HOUSEHOLD REFRIGERATION APPLIANCE HAVING A MULTIPLE-PART EXTERNAL HOUSING OF AN ICEMAKER

Abstract

A household refrigeration appliance has a housing in which there is formed at least one receiving space for food, and an icemaker. The icemaker has an external housing formed from a plurality of separate constituent parts. Wherein one of the constituent parts is a one-piece bottom tray that has a bottom wall and side walls that are integrally formed in one piece thereon.

Claims

1. A household refrigeration appliance, comprising: a housing defining at least one receiving space for food; and an icemaker having an external housing formed from a plurality of separate constituent parts, in a joined-together state, said constituent parts delimit a cohesive internal volume of said external housing, and said constituent parts including a one-piece bottom tray having a bottom wall and side walls that are integrally formed in one piece on said bottom wall.

2. The household refrigeration appliance according to claim 1, wherein said side walls of said one-piece bottom tray come up to at least three edge sides of said bottom wall.

3. The household refrigeration appliance according to claim 1, wherein said bottom wall is disposed to be obliquely inclined, as seen in a direction of a depth of the household refrigeration appliance being obliquely inclined downward and to a rear.

4. The household refrigeration appliance according to claim 1, wherein said external housing has a hood-shaped cap piece that is placed on top of said one-piece bottom tray.

5. The household refrigeration appliance according to claim 4, wherein said hood-shaped cap piece is seated on said side walls of said one-piece bottom tray.

6. The household refrigeration appliance according to claim 5, wherein: said hood-shaped cap piece has a coupling web; and said one-piece bottom tray has a strip-shaped coupling web constructed on an upper edge of one of said side walls of said bottom tray, said strip-shaped coupling web is disposed to abut flat and overlap with said coupling web on said hood-shaped cap piece.

7. The household refrigeration appliance according to claim 4, wherein said hood-shaped cap piece is constructed from at least two hood parts that take a form of said constituent parts, said hood parts have top walls and said top walls are connected to one another.

8. The household refrigeration appliance according to claim 7, wherein: said top walls include a first top wall and a second top wall; said second top wall has an edge with a second strip-shaped coupling web formed on said edge of said second top wall that faces said first top wall; and said first top wall has on an edge facing said second top wall, a first strip-shaped coupling web that is disposed to abut flat and overlap with said second strip-shaped coupling web.

9. The household refrigeration appliance according to claim 8, wherein one of said first and second strip-shaped coupling webs is a part of an insertion slot for the other of said first and second strip-shaped coupling web.

10. The household refrigeration appliance according to claim 1, further comprising a drain integrated into said one-piece bottom tray.

11. The household refrigeration appliance according to claim 4, wherein said constituent parts include a first constituent part and a second constituent part each having an outer side; and further comprising a thermally insulating cladding unit, said external housing is clad, at least on said outer side of said first constituent part and on said outer side of said second constituent part, with said thermally insulating cladding unit.

12. The household refrigeration appliance according to claim 11, further comprising a thermally insulating material; and wherein said thermally insulating cladding unit has a shell by which there is formed an intermediate space into which said thermally insulating material is introduced, said shell is formed by an inner wall, which is formed by wall regions of said hood-shaped cap piece and wall regions of said one-piece bottom tray, and an outer wall connected thereto.

13. The household refrigeration appliance according to claim 11, wherein said thermally insulating cladding unit is in an L shape and said thermally insulating cladding unit is disposed facing said receiving space.

14. The household refrigeration appliance according to claim 1, further comprising a receiving container disposed in said external housing for receiving shaped ice elements formed in said external housing.

15. The household refrigeration appliance according to claim 14, further comprising an ice shaping dish disposed in said external housing above said receiving container, said ice shaping dish determining a shape of shaped ice elements to be produced.

16. The household refrigeration appliance according to claim 5, wherein: said hood-shaped cap piece has a counter-tooth structure; and on an upper edge of one of said side walls of said one-piece bottom tray is a tooth structure that meshes with said counter-tooth structure formed on said hood-shaped cap piece.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING

[0043] FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic, perspective view of an exemplary embodiment of a household refrigeration appliance according to the invention;

[0044] FIG. 2 is a perspective view as in FIG. 1, without doors that are shown in FIG. 1;

[0045] FIG. 3 is a perspective exploded illustration of an exemplary embodiment of an external housing of an icemaker of the household refrigeration appliance in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, with in addition a thermally insulating cladding unit;

[0046] FIG. 4 is a perspective view as in FIG. 3 in the joined-together state;

[0047] FIG. 5 is a perspective view as in FIG. 4, with a perspective illustration from the rear;

[0048] FIG. 6 is a horizontal sectional illustration through the household refrigeration appliance as in FIG. 2, along the line of section VI-VI;

[0049] FIG. 7 is an exploded, perspective illustration of a further exemplary embodiment of an external housing; and

[0050] FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the embodiment in FIG. 7 in the joined-together state.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0051] In the figures, like or functionally like elements are provided with the same reference numerals.

