WO2014044590A1

WO2014044590A1 - Refrigeration appliance having a container

Info

Publication number: WO2014044590A1
Application number: PCT/EP2013/068876
Authority: WO
Inventors: Marietta Bormann; Jürgen FINK; Andrea FRONMÜLLER
Original assignee: BSH Bosch und Siemens Hausgeräte GmbH
Priority date: 2012-09-20
Filing date: 2013-09-12
Publication date: 2014-03-27
Also published as: EP2898273A1; PL2898273T3; EP2898273B1; DE102012216906A1

Abstract

The invention relates to a refrigeration appliance having at least one container (104), which is arranged in the interior of the refrigeration appliance and is intended for accommodating articles, wherein the container (104) has a basic body (200) and a door (106, 108), which is mounted on the basic body (200) such that it can be displaced between an open position and a closed position. The invention provides a drive element (400) for assisting displacement of the door (106, 108) mechanically.

Description

Refrigerating appliance with a container

The invention relates to a refrigeration device, with at least one arranged in the interior of the refrigerator container for receiving refrigerated goods, wherein the container has a base body and a displaceable on the base body between an open position and a closed position along a path door. Furthermore, the invention relates to a container for arrangement in an interior of such a refrigerator.

Refrigeration appliances, in particular designed as household appliances refrigerators are known and are used to housekeeping in households or in the catering sector to store perishable food and / or drinks at certain temperatures.

In the interior of refrigerators are containers for holding special refrigerated goods, such. provided by pieces of butter with commercially available dimensions. Such a container for storing pieces of butter is known from DE 10 2010 002 415 A1, which has a displaceable door in order to be able to place or remove a piece of butter inside the container. However, this door has to be opened and closed manually.

It is therefore the object of the invention to provide a refrigeration device with a container and a container for such a refrigeration device, whose handling is increased.

These objects are achieved by the objects having the features according to the independent claims. Advantageous further developments are the subject of the dependent claims, the description and the drawings.

The present invention is based on the recognition that the handling is already increased when a device only supports the opening and / or closing of the door. According to a first aspect, the object according to the invention is achieved by a refrigeration device in which a drive element is provided for the mechanical support of a displacement of the door. As a result, the technical advantage is achieved that a cumbersome manual opening and / or closing the door is no longer necessary, but the opening and / or closing the door continues after activating the drive element so that further activity of a user is not necessary.

A refrigeration device is understood in particular to be a household appliance, that is to say a refrigeration device which is used for housekeeping in households or in the gastronomy sector, and in particular serves to store food and / or drinks at specific temperatures, such as, for example, a refrigerator, a freezer, a refrigerator Fridge freezer, a freezer or a wine fridge.

In an advantageous embodiment, the drive element is designed to effect a displacement of the door in the horizontal direction. Thereby, the technical advantage is achieved that the drive element for moving the door to open or close the container does not have to overcome the weight of the door.

In an advantageous embodiment, the drive element is adapted to receive mechanical energy of the door upon displacement of the door in a first path portion of a path between a closed position of the door and an open position of the door, and upon displacement of the door in a second path portion of the path between the closed position of the door and the open position of the door to transfer mechanical energy to the door. This achieves the technical advantage that the drive element does not have to have an energy source which has to be charged or exchanged at certain intervals. Thus, the drive element can have a simple structure and at the same time function reliably.

In an advantageous embodiment, the drive element is adapted to receive mechanical energy of the door upon displacement of the door in the second path portion of the path between the open position of the door and the closed position of the door, and upon displacement of the door in the first path portion of the path between the open position of the door and the closed position of the door to transfer mechanical energy to the door. As a result, the technical advantage is achieved that the drive element supports both the opening of a door and the closing of the door.

In an advantageous embodiment, the first path section and the second path section have the same length. This achieves the technical advantage of storing as much mechanical energy as is needed to open or close the door is. Furthermore, the effort and the distance to be overcome for the opening and closing are the same for a user.

In an advantageous embodiment, the drive element has a spring element, which is in operative connection with the door. As a result, the technical advantage is achieved that a simple, but robust component is used, which connects the drive element and the door in a force-transmitting manner.

