Refrigeration appliance with built-in part

Abstract

A refrigeration appliance contains an inner container delimiting an interior and having an opening, a first reinforcement part anchored to in the opening of the inner container and has a screw hole and extends in an axial direction, and at least one coupling part. A built-in part is disposed in the interior and has an opening. The built-in part is fastened by the at least one coupling part pushing through the opening of said built-in part in an axial direction and engages into the first reinforcement part. The first reinforcement part has a side facing toward the interior and on the side facing toward the interior has an atrium, a cross-section of the atrium being greater than that of the screw hole. The coupling part has a peg, a cross-section of the peg being greater than that of the screw hole and the peg engages into the atrium.

Claims

1. A refrigeration appliance, comprising: an inner container delimiting an interior and having an opening formed therein; a first reinforcement part anchored in said opening of said inner container and having a screw hole formed therein and extending in an axial direction; at least one coupling part; a built-in part disposed in said interior and having an opening formed therein, said built-in part fastened by said at least one coupling part pushing through said opening of said built-in part in an axial direction and engaging into said first reinforcement part, said coupling part having a structural element on an external surface of said coupling part for engaging said built in part and axially fixing said connecting part in said opening of said built-in part and preventing movement of said coupling the axial direction; said first reinforcement part having a side facing toward said interior and on said side facing toward said interior having an atrium, a cross-section of said atrium being greater than that of said screw hole; and said coupling part having a peg, a cross-section of said peg being greater than that of said screw hole and said peg engaging into said atrium.

2. The refrigeration appliance according to claim 1, wherein said coupling part has a through-hole formed therein, and said through-hole is flush with said screw hole when said peg is introduced into said atrium.

3. The refrigeration appliance according to claim 2, further comprising a screw extending through said through-hole and is in engagement with a thread in said screw hole.

4. The refrigeration appliance according to claim 1, wherein said structural element includes a resilient latching tongue formed in said peg.

5. The refrigeration appliance according to claim 1, wherein said coupling part has a flange, a cross-section of said flange being greater than that of said peg.

6. The refrigeration appliance according to claim 1, wherein said inner container contains a first wall area, with which said built-in part is in contact, and a second wall area angled away from said first wall area, to which said first reinforcement part is anchored.

7. The refrigeration appliance according to claim 6, wherein said first wall area and said second wall area form an obtuse angle.

8. The refrigeration appliance according to claim 6, wherein said inner container has a third wall area opposite said second wall area, and said built-in part is in contact with said second and third wall areas.

9. The refrigeration appliance according to claim 8, further comprising a second reinforcement part anchored to said third wall area and said built-in part is also fastened to said second reinforcement part.

10. The refrigeration appliance according to claim 1, wherein said built-in part has a housing of an evaporator chamber.

11. The refrigeration appliance according to claim 10, wherein: said inner container has a wall region; and said housing has at least one end wall, which extends in parallel with said wall region of said inner container.

12. The refrigeration appliance according to claim 11, wherein said housing has at least one side wall angled away from said end wall, said side wall having an edge facing away from said end wall and is in contact with said inner container.

13. The refrigeration appliance according to claim 12, further comprising a resilient seal compressed between said edge and said inner container.

14. The refrigeration appliance according to claim 11, wherein said opening of said built-in part is formed in a tab protruding from an edge of said end wall.

15. The refrigeration appliance according to claim 1, wherein said container defines a hollow space foamed with insulation, said reinforcement part is disposed in and engages said insulation.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING

(1) FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic, partial cross-sectional view through a household refrigeration appliance according to the invention;

(2) FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an evaporator and an evaporator housing of the refrigeration appliance from FIG. 1;

(3) FIG. 3 is a front view of the evaporator housing installed on a rear side of a storage chamber, here a freezer compartment, of the refrigeration appliance from FIG. 1;

(4) FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a reinforcement part;

(5) FIG. 5 is a second perspective view of the reinforcement part;

(6) FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a coupling part;

(7) FIG. 7 is a second perspective view of the coupling part;

(8) FIG. 8 is a longitudinal sectional view of the coupling part;

(9) FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a detail of an inner container of the storage chamber; and

(10) FIG. 10 is a partial front view of the evaporator housing.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

(11) Referring now to the figures of the drawings in detail and first, particularly to FIG. 1 thereof, there is shown a schematic section through a body or carcass 1, an evaporator 2 installed in the body 1 and an evaporator housing 3 according to the present invention. Two storage chambers 4, 5 are disposed in the body 1, typically a storage chamber 4 operated below freezing point and a storage chamber 5 (only partially shown in FIG. 1) operated above the freezing point. Both storage chambers 4, 5 are delimited in a per se known manner by an inner container 6 deep-drawn from plastic. A hollow space between the inner container 6 and a solid outer membrane 7 of the body 1 is foamed with insulation material 8 in a manner which is customary according to the prior art.

