WO2018103948A1

WO2018103948A1 - A cooling device comprising a container with a magnet

Info

Publication number: WO2018103948A1
Application number: PCT/EP2017/077660
Authority: WO
Inventors: Mehmet YASAR; Yusuf Serhat CATALORMAN; Huseyin GUMUS; Ahmet KECECI; Davut MERIC
Original assignee: Arcelik Anonim Sirketi
Priority date: 2016-12-06
Filing date: 2017-10-27
Publication date: 2018-06-14
Also published as: TR201617914A2

Abstract

The present invention relates to a cooking device (1) comprising a body (2), and door (5) that provides access into the body (2) and that has an outer panel (3) a an inner panel (4) that is mounted to the outer panel (3).

Description

A COOLING DEVICE COMPRISING A CONTAINER WITH A MAGNET

The present invention relates to a cooling device comprising a container with a magnet.

In cooling devices, containers wherein the user places food items are provided on the door. The said containers are designed such that the position thereof is fixed or as detachable units during the production process, and thus, the user is not allowed to adjust the same at any intermediate levels and make changes. Since the user cannot change the height of the containers, he/she cannot customize the cooling device according to his/her personal needs. As a result, an unused space is created due to the level difference between the containers or the food items desired to be placed on the containers are placed into the body when the distance between two consecutive containers is not sufficient, therefore the internal volume of the cooling device is used.

Another problem encountered in the cooling devices is that as a result of the irregularities in the shapes of the recesses or the protrusions to which the container is attached, the container and thus the food items placed thereon become unbalanced while the container is attached/detached. Unbalanced placing of the food items may cause said items to be dispersed during the opening/closing of the door and the food items that fall down from the container as a result of the dispersing may get damaged. In the containers attached to the door, the user satisfaction decreases since the user is provided with a container that cannot be moved upwards or downwards and that is difficult to attach and detach, thereby causing loss in the interior volume of the cooling device. In order to solve this problem, interlocking shelf mechanisms are used but since the sensitivity of the high adjustment mechanism is only as much as the distance between two consecutive engagement points, an ideal solution cannot be provided.

In the state of the art United States Patent Document No. US2749718, a cooling device comprising an adjustable door shelf is disclosed.

In the state of the art European Patent Document No. EP0856138, a cooling device comprising an adjustable door shelf is disclosed.

The aim of the present invention is to provide gain in terms of the interior volume of the cooling device by accurately adjusting the distance between the shelves and the containers on the door in the cooling devices.

In the cooling device realized in order to attain the aim of the present invention, explicated in the first claim and the respective claims thereof, the door is composed of two parts, namely the inner panel and the outer panel. During the mounting process, a first magnet is placed therebetween before the joining of the said two parts. The thickness of the inner panel is determined so that the magnetic field of the first magnet does not lose its effect just at the outer surface of the inner panel. After the inner panel and the outer panel are mounted to each other, the space therebetween is filled with an isolation material and thus, the magnet is prevented from displacing. A second magnet is provided on the container. The said magnet can be adhered onto the container or placed into the mold during the molding process. The magnet placed into the mold during the molding process is positioned inside the side walls of the container with the plastic injection so as not to be visible from the outside and thereby, the magnet is prevented from being detached from the container and falling off and becoming unusable. When the container is moved close to the inner panel, the magnetic attraction between the magnet pair enables the container to stick onto the inner panel and become fixed at a certain position.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the inner panel has protrusion-shaped structures thereon, that extend parallel to the floor along the width of the inner panel. The said protrusions can be produced separately and adhered onto the inner panel or in another embodiment of the present invention, the protrusions can be produced as a single-piece with the inner panel during the molding process. While the container is being placed onto the inner panel, the said protrusions align with the recesses arranged on the surface of the container in contact with the inner panel. The said recess connecting the two sides of the rear surface of the container as a channel and the protrusion on the inner panel are positioned in an interlocking manner so as not to move relative to each other. Thus, in cases where the weight of the food items placed onto the container overcomes the magnetic force created by the magnets, the container is prevented from falling off the inner panel and getting damaged.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the distance between the middle points of two consecutive recesses on the container is h1. The distance between the peaks of two consecutive protrusions is h2. The said h2 and h1 values are almost equal. Thus, the consecutive recesses and protrusions precisely align with each other while the container is being placed on the inner panel and no unused recesses or protrusions remain.

