EP3772625B1

EP3772625B1 - Refrigerator

Info

Publication number: EP3772625B1
Application number: EP19190037.2A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Matteo Parnisari; Massimo Pedrazzini; Cem Yilmaz; Maurizio Valle; Carolina Biotti
Original assignee: Whirlpool Corp
Current assignee: Whirlpool Management Emea Srl
Priority date: 2019-08-05
Filing date: 2019-08-05
Publication date: 2023-10-04
Anticipated expiration: 2039-08-05
Also published as: EP3772625A1

Description

Technical field of the invention

The present invention generally relates to refrigerator appliances and in particular to a household refrigerator appliance having a crisper compartment with a humidity control device.

Background

It is known that domestic refrigeration appliances generally have a crisper compartment, which is located within a refrigerator cavity and is intended to receive and store fresh vegetables and fruits.
A crisper compartment is generally provided with one or more drawers slidably fitted under a shelf of a refrigerator appliance.
It is known that crisper compartments are substantially closed spaces allowing to maintain a level of humidity that is higher than the humidity level of the refrigerator cavity, thus preserving freshness of fruits and vegetables. In order to close such compartments, the refrigerator shelf under which the drawers are arranged may be employed as a lid. Alternatively, the one or more drawers may have a lid of their own. Gaskets may advantageously be associated with either the edges of the drawers or the edges of the shelf or lid(s) to achieve an air-tight sealing.
In order to prevent loss of moisture from stored vegetables and fruits and more generally to adjust the level of humidity, humidity control devices for crisper compartments have been developed.
These devices generally comprise venting holes/apertures defining a ventilation passage, whose size can be suitably adjusted to selectively vary fluid communication between the crisper compartment and the refrigerator cavity. When the ventilation passage is in a fully open position, a flow of air/gases is allowed to and from the crisper compartment, thus keeping humidity relatively low. This is beneficial for the storage of fruits such as pears and apples, and also allows ethylene gas produced by certain fruits to escape, thus preventing them from rotting quickly. On the contrary, when the ventilation passage is in a fully closed position, substantially no airflow is possible, which keeps humidity in the crisper compartment relatively high.
Known humidity control devices comprise one or more ventilation holes formed in a trim piece mounted at the front edge of the shelf closing the crisper compartment. A plate member is slidably mounted along the trim piece and can be moved from a closed position, where it covers all ventilation holes, and an open position, where an airflow is allowed through all of them.
Also known are humidity control devices according to which one or more ventilation holes are formed in a wall of a crisper drawer, e.g. close to its top edge, and arranged in a circumferential direction. An adjustment member is rotatably mounted e.g. on a wall of the drawer at the ventilation holes. The adjustment member includes one or more control plates arranged in a circumferential direction on a support portion. The plates have an arc-shaped cross-section whose size corresponds to the width of the ventilation holes. In other words, the control plates have a size corresponding to the size of the holes. The support portion features a rounded profile protruding outwards from the drawer, which can be operated by a user's finger for rotation. By rotating the support portion, the position of the control plates relative to the respective ventilation holes can be varied, thereby modifying the degree of opening and thus the airflow to and from the crisper compartment.
Examples of these humidity control devices are disclosed by e.g. KR 20090133008 and KR 20100004264 .
Further known are humidity control devices in the form of rotatable knobs associated with lids of crisper drawers. US 10260799 e .g. discloses a lid mounted in the refrigeration cavity in such a manner that it can be raised and lowered to open and close a crisped compartment. A separating wall is arranged between the lid and a cover member. An operating element in the form of a rotatable knob is arranged on the separating wall and can be used to actuate the lid. To this aim, the operating element is rotated about an axis on an actuation path and can be latched at least in one rotation position along the actuation path.
A similar humidity control device is disclosed by US 2018/0187966 .
Document WO2009/054681A2 discloses a degassing container for a refrigerator comprising a case having an open side, a door selectively shielding the open side of the case, a gasket between the door and the case, a pressing part and a degassing adjustment part. The gasket is elastically deformed and closely attached when the door is shielded. The pressing part selectively closely attaches the door by a rotation operation. The degassing adjustment part is selectively opened and closed according to a rotation of the pressing part to discharge air of a volume corresponding to the deformation of the gasket into the outside of the case.
The humidity control devices described above can be improved from the ergonomics point of view, particularly considering the larger and larger number of compartments and drawers available in modern refrigerator appliances.
Moreover, known solutions exploiting rotatable knobs are considered to be rather complex from a structural and assembly point of view.

