EP2376849B1 - Ice cube container of an ice maker for household purposes, and refrigeration appliance comprising such an ice cube container - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a refrigerator having an ice cube maker and an ice cube container of the ice cube maker for household use, comprising a bottom, a front and a back short end wall portion, and two long side wall portions and a removal handle. The invention also relates to a refrigeration device, in particular for household purposes with an ice cube maker, comprising a removable from the refrigeration device ice cube container.

From the US 2001/0025505 A1 an ice cube maker of a refrigeration appliance for household purposes is known. The local ice cube maker has an ice cube container. On the ice cube container, a contoured handle and a spout are formed on the uppermost portion of the short side wall. Handle and spout are used to lift the ice cube container and to pour ice cubes out of the ice cube container. Both the short side wall and the handle have a convex shape to comfortably interact with the palm of a user who lifts or tilts the ice cube tray. A second handle is formed by a cut-out on a storage base of the ice cube container, which is located under the side wall. The configuration of the two handles allows the user to reliably grasp and dump the ice cube tray from either side to pour ice cubes from the ice cube tray over the spout into a glass or other utility article. This means that in the prior art for a simple removal of ice cubes from the ice cube container always both hands of a user are required. The EP 1 850 078 A2 discloses a refrigerator according to the preamble of claim 1.

The object of the invention is to provide a refrigeration device in which the ice cubes can be removed in a simple manner.

The object is achieved by a refrigeration device having the features of the independent claim 1. Further embodiments of the invention are defined in the dependent claims.

By disposing the extraction handle on one of the long side wall portions, the ice cube container can be conveniently removed from its position associated with an ice maker to serve a desired number of pieces of ice.

Depending on the desired contour shape for the piece of ice, the shape can be designed differently. The mold may in particular be cup-shaped, e.g. be hemispherical or kreisscheibenabschnittsförmig. For example, ice cubes are ice cubes of any shape, even if they do not actually have a cubic shape. In particular, the ice cube container is not designed to accommodate only cube-shaped. cubic pieces of ice suitable. Rather, the ice cube container is provided for receiving ice pieces of any shape.

In household appliances, an ice cube maker generally does not occupy the full width of the household appliance, but extends in width only over part of the width of the household appliance. Due to the general depth of the household appliance and the desired space utilization, this has the consequence that an ice cube container assigned to the ice cube maker also has a greater depth and a smaller width. The short end wall portions of the ice cube container thus correspond to the width of the ice cube container and the long side wall portions correspond to the depth of the ice cube container. The distinction between short end wall portions and long side wall portions refers to the different aspect ratio of end wall portions and side wall portions to each other. In other words, "short" with respect to the end wall portions merely means that these end wall portions are formed shorter than the side wall portions. With regard to the side wall portions, "long" means that the side wall portions are formed longer than the end wall portions.

A common household appliance with an ice cube maker is, for example, a refrigerator with freezer compartment. In such a refrigerator, the ice cube container has a bottom, a front and a rear short end wall portion, and two long side wall portions. In the operating position in which the ice cube container is used in the refrigeration device, one of the two short end wall portion facing forward, ie facing the door side of the refrigerator. So far, an ice cube container has always been like one Drawer with a front, ie facing the front of the door side of the refrigerator handle provided. Because of the greater depth of the ice cube container than its width, this meant that the handle is always far away from the center of gravity of the ice cube container filled with ice cubes due to its constructive position even with a constant load through the ice cubes. This has the disadvantage that the user is able to hold a removed ice cube container only with great force and effort.

According to the invention, since the removal handle is arranged on one of the long side wall sections of the ice cube container, the removal handle moves closer to the center of gravity of the ice cube container filled with ice cubes, so that the user can easily hold a taken-out ice cube container with little effort. This simplifies and improves the operation by a user since the ice cube container can be stored in a simple, e.g. can also be removed conveniently. As the extraction handle moves closer to the center of gravity of the ice cube container filled with ice cubes, serving of ice cubes, i. a pouring of individual ice cubes into a glass or other container, for example. About a spout or over one of the corners of the ice cube container for the user easier and more precise possible.

