EP2938940A1

EP2938940A1 - An ice serving unit comprising a movement mechanism

Info

Publication number: EP2938940A1
Application number: EP13814182.5A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Kadir Ridvan Celik; Harun Bingol; Elif Altay
Original assignee: Arcelik AS
Current assignee: Arcelik AS
Priority date: 2012-12-31
Filing date: 2013-12-27
Publication date: 2015-11-04
Also published as: CN105378400A; WO2014102345A1

Abstract

The present invention relates to an ice serving unit (1) suitable to be disposed into a cooling device (C) comprises an ice cube tray (3) having more than one cell (2) wherein water is filled for forming ice cubes, a casing (4) wherein the ice cube tray (3) is movably placed, a first protrusion (5) situated on one of the short edges of the ice cube tray (3) and borne to the casing (4), a second protrusion (6) that forms the rotational axis of the ice cube tray (3) together with the first protrusion (5) and that is situated on the other short edge of the ice cube tray (3), a support member (7) mounted onto the casing (4), a latch (8) that is slidably mounted onto the support member (7) and a movement mechanism (9) that enables the linear movement applied to the latch (8) to be transmitted to the ice cube tray (3) as rotational movement.

Description

AN ICE SERVING UNIT COMPRISING A MOVEMENT MECHANISM

The present invention relates to an ice serving unit comprising a movement mechanism.
In some of the state of the art ice serving units, the ice cubes are emptied by means of a button that is situated on the front wall of the ice serving unit and that enables the ice cube tray carrying the ice cubes to be twisted. However, the user has to rotate the button by applying a great amount of force since the ice cubes stick to the ice cube tray. For the ice making process, the ice serving units are disposed into the freezing compartments of the cooling devices. Moreover, in freezing compartments situated at the lower side of the cooling device and having a drawer-type door, this type of ice serving unit causes difficulty of utilization, and this results in customer dissatisfaction.
In the state of the art Chinese Patent Document No. CN102135356, an ice serving unit is disclosed, comprising a movement mechanism, when actuated, that moves the gear mechanism by means of a latch and thus that enables the ice cubes to fall with the rotation of the ice cube tray.
The aim of the present invention is the realization of an ice serving unit wherein ease of utilization is provided.
The ice serving unit realized in order to attain the aim of the present invention, explicated in the first claim and the respective claims thereof is suitable to be placed into the cooling device, and comprises an ice cube tray having more than one cell, a casing in box form with the front side open and wherein the ice cube tray is placed, a first protrusion situated at the rear side of the ice cube tray, a second protrusion situated at the front side of the ice cube tray, a support member mounted to the front of the casing, a latch movably mounted onto the support member and a movement mechanism enabling the translational movement applied to the latch to be transmitted to the ice cube tray as rotational movement. Moreover, the movement mechanism comprises a guide situated on the support member, a channel arranged on the latch and a pin that moves inside the guide and the channel.
In an embodiment of the present invention, the guide is C-shaped. The ice cube tray is enabled to be rotated by means of the movement of the pin inside the C-shaped guide.
In an embodiment of the present invention, the channel is in form of a horizontally tilted I.
In an embodiment of the present invention, the movement of the pin inside the guide is realized by means of the channel.
In an embodiment of the present invention, a spring is provided, that is mounted to the casing by means of the first protrusion. By means of the spring, the ice cube tray returns to its initial state which is before being twisted.
In an embodiment of the present invention, the second protrusion is borne to the support member by means of a housing. With the second protrusion rotating inside the housing, the ice cube tray is more easily twisted.
In an embodiment of the present invention, the ice cubes that leave the cells with the twisting of the ice cube tray fall into the receptacle.
In a version of this embodiment, the ice serving unit comprises a sheath wherein the casing is disposed. The casing is mounted into the sheath so as to rotate around the axis passing through the short edge to which the first protrusion is fixed.
By means of the present invention, the ice cubes are more easily dispensed from the ice serving unit.
The model embodiments relating to an ice serving unit realized in order to attain the aim of the present invention are illustrated in the attached figures, where:
Figure 1 – is the perspective view of an ice serving unit in an embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 2 – is the exploded view of an ice cube tray, a support member and a latch in an embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 3 – is the exploded view of an ice cube tray, a support member and a latch in an embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 4 – is the exploded view of an ice cube tray, a support member, a latch, a casing, a receptacle and a sheath in an embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 5 – is the view of an ice cube tray, a latch and a movement mechanism before the latch is actuated in an embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 6 – is the view of an ice cube tray, a latch and a movement mechanism when the latch is actuated in an embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 7 – is the view of an ice cube tray, a latch and a movement mechanism after the latch is actuated in an embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 8 – is the perspective view of an ice serving unit in an embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 9 – is the view of an ice serving unit in a cooling device.
The elements illustrated in the figures are numbered as follows:

