CN107024057B

CN107024057B - Refrigerator shelf with spring element

Info

Publication number: CN107024057B
Application number: CN201710052362.9A
Authority: CN
Inventors: A·H·巴克曼; H-P·厄克斯勒
Original assignee: V-Zug AG
Current assignee: V-Zug AG
Priority date: 2016-02-01
Filing date: 2017-01-24
Publication date: 2021-05-28
Anticipated expiration: 2037-01-24
Also published as: EP3199896A1; EP3199896B1; CH710199A1; SI3199896T1; CN107024057A

Abstract

The invention relates to a cold storage device, in particular a refrigerator, comprising at least one cold storage chamber having a plurality of side walls, and at least one shelf, wherein at least one wall support means is provided on at least one of the side walls for supporting the at least one shelf, wherein the shelf comprises at least one storage plate having a plurality of lateral edges, wherein a shelf support means is provided on at least one of the lateral edges for supporting the shelf on the at least one wall support means. At least one spring element (7) is arranged on the at least one shelf support.

Description

Refrigerator shelf with spring element

Technical Field

The invention relates to a cold storage device, in particular a refrigerator, comprising at least one cold storage compartment having a plurality of side walls and at least one shelf. Wall support means are provided on at least one of the side walls for supporting the at least one shelf.

Background

Shelves for such cold storage appliances are well known. These shelves are typically pushed into the refrigerator side walls in use or into rails mounted on the side walls or placed on corresponding support surfaces. In particular, when removing objects stored on the shelf, the shelf can slide, for example, in the removal direction. If an object is subsequently placed on the shelf, the shelf may slide back in the opposite direction. By said slipping, gaps may be formed between the shelf and the refrigerator compartment wall, through which gaps objects may fall downwards or liquid that may escape may drip downwards. For this reason, different solutions have been developed for fixing the shelves, as disclosed for example in EP 1956324. This document shows a fastening device which is relatively complex to produce and requires the user to handle the fastening device in the pushed-in position of the shelf.

Disclosure of Invention

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a refrigerator having at least one shelf, wherein the shelf can be manufactured and used simply, but nevertheless avoids undesired movements of the shelf in the refrigerator.

The object is achieved by a refrigerator, in particular a freezer, according to the invention, comprising at least one refrigerating compartment having a plurality of side walls and comprising at least one shelf, at least one wall bearing means being provided on at least one of the side walls for bearing the at least one shelf, the shelf comprising at least one storage plate having a plurality of side edges, wherein a shelf bearing means is provided on at least one of the side edges for bearing the shelf on the at least one wall bearing means, at least one spring element being provided on the at least one shelf bearing means. The spring element presses the shelf in the mounted state against the stop face, which counteracts a possible displacement of the shelf.

A refrigerating compartment is understood to be a compartment which can be cooled to any temperature, in particular also to a freezing compartment.

The shelf support mechanism and the storage plate may be separate components or together be a single component. The storage plate and the shelf support can be, for example, a one-piece shaped part which is laterally configured in such a way that it can be supported on the wall support without additional components.

A spring element is a component which yields when loaded and returns to its original shape after unloading, i.e. the component exhibits elastic properties.

The subject matter according to the invention has the following advantages: by means of the spring element, which is provided on the at least one shelf support mechanism, a force can be applied to the shelf in the mounted state, which force counteracts a possible movement of the shelf in use.

Advantageously, the spring element is arranged in the rear half of the shelf when the shelf is mounted, i.e. arranged as intended in the cooling chamber. At this time, the spring element presses the shelf upward onto the upper stop face of the wall support mechanism.

By the "rear half" of the shelf is meant a half which, in the mounted state of the shelf, is close to the rear wall of the refrigerating compartment. The rear wall is arranged on the side opposite to the refrigerating chamber door, and the door is opened to take out the objects stored on the shelf from the refrigerating chamber or place the objects in the refrigerating chamber. The door thus forms the front side of the refrigeration compartment.