In an advantageous embodiment, the drive element on a backdrop, which is in operative connection with the spring element. As a result, the technical advantage is achieved that a reliable function of the drive element is ensured by the backdrop. Furthermore, the backdrop may be formed as an injection molded plastic, and is therefore particularly easy to manufacture.

In an advantageous embodiment, the spring element has a helical spring and at least one spring arm which is connected in operative connection with the helical spring in a spring-connected manner. As a result, the technical advantage is achieved that a particularly little space-demanding design of the drive element is provided by the coil spring. In addition, the spring arm makes possible a particularly easy mounting of the drive element, in which the spiral spring is connected to the spring arm so as to transmit spring force.

In an advantageous embodiment, the spring element has a guide element connected to the spring arm, which has a pin which engages in a recess of the door. Thereby, the technical advantage is achieved that a drive element is provided with a particularly simple, but reliable construction.

In an advantageous embodiment, the spring element has another with the coil spring in operative connection spring force transmitting connected spring arm, and the backdrop is formed a first tread and a second tread having, with the first tread of the first spring arm and the second tread of the second spring arm is in active connection. Thereby, the technical advantage is achieved that the reliability of the drive element is further increased. In this case, the coil spring and the spring arm are connected to each other in a spring force-transmitting manner. In an advantageous embodiment, the drive element is arranged on a rear wall of the container. As a result, the technical advantage is achieved that the drive element is arranged concealed for a user. Thus, the visual appearance of the container is not affected. In an advantageous embodiment, the drive element is in operative connection with another door to support the displacement of the other door. Thereby, the technical advantage is achieved that with a drive element, a displacement of two doors can be supported when they are opened or closed. In an advantageous embodiment, the drive element has a further spring element, which is in operative connection with the other door. As a result, the technical advantage is achieved that the drive element has a particularly simple structure. In this case, the spring element with the other door is force-transmitting in connection. In an advantageous embodiment, both spring elements are in operative connection with a link of the drive element. As a result, the technical advantage is achieved that only a backdrop is needed. This simplifies the construction and production of the drive element. In an advantageous embodiment, the further spring element comprises a further spiral spring, a first spring arm and second spring arm operatively connected to the spiral spring, and a further guide element connected to the two spring arms, which has a pin which projects into a recess of the further door engages, wherein with the first running surface of the further first spring arm and with the second running surface of the further second spring arm are in operative connection. As a result, the technical advantage is achieved that the structure of the drive element is further simplified. In this case, the spiral spring with the first spring arm and the second spring arm is connected spring force transmitting. According to a second aspect, the object according to the invention is achieved by a container for arrangement in an interior of a refrigerator, wherein the container has a main body and a door slidably mounted on the body between an open position and a closed position along a path through which the container can be opened or closed by a displacement of the door, wherein a drive element is provided for mechanically assisting a displacement of the door. As a result, the technical advantage is achieved that a cumbersome manual opening and / or closing of the door is no longer necessary, but the opening and / or closing of the door is continued after activation of the drive element, so that a further activity of a user is not necessary ,

Further embodiments will be explained with reference to the accompanying drawings. Show it:

1 is a front view of a refrigerator,

2 is an illustration of the inside of a refrigerator door with a container attached thereto,

3 is a perspective view of the container of Fig. 2,

4 is an exploded view of the container, FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a drive element, FIG. 6 is an exploded view of the drive element,

Fig. 7 is a rear view of the container with the drive element, Fig. 8 is a sectional view of the line A - A in Fig. 7, and

9 is a sectional view of the line B - B in Fig. 7.

Fig. 1 shows a refrigerator as an exemplary embodiment of a refrigeration device 100 with an upper refrigerator door 1 1 4 undeiner te re n refrigerator door 1 12 on its refrigeration device front. The refrigerator is used, for example, for cooling food and includes a refrigerant circuit with an evaporator (not shown), a compressor (not shown), a condenser (not shown) and a throttle body (not shown). The evaporator is designed as a heat exchanger in which, after expansion, the liquid refrigerant is vaporized by absorbing heat from the medium to be cooled, ie air inside the refrigerator.