Ice serving unit
Cell
Ice cube tray
Casing
First protrusion
Second protrusion
Support member
Latch
Movement mechanism
Guide
Channel
Pin
Spring
Housing
Receptacle
Sheath

An ice serving unit (1) suitable to be disposed into a cooling device (C) comprises an ice cube tray (3) having more than one cell (2) wherein water is filled for forming ice cubes, a casing (4) wherein the ice cube tray (3) is rotatably placed, a first protrusion (5) situated on one of the short edges of the ice cube tray (3) and borne to the casing (4), a second protrusion (6) that forms the rotational axis of the ice cube tray (3) together with the first protrusion (5) and that is situated on the other short edge of the ice cube tray (3), a support member (7) mounted onto the casing (4), a latch (8) that is slidably mounted onto the support member (7) and a movement mechanism (9) that enables the linear movement applied to the latch (8) to be transmitted to the ice cube tray (3) as rotational movement.
The movement mechanism (9) of the present invention comprises a guide (10) that is situated on the support member (7), a channel (11) that is arranged on the latch (8), and a pin (12) that is situated at the edge of the ice cube tray (3) where the second protrusion (6) is located, that is seated into the guide (10) and the channel (11), that moves inside the guide (10) and the channel (11) when actuated by the latch (8), thus enabling the ice cube tray (3) to be twisted and the ice cubes inside the cells (2) to fall.
In the ice serving unit (1) situated inside the cooling device (C), water is filled into the cells (2) in order to provide ice cube formation. For the discharge of the ice cubes formed with the water changing state from the ice serving unit (1), the latch (8) is moved over the support member (7) in the vertical direction. The latch (8) actuates the pin (12) while moving. The downward movement of the pin (12) realizes in the guide (10). The guide (10) is formed so as to enable the ice cube tray (3) to rotate from the front side with the movement of the pin (12) therein. The ice cube tray (3) is fixed to the casing (4) from its rear side by means of the first protrusion (5). The twisting is realized as a result of the ice cube tray (3) being loosely borne to the casing (4) from its rear side and being twisted from its front side. Thus, the ice cubes are enabled to easily leave the ice cube tray (3).
In an embodiment of the present invention, the ice serving unit (1) comprises the semi-circular guide (10) that enables the pin (12), situated above the rotational axis, to move to be below the rotational axis, thereby allowing the realization of the twisting process. The rotational axis passes through the center of the guide (10). The pin (12) starts moving from a position at the same vertical level with the rotational axis and from above the rotational axis, aligns with the rotational axis during its movement at the horizontal plane and completes its movement at the same vertical level with the rotational axis and at a position below the rotational axis.
In an embodiment of the present invention, the channel (11) extends in the horizontal direction over the latch (8). The pin (12) moves in the horizontal direction inside the channel (11) during its downward movement.
In an embodiment of the present invention, the ice serving unit (1) comprises a channel (11) that enables the pin (12) to move therein with the actuation of the latch (8) and to pass from above the second protrusion (6) to below the second protrusion (6). The channel (11) that moves downwards also drags downwards the pin (12) between the walls thereof.
In an embodiment of the present invention, the ice serving unit (1) comprises a spring (13) that is situated on the first protrusion (5) and that enables the latch (8) to return to its initial position without being moved when the force applied on the latch (8) is released. The first protrusion (5) is borne to the casing (4) by means of the spring (13). The spring (13) that stores potential energy by stretching with the actuation of the latch (8) returns to its initial position when the force applied onto the latch (8) is released and also brings the latch (8) and the ice cube tray (3) to their former positions.
In an embodiment of the present invention, the ice serving unit (1) comprises a housing (14) arranged on the support member (7) and wherein the second protrusion (6) enters. Thus, the ice cube tray (3) is easily mounted to the support member (7).
In an embodiment of the present invention, the ice serving unit (1) comprises the receptacle (15) that is disposed below the casing (4) and wherein the ice cubes fall after the ice cube tray (3) is twisted. Thus, the ice cubes can be easily taken out of the cooling device (C).
In a version of this embodiment, the ice serving unit (1) comprises a sheath (16) wherein the receptacle (15) is disposed and to which the casing (4) is mounted so as to be rotated from bottom to top. In this embodiment, the user reaches the ice cubes falling into the receptacle (15) after the actuation of the latch (8) by moving the casing (4) upwards.
By means of the present invention, the user is enabled to take the ice cubes formed inside the ice serving unit (1) out of the ice serving unit (1) by applying a small scale force.

