Refrigerating appliance provided with inside lighting and a fan
An interconnected structural unit containing an illuminant and a fan, which can be mounted at the inside top of a refrigerating appliance. The interconnected structural unit includes two components which can be fixed in various positions in relation to each other inside of the appliance.
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The present invention relates to a refrigerating appliance with an interior enclosed by a heat-insulating housing, in which an illuminant for lighting the interior and a fan are arranged. The purpose of such a fan in a no-frost refrigerating appliance can be to effect air exchange between a storage area of the interior and a chamber separated from the storage area by a partition, in which an evaporator is arranged. However, in a refrigerating appliance with a non-divided interior, in which the evaporator is arranged in the interior itself or between an inner wall and an insulating material layer surrounding the latter, for cooling the interior, such a fan can be useful to promote circulation of air along the surface of the evaporator or respectively the area of the inner wall cooled by the latter and so effect cooling.
Such a fan requires a power supply, whereof the wires must be guided in through the heat-insulating housing and must be carefully sealed in the inner wall in order to prevent insulating material from entering the interior during assembly of the refrigerating appliance.
Likewise, a power supply, which causes the same problems, is necessary for interior lighting of the refrigerating appliance, which is generally mounted on the inner wall of the housing.
The fan is generally mounted on the ceiling or the rear wall of the interior, and the lighting on a side wall. Both protrude into the interior and thus impair the available storage room. It is not possible to embed them into the wall, since this would result in a locally thin insulating layer and thus poor insulation.
An object of the invention is to provide a refrigerating appliance with optimised usability of the interior.
A further object is to provide a refrigerating appliance, which can be mounted easily and economically.
While according to the present invention the illuminant and the fan are mounted in an interconnected structural unit in the interior, the number of the projections protruding into the interior is reduced to one, improving the usefulness of the interior. Also, there is no need to provide separate apertures through the inner wall for the power supply of the fan and of the illuminant. The supply lines for both can be guided through a single bore of the inner wall and inside the structural unit in each case can be fed to an illuminant or respectively a fan motor. This eliminates a bore in the inner wall, and the wiring arrangement from the bore to a control circuit arranged outside of the interior is simplified.
The interconnected structural unit is preferably arranged under the ceiling of the interior, so that the air current created by the fan can flow over the evaporator or the wall cooled by the latter to its full height.
The interconnected structural unit can comprise a housing part, in which the illuminant and the fan are accommodated. Such a housing part can be fully premounted outside the refrigerating appliance and then be built in with few hand grips.
Alternatively the interconnected structural unit can comprise at least two mutually engaging housing parts, whereof a first houses the illuminant and a second houses the fan. Such a two-part structure makes it easier to adapt the structural unit to different forms of the interior. Such different forms can result from manufacturing tolerances, or they can be specifically different dimensions of the interiors of different refrigerating appliance models. In the latter case in particular is can be necessary to adapt the structural unit to very different dimensions of the interior; in this case is preferred that the two housing parts telescopic engage in one another.
For the first housing part a multi-part structure is preferred, with a basic component attached to a wall of the interior, preferably the ceiling, which component bears the illuminant, and with a hood covering over the basic component and the illuminant, attached to the basic component.
The engagement between the two housing parts is made preferably by the second housing part engaging in a section of the hood. In this case it is advantageous that an area of the basic component protruding into this section, and flush with the hood, delimits along with the hood a gap, in which the second housing part engages. In this way the first housing part is also extensively closed when the second is not present, and it can also be incorporated identically in a refrigerating appliance, in which no fan is provided and where the second housing part accordingly is missing.
For drawing off heat from the illuminant the hood preferably has an edge spaced away from the wall by a ventilation gap.
The basic component and the hood are preferably connected in that in an opening of the hood a cap is swivel-mounted, which bears a bayonet coupling element, in turn cooperating with a complementary bayonet coupling element of the basic component.
The basic component is preferably screwed to the wall of the interior. A screw shaft formed for this purpose in the basic component is preferably arranged such that, when the bayonet coupling elements are joined, it lies flush with an opening of the cap.
