Refrigerating appliance

Abstract

A refrigerating appliance includes a cabinet, a dispenser for ice and/or water mounted within the cabinet, a valve controller for outputting a valve opening signal if the dispenser requires water, and a device for making the valve opening signal available outside the cabinet.

Claims

1. A refrigerating appliance, comprising: a cabinet; a normally closed external valve configured for being disposed external to the cabinet in a supply line supplying water to the refrigerating appliance; a dispenser mounted within said cabinet for dispensing ice or water; a valve controller configured to output a valve opening signal when said dispenser requires water; a cable connected to said valve controller for providing the valve opening signal to said external valve; and a water supply hose, a connector for said water supply hose and a collecting dish underneath said connector, said water supply hose being disposed in a protective tube having a downstream end leading to said collecting dish.

2. The refrigerating appliance according to claim 1, which further comprises at least one valve controlled by the valve opening signal and disposed within said cabinet.

3. The refrigerating appliance according to claim 1, wherein: said dispenser includes a cold water dispensing unit having a water supply line and an ice maker having a water supply line; a first valve is located in said water supply line of said cold water dispensing unit; a second valve is located in said water supply line of said ice maker; and said device makes valve opening signals available for said first and second valves.

4. The refrigerating appliance according to claim 1, which further comprises a terminal on an outside of said cabinet and a connector socket in which said terminal is disposed.

5. The refrigerating appliance according to claim 1, which further comprises a connector disposed on said cabinet and a water supply hose detachably connected to said external valve and to said connector.

6. The refrigerating appliance according to claim 1, which further comprises a water supply hose, said cabinet having a connector for said water supply hose and a leakage detector associated with said connector.

7. The refrigerating appliance according to claim 6, wherein said leakage detector includes a collecting dish underneath said connector and a water sensor associated with said collecting dish.

8. The refrigerating appliance according to claim 7, wherein said collecting dish is or communicates with an evaporation dish, and said water sensor is configured to monitor a water level in said evaporation dish.

9. A refrigerating appliance, comprising: a cabinet; a normally closed external valve configured for being disposed external to the cabinet in a supply line supplying water to the refrigerating appliance; a dispenser mounted within said cabinet for dispensing ice or water; a valve controller configured to output a valve opening signal when said dispenser requires water; a cable connected to said valve controller for providing the valve opening signal to said external valve; a further valve disposed within an internal pipe in said cabinet, said valve controller being configured for having said further valve close after said external valve to allow water pressure to drop in said internal pipe; and a water supply hose, a connector for said water supply hose and a collecting dish underneath said connector, said water supply hose being disposed in a protective tube having a downstream end leading to said collecting dish.

10. A refrigerating appliance, comprising: a cabinet; a normally closed external valve configured for being disposed external to the cabinet in a supply line supplying water to the refrigerating appliance; a dispenser mounted within said cabinet for dispensing at least one of ice or water; a valve controller configured to output a valve opening signal when said dispenser requires water; a terminal for powering and controlling the solenoid valve; a cable connected between said terminal and said external valve, said cable powering said external valve and providing the valve opening signal to said external valve; and a water supply hose, a connector for said water supply hose and a collecting dish underneath said connector, said water supply hose being disposed in a protective tube having a downstream end leading to said collecting dish.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING

(1) FIG. 1 is a fragmentary, diagrammatic, floor plan of a kitchen illustrating problems to be solved by the present invention;

(2) FIG. 2 a rear-perspective view of a refrigerating appliance;

(3) FIG. 3 is a vertical-sectional view of the refrigerating appliance and a view of associated components laid out for installation according to a first embodiment of the invention; and

(4) FIG. 4 is a vertical-sectional view of a refrigerating appliance and its associated components according to a second embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

