EP2280235B1 - Body for a domestic appliance - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a body for a cabinet-type household appliance, in particular for a refrigerator.

The body of a refrigeration device is conventionally essentially a hollow body filled with an insulating foam material, the walls of which are not exposed to strong mechanical stresses during use and accordingly do not have to be particularly resilient. Only a front frame area of the body has to be sufficiently stable to bear the weight of a door attached to it. In order to ensure this stability, the ceiling of a refrigerator body is conventionally stiffened at its front edge by a metal end strip on which a door hinge can engage.

If unpacked refrigeration devices have to be handled in a manufacturer's warehouse, this is commonly done with a clamp, the clamping jaws of which are placed on an upper edge of the side walls of the body in order to clamp the body and to lift the device in a frictionally held manner. The problem arises here that the device, since the clamping on the front edge of the ceiling reinforced by the end strip is the strongest, tends to tip over when it is lifted, which makes it more difficult to set it down again precisely. If the clamp force is increased to prevent it from tipping over, there is a risk that parts of the body will yield and be damaged under the pressure of the clamp.

US 3,601,463 A discloses a body of a refrigerator with an outer shell that has a ceiling and two side walls, and with an inner container that defines a space for goods to be cooled. Ribs are integrally formed on the inner container. These ribs extend to an insulation layer which is introduced in the outer shell in a conventional manner.

US 2006/225466 A1 discloses a washing machine in which a cover panel is connected to upper surfaces of ceiling clips. The cover panel is connected to the upper surfaces of two side frame parts.

The object of the invention is to provide a body for a cabinet-type refrigerator, which facilitates safe and precise handling with the aid of a clip.

The object is achieved by a body for a cabinet-type household appliance in accordance with the independent claim. By absorbing clamping forces of a clamp, this stiffening strut enables the body to be clamped along an axis which is less offset from the center of gravity of the device than the end strip. The stiffening strut therefore not only improves the clamping capacity of the body, but also reduces its tendency to tip when it is raised.

The stabilization of the body also contributes to the fact that the at least one stiffening strut is part of a shaped body which is connected to a front strip stiffening the front edge of the ceiling.

To further improve the stabilizing effect, the shaped body can have at least two stiffening struts spaced apart from one another in the depth direction, one of which faces the front ledge, while the other forms a rear end of the shaped body.

Between these two stiffening struts, further stiffening struts spaced apart from one another can be provided.

In particular, the molded body and the front strip can be expediently connected by a tongue and groove connection. This contributes to a quick and easy assembly of the body.

From the point of view of production technology, it is preferred that the tongue is arranged on the front strip and the groove on the molded body. In the installed position of the front ledge, the spring preferably runs essentially horizontally. The groove can have one or more interruptions.

In order to prevent the tongue and groove from shifting longitudinally to one another under load, the two can preferably be joined together without play, in particular under pretension.

The molded body and the front strip can be expediently held together by a snap-in connection. Such a latching connection is preferably provided on the lateral edge sections of the molded body or the front strip.

The molded body can be designed as at least approximately as an upwardly open shell.
If a user interface is formed in a manner known per se on the front edge of the body, at least one circuit module which is functionally connected to the user interface can expediently be mounted on the molded body, in particular in the shell.

Instead of in a conventional manner from the front, through an opening in the front strip, such a circuit module can be expediently inserted into the shell from above. Openings in the front bar therefore do not have to be so large that the circuit assembly fits through, which also improves the stability of the body.

In order to simplify the assembly of the circuit assembly, the shell can be provided with latching means on which the circuit assembly can be snapped into place.

In order to make visible display elements in the shell on the front bar and / or to be able to actuate switches and controllers mounted in the shell from the front, the shell expediently has a front opening which overlaps with a window of the front bar.

A control panel arranged in front of the front bar - which, for example, can have transparent areas through which a display mounted in the shell is visible, or an opening for the passage of an actuating element of a switch or controller - is expediently anchored to the shell through the window. In this way, the control panel can be placed with high accuracy in relation to the shell, whereas positioning tolerances of the control panel in relation to the front strip, in particular in the width direction of the body, are relatively large.

