HINGE ELEMENT FOR A LARGE DOMESTIC APPLIANCE AND LARGE DOMESTIC APPLIANCE

Abstract

A hinge element for a large domestic appliance contains a main body as well as a functional body which includes a plastic material. Accordingly, the main body and the functional body are connected to one another non-releasably. Ideally, a large domestic appliance, in particular a large domestic refrigerator, contains a housing in which a receiving space is formed. The domestic appliance has a closure element by which the receiving space can be closed, and the hinge element hingedly attaches the closure element to the housing.

Claims

1-15. (canceled)

16. A hinge element for a household appliance, the hinge element comprising: a main body; and a functional body formed from a plastic material, said main body and said functional body are non-detachably connected to one another.

17. The hinge element according to claim 16, wherein said main body and said functional body are glued to one another.

18. The hinge element according to claim 16, wherein said main body has a coating and said functional body is formed by said coating of said main body.

19. The hinge element according to claim 16, wherein said functional body is formed by injection molding said main body.

20. The hinge element according to claim 16, wherein said functional body completely covers said main body.

21. The hinge element according to claim 16, wherein said functional body covers said main body only in sections.

22. The hinge element according to claim 16, wherein said functional body has at least one functional surface.

23. The hinge element according to claim 22, wherein said at least one functional surface forms a sliding surface and/or a stop surface and/or a supporting surface.

24. The hinge element according to claim 16, wherein said functional body forms a bearing pin and/or a door stop and/or a door closer.

25. The hinge element according to claim 24, wherein said main body has a reinforcing projection covered by said bearing pin and/or said door stop and/or said door closer.

26. The hinge element according to claim 16, wherein said main body has an exposed fastening section.

27. The hinge element according to claim 16, wherein said main body is formed from metal or consists of said metal.

28. The hinge element according to claim 16, wherein said main body is embodied in one piece.

29. The hinge element according to claim 16, wherein said functional body is formed from polycaprolactam (PA6) or polyoxymethylene (POM) or consists of said PA6 or said POM.

30. A household appliance, comprising: a housing in which a receiving space is embodied; a closure element with which said receiving space is closed; and a hinge element having a main body and a functional body formed from a plastic material, said main body and said functional body are non-detachably connected to one another, said closure element being attached to said housing by way of said hinge element.

31. The household appliance according to claim 30, wherein the household appliance is a household refrigeration appliance.

Description

[0035] FIG. 1 shows a large household appliance according to the invention,

[0036] FIG. 2 shows a view of a hinge element according to the invention;

[0037] FIG. 3 shows a further view of the hinge element according to the invention from FIG. 2,

[0038] FIG. 4 shows a sectional representation along the sectional plane IV-IV from FIG. 2,

[0039] FIG. 5 shows the main body of the hinge element according to the invention from FIG. 2,

[0040] FIG. 6 shows a main body of a hinge element according to the invention according to a second exemplary embodiment and

[0041] FIG. 7 shows a further representation of the main body from FIG. 6. Elements which are identical or have the same effect are provided with the same reference characters in the figures.

[0042] FIG. 1 shows a large household appliance 1 in the form of a fridge-freezer combination. The large household appliance 1 comprises a carcass 2, which has a first receiving space 3 and a second receiving space 4 for receiving goods to be chilled. The two receiving spaces 3, 4 can be closed by two separate closure elements 5, 6. The closure elements 5, 6 are formed by doors which are mounted rotatably about a vertical pivot axis 7. Each closure element 5, 6 is attached here to the carcass by 2 vertically distanced hinge elements. Therefore, the first closure element 5 is attached to the carcass 2 by way of an upper hinge element 8 and by way of a middle hinge element 9. The second closure element 6 is attached to the carcass by way of the middle hinge element 9 and a lower hinger element 10. The hinge elements 8, 9, 10 are fastened on an end face 11 of the carcass 2. The hinge elements 8, 9, 10 have bearing pins, which engage in corresponding bearing bushes of the closure elements 5, 6. The upper hinge element 8 has a downwardly directed bearing pin and the lower hinge element 10 has an upwardly directed bearing pin. The middle hinge element 9 has both an upwardly directed bearing pin (for engagement into a bearing bush of the first closure element 5) and a downwardly directed bearing pin (for engagement into the second closure element 6). The closure elements 5, 6 have in each case external walls 12, 13 and internal walls 14, 15, which bound a cavity filled with thermal insulation material. These cavities are closed by closure strips 16, 17, 18, 19 on upper or lower edge sections of the closure elements 5, 6. In the closure strips 16-19 formed from plastic, the bearing bushes are embodied in one piece as blind holes. The bearing pins of the hinge elements 8, 9, 10 engage directly into the bearing bushes without further elements or components.

