WO2023057319A1

WO2023057319A1 - Household appliance

Info

Publication number: WO2023057319A1
Application number: PCT/EP2022/077213
Authority: WO
Inventors: Shikang Ge; Junxin Liu; Bo Ma; Jiahao Zhang; Dawei Mi
Original assignee: BSH Hausgeräte GmbH
Priority date: 2021-10-08
Filing date: 2022-09-29
Publication date: 2023-04-13
Also published as: CN115962432A

Abstract

A household appliance, including a panel having a light-transmitting part and an illumination device. The illumination device includes: a light source located at an inner side of the panel, light emitted by the light source being suitable to be transmitted from the light-transmitting part toward an outer side of the panel; a first light conductor (23) located at the outer side of the panel and covering the light-transmitting part to receive the light; and a non-light-transmitting member (24) covering a first portion (232) of the first light conductor (23), where the first light conductor (23) includes a second portion (233) located outside the non-light-transmitting member (24), so that the light is transmitted from the second portion (233). According to the solution of the present invention, the requirements on the alignment precision of the non-light-transmitting member (24) and the light-transmitting part of the panel are effectively reduced, and the manufacturing precision of the household appliance is improved.

Description

HOUSEHOLD APPLIANCE

TECHNICAL FIELD

Embodiments of the present invention relate to the field of household appliances, and in particular, to a household appliance having an illumination device, such as a refrigerating appliance.

BACKGROUND

Illumination devices are generally installed on household appliances to provide illumination for components. For example, a household appliance may be provided with a logo sticker on the outside or inside to indicate or highlight the logo, and an illumination device may be provided to highlight the logo sticker. In this way, the display effect of the logo is improved by the ambient light provided by the illumination device, and the texture of the household appliance is improved.

However, the existing illumination devices and logo stickers are each independently mounted to household appliances, such as the inner side and outer side of a wall. In order to accurately position the logo sticker and the illumination device in the manufacturing process, the manufacturer needs to pay a huge manufacturing cost.

FIG. 1 to FIG. 3 are schematic diagrams exemplarily illustrating several common positional deviations between the existing logo sticker and the illumination device. For example, in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, an edge of a logo sticker a1 is not parallel to a light exit surface a2 of the illumination device. For another example, in FIG. 3, there is a large gap between the edge of the logo sticker a1 and the light exit surface a2. These positional deviations all affect the manufacturing accuracy of the household appliance.

SUMMARY

An objective of the embodiments of the present invention is to provide an improved household appliance.

Therefore, the embodiments of the present invention provide a household appliance, including a panel having a light-transmitting part and an illumination device. The illumination device includes: a light source located at an inner side of the panel, light emitted by the light source being suitable to be transmitted from the light-transmitting part toward an outer side of the panel; a first light conductor located at the outer side of the panel and covering the light- transmitting part to receive the light; and a non-light-transmitting member covering a first portion of the first light conductor, where the first light conductor includes a second portion located outside the non-light-transmitting member, so that the light is transmitted from the second portion.

The use of the embodiments can effectively reduce the alignment accuracy requirements of the non-light-transmitting member and the light-transmitting part of the panel, which is beneficial to solve the problem of reduced manufacturing accuracy of the household appliance caused by the positional deviation of the non-light-transmitting member relative to the lighttransmitting part. It is expected that the manufacturing accuracy of the household appliance is improved. For example, by controlling the positions of the non-light-transmitting member and the second portion of the first light conductor, the positional accuracy between the non-light- transmitting member and an illumination region visible to a user is improved. The precision control of the relative position between the non-light-transmitting member outside the panel and the first light conductor may be significantly easier than the precision control of the relative position between the non-light-transmitting member and the light-transmitting part of the panel.

The panel may be located outside the household appliance or on inside the household appliance. For example, the panel may form part of the outer surface of the household appliance, or be located in the household appliance, e.g., the panel may be exposed to a storage compartment of the refrigerating appliance.

The non-light-transmitting member is entirely made of a non-light-transmitting material or includes a non-light-transmitting layer that blocks light. The non-light-transmitting member may include at least one through hole penetrating through the non-light-transmitting member or may not have any visible through hole.

In some embodiments, the light-transmitting part includes a hole penetrating through the panel, so that light is irradiated outside the panel through the hole. In other embodiments, the light-transmitting part is formed by a solid portion of the panel, e.g., the light-transmitting part may be configured to be transparent or translucent.

Optionally, the second portion is disposed along at least part of an outer contour of the non-light-transmitting member. Therefore, the light may be presented along the edge of the non-light-transmitting member, which is beneficial to highlight the non-light-transmitting member. This advantage is more obvious when the non-light-transmitting member has characters or patterns for indication. In addition, by reasonably setting the structure of the first light conductor, it is expected that the positions of both the first light conductor and the non- light-transmitting member is controlled more easily. Optionally, the first light conductor includes an inner surface facing the panel, an outer surface facing away from the panel, and a side surface connecting the inner surface to the outer surface, where the second portion includes at least part of the side surface. Therefore, the first light conductor emits light along the outer contour of the non-light-transmitting member and/or the edge of the hollow hole, for example, ambient light may be formed according to the shape of the non-light-transmitting member. Furthermore, such an arrangement is beneficial to light to be emitted from a surface that is perpendicular or nearly perpendicular to the outer surface of the non-light-transmitting member, and it is expected that a softer lighting effect may be obtained.

Optionally, projections of the first light conductor and the non-light-transmitting member on the panel overlap completely, and a projection of the second portion on the panel is located on a side edge of the projection of the non-light-transmitting member on the panel. Therefore, the first light conductor is hidden under the non-light-transmitting member when viewed from the front of the household appliance, and at the same time, providing the illumination effect of ambient light from an outer edge of the non-light-transmitting member or an inner edge of the hollow hole is achieved by the second portion located on the side edge.

Optionally, at least part of the second portion is located outside the projection of the non- light-transmitting member on the panel.

Optionally, the second portion includes an inclined side surface, and a projection of the inclined side surface on the panel is located outside the projection of the non-light-transmitting member on the panel. Therefore, a better light exit effect may be obtained by providing an inclined plane.

Optionally, the first light conductor includes a limiting part protruding in a direction away from the panel, and an edge of the non-light-transmitting member is disposed along the limiting part, the second portion is at least partially located at the limiting part. The positions between the first light conductor and the non-light-transmitting member may be accurately positioned through the matching limit of the edges of the limiting part and the non-light-transmitting member, thereby improving the positional accuracy between the illumination region and the non-light-transmitting member.

Optionally, the first light conductor includes an inner surface facing the panel, an outer surface opposite to the inner surface, and a plurality of side surfaces connecting the inner surface to the outer surface, where the non-light-transmitting member covers at least the outer surface. Therefore, the first light conductor is hidden under the non-light-transmitting member when viewed from the front of the household appliance, and at the same time, providing the illumination effect of ambient light from the edge of the non-light-transmitting member is achieved by the second portion located on the side surface.

Optionally, the non-light-transmitting member includes a body part covering the outer surface and a side barrier covering at least one of the side surfaces, where one end of the side barrier is connected to the body part. Therefore, the light perpendicular to the panel emitted by the light-transmitting part is blocked by the body part, and the side edge of the non- light-transmitting member that does not need to be illuminated is blocked by a side barrier, so that providing the illumination effect of ambient light on a specific side edge of the non-light- transmitting member is achieved. Furthermore, the side barrier may also limit the first light conductor, to ensure that the second portion is kept flush with the non-light-transmitting member.

Optionally, the side barrier is parallel to the covered side surface. Therefore, the positioning between the first light conductor and the non-light-transmitting member may be better achieved.