The compressor is a mechanically driven component that draws refrigerant vapor from the evaporator and expels it at a higher pressure to the condenser.

The condenser is designed as a heat exchanger in which, after compression, the evaporated refrigerant is released by heat to an external cooling medium, i. the ambient air is liquefied.

The throttle body is a device for the continuous reduction of the pressure by reduction in cross section.

The refrigerant is a fluid used for heat transfer in the cryogenic system which absorbs heat at low temperatures and low pressure of the fluid and releases heat at higher temperature and higher pressure of the fluid, usually including changes in state of the fluid.

On the inside 1 16 of the lower refrigerator door 1 12, a container 104 is disposed, which is located in the interior 102 of the refrigerator 100 with the lower refrigerator door 1 12 is closed. The container 104 is formed in the present embodiment for receiving special refrigerated goods, namely eight pieces of butter commercial dimensions with a weight of 250g. Further, Fig. 1 shows that the container interior 1 18 of the container 104 is divided by a partition wall 1 10 in two equal receiving spaces. Each of the two receiving spaces is associated with a sliding door 106, 108. Thus, by displacing each of the sliding doors 106, 108 one of the two receiving spaces can be opened in each case, or both receiving spaces can be closed.

The sliding doors 106, 108 are slidably mounted in the present embodiment in the use position of the container 104 in the horizontal direction. FIG. 2 shows that in the present exemplary embodiment the container 104 comprises a main body 200 and the two displaceable doors 106, 108. The base body 200 of the container 104 and the two displaceable doors 106, 108 are made in the present embodiment of an optically transparent plastic material, so that an inspection of the container interior 1 18 even with closed doors 106, 108 is possible.

In the present embodiment, the base body 200 is integrally formed by e.g. made of optically transparent plastic material by injection molding. The main body 200 has a substantially cuboidal basic shape.

FIG. 3 shows that in the present exemplary embodiment, the base body 200 has the already mentioned partition wall 10, two side walls 300 and a rear wall 302 and a bottom section 308. In contrast, in the present exemplary embodiment, the displaceable doors 106, 108 each have a front section 304 and a roof section 306, which together form an L-shaped profile in cross-section. Thus, by displacing the doors 106, 108, the container 104 can be opened on both sides, i. the container 104 is opened both on its front side and on its upper side, so that a large access opening is available for the convenient removal or storage of refrigerated goods. In the present exemplary embodiment, the displaceable doors 106, 108 thus extend over a front side and an upper side of the container 104.

Fig. 4 shows the embodiment of the container 104 in an exploded view.

In addition to the partition 1 10, the two side walls 300 of the rear wall 302, the bottom portion 308 of the base body 200 and the two doors 1 06, 1 08 with their respective front sections 304 and roof section 306, the container 104 has a drive element 400, in the present embodiment an opening and closing of the two doors 106, 108 supported.

Furthermore, FIG. 4 shows an upper guide rail 402 and a lower guide rail 404, an upper groove block 406 engaging in the upper guide rail 402 and a lower groove block 408 engaging in the lower guide rail 404, around the two doors 106, 108 the base body 200 slidably between a respective open position and a closed position to store, so that by a displacement of the doors 106, 108 of the container 104 can be opened or closed.

5 shows an exemplary embodiment of the drive element 400. In the present exemplary embodiment, the drive element 400 has a link 500 with a first running surface 502 and with a second running surface 504. Furthermore, in the present exemplary embodiment, the drive element 400 has a first spring element 506 and a second spring element 508, which, as will be described later, interact with the first running surface 502 and the second running surface 504.

FIG. 6 shows an exploded view of the drive element 400 shown in FIGS. 4 and 5.

In the case of the liner 500, in the present exemplary embodiment, an extruded plastic component is involved.

The first spring element 506 and the second spring element 508 are identical in construction in the present embodiment. Therefore, the following discussion applies to both the first spring member 506 and the second spring member 508.

In the present exemplary embodiment, the first spring element 506 has a guide element 600, a spiral spring 602, a first spring arm 604 and a second spring arm 606. The guide element 600 has in the present embodiment, a pin 608 for establishing a force-transmitting connection with the door 106. Furthermore, the guide element 600 has a pivot 610. The guide member 600 with the pin 608 and the pivot 61 0 is in the present embodiment in one piece and of the same material, e.g. as a plastic injection molded part, formed.