[0052] Referring now to the figures of the drawings in detail and first, particularly to FIG. 1 thereof, there is shown a schematic illustration of a household refrigeration appliance 1 that is configured for storing and preserving food. The household refrigeration appliance 1 takes the form of a combined fridge-freezer. It includes a housing 2 in which there is constructed a first receiving space 4 (FIG. 2) that is a refrigerator compartment. Furthermore, there is constructed in the housing 2 a second receiving space 5, separate from the first receiving space 4 (FIG. 2), which is a freezer compartment.

[0053] As can be seen from FIG. 1, the first receiving space 4 may be closed by two separate doors 6 and 7, which may be actuated independently of one another and are each pivotable in relation to the housing 2 about a vertical axis, which is thus oriented in the direction of height (y direction). The second receiving space 5 may be closed by a door 8 that is itself separate from these. The door 8 may be for example a front wall of a drawer that is mounted such that it can be pushed into and pulled out of the second receiving space 5.

[0054] Furthermore, the household refrigeration appliance 1 includes at least one icemaker 9 (FIG. 2), which is arranged outside the first receiving space 4 and thus outside the refrigerator compartment, and is configured to produce shaped ice elements, such as ice cubes or crushed ice.

[0055] In particular, the exemplary embodiment provides for the household refrigeration appliance 1 to have a dispenser unit that is configured to discharge at least shaped ice elements. A dispenser unit 10 (FIG. 1) may additionally also be configured to discharge liquid, in particular water or other beverages, in particular mixed beverages. The exemplary embodiment provides for the dispenser unit 10 to be constructed for discharge through the door 6, so that shaped ice elements or liquid can still be discharged in the closed state of the door 6. For this purpose, the door 6 includes a hollow 11 in which a receiving vessel, in particular a drinking vessel, can be stood, with the result that the appropriate medium can be discharged through a discharging unit 12 that is part of the dispenser unit 10 and is arranged in the door 6 and opens into the hollow 11.

[0056] However, it may also be provided for discharge of this kind through the door 6 not to be provided and for example only the icemaker 9 to be provided, in which case it is only accessible by opening the door 6. Shaped ice elements that are produced can then be removed by taking out a receiving container (to be described in more detail below) that is part of the icemaker 9 and in which the shaped ice elements collect.

[0057] As can be seen from FIG. 2, the first receiving space 4 is delimited by walls of an internal container 13. The internal container 13 includes, in its top left corner region 14, an inset region 15 into which the icemaker 9 is inserted. The icemaker 9 is only accessible through the charging opening of the first receiving space 4. The icemaker 9 extends into the receiving space 4 in particular only in certain regions, and thus through at least one aperture or hole in the internal container 13 that delimits the receiving space 4 by means of its walls. The icemaker 9 is arranged at least such that a wall region, in particular a cover, of the icemaker 9 directly delimits the receiving space 4. In particular, there is provided a receiving container of the icemaker 9 that, by means of its front wall, forms this wall region directly delimiting the receiving space 4. This front wall is in particular only accessible through a front charging opening of the receiving space 4.

[0058] The receiving space 5 is likewise delimited by walls of an internal container 3.

[0059] FIG. 3 shows an exploded illustration of an external housing 16 of the icemaker 9. The external housing 16 has a plurality of separate constituent parts. In the joined-together state of the constituent parts, the external housing 16 delimits an internal volume in which a receiving container is arranged displaceably for the purpose of receiving shaped ice elements. Moreover, there is then also arranged in this external housing 16 an ice shaping dish that is designed to predetermine the shape of the shaped ice elements to be produced and is arranged above the receiving container, as seen in the direction of height (y direction) of the household refrigeration appliance 1.

[0060] The internal volume that is delimited by the external housing 16 takes a form that is cohesive and thus has no interruptions, and is delimited directly by the walls of the constituent parts. Delimitation of this internal volume of the external housing 16 is in this case such that the inner sides of the constituent parts each form, seen in themselves and individually, individual wall regions that delimit this internal volume. Only at join points, at which the constituent parts of the external housing 16 are joined, may there be an overlap and abutment of the constituent parts with one another; otherwise, other wall regions of the constituent parts do not overlap.