Optionally, the opposite end of the side barrier is in contact with the panel. Therefore, the light transmitted from the side surface covered by the side barrier is effectively blocked, preventing the light from leaking out between the side barrier and the panel.

Optionally, the opposite end of the side barrier is abutted against the panel. Therefore, the better blocking effect may be obtained.

Optionally, the side surface and the inner surface form an included angle of less than 90 degrees. Therefore, a better light exit effect may be obtained by providing an inclined plane. Specifically, the included angle of less than 90 degrees causes the projection of the side surface on the panel to be outside the projection of the outer surface on the panel, so that the formed second portion may be seen intuitively from the front of the household appliance, and the illumination effect of the non-light-transmitting member is better.

Optionally, the side surface includes a first wall having a first slope and a second wall having a second slope, where the first wall is connected to the inner surface, the second wall is connected to the outer surface, and the first slope is less than the second slope. Therefore, the inclined plane formed by the second wall may obtain better light exit effect, and the first wall may facilitate the drafting of a mold during molding.

Optionally, the illumination device further includes a reflective layer disposed between the non-light-transmitting member and the first light conductor. Therefore, the light utilization efficiency may be improved.

Optionally, the first light conductor is pasted to the panel. Optionally, the first light conductor and the non-light-transmitting member are bonded and fixed. Therefore, through the assembly of the first light conductor and the non-light-transmitting member, the actual light exit position of the second portion and the non-light-transmitting member are fixed together, to achieve the effect of always keeping a light exit surface and the non-light-transmitting member in fixed positions, thereby basically eliminating the influence of assembly deviation on the light exit surface.

Optionally, the first light conductor and the non-light-transmitting member form a preassembled member and then are connected to the panel. The pre-assembled member is equivalent to building a first light conductor in the existing non-light-transmitting member, and the pre-assembled member may be mounted on the panel by using the existing process, and the manufacturing process of the household appliance changes a little, which is convenient for realization.

Optionally, the non-light-transmitting member includes a metal sheet or a metal coating.

Optionally, the surface of the non-light-transmitting member is printed with a character and/or a pattern, or stamped with a character and/or a pattern.

Optionally, the panel includes a glass plate.

Optionally, the illumination device includes a light source assembly including the light source and a second light conductor, where the second light conductor includes a light incident part configured to receive light emitted by the light source and a light exit part disposed toward the light-transmitting part so that the received light is emitted toward the light-transmitting part. Therefore, the light emitted by the light source is guided to the light-transmitting part according to a suitable light travel path through the second light conductor, and then it is ensured through the first light conductor that the light is finally transmitted from the position matching the non- light-transmitting member.

Optionally, the light source assembly further includes: a bracket including a front wall provided with a light outlet, where the light outlet is aligned with the light-transmitting part; and a circuit substrate disposed in the bracket, the light source being disposed in the circuit substrate, where the second light conductor is disposed in the bracket, the light exit part is disposed toward the light outlet, and the circuit substrate is parallel to the front wall; the light source includes a first side mounted on the circuit substrate, a second side opposite to the first side, and a third side located between the first side and the second side; the third side is disposed toward the light incident part, and light is transmitted from the third side into the light incident part. Therefore, through the cooperation of a side light-emitting mechanism and the light conductor structure, the circuit substrate may be arranged in parallel to a front panel without changing a light exit path, thereby reducing the overall thickness of the light source assembly. Furthermore, by using the foregoing light source assembly with a reduced thickness in the household appliance in this embodiment, the overall thickness of a region where the light source assembly is mounted may be effectively reduced to meet the requirements of miniaturized design, or the thinned portion may be released to other components of the household appliance to realize a compact design. When the light source assembly is applied to a refrigerating appliance, the thickness of a foam layer at the installation of the light source assembly may be significantly increased, thereby reducing the risk of condensation at the position of the light source assembly.

Optionally, the light source assembly further includes: a bracket including a front wall provided with a light outlet, where the light outlet is aligned with the light-transmitting part; and a circuit substrate disposed in the bracket, the light source being disposed on a first surface of the circuit substrate, where the second light conductor is disposed in the bracket, and the light exit part is disposed toward the light outlet; the light source includes a first side mounted on the circuit substrate, a second side opposite to the first side, and a third side located between the first side and the second side; the third side is disposed toward the light incident part, and light is transmitted from the third side into the light incident part; and the first surface faces or faces away from the front wall. Therefore, through the cooperation of the side lightemitting mechanism and the light conductor structure, the circuit substrate may be arranged at an angle substantially parallel to the front panel without changing the light exit path, thereby reducing the overall thickness of the light source assembly. Furthermore, by using the foregoing illumination device with a reduced thickness in the household appliance in this embodiment, the overall thickness of a region where the light source assembly is mounted may be effectively reduced to meet the requirements of miniaturized design, or the thinned portion may be released to other components of the household appliance to realize a compact design. When the light source assembly is applied to a refrigerating appliance, the thickness of a foam layer at the installation of the light source assembly may be significantly increased, thereby reducing the risk of condensation at the position of the light source assembly.

Optionally, the household appliance is a refrigerating appliance; the refrigerating appliance includes an appliance body and a door located in front of the appliance body, and the panel is adapted to form at least most of the front surface of the door. Therefore, the non- light-transmitting member is located on a front surface of the door, and the illumination device provided by this embodiment provides a better illumination effect on the front surface of the door. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 to FIG. 3 are schematic diagrams illustrating several common positional deviations between the existing logo sticker and an illumination device.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a household appliance according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an exploded view of a region D in FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is an exploded view of an identification assembly in FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of a region D in FIG. 4 along the G-G direction.

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of an identification assembly in FIG. 5 along the E-E direction.

FIG. 9 is a front view of an identification assembly in FIG. 5.

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view of an identification assembly in FIG. 5 along the F-F direction.

FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram of a variant of an identification assembly in FIG. 5.

FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram of a variant of an identification assembly in FIG. 5.

FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram of a variant of an identification assembly in FIG. 5.

FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram of a variant of an identification assembly in FIG. 5.

FIG. 15 is a schematic diagram of a light source assembly according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 16 is an exploded view of a light source assembly as shown in FIG. 15.

FIG. 17 is a cross-sectional view of a light source assembly as shown in FIG. 15 along the A-A direction.

FIG. 18 is a schematic diagram of the combination of a circuit substrate and a bracket in FIG. 15.

FIG. 19 is a cross-sectional view of a region B in FIG. 15 along the C-C direction.

FIG. 20 is a schematic diagram of a light source assembly according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

In the accompanying drawings:

1 -illumination device, 10-light source assembly, 11-bracket, 11a-front wall, 11b-side wall, 11c-first end of the bracket, 11d-second end of the bracket, 11e-rear wall, 111 -light outlet, 112- first cavity, 113-second cavity, 114-first slideway, 115-second slideway, 116-first fixed part, 117- second adapting part, 118-protruding part, 119-third adapting part, 12-circuit substrate, 12a- first surface, 12b-second surface, 121 -light source, 121 a-first side, 121b-second side, 121c- third side, 122-first adapting part, 13-light conductor, 13a-inclined plane, 13b-first surface, 13c- second surface, 13d-third surface, 13e-fourth surface, 131 -light incident part, 132-light exit part, 133-stepped part, 134-second fixed part, 135-second light conductor, 14-reflective layer, 15-light box, 151-third fixed part, 152-flexible hook, 16-identification assembly, 2-household appliance, 21 -housing, 211 -door, 22-panel, 22a-rear surface, 22b-front surface, 22c-inner side, 22d-outer side, 221 -light-transmitting part, 23-first light conductor, 23a-inner surface, 23b- outer surface, 23c-side surface, 231 -visible part, 232-first portion, 233-second portion, 234- limiting part, 235-first wall, 236-second wall, 237-adhesive tape, 24-non-light-transmitting member, 241-body part, 242-side barrier, 242a-one end of the side barrier, 242b-opposite end of the side barrier, a-included angle between the side surface and the inner surface, p-light travel path, x-length direction of the illumination device, y-width direction of the illumination device, z-height direction of the illumination device, a1-logo sticker, a2-light exit surface.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

To make the foregoing objectives, features and advantages of the present invention more comprehensible, the specific embodiments of the present invention are further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a household appliance 2 according to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is an exploded view of a region D in FIG. 4.

