EP3027983A1

EP3027983A1 - Method for producing a wall having a wall part, wall, and domestic refrigeration device

Info

Publication number: EP3027983A1
Application number: EP14741588.9A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Christian Ehninger; Alexander GÖRZ; Michael Seelmeier
Original assignee: BSH Hausgeraete GmbH
Current assignee: BSH Hausgeraete GmbH
Priority date: 2013-07-30
Filing date: 2014-07-17
Publication date: 2016-06-08
Also published as: DE102013214898A1; WO2015014631A1; CN105408707B; CN105408707A

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for producing a wall (5) for a domestic refrigeration device (1), wherein a wall part (10) is made of plastic, and a provided raw material is shaped into the final form of the wall part (10), wherein after the final forming of the wall part (10), a gas-tight barrier layer (18) is applied to at least one surface side (10a, 10b) of the wall part (10). The invention further relates to a wall, in particular a vacuum door (5), and to a domestic refrigeration device (1).

Description

Method for producing a wall with a wall part,

Wall as well as household refrigerator

The invention relates to a method for producing a wall for a household refrigerating appliance, in which a wall part made of plastic is formed, and a raw material provided ready for the final shape of the wall part is deformed. Furthermore, the invention relates to a wall for a household refrigerator, which is manufactured according to the method, as well as a household refrigerator with such a wall. From WO 2012/031885 A2, a housing for a household refrigerator is known. An inner shell of the housing, which delimits an insulation material pack to an interior of the domestic refrigerator, has a multilayer structure. This layer structure comprises two carrier layers, between which there is a barrier layer or barrier layer, which in turn is connected on both sides with an adhesion-promoting layer, which adjoin the carrier layers.

Inner containers of refrigerators or interior doors of refrigerators are typically made of known plastics such as ABS (acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene) or polystyrene, especially HIPS.

It is also known that in modern household refrigeration appliances for thermal insulation vacuum insulation elements in the door and / or in the interior limiting other walls are arranged. Known is the construction of vacuum doors for household refrigerators, in these doors an essential part is a so-called vacuum body, which is completed with the help of other auxiliary components to a complete appliance door. This vacuum body usually comprises an outer shell and an inner shell facing the interior in the closed state of the door. In a space between the outer shell and the inner shell, thus limiting the envelope as the vacuum body, a support material is filled, this space is then evacuated. In known embodiments, this inner shell of the known vacuum door is formed of a multilayer plastic material which is brought by deep drawing in the desired shape. In this known embodiment, a gas diffusion inhibiting barrier layer is introduced in this multilayer material, which is provided as a blank for the subsequent deep drawing.

The main reason for the multi-layered layer construction is the necessity that the plastic inner door and thus this inner part must fulfill different properties. Among other things, it must be a gastight barrier, so that the vacuum in the door is not lost.

In the known embodiments and manufacturing methods, in which a blank is provided with an already integrated barrier layer, and then in the subsequent process, such as deep drawing, the final shape of this inner part is produced, the internal parts are limited in their shape. This multilayer design of the blank with the integrated barrier layer is relatively poorly deformable and the design options for this inner part are restricted accordingly. This also means that shapes, as they are known from deep-drawn interior doors conventional household refrigerators, can not be applied to vacuum doors.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a method for producing a wall, with which the shape complexity can be increased. Likewise, it is an object to design a wall, which is designed more complex. In addition, a household refrigerator should be created with such a wall.

These objects are achieved by a method, a wall and a household refrigerator according to the independent claims. In a method according to the invention for producing a wall for a household refrigerating appliance, a wall part, in particular a part of a vacuum body, in particular an inner part, of the wall part is formed from plastic. In a manufacturing step, a raw material provided becomes the final shape of the wall part shaped. An essential idea of the invention lies in the fact that in the manufacturing process after this molding of the raw material to the basic final shape of the wall part at least one surface side of this then endgeformten wall part is provided with a gas-tight barrier layer and thus this gas-tight barrier layer is applied to at least one surface side at least partially. Such a configuration of a production method makes it possible that the raw material can be formed in its basic production and provision without such a barrier layer and therefore also the subsequent shaping of the inner part, which is finally formed from the raw material, is simpler. Because it can be achieved in this context in particular a more complex shape of the inner part, since the raw material can be easily deformed without this already introduced barrier layer. Moreover, it is also possible by such a procedure according to the invention in the production that the then already final molded wall part can be provided very site-specific and / or material-specific with the barrier layer. In the context of the end product, the gas-tight barrier layer essentially serves to thermally hold cold introduced therein in the interior of the household refrigerating appliance intended for holding food, and to optimally minimize diffusion to the outside, which would mean undesirable cooling. Preferably, the wall part is an inner part, in particular an inner shell.