(5) Referring now to the figures of the drawings in detail and first, particularly, to FIG. 1 thereof, there is seen a floor plan of a kitchen in which a refrigerating appliance according to the present invention is to be used. A water spigot or faucet 2 and a non-illustrated drain hidden below a sink 3 are disposed in a wall 1 of the kitchen. The water spigot 2 is only closed in exception circumstances, if maintenance work is necessary at equipment connected downstream of the spigot 2, such as a sink-top water faucet 4 or a dishwasher 5. The dishwasher 5 occupies a location next to the sink 3, so that its connections to the spigot 2 and the drain are short. A refrigerator 6 is located rather far from the spigot, possibly because when the kitchen was first planned, there was no need for the refrigerator 6 to be connected to water mains. If a consumer wants to replace the refrigerator 6 with a new one having a water and ice dispenser, a connection to the spigot 2 must be provided. If a water supply hose or tubing 7 has to bypass a corner cupboard or cabinet 8 as shown, in order to span the distance between the spigot 2 and the refrigerator, sharp bends may be necessary, so that if the hose 7 is too wide or too stiff, pleats or kinks may form in it which in the long run may cause the hose or tubing to burst.

(6) A refrigerator cabinet or housing 9 suitable for installation in this location is shown in FIG. 2. As usual, the refrigerator cabinet 9 has a cuboid body 10, a door 11 which faces away from the viewer in FIG. 2, and a machinery compartment 12 which is formed in a bottom rear corner of the body 10 and accommodates a compressor 13 and possibly other components of a cooling unit, such as an evaporation dish 14 of a leakage detector and a condenser, etc. A water inlet connector 15 for connection to a water supply hose 7 is located in the machinery compartment 12 above the evaporation dish 14. A female electric connector 16 is mounted to a sidewall of the machinery compartment 12. When the refrigerator cabinet 9 is delivered to the consumer, a flexible cable 17 having a solenoid valve 18 attached to one end thereof and a male connector 19 connected to the other end thereof is suspended from a hook 20 at the rear wall of the body 10. The cable 17 may have a length of several meters, so that in most practical cases in which a room in which the refrigerator cabinet 9 is installed has a spigot for connection to the cable, the cable 17 will be sufficient to span the distance between the spigot 2 and the refrigerator cabinet 9. As is seen in FIG. 3, an adequate length of hose 7 equipped with connectors 21, 22 respectively mating an outlet of the solenoid valve 18 and the water inlet connector 15, can be provided by a retailer who installs the refrigerator cabinet 9, or may be acquired by the consumer himself or herself.

(7) Since water consumption of the refrigerator is far lower than that of washing appliances, the cross section of the hose 7 can be quite small, e.g. 3/16 and, since the free cross section of the solenoid valve 18 need not be larger than that of the hose 7, a small and inexpensive solenoid valve can be used.

(8) As is shown in FIG. 3, when the refrigerator cabinet 9 is installed, the solenoid valve 18 is connected to an outlet of the spigot 2, and the connector 19 is plugged into the connector 16. Any length of the cable 17 which is not needed for spanning the distance between the refrigerator cabinet 9 and the spigot 2 may be left hanging from the hook 20, so that it will not clutter the floor below the refrigerator body 10.

(9) The hose 7 is connected to the outlet of the solenoid valve 18 and to the water inlet connector 15. Since the diameter of the hose 7 is small, it can pass sharp bends such as a bend 23 shown in FIG. 1, without kinking, and there is little risk that the hose 7 will be damaged during installation.

(10) An internal pipe 24 of the refrigerator cabinet 9 extends from the connector 15. The internal pipe 24 supplies water to an ice maker 25 through a first branch 26 and to a water tank 27 of a cold water dispensing unit through a second branch 28.

(11) The ice maker 25 is known as such and is therefore not shown in detail. It includes an ice tray in which ice cubes are formed. When the ice cubes are ready, the tray is turned over and twisted in order to eject the ice cubes into a storage bin 29. Then the tray is turned back into an upright position, and the tray is refilled with water from the pipe 24. In order to refill the tray, an electronic controller 30 provides valve opening signals to a solenoid valve 31 located close to a downstream end of the branch 26 and, through terminals of the connector 16, to the solenoid valve 18. Since the terminals are well protected from unintentional contact with a user's fingers inside the connector 16, mains voltage can be used for powering and controlling the solenoid valve 18. The duration of the opening signal supplied to the solenoid valve 18 is controlled so that the quantity of water that is let through is just sufficient to fill the tray. The opening signal supplied to the solenoid valve 31 may end a fraction of a second later than that of the valve 18, so that the water pressure in the hose 7 and the internal pipe 24 drops to ambient pressure before the valve 31 closes as well.

