HOUSEHOLD APPLIANCE WITH A SENSOR UNIT DISPOSED ON A CLOSING ELEMENT

Abstract

A household appliance includes a body or a carcass and a closing element, such as a door or a drawer, which is movably disposed on the body. A sensor unit is provided for measuring the temperature and/or the humidity. The sensor unit is at least partly disposed on the closing element.

Claims

1-15. (canceled)

16. A household appliance, comprising: a body; a closing element movably disposed on said body; and a sensor unit for measuring at least one of temperature or humidity, said sensor unit disposed at least partially on said closing element.

17. The household appliance according to claim 16, wherein said sensor unit is exclusively disposed on said closing element.

18. The household appliance according to claim 16, wherein said closing element is movable between an open position and a closed position, and said sensor unit is at least partially exposed in said closed position of said closing element.

19. The household appliance according to claim 16, wherein said closing element has an edge section, and said sensor unit is disposed on said edge section of said closing element.

20. The household appliance according to claim 16, wherein said closing element has a narrow side, and said sensor unit is disposed on said narrow side of said closing element.

21. The household appliance according to claim 16, wherein said closing element has a frame element, and said sensor unit is disposed on said frame element of said closing element.

22. The household appliance according to claim 16, wherein said closing element has a receiving pocket formed therein, said sensor unit has sections, and at least some of said sections of said sensor unit are disposed in said receiving pocket of said closing element.

23. The household appliance according to claim 21, wherein said frame element has a receiving pocket formed therein, said sensor unit has sections, and at least some of said sections of said sensor unit are disposed in said receiving pocket of said frame element.

24. The household appliance according to claim 16, wherein said closing element has a recess formed therein facing said body, said closing element has a wall section delimiting said recess, and said sensor unit is disposed in said wall section.

25. The household appliance according to claim 16, wherein said closing element has a narrow side, said narrow side has a recess formed therein facing said body, said narrow side has a wall section delimiting said recess, and said sensor unit is disposed in said wall section.

26. The household appliance according to claim 16, wherein said sensor unit includes a sensor and a cover element, said closing element has a receiving space for said sensor, said receiving space has sections, and said cover element delimits at least some of said sections of said receiving space.

27. The household appliance according to claim 26, which further comprises a sensor carrier connected to said cover element, said sensor being disposed on said sensor carrier.

28. The household appliance according to claim 26, which further comprises two wall elements disposed at an incline relative to one another, said receiving space being in communication with the surrounding environment through at least two air flow openings formed in said two wall elements.

29. The household appliance according to claim 26, wherein said receiving space has a deepest position and an air flow opening disposed at said deepest position of said receiving space.

30. The household appliance according to claim 29, wherein said receiving space has a bottom, and said deepest position is disposed in a region of said bottom of said receiving space.

31. The household appliance according to claim 26, which further comprises air-conducting walls provided in said receiving space.

32. The household appliance according to claim 26, which further comprises dividing walls provided in said receiving space and separating off a line feed space.

33. The household appliance according to claim 16, wherein said closing element is a door or a front of a drawer.

34. The household appliance according to claim 16, wherein the household appliance is a household refrigeration appliance.

Description

[0036] An exemplary embodiment of the present invention will be explained with reference to the figures, in which:

[0037] FIG. 1 shows a schematic representation of a household appliance according to the invention,

[0038] FIG. 2 shows an extract from FIG. 1,

[0039] FIG. 3 shows a rear view of a closing element from FIG. 1,

[0040] FIG. 4 shows an exploded representation of a frame element with a sensor unit,

[0041] FIG. 5 shows an extract of a representation of the frame element from FIG. 4,

[0042] FIG. 6 shows a sensor unit and

[0043] FIG. 7 shows a schematic sectional representation according to the sectional plane VII-VII from FIG. 2.

[0044] Identical elements or those with identical functions are provided with the same reference characters in the following.

[0045] FIG. 1 shows a household appliance according to the invention in the form of a household refrigeration appliance 1, having a body 2 and five closing elements 3,4,5,6,7. Two closing elements 3,4 are formed by doors 8,9. The doors 8,9 are mounted on the body 2 by hinges 10, 11 in an articulated manner and can be rotated about an axis oriented in parallel with the height direction Z.

