EP3199896B1 - Cooling cabinet shelf with spring element - Google Patents

Description

Field of invention

The invention relates to a refrigeration device, in particular a refrigerator, with at least one cooling space with side walls and at least one shelf. A wall mounting means for mounting the at least one shelf is arranged on at least one of the side walls.

background

Trays for refrigerators of this type are well known. As a rule, they are inserted into grooves in the side walls of the refrigerator or in rails attached to the side walls or placed on corresponding support surfaces. In particular, when removing objects stored on the shelf, the shelf can slide in the removal direction, for example. If objects are later placed on the shelf, the shelf can slide back in the opposite direction. Slipping can create gaps between the shelf and the walls of the cold storage room, through which objects fall or, if necessary, spilled liquids can drip down. For this reason, a wide variety of concepts for securing trays have already been developed, for example in EP 1 956 324 is revealed. This document shows a fixing device which is relatively complex to manufacture and which requires the user to operate the fixing device in the pushed-in position of the tray.

WO2010 / 127946 shows a chilled goods depository with fastening devices with latching elements arranged on the side edges of the deposit area. These hit trapezoidal when the chilled goods shelf is moved designed, arranged on the side walls of the cooling space supports.

EP 0 685 695 shows a tray with a stop element which is designed as a tongue-like leaf spring. The guide arranged on the refrigerator wall has a counter stop. In order to be able to remove the tray from the guides, an actuation button must be pressed.

KR 2009 0006373 shows a tray with elastic elements, which come to lie between large and small support surfaces arranged on the inside wall of the refrigerator.

DE 195 24 255 also show a tray with a snap-in mechanism.

Presentation of the invention

It is therefore the object of the present invention to provide a cooling device with at least one shelf, the shelf being easy to manufacture and use, but still avoiding unwanted movements of the shelf in the cooling device.

This object is achieved by the cooling device according to claim 1. Accordingly, the cooling device comprises at least one cooling space with side walls and at least one shelf. At least one wall mounting means on which the at least one tray can be mounted is arranged on at least one of the side walls. The tray has at least one shelf with side edges. A tray storage means is arranged on at least one of the side edges of the storage plate, which is used to mount the tray on the wall storage means. A spring element is arranged on the at least one shelf support means. The spring element presses the tray in the inserted state against a stop surface of the at least one wall mounting means, which counteracts any displacements of the tray.

A cold room is to be understood as a room which can be cooled to any temperature, in particular also a freezer room.

The tray storage means and the storage plate can be different components or together a single component. For example, the storage plate and the tray storage means can be a one-piece molded part which is laterally designed in such a way that it can be stored on the wall storage means without additional components.

A spring element is a component that yields under load and returns to its original shape after relief, i.e. it shows an elastic behavior.

The object according to the invention has the advantage that the spring element, which is arranged on the at least one shelf support means, presses the shelf in the inserted state against a stop surface of the at least one wall support means, which counteracts any displacements of the shelf.

The spring element is advantageously arranged in the rear half of the tray when the tray is inserted, i.e. when it is arranged in the cold room as intended. The spring element presses the tray upwards against an upper stop surface of the wall mounting means.

The "rear half" of the shelf means that half which, when the shelf is in place, is closer to a rear wall of the cooling space. The rear wall is arranged on the opposite side of a door to the cold room, which is opened in order to remove objects stored on trays from the cold room or place them in the cold room. The door thus forms the front of the cold room.

This arrangement of the spring element has the advantage that, for example, in the embodiment described the tray is supported downwards on the wall mounting means in the front area and is pressed against an upper stop surface in the rear area. As soon as a user places an object on the shelf, which in most cases will be in the front area of the shelf, a movement of the shelf due to the additional weight of the object in the vertical direction is prevented. Because in the front area, in which the additional weight of the object acts, the tray is already on the bottom, and in the rear area, in which the tray could be pushed upwards due to a leverage exerted by the weight of the object, the tray is already in contact with an upper stop surface.