Summary of the invention

The technical problem underlying and solved by the present invention is therefore to provide a household refrigerator appliance with humidity control means for a crisper compartment that allows to overcome the drawbacks mentioned above with reference to the prior art.
This problem is solved by a household refrigerator appliance according to the independent claim 1. Preferred features of the present invention are set forth in the dependent claims.
According to the invention a humidity control device is operably associated with the crisper compartment and configured to selectively allow communication of air/gases, also generally referred to as fluids in the following, between the refrigerator cavity and the crisper compartment itself. The humidity control device is a knob mounted on a hole allowing fluid communication between the refrigerator cavity and the crisper compartment. The knob has an outer ring surrounding a cap, said ring and said cap being movable relative to each other in an axial direction by way of a threaded coupling, between a closed position, where they engage each other to form a seal against passage of air and gases, and an open position, where they are spaced apart in the axial direction, thereby selectively allowing a flow of air/gases to and from the crisper compartment.
This configuration of the humidity control device is easy and cheap to manufacture and assemble, while allowing a precise and continuous adjustment of the mutual distance between the ring and the cap. Hence, a fine adjustment of the flow rate of air and gases to and from the crisper compartment can be effectively achieved.
The humidity control device is provided with graphic indicia in order to help a user identify the closed position and an opening degree in the open position.
The humidity control device may also advantageously be provided with a humidity indicator, such as e.g. a humidity sensitive membrane, allowing a user to visualize the humidity level inside the crisper compartment. The humidity indicator may be associated e.g. with the cap of the knob.
An ethylene scrubber may also be associated with the humidity control device, which prevents certain fruits stored in the crisper compartment from rotting quickly.
Further advantages, features and operation modes of the present invention will become clear from the following detailed description of embodiments thereof, which are given for illustrative and not-limiting purposes.

Brief description of the drawings

Reference will be made to the figures of the accompanying drawings, in which:

figure 1 is a perspective view showing a household refrigerator appliance according to the present invention;
figure 2 shows a detail II of figure 1;
figure 3 is a side view schematically showing a crisper compartment of the household refrigerator appliance of figure 1;
figures 4 and 5 show cross sections of a humidity control device of the household refrigerator appliance according to the invention in a closed and open condition, respectively;
figure 6 is a perspective view of the humidity control device of the household refrigerator appliance according to the invention;
figures 7 and 8 show alternative arrangements of the humidity control device of the household refrigerator appliance according to the invention.