In order to facilitate the laying of supply and / or signal cables of a circuit module accommodated in the shell, a cable passage of the shell from the stiffening strut or one of the stiffening struts, in particular the rear stiffening strut, is expediently omitted. This recess is preferably designed in the manner of a vault.

In order not to reduce the resilience of the stiffening strut by the recess more than necessary, the cable passage is expediently bridged by a cover part. The resilience also contributes to the fact that preferably at least two stiffening struts are provided and connected to one another by ribs.

In order to suppress shear movements of the stiffening struts against one another, ribs arranged on the molded part can advantageously be provided at an angle that is not at right angles to the stiffening struts, preferably with the formation of a framework-like structure.

In particular, such crossing ribs should be arranged on the cable passage.

Vertical wall sections formed at the ends of the stiffening strut contribute to the stabilization of the body, in particular during assembly, before foaming, and to the foam-tightness of the body.

In order to simplify the assembly of the body, the grooves can be provided at the ends of the stiffening strut, which receive the edge strips of the outer wall panel.

Fig. 1

eine Explosionsdarstellung einer Schale und von benachbarten Teilen eines Korpus eines Haushaltskältegeräts gemäß der vorliegenden Erfindung;

Fig. 2

eine perspektivische Ansicht der Unterseite eines versteifenden Formkörpers des Kältegeräts; und

Fig. 3

eine perspektivische Ansicht eines erfindungsgemäßen Kältegeräts.

Further features and advantages of the invention result from the following description of exemplary embodiments with reference to the attached figures. Show it:

Fig. 1

an exploded view of a shell and adjacent parts of a body of a household refrigerator according to the present invention;

Fig. 2

a perspective view of the underside of a stiffening molded body of the refrigerator; and

Fig. 3

a perspective view of a refrigerator according to the invention.

Fig. 1 shows a perspective view of a molded part 1 molded from plastic with a central recess or shell 35, which is provided to accommodate electrical or electronic assemblies of a refrigerator. The assemblies provided for mounting in the shell 35 can comprise, for example, a power supply unit 2 for the voltage supply of an interior lighting of the refrigeration device and a power electronics module 3 which supplies a compressor of the refrigeration device with current in a controlled manner on the basis of measured values from a connected temperature sensor. The bottom of the shell 35 is adapted to the shape of the power supply unit 2 or the power electronics module 3 in order to permit its placement in only one orientation at a time. Two clips 4 protruding from the bottom of the shell 35 engage on the power electronics module 3 when the power electronics module 3 is placed at its mounting location from above in the intended orientation.

Horizontal wings 5 of the molded body 1 adjoin the shell 35 on the right and left, forming horizontal, laterally open grooves 6 on their edges facing away from one another. The grooves 6 are provided to receive an angled upper edge strip 7 of an outer wall plate 8, which forms the outside of a side wall of the fully assembled refrigeration device. A vertical wall section 9 of the molded body 1, which extends below the groove 6, lies flat against the outer wall panel 8.

Stiffening struts 10 extend below the wings 5 and the central shell 1 from one wall section 9 of the molded body 1 to the other. One of the stiffening struts 10, which is hidden in the figure, runs essentially in one plane with a rear wall 11 of the shell 35, so that the molded body 1, particularly in its rear region, has a high load-bearing capacity against pressure from the lateral direction. A cover plate 12, which is provided in order to be plugged onto a trough-shaped cable duct 13 crossing the rear wall 11 and to fill in the gap at the cable duct 13 in a flat U-profile 14 that is open to the rear and contributes to the compressive strength Edge of the shell 35 forms. In the U-profile 14 is in an analogous manner to the edge strip 7 Fig. 1 Horizontal sheet, not shown, can be inserted, which forms the outer surface of a ceiling of the refrigerator body.

A large-area opening 15 is formed on a front side of the shell 35. On a web 16 which extends over the opening 15 over the entire width of the molded body 1, a groove 17 which is open towards the front is formed with local interruptions. The groove 17 is provided to receive and clamp a horizontally angled edge strip 18 of a face strip 19 formed from sheet metal. At the ends of the edge strip, two tongues 44 are cut free, which, when the edge strip 18 is pushed into the groove 17 as far as it will go, engage in cutouts 45 in the molded body 1 and thus lock the front strip 19 on the molded body 1. A window 20 of the front ledge 19 overlaps with the opening 15 in the assembled state.

