HOUSEHOLD REFRIGERATION APPLIANCE WITH A FOOD RECEPTACLE TRAY MOUNTED WITH A ROLLERLESS FIXED BEARING

Abstract

A household refrigeration appliance includes an inner container delimiting a receiving space for receiving food, a food receptacle tray that is separate from the receiving space and a guiding apparatus for guiding a movement of the food receptacle tray. The guiding apparatus has a guide rail disposed on an inner side of the inner container. At least one guide element of the guiding apparatus is disposed in a fixed position on the food receptacle tray. The guide rail is disposed so as to interlock with the guide element to form a rollerless fixed bearing, so that the food receptacle tray is guided without rollers by using the guiding apparatus.

Claims

1. A household refrigeration appliance, comprising: an inner container delimiting a receiving space for receiving food, said inner container having an inner side; a food receptacle tray separate from said receiving space; a guiding apparatus for guiding movement of said food receptacle tray, said guiding apparatus having a guide rail disposed on said inner side of said inner container, and said guiding apparatus having at least one guide element disposed in a fixed position on said food receptacle tray; said guide rail configured to interlock with said at least one guide element to form a rollerless fixed bearing, for guiding said food receptacle tray without rollers by using said guiding apparatus.

2. The household refrigeration appliance according to claim 1, wherein said at least one guide element is formed in a single piece with said food receptacle tray.

3. The household refrigeration appliance according to claim 1, wherein: said food receptacle tray has a side wall with an outer side and a base wall with an outer side; said at least one guide element is disposed on said outer side of said side wall and on said outer side of said base wall; and said at least one guide element is disposed laterally adjacent said side wall of said food receptacle tray in a width direction of the household refrigeration appliance and overlaps said side wall of said food receptacle tray in a height direction of the household refrigeration appliance and extends below said base wall in the height direction and in the width direction.

4. The household refrigeration appliance according to claim 1, wherein: said food receptacle tray has a first side wall and a second side wall disposed opposite one another in a width direction of the household refrigeration appliance; and said at least one guide element is disposed on said first side wall of said food receptacle tray and at least one further guide element is disposed on said second side wall of said food receptacle tray.

5. The household refrigeration appliance according to claim 1, wherein said guide rail has an asymmetry component providing an asymmetrical geometry, viewed in a width direction of said food receptacle tray, for mounting said food receptacle tray.

6. The household refrigeration appliance according to claim 1, wherein said at least one guide element has a guide web protruding upward and engaging into an open bottom of a guide groove in said guide rail.

7. The household refrigeration appliance according to claim 6, wherein said guide web has a width measured in a width direction of the household refrigeration appliance, and said guide groove has a width measured in the width direction of the household refrigeration appliance being between 0.1 mm and 0.6 mm greater than the width of said guide web.

8. The household refrigeration appliance according to claim 6, wherein: said food receptacle tray has a side wall; and said guide web and said guide groove are at least one of: disposed laterally adjacent said side wall of said food receptacle tray, as viewed in a width direction of the household refrigeration appliance, or overlapping with said side wall of said food receptacle tray in a height direction of the household refrigeration appliance.

9. The household refrigeration appliance according to claim 6, which further comprises another guide rail, said at least one guide element including two separate guide elements each having a respective guide web engaging into said guide groove.

10. The household refrigeration appliance according to claim 9, wherein said guide webs are disposed in a rear half of a length of said food receptacle tray.

11. The household refrigeration appliance according to claim 1, wherein said guide rail has a support, and said at least one guide element has a sliding element with a curved sliding surface lying on said support of said guide rail and sliding when said food receptacle tray is moved.

12. The household refrigeration appliance according to claim 11, wherein said at least one guide element is configured as a ring on which said guide web protrudes radially upward.

13. The household refrigeration appliance according to claim 1, which further comprises a guide element configured as a tilt protection element for preventing a downward tilting of said food receptacle tray in a pulled-out state.

14. The household refrigeration appliance according to claim 13, wherein said food receptacle tray has a side wall with a rear end, and said at least one guide element is disposed on said rear end.