The removal handle may extend along the side wall portion, in particular over the vast or entire length of the side wall portion. In this case, the removal handle can have an extension that is significantly longer than the width of a user's hand. Thus, the user can grasp the removal handle in different places. This allows the user, depending on the instantaneous distribution of ice cubes in the ice cube container, to grasp the removal handle at the location closest to the instantaneous center of gravity of the ice cube container filled with ice cubes. For example, if the majority of the ice cubes are predominantly located in the front half of the ice cube container due to a previous dispensing operation, the user can grasp the dispensing handle in approximately the means of the front half to remove it. If the ice cubes are located, for example, in the rear half of the ice cube container, for example because of an ejection opening of an ice cube maker, the user can grasp the removal handle approximately in the middle of the rear half in order to remove it. If the ice cubes are distributed almost uniformly in the ice cube container, the user can center the removal handle, ie at the same distance from the front and rear end of the ice cube container to take it to remove.

The extraction handle may extend the entire length of the sidewall portion, i. the removal handle runs from the front end wall to the rear end wall. This gives the widest possible range of variation for gripping the ice cube container with a user's hand.

Quite sufficient and within the scope of the invention is when the removal handle extends only along the predominant length or a substantial partial length of the side wall portion. So it is quite sufficient, although not optimal, when the removal handle extends, for example, only over two-thirds or at least over half of the total length of the side wall portion of the ice cube container. Preferably, the removal handle is arranged centrally. This gives a largely comprehensive flexibility of the user to be able to grasp the ice cube container at different points of the removal handle.

In all variants of the removal handle can be designed as a recessed grip. The recessed grip may be formed as a separate component which is attached to one of the side wall portions of the ice cube container. The removal handle can also be formed integrally with the ice cube container. In this case, the grip can be formed in particular by a formation of the side wall portion of the ice cube container. The recessed grip is formed essentially by the fact that the side wall of the ice cube container is formed in cross-section approximately C-shaped. In an upper area, the recessed grip forms a distinction, in which the fingers of a user's hand can intervene. On an outer side of a roof wall projecting over the undercut, the user can place his palm or thumb. This allows an intuitive, safe and ergonomic gripping of the ice cube container by the user. The recessed grip also promotes secure retention with little effort during pivoting of the ice cube tray to dispense ice cubes.

Thus, such a grip recess may have a lateral engagement opening and be formed with a head-side undercut niche. The recessed grip can through a to be formed inwardly extending indentation of the sidewall portion. The indentation is formed by an inwardly extending formation of the sidewall portion of the ice cube container.

In all embodiments, the recessed grip may have a decreasing in cross-section from a lower end to an upper end of the recessed radius of curvature. The side wall of the ice cube container has no mirror-symmetrical C-shape in cross-section. The C-shape is in this variant, rather, a spiral-like curvature. This form ensures on the one hand the widest possible engagement opening for easy intuitive intervention in the recessed grip with the fingers of a user's hand. On the other hand, the ends of the fingers in the head-side undercut niche of the recessed grip, which has a small radius of curvature, are reliably tightly encompassed so that the fingers are securely placed and can not slip off.

The recessed grip can in particular extend in a groove-like manner along the side wall section and be formed closed at the end. By extending the grip groove along the side wall section in a trough-like manner, the user can place his hand anywhere in the lateral migration extension in the grip recess. This also helps that the user, depending on the instantaneous distribution of ice cubes in the ice cube container, can grasp the removal handle at the point which comes closest to the instantaneous center of gravity of the ice cube container filled with ice cubes. By a closed end training is prevented that introduced into the grip recess hand laterally. can slide out of the trough at the front of the ice cube container. The end faces of the channel can be formed by wall sections of the ice cube container.

The invention relates to a refrigeration appliance, in particular for household use with an ice maker according to claim 1. The refrigeration appliance for household purposes may have a freezer compartment, in addition to shelves for frozen food and a device for producing ice cubes ie the ice cube maker is available. To be able to continuously produce ice cubes in sufficient quantity, ice cubes are usually prepared in batches by the ice cube maker and the batch of ice cubes respectively produced is ejected into an ice cube container and stored there until they are removed in the desired amount by the user from the ice cube container. The ice cube container can thus temporarily store several batches of ice cubes. The ice cube container can be removed from the freezer compartment in the refrigerator.