The household appliance 2 may be a refrigerating appliance, a dishwasher, a laundry treatment device, an oven, and a full container, etc.

Specifically, the household appliance 2 may include a panel 22 having a light-transmitting part 221 and an illumination device 1. The illumination device 1 includes a light source 121 located on an inner side 22c of the panel 22. The light of the light source 121 is adapted to be irradiated to the outer side 22d of the panel 22 through the light-transmitting part 221.

Furthermore, the panel 22 may be located outside the household appliance 2. In some embodiments, the panel 22 may constitute a part of the outer surface of the housing 21 of the household appliance 2. In some embodiments, the household appliance 2 may include an appliance body and a door 211 located in front of the appliance body. The panel 22 may be adapted to form at least most of the front surface of the door 211 . For example, the panel 22 may include an outermost front panel of the door 211 .

Alternatively, the panel may be located inside the household appliance 2. For example, the panel may be exposed to a storage compartment of the refrigerating appliance.

In some embodiments, the panel 22 may include a glass plate. It should be understood that the principles of the present invention may also be applicable when the panel is made of metal or plastic.

The panel 22 includes a light-transmitting part 221 configured to irradiate light from the inner side 22c of the panel 22 to the outer side 22d. How to form the light-transmitting part 221 on the panel 22 may refer to any prior art. For example, in some embodiments, the lighttransmitting part 221 may include a through hole penetrating through the panel 22, so that light is irradiated outside the panel 22 through the through hole.

In other embodiments, the light-transmitting part 221 may be formed by a solid portion of the panel 22, e.g., the light-transmitting part 221 may be configured to be transparent or translucent. That is, the panel 22 emits light at the light-transmitting part 221 because its material has light-transmitting properties. For example, for the panel 22 including a glass panel, the panel 22 is hollow-printed or coated at the light-transmitting part 221 , and/or is attached with an adhesion layer with better light-transmitting properties.

For convenience of description, the length, width, and height directions of the household appliance 2 are described along the x, y, and z directions of the illumination device 1. According to the set angle of the illumination device 1 in the household appliance 2, the length direction of the household appliance 2 and the length direction of the illumination device 1 are denoted as the x direction, the depth direction of the household appliance 2 and the height direction of the illumination device 1 are denoted as the z direction, and the height direction of the household appliance 2 and the width direction of the illumination device 1 are denoted as the y direction.

In a specific implementation, still referring to FIG. 4 and FIG. 5, the illumination device 1 includes a light source 121 located on the inner side 22c of the panel 22. Light emitted by the light source 121 is transmitted from the light-transmitting part 221.

Referring to FIG. 5, the illumination device 1 may further include a first light conductor 23 located in front of the panel 22 and a non-light-transmitting member 24 located in front of the first light conductor 23.

In some embodiments, the non-light-transmitting member 24 and the first light conductor 23 may be used together to form an identification assembly 16. FIG. 6 is an exploded view of an identification assembly 16 in FIG. 5. The user may touch the panel 22d through the outer side 22d.

In an embodiment in which the panel 22 is located on the front side of the household appliance 2 or other positions facing the user (e.g., the rear wall of the storage compartment of the refrigerating appliance), the light source 121 is located behind the panel 22 (i.e. , the inner side 22c of the panel 22), and the first light conductor 23 and the non-light-transmitting member 24 are located in front of the panel 22 (i.e., the outer side 22d of the panel 22). When the panel 22 is located on a horizontal wall or the left and right walls of a space or entity, the outer side 22d of the panel 22 is the side touched by the user, while the inner side 22c of the panel 22 is normally hidden from the user.

In a specific implementation, referring to FIG. 4 to FIG. 7, the first light conductor 23 may cover the light-transmitting part 221. FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of a region D in FIG. 4 along the G-G direction.

For example, the first light conductor 23 may be located at the outer side 22d of the panel 22 and covering the light-transmitting part 221 to receive the light transmitted from the lighttransmitting part 221.

The light-transmitting part 221 may be located approximately in the middle of a projection region of the first light conductor 23 on the panel 22, to ensure that all light emitted by the lighttransmitting part 221 enters the first light conductor 23 without overflowing.

Furthermore, the first light conductor 23 may include a visible part 231 visible from the outside of the non-light-transmitting member 24. The visible part 231 is adapted to form an illumination region visible to the user. For example, the first light conductor 23 may include a first portion 232 covered by the non-light-transmitting member 24 and a second portion 233 located outside the non-light-transmitting member 24, and the second portion 233 forms the visible part 231. The second portion 233 is adapted to allow the light received by the first light conductor 23 from the light-transmitting part 221 to be finally transmitted out of the non-light- transmitting member 24 so as to be visible to the user.

The light travel path p of the light from the light-transmitting part 221 to the visible part 231 may be as shown in FIG. 7. Since the visible part 231 is formed by the region of the first light conductor 23 that is not covered by the non-light-transmitting member 24, it may be ensured that the visible part 231 always adheres to the outer contour of the non-light- transmitting member 24. In this case, the light transmitted from the visible part 231 may be used as the ambient light of the non-light-transmitting member 24 to play a role similar to backlight illumination.

Therefore, the alignment accuracy requirements of the non-light-transmitting member 24 and the light-transmitting part 221 of the panel 22 may be effectively reduced, which is beneficial to solve the problem of reduced manufacturing accuracy of the household appliance 2 caused by the positional deviation of the non-light-transmitting member 24 relative to the light-transmitting part 221. It is expected that the manufacturing accuracy of the household appliance 2 is improved. For example, by controlling the positions of the non-light-transmitting member 24 and the second portion 233 of the first light conductor 23, the positional accuracy between the non- light-transmitting member 24 and the illumination region visible to the user is improved. The precision control of the relative position between the non-light-transmitting member 24 outside the panel 22 and the first light conductor 23 may be significantly easier than the precision control of the relative position between the non-light-transmitting member 24 and the lighttransmitting part 221 of the panel 22.

Furthermore, the first light conductor 23 may be made of a light diffusing material. Light incident from a specific angle is scattered in all directions within the light conductor, so that the entire light conductor emits light uniformly. The visible part 231 is formed by blocking the region where no light is required to be emitted, to realize the adjustment of the light travel path p from the light-transmitting part 221 to the visible part 231.

In a specific implementation, the non-light-transmitting member 24 is entirely made of a non-light-transmitting material or includes a non-light-transmitting layer that blocks light.

Furthermore, the non-light-transmitting member 24 may include at least one through hole (also referred to as a hollow hole) penetrating through the non-light-transmitting member 24. For example, at least one through hole penetrating through the body part 241 along the z direction may be formed in the body part 241 of the non-light-transmitting member 24. For another example, at least one hollow hole may also be formed in a side barrier 242 of the non- light-transmitting member 24. The hollow hole is suitable for the light of the first light conductor 23 to be emitted from the hollow hole.

Alternatively, the non-light-transmitting member 24 may not have any visible through hole.

