WO2012049111A2

WO2012049111A2 - A shelf application for coolers

Info

Publication number: WO2012049111A2
Application number: PCT/EP2011/067627
Authority: WO
Inventors: Ziya Arslankiray; Cemalettin HASTÜRK; Nilhan Sevgi
Original assignee: BSH Bosch und Siemens Hausgeräte GmbH
Priority date: 2010-10-14
Filing date: 2011-10-10
Publication date: 2012-04-19
Also published as: TR201008456A1; WO2012049111A3

Abstract

The present invention is a cooler (10) with an ice machine (12) which is assembled inside the cooler (10) liner (11). Said cooler is characterized by comprising a shelf (20) which is positioned under said ice machine (12); at least one fixation piece (40) which is connected to the ice machine (12) or connected to the inner lateral surface of the liner (11); and at least one cover (30) which is hinged to the fixation piece (40) in order to provide access to said storage region, in order to obtain an additional storage region (50a, 50b) on at least one side of the ice machine (12).

Description

A SHELF APPLICATION FOR COOLERS

The present invention relates to coolers and particularly relates to coolers with an ice machine which is assembled inside the cooler liner.

KNOWN STATE OF THE ART

There is plurality of embodiments in the commercially available coolers, in order to make liners more functional. The most general ones among these are shelves placed inside the liner and ice machines which are assembled inside the liner. Said shelves are used for placing the food products to be preserved and for increasing the area inside the liner. Ice machines produce ice for the users. After ice machines are assembled inside the cooler, dead regions, which are not used, are formed around the ice machine. Against this situation, pluralities of embodiments and pluralities of applications are improved in order to make the dead regions around the ice machines usable. For instance, in the patent KR20080014597, ice machine is placed at a corner region and thereby the volume of the dead region is designed to be minimized. Moreover, in said patent application, a shelf system is disclosed which can be opened and closed with the help of connection members added onto the ice machine. However, in said system, there is a limitation about the place where the ice machine will be assembled inside the liner, and the shelf system is not permanent, therefore, a different embodiment on the system is required.

Because of the abovementioned drawbacks, an improvement is required for minimizing the dead region formed in the liners where ice machine is adapted.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to coolers wherein ice machine is assembled, in order to eliminate the abovementioned disadvantages and to bring new advantages to the related technical field. The main object of the invention is to provide a shelf embodiment which eliminates the dead region formed around the ice machine inside the liner and which provides said dead region to be used again. Another object of the invention is to provide a shelf embodiment which forms an extra compartment inside the cooler by means of the shelf which is to be added at a suitable distance under the ice machine and by means of the cover which can be opened and closed and which is in connection with the shelf. Another object of the invention is to provide a shelf embodiment which prevents the ice machine from being seen by means of the covers which are in connection with the shelves and which can be opened and closed and which provides the liner region to be more aesthetic. In order to realize the abovementioned objects and the objects to be obtained from the detailed description below, the present invention relates to a cooler with an ice machine which is assembled inside the cooler liner. Said cooler is characterized by comprising a shelf which is positioned under said ice machine; at least one fixation piece which is connected to the ice machine or connected to the inner lateral surface of the liner; and at least one cover which is hinged to the fixation piece in order to provide access to said storing region, in order to obtain an additional storing region on at least one side of the ice machine.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, said shelf is in contact with the lower surface of the ice machine.

In another preferred embodiment of the present invention, at least one support member is provided which is connected onto the lateral surface of the ice machine, in order to provide the fixation of said shelf to the base of the ice machine.

In another preferred embodiment of the present invention, in order to provide the fixation of said cover to the fixation piece, a pin housing is provided which is embodied on the cover and one lower pin is provided which is placed into said pin housing and which is embodied on the fixation piece. In another preferred embodiment of the present invention, in order to provide the cover to be in closed position, an upper pin is provided on the fixation piece and a clip is provided which is embodied on the cover and which is placed onto said upper pin in a snap-fit manner when the cover is closed.

In another preferred embodiment of the present invention, in order to limit the opening angle of the cover, a stopper member is provided which is embodied on the fixation piece so as to be adjacent to the lower pin.

In another preferred embodiment of the present invention, one each front surface is provided which is embodied so as to provide the integrity of said covers with the cover of the ice machine in terms of esthetic appearance. In another preferred embodiment of the present invention, two fixation pieces are provided where one of the fixation pieces is assembled to the lateral surface of the ice machine and where the other piece is assembled to the inner lateral surface of the liner so that said two pieces face each other. In another preferred embodiment of the present invention, two storage regions, at least two fixation pieces and two covers are provided at two sides of the ice machine.