The refrigerator according to the invention has an extendable freezer drawer. The freezer drawer can be formed by a trough-shaped insert, which forms a shelf for frozen food. The trough-shaped insert may have lattice-like side walls and a grid-like bottom surface. The freezer drawer may have support bars, which are supported on guide rails in the freezer compartment so that the freezer drawer can be pulled out of the freezer compartment and inserted into the freezer compartment. For their operation, the freezer drawer can have a handle. The handle can be formed by a breakthrough in a front side wall of the trough-shaped freezer drawer. The freezer drawer serves not only to hold frozen food, but also to receive the ice cube container.

For this purpose, the trough-shaped freezer drawer may have a stepped portion which is adapted in its contour to the size and shape of the ice cube container. As a result, the ice cube container can be accurately positioned in the freezer drawer. Due to the remote area of the ice cube container is securely fixed in the freezer drawer, so that the ice cube container can not slip even with heavy withdrawal or insertion of the freezer drawer.

In the refrigerator, the receptacle for unique positioning of the ice cube container is formed in a form corresponding to the ice cube container or contour and oriented in the freezer compartment drawer that when inserted into the receptacle ice cube container whose removal handle points to the center of the freezer drawer.

The ice cube container may belong to an ice cube maker, which is arranged in a bottom-side freezer compartment of a refrigerator / freezer combination of a household refrigerator. The ice cube tray i can be easily removed and replaced. To the ice cube container has the long-extending lateral removal handle. This laterally arranged removal handle eliminates unfavorable dead spaces that would be provided with a front handle to be able to remove the ice cube container example. From a freezer drawer from the front can. This also increases the usable space for other frozen food in the freezer drawer. As a result, the ice cube container also receives a larger useful volume, so that a larger amount of ice cubes can be picked up and transported or transported together with the ice cube container by the user. In addition, the ice cube container preferably has two recesses that make room for the ice cube maker or an ice cube dispenser, which is arranged above the ice cube container. Due to their curved or bead-shaped edge design, the recesses can also be used as additional handles.

An embodiment of the invention is described with reference to an ice cube container exemplified in the figures in a refrigerator for household purposes. From the detailed description of the specific embodiment, there are also other general features and advantages of the present invention.

Figur 1

eine perspektivische Ansicht eines Gefrierteils eines Kältegeräts für Haushaltszwecke mit einem Eiswürfelbehälter;

Figur 2

eine perspektivische Ansicht einer Gefrierfachschublade mit dem eingesetzten Eiswürfelbehälter;

Figur 3

eine perspektivische Ansicht des Eiswürfelbehälters gemäß Fig. 2;

Figur 4

eine stirnseitige Draufsicht auf den Eiswürfelbehälter gemäß Fig. 3.

Show it:

FIG. 1

a perspective view of a freezer part of a refrigerator for household use with an ice cube container;

FIG. 2

a perspective view of a freezer drawer with the inserted ice cube container;

FIG. 3

a perspective view of the ice cube container according to Fig. 2 ;

FIG. 4

a frontal plan view of the ice cube container according to Fig. 3 ,

A refrigerator 1 according to Fig. 1 has an upper cooling space 2 and a lower freezing space 3. The upper cooling chamber 2 is closed by a pivotally mounted on the refrigerator 1 left door 4 and a pivotally mounted on the refrigerator 1 right door 5. To open and zoom the left door 4 is a first perpendicular to the front side extending handle 6 is arranged. To open and zoom the right door 5, a second vertically extending handle 7 is arranged on the front side. The two handles 6 and 7 are rod-shaped and extend in a vertical direction. In each case at an upper and a lower end, the rod-shaped handles 6 and 7 are connected to the associated front side of the left door 4 and the right door 5, respectively. By pulling the rod-shaped handles 6 and 7 towards the user's body, the doors 4 and 5 are swung open, so that the interior of the refrigerator compartment 2 becomes accessible. Below the refrigerator 2, the refrigerator 1, the freezer compartment 3. The freezer compartment 3 is closable by a lower door 8, which is translationally extendable in the manner of a drawer front, to release access to the interior of the freezer compartment 3. For this purpose, the drawer front-like door 8 is attached to a front end side of an extendable freezer basket 9. The freezer basket 9 is configured like a trough and has side walls 10a, 10b with rectangular openings 11. Each of the two side walls 10a, 10b of the freezer basket 9 carries a first guide rail 12. About the first guide rails 12 of the freezer basket 9 in a linear direction is like a drawer extendable forward. To pull out the freezer basket 9, the door 8 on its outside a horizontal handle 13. The handle 13 is analogous to the handles 6 and 7 rod-shaped, extending in its longitudinal extent, however, in a horizontal direction. By pulling the rod-shaped horizontal handle 13 towards the user's body, the freezer basket 9 is pulled out in the manner of a drawer to the front. Above the freezer basket 9 and still within the freezer compartment 3, a freezer drawer 14 is arranged. The freezer drawer 14 is similar to the freezer basket 9 in a linear movement drawer-like extendable forward. For this purpose, the freezer compartment drawer 14 has two opposite side walls 15a, 15b, each of which carries a second guide rail 16. Via the second guide rails 16, the freezer compartment drawer 14 can be moved forward in a slide-like manner in a linear direction. To pull out the freezer drawer 14, this has on its front end wall 21 an engagement opening 17 for the fingers of a user's hand. The freezer drawer 14 is formed like a tub. The freezer drawer 14 receives the ice cube container 18.