Furthermore, the non-light-transmitting member 24 includes a metal sheet or a metal coating to achieve the non-light-transmitting effect.

Furthermore, the outer surface of the non-light-transmitting member 24 away from the first light conductor 23 along the z direction may be printed with a character and/or a pattern, or stamped with a character and/or a pattern. For example, the character may be a logo. The non-light-transmitting member 24 may be equivalent to a logo sticker a1 in FIG. 1 to FIG. 3, and the second portion 233 may be equivalent to a light exit surface a2 of the illumination device in FIG. 1 to FIG. 3.

In a specific implementation, still referring to FIG. 5 to FIG. 7, the non-light-transmitting member 24 may be in a sheet shape and is pasted on the outer side of the first light conductor 23. The outer side of the first light conductor 23 may be the side of the first light conductor 23 away from the panel 22 along the z direction. Specifically, referring to FIG. 8, the non-light-transmitting member 24 may be attached to the outer surface 23b of the first light conductor 23 through an adhesive tape 237. FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of an identification assembly 16 in FIG. 5 along the E-E direction.

Furthermore, the first light conductor 23 may also be pasted at the outer side 22d of the panel 22 through the adhesive tape 237 and cover the light-transmitting part 221.

Therefore, through the assembly of the first light conductor 23 and the non-light- transmitting member 24, the actual light exit position of the visible part 231 and the non-light- transmitting member 24 are fixed together, so that the illumination region and the non-light- transmitting member 24 are always kept in fixed positions. As a result, the positioning problem between the light-transmitting part 221 and the non-light-transmitting member 24 is subtly converted into the positioning problem between the first light conductor 23 and the non-light- transmitting member 24.

In a specific implementation, referring to FIG. 6 and FIG. 9, the second portion 233 may be disposed along at least part of the outer contour of the non-light-transmitting member 24. FIG. 9 is a front view of an identification assembly 16 in FIG. 5, i.e., an effect view of the door 211 viewed from the front of the household appliance 2 along the z direction.

Specifically, the second portion 233 may be disposed along the outer contour of the non- light-transmitting member 24 extending in the x direction and below the y direction. In this case, a blocking structure (the side barrier 242 as described below) of the non-light-transmitting member 24 provided at the other three outer contours (i.e., the upper, left, and right contours of the viewing angle in FIG. 9) may block the light, and only the side without the blocking structure may freely emit light and be observed by human eyes, so that the one-sided edge of the non-light-transmitting member 24 (i.e., the lower contour of the viewing angle in FIG. 9) is illuminated.

Therefore, the light may be presented along the edge of the non-light-transmitting member 24, which is beneficial to highlight the non-light-transmitting member 24. This advantage is more obvious when the non-light-transmitting member 24 has characters or patterns for indication.

Furthermore, there is almost no gap between the second portion 233 and the outer contour of the non-light-transmitting member 24. By reasonably setting the structure of the first light conductor 23, it is expected that the positions of both the first light conductor 23 and the non-light-transmitting member 24 is controlled more easily.

In a specific implementation, referring to FIG. 8 and FIG. 10, the first light conductor 23 may include an inner surface 23a facing the panel 22, an outer surface 23b facing away from the panel 22, and a side surface 23c connecting the inner surface 23a to the outer surface 23b. FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view of an identification assembly 16 in FIG. 5 along the F-F direction.

Specifically, the inner surface 23a is bonded to the front surface 22b of the panel 22 by the adhesive tape 237, and the outer surface 23b is bonded to the non-light-transmitting member 24 by the adhesive tape 237.

Furthermore, the non-light-transmitting member 24 may cover at least the outer surface 23b. Therefore, the first light conductor 23 is hidden under the non-light-transmitting member 24 when viewed from the front of the household appliance 2, and at the same time, providing the illumination effect of ambient light from the edge of the non-light-transmitting member 24 is achieved by the second portion 233 located on the side surface 23c.

Furthermore, the second portion 233 may include at least part of the side surface 23c. For example, in addition to the outer surface 23b serving as the upper base and the inner surface 23a serving as the lower base, the substantially trapezoidal first light conductor 23 may further include four side surfaces 23c in a circle. At least one of the four side surfaces 23c may form the second portion 233, for example, a single side surface 23c in FIG 6 forms the second portion 233, and both side surfaces 23c in FIG. 11 to FIG. 13 form the second portion 233. FIG. 11 to FIG. 13 are schematic diagrams of several variants of the identification assembly 16 in FIG. 5, for simplicity, neither the adhesive tape 237 nor the panel 22 is shown.

Therefore, the first light conductor 23 emits light along the outer contour of the non-light- transmitting member 24 and/or the edge of the hollow hole, for example, ambient light may be formed according to the shape of the non-light-transmitting member 24. Furthermore, such an arrangement is beneficial to light to be emitted from a surface that is perpendicular or nearly perpendicular to the outer surface of the non-light-transmitting member 24, and it is expected that a softer lighting effect may be obtained.

In a specific implementation, still referring to FIG. 8, FIG. 10, FIG. 11 and FIG. 12, at least part of the second portion 233 may be located outside the projection of the non-light- transmitting member 24 on the panel 22. For example, in FIG. 8, FIG. 11 and FIG. 12, the entire second portion 233 is located outside the projection of the non-light-transmitting member 24 on the panel 22.

Specifically, the second portion 233 may include an inclined side surface 23c. The projection of the inclined side surface 23c on the panel 22 is located outside the projection of the non-light-transmitting member 24 on the panel 22. Therefore, by setting the inclined plane, a better lighting effect may be obtained. Furthermore, the inclined side surface 23c may be continuously inclined from the inner surface 23a to the outer surface 23b, as shown in FIG. 8 and FIG. 11. Alternatively, referring to FIG. 12, the side surface 23c may be partially inclined and partially parallel to the z direction.

In a variant, referring to FIG. 13, the projections of the first light conductor 23 and the non- light-transmitting member 24 on the panel 22 may completely overlap. The projection of the second portion 233 on the panel 22 may be located on the side edge of the projection of the non-light-transmitting member 24 on the panel 22. Therefore, the first light conductor 23 is hidden under the non-light-transmitting member 24 when viewed from the front of the household appliance 2, and at the same time, providing the illumination effect of ambient light from an outer edge of the non-light-transmitting member 24 or an inner edge of the hollow hole is achieved by the second portion 233 located on the side edge.

In a specific implementation, still referring to FIG. 6 and FIG. 8, the side surface 23c and the inner surface 23a may form an included angle a of less than 90 degrees. Therefore, by setting the inclined plane, a better lighting effect may be obtained. Specifically, the included angle of less than 90 degrees causes the projection of the side surface 23c on the panel 22 to be outside the projection of the outer surface 23b on the panel 22, so that the formed second portion 233 may be seen intuitively from the front of the household appliance 2, and the illumination effect of the non-light-transmitting member 24 is better.

Specifically, the side surface 23c may be a complete inclined plane, as shown in FIG. 11.

Alternatively, the side surface 23c may be formed by splicing a plurality of inclined planes with different slopes along the z direction. For example, the side surface 23c may include a first wall 235 having a first slope and a second wall 236 having a second slope, where the first wall 235 is connected to the inner surface 23a, the second wall 236 is connected to the outer surface 23b, and the first slope is less than the second slope. Therefore, the inclined plane formed by the second wall 236 may obtain better light exit effect, and the first wall 235 may facilitate the drafting of a mold during molding.

In a specific implementation, still referring to FIG. 6 and FIG. 8, the first light conductor 23 may include a limiting part 234 protruding in a direction away from the panel 22, and the edge of the non-light-transmitting member 24 may be disposed along the limiting part 234.

