COOLING DEVICE COMPRISING A SUPPORT BASE AND A SUPPORT RAIL

Abstract

A cooling device includes an inner container having a plurality of walls defining the inner container. A support rail has an opening at one side thereof for supporting a support base inside the inner container. At least two of the walls each have an edge extending inside the support rail through the opening of the support rail and being disposed inside the support rail, providing a connection of the walls to each other.

Claims

1-14. (canceled)

15. A cooling device, comprising: an inner container having a plurality of walls defining said inner container; a support base; a support rail having one side with an opening formed therein for supporting said support base inside said inner container; and at least two of said walls each having an edge extending inside said support rail through said opening formed in said support rail, said edges being disposed inside said support rail for interconnecting said walls.

16. The cooling device according to claim 15, which further comprises an outer wall of the cooling device, said support rail being disposed between said walls of said inner container and said outer wall of the cooling device.

17. The cooling device according to claim 15, which further comprises: an outer wall of the cooling device; and foaming applied between said walls of said inner container and said outer wall of the cooling device; said support rail being disposed inside said foaming.

18. The cooling device according to claim 15, wherein said support base has a support arm, and said edges of said walls are configured to permit said support arm to penetrate inside said support rail through said opening.

19. The cooling device according to claim 15, wherein said edges are folded toward an inside of said support rail.

20. The cooling device according to claim 19, wherein said edges are folded at least twice toward said inside of said support rail.

21. The cooling device according to claim 15, wherein said support rail includes an inner housing accommodating said edges.

22. The cooling device according to claim 21, wherein said support rail has an inner face, and said housing is a channel formed in said inner face.

23. The cooling device according to claim 21, wherein said edges have respective end sections, and said housing accommodates said end sections.

24. The cooling device according to claim 15, wherein said support rail includes locations on said support rail at which said support base can be adjustably secured to said support rail to permit a height of said support base within said inner container to be adjustably set.

25. The cooling device according to claim 24, wherein said support rail includes a strip inside said support rail having locations thereon at which said support base can be adjustably secured to said support rail to permit said height of said support base within said inner container to be adjustably set.

26. The cooling device according to claim 25, wherein said support rail includes a strip slot inside said support rail for accommodating said strip.

27. The cooling device according to claim 15, wherein said support rail includes a front wall having a width and a remainder having a width, and said width of said front wall is greater than said width of said remainder.

28. The cooling device according to claim 27, wherein said remainder of said support rail includes a part being narrower than another part of said support rail, for optimizing an amount of material used to create said support rail.

29. The cooling device according to claim 15, wherein said walls include a connection section directly connecting said walls to each other at least one of above or below said support rail.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

[0025] FIG. 1 shows an example to front view of a cooling device for the invention. The cooling device has a door, not shown in the figure.

[0026] FIG. 2 shows perspective view of walls of the inner container partially, and a support base connected with the support rail.

[0027] FIG. 3 shows Detail-A obtained from FIG. 2 presenting the opening of the support rail and penetration of the support arm of the support rail.

[0028] FIG. 4 shows partial front view of the inner container as shown in FIG. 2.

[0029] FIG. 5 shows the cross-sectional view of B-B obtained from FIG. 4.

[0030] FIG. 6 shows Detail-C obtained from FIG. 5 presenting cross-section of walls and the support rail and position of the support arm of the support rail.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0031] All directional references such as front, top or bottom are based on reference to the cooling device (1) shown in FIG. 1, in which the visible side is the “front” side of the cooling device (1). One or more of possible embodiments of the present invention will be described as examples in detail below.

[0032] The invention is a cooling device (1). FIG. 1 is presents front view of a possible cooling device (1) that is a household refrigerator. The door of the refrigerator is not illustrated in the figure. Therefore, the inner container (10) is seen from front. The inner container (10) is made of three metal sheets; one of which forms back wall (11) and the others forms the side walls (12).

[0033] The upper section of the inner container (10) comprises an evaporator cover (14). The lower section of the inner container (10) comprises three drawers (15) for produce and/or meat/fish and other items to be cooled. Between the evaporator cover (14) and the upper drawer (15), the inner container (10) comprises three support bases (40), for example shelves. At right and left sides of the back wall (11) of the inner container (10), there exist slot lines (16) to access support rails (30). The support base (40) is secured to the inner container (10) by the help of the support rail (30).

[0034] The support base (40) in the figures has metal support arms (41) and a plate (42) made of glass to carry an item to be cooled.

[0035] FIG. 2 shows a perspective view from front-left of the cooling device (1). The figure illustrates only walls (11, 12) of the inner container (10) partially and one support base (40), that is the one closest to the evaporator cover (14).