In the fully assembled state, the window 20 is closed by a plastic control panel 21. The control panel 21 has a base plate 22, which covers the window 20, and a plurality of locking fingers 23 projecting from the rear of the base plate 22 adjacent to its upper and lower edges, which form-fit through the window 20 in locking recesses 24 at the edge of the opening 15 intervene and anchor the control panel 21 there. This ensures that transparent windows and / or openings 25 of the control panel 21, of which in Fig. 1 only one is shown as an example, exactly in relation to not shown displays or switches to be mounted in the shell 35 at predetermined positions in front of the circuit modules 2, 3, so that for example a slide 26 for actuating such a switch in the opening 25 Can be guided exactly aligned to the switch or a transparent window exactly overlaps with a display that should be readable through the window 20.

To the right and left of the window 20, two screw holes 27 are shown in the front ledge 19. A pair of these holes is provided to be connected in a manner known per se Fig. 1 To fix the door hinge, not shown, the front bar 19, in order to support the weight of the door, is reinforced at the screw holes 27 by a backing part, not shown. At the in Fig. 1 shown embodiment of the molded body 1, such a plate-shaped backing part finds space between the wall section 9 and an opposite side wall 28 of the shell 35, without necessarily being in a non-positive connection with the molded body 1.

In order to achieve additional stiffening, different from the representation of the Fig. 1 a further stiffening strut parallel to the stiffening strut 10 is formed directly flush with the front edges of the wall section 9 and the side wall 28 on the shell 1 and provided with holes which are aligned with the screw holes 27, so that a backing part for anchoring the door hinge is arranged behind the additional stiffening strut can be and between the door hinge and the backing part, both the face bar 19 and the additional stiffening strut of the molded body 1 are clamped.

A connecting plate 29 is provided to close a gap between the top of the refrigerator and the ceiling of a furniture niche in which it is mounted. The connecting plate 29 has on its rear edge a plurality of protruding fingers 30, 31, of which the middle, narrower fingers 30 are provided in order to engage frictionally in clips 32 cut out from the edge strip 18 of the end strip 19, while the wider, terminal fingers 31 have screw holes 33 have for attachment to the front bar 19 or the molded body 1. Screw holes 34 in a front area of the connecting plate 29 are used for fastening to the ceiling of the furniture recess.

Fig. 2 shows a perspective view from below of the molded body 1. The two vertical wall sections 9 and a plurality of parallel stiffening struts 10 extending between the wall sections 9 can be clearly seen. The stiffening struts 10 are connected to one another by a plurality of transverse ribs parallel to the wall sections 9 36. The stiffening struts 10, the wall sections 9 and the transverse ribs 36 divide the underside of the molded body 1 into a multiplicity of rectangular fields. Most of these fields are provided with one or even two ventilation domes 37 in order to ensure that the compartments are filled with insulating foam evenly and without large bubbles, when the body is being foamed.

Those compartments that adjoin one of the wall sections 9 are each additionally stiffened by intersecting ribs 38 oriented obliquely to the stiffening struts 10. Further obliquely oriented ribs 39 extend on the underside of the cable duct 13. In order to weaken the rear edge of the Shaped body 1 To compensate the strut 10 forming through the cable duct 13, between this strut 10 and an adjacent strut 10, essentially forming a rear side of the shell 35, an auxiliary strut 40 parallel to the two is guided in an arc around the cable duct 13.

Fig. 3 shows a schematic perspective view of the assembled refrigerator. The control panel 21 is exposed here above a door 41, but the door 41 could also be dimensioned in order to cover the control panel 21 in the closed position. A cover plate 42 does not extend from the rear of the body 43 of the refrigeration device to the front ledge 19, but only to the U-profile 14 at the rear edge of the molded body 1, so that its shell 35 is exposed. In this way, waste heat can escape ideally from circuit assemblies mounted in the shell 35.

