HOUSEHOLD COOLING APPLIANCE CONTAINING A DISPENSER UNIT FOR LIQUID AND/OR FREE FLOW REFRIGERATED GOOD, WHICH CONTAINS A DRIP ELEMENT FOR LIQUID ON A COVER

Abstract

A household cooling appliance has a dispenser unit for dispensing a liquid and/or a free flow refrigerated good. The dispenser unit has an insert with side walls and a bottom wall bounding a niche, into which a receptacle for receiving the liquid and/or the free flow refrigerated good, is inserted. The dispenser unit has a drip tray for containing liquid that is brought into the niche. The drip tray has a drip well. A cover covers the side walls towards the niche, and is arranged within the niche. On a front side of the cover facing the niche is disposed a drain element, which is configured to be elevated towards the niche and for draining a liquid running into the drip tray. The drain element is arranged in a height direction above the drip tray or in the bottom wall a slot is formed for draining liquid from the insert.

Claims

1. A household cooling appliance, comprising: a dispenser unit for dispensing a liquid and/or a free flowing refrigerated good, said dispenser unit having: an insert with side walls and a bottom wall bounding a niche; a receptacle for receiving the liquid and/or the free flow refrigerated good being disposed in said niche, said receptacle having a drip tray, being separate from said insert for collecting the liquid that can be brought into said niche, said drip tray having a drip well formed therein; a cover, being separate from said insert, covering said side walls at least partly towards said niche, said cover disposed in said niche and having a front side facing said niche; and at least one drain element disposed on said front side facing said niche, said drain element configured to be elevated towards said niche and for draining the liquid running from said front side into said drip tray, said drain element in a height direction is disposed above said drip tray.

2. The household cooling appliance according to claim 1, wherein said drain element is configured to be hump-shaped and in cross-section has a wave shape.

3. The household cooling appliance according to claim 1, wherein said drain element is orientated in a width direction of said niche.

4. The household cooling appliance according to claim 1, wherein said drain element is configured to be straight-lined.

5. The household cooling appliance according to claim 1, wherein said drain element is integrated within said cover.

6. The household cooling appliance according to claim 1, wherein said bottom wall has at least one slot formed therein and said slot is configured for draining the liquid from said insert.

7. The household cooling appliance according to claim 6, wherein said slot extends in said bottom wall and upwards into one of said side walls adjacent to said bottom wall.

8. The household cooling appliance according to claim 6, wherein said slot formed in said bottom wall is one of a plurality of slots formed therein.

9. The household cooling appliance according to claim 6, wherein said slot narrows towards a front slot end, which faces away from one of said side walls ending in said bottom wall.

10. The household cooling appliance according to claim 6, wherein said slot formed in said bottom wall is one of four slots formed therein.

11. A household cooling appliance, comprising: a dispenser unit for dispensing a liquid and/or a free flow good, said dispenser unit having: an insert with side walls and a bottom wall bounding a niche, said bottom wall having at least one slot formed therein and configured for draining the liquid from said insert downwards; and a receptacle for receiving the liquid and or the free flow refrigerated good to be dispensed and disposed in said niche, said receptacle having a drip tray being separate from said insert for collecting the liquid and disposed in said niche, said drip tray having a drip well formed therein.

12. The household cooling appliance according to claim 11, wherein said slot extends in said bottom wall and upwards into one of said side walls adjacent to said bottom wall.

13. The household cooling appliance according to claim 12, wherein said slot in said bottom wall is one of a plurality of slots formed therein.

14. The household cooling appliance according to claim 11, wherein said slot narrows towards a front slot end, which faces away from one of said side walls ending in said bottom wall.

15. The household cooling appliance according to claim 11, wherein said slot is covered from said drip tray towards said niche.

16. The household cooling appliance according to claim 11, wherein said dispenser unit further includes: a cover, which is separate from said insert, and is disposed in said niche, which covers said side walls at least partly in portions towards said niche, said cover having a front side facing said niche; and at least one drain element disposed on said front side of said cover, which faces said niche, said drain element is configured to be elevated towards said niche and for draining the liquid running from said front side into said drip tray, said drain element is disposed in a height direction above said drip tray.

17. The household cooling appliance according to claim 12, wherein said slot in said bottom wall is one of four slots formed therein.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING

[0030] FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic, perspective exploded view of an embodiment of a household cooling appliance according to the invention;

[0031] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an insert of a dispenser unit, which is configured for dispensing liquid and/or free flow refrigerated good and forms part of the household cooling appliance according to FIG. 1;

[0032] FIG. 3 is a perspective partial view of the insert according to FIG. 2 in a portion of a bottom wall having slots formed in the bottom wall;

[0033] FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the insert according to FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 with a cover arranged additionally in a niche of the insert and separate therefrom;

[0034] FIG. 5 is a vertical sectional view of a partial portion taken along the line V-V shown in FIG. 4;

[0035] FIG. 6 is a schematic view of a partial portion in FIG. 5; and

[0036] FIG. 7 is an exploded, perspective view of the components according to FIG. 4.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0037] In the figures same elements and elements having the same functions are equipped with the same reference signs.