A possible embodiment of a spring element, which presses the tray up against an upper stop surface of the wall mounting means, can consist in that the spring element abuts against a lower stop surface of the wall mounting means and presses down there so that the shelf of the spring element against the mentioned upper stop surface is pressed.

In a further preferred embodiment, when the tray is inserted, the spring element is arranged in the cooling space in the front half of the tray. The spring element presses the tray against a lower stop surface of the wall mounting means.

This embodiment also prevents the tray from moving in the vertical direction when placing objects on the front half of the tray. In one possible embodiment, the spring element strikes an upper stop surface and presses the tray downwards. In this way, the shelf lies at the bottom in the front area right from the start, so that it does not move when it is subjected to additional weight from an object placed on the shelf.

The spring element is preferably arranged and designed in such a way that, when the tray is inserted in the cooling space, it presses it backwards in the cooling space.

Press "back" means that the tray is pushed away from the door towards the rear wall of the refrigerator and therefore strikes against the rear wall itself, against a rear stop surface of the wall mounting means or against another element, preferably arranged in the rear region of the refrigerator.

This embodiment has the advantage that the shelf does not move in the depth direction of the cooling space, i.e. from front to back or vice versa, even if objects are placed on the shelf by a user or removed from the shelf. If a user places objects on the shelf from the front, this can, for example, generate a force on the shelf that pushes it backwards. However, since the shelf is already being pushed backwards due to the spring element, for example against the rear wall of the cooling space, the shelf does not move any further when the object is put down because it is already striking. In the opposite case, when an object is removed from the shelf, a force can act on the shelf that pulls it forward. However, this force is counteracted by the force acting backwards by the spring element, so that the tray does not slip in this case either.

In a further preferred embodiment, the wall mounting means has a trough-shaped recess for receiving the spring element. In particular, the wall mounting means can be designed as a linear guide rail.

In this embodiment, the spring element in particular is arranged in the recess when the tray is in the inserted state. This has the advantage that when the tray is pulled out, be it intentionally to clean the tray or unintentionally during removal an object from the tray, an increased force must be applied so that the tray moves at all, because the spring element must be compressed or additionally loaded so that it can be guided out of the recess.

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

The guide rail can be designed in such a way that it has an upper plane which limits vertical movements of the tray upwards and in particular forms the upper stop surface. In particular, the tray is pressed against the upper level due to a force exerted by the spring element.

The recess of the wall mounting means advantageously has at least one inclined side wall delimiting in the longitudinal direction and is positioned in such a way that the spring element pushes off the at least one inclined side wall when the tray is inserted in the cooling space.

Due to the inclined design of the inclined side wall delimiting the recess in the longitudinal direction, the spring element, which is pressed onto the inclined side wall by the weight of the tray and / or by an upper stop surface, is loaded, so that a force emanates from the spring element which the tray both after pushes back and in the vertical direction depending on the arrangement of the recess up or down.

In the inserted state of the tray, the spring element is preferably arranged within the trough-shaped recess and can only be released from this state by elastic deformation.

In a further preferred embodiment, the tray storage means is designed as a bar. In particular, the tray storage means can be injection-molded or glued onto the storage plate or designed as a one-piece component with the storage plate.

A "bar" is to be understood as a narrow slat made of any material, which can serve here as the edge strip of the shelf.

Furthermore, the shelf support means can have a shelf recess, the spring element being firmly connected to two recess side walls delimiting the shelf recess in the longitudinal direction.

This embodiment has the advantage that the spring element can be arranged as compactly as possible on the shelf due to the shelf recess without significantly losing storage space over a width of the shelf. Since the spring element is connected to two recess side walls, it is extremely robust and can withstand a large number of loads.

The storage plate advantageously has a plate recess for receiving the spring element.

