ES2704912T3 - Refrigerating unit with lighting device housed in a pivoting way - Google Patents

Abstract

Refrigerating unit with a door (3) housed in a frame (1) and with a lighting device (4) that radiates light along its longitudinal extension (5) in a direction of main irradiation (6), the device being of illumination (4) oriented vertically parallel with respect to its longitudinal extension (5) around a pivoting axis (7) and housed pivotably in the frame (1) of the refrigerator cabinet in such a way that with the door closed (3) ), the lighting device (4) occupies a first position in which its main irradiation direction (6) is oriented along a side wall (15) of the refrigerator cabinet in a first direction (8) towards the interior of cabinet and lighting device (4), with the door (3) open, pivoting about its pivot axis (7), is brought to a second position, in which its main irradiation direction (6) is oriented towards a second direction (9) obliquely respect or to the side wall (15) in the direction of the interior of the cabinet covered by the closed door (3), characterized in that the lighting device (4) is housed by means of a hinge (13) that exclusively pivots the device of illumination (4), in the frame (1) of the refrigerator cabinet and can pivot, at most, around 60 ° between the first position and the second position and because the lighting device (4) is attached to a lever ( 10) resting on the door (3), lever which, with the door (3) closed, fixes the lighting device (4) in its first position.

Description

DESCRIPTION

Refrigerating unit with lighting device housed in a pivoting way

The present invention relates to a refrigerator cabinet with a door housed in a frame and with a lighting device that radiates light along its longitudinal extension in a main irradiation direction, the lighting device being oriented vertically parallel to the its longitudinal extension around a pivoting axis and housed pivotably in the frame of the refrigerator cabinet in such a way that with the door closed, the lighting device occupies a first position in which its main irradiation direction is oriented along of a side wall of the refrigerator cabinet in a first direction towards the interior of the cabinet and the lighting device, with the door open, pivoting about its pivot axis, is transported to a second position, in which its main direction of irradiation is oriented towards a second direction obliquely with respect to the side wall in the dir ection of the interior of the cupboard covered by the closed door.

The invention relates especially to a cold store for the sale of retail food with which a customer can choose, through a glass door, the refrigerated food in the cold room and should only open the door when it has been decided for a food, so that, on the one hand, the cold chain of food is maintained and, on the other hand, refrigeration is carried out more efficiently. Because of the efforts of the legislative authorities to force that in the sale of food retail all the food that must be refrigerated is placed in a refrigerator with a door that can be closed, the demand for such refrigerated furniture has increased.

Inside the refrigerator unit, lighting devices are generally provided that illuminate the food exposed inside the refrigerator cabinet. In the case of known refrigeration cabinets, the lighting devices are placed in such a way in a frame of the refrigerated cabinet that the food placed inside the refrigerated cabinet is constantly illuminated. In order to illuminate the cabinet interior particularly uniformly in the vertical direction, the lighting device is positioned so that it is oriented vertically along a frame of the refrigerator cabinet. In order to illuminate, in this respect, the refrigerator cabinet space covered by the closed door, the lighting device can be oriented correspondingly towards the interior space of the refrigerated cabinet covered by the closed door. In this sense it has been found that the light emitted laterally by the lighting device, which emerges out through the glass door with the glass door closed, can be annoying for the customers.

DE 102013019099 A1 discloses a household refrigerator in which a lamp with a part housed pivotably is placed in its cover. An illumination of the interior space of the refrigerator is not necessary with the refrigerator door closed. DE 4024 174 C1 discloses another refrigerator with a single bulb housed pivotably on the side wall of the refrigerator, a bulb that goes off with the door closed. In the case of refrigerators for domestic use, with the refrigerator door closed, thus, the light emitted by the lighting device is not annoying.

From WO 2006/118567 A1 a refrigerated cabinet with the characteristics mentioned at the beginning is known, in which the lighting device is fixed directly to the door of the refrigerated cabinet. The pivoting position of the lighting device always corresponds to the pivoting position of the door. With the door completely open, therefore, the interior of the refrigerator cabinet is not illuminated. From EP 2589881 A1 a lever is known in a refrigerator cabinet which limits the opening angle of the door. The aim of the present invention is to solve, at least partially, the problems explained in relation to the state of the art and, especially, to specify a refrigerator cabinet with which the light emitted by the lighting device with the closed door does not disturb the customers, but with which the interior space of refrigerator cabinet is illuminated evenly with the door completely open.