(12) The water tank 27 is located within an insulating layer of the door 11, so that the water in it is cooled to a temperature between ambient temperature and that of a storage compartment 32 inside the cabinet 10, safely above the freezing temperature. The cold water dispensing unit further includes a water outlet 33 at the ceiling of a dispenser niche 34 which communicates with the tank 27, adjacent an ice chute 35 from the storage bin 29. While a user presses a button 37 on an operating panel 36 above the dispenser niche 34, the electronic controller 30 provides valve opening signals to the valve 18 and to a valve 38 located in the branch 28. While both valves 18, 38 are open, fresh water flows into the tank 27 and cold water from the tank 27 flows to the water outlet 33. When the user releases the button 37, the valve opening signal supplied to the valve 18 stops, and the valve 18 closes. Immediately afterwards, the opening signal supplied to the valve 38 also stops, so that in this case too, the hose 7 is depressurized.

(13) Even if a leak should form in the hose 7 or between the connectors 22 and 15, water will escape from it only while either the ice maker or the water dispenser draws water, since at other times, the hose 7 is under ambient pressure. While one of ice maker and water dispenser draws water, the water flow ensures that pressure in the pipe 24 is lower than in the water mains, so that even at these times, stress on the hose 7 is low.

(14) If there is a leak between the connectors 22 and 15, water that escapes through it will be caught in the evaporation dish 14 underneath, and to a certain extent it can be evaporated there along with condensate from the evaporator 39 without causing any problems. As an additional safety measure, a water level sensor 42 seen in FIG. 2, which may be provided at the evaporation dish 14, triggers an alarm if the water level rises in the dish 14 above a predetermined level.

(15) If desired, a non-illustrated protective tube might be provided through which the hose 7 extends. The protective tube can be open at both ends, or one end of it can be connected to a casing of the solenoid valve 18 so as to catch any water that might leak from there. Since the location of the water spigot 2 at the wall 1 is usually higher than that of the connectors 22, 15, any leakage water which is caught in the protective tube will finally escape from its downstream end, fixed to the connector 22, and will cause the water level sensor 42 to produce an alarm.

(16) According to a second embodiment shown in FIG. 4 there is no wired signal connection between the electronic controller 30 and the solenoid valve 18. Instead, the controller 30 includes a radio transmitter 40, e.g. a Bluetooth interface, and a corresponding receiver 41 which receives the valve opening signal is associated with the solenoid valve 18. Installation of the refrigerator is thus simplified, since the only connection which still has to be established between the refrigerator and the solenoid valve 18 is by the hose 7. Operating power may be provided to the solenoid valve 18 and the receiver 41 by any conveniently located mains socket 43.

(17) Alternatively, the transmitter 40 can be a power line transmitter which communicates with the receiver 41 not by radio waves but by an AF signal modulated onto the mains voltage by the transmitter 40 and demodulated by the receiver 41.

(18) The following is a summary list of reference numerals and the corresponding structure used in the above description of the invention: 1 Wall 2 water spigot or faucet 3 sink 4 sink-top faucet 5 dishwasher 6 refrigerator 7 hose 8 corner cupboard 9 refrigerator cabinet 10 body 11 door 12 machinery compartment 13 compressor 14 evaporation dish 15 water inlet connector 16 electric connector 17 cable 18 solenoid valve 19 male connector 20 hook 21 connector 22 connector 23 bend 24 pipe 25 ice maker 26 first branch 27 water tank 28 second branch 29 storage bin 30 controller 31 solenoid valve 32 storage compartment 33 water outlet 34 dispenser niche 35 ice chute 36 operating panel 37 button 38 valve 39 evaporator 40 transmitter 41 receiver 42 water sensor 43 mains socket