This makes it possible, for example, that the spring element can be arranged on the recess side walls of the shelf recess and the shelf recess can be arranged in the panel recess. As a result, the tray storage means and the spring element can be arranged compactly on the side edges of the storage plate, and an unnecessary widening of the tray by the tray storage means is not necessary.

Furthermore, the tray support means and the spring element can be designed together in one piece. This is possible in particular with an injection-molded part.

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

By "over a rear part" it is meant that a larger part of the tray storage means and / or the wall storage means is arranged in the rear half than in the front half of the total length of the side edge of the shelf.

As a result of this design, more storage space is available in the front part of the storage plate because this is not unnecessarily restricted by the tray storage means and / or the wall storage means.

A tray mounting means is preferably arranged on each of two side edges of the storage plate, both tray mounting means having a spring element.

By arranging two spring elements, a single spring element can be made narrower.

Brief description of the drawings

• Fig. 1 ein Kühlgerät in Form eines Haushaltskühlschranks,
• Fig. 2 eine Ansicht von oben auf ein Tablar,
• Fig. 3 eine Ansicht von unten auf ein Tablar,
• Fig. 4 eine Detailansicht eines Federelements von unten,
• Fig. 5 eine seitliche Ansicht auf ein Tablar,
• Fig. 6 eine Detailansicht eines Federelements von der Seite,
• Fig. 7 in einem Kühlraum angeordnete Wandlagerungsmittel,
• Fig. 8 einen seitlichen Schnitt durch einen Haushaltskühlschrank,
• Fig. 9 ein in Wandlagerungsmitteln angeordnetes Tablar mit Ansicht von vorne,
• Fig. 10 eine seitliche, schematische Ansicht des in Wandlagerungsmitteln angeordneten Tablars, und
• Fig. 11 eine Ausnehmung mit seitlichen Schrägflächen und ein darin angeordnetes Federelement.

Further refinements, advantages and applications of the invention emerge from the dependent claims and from the description that follows based on the figures. Show:

• Fig. 1 a refrigerator in the form of a household refrigerator,
• Fig. 2 a view from above of a tray,
• Fig. 3 a view from below of a tray,
• Fig. 4 a detailed view of a spring element from below,
• Fig. 5 a side view of a tray,
• Fig. 6 a detailed view of a spring element from the side,
• Fig. 7 wall storage means arranged in a cold room,
• Fig. 8 a side cut through a household refrigerator,
• Fig. 9 a tray arranged in wall storage means with a view from the front,
• Fig. 10 a lateral, schematic view of the tray arranged in wall storage means, and
• Fig. 11 a recess with lateral inclined surfaces and a spring element arranged therein.

Ways of Carrying Out the Invention

The terms “front”, “rear”, “top”, “bottom” etc. relate to the normal operating position of the refrigerator, in which the closed user door is arranged vertically and in front. The terms are also to be applied to the trays arranged in the refrigerator, always assuming the intended arrangement in the cold room.

The term “refrigerator” includes in particular (but not only) refrigerators, freezers and combined refrigerators and freezers.

Fig. 1 shows schematically a cooling device with a cooling space 1, which has two side walls 1a, a rear side wall 1b, an upper side wall 1c and a lower side wall 1d. A user door 2 with which the cooling chamber 1 can be opened and closed is arranged on the front of the cooling device. In the cooling space 1, trays 3 are arranged on which objects 4 to be cooled can be stored.

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

At side edges 5a of the shelf 5, on the Fig. 2 left and right, tray storage means 6 are arranged with which the tray 3 can be stored in the cold room. The tray storage means 6 are designed as strips, which are only part of the total Length of the side edges 5a of the shelf 3 extend. The tray storage means 6 are arranged essentially in the rear half 3b of the tray 3, so that objects 4 to be cooled can be stored over the entire width of a large part of the front half 3a of the tray 3 and the tray storage means 6 does not unnecessarily cover the storage plate 5 .