This objective is achieved by means of a refrigerator cabinet with the characteristics of the independent claim. Advantageous refinements of the refrigerated cabinet are indicated in the dependent claims and in the description, characteristics of the advantageous improvements can be combined with one another in a reasonable way from a technological point of view.

This object is achieved in particular by means of a refrigerator cabinet with the characteristics mentioned at the beginning, in which the lighting device is housed, by means of a hinge which exclusively houses the lighting device in a pivoting manner, in a frame of the refrigerator unit and can pivot, at most, around 60 ° between the first position and the second position and in which the lighting device is connected to a lever that rests on the door, a lever which, with the door closed, fixes the lighting device on Your first position

The door is especially a transparent door, at least on most of its surface, and especially, a glass or plexiglass door surrounded by a frame.

The lighting device has a longitudinal direction, along which a light source or a light source extends uniformly or along which several light sources are arranged, the lighting device being arranged in a plane, transversely to the light source. longitudinal direction, a main irradiation direction. The main irradiation direction is in a plane oriented orthogonally with respect to the longitudinal direction of the illumination device, especially in the direction in which the radiation intensity of the illumination device is greater.

The lighting device is housed so as to pivot about a pivoting axis, the pivoting axis (virtual) being essentially parallel oriented, especially with an angular deviation of 10 ° maximum with respect to the longitudinal extent of the lighting device and being or located in the lighting device or outside, displaced relative to it. The lighting device is especially arranged in an area close to the door frame. The lighting device is especially coupled to the door so that, when the door is opened, the lighting device pivots about the pivoting axis of the lighting device. In this respect, the main irradiation direction of the lighting device is oriented, both with the door closed and with the door open, towards the interior of the refrigerator unit. In the first position, the main irradiation direction is thus essentially parallel to the side wall of the refrigerator cabinet while in the second position the lighting device is pivoting about such an angle that the area of the interior space of the refrigerator cabinet arranged specially centered in front of the closed door.

Suitably, the lever is fixedly attached at one of its ends to the lighting device and rests with its other end on the inner side of the door or an element assigned to the inner side of the door, the two ends being joined to each other especially by means of a bent or oscillating zone. Especially in combination with a force application, the end of the lever resting on the door is pressed towards the door by the prestressing, which, upon opening of the door, results in a pivoting movement of the lighting device. Such a lever is a simple measure to fix the lighting device in the first position with the door closed and to allow a succession to the second position. With a door housed in a pivoting manner, the pivoting movement of the lighting device is effected depending on the pivot angle of the door. With the configuration of a door housed so that it can be moved, the lighting device pivots, on the contrary, with the sliding door open, directly to its final position.

The advantage of the present invention is that the lighting device in the first position with the closed door is oriented so that the light emitted by the lighting device is not considered annoying by the people in front of the refrigerator unit, illuminating the lighting device evenly, in the second position, with the door open, the inside of the refrigerator cabinet, especially the area covered by the closed door.

According to a configuration of the refrigerator cabinet, the lighting device receives a force application to reach its pivoting movement in such a way that the lighting device, in its pivoting movement from the first position to the second position, automatically follows the opening of the door. Thus, a means is provided which applies a force on the lighting device which is directed from the first position of the lighting device to the second position of the lighting device.

In particular, the force is applied to the lighting device by means of a prestressed spring.

As an alternative, it could be provided that force is applied to the lighting device by means of a pull cable.

Another possibility to make the lighting device pivot from its first position to its second position is realized because the opening of the door is registered with a sensor and the pivoting movement of the lighting device is driven by an electric motor. The sensor can be formed by a corresponding contact which, with the door closed, meshes with a counter contact, the contacts can be separated from one another by opening the door. With such a configuration, a control device would also be provided, which senses the opening of the door by contact and controls the electric motor.

With the embodiment of the door as a pivoting door, it can furthermore be provided that the lighting device is mechanically coupled, in particular by means of a shape drag in one direction, by means of a connecting means, in particular a lever, to the pivoting door , so that the lighting device pivots from its first position to its second position directly by means of the swinging door. In such an embodiment no spring or motor must be provided for the application of force on the lighting device.