For example, the limiting part 234 may extend upward from an edge of the outer surface 23b connected to the side surface 23c forming the second portion 233 along the z direction. Along the y direction, the limiting part 234 and the non-light-transmitting member 24 at least partially overlap.

When the non-light-transmitting member 24 is pasted on the outer surface 23b, the edge of the non-light-transmitting member 24 on the lower side in the y direction touches the limiting part 234, so as to realize the matching limit of the non-light-transmitting member 24 and the first light conductor 23.

Furthermore, the second portion 233 is at least partially located at the limiting part 234. The positions between the first light conductor 23 and the non-light-transmitting member 24 may be accurately positioned through the matching limit of the edges of the limiting part 234 and the non-light-transmitting member 24, thereby improving the positional accuracy between the illumination region (e.g., the visible part 231) and the non-light-transmitting member 24.

In a specific implementation, still referring to FIG. 8 and FIG. 10, the non-light-transmitting member 24 may include a body part 241 covering the outer surface 23b and a side barrier 242 covering at least one of the side surfaces 23c, where one end 242a of the side barrier 242 is connected to the body part 241.

Specifically, the body part 241 may be in a sheet shape and entirely cover the outer surface 23b.

Furthermore, the side barrier 242 is connected to at least one side of the body part 241 to cover the side surface 23c on the corresponding side.

Therefore, the light perpendicular to the panel 22 emitted by the light-transmitting part 221 is blocked by the body part 241 , and the side edge of the non-light-transmitting member 24 that does not need to be illuminated is blocked by the side barrier 242, so that providing the illumination effect of ambient light on a specific side edge of the non-light-transmitting member 24 is achieved. Furthermore, the side barrier 242 may also limit the first light conductor 23, to ensure that the second portion 233 is kept flush with the non-light-transmitting member 24.

Furthermore, the side barrier 242 is parallel to the covered side surface 23c. Therefore, the positioning between the first light conductor 23 and the non-light-transmitting member 24 may be better achieved.

Furthermore, the opposite end 242b of the side barrier 242 may be in contact with the front surface 22b of the panel 22. Therefore, the light transmitted from the side surface 23c covered by the side barrier 242 is effectively blocked, preventing the light from leaking out between the side barrier 242 and the panel 22.

Preferably, the opposite end 242b of the side barrier 242 may be abutted against the panel 22 to obtain a better blocking effect.

In a typical application scenario, the first light conductor 23 and the non-light-transmitting member 24 may form a pre-assembled member as shown in FIG. 5 and then are connected to the panel 22. For example, the first light conductor 23 and the non-light-transmitting member 24 are bonded together by the adhesive tape 237 located between the non-light-transmitting member 24 and the first light conductor 23 in FIG. 6 to form a pre-assembled member. Then, the adhesive tape 237 located on the inner surface 23a is a back-mount adhesive, which bonds the pre-assembled member and a to-be-bonded object (i.e., the front surface 22b of the panel 22).

The pre-assembled member is equivalent to building a first light conductor 23 in the existing non-light-transmitting member 24, and the pre-assembled member may be mounted on the panel 22 by using the existing process, and the manufacturing process of the household appliance 2 changes a little, which is convenient for realization.

FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram of a variant of an identification assembly 16 in FIG. 5.

Specifically, referring to FIG. 14, the illumination device 1 may also include a reflective layer 14 disposed between the non-light-transmitting member 24 and the first light conductor 23. Therefore, the light utilization efficiency may be improved.

For example, the reflective layer 14 may be a reflective coating coated on the outer surface 23b and/or an opposite surface of the body part 241. Similarly, at least one side of the side barrier 242 and the side surface 23c may also be coated with the reflective layer 14.

For another example, the reflective layer 14 may be an additional component sandwiched between the outer surface 23b and the body part 241 .

The illumination device 1 includes a light source assembly 10 located on the inner side 22c of the panel 22. The light source assembly 10 includes a light source 121 .

FIG. 15 is a schematic diagram of a light source assembly 10 according to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 16 is an exploded view of a light source assembly

10 as shown in FIG. 15. FIG. 17 is a cross-sectional view of a light source assembly 10 as shown in FIG. 15 along the A-A direction.

Specifically, referring to FIG. 15 to FIG. 17, the light source assembly 10 may include a bracket 11 . The bracket 11 may be approximately in the shape of a hollow elongated strip, and both ends in the x direction and the z direction are provided with openings communicated with the hollow part. The hollow part is suitable for forming an accommodating cavity for accommodating other components of the light source assembly 10.

Furthermore, the bracket 11 may include a front wall 11a and a rear wall 11 e opposite in the z direction, and a pair of side walls 11 b opposite in the y direction. The front wall 11a, the rear wall 11 e, a pair of side walls 11b, and a first end 11c and a second end 11 d of the bracket

11 along the x direction together enclose the accommodating cavity. Furthermore, the front wall 11a may be provided with a light outlet 111 for allowing light to pass out of the bracket 11. For example, the light outlet 111 may be formed by an opening formed in the front wall 11a and is communicated with the accommodating cavity.

The light outlet 111 may extend to the first end 11c of the bracket 11 and the second end 11 d of the bracket 11 along the x direction, so that the light source assembly 10 may form an elongated light strip, and the length of the light strip is substantially equal to the length of the illumination device 1 along the x direction.

The light outlet 111 may be communicated with at least one of the first end 11c and the second end 11d, so that other components (e.g., the light conductor 13) of the light source assembly 10 may be inserted into the accommodating cavity from the end portion of the bracket 11 along the x direction. For example, the light outlet 111 may be communicated with the second end 11d of the bracket 11.

Furthermore, the light source assembly 10 may include a circuit substrate 12 disposed in the bracket 11 and provided with a light source 121. For example, the light source 121 may include a light-emitting device. The circuit substrate 12 may include a printed circuit board, and the light-emitting device may be pre-soldered or electrically connected to the circuit substrate 12 in any other manner.

A plurality of light sources 121 are provided and arranged on the circuit substrate 12 in an array. For example, FIG. 16 exemplarily shows an example in which a plurality of light sources 121 are arranged on the circuit substrate 12 in a row along the x direction. In practical applications, the number of the light sources 121 and the specific setting positions and arrangements on the circuit substrate 12 may be adjusted as required.

The light-emitting device may include a light-emitting diode (LED), and may also include other devices capable of providing light sources.

Furthermore, the circuit substrate 12 may have a first surface 12a and a second surface 12b opposite to each other in the z direction. The light source 121 may be disposed on the first surface 12a. Furthermore, the first surface 12a may face the front wall 11a.

Preferably, the first surface 12a may be parallel to the front wall 11a. That is, the circuit substrate 12 may be parallel to the front wall 11a.

Alternatively, the first surface 12a and the front wall 11a may have an included angle within a small angle range. For example, the small angle range may be 1 degree to 10 degrees.

Furthermore, the light source assembly 10 may also include a light conductor 13 disposed in the bracket 11. For example, the light conductor 13 and the circuit substrate 12 may both be located in the accommodating cavity and overlap in the z direction to save space in the y direction. In this embodiment, the light conductor 13 located in the bracket 11 is denoted as a second light conductor 135.

The first light conductor 23 and the second light conductor 135 may be made of the same material.

The second light conductor 135 may include a light diffuser, specifically, a light conductor with a higher diffusivity to light. For example, the second light conductor 135 may be prepared by adding a light diffusing agent to a base material such as Polycarbonate (PC for short), polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA for short), and polystyrene (PS for short). Light incident from a specific angle is scattered in all directions within the light diffuser, so that the entire light diffuser emits light uniformly. The directional light exits by blocking a region where the light does not need to be emitted, and the light exit direction and the light incident direction may be different. Therefore, the adjustment of the light travel path is realized by the light diffuser.