The freezer drawer 14 with the ice cube container 18 is in Fig. 2 shown in isolation. The freezer drawer 14 has a grid floor 19, a left side wall 15a and a right side wall 15b, and a rear wall 20 and a front end wall 21 on. Both the grid floor 19 and the rear wall 20 and the end wall 21 have openings 22. The openings 22 have a square contour and are arranged uniformly in rows and columns to form a grid-like structure. The front-side end wall 21 has, in a middle region slightly offset upwards, the engagement opening 17 for the fingers of a user's hand. The rear wall 20 is stepped in an area facing the left side wall 15a. That is, from the drawing plane of Fig. 2 leading back depth of the freezer drawer 14 is greater in the region of the left side wall 15 a than the depth of the remaining freezer drawer 14. The greater depth of the freezer drawer 14 is adapted in width to the width of the inserted ice cube container 18. Thus, due to the step 23 formed in the rear wall 20 of the ice cube container 18 is held positively. As a result, a slipping of the ice cube container 18 to the right to the center of the freezer drawer 14 towards reliably prevented. The lower portion 24 of the rear wall 20, and the left side wall 15a and a left part of the end wall 21 forms together with the grid floor 19 a receptacle 25 for the ice cube container 18. The receptacle 25 is thus formed in a corresponding shape or contour to the ice cube container 18, ie the ice cube container 18 is held positively fit in the recording. The ice cube container 18 has a removal handle 26. The removal handle 26 is oriented in the direction of that part of the freezer drawer 14, which is not formed by the receptacle 25, but forms the remaining receiving area 27 for other frozen goods. In other words, the removal handle 26 due to its lateral position in the freezer compartment drawer 14 to the center of the freezer drawer 14 arranged facing out dh oriented towards. The removal handle 26 can thus be detected from the direction of the free center of the freezer drawer 14 by a user's hand. In particular, the ice cube container 18 can be gripped in a middle of its longitudinal side, ie one of its long side wall sections 28, and removed from the freezer compartment drawer 14.

A detailed design of the ice cube container 18 is shown in FIG Fig. 3 shown in isolation. The ice cube container 18 has a cuboid shape and is formed like a tub. For this purpose, the ice cube container 18 has an at least approximately rectangular bottom 29 and two short side wall portions 30a, 30b and two long sidewall portions 28a, 28b. Both the two short side wall portions 30a, 30b and the two long side wall portions 28a, 28b are respectively disposed at opposite ends of the preferably rectangular bottom 29 and extend substantially vertically upward. In each case, the two short side wall sections 30a, 30b, and the two long side wall sections 28a, 28b are oriented in parallel planes running. In Fig. 3 the front short side wall portion 30a is in the foreground and the back side wall portion 30b is partially hidden in the background. At the respective upper end of the short side wall portions 30a, 30b, a recess 31a, 31b is introduced in each case. The recesses 31a, 31b make room for a arranged above the ice cube container 18, not shown ice cube maker. The recesses 31a, 31b can also be used as additional handles because of their curved or bead-shaped edge design. The first long side wall portions 28a is in Fig. 3 partially concealed in the background and the second long side wall portions 28b, which has the removal handle 26, in the foreground of the Fig. 3 shown pointing to the right. The bottom 29 together with the two short side wall portions 30a, 30b and the two long side wall portions 28a, 28b may be made as a one-piece plastic injection molded part. In particular, the ice cube container 18 may consist of a transparent plastic. In the illustrated embodiment, the removal handle 26 is formed as a recessed grip 26a.