[0046] As can be seen in FIG. 2 in particular, the door 8 has an outer wall 12, which lies essentially in a plane spanned by the width direction X and height direction Z. An inner wall 13 is arranged behind the outer wall 12 in depth direction Y. Furthermore, the door 8 has narrow sides 14,15 connecting the outer wall 12 and the inner wall 13. A narrow side 14, which runs essentially vertically, i.e. in height direction Z, is formed by a side support 16. A narrow side 15, which runs essentially horizontally, i.e. in width direction X, is formed by a top wall or top support 17. The door 8 has two further narrow sides (not shown, formed by a further side support and a bottom wall or bottom support).

[0047] Arranged on the closing element 3 or the door 8 is a sensor unit 18 for measuring the temperature and/or humidity.

[0048] The sensor unit 18 is arranged on the narrow side 15. The narrow side 15 has a recess 19 facing the body 2. This means that the recess 19 is open in the depth direction Y toward the body 2. The recess 19 is delimited against the depth direction Y by a wall section 20. In width direction X, the recess is open to one side and delimited to the opposite side by a further wall section 21.

[0049] The sensor unit 18 is exclusively arranged in the wall section 20. In particular, the sensor unit 18 is essentially embodied flush with a top side 26 and a rear side 27 of the wall section 20.

[0050] Furthermore, the door 8 has a seal 22 arranged on the inner wall 13 for sealing with respect to the body 2. Furthermore, a circumferential web 23 is embodied on the inner wall, on which web 23 a folding column 24 is arranged. Moreover, a separate add-on part 25 (door tray) is arranged on the inner wall 13.

[0051] In FIG. 4, an exploded representation of the elongated frame element 28 and the sensor unit 18 is shown. The top support 17 is essentially completely formed by said frame element 28. The frame element 28 is a plastic injection-molded part. The frame element 28 has a receiving pocket 29. The sensor unit 18 comprises a cover element 30 as well as a sensor 31, which is fastened to a sensor carrier 32.

[0052] The cover element 30 and the sensor carrier 32 are each plastic injection-molded parts.

[0053] The sensor 31 is fastened to a circuit board 33. The sensor 31 is an air humidity sensor.

[0054] The cover element 30 comprises air flow openings 34, which are arranged on a top wall as wall element 35 and penetrate said wall. The cover element 30 further has a notch 37 on a rear wall as wall element 36. As can be seen in FIG. 3 in particular, the notch 37 forms a further air flow opening 38 in conjunction with the receiving pocket 29.

[0055] The frame element 28 furthermore has a bearing pin receptacle 39. The bearing pin receptacle 39 is arranged in the recess 19. The frame element 28 is formed by a door cover strip.

[0056] The detailed representation of the receiving pocket 29 in FIG. 5 shows a line passage opening 40, which represents a connection of the receiving pocket 29 to the cavity of the door 8. By way of the line passage opening 40, electrical supply lines and data lines (not shown) are guided from the cavity into the receiving pocket 29. These lines supply the sensor with energy and transfer the measurement results to an evaluation unit, which is arranged in the body 2. The line passage opening 40 is delimited by a circumferential collar 41. The collar protrudes into the receiving pocket 29 in height direction Z. The collar 41 prevents condensation formed in the receiving pocket 29 or entering splashed water from reaching the cavity through the line passage opening 40. It is therefore possible to dispense with a particular seal, in particular one which is embodied separately.

[0057] The receiving pocket 29 has connecting structures for the form-locking connection to the cover element 30. The connecting structures comprise positioning depressions 42a, 42b. The positioning depressions 42a are formed by blind holes. The positioning depressions 42b are formed by pockets, which are open at the edges and are integrated into lateral delimiting walls 43 of the receiving pocket 29. All positioning depressions 42a, 42b are open at the top in height direction Z, so that the cover element 30 can be used and anchored from above or obliquely from above. The connecting structures furthermore comprise two latching receptacles 44, in which two indentations 45 are embodied in each case. The connecting structures finally also comprise a contact collar 46, which is embodied on the lateral delimiting walls 43 and a rear delimiting wall 47. The connecting structures are embodied such that they are integrated with the receiving pocket 29.

[0058] Moreover, the receiving pocket 29 has dividing walls 48,49. The dividing walls 48,49, in conjunction with a dividing wall 61 embodied on the sensor carrier 33 (see FIG. 6), serve to separate a line feed space 50 from a receiving space 51 for the sensor 31.