Fig. 3 shows the tray from below and Fig. 4 shows an enlarged detailed view of the spring element 7 arranged in the tray bearing means 6, the course of the side edge 5a of the storage plate 5 being shown in dashed lines. Fig. 5 shows the tray in side view and Fig. 6 shows an enlarged detailed view of the spring element 7. The tray mounting means 6 has a tray recess 8 in which the spring element 7 is arranged. The tray recess 8 is delimited in the longitudinal direction by two recess side walls 9 to which the spring element 7 is connected. Due to the two-sided connection of the spring element 7 to the two recess side walls 9, the spring element 7 is stably positioned in the tray recess 8 and thus withstands a large number of tray movements without being damaged. Furthermore, with a two-sided connection, a greater spring force can be generated than with a one-sided connection of the spring element 7 to the recess side walls 9 of the tray recess 8.

The tray mounting means 6 and the spring element 7 are one-piece injection-molded parts.

So that the spring element 7 can be arranged in the tray recess 8 as described, a plate recess 5b in the storage plate 5, in which the tray recess 8 and the spring element 7 are arranged, is advantageous.

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

Fig. 7 shows wall mounting means 9 which are arranged on the side walls of the cooling space 1. Trays 3 can be accommodated in the wall mounting means 9.

The wall mounting means 9 are designed as guide rails, with several guide rails being arranged one above the other so that the user can choose the height of the shelf 3 in the cooling space 1 himself. The wall mounting means 9 are arranged on the side walls 1a of the cooling space 1 and have recesses 12 in which the spring elements 7 can be arranged in the inserted state.

Fig. 8 shows a section through the housing of the refrigerator with shelves in side view, the user door 2 forming the front of the refrigerator and the rear wall 1b of the cooling space 1 forming the rear.

The trays 3 are arranged in such a way that they are in contact with a rear stop surface 9a of the wall mounting means 9.

Fig. 9 shows a close-up view of a shelf 3 arranged as intended in the cooling space 1, viewed from the front. The height of the tray storage means 6 is designed to be slightly less than the height of a wall mounting means 9 designed as a guide rail.

This configuration is also shown schematically in FIG Fig. 10 illustrated. In the front area, the tray 3 rests on the lower stop surface 11 at point 11a of the wall mounting means 9 due to its own weight. In the rear area, however, the tray 3 is due to the spring element 7, which as in Fig. 5 shown is arranged in the rear area of the tray 3, pressed up against the upper stop surface 10. The tray 3 is thus in relation to the guide rails designed wall mounting means 9 slightly inclined. Either the incline is so slight that the user does not notice it and no liquids can flow forward on the tray, or the wall mounting means 9 are designed to be slightly inclined in the depth direction so that the tray 3 in the cooling space 1 is completely horizontal in the depth direction to lie down.

Because the tray 3 rests in the front area on the lower stop surface 11 at point 11a and in the rear area on the upper stop surface 10, vertical movement of the tray 3 is no longer possible when an object is placed in the front area of the tray 3. Because if there is additional weight in the front area, the tray 3 is pushed downwards at the front and upwards at the rear due to the leverage effect with support at point 11a. Because the tray 3 is already in contact with the lower stop surface 11 and against the upper stop surface 10, movement is prevented. The leverage effect on the tray 3 arises because the tray is supported by the wall mounting means 9 only in the rear area of the cooling space 1. This is particularly advantageous because, due to the lack of wall mounting means 9 in the front half of the cooling space 1 on the trays 3, there is more storage space available in width.

In Fig. 11 a detailed view of the spring element 7 arranged in the recess 12 is shown. The recess 12 has two inclined side walls 13 which delimit the recess in the longitudinal direction, ie on the left and right in the figure. The front inclined side wall 13 and the spring element 7 are designed in such a way that the spring element 7 comes to rest on the front inclined side wall 13 when the tray 3 is inserted and a correspondingly inclined force (arrow direction in Fig. 11 ) exercises. Due to this inclined position, the spring element presses the tray 3 on the one hand upwards against the upper stop surface 10 and, on the other hand, towards the rear against the rear stop surface 9a of the wall mounting means 9.

