Cooling Arrangement for Refrigerators

Abstract

A cooling arrangement for refrigerators that enables better temperature control and maintenance for beverage cans. The cooling arrangement facilitates access to the beverage cans without opening other cold storage chambers of the refrigerator. The cooling arrangement also prevents abrupt movement of the cans that can generate overflow of the liquid content of the beverage cans upon opening.

Claims

1-9. (canceled)

10. A cooling arrangement for refrigerators of the type that has at least one access door to at least one cold storage chamber of the refrigerator, characterized in that: said at least one access door consists of a compartment defined by a front panel, an inner panel and an inclined consumer product storage structure, said front panel is provided with a viewing/extraction it dow in conjunction with a pivoting sealing cover, while said inner panel is provided with multiple slots and a loading window.

11. The cooling arrangement for refrigerators according to claim 10, characterized in that the refrigerator has a main cooling section with a main access door to said main and a freezer sector with an access door, this access door being the access door to the refrigerator cold storage chamber.

12. The cooling arrangement for refrigerators according to claim 10, wherein said inclined storage structure consists of a divided horizontal V-shaped ramp having an initial upper section and a final lower section and is made of a reinforced plastic material, aluminium, steel or a combination thereof.

13. The cooling arrangement for refrigerators according to claim 10, characterized in that said viewing/extraction window on the front panel coincides with the initial upper and final lower sections of the divided ramp while said pivoting sealing cover is fixed pivotally at the top of said extraction window.

14. The cooling arrangement for refrigerators according to claim 13, characterized in that said pivoting sealing cover is operatively connected to an actuating button on the front panel by means of a trigger, said cover being made of a material selected from the group of plastic materials with insulating capacity.

15. The cooling arrangement for refrigerators according to claim 10, characterized in that said loading window on the inner panel coincides with the initial upper section of the divided ramp.

16. The cooling arrangement for refrigerators according to claim 10, characterized in that said front panel of the refrigerator door, said inclined storage structure and said inner panel form a pivoting assembly in the refrigerator by means of at least one first opening hinge assembly for access to the cold storage chamber.

17. The cooling arrangement for refrigerators according to claim 16, characterized in that said inclined storage structure has at least one temperature sensor.

18. The cooling arrangement for refrigerators according to claim 16, characterized in that said front panel has a temperature display screen inside said compartment,

19. The cooling arrangement for refrigerators according to claim 12, characterized in that said viewing/extraction window on the front panel coincides with the initial upper and final lower sections of the divided ramp while said pivoting sealing cover is fixed pivotally at the top of said extraction window.

20. The cooling arrangement for refrigerators according to claim 19, characterized in that said pivoting sealing cover is operatively connected to an actuating button on the front panel by means of a trigger, said cover being made of a material selected from the group of plastic materials with insulating capacity.

21. The cooling arrangement for refrigerators according to claim 13, characterized in that said loading window on the inner panel coincides with the initial upper section of the divided ramp.

22. The cooling arrangement for refrigerators according to claim 12, characterized in that said front panel of the refrigerator door, said inclined storage structure and said inner panel form a pivoting assembly in the refrigerator by means of at least one first opening hinge assembly for access to the cold storage chamber.

23. The cooling arrangement for refrigerators according to claim 22, characterized in that said inclined storage structure has at least one temperature sensor.

24. The cooling arrangement for refrigerators according to claim 22, characterized in that said front panel has a temperature display screen inside said compartment.

25. The cooling arrangement for refrigerators according to claim 15, characterized in that said front panel of the refrigerator door, said inclined storage structure and said inner panel form a pivoting assembly in the refrigerator by means of at least one first opening hinge assembly fir access to the cold storage chamber.

26. The cooling arrangement for refrigerators according to claim 25, characterized in that said inclined storage structure has at least one temperature sensor.