This arrangement of the spring element has the following advantages: for example, in the described embodiment, the shelf in the front region bears down on the wall bearing means and in the rear region bears against the upper stop face. Once the user places an object on the shelf (which is in most cases in the front region of the shelf), movement of the shelf in the vertical direction due to the additional weight of the object is prevented. Since in the front region (in which the additional weight of the object acts) the shelf already lies below, while in the rear region (in which the shelf can be pressed upwards in accordance with the design of the wall support mechanism on the basis of the lever effect exerted by the weight of the object) the shelf already lies against the upper stop face.

One possible embodiment of the spring element, which presses the shelf upward onto the upper stop face of the wall bearing means, can consist in that the spring element impinges on the lower stop face of the wall bearing means and presses downward there, so that the shelf is pressed by the spring element toward the mentioned upper stop face.

In another preferred embodiment, the spring element is provided in the front half of the shelf when the shelf is mounted in the refrigeration compartment. The spring element now presses the shelf against the lower stop face of the wall bearing.

In this embodiment, the shelf is also prevented from moving in the vertical direction when an object is placed on the front half of the shelf. In one possible embodiment, the spring element impinges on the upper stop surface and presses the shelf downward. Thus, the shelf is already at the beginning placed lower in the front area, so that the shelf does not move when it is loaded by the additional weight of the object placed on the shelf.

Preferably, the spring element is arranged and designed such that it presses the shelf backwards in the refrigerating compartment in a state in which the shelf is mounted in the refrigerating compartment.

Pressing "backwards" means pressing the shelf away from the door towards the rear wall of the refrigerating compartment and thus blocking the shelf against the rear wall itself, against a rear stop face of the wall support means or against another element preferably provided in the rear region of the refrigerator.

This design has the following advantages: even if an object is placed on or taken out from the shelf by a user, the shelf does not move in the depth direction of the refrigerating chamber, i.e., from front to rear or vice versa. When the user places an object on the shelf from the front, a force can thereby be generated, for example, which is exerted on the shelf and presses it back. Since the shelf is already pressed back, for example against the rear wall of the cooling compartment, on account of the spring element, the shelf is not moved any further when the object is lowered, since it has already stopped. In the opposite case, when an object is removed from the shelf, a force is applied to the shelf, which pulls the shelf forward. However, this force is counteracted by a force acting backwards by the spring element, so that the shelf does not slip even in this case.

In a further preferred embodiment, the wall bearing means has a recess in the form of a cavity for receiving the spring element. In particular, the wall bearing means can be configured as a linear guide.

In this design, in particular, the spring element is arranged in the recess in the mounted state of the shelf. This has the following advantages: the shelf must be moved substantially with increased force when it is pulled out (in order to clean the shelf intentionally or during the removal of objects from the shelf unintentionally), since the spring element must be compressed or additionally loaded in order to be able to be pulled out of the recess.

The guide rail can be designed such that it has a lower plane, and in particular the lower plane forms the lower stop surface. In particular, the shelf rests on the lower plane based on the weight of the shelf or on the force exerted by the spring element.

The guide rail can be designed such that it has an upper plane which limits the upward vertical movement of the shelf and in particular forms an upper stop surface. In particular, the shelf is pressed onto the upper plane based on the force exerted by the spring element.

Advantageously, the recess of the wall support means has at least one inclined side wall delimiting said recess in the longitudinal direction and is positioned such that the spring element impinges on said at least one inclined side wall when the shelf is mounted in the refrigeration compartment.

By the oblique side walls which delimit the recess in the longitudinal direction being designed obliquely, the spring element (which is pressed against the oblique side walls by the weight of the shelf and/or by the upper stop face) is loaded, so that a force is generated by the spring element which presses the shelf both backwards and vertically upwards or downwards in accordance with the arrangement of the recess.

Preferably, the spring element is arranged in the installed state of the shelf within the cavity-like recess and can only be released from this state by elastic deformation.

In a further preferred embodiment, the shelf support means is designed as a slat. In particular, the shelf support mechanism may be injection molded or bonded to the storage plate or formed as a one-piece member with the storage plate.

By "slats" is understood long and narrow strips made of any material, which can be used as edge slats for the storage plates.

Furthermore, the shelf support mechanism may have a shelf recess, wherein the spring element is fixedly connected with two recess side walls delimiting the shelf recess in the longitudinal direction.