(12) A machinery area recess 9 is provided on a rear side of the body 1, which offers space for a non-illustrated compressor and also possibly for a condenser and a fan.

(13) The inner container 6 of the storage chamber 4 contains a cover 10, which, together with a base of the inner container 6 of the storage chamber 5, forms an intermediate wall between the storage chambers 4 and 5 filled with the insulation material 8, a chamfer 11 sloping out from the rear edge of the cover 10, a vertical wall area 12 or rear wall joining a rear edge of the chamfer 11, on which the evaporator 2, typically a fin evaporator, is installed, an approximately horizontal upper side 13 of the machinery area recess 9, a front side 14 of the machinery area recess 9, and also a base 15.

(14) The chamfer 11, the vertical wall area 12 and the upper side 13 together delimit a recess on the rear side of the storage chamber 4, which is largely filled by the evaporator 2 and the evaporator housing 3. In the case of FIG. 1, the recess occupies the entire rear side of the storage chamber 4 above the upper side 13; according to one variant (not shown in the drawing), a vertical piece of the rear wall may extend between the rear edge of the cover and the chamfer, which runs parallel to the vertical wall area 12 below the chamfer 11, but is offset forward in parallel in relation thereto, however.

(15) The evaporator 2 is anchored to the vertical wall area 12 with the aid of an installation element known from published, non-prosecuted German patent application DE 10 2016 210 707 A1, corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 10,337,774. The installation element, as shown in FIG. 2, contains a base plate 16, which in the installed state is in contact with the vertical wall area 12 and opposite a width side of the evaporator 2, and also retaining webs 18, which protrude from the lateral edges of the base plate 16 and surround end faces of the evaporator 2 and bypass blockers 17 plugged into these (see FIG. 2).

(16) A condensation drainage groove 19 is recessed below the evaporator 2 on the upper side 13. Running from the deepest point of the condensation drainage groove 19 is a passage 20 through the insulation material 8 of the cover 10, into the machinery area recess 9, in order to drain condensation water from the evaporator 2 to a non-illustrated evaporation pan in the machinery area recess 9.

(17) On a side of the condensation drainage groove 19 facing away from the vertical wall area 12, a contact area 21 is formed which faces toward the vertical wall area 12 and is oriented vertically in a similar manner.

(18) The evaporator housing 3 is shown in FIG. 1 in two different positions, once in the fully installed state with solid lines and once in a position occupied during its assembly with dashed lines. The evaporator housing 3 contains an end wall 22, which in the fully installed state extends from a condensation drainage groove 19 continuously through to the rear edge of the cover 10 and thus partitions an evaporator chamber 23 off from the storage chamber 4, and also side walls 24, which surround the evaporator 2 and the bypass blockers 17 laterally in each case and cling tightly to the vertical wall area 12 on both sides of the evaporator 11. As can be seen in FIG. 2, seals 25 are molded or adhesively bonded onto each of the edges of the side walls 24 facing away from the end wall 22, which seals 25, in the fully installed state, are compressed in tightly abutting contact with the chamfer 11 or the vertical wall area 12.

(19) In a refrigeration appliance with a single storage chamber, the end wall 22 may be formed by a single wall, in which inlet and outlet openings are left for the air exchange with the storage chamber. In the case considered here of a refrigeration appliance with two storage chambers 4, 5, the end wall 22 is a hollow body with a distribution chamber 26 therein. Situated in a rear wall 27 of the distribution chamber 26 which faces toward the evaporator 2 is an opening 28, on which a fan 29 is arranged, in order to pump cold air from the evaporator chamber 23 into the distribution chamber 26. In FIG. 2, air blades of the fan 29 can be seen through the opening 28. Situated on the upper edge of the distribution chamber 26 is an outlet 30, a duct 31 (see FIG. 1) which extends through the chamfer 11 of the inner container 6 towards the storage chamber 5 joining here in the fully installed state. A further outlet 32 of the distribution chamber 26 is situated, as can be seen in FIG. 3, at the upper edge of a front wall 33 which extends between the distribution chamber 26 and the storage chamber 4. The outline of the fan 29 is shown on the front wall 33 as a circular projection.

(20) An inlet 34, which leads below and through the distribution chamber 26 and directly into the evaporator chamber 23, is formed at the lower edge of the front wall 33. In the view of FIG. 3, the inlet 34 is shown as exposed; with the refrigeration appliance completely installed, the inlet 34 is hidden below a plate-shaped screen 35.