In an embodiment of the present invention, in case the container is placed on to the inner panel, the recess and the protrusion are positioned in an interlocking manner so as not to move relative to each other. When the height of the container is between 2h1 and h1, in other words, when the container has 1 recess, the container can be placed on any one of the protrusions. When the height of the container is between 2h1 and 3h1, in other words, when the container has 2 recesses, the container can be engaged with the two consecutive protrusions on the inner panel and thus, the load-bearing capacity thereof is increased. Similarly, when the height of the container varies between (n+1)h1 and (n)h1, in other words, when the container has n recesses, the container can be engaged on n consecutive protrusions on the inner panel. The distances between the recesses and the protrusions can be increased or decreased according to the user needs and thus, the precision of the container in the vertical plane can be changed.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the length of the first magnet is shorter than the length of the door. As the container cannot be fixed onto the inner panel at the bottom and top parts of the door, extending the magnet towards the said parts would increase the costs unnecessarily. Thus, cost advantage is provided by not extending the magnet into these regions. The first magnet that extends along the door is placed inside the right and left edges of the door that are perpendicular to the floor.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the second magnets positioned on the magnet are produced so as to almost completely cover the surface of the container in contact with the inner panel. By means of the magnet that covers a wide area, the magnetic attraction force between the container and the inner panel prevents the container from being detached from the inner panel even under higher loads.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the surface of the container in contact with the inner panel is almost completely covered by the second magnet. By means of the second magnet covering a wide surface, the magnetic force between the inner panel and the container and thus, the load bearing capacity of the container is increased.

By means of the present invention, a more precise height adjustment of the container on the inner panel, whereon the products and food items are placed, can be made.

A cooling device realized in order to attain the aim the object of the present invention is illustrated in the attached figures, where:

Figure 1 – is the perspective view of the cooling device of the present invention.

Figure 2 – is the perspective view of the cooling device when the door is open.

Figure 3 – is the exploded front view of the door.

Figure 4 – is the exploded rear view of the door.

Figure 5 - is the cross-sectional view taken along the A-A line in Figure 3 after the assembly process.

Figure 6 - is the cross-sectional view taken along the B-B line in Figure 3 after the assembly process.

Figure 7– is the perspective view of the container.

Figure 8 - is the cross-sectional view of the Figure 7 taken along the C-C line.

Figure 9 - is the lateral cross-sectional view of the cooling device when the door is closed.

Figure 10 – is the detailed view of the container shown in Figure 9.

The elements illustrated in the figures are numbered as follows:

Cooling device
Body
Outer panel
Inner panel
Door
First magnet
Second magnet
Container
Protrusion
Recess

The cooling device (1) comprises

a body (2);
a door (5) that provides access into the body (2) and has an outer panel (3) and an inner panel (4) that is mounted to the outer panel (3)

(Figure 1, Figure 2, Figure 3 and Figure 4).

The cooling device (1) of the present invention comprises at least one first magnet (6) that is disposed into the space remaining between the outer panel (3) and the inner panel (4) during the assembly process, and a container (8) for storing the food items thereon, having at least one second magnet (7) that enables the position of the container (8) to be adjusted on the inner panel (4) by the user by being aligned with the first magnet (6) when the container (8) is placed onto the surface of the inner panel (4) facing the interior of the body (2) (Figure 5, Figure 7 and Figure 8).

In the cooling device (1) of the present invention, when the user places the container (8) onto the inner panel (4), the second magnet (7) of the container (8) aligns in the vertical plane with the first magnet (6) positioned between the inner panel (4) and the outer panel (3). By means of the magnetic attraction force between the magnets (6, 7), the container (8) is fixed on the inner panel (4) when the user brings the container (8) close to the inner panel (4) and releases the same. As the first magnet (6) extends along the height of the door (5), the magnetic force is not interrupted when the user moves the container (8) up and down, and thus, the user can bring the container (8) to the desired position on the inner panel (4) and fix the same. Thus, different height needs of the user are addressed with one container (8), improving the user experience.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the cooling device (1) comprises the inner panel (4) and the container (8) that have respectively at least one protrusion (9) and at least one recess (10) that are interlocked. The protrusions (9) on the surface of the inner panel (4) facing the body (2) may be in different geometrical shapes and extend almost along the width of the inner panel (4), parallel to the floor. If the weight of the food items placed into the container (8) exceeds the weight the magnetic force between the first magnet (6) and the second magnet (7) can bear, the protrusions (9) support the container (8) and the container (8) is prevented from moving downwards due to the weight of the food items. Thus, the container (8) is prevented from sliding and falling off the inner panel (4) and thereby, the container (8) is prevented from being damaged, the costs that may arise due to the replacement of the container (8) are eliminated, improving the user experience (Figure 9). Another problem is that the food items placed into the container (8) may move inside the container (8) forwards or backwards during the opening/closing of the door (5). As a result of this movement, the weight of the food items that slide inside the container (8) towards the part that faces the body (2), combining with the high inertial force created when the door (5) is opened fast by the user, may cause the container (8) to use the protrusion as a rotational point and to detach from the position thereof on the inner panel (4) and fall off. By means of the recess (10) and the protrusion (9) that interlock so as not to move relative to each other, the container (8) can bear the excess load and the inertial moment created by the fast opening of the door (5), and thus, the container (8) does not detach from the position thereof on the inner panel (4) and fall off, preventing the container (8) from being damaged and improving the usage cost (Figure 9 and Figure 10)