[0038] Referring now to the figures of the drawings in detail and first, particularly to FIG. 1 thereof, there is shown a schematic view of a household cooling appliance 1, which is configured for storing and preserving food, and which for instance can be a refrigerator appliance, a freezer, or a fridge/freezer combination device. The household cooling appliance 1 is in particular a rack-mounted model. The household cooling appliance 1 contains a housing 2, in which at least one receiving space for food is configured. The receiving space can be closed at the front side by a door 3, which is shown in FIG. 1 in a closed state and which is pivotably arranged on the housing 2. The household cooling appliance 1 contains an output unit or a dispenser unit 4, which in FIG. 1 is merely in an exemplary way equipped with reference signs, and in which in FIG. 1 individual components are shown only partly. The dispenser unit 4 is configured for dispensing a liquid and/or free flow refrigerated good. Thus, a drink and/or an ice cube form element, for instance an ice cube or crushed ice can be dispensed.

[0039] For this purpose in the shown embodiment for instance the door 3 contains a recess 5, in which the dispenser unit 4 is inserted so that in the closed state of the door 3 the dispenser unit 4 is accessible from the front in order to be capable of dispensing the liquid and/or the free flow refrigerated good.

[0040] The dispenser unit 4 has an insert 6, which in particular is formed as a single piece from plastic. The insert 6 contains several walls 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11 (FIG. 2), which bound a niche or recess 12. The recess or the niche 12 is configured for receiving or inserting a receiving vessel so that into this receiving vessel the liquid and/or the free flow refrigerated good can be brought in from the above. The niche 12 is accessible from the front. The dispenser unit 4 has a dispenser opening, which ends in particular in a niche ceiling wall 8 and via which the liquid and/or the free flow refrigerated good can be brought into the niche 12 and therein into the inserted receiving vessel.

[0041] This insert 6 moreover has in an exemplary way a receptacle 13, which is configured as a slot. Into the slot 13 an electronics module is insertable.

[0042] In FIG. 1 moreover also a decorative plate 14 is shown, which is separate from the door 3 and preferably present and which can be a furniture front plate. This decorative plate 14 is preferably attachable to the door 3 and covers same at the front side. Also the decorative plate 14 has a recess 15, through which the dispenser unit 6 is accessible at the front side. In particular the dispenser unit 4, in particular the insert 6, is arranged on the decorative plate 14, in particular fastened thereto.

[0043] In FIG. 2 the insert 6 is shown in a perspective view.

[0044] In FIG. 3 in a perspective view the insert 6 is shown in a bottom portion. As can be seen, in the shown embodiment in the bottom wall 9 there are several slots 16, which thus represent through-holes. In an exemplary way here a number of four slots 16 are provided. The slots 16 in the embodiment extend both in the bottom wall 9 as well as in the vertical side wall 11, which is adjacent to the bottom wall 9 and represents a rear wall. The slots 16 each are configured to be uninterrupted so that they also extend without interruption across the transition between the bottom wall 9 and the side wall configured as rear wall.

[0045] The slots 16 are arranged in the width direction and thus in the x direction spaced apart from each other. The slots 16 in their partial portion, in which they extend in the bottom wall 9, are configured to be narrowing. This means that they narrow from a rear edge 9a of the bottom wall 9 towards a front edge 9b of the bottom wall 9. Therefore at least one slot 16, especially all slots 16, narrows towards a front slot end 16a, which faces away from the side wall 11 ending in the bottom wall 9.

[0046] In particular it is envisaged in the embodiment that the bottom wall 9 is not arranged horizontally, and thus does not fully extend in the x-z plane, but in this regard is arranged to be tilted. In particular it is envisaged that the tilting is such that the rear edge 9a viewed in the height direction and thus in the y direction is situated lower than the front edge 9b. The front edge 9b is the edge that is arranged closer to a niche opening 12a of the niche 12 than the rear edge 9a.

[0047] As can also be seen in FIG. 2, the insert 6 is preferably integrally formed, in particular from plastic.

[0048] In FIG. 4 a perspective view is shown, in which the insert 6 is represented and moreover a cover 17, which is separate from and additional to the insert 6 and is preferably formed from metal and is in particular configured as a single piece, is positioned in the niche 12. The cover 17 is arranged in such a way that it covers the side walls 7, 10, and 11 on the front side and thus towards the niche 12 or at least essentially on the front side. The cover 17 therefore has a trapezium shape and has in particular three side walls 18, 19, and 20 (FIG. 7).

[0049] Moreover, in FIG. 4 a drip tray 21 is shown, which is configured as separate component from the cover 17 and also as separate component from the insert 6. The drip tray 21 is arranged in the bottom portion of the insert 6 within the niche 12 and preferably is rested on the bottom wall 9. The drip tray 21 has a drip well 22, which is open towards the top and in which liquid entering the niche 12 and not being received by a receiving vessel put up therein, such as a drinking glass or the like, can be collected. In particular it is envisaged that liquid dripping or running down from a front side 19a of the vertical side wall 19 of the cover 17, is also collected in the drip tray 21. The drip tray 21 is non-destructively releasable from the insert 6 and reinsertable.