The grip 26a extends from the front short side wall portion 30a in the foreground of Fig. 3 to the rear side wall portion 30b in the background. The recessed grip 26a has a channel-like shape, ie the recessed grip 26a has a lateral, longitudinally extending engagement opening 32. The recessed grip 26a is in this respect formed as a recess of the long side wall portion 28b. The engagement opening 32 forms so far an elongated rectangular window over which the fingers of a user's hand can be inserted into the recessed grip 26a. At the top, that is towards the top, the recessed grip is formed with a niche 33. In this respect, the niche 33 is formed by a wall section 34 of the recessed grip 26a, which protrudes forward and downwards. The overhanging wall section 34 forms the undercut niche 33, in which, in particular, the fingertips of the user's hand come to lie when gripping the ice cube container 18. Due to the channel-shaped shape can at different points of the removal handle 26 in the recessed grip 26 a be grasped. Depending on the length of the channel-shaped recessed grip 26a, there is greater or lesser variability for the engagement of the fingers. Despite the widest possible configuration, ie the longest possible length of the recessed grip 26a, as in Fig. 3 represented, at the opposite end faces 35a, 35b of the recessed grip 26a each be provided a web-shaped edge termination 36a, 36b. Each edge termination 36a, 36b is formed by a stepped walls 37a, 37b set back from the plane of the front and rear short end wall sections 30a, 30b, ie staggered toward one another. C-shaped circumferentially on the end walls 37a 37b each have a collar 38a, 38b formed. By means of the two opposing collars 38a, 38b, the cube container 18 can also be grasped from both sides with two hands in a position removed from the freezer compartment drawer 14, for example in order to facilitate the cleaning of the cube container 18. By one of the end walls 37 a 37 b and one of the collar 38 a, 38 b additional engagement recesses are created so far.

The shape of the groove-shaped recessed grip 26a is in Fig. 4 shown more clearly. The indented wall of the recessed grip 26a begins slightly below the average height of the long side wall portion 28b of the ice cube container 18. A first trough portion 39a extends initially approximately horizontally, ie orthogonal to the vertical long side wall portion 28b, and then merges smoothly with a second trough portion 39b rises in a large radius of curvature upward and in a third trough portion 39c with decreasing radius of curvature in an overhanging fourth trough portion 39d to go over, which forms the head-side undercut niche 33 that is the roof wall portion.

Claims (7)

1. Refrigeration appliance, in particular for household purposes, with an ice cube maker and with an ice cube container (18) of the ice cube maker which can be removed from the refrigeration appliance (1), having a bottom (29), a front and a rear short end wall section (30a, 30b), and two long side wall sections (28a, 28b), characterised in that the ice cube container has a removal handle (26), which is arranged on one of the long side wall sections (28a, 28b) and the refrigeration appliance has a pull-out freezer compartment drawer (14) which has a receptacle (25) for the removable ice cube container (18), wherein the receptacle (25) for correct positioning of the ice cube container (18) is embodied in a shape or contour which corresponds to the ice cube container (18), and is so oriented in the freezer compartment drawer (14) that, when the ice cube container (18) is inserted in the receptacle (25), its removal handle (26) faces towards the centre of the freezer compartment drawer (14).
2. Refrigeration appliance according to claim 1, characterised in that the removal handle (26) extends along the long side wall section (28b), in particular along most or all of the length of the side wall section (28b).
3. Refrigeration appliance according to claim 1 or 2, characterised in that the removal handle (26) is embodied as a handle trough (26a).
4. Refrigeration appliance according to claim 3, characterised in that the handle trough (26a) has a lateral engagement opening (32) and is embodied with an undercut recess (33) on the top side.
5. Refrigeration appliance according to claim 4, characterised in that the handle trough (26a) is formed by an inwardly projecting indentation of the side wall section (28b).
6. Refrigeration appliance according to one of claims 3 to 5, characterised in that the handle trough (26a) has a radius of curvature which decreases in cross section from a lower end to an upper end of the handle trough (26a).
7. Refrigeration appliance according to one of claims 3 to 6, characterised in that the handle trough (26a) is embodied in the form of a groove extending along the side wall section (28b) and is closed at the end.

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