If necessary, a protection against accidental contact, for example in the form of a grate or a piece of expanded metal, could be fitted over the molded body 1 in order to protect the circuit assemblies from damage, in particular before the refrigeration device is installed in a furniture recess.

The principle of the invention is not limited to built-in refrigeration devices. For example, a molded part that reinforces the ceiling of the device, possibly with a recess that is open at the top or covered by a grate, can be arranged invisibly to a user on the ceiling of a free-standing, man-sized refrigerator, or it can be placed under a table-top household appliance a worktop placed on the body.

Claims (20)

1. Body (43) for a cupboard-type household appliance, in particular refrigeration appliance, having a ceiling and two side walls, wherein in the ceiling at least one reinforcing brace (10) which is spaced apart from its front edge extends from one side wall to the other, wherein the at least one reinforcing brace (10) is a component part of a mould (1), which is connected to an end strip (19) which closes off, in particular reinforces, the front edge of the ceiling, characterised in that the mould (1) has horizontal blades (5),which form horizontal, laterally open grooves (6) at their edges which face away from one another, wherein the grooves (6) receive an angled, upper edge strip (7) of an outer wall sheet (8), wherein in each case a vertical wall section (9) of the mould (1), which extends below the groove (6), rests in a planar manner on the outer wall sheet (8) in each case, and wherein the outer wall sheets (8) form outer faces of the side walls of the finished mounted household appliance.
2. Body according to claim 1, characterised in that the mould (1) has at least two reinforcing braces (10) spaced apart from one another in the depth direction, of which one faces the end strip (19), while the other reinforcing brace (10) serves as a rear end brace.
3. Body according to claim 2, characterised in that further reinforcing braces (10) spaced apart from one another are provided between the two reinforcing braces (10).
4. Body according to one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the mould (1) and the end strip (19) are connected by means of a tongue and groove connection (17, 18).
5. Body according to claim 4, characterised in that the spring (18) is arranged on the end strip (19) and in the installation position of the end strip (19) runs essentially horizontally.
6. Body according to claim 4 or 5, characterised in that the groove (17) is arranged on the mould (1) and is embodied to be interrupted.
7. Body according to one of claims 4 to 6, characterised in that the groove (17) and the spring (18) can be joined free of plate, in particular under preload.
8. Body according to one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the mould (1) and the end strip (19) are connected by means of a latching connection, in particular by means of a latching connection provided on lateral edge sections.
9. Body according to one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the mould (1) is embodied at least approximately as an upwardly open shell (35).
10. Body according to one of the preceding claims, characterised in that a user interface is formed on the end strip (19) and at least one wiring assembly (2, 3) connected functionally to the user interface is mounted on the mould (1).
11. Body according to claim 10, provided it relates back to claim 9, characterised in that the tray (35) has latching means (4), into which the wiring assembly (2) can be latched from above.
12. Body according to one of claims 9 to 11, characterised in that the tray (35) has a front opening (15), which overlaps with a window (20) of the end face (19).
13. Refrigeration appliance according to claim 12, characterised in that a control panel (21) arranged in front of the end strip (19) is fixed to the tray (1) through the window (20).
14. Body according to one of the preceding claims, characterised in that a cable passage (13) of the mould (1) is recessed at least approximately similar to an arch from the reinforcing brace (10), in particular from the rearward reinforcing brace (10).
15. Body according to claim 14, characterised in that the cable passage (13) is bridged by a cover part (12).
16. Body according to one of the preceding claims, characterised in that at least two reinforcing braces (10) are connected to one another by means of ribs (36; 38; 39).
17. Body according to claim 16, characterised in that ribs (38, 39) not arranged at a right angle to the reinforcing braces (10) intersect, in particular intersect in a truss-type manner.
18. Body according to claim 17, provided it relates back to claim 14 or 15, characterised in that intersecting ribs (39) are arranged on the cable passage (13).
19. Body according to one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the vertical wall sections (9) are formed on the ends of the reinforcing braces (10).
20. Body according to one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the grooves (6) are arranged on the ends of the reinforcing braces (10).

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