The first spring arm 604 and the second spring arm 606 are identical in construction in the present embodiment. Therefore, the following discussion applies to both the first spring arm 604 and the second spring arm 606. The first spring arm 604 has in the present embodiment at its one end a roller 612, which rolls on the first tread 502. At the other end, the first spring arm 604 has an opening 614 into which the pivot pin 610 engages. Thus, the first spring arm 604 is mounted rotatably about a pivot axis S on the guide element 600.

Between the first spring arm 604 and the second spring arm 606, the spiral spring 602 is arranged in the present embodiment. The coil spring 602 has in the present embodiment, a first straight end portion 616 and a second straight end portion 618, which are in engagement with the first spring arm 604 and the second spring arm 606, so that a pivotal movement of a spring arm 604, 606 about the pivot axis S to a compression the spiral spring 602 leads, and conversely, a decompression of the coil spring 602 leads to a pivotal movement of one or both of the spring arms 604, 606 about the pivot axis S. FIG. 7 shows that in the present embodiment, the first spring member 506 may be displaced along a first path 700 to displace the door 106 from the closed position to the open position. Similarly, in the present embodiment, the second spring member 508 may be displaced along a second path 702 to displace the door 108 from the closed position to the open position.

Since the first guide element 600 and the second guide element 600 are constructed identically in the present exemplary embodiment, the following embodiments relate to both the displacement of the first guide element 600 along the first path 700 and the displacement of the second guide element 600 along the second path 702.

The first path 700 is divided into a first section 704 and a second section 706. During the displacement of the first guide element 600, the rollers 612 on the first spring arm 604 and the second spring arm 606 roll on the first running surface 502 and the second running surface 504, respectively.

When the rollers 612 are in the first section 704 during the displacement, the rollers 612 will become smaller due to the decreasing distance of the first treads 502 and the second tread 504 are compressed from each other. As a result, the coil spring 602 is compressed until it reaches the end of the first portion 704 compressed more and more. Due to the progressive compression or tensioning of the coil spring 602 stores this more and more mechanical energy. Upon reaching the second portion 706, the distance of the first tread 502 and the second tread 504 increases again from each other. Here, the coil spring 602 relaxes again. The relaxation of the spiral spring, based on the increasing distance between the first running surface 502 and the second running surface 504, causes the door 106 to automatically move to the end of the second section 706 and thus to until the end of the second section 706 due to the mechanical energy stored in the tensioned spiral spring 602 moved to the end of the path 700, so that the open position of the door 106 is reached.

In the present exemplary embodiment, the first running surface 502 and the second running surface 504 are each formed with a tread stop 708, which defines the respective closed position for the first door 106 and the second door 108.

FIG. 8 shows an exemplary embodiment of the container 104. It can be seen that the pin 608 of the first guide element 600 engages in a recess 800 which is introduced into the roof section 306 of the first door 106. Thus, the first spring element 506 with the first door 106 and the second spring element 508 with the second door 108 are connected to transmit power.

FIG. 9, like FIG. 8, shows an exemplary embodiment of the container 104, in which the drive element 400 is arranged on the rear wall 302 of the container 104. In an alternative embodiment, the drive member 400 may be disposed at the bottom portion 308 of the container 104.

To open the container 104, a user must manually displace only the first door 106 and the second door 106 against the spring force of the coil spring 602 along the path 700, 702 until the rollers 612 are in the second portion 706. From here, the first door 106 and the second door 108 is further moved by the stored in the coil spring 602 mechanical energy until the container 104 is opened. If the user wants to close the container 104 again, he must manually move the first door 106 and the second door 108 in the opposite direction until the rollers 612 are again in the first section 704. From here, the first door 106 and the second door 108 are further moved by the mechanical energy stored in the coil spring 602 until the rollers 612 reach their respective tread stop 708 and the container 104 is closed again.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMBERS

100 refrigeration device 600 guide element

102 Interior 602 Spiral spring

104 container 604 first spring arm

106 door 606 second spring arm

108 door 608 pin

1 10 Partition 610 pivot

1 12 Lower refrigeration door 612 Roller

1 14 upper refrigerator door 614 opening

1 16 inside 616 first end section

1 18 container interior 618 second end portion

200 main body 700 first way

702 second way

300 side wall 704 first section

302 rear wall 706 second section

304 Front section 708 Tread stop

306 roof section

308 floor section 800 recess

400 drive element

402 upper guide rail

404 lower guide rail

406 upper sliding block

408 lower sliding block

500 backdrop

502 first tread

504 second tread

506 first spring element

508 second spring element

Claims

PATENT CLAIMS

Refrigeration device (100), with at least one container (104) arranged in the interior (102) of the refrigerator (100) for holding refrigerated goods, the container (104) having a base body (200) and a door displaceably mounted on the base body (200). (106, 108), characterized in that a drive element (400) is provided for mechanically supporting a displacement of the door (106, 108).

Refrigeration device (1 00) according to claim 1, characterized in that the drive element (400) is designed to cause a displacement of the door (106, 108) in the horizontal direction.

Refrigeration appliance (100) according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the drive element (400) is designed to be closed when the door (106, 108) is displaced in a first path section (704) of a path (700, 702) between one position of the door (106, 108) and an open position of the door (106, 108) to absorb mechanical energy of the door (106, 108), and when the door (106, 108) is displaced in a second path section (706) of the path ( 700, 702) to transmit mechanical energy to the door (106, 108) between the closed position of the door (106, 108) and the open position of the door (106, 108).

Refrigeration device (1 00) according to claim 3, characterized in that the drive element (400) is designed when the door (106, 108) is displaced in the second path section (706) of the path (700, 702). the open position of the door (106, 108) and the closed position of the door (1 06, 1 08) to absorb mechanical energy of the door (106, 108), and when the door (106, 108) is displaced in the first path section (704 ) of the path (700, 702) between the open position of the door (106, 108) and the closed position of the door (106, 108) to transmit mechanical energy to the door (106, 108).

Refrigeration appliance (100) according to claim 3 or 4, characterized in that the first path section (704) and the second path section (706) are of the same length.

Refrigeration appliance (100) according to one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the drive element (400) has a spring element (506, 508) which is operatively connected to the door (106, 108).

Refrigeration device (1 00) according to claim 6, characterized in that the drive element (400) has a link (500) which is in operative connection with the spring element (506, 508).

Refrigeration appliance (100) according to claim 6 or 7, characterized in that the spring element (506, 508) has a spiral spring (602) and at least one spring arm (604, 606) which is operatively connected to the spiral spring (602).

Refrigeration appliance (100) according to claim 8, characterized in that the spring element (506, 508) has a guide element (600) connected to the spring arm (604, 606), which has a pin (608) which fits into a recess (800) of the Door (106, 108) intervenes.

Refrigeration appliance (100) according to claim 8 or 9, characterized in that the spring element (506) has a further spring arm (606) which is operatively connected to the spiral spring (602), and the link (500) has a first running surface (502) and a is designed to have a second tread (504), wherein the first spring arm (604) is in operative connection with the first tread (502) and the second spring arm (606) is in operative connection with the second tread (504).

Refrigeration appliance (100) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the drive element (400) is arranged on a rear wall (302) of the container (1 04).

Refrigeration device (1 00) according to one of the previous claims, characterized in that the drive element (400) is provided with a further door (108) to support the displacement of the further door (108 ) is in active connection.

13. Refrigeration device (1 00) according to claim 1 1, characterized in that

Drive element (400) has a further spring element (508) which is operatively connected to the further door (108).

4. Refrigeration device (1 00) according to claim 12, characterized in that the two spring elements (506, 508) are in operative connection with a link (500) of the drive element (400).

5. Container (104) for arrangement in an interior (102) of a refrigeration appliance (100), wherein the container (104) has a base body (200) and a base body (200) between an open position and a closed position along a path (700, 702) slidably mounted door (106, 108), characterized in that a drive element (400) is provided for mechanically supporting a displacement of the door (106, 108).