Furthermore, the second light conductor 135 may include a light incident part 131 configured to receive light emitted by the light source 121 and a light exit part 132 disposed toward the light outlet 111 so that the received light exits the bracket 11 .

For example, the light exit part 132 may be approximately in the shape of an elongated strip and close at least part of the opening formed on the front wall 11a, that is, the light exit part 132 and the light outlet 111 substantially overlap, so that the light emitted by the light exit part 132 may reach the light outlet 111 with almost no light loss. Accordingly, the light exit part 132 may be flush with the front wall 11a.

Furthermore, the light source 121 may include a first side 121a mounted on the circuit substrate 12, a second side 121b opposite to the first side 121a, and a third side 121c located between the first side 121a and the second side 121 b. Furthermore, the third side 121c is disposed toward the light incident part 131 , and light is irradiated into the light incident part 131 from the third side 121c.

Furthermore, the light outlet 111 is located on the front wall 11a of the bracket 11 , so the light emitted from the bracket 11 is substantially emitted along a direction perpendicular to the plane where the circuit substrate 12 is located. In this specific implementation, the incident light parallel to the front wall 11a is received by the light incident part 131 , the incident light is diffused by the second light conductor 135, and finally the light exit part 132 makes the outgoing light exit at an angle perpendicular to the front wall 11a. The light travel path p of the light from the light source 121 to the light outlet 111 may be as shown in FIG. 17.

Therefore, in this embodiment, through the cooperation of a side light-emitting mechanism and the structure the second light conductor 135, the circuit substrate 12 may be disposed at an angle substantially parallel to the front wall 11a without changing the light exit path, thereby reducing the overall thickness (i.e. , the size along the z direction) of the light source assembly 10. The circuit substrate 12 being substantially parallel to the front wall 11a includes that the circuit substrate 12 is parallel to the front wall 11a, and may also include that the circuit substrate 12 and the front wall 11a form an included angle within a small angle range.

Furthermore, when the circuit substrate 12 is parallel to the front wall 11a, the factor of the circuit substrate 12 affecting the overall thickness of the light source assembly 10 is reduced from the width of the circuit substrate 12 along the y direction to the thickness of the circuit substrate 12 along the z direction, thereby greatly reducing the overall thickness of the light source assembly 10.

In a specific implementation, still referring to FIG. 17, the light source 121 may be disposed adjacent to the light incident part 131 to reduce light loss.

In a specific implementation, still referring to FIG. 17, the optical axis of the light source 121 may be parallel to the circuit substrate 12 and parallel to the front wall 11a. In this specific implementation, most of the light emitted from the third side 121c is incident on the light incident part 131 in a direction parallel to the front wall 11a and the first surface 12a. Therefore, the light source 121 emits light at an exit angle parallel to the circuit substrate 12, and the exit light parallel to the front wall 11a finally exits from the light outlet 111 at an angle perpendicular to the front wall 11a under the action of the second light conductor 135, thereby ensuring the light exit path to be kept unchanged while the circuit substrate 12 is disposed parallel to the front wall 11a.

In a specific implementation, still referring to FIG. 17, a plane where the light incident part 131 is located may be perpendicular to a plane where the light exit part 132 is located.

Specifically, the plane where the light incident part 131 is located may be parallel to the plane formed by the z direction and the x direction, and the plane where the light exit part 132 is located may be parallel to the plane formed by the x direction and the y direction. That is, the light incident part 131 is disposed at an angle perpendicular to the first surface 12a and facing the third side 121c, and the light exit part 132 is disposed at an angle parallel to the front wall 11a.

Therefore, the design of the perpendicular orientations of the light incident part 131 and the light exit part 132 makes the light travel path p change inside the second light conductor 135, ensuring that the incident light parallel to the front wall 11a may finally exit at an angle perpendicular to the front wall 11a.

In a variant, the plane where the light incident part 131 is located and the third side 121c may form an included angle within a small angle range. Similarly, the plane where the light exit part 132 is located and the front wall 11a may form an included angle within a small angle range. In this variant, the plane where the light exit part 132 is located and the plane where the light incident part 131 is located are located may not be completely vertical, so that the overall thickness of the light source assembly 10 along the z direction may be further reduced on the premise of the same light incident area and/or light exit area.

In a specific implementation, still referring to FIG. 17, the cross-sectional shape of the second light conductor 135 is substantially L-shaped. The cross section may include a surface obtained by cutting the second light conductor 135 along a plane formed by the y direction and the z direction.

Specifically, the light incident part 131 and the light exit part 132 may be located at two end portions of the L-shaped structure, respectively, to receive incident light and emit outgoing light from different directions.

Furthermore, the second light conductor 135 may include an inclined plane 13a extending from the light exit part 132 toward the circuit substrate 12 and inclined to the light incident part 131. The inclined plane 13a may assist in changing the light travel path p. That is, a part of the right angle of the L-shaped structure may be cut off to form the inclined plane 13a.

Furthermore, the inclined plane 13a may be coated with a reflective layer (not shown) to improve the utilization of light.

Furthermore, the second light conductor 135 may include a first surface 13b and a second surface 13c that are parallel to the circuit substrate 12, respectively. The light incident part 131 may be located between the first surface 13b and the second surface 13c, one of the first surface 13b and the second surface 13c is in surface contact with the circuit substrate 12, and the other of the first surface 13b and the second surface 13c is in surface contact with the bracket 11.

For example, FIG. 17 exemplarily shows that the first surface 13b is in surface-to-surface contact with the circuit substrate 12, and the second surface 13c is in surface-to-surface contact with the side of the front wall 11a facing the accommodating cavity. Therefore, the light incident part 131 may receive incident light at an angle substantially perpendicular to the circuit substrate 12, so that the light incident part 131 may be disposed opposite to the third side 121c to reduce the light loss when the light emitted from the third side 121c reaches the light incident part 131.

The second surface 13c and the first surface 13b may be directly connected through the light incident part 131 , or may have other structures therebetween, e.g., a stepped part 133 described below may be provided. The related structure of the stepped part 133 may be described in detail below.

Through the cooperation of the first surface 13b, the second surface 13c, the first surface 12a and the bracket 11 , the light incident part 131 may be reliably disposed opposite to the third side 121c.

The first surface 13b and the second surface 13c are adapted to form transverse sections of the L-shaped structure.

Furthermore, the second light conductor 135 may include a third surface 13d and a fourth surface 13e that are perpendicular to the circuit substrate 12, respectively. The light exit part 132 may be located between the third surface 13d and the fourth surface 13e. The third surface 13d and the fourth surface 13e are in surface contact with the end portions of the side wall 11b and the front wall 11a of the bracket 11 , respectively.

For example, FIG. 17 exemplarily shows that the third surface 13d is in surface-to-surface contact with the side wall 11b, and the fourth surface 13e is in surface-to-surface contact with the end portion of the front wall 11a that forms an opening. Therefore, the light exit part 132 may be arranged at an angle substantially parallel to the front wall 11a, so that the light exit part 132 may be arranged opposite to the light outlet 111 to reduce the light loss when the light emitted from the light exit part 132 reaches the light outlet 111.

The third surface 13d and the fourth surface 13e may be directly connected by the light exit part 132.

Through the cooperation of the third surface 13d, the fourth surface 13e and the bracket 11 , the light exit part 132 may be reliably disposed opposite to the light outlet 111 .

The third surface 13d and the fourth surface 13e are adapted to form vertical sections of the L-shaped structure.

In a variant, the design of the inclined plane 13a may be cancelled, and the third surface 13d and the first surface 13b are directly connected to form the right angle of the L-shaped structure.

