WO2004068047A1

WO2004068047A1 - Refrigerator with drawer

Info

Publication number: WO2004068047A1
Application number: PCT/SE2004/000054
Authority: WO
Inventors: Katarina Hjalmarsson
Original assignee: Electrolux Home Products Corporation N.V.
Priority date: 2003-01-31
Filing date: 2004-01-15
Publication date: 2004-08-12
Also published as: EP1595100A1; SE0300261D0

Abstract

The present invention relates to a refrigerator and/or freezer cabinet having an outer shell and at least one inner shell with heat insulation located between at least two of said shells, at least one refrigerant circuit operating the cabinet and cooling at least a first space (4) partly surrounded by a first inner shell. Said cabinet also comprises at least one drawer arranged in said first space in order to be able to move between an outer position in which said first space is open and an inner position in which the drawer at least together with the first inner shell contributes to enclose the first space, the drawer being engaged to the cabinet by at least one guide (19,23,24) guiding the drawer when being moved between said two positions, which guide (19,23,24) being attached to said first inner shell. The cabinet, inside said first space, comprises means by which it at least partly conceals at least a first side of at least one guide (19,23,24), which first side faces vertically upwards.

Description

Refrigerator with drawer

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a refrigerator and/or freezer cabinet having an outer shell and at least one inner shell with heat insulation located between at least two of said shells, at least one refrigerant circuit operating the cabinet and cooling at least a first space partly surrounded by a first inner shell. Said cabinet also comprises at least one drawer arranged in said first space in order to be able to move between an outer position

^' in which said first space is open and an inner position in which the drawer at least together with the first inner shell contributes to enclose the first space, the drawer being engaged to the cabinet by at least one guide guiding the drawer when being moved between said two positions, which guide being attached to said first inner shell.

BACKGROUND Common refrigerators comprise hinge-hanged doors opened by pulling a handle. These type of refrigerators is the most wide spread solution worldwide. Such refrigerators comprise shelves made in plastic, glass or other materials for storing food products in a stand up position. In premier cabinets the shelves are more adapted for different kinds of use, such as storing different type of food packages (bottles etc.)

There are some disadvantages with the above mentioned refrigerator solution. The major problem is their lack of overview of its interior. Furthermore, the accessibility to store and remove different groceries from the cabinet is poor as well as the lightning situation. On top of that a major disadvantage is that disable persons experience difficulty to open and/or reach inside the fridge. Therefore, other refrigerator solutions have been developed. One of those is the so-called pulled-out cabinet. The cabinet comprises one or some drawers containing food products. The user opens a drawer in the same way as for chest drawers by pulling it against her/him. By choosing this concept, the accessibility for the user is improved. The user normally can reach groceries from two ways, both from the left and the right. You also avoid problems caused by the depth of the cabinet, causing forgotten groceries and difficulties cleaning the cabinet. At the same time the overview and the lightning situation are much more improved compared to a regular fridge. When opening the door, it comes straight towards you, which makes the fridge suitable for disabled persons.

National has a refrigerator which at present time is sold on the Asian market. The fridge has one drawer. Two guides are placed above each other on each side of the drawer, guide and holding the drawer in its position. The pulled-out door can only be extracted 200 mm. Another refrigerator is from Liebherr. It is a small one; intended to be placed underneath the sink, with only one door. This solution isn't good. The door gets to deep, it gets hard to reach and the overview is the same as in regular refrigerators. It is not a great situation to place this pulled-out door too near the floor, hard to reach. Despite the fact that most pulled-out refrigerators solve the above-mentioned problems, there are more improvements that need to be done. One major disadvantage with the present pulled-out refrigerators is that the guides guiding and holding the drawers are visible and unprotected. The guides are visible for the user from the side, when the drawer is pulled out, which deteriorates the over-all impression of the refrigerator. Moreover, the guides are not protected from liquid waste related to the groceries or defrosting. The lifecycle for those can therefore be essentially decreased.

The main object of the present invention is therefore to solve the above-mentioned problems and achieve a refrigerator construction comprising guides with a longer life cycle and a refrigerator with a better over-all impression. Also, the new refrigerator should enhance a better overview of the fridge's interior, improve the accessibility to store and remove different groceries from the cabinet, make it easier to clean, adapt it for a wide range of interior equipment and make it more suitable for disabled persons. Demands always needed to fulfill in the best possible way. The construction should also minimize production costs.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a refrigerator and/or freezer cabinet having an outer shell and at least one inner shell with heat insulation located between at least two of said shells, at least one refrigerant circuit operating the cabinet and cooling at least a first space partly surrounded by a first inner shell. Said cabinet also comprises at least one drawer arranged in said first space in order to be able to move between an outer position in which said first space is open and an inner position in which the drawer at least together with the first inner shell contributes to enclose the first space, the drawer being engaged to the cabinet by at least one guide guiding the drawer when being moved between said two positions, which guide being attached to said first inner shell. The cabinet, inside said first space, comprises means by which it at least partly conceals at least a first side of at least one guide, which first side faces vertically upwards.

DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

The invention will be described in form of a preferred embodiment by making reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 shows a perspective view from the right of a pulled-out refrigerator according to an illustrative embodiment of the present invention, the other drawer being pulled out

Fig. 2 shows a perspective view from the right of the refrigerator according to fig. 1 with one drawer removed.

Fig. 3 shows a perspective view from the right of the refrigerator according to fig. 1 with no drawers visible.

Fig. 4 shows a perspective view from the left of the refrigerator cabinet according to fig. 3.

Fig. 5 shows a closer perspective view from the right of the upper storage space of the refrigerator cabinet according to fig. 3.

Fig. 6 shows an even closer simplified, perspective view of a part of the upper storage space according to fig. 5.

Fig. 7 shows a closer perspective view of the lower part of the upper storage space according to fig. 5, also showing certain parts mounted into the cabinet.

Fig. 8 shows the same perspective as in fig. 7, also showing more parts mounted into place. Fig. 9 shows a closer perspective view of the upper part of the upper storage space according to fig. 5, also showing certain parts mounted into the cabinet.

Fig. 10 shows a perspective view of one drawer according to the present invention, which drawer is adapted to fit together with the refrigerator cabinet according to fig. 3 - 9.

Fig. 11 shows a blown out view of the drawer according to fig. 10.

DESCRIPTION OF AN ILLUSTRATIVE EMBODIMENT

The figures disclose the features designed according to the present invention. Fig. 1 -2 shows a view of a pulled-out type refrigerator. The front of each drawer is visible, whereby one drawer has been pulled out. The features of the present invention will be described particularly in relation to that opened drawer. Certain parts of that drawer appear in both figures and these will also be described further ahead. The refrigerator consists of two upper drawers for groceries and a lower cool cupboard.

In fig. 3 - 4 the refrigerator cabinet according to an illustrative embodiment with all the drawers removed is shown, in a left and right perspective view. Referring to these drawings the cabinet comprises an outer shell 1 and an inner shell 2. The inner shell is designed with an upper storage space 3 and a lower storage space 4. Said shell can consist in two shells, one shell for the upper space and one for the lower space. The lower space 4 (cool cupboard) has one cavity 41 on each side, see also fig. 3 - 4. These cavities are adapted for guides 39, see fig. 7, guiding and holding a drawer fitted inside the space when it is pulled out. The drawer is attached to the guides via frames 40, see fig. 8. The cavities protects the guides fitted inside them, and strengthening plates (not shown) are preferably placed outside the inner shell by each cavity in order for the guides to manage the heavy weight of the drawer they intend to hold. A covered compartment is also visible in the lower space, which compartment encloses the refrigerator compressor as part of the cooling system. Said cooling system will not be described any further in this application, since it is of normal type and not interesting in relation to the present invention. The upper storage space 3 has means in order to engage parts of the system holding and guiding drawers fitted inside this space. In fig. 5 the lower part of the upper storage space 3 is showed in a closer view. The figure shows three sections 6 - 8. The right section 8 is more visible in fig. 4. The right 8 and left 6 section is substantially a mirror of each other. There is also a middle section 7 designed with another shape. The design of these sections, particular sections 6,8 is a vital part of this invention.

Fig. 6 shows a shortened model of the left section 6, which means that said view also corresponds to a shortened model of the mirror of the right section 8. In said figure, a cavity 10 is taken out/made in the inner shell 2 to fit guides, e.g. to integrate guides in the best possible way. The guides will be described further ahead. The vertical inner wall of the cavity is substantially parallel with the wall of the shell 2. Furthermore, the section has an upper side 11. Said side has a frontward leaning elevation (seen out from the figure) and an elevation to the left in the figure. These elevations are more visible in fig. 5 and 7 and are made to prevent liquids from accessing the guides, instead flowing out to the left from the inner shell where it can be collected by a draining system. The liquid will also not flow down into the guiding spaces 12 - 13. The purpose of these guiding spaces will be described ahead. Furthermore, it will be understood for the person skilled in the art that the elevation instead could be backwards, whereby the drainage could be achieved tlirough an opening in the upper left corner 14. A covering 27 is designed to cover the guide.