(21) The screen 35 is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. As can be seen in FIG. 1 in particular, it initially protrudes perpendicularly from the front wall 33 and then, via a front edge of the upper side 13, forms a downwardly curved arc, so that it delimits, together with the upper side 13, an air duct 36 drawing in from a lower region of the storage chamber 4.

(22) When the evaporator housing 3 is assembled in the storage chamber 4, first, as shown by the dashed outline in FIG. 1, a lower edge of the end wall 22, to be more precise of the front wall 33 thereof, is introduced into the condensation drainage groove 19 and placed on the contact area 21. By way of subsequently pivoting about an axis running through the contact area 21 perpendicular to the sectional plane in FIG. 1, the free edges of the side walls 24 come into contact with the vertical wall area 12 and the chamfer 11 on both sides of the evaporator 2.

(23) As can be seen in FIG. 2, screw tabs 37 protruding obliquely from the front wall 31 are formed along an upper edge of the front wall 33, which screw tabs 37, when the evaporator housing 3 is pivoted into the upright position drawn with solid lines in FIG. 1, are opposite reinforcement parts 38 on the rear edge of the cover 10. With the aid of screws 39 (see FIG. 1), which are screwed into the reinforcement parts 38 through openings in the screw tabs 37, the evaporator housing 3 is pressed against the chamfer 11 and the vertical wall area 12, wherein the seals 25 are resiliently compressed. The restoring force of the seals 25 in turn holds the lower edge of the front wall 33 pressed against the contact area 21. In practice, two screw tabs 37, reinforcement parts 38 and screws 39 are sufficient in each case, in order to ensure a secure retention of the evaporator housing 3.

(24) As a consequence of their oblique orientation and their placement in front of the chamfer 11, the reinforcement parts 38 and the screws 39 find space completely in the intermediate wall between the storage chambers 4 and 5. They only make an insignificant contribution to the thermal conductivity of the body 1 in that they are only exposed to a weak temperature gradient at this location.

(25) As the evaporator chamber 23 is delimited in the lateral direction by the side walls 24 of the evaporator housing 3, the end wall 22 does not need to extend over the entire width of the storage chamber 4, in order to suppress an air exchange between evaporator chamber 23 and storage chamber 4 away from the inlet and outlet 34, 32. Therefore, as can be seen in FIG. 3, part of the vertical wall area 12 of the inner container may be exposed on each side of the evaporator housing 3. It is therefore possible to use one and the same model of evaporator 2 and evaporator housing 3 in refrigeration appliances with different widths of storage chamber 4.

(26) FIGS. 4 and 5 show perspective views of the reinforcement part 38. The reinforcement part 38 contains a cylindrical shaft 40 with radially protruding anchoring wings 41 which engage into the insulation material 8 in the installed state. At one end of the shaft 40, a thin-walled, resilient skirt 42 in the shape of a truncated cone is formed, which in the installed state is in tightly abutting contact with a surface of the inner container 6 facing toward the insulation material 8. The skirt 42 surrounds a bayonet coupling section 43 with a cylindrical core, which in the installed state pushes through an opening of the inner container 6, and retaining webs 44 protruding from the core, which are held pressed against the inner side of the inner container 6 by resilient deformation of the skirt 42.

(27) A cylindrical atrium 45 is formed in the core. A screw hole 46 extends out from a base area of the atrium 45 in the axial direction into the shaft 40.

(28) FIGS. 6, 7 and 8 show a coupling part 47, in perspective views and in an axial section, respectively. The coupling part 47 contains a hollow cylindrical peg 48, the diameter of which is dimensioned in order to engage into the atrium 45 with little play. Molded at one end of the peg 48 is a flange 49, which protrudes radially over the circumference of the peg 48. There may be provision for an insertion tapering 50 at the opposite end of the peg 48. A through-hole 51 of the coupling part 47 has a larger diameter than the screw hole 46.

(29) A U-shaped slot is left in the wall of the peg 48, in order to form a resiliently deflectable latching tongue 52. A latching lug 53 of the latching tongue 52 protrudes radially over the circumference of the peg. The flange 49 has an elongated opening 54, into which the circular through-hole 51 opens. A free end of the latching tongue 52 engages into the opening 54, so that the latching tongue 52 can be deflected by a tool introduced into the opening 54 to retract the latching lug 53 behind the circumference of the peg 48.

(30) If the evaporator housing 3 is placed in an assembled position, in which the openings 55 of the screw tabs 37 overlap with the atria 45 of the reinforcement parts 38 inserted into the inner container on the cover 10, then evaporator housing 3 is initially provisionally fixed by the peg 48 of a coupling part 47 being introduced through one of the openings 55 into the atrium 45 of one of the reinforcement parts 38. Here, the insertion tapering 50 may serve to correct small alignment errors between screw tab 37 and reinforcement part 38. The coupling part 47 is latched in this position by the latching lug 53 coming into contact at the surface of the inner container 6 facing towards the atrium 45.