[0059] Embodied in the receiving pocket 29 are air-conducting walls 52,53, which ensure that air flowing through the air flow openings 34, 38 is guided directly past the sensor 31. An air-conducting wall 52 is formed by a free-standing rib. Two further air-conducting walls 53 are formed by delimiting walls of a base 54.

[0060] FIG. 6 shows the sensor unit 18 in the assembled state. The sensor unit 18 comprises mating connecting structures, which are exclusively embodied on the cover element 30. The mating connecting structures comprise four positioning tabs 55. Once the sensor unit 18 is arranged in the receiving pocket 29, the positioning tabs 55a, 55b engage into the positioning depressions 42a, 42b. On the one hand, this means that the position of the cover element 30 is predefined during the assembly, and this is therefore simplified. On the other hand, the positioning tabs 55b in particular may also serve to divert forces acting on the cover element 30 perpendicularly from above into the receiving pocket 29. The mating connecting structures furthermore comprise two latching hooks 56, the latching lugs thereof latching against the indentations 45 of the latching receptacles 44, once the cover element 30 is arranged in the receiving pocket 29. An edge section 57 of the cover element 30 braces against the contact collar 46, once the cover element 30 is arranged in the receiving pocket 49.

[0061] The sensor carrier 32 has latching hooks 58, which engage into latching openings 59 of the cover element 30, in order to latch both components to one another. In this context, the sensor 31 is protected from environmental influences to the greatest possible extent in a sensor receiving space. The sensor receiving space is solely connected to the receiving space 51 by an air exchange opening 60. By way of the air exchange opening 60, air flowing through the receiving space 51 can flow along the sensor 31.

[0062] The cover element 30 has a dividing wall 61, in order to separate the line feed space 50 from the receiving space 51. The dividing wall 61 is formed by another free-standing rib.

[0063] The cover element 30 has air-conducting walls 62,63, which ensure that air flowing through the air flow openings 34, 38 is guided directly past the sensor 31. The air-conducting wall 63, which at the same time forms a delimiting of the air exchange opening 60, has two drip slopes 64 on their edge section facing the air exchange opening 60. The drip slopes 64 prevent condensation, which forms on the air-conducting wall 63, from being able to run into the air exchange opening 60.

[0064] Electrical supply lines and data lines 65 (shown as extracts for illustration purposes) are guided into the sensor receiving space by means of a plug.

[0065] FIG. 7 shows a sectional representation of the door 8 along the sectional plane VII-VII from FIG. 2, but without the outer wall 12 and without the inner wall 13. The air flow through the sensor unit 18 is schematically represented by means of an arrow. Here, the air-conducting walls 62,63 ensure that the air flowing through is guided past the sensor 31.

LIST OF REFERENCE CHARACTERS

[0066] 1 Household refrigeration appliance [0067] 2 Body [0068] 3,4,5,6,7 Closing element [0069] 8,9 Door [0070] 10,11 Hinge [0071] 12 Outer wall [0072] 13 Inner wall [0073] 14,15 Narrow side [0074] 16 Side support [0075] 17 Top support [0076] 18 Sensor unit [0077] 19 Recess [0078] 20 Wall section [0079] 21 Further wall section [0080] 22 Seal [0081] 23 Web [0082] 24 Folding column [0083] 25 Add-on part [0084] 26 Top side [0085] 27 Rear side [0086] 28 Frame element [0087] 29 Receiving pocket [0088] 30 Cover element [0089] 31 Sensor [0090] 32 Sensor carrier [0091] 33 Circuit board [0092] 34 Air exchange opening [0093] 35,36 Wall element [0094] 37 Notch [0095] 38 Air exchange opening [0096] 39 Bearing pin receptacle [0097] 40 Line passage opening [0098] 41 Collar [0099] 42a,42b Positioning depression [0100] 43 Delimiting wall [0101] 44 Latching receptacle [0102] 45 Indentation [0103] 46 Contact collar [0104] 47 Delimiting wall [0105] 48,49 Dividing wall [0106] 50 Line feed space [0107] 51 Receiving space [0108] 52,53 Air-conducting wall [0109] 54 Base [0110] 55 Positioning tab [0111] 56 Latching hook [0112] 57 Edge section [0113] 58 Latching hook [0114] 59 Latching opening [0115] 60 Air exchange opening [0116] 61 Dividing wall [0117] 62,63 Air-conducting wall [0118] 64 Drip slope [0119] 65 Line