[0050] In the inserted state of the drip tray 21 the slots 16 are covered from the above. Moreover they are also covered by the cover 17 so that they cannot be recognized according to the view in FIG. 4 when looking from the front into the niche 12.

[0051] As is shown in FIG. 4, the cover 17 has at least one drain element 23, which preferably is integrated in the side wall 19 and thus is formed as a single piece. The drain element 23 preferably extends across the entire width of the side wall 19 representing a rear wall, and moreover is also preferably configured to be straight-lined. As can equally be seen in FIG. 4, the drain element 23, which is arranged to protrude elevated from the front side 19a towards the front into the niche 12, is situated in the height direction (y direction) above the drip tray 21, if same is arranged in its final position in the niche 12. Also a certain spacing of the drain element 23 from the drip tray 21 is configured, as this is also shown in the vertical sectional view in FIG. 5 showing a section along the section line V-V in FIG. 4. The liquid 24, which is shown in a symbolical way by arrows in FIG. 5 and which drips or runs from the front side 19a, then arrives at the drain element 23 and by its preferably hump-like design, which in the cross-section represents a wave shape, is drained in the direction of the drip tray 21 and then due to the draining speed and the shape design of the drain element 23 comes off the front side 19a and drips into the drip tray 21 and then in particular into the drip well 22. A running of this liquid 24 past the drip tray 21 between the front side 19a and the drip tray 21 is thereby prevented.

[0052] In FIG. 6 in a schematic view an enlarged view of the partial portion I in FIG. 5 is shown. Preferably, the drain element 23 has a height (h), which here is measured in the depth direction and thus in the z direction, which amounts to between 0.8 mm and 1.3 mm. This height (h) is drawn in FIG. 6.

[0053] Moreover, it is envisaged that a distance (a) measured in the height direction between a rear top edge 21a of the drip tray 21 and a height axis extending through the highest point 23a of the drain element 23, amounts to between 2.5 mm and 3 mm.

[0054] In an advantageous embodiment it is envisaged that this top portion of the drip tray 21, which faces the top drain element 23, has an outer and tilted lateral flange 21b, which declines from the outer edge or the top edge 21a towards the drip well 22, wherein here an angle is formed that preferably amounts to between 3 and 10, in particular between 4 and 6.

[0055] Moreover it can also be seen that the drip tray 21 in its final position preferably is arranged in the niche 12 in such a way that in the depth direction and thus in the z direction in particular an overlapping between the drain element 23 and the drip tray 21 is formed. This generally means that this rear portion of the drip tray 21 and thus the top edge 21a is positioned further towards the back than a height maximum or the highest point 23a of the drain element 23. This is in particular also envisaged for all embodiments.

[0056] In FIG. 7 in an exploded view a design of the insert 6 and the cover 17, as it is configured in FIG. 4, is shown. The drip tray 21 is not shown in FIG. 7.

[0057] The cover 17 is attachable in a non-destructively releasable way on the insert 6 and detachable again, and in this connection can preferably be held by magnetic holding force.

[0058] In an advantageous way it is envisaged that the liquid running down between the cover 17 and the side walls 7, 10, and 11 of the insert 6 and due to the arrangement of the cover 17 then cannot reach the drip tray 21, is drainable via the slots 16 from the insert 6. This liquid then after leaving the insert 6 via the slots 16 via then present channels, which in particular are also cable channels, in which lines and cables can be installed, is drained further down. In particular then in the bottom portion of the door 3 a further drip tray for this liquid is formed, where it then preferably is evaporated by waste heat from the components in a machine space of the household cooling appliance 1. The machine space is preferably arranged in a bottom rear portion of the household cooling appliance 1 or the housing 2 and preferably has components of the cooling circuit. In particular therein a compressor can be arranged, the waste heat of which that is generated in operation then is used for evaporating also this liquid, which then is contained in this further named drip tray.

[0059] The following is a summary list of reference numerals and the corresponding structure used in the above description of the invention: [0060] 1 household cooling appliance [0061] 2 housing [0062] 3 door [0063] 4 dispenser unit [0064] 5 recess [0065] 6 insert [0066] 7 wall [0067] niche ceiling wall [0068] 8 wall [0069] 9a rear edge [0070] 9b front edge [0071] 10 wall [0072] 11 wall [0073] 12 niche [0074] 12a niche opening [0075] 13 receptacle [0076] 14 decorative plate [0077] 15 recess [0078] 16 slot [0079] 16a front slot end [0080] 17 cover [0081] 18 side wall [0082] 19 side wall [0083] 19a front side [0084] 20 side wall [0085] 21 drip tray [0086] 21a top edge [0087] 21b side flange [0088] 22 drip well [0089] 23 drain element [0090] 23a highest point [0091] 24 liquid [0092] a distance [0093] h height [0094] angle