As shown in fig. 6 the bottom 15 of each guiding space 12 - 13 has a frontward elevation. The reason for this is to achieve a damping function of the drawers, which will be described aliead. There are strengthening plates (not shown) assembled outside the inner shell at the cavity 10 by the inner vertical wall to stable up and allow the guides to be mounted into the inner shell 2. It is important that the inner shell can handle the pressure from the guides, e.g. the weight from the groceries in the drawers. That is why strengthening plates will be necessaiy if the cabinet should be able to deal with the strong forces. The strengthening plates will be made of aluminum, because of its low weight. Strengthening plates can be used at several other places despite said cavities, such as upper strengthening plates (at the top or the upper spacing), strengthening plates by the drawers and strengthening plates by the lower storage space 4 (earlier described). The middle section 7 in fig. 5 has a cavity 16. This cavity is approx. 5 mm deep and intends to hold the lower end of a vertical isolation bar (not shown). The bar extends vertically and its upper end co-operates with a similar cavity 17, see fig. 9, in the roof of the inner shelf. Moreover, the design of the middle section 7 as shown in fig. 3 - 5 and 7 - 8 is not proper. The section has an elevation part 47, also shown in fig. 7, and the other part 18 should preferably have a frontward elevation to the right. The design of the middle section 7 is not final in the drawings, but a person skilled in the art should realize that the design of the right and left section, preferably shown in fig. 6 enough describes the scope of the invention. This is mainly to protect and hide the guides.

Fig. 7 illustrates how different parts of the drawer system are mounted on the inner shell 2. Starting with the left guiding space 12, one guide placed along the vertical wall of the cavity 10 is shown (also see fig. 5). The guide is only shown schematically since its construction is not vital for the invention. The guide has to fulfill certain demands. These are particularly the capability of handling a downward force caused by the drawer held by the guide. A strengthening plate (not shown) is positioned between the inner shell 2 and the guide 19 and helps handling the forces. The horizontal wall 20 also has to cope with the forces caused by the heavy drawers and therefore has reinforcements, not further described. Moreover, the inner wall sides 21 - 22 of the inner shell 2 cooperate with the left and right sections 6,8 and also should be designed in order to handle this.

The guide also should make it easy for the consumer to open close the drawer. This is important since a heavy drawer could be hard to pull out. It is important that the movement of the door is smooth, stable and controlled so that groceries such as milk cartons don't tilt over. Mechanical guides are suitable for this purpose and are already available on the market. Also other alternatives, such as pneumatic suspension and electrical motor could be used, but they are too expensive. The guides will cost a fair amount but these are needed for the construction. The ideal situation is to design the guides so that they have all of these functions mentioned above built-in. No extra items have to be bought and assembled. The guide preferred is from the company Shock, a self-closing guide with a friction damper. When released at approximately 25 mm from the cabinet, the guide closes itself. Furthermore, no additional component has to be used or installed and it has a stable movement. It damps because of the air that has to find another way out. The guide does not have a dampening feature by itself, and it therefore has to be an additional feature. The way to achieve this is to produce the inner shell 2 so that it is a bit higher in the back, compared to the front. This elevation of the bottom 15 of each guiding space is described earlier in the application. If the difference of level is enough the space will work as a friction damper. The elevation will cause a compression of the air when the drawer is pushed inwards, and the air will damp the movement. This would be the ideal situation since then you don't need to buy an extra item and it is actually better for the plastic inner shell tool due to the larger angle of clearance.

As shown in fig. 7 three guides 19,23 and 24 are placed in the lower section of the upper storage space. The guides in the lower section are mounted vertically since these should be able to take care of all the pressure from the drawings. Preferably, the left guide 19 should preferably be able to take care of a force of 400 N and the two right guides 23 - 24 should be able to take care of a force of 1000 N. A frame 25 - 26 is mounted on each one of said guides. The left frame will be described especially in relation to fig. 11. It is a part of the drawer which the guide intends to guide. The right frame 26 has a horizontal U-shape with two parallel parts mounted on each of the guides 23 - 24. The frames are preferably held without being in contact with the bottom 15 of each of the guiding spaces 12 - 13.

In fig. 7 it is shown how the sections 6 - 8 cover the guides so that these are partly hided by the sections. Each covering 27, see fig. 6, also protects its guiding from liquid. This covering effect is a vital part of the present invention. As shown in the figure the guiding spaces 12 - 13 enables for the frames 25 - 26 to be moved freely when a drawer is pulled out.

Fig. 8 shows how trays 28 - 29 are placed on the lower horizontal parts of the frames 25 - 26. Said trays should catch dirt and liquid falling down from the drawer shelves. These trays will be described ahead in relation to the drawers. Attachments 30, shown in fig. 7, enables for the trays to be detachably attached on top of the frames. Fig. 9 shows the upper part of the upper space 3. The frames 25 - 26 is in one piece and each has a vertical part 31 - 32, also shown in fig. 7 - 8, which extends upwards from the lower guides 19, 23 - 24. Each of the frames ends in a horizontal part 33 - 34, which is in one piece with the rest of each frame. The whole frames have a square- shaped cross section as shown. Both parts are comiected to a guide 35 - 36. These guides may also be attached to the imier shell 2 using strengthening plates, but since these guides preferably only have a steering function, strengthening means may not be needed. The guides are smaller than the earlier mentioned ones placed in the lower section, one per drawer, since they don't have to be able to take care of that large force/weight. The horizontal parts 33 - 34 and the guides 35 - 36 fits inside two cavities 37 - 38. The upper guides should not be flexible which is for the best, no fatigue. And since there isn't any incline, it doesn't get harder to open the door.