[0043] The middle hinge element 9 is shown from different viewing angles in FIGS. 2 and 3. The hinge element 9 consists exclusively of a main body 20 and a functional body 21 which is non-detachably fastened thereto. In the present exemplary embodiment, the functional body 21 is injection molded to the main body 20.

[0044] The main body 20 consisting of metal comprises a fastening section 22 and a bearing arm 23. The bearing arm 23 extends here essentially at right angles to a main extension plane of the fastening section 22 and projects forwards (counter to the depth direction y) with respect to the end face 11. The fastening section 22 is embodied for fastening to the carcass 2 and herefor has on the one hand a planar contact surface 24 and on the other hand two fastening openings 25. The contact surface 24 is facing away from the bearing arm 23. The bearing arm 23 has a first end section 26, by means of which it is connected to the fastening section 22. The main body 20 has a reinforcing structure formed in the shape of a bead 27. This extends beyond the first end section 26 into the bearing arm 23 starting from the fastening section 22. The bead 27 ends contrary to the depth direction Y in front of the functional body 21.

[0045] The functional body 21 consisting completely of plastic has two bearing pins 28, 20. The two bearing pins 28, 29 extend starting from a middle section 30 vertically in opposite directions along the height axis Z. The upper bearing pin 28 is used to engage in a bearing bush of the lower door closure strip 17 of the first closure element 5. The lower bearing pin 29 is used to engage in a bearing bush of the upper door closure strip 18 of the second closure element 6. The two bearing pins 28, 29 each have a cylindrical design with a circular ring-shaped external lateral area. The external lateral areas form functional surfaces 31, 32, which are used as sliding surfaces for engagement in circular ring-shaped inner lateral areas of the bearing bushes. The two bearing pins 28, 29 are embodied as hollow cylinders at least in sections (starting from their free end sections). Reinforcing ribs 33 are molded in one piece in the cavity restricted by their inner lateral areas. The reinforcing ribs 33 extend here starting from the inner lateral area in the direction of the center, i.e. in the direction of the pivot axis 7. At the free ends of the bearing pins 28, 29 these have circular ring-shaped end surfaces 34, 35. The end surfaces 34, 35 lie in a horizontal plane (a plane comprising the width direction x and the depth direction y). The reinforcing ribs 33 are withdrawn or embodied concave with respect to the end surfaces 34, 35, in order not to represent any interference contours for the bearing bushes of the closure elements 5, 6.

[0046] The functional body 21 further has a door closer 36. The door closer 36 has a curved functional surface 37 which is embodied parallel to the pivot axis 7. The door closure 36 forms a material accumulation of the functional body 21, in particular in the form of a closing cam and can interact with a spring element which is embodied or arranged in particular on the closure strip 18 of the closure element 6. The door closer 36 is arranged on the central section 30.

[0047] The functional body 21 furthermore has a door stop 38, which embodies a planar functional surface 39 which is aligned parallel to the pivot axis 7. The functional surface 39 is likewise arranged on the central section 30 and essentially faces the door closer 36 with respect to the pivot axis 7.

[0048] The central section 30 of the functional body 21 has two circular ring-shaped shoulders 40, 41. The shoulders 40, 41 directly adjoin these in the axial direction of the bearing pins 28, 29 and thus lie facing the free end of the bearing pins 28, 29. The shoulders 40, 41 form guide surfaces 42, 43, which represent circular ring-shaped sliding surfaces. Depressions 44 which are used to avoid excessive material accumulations of the functional body 21 are embodied in the shoulders 40, 41 so that its functional surfaces 31, 37, 42, 43 have high precision.

[0049] FIG. 4 shows a sectional view of the hinge element 9 along the line of intersection IV-IV in FIG. 2. The bearing arm 23 has a second end section 45, which faces the first end section 26 as a free end section. The second end section 45 is covered completely along a cover section 46 by the functional body 21 measured in the depth direction y. The functional body 21 here encompasses the main body 20 completely as an injection-molded element. In particular, the functional body 21 has no closed cavities filled with air or no closed cavities filled with air are located between the main body 20 and the functional body 21.

[0050] As identifiable in particular also with respect to FIG. 5, the bearing arm 23 has two reinforcing projections 47, 48. The reinforcing projections 47, 48 are angled essentially at a right angle away from the bearing arm 23 and therefore run essentially parallel to the pivot axis 7. The reinforcing projections 47, 48 are formed by pins with a rectangular cross-sectional contour and run in the direction of the end surfaces 34, 35 over approximately 50% of the longitudinal extension of the bearing pins 28, 29.

