K).
In an embodiment of the present invention, the widths of the two modules (7, 70) are different. Consequently, it is possible to store cans (K) of variable heights in the dispenser unit (6).
The refrigerating apparatus (1) of the present invention furthermore comprises:

two pairs of rails (4, 40) under the shelf (3), parallel to each other, one situated in the front and the other at the back,
two guides (5) situated at the upper side of the first module (7), seated in one of the rails (4) at the front and the back, and
two guides (50) situated at the upper side of the second module (70), seated in one of the rails (40) at the front and the back.

Consequently, the dispenser unit (6) can be moved to the right or left along the width of the shelf (3). In this embodiment, the guides (5, 50) of the two modules (7, 70) move inside separate rails (4, 40). Hence the two modules (7, 70) can move freely without collision of their guides (5, 50). When required, it is also possible to separate the two modules (7, 70) and to slide within the body (2) in opposite directions. This allows the user to arrange the inner volume of the body (2) as desired.
In the refrigerating apparatus (1) of the present invention a dispenser unit (6) having more than two, for example three modules (7, 70) can be used.
In the refrigerating apparatus (1) of the present invention, the inner space of the body (2) is used more efficiently by means of the dispenser unit (6) having two modules (7, 70) that can be moved with respect to each other. Furthermore, a refrigerating apparatus (1) is designed which comprises a dispenser unit (6) with a width adjustable according to cans (K) of differing sizes.

Claims

A refrigerating apparatus (1) comprising a body (2), at least one shelf (3) situated inside the body (2) and a dispenser unit (6) inside which cylindrical beverage cans (K) are stored, the dispenser unit (9) being attached to the shelf (3), characterized in that said dispenser unit has at least two modules, a first module (7) and a second module (70), that can be used side by side, the first one slidable into the second one, each one having two parallel side walls (11, 110), a carrier surface (9, 90) arranged between the side walls (11,110) such that it is sloping forwards, a separator (8, 80) between the side walls (11,110) situated above the carrier surface (9, 90) sloping backwards, a window (10, 100) in the rear of the separator (8, 80) allowing for the passage of cans (K) to the carrier surface (9, 90), a loading port (13, 130) providing the cans (K) to be emplaced on the separator (8, 80) from the front and an unloading port (14, 140) allowing the cans (K) on the carrier surface (9, 90) to be taken out and an opening (15) on the side wall (110) of the second module (70) facing the first module (7) shaped and sized such that the first module (7) can fit in, and a cutout (12) on the side wall (11) of the first module (7) facing the second module (70) such that the separator (80) of the second module (70) can pass in order to provide the first module (7) to slide into the second module (70).
A refrigerating apparatus (1) as in Claim 1, characterized in that the second module (70) has a size larger than the first module (7).
A refrigerating apparatus (1) as in Claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the separators (8, 80) of the two modules (7, 70) are disposed at respectively different heights.
A refrigerating apparatus (1) as in any one of the above claims, characterized by two pairs of rails (4, 40) under the shelf, parallel to each other, one situated in the front and the other at the back, two guides (5) situated at the upper side of the first module (7), seated in one of the rails (4) at the front and the back, and two guides (50) situated at the upper side of the second module (70), seated in one of the rails (40) at the front and the back.