In a specific implementation, still referring to FIG. 15 to FIG. 17, the second light conductor 135 may at least partially overlap with the circuit substrate 12 along the direction of the circuit substrate 12 pointing to the light outlet 111 (i.e. , the z direction in the figure).

For example, the projection of the second light conductor 135 on the circuit substrate 12 completely falls within the first surface 12a.

Therefore, the compact design of the light source assembly 10 may be realized, and the width of the light source assembly 10 in the y direction may be reduced. In a specific implementation, still referring to FIG. 17, the light source 121 may be located in the projection region of the second light conductor 135 on the circuit substrate 12 along the direction of the circuit substrate 12 pointing to the light outlet 111 (i.e., the z direction in the figure).

For example, the second light conductor 135 may include a stepped part 133 protruding toward the light source 121 and located above the light source 121 in the z direction.

Considering that the light may diverge when it propagates, in this embodiment, the stepped part 133 is provided above the light source 121 to collect the light overflowing upward from the third side 121c.

Therefore, the light emitted from the light source 121 may enter the second light conductor 135 to the greatest extent, thereby improving the utilization rate of light.

In a specific implementation, still referring to FIG. 15 to FIG. 17, the accommodating cavity formed by the hollow part may include a first cavity 112 and a second cavity 113. Correspondingly, the bracket 11 may include a first cavity 112 configured to accommodate the circuit substrate 12 and a second cavity 113 configured to accommodate the second light conductor 135. The first cavity 112 is communicated with the second cavity 113, and the second cavity 113 is communicated with the light outlet 111.

For example, the pair of side walls 11b and the rear wall 11 e of the bracket 11 are adapted to enclose the first cavity 112 which opens upward in the z direction, and the pair of side walls 11b and the front wall 11a of the bracket 11 are adapted to enclose the second cavity 113 which opens downward in the z direction, and the open parts thereof are through.

Therefore, two cavities are formed in the bracket 11 to respectively accommodate the circuit substrate 12 and the second light conductor 135, and the two cavities are communicated with each other to reasonably utilize the space in the bracket 11 , thereby reducing the thickness of the light source assembly 10 along the z direction.

Furthermore, the circuit substrate 12 may form part of the boundary of the second cavity 113. That is, the first surface 12a, the pair of side walls 11 b, and the front wall 11a together define the second cavity 113. Similarly, the first surface 13b, the pair of side walls 11b, and the rear wall 11e together define the first cavity 112. Therefore, the thickness of the light source assembly 10 is reduced by eliminating a partition wall between the first cavity 112 and the second cavity 113.

Furthermore, a protruding part 118 protruding toward the first cavity 112 may be disposed in the second cavity 113. The projection of the protruding part 118 in the z-direction at least partially overlaps with the first surface 12a, so as to restrict the circuit substrate 12 from shaking freely in the first cavity 112 and the second cavity 113.

In a specific implementation, still referring to FIG. 15 to FIG. 17, the opening at the end portion of the bracket 11 along the x direction and the first cavity 112 are adapted to form a first slideway 114, and the circuit substrate 12 is adapted to be inserted into the first cavity 112 from the first end 11c of the bracket 11 along the first slideway 114.

Similarly, the opening at the end portion of the bracket 11 along the x direction and the second cavity 113 are adapted to form a second slideway 115, and the second light conductor 135 is adapted to be inserted into the second cavity 113 from the second end 11d of the bracket 11 along the second slideway 115.

Therefore, the circuit substrate 12 and the second light conductor 135 may be installed in place through side insertion from both ends of the bracket 11 , respectively.

Furthermore, referring to FIG. 18, the first slideway 114 may be provided with a first fixed part 116, and the circuit substrate 12 may include a first adapting part 122. FIG. 18 is a schematic diagram of the combination of the circuit substrate and the bracket in FIG. 15.

The first fixed part 116 cooperates with the first adapting part 122 to restrict the movement of the circuit substrate 12 along the direction in which the circuit substrate 12 enters the first slideway 114 (i.e., the x direction in the figure). Therefore, the circuit substrate 12 may be reliably fixed in the first cavity 112.

For example, a plurality of first fixed parts 116 are provided and distributed on the pair of side walls 11 b of the bracket 11. Accordingly, a plurality of first adapting parts 122 may also be provided and correspondingly disposed on both sides of the circuit substrate 12 along the y direction.

For example, the first fixed part 116 may include a buckle, and the first adapting part 122 may include a groove recessed into the circuit substrate 12. The circuit substrate 12 slides in the first slideway 114 along the x direction until the buckle falls into the corresponding groove to form a limit in the x direction.

For another example, referring to FIG. 19, the first fixed part 116 may include a protrusion located at the second end 11d of the bracket 11 and extending toward the circuit substrate 12 along the y direction, and the first adapting part 122 may include a notch located at the end portion of the circuit substrate 12 along the x direction. The circuit substrate 12 slides in the first slideway 114 along the x direction until the notch is inserted into the protrusion to form a stop, preventing the circuit substrate 12 from falling out of the bracket 11 from the opening formed at the second end 11 d of the bracket 11. FIG. 19 is a cross-sectional view of a region B in FIG. 15 along the C-C direction. In a specific implementation, referring to FIG. 15 to FIG. 17, the second light conductor 135 may include a second fixed part 134, the bracket 11 may include a second adapting part 117, and the second fixed part 134 and the second adapting part 117 are cooperated to limit the movement of the second light conductor 135 in a plane parallel to the circuit substrate 12.

Specifically, the second fixed part 134 may include a bump protruding outward from the fourth surface 13e of the second light conductor 135, and the bump is wedge-shaped to facilitate the second light conductor 135 to be inserted into the second slideway 115 from the second end 11d of the bracket 11.

The opening of the front wall 11a may be sealed at the first end 11 c of the bracket 11 , and the second light conductor 135 slides in the second slideway 115 along the x-direction until the tail end abuts against the seal, thereby restricting the second light conductor 135 to continue to move towards the first end 11c of the bracket 11 . At the same time, the bump abuts against the second adapting part 117 formed on the end face of the front wall 11a along the x direction, thereby restricting the second light conductor 135 from falling off the second end 11 d of the bracket 11 to the outside of the bracket 11.

Furthermore, the third surface 13d and the fourth surface 13e may also play the role of the second fixed part 134, and correspondingly, the end faces of the side wall 11 b and the front wall 11a along the y direction may also play the role of the second adapting part 117. The movement of the second light conductor 135 in the y direction is restricted by sandwiching at least part of the second light conductor 135 between the side wall 11b and the front wall 11a.

Therefore, the second light conductor 135 may be reliably fixed in the second cavity 113.

In a typical application scenario, during assembly of the components as shown in FIG. 16, the circuit substrate 12 is first pushed from the first end 11c of the bracket 11 into the first slideway 114 until the first fixed part 116 is fixed to the corresponding first adapting part 122. Then, the second light conductor 135 is pushed from the second end 11d of the bracket 11 into the second slideway 115 formed by the circuit substrate 12 and the bracket 11 until the second fixed part 134 is fixed to the second adapting part 117, to obtain the modularized light source assembly 10 as shown in FIG. 15.

FIG. 20 is a schematic diagram of a light source assembly 10 according to a third embodiment of the present invention. Here, only the differences between this embodiment and the embodiments as shown in FIG. 15 to FIG. 19 are mainly described.

Specifically, the differences from the light source assembly 10 as shown in FIG. 15 to FIG. 19 include: in this embodiment, the first surface 12a of the circuit substrate 12 may face away from the front wall 11a. That is, the second surface 12b on which the light source 121 is not provided faces the front wall 11a, and the first surface 12a on which the light source 121 is provided faces the bottom wall 11e of the bracket 11.