Detailed description of preferred embodiments

With reference to the figures, a household refrigerator appliance according to the invention is generally indicated by reference number 100.
In the figures, the refrigerator appliance 100 is shown with reference to a three-dimensional coordinate system. A first axis X and a second axis Y that are mutually perpendicular define a horizontal plane, while a third axis Z, perpendicular to said horizontal plane, defines a vertical axis along which the force of gravity acts.
The household refrigerator appliance 100, hereinafter also referred to as refrigerator appliance or refrigerator only, comprises a cabinet 110 whose cavity is configured to store food items. The appliance shown in the drawings is e.g. a "bottom mount" refrigerator, where a refrigerator cavity 111 is formed above a freezer cavity 112 in a vertical direction. The two cavities are separated from each other by a mullion 113 and can be selectively accessed through respective doors (not shown).
It will be appreciated that neither the type of refrigerator, nor the arrangement of its cavities are limiting features of the invention.
A crisper compartment 114 is formed in the refrigerator cavity 111. The crisper compartment 114 is defined by a bottom wall, a rear wall and opposite side walls of the refrigerator cavity 111. The crisper compartment 114 is further defined by a shelf 115 of the refrigerator appliance 100, which serves as a top cover.
As shown in figure 2, the crisper compartment 114 comprises one or more drawers, e.g. two drawers 116, 117, that are slidably fitted under the shelf 115. In order to achieve an air-tight sealing of the crisper compartment 114, the drawers 116, 117 and/or the shelf 115 may advantageously be provided with gaskets.
The refrigerator appliance 100 also comprises a humidity control device 120 mounted on a hole formed in the crisper compartment 114 e.g. on the shelf 115, allowing fluid communication between the refrigerator cavity 111 and the crisper compartment 114. The humidity control device 120 is also configured to allow to adjust the flow rate of fluids, in particular air/gases, as it will be explained in greater detail in the following.
As anticipated above and referring to figures 3, 4 and 5, according to an embodiment of the invention the humidity control device 120 may be associated with the shelf 115, which serves as a top cover for the drawers 116, 117.
The humidity control device 120 is a knob that is mounted e.g. on a hole formed in the shelf 115, or elsewhere on a hole allowing fluid communication between the crisper compartment 114 and the refrigerator cavity 111. The knob has an outer ring 121 surrounding a cap 122 and is configured such that the ring 121 and the cap 122 are movable relative to each other in the axial direction to selectively allow a flow of fluids between the crisper compartment 114, and more particularly to and from the drawers 116, 117, and the refrigerator cavity 111.
The outer ring 121 and the cap 122 can be moved relative to each other in the axial direction between a closed position, where they engage each other to form a seal against passage of air and gases, and an open position, where they are spaced apart in the axial direction and allow a flow of air/gases. It will be appreciated that the flow rate of air/gases in the open position depends on the mutual distance between the two members in the axial direction.
The knob has a substantially cylindrical shape. Moreover, the ring 121 features a thread profile 121a formed in its inner periphery that engages a corresponding thread profile 122a formed on the outer periphery of the cap 122. It will be appreciated that, thanks to the threaded coupling, the outer ring 121 and the cap 122 can be rotated relative to each other, thereby being moved in the axial direction. This configuration is advantageous in that it is easy and cheap to manufacture and assemble, while allowing a precise and continuous adjustment of the mutual distance between the ring 121 and the cap 122, which results in a fine adjustment of the flow rate of air and gases.
As shown in figure 4, in the closed position top surfaces of the ring 121 and the cap 122 are aligned and substantially in contact with each other along their peripheries, thereby achieving a substantially air-tight seal. A gasket may be advantageously associated with either or both members to improve sealing.
Figure 5 shows an open position where the cap 122 is moved in the axial direction relative to the ring 121 and their top surfaces are spaced apart from each other, thereby allowing a flow of gases as schematically indicated by the arrows.
Now referring to figure 6, the humidity control device 120 is provided with graphic indicia 130 in order to help a user identify the closed position and an opening degree in the open position. In other words, the graphic indicia 130 indicate a level of humidity that may be selected within a predefined range. As shown in the embodiment of figure 6, the graphic indicia 130 may be formed e.g. on the surface of the shelf 115 about the ring 121. Alternatively, the graphic indicia 130 may be formed on the ring 121 or on the cap 122.
In view of the above, it will be appreciated that the arrangement of humidity control device 120 on the shelf 115 is not a limiting feature of the invention, and that this device could be arranged elsewhere e.g. to improve ergonomics.
Referring for instance to figures 7 and 8, the humidity control device 120 could be arranged on a trim piece 140 mounted at a front edge of the shelf 115.
As shown in the embodiment of figure 7, the trim piece 140 may comprise a stepped profile 141 allowing to arrange the humidity control device 120 in an offset position relative to the shelf in the vertical direction Z. The top surface of the knob can thus be easily aligned with the surface of the shelf 115, thereby avoiding any possible interference with the knob when moving objects and/or containers arranged on the latter.
According to an alternative embodiment of the invention, shown in figure 8, a recessed portion 142 may even be formed in the trim piece 140, thereby allowing to protect the knob and to prevent any possible contact with the latter when moving objects and/or containers arranged on the shelf 115.
In all the embodiments of the invention described above, the humidity control device 120 is directly or indirectly associated with the shelf 115 and thus arranged in a substantially horizontal position.
It will nevertheless be appreciated that different arrangements are also possible. For instance, the humidity control device 120 might be associated with any one of the drawers and arranged e.g. on a front wall thereof. Each drawer could be provided with a humidity control device 120 in order to allow users to set and adjust the humidity rate depending on the specific products to be stored therein.
According to another embodiment of the invention, the humidity control device 120 may advantageously be provided with a humidity indicator, such as e.g. a humidity sensitive membrane, allowing to visualize the humidity level inside the crisper compartment 114.
The humidity indicator may be associated e.g. with the cap 122. A user can thus be prompted to adjust the humidity control device 120 in order to increase or decrease the airflow depending on the actual condition shown by the humidity indicator.
According to a further aspect of the invention, the humidity control device 120 may advantageously comprise an ethylene scrubber. This advantageously allows to absorb ethylene gas produced by certain fruits in order to preserve their freshness, and thus preventing them from rotting quickly and improving the performances of the humidity control device 120.
The ethylene scrubber can e.g. be in the form of a pouch arranged inside the cap 122.
The present invention has hereto been disclosed with reference to preferred embodiments thereof. It will be appreciated that there may be other embodiments relating to the same inventive idea, all of which are included in the scope of protection defined by the claims set out below.