[0051] FIG. 5 shows the main body 20 of the inventive hinge element 9 from FIGS. 2 to 4. The punched-bent part shown is the result of a first manufacturing step of the hinge element 9. On the basis of a planar metal blank extending in a plane, this main body 20 is molded into the shape shown in the first manufacturing step. The first manufacturing step can comprise in particular a non-cutting machining (e.g. bending) for generating e.g. the bearing arm 23 or the reinforcing projections 47, 48, a machining (e.g. boring) for generating the fastening openings 25 or a machining (e.g. punching) for generating the external shape. In a subsequent second manufacturing step of the hinge element 9, the functional body 21 is attached to the main body 20 by means of the non-detachable connection. In the present exemplary embodiment, the main body 20 has been placed in an injection molding tool such that only the cover section 46 is injection molded by the plastics material of the functional body 21 and as a result the functional body 21 is embodied.

[0052] Since the exact position of the reinforcing projections 47, 48 only has a minimal influence on increasing the stability of the bearing pins 28, 29, the reinforcing projections 47, 48 are arranged eccentrically in each case with respect to the pivot axis 7. In this way, both reinforcing projections 47, 48 can be molded from a single metal blank.

[0053] The main body 20 has two further reinforcing projections 49, 50, which are embodied in the region of the door closer 36 or the door stop 38.

[0054] FIGS. 6 and 7 show a main body 20 of an inventive hinge element according to a second exemplary embodiment in two different perspectives. The main body 20 is likewise a metal punched-bent part. The fastening section 22 essentially corresponds to the fastening section 22 of the first exemplary embodiment. The bearing arm 23 likewise has a bead 27.

[0055] The second end section 45 of the bearing arm 23 represents a significant difference from the first exemplary embodiment (cf. FIG. 5). Two reinforcing projections 49, 50 are also mounted in one piece here and serve to reinforce the door closer 36 or the door stop 38 formed by the functional body (not shown). However, any reinforcing body 51, which is used to reinforce the bearing pins 28, 29, is formed by a single web. The web extends here starting from a main extension plane of the second end section 45 firstly at right angles, in particular vertically, along a first direction (in particular in the height direction z) and extends from a fold 52 along a second direction which opposes the first direction (in particular against the height direction z). This reinforcing projection 51, which thus serves simultaneously to reinforce the two bearing pins 28, 29, can therefore be measured to be wider (the width is measured here in a plane which lies at right angles to the pivot axis 7). However, a high material usage is required compared with the first exemplary embodiment according to FIG. 5. The stability of the bearing element 9 can however be increased again.

[0056] The functional body 21 not shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 can correspond in particular to the functional body 21 of the first exemplary embodiment according to FIGS. 2 to 4. The dashed line here shows the limit of each section, which is injection molded or covered starting from the second end section 45 in the depth direction y by the functional body 21 (cover section 46).

LIST OF REFERENCE CHARACTERS

[0057] 1 Large household appliance [0058] 2 Carcass [0059] 3 Receiving space [0060] 4 Receiving space [0061] 5 Closure element [0062] 6 Closure element [0063] 7 Pivot axis [0064] 8 Hinge element [0065] 9 Hinge element [0066] 10 Hinge element [0067] 11 End face [0068] 12 External wall [0069] 13 External wall [0070] 14 Internal wall [0071] 15 Internal wall [0072] 16-19 Closure strip [0073] 29 Main body [0074] 21 Functional body [0075] 22 Fastening section [0076] 23 Bearing arm [0077] 24 Contact surface [0078] 25 Fastening opening [0079] 26 First end section [0080] 27 Bead [0081] 28 Bearing pin [0082] 29 Bearing pin [0083] 30 Central section [0084] 31 Functional surface [0085] 32 Functional surface [0086] 33 Reinforcing rib [0087] 34 End surface [0088] 35 End surface [0089] 36 Door closer [0090] 37 Functional surface [0091] 38 Door stop [0092] 39 Functional surface [0093] 40 Shoulder [0094] 41 Shoulder [0095] 42 Guide surface [0096] 43 Guide surface [0097] 44 Depression [0098] 45 Second end section [0099] 46 Cover section [0100] 47 Reinforcing projection [0101] 48 Reinforcing projection [0102] 49 Reinforcing projection [0103] 50 Reinforcing projection [0104] 51 Reinforcing projection [0105] 52 Fold