Preferably, the wall part is a door part of a door, in particular an inner part of the door, in particular an inner shell, which faces an interior in the closed state of the vacuum door. Preferably, the wall is made as a vacuum door, in which case the wall part is provided as a door part.

It is preferably provided that the barrier layer is applied by a wet-chemical process, in particular electroplating. It can also be provided that the barrier layer is vapor-deposited or sputtered on. It is also possible that the barrier layer is applied as a lacquer and is thus painted on the surface side. It can also be provided that the barrier layer has particles which at least minimize gas diffusion. such Particles may be, for example, metal particles or ceramic particles or glass particles or other particles of a gas-tight material.

In an alternative embodiment, however, it can also be provided that the barrier layer is particle-free and no additional materials and / or components are introduced into a carrier material. In such an embodiment, in which the barrier layer is formed particle-free, the base material is already made sufficiently gas-tight.

In an advantageous embodiment, the inner part is produced by a deep-drawing process. Especially with such a specific molding process, it is very difficult in the current embodiment in the prior art to produce a wall, in particular a vacuum door, with complex shaping of the inner part. Due to the embodiment according to the invention or an advantageous embodiment thereof, this is now also possible in a deep-drawing process. In particular, a sheet-like or plate-like blank is provided here as the raw material, which is then deformed in order to obtain the final shape of the wall part, in particular of the door part.

Alternatively it can be provided that the inner part is produced as an injection molded part. Here, in particular, the raw material is provided as granules, which is then molded to the wall part, in particular door part.

In a preferred embodiment, it is provided that, during the final shaping of the inner part, molds are formed on the inner part during a deep drawing process or an injection molding process, at which additional components, in particular door racks in a door, can be arranged later as separate components. This is particularly advantageous in that such integrated shapes as mechanical recordings or couplings for such door racks require more complex structures and a more complex overall shape of the inner part. Especially by the method according to the invention, this can now be realized in a simpler and form-specific manner and nevertheless achieve the gas density of the wall, in particular of the vacuum door. Preferably, the inner part is formed as an inner shell of a vacuum body of the vacuum door. The vacuum body preferably comprises an outer shell, wherein in particular the space bounded by the inner shell and the outer shell can be filled by a support body, wherein the intermediate space is evacuated beyond.

The invention thus makes it possible that conventional production processes, such as deep-drawing or injection molding, do not have to be changed, yet increased variability and flexibility prevails in the shaping for producing the inner part and, in a downstream process, the gas-tight property of the wall, in particular of the vacuum door. is formed. For this purpose, in this downstream process, a substance which brings about the gas-tight property is applied in a planar manner to at least one surface side of this inner part. It can also be provided that this gas-tight barrier layer is applied to the outer shell or in addition to the outer shell of the vacuum body.

An application of the gas-tight barrier layer is, as already stated, preferably by steaming or spraying or painting, whereby the most uniform application and thus the most uniform thickness of the barrier layer can be achieved. This then succeeds in particular at the points of the inner part, which has a complex shape. An undesirable dilution of the barrier layer, which may result, for example, during deformation during a deep drawing process, is then prevented here. Last but not least, such a subsequent process step, in which the barrier layer is then applied after the final shaping of the inner part, can achieve greater flexibility with regard to the design of the barrier layer in terms of thickness and / or material composition and / or local attachment. Also, such a downstream application step in which this barrier layer is applied to the final molded base body, in particular the inner part, is possible independently of the previous specific method for final shaping of the base body.

Furthermore, the invention relates to a wall, in particular a vacuum door for a household refrigerator, which is produced by a method according to the invention or an advantageous embodiment thereof. The vacuum door is in particular a full vacuum door. In a full vacuum door, an embodiment is provided in which, in addition to vacuum insulation elements or vacuum insulation bodies, it has no further thermally insulating foam materials. Only the at least one vacuum insulation element thus serves for thermal insulation. By such a full-vacuum door is at least the same thermal insulation function a more compact, in particular thinner, construction possible. As a result, the useful volume of the interior of a domestic refrigerator, on which the door is arranged, can be increased. Such a full vacuum door is thus designed such that the vacuum insulation element or the vacuum insulation body is not foamed again by a foam material and thus at least partially embedded in a foam material. Rather, in such a full vacuum door then only only a front cover as the outside and / or frame parts and brackets are provided.