Furthermore, the circuit substrate 12 is located between the front wall 11a and the second light conductor 135, and the light source 121 is located between the circuit substrate 12 and the bottom wall 11e. The light emitted from the third side 121c enters the light incident part 131 along the y direction, is diffused to the light exit part 132 in the second light conductor 135, and finally exits outside the bracket 11 from the light outlet 111.

Therefore, the circuit substrate 12 may be arranged at an angle substantially parallel to the front panel 11a without changing the light exit path, thereby reducing the overall thickness of the light source assembly 10.

Furthermore, the light outlet 111 is flush with the light-transmitting part 221. Light emitted by the light source formed by the light source assembly 10 is transmitted from the lighttransmitting part 221 toward an outer side 22d of the panel 22 along the z direction.

In a specific implementation, referring to FIG. 4, FIG. 5 and FIG. 7, the panel 22 may have a rear surface 22a facing the inner side 22c and an opposite front surface 22b, and the front wall 11a may be attached to the rear surface 22a of the panel 22 and is parallel to the panel 22.

Specifically, the front wall 11a is parallel to the panel 22, and at the same time, the circuit substrate 12 faces or faces away from the front wall 11a, so that the circuit substrate 12 is also substantially parallel to the panel 22.

The light travel path p of the light from the third side 121c to the panel 22 may be as shown in FIG. 7. The surfaces of the second light conductor 135 except the light incident part 131 and the light exit part 132 are shielded by the bracket 11 , so that the light received from the light source 121 is finally emitted to the light-transmitting part 221 through the light outlet 111 . Through the matching of the structures of the side-emitting light source 121 and the second light conductor 135, the circuit substrate 12 and the panel 22 are arranged in parallel without changing the light exit path, thereby reducing the overall thickness of the light source assembly 10 along the z direction. In the scenario of a refrigerating appliance, the light source assembly 10 with a reduced thickness is beneficial to release more space in the housing 21 to the foam layer, thereby reducing the risk of condensation of the refrigerating appliance.

Furthermore, the modularized light source assembly 10 as shown in FIG. 15 may be integrally installed in a light box 15. The light box 15 has a cavity that opens toward the panel 22 to accommodate the light source assembly 10, and flanges are formed around the cavity to tightly and reliably adhere the light box 15 to the rear surface 22a of the panel 22. When the household appliance 2 is a refrigerating appliance, the side of the light box 15 away from the panel 22 may be combined with a thermal insulation layer in the housing 21.

Furthermore, the side wall of the cavity may be provided with a third fixed part 151 , the side wall 11 b of the bracket 11 may be provided with a third adapting part 119 correspondingly, and the third fixed part 151 and the third adapting part 119 are coupled to fix the bracket 11 in the cavity. For example, the third fixed part 151 may include a groove, and the third adapting part 119 may include a buckle.

Furthermore, the third adapting part 119 and the first fixed part 116 may be integrated into one piece, such as demolding and forming at the same time. For example, the inward facing surface of the side wall 11 b of the bracket 11 forms the first fixed part 116, and the outward facing surface in the same region forms the third adapting part 119.

Furthermore, the edge of the side wall 11b of the bracket 11 away from the panel 22 may be provided with flexible hooks 152 extending toward the light box 15 at intervals to eject the light source assembly 10, thereby ensuring that the front wall 11a is in close contact with the rear surface 22a of the panel 22.

Although specific implementation solutions have been described above, these implementation solutions are not intended to limit the scope disclosed in the present disclosure, even where only a single implementation solution is described with respect to a particular feature. The feature examples provided in the present disclosure are intended to be illustrative rather than limiting, unless otherwise stated. In a specific implementation, technical features of one or more dependent claims and technical features of independent claims are combined, and technical features from corresponding independent claims may be combined by any proper manner rather than only by a specific combination exemplified in the claims.

Although the present invention is disclosed above, the present invention is not limited thereto. A person skilled in the art can make various changes and modifications without departing from the spirit and the scope of the present invention. Therefore, the protection scope of the present invention should be subject to the scope defined by the claims.

Claims

27 CLAIMS What is claimed is:

1 . A household appliance (2), comprising a panel (22) having a light-transmitting part (221) and an illumination device (1), characterized in that the illumination device (1) comprises: a light source (121), located at an inner side (22c) of the panel (22), light emitted by the light source (121) being suitable to be transmitted from the light-transmitting part (221) toward an outer side (22d) of the panel (22); a first light conductor (23), located at the outer side (22d) of the panel (22) and covering the light-transmitting part (221) to receive the light; and a non-light-transmitting member (24), covering a first portion (232) of the first light conductor (23); wherein the first light conductor (23) comprises a second portion (233) located outside the non-light-transmitting member (24), so that the light is transmitted from the second portion (233).

2. The household appliance (2) according to claim 1 , characterized in that the second portion (233) is disposed along at least part of an outer contour of the non-light-transmitting member (24).

3. The household appliance (2) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the first light conductor (23) comprises an inner surface (23a) facing the panel (22), an outer surface (23b) facing away from the panel (22), and a side surface (23c) connecting the inner surface (23a) to the outer surface (23b), wherein the second portion (233) comprises at least part of the side surface (23c).

4. The household appliance (2) according to claim 3, characterized in that projections of the first light conductor (23) and the non-light-transmitting member (24) on the panel (22) overlap completely, and a projection of the second portion (233) on the panel (22) is located on a side edge of the projection of the non-light-transmitting member (24) on the panel (22).

5. The household appliance (2) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that at least part of the second portion (233) is located outside the projection of the non-light-transmitting member (24) on the panel (22).

6. The household appliance (2) according to claim 5, characterized in that the second portion (233) comprises an inclined side surface (23c), and a projection of the inclined side surface (23c) on the panel (22) is located outside the projection of the non-light-transmitting member (24) on the panel (22).

7. The household appliance (2) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the first light conductor (23) comprises a limiting part (234) protruding in a direction away from the panel (22); an edge of the non-light-transmitting member (24) is disposed along the limiting part (234); and the second portion (233) is at least partially located at the limiting part (234).

8. The household appliance (2) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the first light conductor (23) comprises an inner surface (23a) facing the panel (22), an outer surface (23b) opposite to the inner surface (23a), and a plurality of side surfaces (23c) connecting the inner surface (23a) to the outer surface (23b), wherein the non- light-transmitting member (24) covers at least the outer surface (23b).

9. The household appliance (2) according to claim 8, characterized in that the non-light- transmitting member (24) comprises a body part (241) covering the outer surface (23b) and a side barrier (242) covering at least one of the side surfaces (23c), wherein one end (242a) of the side barrier (242) is connected to the body part (241).

10. The household appliance (2) according to claim 9, characterized in that the opposite end (242b) of the side barrier (242) is in contact with the panel (22).

11. The household appliance (2) according to claim 8 to 10, characterized in that the side surface (23c) and the inner surface (23a) form an included angle (a) of less than 90 degrees.

12. The household appliance (2) according to claim 8, characterized in that the side surface (23c) comprises a first wall (235) having a first slope and a second wall (236) having a second slope, wherein the first wall (235) is connected to the inner surface (23a), the second wall (236) is connected to the outer surface (23b), and the first slope is less than the second slope.

13. The household appliance (2) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the illumination device (1) further comprises a reflective layer (14) disposed between the non-light-transmitting member (24) and the first light conductor (23).

14. The household appliance (2) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the first light conductor (23) is pasted to the panel (22).

15. The household appliance (2) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the first light conductor (23) and the non-light-transmitting member (24) are bonded and fixed.