Claims

A household refrigerator appliance (100) comprising:
a. a cabinet (110);

b. a refrigerator cavity (111) formed inside said cabinet (110);

c. a crisper compartment (114) formed in said refrigerator cavity (111);

d. a humidity control device (120) operably associated with the crisper compartment (114),

wherein said humidity control device (120) is a knob mounted on a hole formed in the crisper compartment (114) to allow fluid communication between the latter and the refrigerator cavity (111), said knob having an outer ring (121) surrounding a cap (122), said outer ring (121) and said cap (122) being movable relative to each other in an axial direction between a closed position, characterized in that the outer ring (121) and the cap (122) engage each other to form a seal against passage of fluids, and an open position, where the outer ring (121) and the cap (122) are spaced apart in the axial direction, thereby selectively allowing a flow of fluids between the crisper compartment (114) and the refrigerator cavity (111),

wherein further the humidity control device (120) comprises graphic indicia (130) indicating selectable humidity levels over a predetermined range.
The household refrigerator appliance (100) according to claim 1, wherein the knob has a substantially cylindrical shape and wherein the ring (121) features a thread profile (121a) formed in its inner periphery that engages a corresponding thread profile (122a) formed on the outer periphery of the cap (122).
The household refrigerator appliance (100) according to claim 1 or 2, wherein in said closed position top surfaces of the ring (121) and the cap (122) are aligned and substantially in contact with each other along their peripheries, thereby achieving an air-tight seal.
The household refrigerator appliance (100) according to anyone of the preceding claims, wherein the humidity control device (120) is arranged on a shelf (115) of thereof, which serves as a top cover of the crisper compartment (114).
The household refrigerator appliance (100) according to claim 4, wherein the humidity control device (120) is arranged on a trim piece (140) mounted at a front edge of the shelf (115).
The household refrigerator appliance (100) according to claim 5, wherein said trim piece (140) comprises a stepped profile (141), whereby the humidity control device (120) is arranged offset relative to the shelf (1 15) in a vertical direction (Z).
The household refrigerator appliance (100) according to claim 6, wherein said stepped profile (141) is configured such that a top surface of the knob is aligned with the surface of the shelf (115).
The household refrigerator appliance (100) according to anyone of claims 5 to 7, wherein the trim piece (140) comprises a recessed portion (142) housing the humidity control device (120).
The household refrigerator appliance (100) according to anyone of the preceding claims, further comprising a humidity indicator.
The household refrigerator appliance (100) according to claim 9, wherein said humidity indicator is a humidity-sensitive membrane associated with the cap (122).
The household refrigerator appliance (100) according to anyone of the preceding claims, further comprising an ethylene scrubber.
The household refrigerator appliance (100) according to claim 11, wherein said ethylene scrubber is a housed inside the cap (122).
A method for adjusting a humidity level within a crisper compartment (114) of a household refrigerator appliance (100), said method comprising the following steps:
a. Forming a hole allowing fluid communication between the crisper compartment (114) and the refrigerator cavity (111) of said household refrigerator appliance (100);

b. Assembling a humidity control device (120) according to anyone of the preceding claims on said hole;

c. Spacing a ring (121) and a cap (122) of said humidity control device (120) apart from each other in an axial direction according to a desired degree of humidity,
characterised by further comprising selecting the desired degree of humidity based on graphic indicia (130) of the humidity control device (120).