In order for a pivoting movement of the lighting device to be limited when the door is opened, especially from a pivoting movement of the door beyond a predetermined angle of movement, it is provided that in the lighting device and / or an element of the furniture In the case of a refrigerator, a stop is configured which limits the pivoting movement, which is made when the door is opened, of the lighting device to a maximum pivot angle. If the door of the refrigerator cabinet beats, for example, around more than 60 ° from its closed position, the The lighting device reaches the stop, in such a way that the lighting device is prevented from continuing to pivot, so that the lighting device illuminates an area of the inside of the refrigerator unit that can be determined previously by the stop. With a door housed so that it can be moved, when the sliding door is opened, the lighting device always engages with the stop.

In order to be able to subsequently modify the maximum pivot angle of the lighting device, it is provided in this context that the position of the stop can be adjusted, so that the maximum pivot angle of the lighting device depends on the position of the stop. The stop can be formed, for example, by a screw that can be screwed on or unscrewed correspondingly to change its position.

In particular, a prestressed spring is formed in the hinge which applies a force on the lighting device from the first position towards the second position.

In order that the lighting device can be easily changed in the event of a defect, it is provided that the lighting device is fixed to the hinge by means of a grip connection. Such a grip connection can be made, for example, by means of a U-shaped clip, which is fixedly connected to the hinge and in which the lighting device is immobilized.

To easily fix the hinge to the frame of the refrigerator cabinet, it is provided that the hinge is fixed by means of a connection to a support profile of the refrigerator cabinet.

According to another configuration of the refrigerator cabinet, the first direction of the main irradiation of the lighting device in the first position with the door closed can be adjusted, which especially implies that the main irradiation direction of the lighting device, in the case from the first position defined by the closed door, it can be modified, so that with the closed door an area of the interior of refrigerated furniture is illuminated that can vary. For example, an adjustment of the first direction can be carried out by means of an adjustable lever, it being possible to vary a length of extension of the lever due to a telescopic element, so that, for example, with the door closed, the first direction of the The main irradiation direction can always be oriented parallel to the side wall of the refrigerator cabinet, independently of the geometry of the refrigerator cabinet, especially regardless of the distance between the pivoting axis of the lighting device and the interior surface of the door. Alternatively, such a parallel orientation of the first direction of the main irradiation direction can be achieved by an arrangement of elongated holes in the frame, with which the lighting device can be fixed to slightly different points along the side wall of refrigerated furniture.

According to a configuration of the refrigerator cabinet, the lighting device comprises an LED strip. The LED strip comprises, in particular, several LEDs arranged one below or one above the other in the longitudinal extension of the lighting device.

The invention, as well as the technical context, is explained below by way of example by means of the figures, it being noted that the figures show an advantageous configuration of the invention, but that this is not restricted to them. They show schematically the following:

Figure 1, a zone comprising a pivoting door and a lighting device of a refrigerator cabinet.

Figure 2, a plan view on the area with the door closed.

Figure 3, a plan view on the area with the door open.

Figure 4 is a plan view of an area comprising a movable door and a lighting device, with the door closed.

Figure 5, the area with the door open.

Figure 1 shows an area of the refrigerator cabinet with a frame 1 in which a door 3 is housed so that it can pivot about a retention axis 2. In addition there is shown an illumination device 4 expanded towards a longitudinal extension 5, lighting device that is pivotably housed in the frame 1 by a hinge 13. For a pivoting movement of the lighting device 4 is coupled to a pivoting movement of the door 3, there is provided a spring not shown, for the application of force on the hinge 13, and a lever 10 fixedly attached to the lighting device 4.

In figure 2 a plan view is shown on the area represented in figure 1 with the door 3 closed. The door 3 is housed so that it can pivot about the retaining shaft 2, while the lighting device 4 can pivot about a pivoting axis 7 of the hinge 13 connected to the lighting device 4. The lighting device 4 presents a main irradiation direction 6 which, with the door 3 closed, is oriented in a first direction 8 parallel to the side wall 15. In the hinge 13 is configured the lever 10, which is supported on the door 3. The hinge 13 comprises a spring that exerts a force directed in the direction of the needles of the clock on the hinge arm and, thereby, on the lever 10.

Figure 3 shows the area of the refrigerator cabinet with the door 3 open. The door 3 is pivoted, in this direction, with a flap angle 14 about the retaining axis 2. Because of the spring pretension described above, when the door 3 is beaten, the lever 10 remains engaged with the door 3, what the lever 10 and the lighting device 4 have pivoted about the pivot axis 7 with a pivot angle 12. In this respect, the angle of flap 14 and the pivot angle 12 need not necessarily coincide in their size . In the position shown, the lever 10 is adjusted to a stop 11 in the frame 1, which gives as a consequence that, in the event that the door 3 continues to beat, the lighting device 4 would not continue to pivot. In the position shown, the main irradiation direction 6 of the lighting device 4 is oriented towards a second direction 9.

