GB2215761A

GB2215761A - Refrigerating appliance with a front loading door

Info

Publication number: GB2215761A
Application number: GB8900879A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Silvio Lucchetta
Original assignee: Industrie Zanussi SpA
Current assignee: Industrie Zanussi SpA
Priority date: 1988-02-05
Filing date: 1989-01-16
Publication date: 1989-09-27
Also published as: ES1009374U; FR2626968B3; IT215682Z2; GB8900879D0; DE8901164U1; FR2626968A3; IT8834005V0; ES1009374Y

Abstract

A refrigerating appliance has at least one front loading door 5 provided with at least one bush 8 by means of which it is pivoted on a bracket 11 fixed to the casing of the appliance to rotate between an open position and a closure position in which, formed in one piece with said bush 8 is a bar 12 which projects from the door and which is fixed with respect thereto, at least the projecting portion of the bar being flexible and provided with a part-spherically shaped centering surface 13 which, when the door approaches a position corresponding to its closure position, is capable of co-operating with a portion 15 of said bracket having a substantially complementary surface, with respect to which the shaped surface 13 is capable of centering itself to apply to the door 5 a force biasing it towards said closure position. <IMAGE>

Description

REFRIGERATING APPLIANCE WITH A FRONT LOADING DOOR The present invention relates to a refrigerating appliance, in particular a domestic refrigerator, of the type which is provided with at least one front loading door.

In a conventional refrigerator of that type the loading door is only provided with a perimeter seal which is capable of bearing against the edge of the access opening of the appliance to ensure that it is sealed shut when the door is closed.

The door may also be provided with permanent magnets which are generally disposed within the seal and which are arranged to ensure that the door itself is retained in its closure position. That arrangement has been found to be of poor reliability insofar as it does not prevent 'rebounding' of the door when it is closed violently, nor does it guarantee sufficient attraction in regard to the door in the closure position when it is inadequately closed.

In order to minimise such disadvantages, refrigerators have been proposed in which a rigid, eccentrically shaped flange is fixed on an edge of the door in such a way as to project towards the interior of the appliance.

When the door is in the part-closed position, the flange engages with a resilient lewder which is fixed to the casing of the refrigerator by means of a fixing bracket, being shaped in such a way as to cooperate with the eccentric surface of the rigid flange to apply an effect of attracting the door towards its closure position.

While that construction is satisfactory, it is relatively complicated because it requires a series of auxiliary elements (rigid flange, spring-loaded lever, fixing bracket and associated screws or the like) which also require additional assembly phases which cause undesirable complications in the manufacture of the refrigerating appliance.

The present invention seeks to provide a refrigerating appliance with a front loading door which is capable of securely taking up the correct closure position without the need to provide any additional component.

According to the present invention, there is provided a refrigerating appliance with at least one front loading door provided with at least one bush by means of which it is pivoted on a bracket fixed to the casing of the appliance to rotate between an open.position and a closure position wherein formed in one piece with said bush is a bar which projects from the door and which is fixed with respect thereto, at least the projecting portion of the bar being flexible and provided with a shaped centering surface which, when the door approaches a position corresponding to its closure position, is capable of co-operating with a portion of said bracket having a substantially complementary surface, with respect to which the shaped surface is capable of centering itself to apply to the door a force biasing it towards said closure position.

With respect to the latter, the shaped surface is capable of being centered to apply to the dbor a force for attracting it towards said closure position.

The features and advantages of the invention will be clearly apparent from the following description which is given solely by way of non-limiting example with reference to the accompanying drawing in which: Figure 1 is a diagrammatic perspective view of part of the appliance according to the invention with the access door in an open position, and Figure 2 is a diagrammatic view in side section of part of the appliance shown in figure 1 with the access door in a closure position.

Referring to the drawing, the refrigerating appliance according to the invention comprises an insulated casing 3 which is provided on its front with at least one opening 4 for access to a refrigerating compartment.

The access opening 4 can be closed by means of a loading door 5 which in substance comprises a shaped frame structure 6 in which a mass of heat-insulating material 7 (not shown in figure 1) is foamed.