[0036] FIG. 3 presents Detail-A obtained from FIG. 2. It represents left side wall (12) and back wall (11) of the inner container (10). The side wall (12) and back wall (11) are connected to each other. Some part of the connection is achieved by welding a connection section (13) of the walls (11, 12). Below the connection section (13), the slot line (16), through which the support arm (41) of the support rail (30) passes through, is presented.

[0037] FIG. 4 illustrates front view of the elements in the FIG. 2. The side walls (12) and back wall (11) of the inner container (10), the slot line (16) and the support base (40) can be seen in FIG. 4. In the figure, apertures (341) for hanging the support base (40) are provided on the support rail (30). The apertures (341) can be seen on FIG. 4. The apertures (341) are formed vertically spaced manner. Thus, the support base (40) can be fixed adjustably in vertical direction. FIG. 4 also clearly shows that the user sees only one line on the back wall (11) as a connection line of the side walls (12) and back wall (11).

[0038] FIG. 5 is a cross sectional view of B-B from top of the cooling device (1). The section is obtained from FIG. 4. The FIG. 5 comprises sectional view of the support rail (30) and the walls (11, 12) of the inner container (10). It also presents top view of the support base (40).

[0039] FIG. 6 illustrates the Detail-C gathered from FIG. 5. The figure shows details of the support rail (30) and the side wall (12) and the back wall (11).

[0040] The support rail (30) comprises a single body. The body may be metal or plastic based. The slot line (16) is presented in the middle of the front face of the support rail (30) and lies along the support rail (30). The support rail (30) is symmetrical with respect to the plane lying along the slot line (16).

[0041] In each of the symmetrical half, the support rail (30) comprises a housing (33) as a channel on an inner face (32) of the support rail (30) facing an inner face (32) of the other symmetrical half.

[0042] The housing (33) has a cross section of L-shape, one leg of L is parallel to and the other leg of L is perpendicular to the wall (11, 12) of the inner container (10). The perpendicular leg extends toward the wall (11, 12). In another alternative, the perpendicular leg may extend away from the wall (11, 12). According to that, the edges (110, 120) of the walls (11, 12) are folded inside the support rail (30) through the opening (31) and then folded again toward inside the housing (33). It provides that the edge (110, 120) has an L-shape cross section inside the support rail (30). For the second alternative of the housing (33), the edge (110, 120) may have a Z-shape cross section inside the support rail (30). That is similar to L-shape but it has also a third leg being about perpendicular to the wall (11, 12) and extending away from the wall (11, 12). This part of the edges (110, 120) acts like a hook and grabs the support rail (30). By this way, the walls (11, 12) are connected to each other by the help of the support rail (30).

[0043] Similar to the channel providing housing (33), the support rail (30) also has a strip slot (34) on the same inner face (32) of each half of the support rail (30). However, the strip slot (34) has only a linear channel to accommodate a linear strip (340). The strip (340) comprises the apertures (341) mentioned above.

[0044] The support rail (30) has space (36) behind the strip (340) for the end of the support arm (41) passing through the apertures (341).

[0045] The front wall (35) of the support rail (30) is wider than the wide of the rest of the support rail (30). For that, the support rail (30) comprises an extending wall at each half of it as extending away from the support rail (30) in parallel to the wall (11, 12) of the inner container (10).

[0046] The part of the support rail (30) having the housing (33) and the strip slot (34) is narrower than the front wall (35). Additionally, the part of the support rail (30) providing the space (36) behind the strip (340) is narrower than the part of the support rail (30) having the housing (33) and the strip slot (34).

[0047] The edges of the opening (31) of the support rail (30) comprises rounded edges. Thus the wall (11, 12) of the inner container (10) folded inside the support rail (30) is also has rounded edges. By that, the edges of the opening (31) will be harmless to the user or the parts of the cooling device (1).

[0048] The support rail (30) is connected with the walls (11, 12) of the inner container (10) as such that the edges (110, 120) of the walls (11, 12) are prepared as folded and then the support rail (30) pushed over the edges (110, 120). The edges (110, 120) bend toward each other and enters the housing (33) corresponding to each.

REFERENCE NUMBERS

[0049] 1. Cooling device [0050] 10. Inner container [0051] 11. Back wall [0052] 110. Edge [0053] 12. Side wall [0054] 120. Edge [0055] 13. Connection section [0056] 14. Evaporator cover [0057] 15. Drawer [0058] 16. Slot line [0059] 20. Outer wall [0060] 30. Support rail [0061] 31. Opening [0062] 32. Inner face [0063] 33. Housing [0064] 34. Strip slot [0065] 340. Strip [0066] 341. Aperture [0067] 35. Front wall [0068] 36. Space [0069] 40. Support base [0070] 41. Support arm [0071] 42. Plate