In another preferred embodiment of the present invention, said cooler is a refrigerator. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

In Figure 1 , the view is given where the shelf is assembled under the ice machine.

In Figure 2, the view is given where the shelf covers are in open form.

In Figure 3, the detailed view of the compartment is given.

In Figure 4, the detailed view of the fixation piece is given. THE DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In this detailed explanation, the subject matter improvement is explained with references to examples and to the annexed figures without forming any restrictive effect in order to make the subject more understandable. Accordingly, in the detailed description below, the structural members and the operation thereof are described which form the storage region (50) providing the usage of the dead region in a more effective manner, which is formed around the ice machine (12) assembled inside the liner (1 1); in the frame of the structural changes realized inside the cooler (10) liner (11).

With reference to Figure 1 , the cooler (10) liner (1 1) and the members embodied inside can be seen. On the rear surface of the liner (1 1), there is a connection surface (11 1) which the ice machine (12) is connected. There is a cover (122) on the front surface thereof, where the access to the members inside the ice machine (12) can be realized. On both lateral surfaces of the liner (11), there is one each fixation piece (40) which is connected so as to correspond onto the two lateral surfaces (121) of the ice machine (12). Said fixation piece (40) has a rectangular form, there are screws (44) thereon which provide connection thereof to the surfaces. Moreover, on the surface of the fixation piece (40), the lower pin (42) and the upper pin (41) are embodied which are close to the short edges. There is a stopper piece (43) which is adjacent to said lower pin (42).

In Figure 3, there is the shelf (20) positioned inside the liner (11), there is fixation member (22) and plurality of support members (21) which are connected onto the rear surface of the liner (11) in connection with said shelf (20) and onto the lateral surfaces (121) of the ice machine (12). There are two covers (30a, 30b), where one of them is on the right and where one of them is on the left of the ice machine (12) inside the liner (11). There is a connection part (31) which is embodied so as to form the long edge of said cover (30). There is a pin housing (311) which is embodied on the center of said connection part (31). Moreover, there is a support part (32) which is connected on the cover's (30) inner surface facing the liner (11) and there is a clip (321) which is embodied on said support part (32).

The storage region (50a) inside the cooler (10) liner (11) is formed in the following manner. The ice machine (12) is connected onto the connection surface (1 11) and it is assembled inside the cooler (10) liner (11). A shelf (20) is positioned so as to contact with the lower surface of the ice machine (12). In order for the shelf to preserve the position thereof inside the liner (1 1), fixation members (22) are connected onto the rear and lateral surfaces of the liner (1 1). Onto the lateral surfaces (121) of the ice machine (12), support members (21) are connected. Fixation pieces (40a) are placed onto the lateral surfaces (121) of the ice machine (12) and onto the lateral surfaces of the liner (1 1) at a position which is higher than the shelf (20), so as to be compliant with the shelf (20) position inside the liner (11). The fixation piece (40a) is connected to the lower pins (42) thereon through the pin housings (311) on the connection part (31) embodied on the cover (30a). Thereby, the position of the cover (30a) inside the liner (11) is fixed. The cover (30a) realizes rotation movement in the vertical axis on the fixation piece (40a) by means of said connection part (31). This rotation movement provides the movement of the cover (30a) inside the liner (11) so as to be opened and closed. The clip (321) which is positioned on the support part (32) of the cover (30a) is connected by being placed to the upper pin (41) on the fixation piece (40a). By means of this, the cover (30a) preserves the position thereof after it is closed. The stopper member (43) adjacent to the lower pin (42) limits the opening movement of the cover (30a). When the cover (30a) is released from the upper pin (41), it begins moving downwardly; after a certain time, the outer surface of the cover (30a) contacts with the stopper member (43), and the cover (30a) is restrained. By means of this, the cover (30a) is prevented from being in contact with the other members below.