[0061] A one-piece bottom tray 17 is provided as a constituent part of the external housing 16. The bottom tray 17 includes a bottom wall 18, which is in particular rectangular, and side walls 19, 20, 21 that come up in one piece to edge sides of the bottom wall 18. Moreover, the bottom wall 18 is not arranged horizontally but is inclined in its position. It runs obliquely down toward the rear side wall 20, with the result that a front edge 22 of the bottom wall 18 is arranged higher up, as seen in the direction of height, than an opposite rear edge 23 of this bottom wall 18.

[0062] Furthermore, the external housing 16 includes a further separate constituent part in the form of a hood part 24. Furthermore, a further separate constituent part in the form of a second hood part 25 is provided. The two hood parts 24 and 25 form a cap piece A that is placed on the bottom tray 17 from above and thus covers it, so to speak, from above. These three parts form the external housing 16 and correspondingly delimit the internal volume. As can be seen from FIG. 3, the two hood parts 24 and 25 respectively take the form, in a vertical section, of an L shape (and an inverted L) and may be joined at top walls 24a and 25a, as can be seen from the joined-together illustration in FIG. 4. For this purpose, the top wall 24a has a strip-shaped coupling web 24b. The top wall 25a likewise includes a strip-shaped coupling web 25b, wherein in the joined-together state of the hood parts 24 and 25 these two coupling webs 24b and 25b overlap. In particular, one of the two coupling webs 24b or 25b is a partial region of an insertion slot into which the other coupling web may then be inserted.

[0063] Furthermore, it is provided for likewise strip-shaped coupling webs 24d and 25d to be constructed on lower edges of vertical walls 24c and 25c of these hood parts 24 and 25. These also overlap in the joined-together state, as shown in FIG. 4, with a coupling web 19a of the side wall 19 and a coupling web 21a of the side wall 21. Here too, it may preferably be provided for in each case one of the two coupling webs to be a constituent part of an insertion slot into which the respectively other coupling web may then be inserted.

[0064] Furthermore, the icemaker 9 includes a thermally insulating cladding unit 26, which in the exemplary embodiment takes the form of a plate that is L-shaped in vertical section. The cladding unit 26 extends in particular over the entire height of the external housing 16 and in this regard respectively vertical wall regions of the hood part 25 and the side wall 21. Furthermore, the cladding unit 26 also extends completely below the bottom tray 17, such that this is also correspondingly clad from below.

[0065] Particularly advantageously, it is provided for the cladding unit 26 to have a shell in which there is formed an intermediate space 27 filled with a thermally insulating material, in particular an insulating foam.

[0066] This shell of the cladding unit 26 is formed on the outside by an outer wall 28 that is in particular in one piece. Furthermore, particularly advantageously the shell is formed on the inside by wall regions of the hood part 25 and wall regions of the bottom tray 17. In this context, the wall 28 is then also in turn connected to these wall regions, in particular being pushed together therewith. In particular, it is provided here for there to be made on an upper edge of the hood part 25 an insertion slot 29 into which a top wall 28a of the wall 28, facing this insertion slot 29, may be inserted. Accordingly, it is also in particular provided for there to be formed on an underside of the bottom trough 17 a corresponding insertion slot 30 into which a further wall strip 28b of the wall 28 may be inserted. It is in particular provided for these insertion slots 29 and 30 to be connected to one another and thus for a preferably peripherally closed insertion slot to be formed into which then corresponding wall regions or wall strips of the wall 28, also in particular peripherally closed, may be inserted. The cladding unit 26 is thus partly formed from wall regions which are at the same time also wall regions of the external housing 16 and thus on the one hand delimit the intermediate space 27 of the cladding unit 26 directly and on the other also at the same time delimit the internal volume of the external housing 16.

[0067] As mentioned above, FIG. 4 shows the joined-together state of the component in FIG. 3. The front charging opening 31 of the external housing 16 can be seen. A corresponding receiving container 32 (FIG. 2) can then be pushed in through this charging opening 31. FIG. 2 shows the receiving container 32 in the pushed-in state.

[0068] The module from FIG. 4 can be seen in FIG. 5, in a view from the rear. It can be seen that a drain 33 is integrated into the bottom tray 17, in particular being integrated at the rear side wall 20.

[0069] FIG. 6 shows a horizontal illustration, which is thus in an x-z plane, of the household refrigeration appliance 1, along the line of section VI-VI in FIG. 2.