In an embodiment of the present invention, the cooling device (1) comprises the inner panel (4) and the container (8) wherein the vertical distance (h1) between the consecutive protrusions (9) is equal to the vertical distance (h2) between the consecutive recesses (10). The protrusions (9) are arranged on the inner panel (4) at equal intervals in the horizontal plane. Similarly, the recesses (10) are arranged on the container (8) at equal intervals. The distances (h1 and h2) between two consecutive recesses (10) or two consecutive protrusions (9) are equal. Thus, when the user wants to detach the container (8) and place the same at a different height on the inner panel (4), the protrusions (9) always align with the recesses (10) and the user is enabled to easily change the height of the container (8). The protrusions (9) and the recesses (10) align with each other and interlock and thus, no unused protrusions (9) remain squeezed between the container (8) and the inner panel (4), causing the container (8) to be spaced apart from the inner panel (4). By means of the balanced placing of the container (8) on the inner panel (4), the user can easily place the container (8) onto the inner panel (4) at the desired position and the container (8) is prevented from falling off and getting damaged during the opening/closing of the door (5) or due to the weight of the food items placed thereon, and thus, the component costs that may increase due the replacement of the container (8) is decreased and the user experience is improved (Figure 6 and Figure 10)

In an embodiment of the present invention, the cooling device (1) comprises the container (8) with a height that is shorter than h2 times (n) and longer than h2 times (n-1), where n is the number of recesses (10). Thus, all the protrusions (9) between the container (8) and the inner panel (4) interlock with the recesses (10) and there remain no protrusions (9) not engaged with the recesses (10) between the container (8) and the inner panel (4) and thus, the container (8) and the inner panel (4) are attached without a gap therebetween. When the container (8) has more than one recess (10), the said recesses (10) engage with the protrusions (9) so as not to move relative to the latter and thereby, the fixing of the container (8) on the inner panel (4) is facilitated. Furthermore, by means of the engagement of more than one recess/protrusion pair, the load bearing capacity of the container (8) is increased and thus the user experience is improved (Figure 9 and Figure 10).

In an embodiment of the present invention, the cooling device (1) comprises two first magnets (6) shorter than the height of the door (5), extending along the two sides of the door (5). The first magnet (6) is disposed between the inner panel (4) and the outer panel (3) and extends along the door (5) inside the opposite sides of the door (5), enabling the user to place the container (8) onto the desired position on the inner panel (4). The first magnet (6) does not extend into the uppermost and lowermost parts of the door (5) wherein the container (8) cannot be placed and thus, the material cost is decreased.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the cooling device (1) comprises the container (8) having the second magnet (7) that almost completely covers the surface thereof in contact with the inner panel (4). The fact that the rear surface of the container (8) is covered by the second magnet (7) increases the attraction force between the container (8) and the inner panel (4), enables the container (8) to be arranged at the desired position on the inner panel (4) and provides flexible use, thus improving the user experience.

By means of the present invention, the container (8) is enabled to be fixed by the user onto the desired position on the inner panel (4) and thereby, the user is enabled to adjust the distance between the containers (8) according to the heights of various items placed into the container (8).

Claims

A cooling device (1) comprising

- a body (2);

- a door (5) that provides access into the body (2) and has an outer panel (3) and an inner panel (4) that is mounted to the outer panel (3)

characterized by

- at least one first magnet (6) that is disposed into the space remaining 1between the outer panel (3) and the inner panel (4) during the assembly process, and

- a container (8) for storing the food items thereon, having at least one second magnet (7) that enables the position of the container (8) to be adjusted on the inner panel (4) by the user by being aligned with the first magnet (6) when the container (8) is placed onto the surface of the inner panel (4) facing the interior of the body (2).
A cooling device (1) as in Claim 1, characterized by the inner panel (4) and the container (8) that have respectively at least one protrusion (9) and at least one recess (10).
A cooling device (1) as in Claim 2, characterized by the inner panel (4) and the container (8) wherein the vertical distance (h1) between the consecutive protrusions (9) is equal to the vertical distance (h2) between the consecutive recesses (10).
A cooling device (1) as in Claim 2 or 3, characterized by the container (8) with a height that is shorter than h2 times n and longer than h2 times (n-1), where n is the number of recesses (10).
A cooling device (1) as in any one of the above claims, characterized by two first magnets (6) shorter than the height of the door (5), extending along the two edges of the door (5).
A cooling device (1) as in Claim 1, characterized by the container (8) having the second magnet (7) that almost completely covers the surface thereof in contact with the inner panel (4).