27. The cooling arrangement for refrigerators according to claim 25, characterized in that said front panel has a temperature display screen inside said compartment.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0010] Various figures have been included to provide greater and understanding of the object of the invention. These figures, submitted for purely illustrative purposes, represent the invention in one of its preferred forms, where:

[0011] FIG. 1 shows a partial perspective view a domestic refrigerator of the type having two doors, a lower or main door to access the main cold storage chamber of the refrigerator and an upper access door to the freezer. In the drawing, this refrigerator is fitted with the cooling arrangement of the invention.

[0012] FIG. 2 shows a perspective view of the upper or freezer door where one form of application of the invention can be seen, in this case extraction of a can.

[0013] FIG. 3 shows a partial cutaway perspective of the interior of the freezer door provided with the cooling arrangement of the invention where several can be seen.

[0014] FIG. 4 shows a perspective view of the freezer door fitted with the sectorized cooling arrangement of the invention opened to access to the cold storage chamber as freezer,

[0015] FIG. 5 shows an exploded view of cooling arrangement of the invention.

[0016] FIG. 6 shows a perspective view of the cooling arrangement of the invention in one of its applications for illustrative purposes.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0017] Now with reference to the figures, it can be seen that the invention consists of a new cooling arrangement of selected and controlled temperatures for products that so require, particularly canned beverages, enabling the same to be deposited and extracted without opening other cold storage chambers and avoiding sudden movements of said cans that could cause the contents of the same to overflow on opening,

[0018] Thus, according to FIGS. 1 to 6, the cooling arrangement for refrigerators of this invention is indicated by the general frame of reference 1 and can be used in a refrigerator 2 with a main access door which has a main cooling sector with a main access door to said main sector and a freezer 3 with an access door 4. Wherein said access door 4 consists of a compartment defined by front panel 5, an inner panel 6 and an inclined storage structure c for consumer products such as cans 8.

[0019] Said front panel 5 is provided with a viewing/extraction window 9 together with a pivoting sealing cover 10 pivotally attached to the top of the window 9 and which is operatively connected to an actuating button 11 provided on the front panel 5. Thus, when the button is pressed 11 it actuates a trigger 18 that opens the sealing cover 10, causing it to pivot upwards and to enable the cans 8 to be extracted through the window 9 as shown in FIG. 6. It is emphasized that said sealing cover 10 is mounted on the window 9 by means of a hinge system (not shown) so that said cover 10 may be made of a material selected from the group consisting of plastics with insulating capacity. Moreover, said front panel 5 can be fitted with a display screen 12 to indicate the temperature inside the compartment.

[0020] Said inner panel 6 is provided with multiple slots 13 which permit passage and circulation of cold air from the cold storage chamber 3 to the compartment and vice versa to maintain a constant temperature of the containers or cans. Likewise, said inner panel 6 has a loading window 14 located on the upper part thereof. The structure of the inclined storage space 7 consists of a horizontal V-shaped divided ramp 15 which has an initial upper section 16 and a final lower section 17. Said viewing/extraction window 9 on the frontal panel 5 coincides with the initial upper section 16 and lower final section 17, while the loading window 14 of the inner panel 6 is coincides with the initial upper section 1.

[0021] Thus, the cans 8 are loaded or deposited through the loading window 14, move by gravity from the upper section 16 to the lower section 17 and can be withdrawn through the viewing/extraction window 9 by pressing the actuation button 11 which actuates said cover shutter 10. Since they are subject to gravity, the replacement of the cans in the lower section 17 of the divided ramp 15 is performed automatically and sequentially as the cans are extracted one after another.

[0022] Likewise, this inclined storage structure 7 is comprised of a reinforced plastic material, aluminium and steel. Said front panel 5, said inclined storage structure 7 and said inner panel 6 form a pivoting assembly in the refrigerator 2 by means of at least one opening hinge assembly for access to the cold storage chamber 3. It is emphasized that said inclined storage structure 7 may be fitted with at least one temperature sensor (not shown) which is connected to said display screen 12.

[0023] Thus the cooling arrangement of this invention for refrigerators is described and illustrated. To sum up, it enables better temperature control end maintenance so that the drinks contained m the cans can be consumed in the best condition. Furthermore, by providing a space dedicated to the cans, the invention prevents them from abrupt movements from one side to the other as occurs in conventional refrigerators.