In fig. 10 - 11 the upper left drawers shown in fig. 1 - 2 is shown in a perspective view. The door 42 of the drawer will be made with a plastic shell instead of one made of plate. This is preferable since the door should have a high glossy surface and using plastic decreases the weight and it could also be better for the environment since when the fridge has been worn out it could be burnt and used as an energy giving material. It could very well be so that the doors need end-caps. It would be preferable to get rid of these since they are not aesthetic pleasing. A 200 mm wide door is the smallest dimension that is possible to use. Due to this the inner dimension, meaning the space for the shelves (will be described later) will then only be 140 mm.

The inner liner 43 of the door has steps/a profile 44 made on it so that the shelves 45 can rest upon these steps. The steps are made as small as possible. It should be easy to clean the door and the steps shouldn't draw too much attention to them. The distance between the steps is preferably no less than 100 mm. Tests were made to see that the shelf was easy to remove at this distant and 100 mm was the smallest space that enables one to move/remove the shelf. The frame/square tube 25,31,33 is in one piece and preferably made of aluminium. The frame's dimension should be enough to cope with the forces appearing. In fig. 11 a plastic cover 46 is shown. It has two purposes, to cover the vertical part 31 of the square frame and to enable to store the shelves on it, see fig. 10. It is important that the cover doesn't stick out from the background and draws attention to it. The cover should not be too exposed. The goal is to make it visible but it shouldn't attract attention. As shown in fig. 10 - 11 the frame is the main structure for the drawer. The door is attached to it and together with the cover 46 they create the main structure for the shelves 45. The frame is also attached to the guides as earlier shown. For the right drawer, see fig. 1, the frame 26,32,36 is U-shaped in the bottom. This is because this drawer is wider and should be able to handle larger forces. The inside (cover, shelves) of the right drawer substantially corresponds to that for the left shelf shown in fig. 10 - 11.

As earlier shown, trays 28 - 29 cover the frames 25 - 26 and guides from liquid and spill. There are two trays, one for the small compartment and one for the larger one. In order to clean them, the user lifts them out of the drawer. Despite the tray, the drawer shown in fig. 10 has two wire shelves with a glass bottom, and two other wire shelves in the upper part. Other kinds of trays for various needs can be detachably attached to the drawer. Essential for the drawer according to the present invention is that the shelves can be easily lifted out in order to be cleaned. The shelves of the refrigerator are often made of wire frames, plastic or glass. Plastic and glass require often a second material, metal or plastic, to cover the edges of the shelf. When using wire frames you get rid of the problem with joints and creases. It is of highest importance that the shelves are easy to install and remove. It is ideal that the fridge has a great number of shelves with different depths.

It will be appreciated by those ordinary people skilled in the art that the present invention can be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential character thereof. The present disclosed embodiment is therefore considered in all respect to be illustrative and not restrictive. The appended claims rather than the foregoing description indicate the scope of the invention, and all changes that come within the meaning and range of equivalents thereof are intended to be embraced therein.

Claims

1. Refrigerator and/or freezer cabinet having an outer shell (1) and at least one inner shell (2) with heat insulation located between at least two of said shells, at least one refrigerant circuit operating the cabinet and cooling at least a first space (3,4) partly surrounded by a first inner shell (2), said cabinet also comprising at least one drawer arranged in said first space (3) in order to be able to move between an outer position in which said first space is open and an inner position in which the drawer at least together with the first imier shell contributes to enclose the first space, the drawer being engaged to the cabinet by at least one guide (19,23,24) guiding the drawer when being moved between said two positions, which guide (19,23,24) being attached to said first inner shell (1) characterized in that said cabinet, inside said first space (3), comprises means by which it at least partly conceals at least a first side of at least one guide (19,23,24), which first side faces vertically upwards.

2. Refrigerator and/or freezer cabinet according to claim 1 characterized in that said means is formed as a part (6,7,8) of said first inner shell.

3. Refrigerator and/or freezer cabinet according to claim 1 characterized in that said means constitutes in a separate part (28,29) attached or detachably attached to the cabinet.

4. Refrigerator and/or freezer cabinet according to claim 3 characterized in that the separate part (28,29) is detachably attached to said drawer, said part being in the form of a tray.

5. Refrigerator and/or freezer cabinet according to any of the preceding claims characterized in a part of said inner shell (2) has an upper side (11,12,13) that slopes.