This makes it possible to fully premount the first housing part outside the refrigerating appliance, including illuminant and hood, and to screw it in this state in the refrigerating appliance.
To ensure effective cooling of the illuminant the first and the second housing part are preferably formed coherently in terms of fluid technics, so that operating the fan also runs an air current in the first housing part. For this purpose the second housing part in particular can delimit a flow channel for fan air, which extends from the first housing part to a blow-out zone adjoining the rear wall of the interior.
The abovementioned area of the basic component protruding into the section of the hood should be formed to allow air to permeate, in particular in the form of a plurality of slats protruding into the section.
In order to guarantee easy forming of the basic component by injection moulding, ends of the slats facing the hood are preferably left unjoined.
Further features and advantages of the invention will emerge from the following description of an embodiment with respect to the attached figures, in which:
Extending through two oblique flanks 8 of the raised section 4 in each case is a screw mounting 9, which holds an incandescent lamp 10 or another suitable illuminant. The outside of the flank 8 averted from the observer can be provided with a metallic reflector in the form of a thin sheet or an adhered film, to improve the light radiation and to protect the flank 8 from overheating by the incandescent lamp 10.
Protruding trunnions 14 on the upper edge of the hood prevent the hood 7 from lying closely on the ceiling of the interior of the refrigerating appliance. On the one hand additional ventilating slots are formed between the edge of the hood and the ceiling, and on the other hand the distance between hood and ceiling ensures that minimal differences in form between both, attributable to tolerances in manufacturing of the refrigerator interior container, are not visible to an observer.
A rotatable cap 15 is added in a central opening of the hood 7. On its outside the cap 15 has a flat round handling knob 16 with a roughened edge, which makes it easy for a user to rotate the cap 15.
In a rearwards area of the hood 7 a large-surface section 20 is formed. In the mounted state of the hood, slats 21, which are formed protruding vertically downwards on the basic component 3, engage in this section 20. The slats 21 are connected only by their upper end to the basic component 3; their lower ends are unconnected, so that the basic component 3 can be injection-moulded together with the slats 21 using simple mould tools.
The slats 21 fill out the section 20, but not to its full width and height. When basic component 3 and hood 7 are joined together this results on the rear side of the first housing part 1 in a gap with an approximately C-shaped cross-section along the edges of the section, in which the second housing part 2 correspondingly formed to this cross-section can be guided and can be shifted within certain limits in its longitudinal direction.
The inner structure of the second housing part is explained in greater detail by means of
A recess 38 open to the top is formed in opposite long flanks 32,34 in each case. An inlet area of the recess 38 is limited by two arms 39 running towards one another from top to bottom, which are connected to the rest of the flank 32,34 only by narrow legs in the level of their upper edge 40, and as a result can be flexibly deflected. In a lower area of the recess 38 a semicircular-shaped rounding 41 is formed. Its diameter is such that it positively receives a shaft lug of the electromotor 27, which is pressed in from above into the assembling clamp 31. The arms 39 deflected out when the motor is pressed into the assembling clamp 31 return to their relieved position shown in
To prevent the arms 39 deflecting in the direction of the axis of the motor 27, through which the motor could be freed from the assembling clamp 31, the upper edge 40 of the flanks 32, 34 is reinforced by ribs protruding in the direction of the axis of the motor. Corresponding ribs 23 are also formed under the recess 38 on the flanks 32, 34.
And to prevent the motor 27 from rotating about its own axis, the assembling clamp 31 is fitted with two flexible arms 42, which project upwards from the flanks 33, 35 parallel to the axis of the motor 27. A rubber ring 43 is latched behind a widened tip of the arms 42 in each case. In the relieved state the rubber rings 43 are circular. The widening at the tips of the arms 42 is such that the rubber rings 43 are held back by them in their relieved position, but that, when they are pressed flat on the arms 42, come free from the projections and can be drawn up without resistance and replaced by rings with another wall thickness.