Note: The arrangement of the spring element 7 is only shown in principle and can be arranged at any location with any direction of force. For example, it is also possible for the spring to push off the side of the wall mounting means 9, thereby preventing the tray from moving horizontally.

While preferred embodiments of the invention are described in the present application, it should be clearly pointed out that the invention is not restricted to these and can also be carried out in other ways within the scope of the following claims.

Claims (13)

1. Cooling device, in particular refrigerator, comprising at least one cooling chamber (1) with side walls (1a) and at least one shelf (3),
   wherein at least one wall mounting means (9) for mounting the at least one shelf (3) is arranged on at least one of the side walls (1a),
   wherein the shelf (3) comprises at least one shelf plate (5) with side edges (5a), wherein a shelf mounting means (6) is arranged on at least one of the side edges (5a) for supporting the shelf (3) on the at least one wall mounting means (9),
   wherein at least one spring element (7) is arranged on the at least one shelf mounting means (6),
   characterised in that the spring element presses the shelf in the inserted state against a stop surface of the at least one wall mounting means (9), which counteracts any displacements of the shelf.
2. Cooling device according to claim 1,
   wherein the spring element (7) is arranged in the rear half (3b) of the shelf (3) if the shelf (3) is inserted in the cooling chamber (1) and presses the shelf (3) upwards against an upper stop surface (10) of the at least one wall mounting means (9).
3. Cooling device according to claim 1,
   wherein the spring element (7) is arranged in the front half (3a) of the shelf (3) if the shelf (3) is inserted in the cooling chamber (1) and presses the shelf (3) downwards against a lower stop surface (11) of the at least one wall mounting means (9).
4. Cooling device according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the spring element (7) presses the shelf (3) backwards in the cooling chamber (1) if the shelf (3) is inserted in the cooling chamber,
5. Cooling device according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the at least one wall mounting means (9) has a trough-shaped recess (12) for receiving the spring element (7), and in particular wherein the at least one wall mounting means (9) is adapted as a linear guide rail.
6. Cooling device according to claim 5,
   wherein the recess (12) has at least one inclined side wall (13) delimiting it in the longitudinal direction and is positioned such that the spring element (7) abuts the at least one inclined side wall (13) if the shelf (3) is inserted in the cooling chamber (1).
7. Cooling device according to claim 5 or 6, wherein the spring element (7) is arranged within the trough-shaped recess (12) and can only be released from this state by elastic deformation if the shelf (3) is inserted in the cooling chamber (1).
8. Cooling device according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the shelf mounting means (6) is adapted as a slat and
   in particular wherein the shelf mounting means (6) is injection moulded or glued to the shelf (5) or is adapted as a one-piece component with the shelf (5) .
9. Cooling device according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the shelf mounting means (6) has a shelf recess (8), wherein the spring element (7) is fixedly connected to two side walls (9) of the recess delimiting the shelf recess (8) in the longitudinal direction.
10. Cooling device according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the shelf (5) has a plate recess (5b) for receiving the spring element (7).
11. Cooling device according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the shelf mounting means (6) and the spring element (7) are adapted together as one piece, in particular as an injection moulded part.
12. Cooling device according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the shelf mounting means (6) and/or the at least one wall mounting means (9) extend only over a rear part of an overall length of the side edge (5a) of the shelf plate (5), in particular wherein the front part of the shelf plate (5) is adapted wider than the rear part of the shelf plate (5).
13. Cooling device according to one of the preceding claims, wherein a shelf mounting means (6) is arranged at each of the two side edges (5a) of the shelf plate (5), which means is in particular designed as a slat, and both shelf mounting means (6) have a spring element (7).

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