The advantage of the present invention is that, in the case of the first position, shown in FIG. 2, the main irradiation direction 6 is oriented approximately parallel to the side wall 15 of the refrigerator cabinet, while , in the case of the second position, represented in figure 3, the main irradiation direction 6 of the lighting device 4 is oriented essentially towards an area that was covered by the closed door 3. This illuminates exactly the area inside the refrigerator cabinet to which the customer accesses with the door 3 open.

FIGS. 4 and 5 show a refrigerated cabinet with a door 3 that can be displaced, and then deals only with the differences with respect to the embodiment of FIGS. 1 to 3.

In the case of the movably accommodated door 3, shown in FIG. 4, the lever 10 is adjusted to a projection 16 configured in the door 3, the main irradiation direction 6 of the lighting device 4 being fixed to the lever oriented in a first direction 8.

If now, as shown in FIG. 5, the movably accommodated door 3 is opened, the lever 10 can pivot, due to the spring prestressing, about the pivot axis 7 of the hinge 13, so that that the lighting device 4 pivots towards its second position. In this second position, the lever 10 is adjusted to a stop 11, so that the pivoting movement is limited. In this second position 4, the main irradiation direction 6 is oriented in the second direction 9.

References

1 Marco

2 Retention shaft

3 Door

4 Lighting device

5 Longitudinal extension

6 Main irradiation direction

7 pivoting axis

8 First address

9 Second address

10 Lever

11 Top

12 Pivot angle

13 Hinge

14 Angle of paddling

15 Side wall

16 Outgoing

Claims (11)

1. Refrigerating unit with a door (3) housed in a frame (1) and with a lighting device (4) that radiates light along its longitudinal extension (5) in a direction of main irradiation (6), being the illumination device (4) oriented vertically parallel to its longitudinal extension (5) around a pivoting axis (7) and housed pivotably in the frame (1) of the refrigerator cabinet in such a way that with the door closed (3), the lighting device (4) occupies a first position in which its main irradiation direction (6) is oriented along a side wall (15) of the refrigerator cabinet in a first direction (8) towards the cabinet interior and the lighting device (4), with the door (3) open, pivoting about its pivot axis (7), is brought to a second position, in which its main irradiation direction (6) is oriented towards a second direction (9) obliquely resp Ecto to the side wall (15) in the direction of the interior of the cabinet covered by the closed door (3), characterized in that the lighting device (4) is housed, by means of a hinge (13) that pivotally accommodates the lighting device (4), in the frame (1) of the refrigerator cabinet and can pivot, at most, around 60 ° between the first position and the second position and because the lighting device (4) is attached to a lever (10) that rests on the door (3), lever that, with the door (3) closed, fixes the lighting device (4) in its first position. Refrigerating unit according to claim 1, the lighting device (4) receiving a force application to reach its pivoting movement in such a way that the lighting device (4), in its pivoting movement from the first position to the second position automatically follows the opening movement of the door (3). 3. Refrigerating cabinet according to claim 2, applying a force by means of a prestressed spring to the lighting device (4). Refrigerating unit according to claim 1, the opening of the door being registered with a sensor and the pivoting movement of the lighting device (4) being actuated by an electric motor. Refrigerating unit according to one of the preceding claims, wherein a stop (11) which limits the movement to a maximum pivot angle (12) is configured in the lighting device (4) and / or in a refrigerator element. pivoting of the lighting device (4) that is carried out when the door is opened (3). 6. Refrigerating cabinet according to claim 5, the position of the stop (11) being adjustable so that the maximum pivot angle (12) of the lighting device (4) depends on the position of the stop (11). Refrigerating cabinet according to one of the preceding claims, the lighting device (4) being fixed to the hinge (13) by means of a grip connection. Refrigerating unit according to one of the preceding claims, the hinge (13) being fixed by means of a plug connection to a support profile of the refrigerator unit. 9. Refrigerating cabinet according to one of the preceding claims, the first direction (8) of the main irradiation direction (6) of the lighting device (4) being able to be adjusted in the first position with the door closed (3). Refrigerating cabinet according to one of the preceding claims, the lighting device (4) comprising an LED strip. Refrigerating unit according to one of the preceding claims, the door (3) being pivotably mounted or displaceable in the frame (1) of the refrigerator unit.