Further features of the invention will become apparent from the claims, the figures and the description of the figures. The features and feature combinations mentioned above in the description, as well as the features and feature combinations mentioned below in the description of the figures and / or shown alone in the figures, can be used not only in the respectively specified combination but also in other combinations or alone, without the frame to leave the invention. Thus, embodiments of the invention are to be regarded as encompassed and disclosed, which are not explicitly shown and explained in the figures, however, emerge and can be produced by separated combinations of features from the embodiments explained.

Embodiments of the invention are explained in more detail below with reference to schematic drawings. 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of a household refrigerator according to the invention; 2 shows a perspective view from the rear of an embodiment of a vacuum door according to the invention; and

3 is an exploded view of the embodiment of the vacuum door according to FIG. 2.

In the figures, identical or functionally identical elements are provided with the same reference numerals.

In Fig. 1, a household refrigeration appliance 1 is shown in a perspective view, which is designed for receiving food, such as drinks and food. The household refrigerator 1 may be, for example, a refrigerator or a freezer or a combined refrigerated freezer.

The household refrigerating appliance 1 comprises a housing 2, which comprises an outer housing or an outer container 3 and an inner housing arranged therein, which is an inner container 4. The outer container 3 surrounds the inner container 4, wherein both front side have a feed opening which can be closed by a door 5. The inner container 4 bounded by lateral walls or side walls 4a and 4b and a rear wall or a rear wall 4c, and a bottom wall 4d and a top wall 4e an interior 6. Depending on how the household refrigerator 1 is formed, this interior can completely a freezer compartment or include a no-frost compartment or a freezer compartment. It can also be provided that the household refrigerating appliance 1 has as an interior 6 a cooling compartment, in which a freezer compartment is integrated on the inside, which in particular can then be closed by another own freezer compartment door.

In the exemplary embodiment, it is provided that the door 5 for closing the inner space 6 is a vacuum insulation door, in particular a full vacuum door. For this purpose, it is provided that the door 5 has at least one vacuum insulation element which constitutes a thermal insulation body. In addition, the door 5 also represents a wall of the household refrigerating appliance 1. FIG. 2 also shows, in a perspective view, an inner side 7 of the door 5 with the vacuum insulation element 8 with a peripheral edge 8a. The door 5 comprises in addition to the plate-like rectangular vacuum insulation element 8 a support frame 9. The support frame 9 circumferentially surrounds the vacuum insulation element 8 completely. The vacuum insulation element 8 is thus held by the support frame 9.

The support frame 9 is also rectangular in shape and formed in one piece. The support frame 9 may also be constructed of separate items, such as the support frame parts 14 to 17, which are non-destructively releasably connectable. The support frame 9 is also made of plastic and realized in particular as an injection molded part. It can be provided that the support frame 9 is formed from a single plastic material or from at least two different plastic materials. In Fig. 3, the door 5 is shown in an exploded view.

It can be seen that the vacuum insulation element 8 has a rear or inner shell 10, which is integrally formed from plastic. In addition, the vacuum insulation element 8 comprises a front shell or an outer shell 1 1, which is also integrally formed of plastic. In the assembled state of the vacuum insulation element 8, the two shells 10 and 1 1 are interconnected. For example, a gluing or welding can be provided here. In the intermediate space or cavity formed between the shells 10 and 1 1, a packing or supporting body 12 is introduced. For example, a porous solid can be provided here. Preferably, silica is provided as filler. This space between the shells 10 and 1 1 is evacuated.

In addition, a circumferential seal 13 is shown in Fig. 3, which is arranged in the assembled state on the support frame 9. The support frame 9 is thus designed multifunctional and provided for receiving a plurality of different separate objective components. In addition to the seal 13 but in addition also another functional component in addition to the Support frame 9 may be arranged. For example, a hinge and / or a bearing unit and / or a stiffening part can be provided here.

In the exemplary embodiment, the integrally formed support frame 9 by its rectangular shape comprises four support frame parts 14, 15, 16 and 17. The two support frame parts 14 and 16, which are rectilinear elongate members, extend vertically and in parallel. Likewise, the horizontally arranged carrier frame parts 15 and 17 extend parallel to each other. The one-piece design of the support frame 9 is designed in particular by the shape formed during a single manufacturing process. Thus, in particular, no embodiments are understood to mean a one-piece construction, which first comprises the production of separate carrier frame parts which are subsequently adhesively bonded together, for example, or the like.