Claims

An ice serving unit (1) suitable to be disposed inside a cooling device (C), comprising

- an ice cube tray (3) having more than one cell (2) wherein water is filled for forming ice cubes,

- a casing (4) wherein the ice cube tray (3) is rotatably placed,

- a first protrusion (5) situated on one of the short edges of the ice cube tray (3) and borne to the casing (4),

- a second protrusion (6) that forms the rotational axis of the ice cube tray (3) together with the first protrusion (5) and that is situated on the other short edge of the ice cube tray (3),

- a support member (7) mounted onto the casing (4),

- a latch (8) that is slidably mounted onto the support member (7), and

- a movement mechanism (9) that enables the linear movement applied to the latch (8) to be transmitted to the ice cube tray (3) as rotational movement,

characterized by the movement mechanism (9) having

- a guide (10) that is situated on the support member (7),

- a channel (11) that is arranged on the latch (8), and

- a pin (12) that is situated at the edge of the ice cube tray (3) where the second protrusion (6) is located, that is seated into the guide (10) and the channel (11), that moves inside the guide (10) and the channel (11) when actuated by the latch (8), thus enabling the ice cube tray (3) to be twisted and the ice cubes inside the cells (2) to fall.
An ice serving unit (1) as in Claim 1, characterized by the semi-circular guide (10) that enables the pin (12), situated above the rotational axis, to move to be below the rotational axis, thereby allowing the realization of the twisting process.
An ice serving unit (1) as in any one of the above claims, characterized by the channel (11) that extends over the latch (8) in the horizontal direction.
An ice serving unit (1) as in any one of the above claims, characterized by the channel (11) that enables the pin (12) to move therein with the actuation of the latch (8) and to pass from above the second protrusion (6) to below the second protrusion (6).
An ice serving unit (1) as in any one of the above claims, characterized by a spring (13) that is situated on the first protrusion (5) and that enables the latch (8) to return to its initial position without being moved when the force applied on the latch (8) is released.
An ice serving unit (1) as in any one of the above claims, characterized by a housing (14) that is arranged on the support member (7) and wherein the second protrusion (6) enters.
An ice serving unit (1) as in any one of the above claims, characterized by the receptacle (15) that is disposed below the casing (4) and wherein the ice cubes fall after the ice cube tray (3) is twisted.
An ice serving unit (1) as in Claim 7, characterized by a sheath (16) wherein the receptacle (15) is disposed and to which the casing (4) is mounted so as to be rotated from bottom to top.