Under the light of the structural details below, the usage of the storage region (50a) is as follows. Inside the liner (11) and onto the lateral surfaces (121) of the ice machine (12), support members (21) and fixation members (22) are connected with respect to the position where the shelf (20) is desired to be positioned. The shelf (20) is placed to the region which the support members (21) and the fixation members (22) form. According to the position of the shelf (20), the fixation piece (40a) is positioned mutually to the required surfaces. By means of the connection part (31) which is embodied on the cover (30a), the cover (30a) is connected to the fixation piece (40a). By means of this connection, the cover (30a) becomes movable in the vertical direction. The clip (321) on the cover (30a) is placed to the upper pin (41) on the fixation piece (40a), and thereby the cover (30a) is fixed from two points and it becomes closed. The user separates the clip (321) from the upper pin (41), and provides the cover (30a) to move downwardly. The cover (30a) continues the movement thereof until the stopper member (43). When the outer surface of the cover (30a) contacts with the stopper member (43), the cover (30a) finishes the downward movement thereof. Meanwhile, the user provides access into the storage region (50a) which becomes open. The user moves the cover (30a) upwardly and provides the clip (321) to be connected to the upper pin (41) again, and thereby he/she brings the storage region (50a) to the closed position. By means of this, the storage regions (50a, 50b) are formed which are positioned on the left and on the right of the ice machine (12) which are accessed inside the liner (11) by the user. Moreover, the covers (30a, 30b) provide integrity together with the cover (122) on the ice machine (12) by hiding the ice machine (12) and aesthetic view is provided inside the liner (11). Under the light of the abovementioned details, the embodiment and usage of the storage region (50a) are described which is formed in order to make the dead region formed at one side of an ice machine (12) usable. Said storage region (50a) is on the left side of the ice machine (12) and in the same manner, there is a second storage region (50b) on the right side of the ice machine (12). There is a shelf (20), a cover (30b) and a fixation piece (40b) to which the cover is connected, which together form the second storage region (50b). Since the members forming the second storage region (50b) and the operations of the members thereof are the same as the members forming the first storage region (50a) and the operations of the members thereof, the members forming the second storage region (50b), the operations of the members and the usage of the second storage region (50b) will not be described here again.

The protection scope of the present invention is set forth in the annexed Claims and cannot be restricted to the illustrative disclosures given above, under the detailed description. It is because a person skilled in the relevant art can obviously produce similar embodiments under the light of the foregoing disclosures, without departing from the main principles of the present invention. REFERENCE NUMBERS

10 Cooler

11 Liner

111 Connection Surface

12 Ice Machine

121 Lateral Surface

122 Cover

20 Shelf

21 Support Member

22 Fixation Member

30 Cover

31 Connection Part

311 Pin Housing

32 Support Part

321 Clip 40 Fixation Piece

41 Upper Pin

42 Lower Pin

43 Stopper member

44 Screw

50 Storage Region

Claims

A cooler (10) with an ice machine (12) which is assembled inside the cooler (10) liner (1 1) and with a shelf (20) which is positioned under said ice machine (12), characterized by comprising at least one fixation piece (40) which is connected to the ice machine (12) or connected to the inner lateral surface of the liner (1 1); and at least one cover (30) which is hinged to the fixation piece (40) in order to provide access to said storage region, in order to obtain an additional storage region (50a, 50b) on at least one side of the ice machine (12).

A cooler according to the claim 1 , wherein said shelf (20) is in contact with the lower surface of the ice machine (12).

A cooler according to the claim 1 or 2, wherein at least one support member (21) is provided which is connected onto the lateral surface (121) of the ice machine (12), in order to provide the fixation of said shelf (20) to the base of the ice machine.

A cooler according to the claim 1 , wherein in order to provide the fixation of said cover (30) to the fixation piece (40a, 40b), a pin housing (311) is provided which is embodied on the cover (30) and one lower pin (42) is provided which is placed into said pin housing (31 1) and which is embodied on the fixation piece (40).

A cooler according to the claim 1 , wherein in order to provide the cover (30) to be in closed position, an upper pin (41) is provided on the fixation piece (40) and a clip (321) is provided which is embodied on the cover and which is placed onto said upper pin (41) in a snap-fit manner when the cover is closed.

A cooler according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein in order to limit the opening angle of the cover (30), a stopper member (43) is provided which is embodied on the fixation piece (40) so as to be adjacent to the lower pin (42).

A cooler according to the claim 1 , wherein one each front surface is provided which is embodied so as to provide the integrity of said covers (30a, 30b) with the cover (122) of the ice machine (12) in terms of aesthetic appearance.

8. A cooler according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein two fixation pieces (40) are provided where one of the fixation pieces is assembled to the lateral surface of the ice machine and where the other piece is assembled to the inner lateral surface of the liner so that said two pieces face each other.

9. A cooler according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein two storage

regions (50a, 50b), at least two fixation pieces (40a, 40b) and two covers (30a, 30b) are provided at two sides of the ice machine.

10. A cooler according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein said cooler (10) is a refrigerator.