Fitted into the door 5 on one side of the lower edge thereof (and the upper edge), in per se known manner, is a bush 8 which is preferably of plastics material and which is embedded in the insulating material 7 and by means of which the door is pivoted on a respective bracket 10 fixed to the front of the casing 3 by means of screws 11 or the like. In particular, fitted into the bush 8 is an associated pin 9 which is fixed vertically on the bracket 10 and about which the door 5 can rotate between the open position shown in figure 1 and the closure position shown in figure 2. It will be noted with reference to figure 2 that the spacing between the peripheral edge of the-door 5 and the edge of the access opening 4 is intended to be occupied by a conventional seal which is fixed to the door but which is not shown, for the sake of simplicity.

In accordance with an aspect of the invention, provided in one piece with the bush 8 is a bar 12 which projects horizontally towards the interior of the appliance from the hinge edge of the door 5. At least the projecting portion of the bar 12 is flexible and is provided with a centering surface 13 which is preferably shaped in the form of a portion of a sphere. The bar 12 is fixed with respect to the door 12, for example by means of at least one vertical fixing peg 14 which is also preferably made in one piece and which is capable of being engaged into a corresponding hole provided at the hinge edge of the door.

When the door 5 is closed, the bar 12 is substantially aligned with the horizontal portion of the bracket 10, a portion 15 of which is shaped to provide a surface which is complementary to the centering surface 13 and which is disposed in a position that is coincident therewith.

The shaped portion 15 is preferably made in one piece with the bracket 10, for example by means of stamping, but it will be appreciated that it may also be added thereto.

When the door 5 is moved towards the closure position as indicated by the arrow in figure 1, just before the door comes to bear against the casing 3, the resilient bar 12 'ridges over the shaped portion 15 (which is convex in the embodiment described herein) of the bracket 10 until the shaped portion comes into a position of coincidence with the shaped surface 13. By virtue also of the resiliency of the bar 12, the surface 13 tends to provide a self-centering action with respect to the complementary surface 15 of the bracket 10, thereby applying to the door 5 a force for attracting it towards the final closure position. By virtue of the surfaces 13 and 15 being shaped in the form of portions of a sphere, that 'self-centering' operation is advantageously gentle, as well as effective, and tends also to prevent any rebounding' of the door when it is closed violently.

In any case it will be apparent that the aims of the invention are achieved without the need to fit the refri gerrtlng 8pnli2nne witch n'r additional compnnent, insofar as both the bar 12 and the shaped surface 15 are produced in one piece on respective components (bush 8 and bracket 10) which have to be fitted to the appliance in any case.

The assembly operations therefore also do not involve any complication.

It will be appreciated that many modifications rnay be made in the refrigerating appliance described without departing from the scope of the invention. For example the centering surface 13 may be convex, rather than concave, which is what the corresponding complementary surface 15 would be in that case. It is in any case not out of the question for the two surfaces 13 and 15 to be shaped differently, for example with an inclined surface configuration.

In addition, in the embodiment described the flexible bar 12 and the complementary surfaces 13 and 15 are preferably disposed at the bottom of the door 5, but they could be disposed in the upper part (not shown) of the door, or in both positions.

It will of course be appreciated that the appliance according to the invention may be used as a refrigerator, as a freezer or as a combined appliance, and may comprise a different number of access doors 5.

Claims

1. A refrigerating appliance with at least one front loading door provided with at least one bush by means of which it is pivoted on a bracket fixed to the casing of the appliance to rotate between an open position and a closure position wherein formed in one piece with said bush is a bar which projects from the door and which is fixed. with respect thereto, at least the projecting portion of the bar being flexible and provided with a shaped centering surface which, when the door approaches a position corresponding to its closure position, is capable of co-operating with a portion of said bracket having a substantially complementary surface, with respect to which the shaped surface is capable of centering itself to apply to the door a force biasing it towards said closure position.

2. A refrigerating appliance according to claim 1 characterised in that said centering surface is in the form of a portion of a sphere.

3. A refrigerating appliance according to claim 1.

characterised in that the portion of the bracket having said complementary surface is provided in one piece with the.

bracket.

4. A refrigerating appliance according to claim 1 characterised in that at least one fixing peg is provided inone piece on said bar and is inserted into a corresponding hole in the door.

5. A refrigerating appliance constructed and arranged to operate substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.