[0070] It can be seen here that the external housing 16 is arranged in the inset region 15 such that the cladding unit 26 faces the receiving space 4. However, the cladding unit 26 is not arranged to delimit the receiving space 4 directly, but rather in this context the internal container 13 includes wall regions 34 and 35 (FIG. 1), which in turn cover the cladding unit 26 toward the receiving space 4. In particular, it is provided for the cladding unit 26 to abut directly against these wall regions 34 and 35. This is possible because there is no longer any need to introduce additional thermal insulating material between the cladding unit 26 and these wall regions 34 and 35 in order to thermally insulate the external housing 16 from the receiving space 4: this is already effectively achieved by the thermally insulating cladding unit 26.

[0071] FIG. 6 shows a horizontal sectional illustration along the line of section VI-VI in FIG. 2 of the household refrigeration appliance 1, in the region of the icemaker 9. It can also be seen from FIG. 6 that, preferably, a peripheral frame 38 that delimits the charging opening 31 is provided, at the front side whereof, and facing this front side, there is arranged a rear side 40 of a front wall 36 of the receiving container 32 of the icemaker 9, in particular a peripheral sealing element 41 that abuts against the front side when the receiving container 32 is in the closed state.

[0072] The receiving container 32 includes a tray part 37 beside the front wall 36 and in particular connected in one piece thereto. As can likewise be seen, the hood part 25 is connected to the wall 28 at a front edge 39 of the external housing 16, in particular the two being joined together. Between the wall region 34 of the internal container 13 and the frame 38 there is arranged a further, in particular peripheral, sealing element 42. The wall region 34 lies around the front edge 39 in the shape of an arc and extends into the gutter-like region of the frame 38. Thermally insulating material 43, in particular insulating foam, is introduced into the intermediate space 27.

[0073] FIG. 7 shows an exploded illustration of the external housing 16 in a further exemplary embodiment. Here too, the cladding unit 26 is formed in an L shape. In particular, here too the wall 28 is made in one piece and in an L shape. A plurality of reinforcing elements 44, in particular in the form of elongate ribs, are formed in an integrated manner on an inner side 28c of the wall 28. The reinforcing elements 44 are oriented parallel to one another and extend in each case cohesively, even over a transition of the L shape between a base limb of the L shape and an upright limb of the L shape. In particular, it is also provided for the bottom tray 17 to have, beside the bottom wall 18, the side wall 21, which faces the wall 28. A tooth structure 45 is formed on an upper edge of this side wall 21. In the joined-together state of the external housing 16, as shown in FIG. 8, this tooth structure 45 meshes with a counter-tooth structure 46 and thus forms a connection point 47. The counter-tooth structure 46 is formed on a lower edge of the hood part 25.

[0074] The following is a summary list of reference numerals and the corresponding structure used in the above description of the invention:

[0075] 1 Household refrigeration appliance

[0076] 2 Housing

[0077] 3 Internal container

[0078] 4 First receiving space

[0079] 5 Second receiving space

[0080] 6 Door

[0081] 7 Door

[0082] 8 Door

[0083] 9 Icemaker

[0084] 10 Dispenser unit

[0085] 11 Hollow

[0086] 12 Discharging unit

[0087] 13 Internal container

[0088] 14 Left-hand corner region

[0089] 15 Inset region

[0090] 16 External housing

[0091] 17 Bottom tray

[0092] 18 Bottom wall

[0093] 19 Side wall

[0094] 19a Coupling web

[0095] 20 Side wall

[0096] 21 Side wall

[0097] 21a Coupling web

[0098] 23 Front edge

[0099] 23 Rear edge

[0100] 24 Hood part

[0101] 24a Top wall

[0102] 24b Strip-shaped coupling web

[0103] 24c Vertical wall

[0104] 24d Strip-shaped coupling web

[0105] 25 Hood part

[0106] 25a Top wall

[0107] 25b Strip-shaped coupling web

[0108] 25c Vertical wall

[0109] 25d Strip-shaped coupling web

[0110] 26 Thermally insulating cladding unit

[0111] 27 Thermally insulating material

[0112] 28 One-piece wall

[0113] 28a Top wall

[0114] 28b Wall strip

[0115] 28c Inner side

[0116] 29 Insertion slot

[0117] 30 Insertion slot

[0118] 31 Charging opening

[0119] 32 Receiving container

[0120] 33 Drain

[0121] 34 Wall region

[0122] 35 Wall region

[0123] 36 Front wall

[0124] 37 Tray part

[0125] 38 Frame

[0126] 39 Front edge

[0127] 40 Rear side

[0128] 41 Sealing element

[0129] 42 Sealing element

[0130] 43 Thermally insulating material

[0131] 44 Reinforcing element

[0132] 45 Tooth structure

[0133] 46 Counter-tooth structure

[0134] 47 Connection point

[0135] A Cap piece

[0136] VI-VI Line of section