15. The household refrigeration appliance according to claim 1, wherein: said inner container has an inner side; said food receptacle tray has opposite sides; said at least one guide element is disposed on one of said opposite sides of said food receptacle tray; said guiding apparatus has at least one further guide element disposed in a fixed position on another of said opposite sides of said food receptacle tray; and a further guide rail is disposed on said inner side of said inner container and coupled to said at least one further guide element to form a rollerless loose bearing.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING

[0033] FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic, perspective view of an exemplary embodiment of a household refrigeration appliance;

[0034] FIG. 2 is a front-elevational view of subcomponents of the household refrigeration appliance in accordance with FIG. 1, wherein a food receptacle tray is guided by a guiding apparatus;

[0035] FIG. 3 is an enlarged representation of a subregion I in FIG. 2;

[0036] FIG. 4 is a perspective and partially transparent representation of the embodiment in FIG. 3; and

[0037] FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a food receptacle tray.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0038] Referring now in detail to the figures of the drawings, in which the same or functionally identical elements are provided with the same reference characters, and first, particularly, to FIG. 1 thereof, there is seen a household refrigeration appliance 1. The household refrigeration appliance 1 is configured for storing and conserving food. The household refrigeration appliance 1 may be a refrigerator or a freezer or a combined refrigerator-freezer. The household refrigeration appliance 1 has a housing 2. An inner container 3 is disposed in the housing 2. The inner container 3 is preferably made of plastic. The inner container 3 delimits, with walls, a receiving space 4 for food. The receiving space 4 of the household refrigeration appliance 1 can be closed by a door 5 disposed moveably on the housing 2.

[0039] In addition, the household refrigeration appliance 1 has at least one food-receiving container or food receptacle tray 6. This tray can be pushed into and pulled out of the receiving space 4. The food receptacle tray 6 has a receiving volume 7 in which food or goods to be stored can be placed. As shown in FIG. 1, the inner container 3 has vertical side walls 8 and 9. Guiding apparatuses 10 and 11 are provided on these side walls 8 and 9 with subcomponents in each case. The food receptacle tray 6 can be moved in the depth direction (z-direction) of the household refrigeration appliance 1 by using these guiding apparatuses 10 and 11. As a result, the movement of the food receptacle tray 6 can be guided.

[0040] FIG. 2 shows a front view of the food receptacle tray 6 and the guiding apparatuses 10 and 11. As can be seen, in this case the guiding apparatus 11 on the right has a guide rail 12. This guide rail 12 is disposed on the side wall 9. In one exemplary embodiment, the guide rail 12 has a base part 13. In one exemplary embodiment, an asymmetry component 14 may be provided in addition to the base part 13. The asymmetry component 14 is preferably a component that is separate from the base part 13. The asymmetry component 14 is embodied in a single piece. It is connected to the base part 13 in a fixed position. In particular, a non-destructive, detachable connection is provided in this case. As a result, it is possible to embody this asymmetry component 14 as a swappable component. This means that it can also be swapped over and installed in the left-side guiding apparatus 10. In particular, it can be connected there to an embodiment of a base part 15 that is preferably already present, and fastened in a fixed position thereto. By using this asymmetry component 14, when viewed from this direction an asymmetrical geometry can be achieved in the width direction (x-direction) of the household refrigeration appliance 1. As can be seen, the guiding apparatus 11, in particular the guide rail 12, in particular the asymmetry component 14, has an integrated guide groove 16. This guide groove 16 is open at the bottom in the height direction (y-direction) of the household refrigeration appliance 1. The guiding apparatus 11 also has in particular at least one guide element 17. The guide element 17 is disposed on the receptacle tray 6. In particular, this at least one guide element 17 is produced in a single piece with the food receptacle tray 6. In one exemplary embodiment, this guide element 17 is disposed on a side wall 18 of this food receptacle tray 6, in particular molded onto an outer side 18a. In particular, this guide element 17 is also disposed on a base wall 19 of the food receptacle tray 6. In particular, it is molded onto an outer side 19a of this base wall 19. In one exemplary embodiment, this guide element 17 therefore also extends in the width direction laterally adjacent the side wall 18 and further down than the base wall 19. In a front view such as the one shown in FIG. 2, this guide element 17 is therefore L-shaped.