This embodiment has the following advantages: the spring element can be arranged as compactly as possible on the shelf on the basis of the shelf recess without a significant loss of storage area over the width of the shelf. By the spring element being connected to the two recess side walls, the spring element has a high robustness and withstands multiple loads.

Advantageously, the storage plate has a plate recess for receiving the spring element.

In this case, it is possible, for example, for the spring element to be arranged on a recess side wall of the shelf recess and for the shelf recess to be arranged in the plate recess. The shelf support and the spring elements can thus be arranged compactly on the lateral edges of the storage plate, and the unnecessary widening of the shelf by the shelf support is not necessary.

Furthermore, the shelf support mechanism and the spring element can be designed jointly in one piece. This can be achieved in particular by injection molding.

In a preferred embodiment, the shelf support means and/or the wall support means extend only over a rear part of the total length of the storage plate lateral edges. In particular, the front part of the storage plate is wider than the rear part of the storage plate.

By "on the rear part" is meant that a greater part of the shelf support means and/or of the wall support means is provided in the rear half of the total length of the storage plate lateral edge than in the front half of the total length of the storage plate lateral edge.

With this embodiment, a greater storage area is provided in the front portion of the storage tray, as it need not be limited by the shelf support mechanism and/or the wall support mechanism.

Preferably, a shelf support is provided on each of the two lateral edges of the storage plate, wherein both shelf support means have spring elements.

By providing two spring elements, the individual spring elements can be designed more narrowly.

Drawings

Other designs, advantages and applications of the invention are obtained from the following description, which is now made with reference to the accompanying drawings. Shown here are:

figure 1 shows a cold storage device in the form of a domestic refrigerator,

figure 2 shows a plan view of the shelf,

figure 3 shows a bottom view of the shelf,

figure 4 shows a detail of the spring element from below,

figure 5 shows a side view of the shelf,

figure 6 shows a detail of the spring element as seen from the side,

figure 7 shows a wall support mechanism provided in a refrigeration compartment,

figure 8 shows a side view of a domestic refrigerator,

figure 9 shows a front view of a shelf provided in the wall support mechanism,

FIG. 10 shows a schematic side view of a shelf provided in the wall support mechanism, and

fig. 11 shows a recess with laterally inclined faces and a spring element arranged therein.

Detailed Description

The terms "front", "rear", "upper", "lower", "etc. refer to the normal working position of the refrigerator, in which the closed user door is vertical and arranged in front. These terms are equally applicable to shelves provided in refrigerators, wherein always the intended arrangement in the refrigerating compartment is assumed.

The term "cold storage device" especially includes, but is not limited to, refrigerators, cryogenic refrigerators and combined cold storage and cryogenic refrigerators.

Fig. 1 schematically shows a refrigeration appliance having a refrigeration compartment 1 with two side walls 1a, a rear side wall 1b, an upper side wall 1c and a lower side wall 1 d. On the front side of the refrigerating appliance, a user door 2 is provided, with which the refrigerating compartment 1 can be opened or closed. In the refrigerating compartment 1, a plurality of shelves 3 are provided, on which the objects 4 to be cooled can be stored.

Fig. 2 shows a top view of the shelf 3. The shelf 3 has a storage plate 5, which can be made in particular of glass or plastic, on which the objects 4 to be cooled can be stored.

A plurality of shelf support mechanisms 6 are provided on the side edges 5a of the storage plate 5 on the left and right in fig. 2, and the shelf 3 can be supported in the refrigerating compartment by these shelf support mechanisms. The shelf support means 6 are designed as strips which extend over only a part of the total length of the lateral edges 5a of the storage plate 3. The shelf support mechanism 6 is here provided substantially in the rear half 3b of the shelf 3, so that the object 4 to be cooled can be stored over the entire width over a large part of the front half 3a of the shelf 3 and the shelf support mechanism 6 does not have to cover the storage plate 5.