(31) The coupling part 47, in conjunction with the lower edge of the front wall 33 in contact with the contact area 21, is sufficient to fix the evaporator housing 3 in the storage chamber 4, but possibly not quite to ensure that the side walls 24 are in tightly abutting contact with the inner container 6. In order to bring about the compression of the seals 25 which is necessary for this, the screw 39 is additionally screwed into the through-hole 51 of the coupling part 47, and in doing so this leads to its tip entering the screw hole 46. If the screw 39 is now rotated, then it penetrates into the screw hole 46 and in doing so pulls the housing 3 against the chamfer 10 and the vertical wall area 12.

(32) FIG. 9 shows part of the inner container 6 of the storage chamber 4 and the contact area 21 formed therein in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention. The inner container 6 is shown in a cutaway view along a vertical edge running in the depth direction through the vertical wall area 12 and the upper/front side 13, 14, in order to be able to show the contact area 21 and also the outer sides, which are facing towards the insulation material, of the vertical wall area 12 and the front side 14 in the same view. Part of the condensation drainage groove 19 is apparent, which is sloping towards a central, deepest point, on the right in the view in FIG. 4. The condensation drainage groove 19 is delimited at the front, on a side opposite the vertical wall area 12, by an oblique flank 56 along a majority of its length. Occasionally, the base of the condensation drainage groove 17 forms protrusions 57, which jut out into the oblique flank 56 and are delimited at the front by a contact area 21 in each case.

(33) The fact that projections 58 (see FIG. 10) are formed at the lower edge of the front wall 33 of the evaporator housing 3 at points complementary to the protrusions 57 means that, due to these projections 58 engaging into the protrusions 57 during the assembly of the evaporator housing 3, it is possible for the position thereof in the transverse direction of the body 1 to be unambiguously predefined and, as a result, the width of the regions of the vertical wall area 12, which possibly remain free on the sides of the evaporator housing 3, is specified. Furthermore, with the aid of the projections 58 engaging into the protrusions 57, it can be ensured that screw tabs 61 (see FIG. 10), which are distributed similarly to the screw tabs 37 of the upper edge along a lower edge of the end wall 22, overlap with reinforcement parts 38 in the upper side 13, so that here too a coupling part 47 can be screwed through each screw tab 61 in one of the reinforcement parts 38 and, subsequently, the screw tab 61 can be screwed to the reinforcement part 38 in a fixed manner, as described above.

(34) FIG. 10 shows a lower part of the evaporator housing 3 in a perspective view. The evaporator housing 3 is assembled from two components 59, 60 which are latched together. The front component 59 contains the front wall 33, the projections 58, which protrude at the lower edge of the front wall 33 and are provided to be placed at the contact areas 21 of the inner container 6, screw tabs 61 which protrude forward next to the projections 58 in each case, and also webs 62 which protrude backward along the edges of the front wall 33. Free edges of the webs 62 are in contact with the rear wall 27, which is for the most part covered in FIG. 5, and thus form narrow-sided walls of the distribution chamber 26. The rear wall 27 and the side walls 24 which protrude backward from its lateral edges form the rear component 60. Front and rear component 59, 60 are held together by latching arms 63 of the front component 59, which are in contact with the side walls 24 on the outside in each case and accommodate a latching projection 64 of the side walls 24.

(35) The following is a summary list of reference numerals and the corresponding structure used in the above description of the invention: 1 body 2 evaporator 3 evaporator housing 4 storage chamber 5 normal refrigerator compartment 6 inner container 7 outer membrane 8 insulation material 9 machinery area recess 10 cover 11 chamfer 12 vertical wall area 13 upper side 14 front side 15 base 16 base plate 17 bypass blocker 18 retaining webs 19 condensation drainage groove 20 passage 21 contact area 22 end wall 23 evaporator chamber 24 side wall 25 seal 26 distribution chamber 27 rear wall 28 opening 29 fan 30 outlet 31 duct 32 outlet 33 front wall 34 inlet 35 screen 36 air duct 37 screw tab 38 reinforcement part 38 screw 40 shaft 41 anchoring wing 42 skirt 43 bayonet coupling section 44 retaining web 45 atrium 46 screw hole 47 coupling part 48 peg 49 flange 50 insertion tapering 51 through-hole 52 latching tongue 23 latching lug 54 opening 55 opening 56 oblique flank 57 protrusion 58 projection 59 component 60 component 61 screw tab 62 web 63 latching arm 64 latching projection