The door 5 further comprises an outside or front cover, which is for example a plate-like outer panel.

In at least one of the carrier frame parts 14 to 17 can also be integrated and thus embedded on the inside a metallic stiffening part. In particular, this integration is such that the metallic stiffening part is completely enclosed by the plastic material of the support frame part 14 to 17.

Basically, the inner shell 10 and thus the inner part, for example, made of a plate-like blank, which may be multi-layered, but has no gas-tight barrier layer. Such a blank is first provided and then brought into its final shape, for example by deep drawing. After producing this final shape, a gas-tight barrier layer 18 is then applied to at least one surface side 10a and / or 10b, at least in regions. The inner shell 10 comprises, in the context, an inner surface side 10a facing away from the outer shell 11 and, when the door 5 is closed, facing the inner space 6 and an outer surface side 10b facing the outer shell 11. At least one of these surface sides 10a and 10b is formed with at least one such gas-tight barrier layer. Granules can also be provided as raw material and from this an injection molded part can be produced as an inner shell 10 in its final shape, in order subsequently to apply the barrier layer 18.

This barrier layer 18 can be applied after the final shaping of the inner part in the form of the inner shell 10, for example by a wet-chemical process, in particular galvanizing. However, it can also be provided by a deposition by vapor deposition or sputtering. This can be done by a PVD (Physical Vapor Deposition) process. However, it can also be provided that the barrier layer 18 is applied as a lacquer.

In addition, the barrier layer 18 may also have specific particles which may be metal particles or ceramic particles or glass particles or other gas-tight particles.

It can also be provided that the barrier layer 18 is formed as glued, one-piece or multi-piece film. For example, it may be formed in the context of aluminum foil. It can also be provided that the gas-tight barrier layer 18 is applied as a single-layer or multilayer composite film.

In particular, it is also provided that the inner part in the form of the inner shell 10 in the manufacturing process of the inner shell 10 has molded functional geometries, which serve to fix containers for receiving stored goods. In this connection, 10 forms can be integrally formed during the production of the final shape of the inner shell, to which then subsequently separate door racks can be arranged.

In addition to or instead of this, at least one of the walls 4a to 4e can be produced in accordance with the above explanations for the inner shell 10 and be designed accordingly. LIST OF REFERENCE NUMBERS

1 household refrigerator

2 housings

3 outer container

4 inner container

4a wall

4b wall

4c wall

4d wall

4e wall

5 door

6 interior

7 inside

8 vacuum insulation element

8a peripheral edge

9 support frame

10 inner shell

10a inside surface side

10b Outside surface side

1 1 outer shell

12 supporting bodies

13 seal

14 carrier frame part

15 carrier frame part

16 carrier frame part

17 carrier frame part

18 barrier layer

Claims

claims

1 . Method for producing a wall (5) for a household refrigerating appliance (1), in which a wall part (10) is formed from plastic, and a raw material provided is formed into the final shape of the wall part (10), characterized in that after the final shaping of the Wall part (10) on at least one surface side (10a, 10b) of the wall part (10) a gas-tight barrier layer (18) is applied.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the barrier layer (18) by a wet-chemical process, in particular electroplating, is applied.

3. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the barrier layer (18) is vapor-deposited or sputtered.

4. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the barrier layer (18) is painted.

5. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the barrier layer (18) is formed with particles.

6. The method according to claim 5, characterized in that as particles

Metal particles or ceramic particles or glass particles are added.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the barrier layer (18) is formed free of particles.

8. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the barrier layer (18) is formed as a one or more pieces, at least single-layer film.

9. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the wall part (10) is produced by a deep drawing process.

10. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that the wall part (10) is produced as an injection molded part.

1 1. A method according to claim 9 or 10, characterized in that at

Endformen of the wall part (10) forms are formed, on which

Additional components can be arranged.

12. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the wall part as an inner shell (10) of a vacuum body (8) is formed.

13. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the wall part is produced as a door part of a door of the household refrigerating appliance (1).

14 wall, in particular vacuum door (5), for a household refrigerator (1), which is formed by a method according to the preceding claims.

15. Domestic refrigerating appliance (1) with a wall according to claim 13.