When the electromotor 27 is placed in the assembling clamp 31, the surfaces of the rubber rings 43 facing each other touch the lateral flanks of a stator packet 44 of the motor. Due to the elasticity of the arms and the rubber rings 43 it is easily possible to anchor motors in the assembling clamp 31, which differ in the width of their stator packet by several millimetres. Even greater tolerances in dimensions can be absorbed by corresponding exchange of the rubber rings 43.
The expenditure of labour for assembling the electromotor 27 in the housing part 2 is minimal: it suffices to lock the motor in the recesses 38 of the assembling clamp 31 and to lack the assembling clamps 31 in the holding axes 30 of the housing part 2.
When the fan is mounted another panel 45 is hung on snap-lock lugs 46,47 of the housing part 2. The panel 45 has a circular central window 48, whereof the diameter corresponds to that of the impeller 28. It prevents air blown by the fan against the rear wall of the refrigerating appliance inside the housing part 2 from flowing past the impeller 28 forwards again, thus improving the efficiency of the fan.
The particular usage of telescopic displaceability of the housing parts 1,2 however is that they can be used in different assembled configurations for incorporating in refrigerating appliances with different depths of the interior without adaptation.
Claims
1-15. (canceled)
16. A refrigerating appliance with an interior enclosed by a heat-insulating housing, comprising:
- an illuminant and a fan arranged in the interior;
- an interconnected structural unit; and
- said illuminant and said fan mounted in said interconnected structural unit in said interior.
17. The refrigerating appliance according to claim 16, including said interconnected structural unit is arranged under the ceiling of said interior.
18. The refrigerating appliance according to claim 16, including said interconnected structural unit including a housing part, said illuminant and said fan housed in said housing part.
19. The refrigerating appliance according to claim 16, including said interconnected structural unit including at least two mutually engaging housing parts, a first one of said housing parts houses said illuminant and a second one of said housing parts houses said fan.
20. The refrigerating appliance according to claim 19, including said two housing parts engage mutually telescopically.
21. The refrigerating appliance according to claim 19, including said first housing part including a basic component attached to a wall of said interior, said component including said illuminant and including a hood covering said basic component and said illuminant, said hood attached to said basic component.
22. The refrigerating appliance according to claim 21, including said hood including a section and said basic component including a flush area, said flush area protruding into said section define with said hood a gap, said second housing part engaging in said gap.
23. The refrigerating appliance according to claim 21, including said hood including an edge spaced away from said wall by a ventilation gap.
24. The refrigerating appliance according to claim 21, including a cap, said cap rotatably held in an opening of said hood, said cap including a bayonet coupling element which cooperates with a complementary bayonet coupling element of said basic component.
25. The refrigerating appliance according to claim 24, including at least one screw shaft formed in said basic component, said screw shaft serves to take up a screw for fastening said basic component on said inner wall, said cap including an opening aligned with said screw shaft in the coupled state of said bayonet coupling elements.
26. The refrigerating appliance according to claim 19, including said first and said second housing parts are coherent in terms of fluid technics.
27. The refrigerating appliance according to claim 26, including said second housing part delimits a flow channel for fan air, said flow channel extends from said first housing part to a blow-out zone formed adjoining the rear wall of said interior.
28. The refrigerating appliance according to claim 22, including said area of said basic component protruding into sid section formed to allow air to permeate.
29. The refrigerating appliance according to claim 28, including said area of said basic component protruding into said section includes a plurality of salts.
30. The refrigerating appliance according to claim 29, including the ends of said slats facing said hood are unconnected.
Type: Application
Filed: Mar 17, 2004
Publication Date: Aug 3, 2006
Applicant: BSH Bosch und Siemens Hausgerate GmbH (Munich)
Inventors: Vicente Pastor (Falces), Christoph Becke (Grosskarolinenfeld), Hans-Reinhart Janssen (Giengen), Alfred Raab (Huttlingen)
Application Number: 10/546,644
International Classification: F25D 23/00 (20060101); F25D 17/06 (20060101); F25D 11/00 (20060101);