Fig. 3 shows a shelf in a bottom view and fig. 4 shows an enlarged detail of the spring element 7 provided in the shelf support mechanism 6, wherein the course of the side edges 5a of the storage plate 5 is shown in dashed lines. Fig. 5 shows the shelf in a side view and fig. 6 shows an enlarged detail of the spring element 7. The shelf support 6 has a shelf recess 8 in which the spring element 7 is arranged. The shelf recess 8 is delimited in the longitudinal direction by two recess side walls 8a, to which the spring element 7 is connected. By connecting the spring element 7 with the two recess side walls 8a on both sides, the spring element 7 is positioned stably in the shelf recess 8 and thus withstands a large amount of shelf movement without damage. Furthermore, a greater spring force can be generated at the two-sided connection than when the spring element 7 is connected to one side of the shelf recess 8 recess side wall 8 a.

The shelf support mechanism 6 and the spring element 7 are one-piece injection molded parts.

In order to be able to arrange the spring element 7 in the shelf recess 8 as described, a plate recess 5b in the storage plate 5 is advantageous in which the shelf recess 8 and the spring element 7 are arranged.

The spring element 7 is arranged close to the rear end of the shelf 3 and presses the shelf upwards in the mounted state.

Fig. 7 shows the wall supporting mechanism 9, which is provided on the side wall of the refrigerating compartment 1. The shelf 3 can be accommodated in the wall support mechanism 9.

The wall bearing means 9 is configured as a guide rail, wherein a plurality of guide rails are arranged one above the other in order to make it possible for the user himself to select the height of the shelf 3 in the refrigerating compartment 1. The wall bearing means 9 are arranged on the side wall 1a of the refrigerating compartment 1 and have a recess 12 in which the spring element 7 can be arranged in the mounted state.

Fig. 8 shows a sectional view of a refrigerator housing with shelves in a side view, wherein the user door 2 forms the front side of the refrigerator and the side wall 1b of the refrigerating compartment 1 forms the rear side.

The shelf 3 is arranged such that it is in contact with the back stop face 9a of the wall support mechanism 9.

Fig. 9 shows a close-up view of a shelf 3 provided as intended in the refrigerating compartment 1 in a front view. The height of the shelf support means 6 is configured to be slightly smaller than the height of the wall support means 9 which are configured as rails. Thereby forming a small gap in the vertical direction between the shelf support mechanism 6 and the wall support mechanism 9.

This configuration is also schematically shown in fig. 10. In the front region, shelf 3 rests on lower stop surface 11 at point 11a of wall bearing 9 due to its own weight. In the rear region, however, the shelf 3 is pressed upwards against the upper stop face 10 on the basis of the spring element 7 (which is arranged in the rear region of the shelf 3 as shown in fig. 5). The shelf 3 is therefore slightly inclined compared to the wall bearing 9 designed as a guide rail. Either the inclination is so slight that this is not perceptible to the user and there is no possibility of liquid flowing forward on the shelf, or the wall support means 9 are constructed slightly inclined in the depth direction so that the shelf 3 lies completely horizontally in the depth direction in the refrigerating compartment 1.

Since shelf 3 rests in the front region against point 11a of lower stop surface 11 and in the rear region against upper stop surface 10, a vertical movement of shelf 3 is no longer possible when placing an object into the front region of shelf 3. Since the shelf 3 is pressed forward downward and rearward upward by the support at the point 11a on the basis of the lever effect when there is additional weight in the front region. However, movement is prevented because shelf 3 already rests against lower stop surface 11 and upper stop surface 10, respectively. The lever effect on the shelf 3 is formed because the shelf is supported only in the rear region of the refrigerating compartment 1 by the wall support mechanism 9. This is particularly advantageous because a larger placement area in width is provided on the shelf 3 based on the absence of the wall support mechanism 9 in the front half of the refrigeration compartment 1.

Fig. 11 shows a detail of the spring element 7 arranged in the recess 12. The recess 12 has two inclined side walls 13 which delimit the recess in the longitudinal direction, i.e. to the left and right in the figure. The front inclined side wall 13 and the spring element 7 are configured such that the spring element 7 rests on the front inclined side wall 13 when the shelf 3 is installed and exerts a correspondingly obliquely acting force (arrow direction in fig. 11). Based on this inclined position, the spring element presses the shelf 3 on the one hand upwards against the upper stop face 10 of the wall bearing 9 and on the other hand backwards against the rear stop face 9a of the wall bearing.