[0041] As already shown in FIG. 2, this guide element 17 has a guide web 20 protruding upward. This guide web is embodied so as to engage into the guide groove 16 from below. As a result, an interlocking state is realized as shown in FIG. 3. An enlarged representation of the section I in FIG. 2 is shown in this regard in FIG. 3. A rollerless fixed bearing 21 is produced as a result of this interlocking of the guide web 20 with the guide groove 16. In particular, it is provided that a width b1 of the guide groove 16 is dimensioned so as to be between 0.1 mm and 0.6 mm greater than a width b2 of the guide web 20. Furthermore, it can be seen that the guide element 17 has an integrated sliding element 22. This sliding element 22 has a sliding surface 23. In particular, this sliding surface 23 is a curved sliding surface. This sliding surface 23 of the guide element 17 lies on a support 24. The support 24 is a component of the guide rail 12, in particular of the base part 13. In this regard, the embodiment of the guide element 17 in a single piece with the food receptacle tray 6 also permits sliding on this support 24. The fixed position, so as to prevent movement, of the guide element 17 on the food receptacle tray 6 makes this sliding movement possible.

[0042] As has also been shown in FIG. 2, in one advantageous exemplary embodiment, at least one guide element 28 is likewise provided not only on this one side 25 of the food receptacle tray 6, but also on the opposite side 26 and on a further vertical side wall 27 located there. This guide element 28 is configured so as to correspond to the guide element 17. Since only this base part 13 of the guiding apparatus 10 is present on this left side in the exemplary embodiment, and no such asymmetry component 14, guidance of the guide element 28 is provided there only on the base part 15. A loose bearing 29 is thereby formed.

[0043] FIG. 4 shows a perspective partial representation of the food receptacle tray 6 and the guiding apparatus 11. The guide rail 12 is represented as transparent in this case so that the guide element 17 is visible. In the exemplary embodiment, in this context a further guide element 30 is molded onto the side wall 18 in a single piece. Viewed in the depth direction, this further guide element 30 is disposed further back than the guide element 17 that is spaced apart from it and offset toward the front. In particular, it is molded onto a rear corner area 31 of the food receptacle tray 6. This further guide element 30 is likewise embodied with a guide web 32 oriented upward. In the coupled state, an interlocking with the guide groove 16 is also provided in this case. Furthermore, in one advantageous exemplary embodiment, this guide element 30 is also configured with an integrated tilt protection element 33. As a result, a downward tilting of the food receptacle tray 6 when it is pulled out relatively far can be prevented.

[0044] Furthermore, as has been shown, the sliding element 23 is configured as a ring in the exemplary embodiment provided. The guide web 20 protrudes radially upward therefrom. At least one guide element 17, which is provided on one side of the food receptacle tray 6, is disposed laterally adjacent the side wall 18 when viewed in the width direction of the household refrigeration appliance 1 and in the height direction of the household refrigeration appliance, so as to overlap with the side wall 18 and is disposed to as to extend below the base wall 19 of the food receptacle tray in the height direction and in the width direction.

[0045] FIG. 6 shows a perspective representation of the food receptacle tray 6.

[0046] The following is a summary list of reference numerals and the corresponding structure used in the above description of the invention.

LIST OF REFERENCE CHARACTERS

[0047] 1 Household refrigeration appliance [0048] 2 Housing [0049] 3 Inner container [0050] 4 Receiving space [0051] 5 Door [0052] 6 Receptacle tray [0053] 7 Receiving volume [0054] 8 Side walls [0055] 9 Side walls [0056] 10 Guiding apparatus [0057] 11 Guiding apparatus [0058] 12 Guide rail [0059] 13 Base part [0060] 14 Asymmetry component [0061] 15 Base part [0062] 16 Guide groove [0063] 17 Guide element [0064] 18 Side wall [0065] 18a Outer side [0066] 19 Base wall [0067] 19a Outer side [0068] 20 Guide web [0069] 21 Fixed bearing [0070] 22 Sliding element [0071] 23 Sliding surface [0072] 24 Support [0073] 25 Side [0074] 26 Side [0075] 27 Side wall [0076] 28 Guide element [0077] 29 Loose bearing [0078] 30 Guide element [0079] 31 Corner area [0080] 32 Guide web [0081] 33 Tilt protection element [0082] b1 Width [0083] b2 Width