Note that: the arrangement of the spring element 7 is only shown in principle and can be arranged anywhere with any force direction. For example, it is also possible for the spring element to laterally impact the wall bearing 9 and thus prevent lateral horizontal movement of the shelf.

Preferred embodiments of the invention are described in the present application, but it is explicitly pointed out that the invention is not limited to these solutions and can also be implemented in other ways within the scope of the following claims.

Claims

1. A cold storage appliance comprising at least one cold storage compartment (1) having a plurality of side walls (1a) and comprising at least one shelf (3),

at least one wall support means (9) for supporting the at least one shelf (3) is arranged on at least one of the side walls (1a),

the shelf (3) comprises at least one storage plate (5) having a plurality of lateral edges (5a), wherein shelf support means (6) are provided on at least one of the lateral edges (5a) for supporting the shelf (3) on the at least one wall support means (9), wherein at least one spring element (7) is provided on the at least one shelf support means (6),

characterized in that the spring element presses the shelf in the mounted state against the stop face, which counteracts a possible displacement of the shelf.

2. A cold storage appliance according to claim 1, wherein the spring element (7) is arranged in the rear half (3b) of the shelf (3) when the shelf (3) is mounted in the cold storage compartment (1) and presses the shelf (3) up against the upper stop face (10) of the at least one wall support means (9).

3. A cold storage appliance according to claim 1, wherein the spring element (7) is arranged in the front half (3a) of the shelf (3) when the shelf (3) is mounted in the cold storage compartment (1) and presses the shelf (3) down onto the lower stop face (11) of the at least one wall support means (9).

4. A cold storage appliance according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the spring element (7) presses the shelf (3) backwards in the cold storage compartment (1) when the shelf (3) is installed in the cold storage compartment.

5. A cold storage appliance according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the at least one wall support means (9) has a cavity-like recess (12) for accommodating the spring element (7).

6. A cold storage appliance according to claim 5, wherein the recess (12) has at least one inclined side wall (13) delimiting the recess in the longitudinal direction and the recess is positioned such that the spring element (7) impinges on the at least one inclined side wall (13) when the shelf (3) is mounted in the cold storage compartment (1).

7. A cold storage appliance according to claim 5, wherein the spring element (7) is arranged in the recessed recess (12) in the mounted state of the shelf (3) and can be released from this state only by elastic deformation.

8. A cold storage device as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the shelf support means (6) are configured as slats.

9. A cold storage device as claimed in one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the shelf support means (6) have a shelf recess (8), the spring element (7) being fixedly connected to two recess side walls (8a) delimiting the shelf recess (8) in the longitudinal direction.

10. A cold storage device according to one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the storage plate (5) has a plate recess (5b) for accommodating the spring element (7).

11. A cold storage appliance according to one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the shelf support means (6) and the spring element (7) are jointly formed in one piece.

12. A cold storage appliance according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the shelf support means (6) and/or the at least one wall support means (9) extend only over a rear part of the total length of the side edges (5a) of the storage panel (5).

13. A cold storage appliance according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein a shelf support means (6) is provided on each of the two side edges (5a) of the storage plate (5), and both shelf support means (6) have spring elements (7).

14. A cold storage device as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the cold storage device is a refrigerator.

15. A cold storage appliance according to claim 5, wherein the at least one wall support means (9) is configured as a linear guide.

16. A cold storage device as claimed in claim 8, wherein the shelf support means (6) is injection moulded or glued to the storage plate (5) or is formed as a one-piece component with the storage plate (5).

17. A cold storage device as claimed in claim 11, characterized in that the shelf support (6) and the spring element (7) are jointly formed in one piece as an injection-molded part.

18. A cold storage appliance according to claim 12, wherein the front part of the storage plate (5) is configured wider than the rear part of the storage plate (5).

19. A cold storage appliance according to claim 13, wherein the shelf support means (6) are configured as slats.

20. A cold storage appliance according to claim 6, wherein the spring element (7) is arranged in the recessed recess (12) in the mounted state of the shelf (3) and can be released from this state only by elastic deformation.