U.S. patent application number 10/545469 was filed with the patent office on 2006-06-29 for refrigerator with interior lighting.
This patent application is currently assigned to BSH Bosch und Siemens Hausgerate, GmbH. Invention is credited to Rolf Kordon.
Application Number | 20060138916 10/545469 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 32891990 |
Filed Date | 2006-06-29 |
United States Patent
Application |
20060138916 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Kordon; Rolf |
June 29, 2006 |
Refrigerator with interior lighting
Abstract
A refrigerator with a body and a door fastened to the body to
enclose a heat-insulated inner space formed in the body. At least
one luminous element for lighting the inner space is fixed to the
inner side of the door facing the inner space.
Inventors: |
Kordon; Rolf; (Giengen,
DE) |
Correspondence
Address: |
JOHN T. WINBURN
100 BOSCH BOULEVARD
NEW BERN
NC
28562
US
|
Assignee: |
BSH Bosch und Siemens Hausgerate,
GmbH
Carl-Wery-Strasse 34
Munich
DE
81739
|
Family ID: |
32891990 |
Appl. No.: |
10/545469 |
Filed: |
March 10, 2004 |
PCT Filed: |
March 10, 2004 |
PCT NO: |
PCT/EP04/02467 |
371 Date: |
August 12, 2005 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
312/223.5 ;
62/264 |
Current CPC
Class: |
F21V 33/0044 20130101;
F25D 27/00 20130101; F21W 2131/305 20130101; F25D 2400/08
20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
312/223.5 ;
062/264 |
International
Class: |
A47B 81/00 20060101
A47B081/00; A47B 97/00 20060101 A47B097/00; F25D 23/00 20060101
F25D023/00 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Mar 10, 2003 |
DE |
103 10 330.9 |
Claims
1-11. (canceled)
12. A refrigeration appliance, comprising: a body; a door attached
to said body; a heat-insulated interior formed in said body; and at
least one luminous element for lighting said interior, said
luminous element arranged on an inside surface of said door facing
said interior.
13. The refrigeration appliance according to claim 12, including
said luminous element radiates predominantly in an angular range,
whereof the apex is formed by said luminous element and which on
the one hand is delimited by a substantially vertical line to said
inside surface and on the other hand by a section of said inside
surface running from said luminous element to the attached side of
said door.
14. The refrigeration appliance according to claim 12, including
said luminous element arranged substantially centrally with respect
to the direction of width of said door.
15. The refrigeration appliance according to claim 12, including
said door has two spaced apart assembly points on both sides of a
middle line of said door, on each of which said luminous element
optionally can be mounted.
16. The refrigeration appliance according to claim 15, including
said luminous element is mounted on the one of said two assembly
points, which is situated on the side of the middle line closest to
the attached side of said door.
17. The refrigeration appliance according to claim 14, including
said luminous element optionally can be mounted on said door in two
orientations rotated opposite to one another through
substantially180.degree. about an axis substantially vertical to
said door.
18. The refrigeration appliance according to claim 12, including an
adjustable beam-shaping element arranged on said luminous
element.
19. The refrigeration appliance according to claim 18, including
said beam-shaping element is one of a reflector and a light
shade.
20. The refrigeration according to claim 18, including said
beam-shaping element is a refractive element.
21. A refrigeration appliance, comprising: a body; a door attached
to said body; a heat-insulated interior formed in said body; said
interior divided into a plurality of compartments; and at least one
luminous element for lighting said interior, said luminous element
arranged on an inside surface of said door facing said interior at
the level of each said compartment.
22. The refrigeration appliance according to claim 21, including
one luminous element extends over the height of several of said
compartments.
23. The refrigeration appliance according to claim 21, including
said luminous element radiates predominantly in an angular range,
whereof the apex is formed by said luminous element and which on
the one hand is delimited by a substantially vertical line to said
inside surface and on the other hand by a section of said inside
surface running from said luminous element to the attached side of
said door.
24. The refrigeration appliance according to claim 21, including
said luminous element arranged substantially centrally with respect
to the direction of width of said door.
25. The refrigeration appliance according to claim 21, including
said door has two spaced apart assembly points on both sides of a
middle line of said door, on each of which said luminous element
optionally can be mounted.
26. The refrigeration appliance according to claim 25, including
said luminous element is mounted on the one of said two assembly
points, which is situated on the side of the middle line closest to
the attached side of said door.
27. The refrigeration appliance according to claim 24, including
said luminous element optionally can be mounted on said door in two
orientations rotated opposite to one another through
substantially180.degree. about an axis substantially vertical to
said door.
28. The refrigeration appliance according to claim 21, including an
adjustable beam-shaping element arranged on said luminous
element.
29. The refrigeration appliance according to claim 28, including
said beam-shaping element is one of a reflector and a light
shade.
30. The refrigeration according to claim 28, including said
beam-shaping element is a refractive element.
Description
[0001] The present invention relates to a refrigeration appliance
such as a refrigerator or a freezer, with a body and a door
attached on the body, which delimit a heat-insulated interior.
Normally such refrigeration appliances are fitted with interior
lighting, which is switched on automatically when the door is
opened. Such interior lighting conventionally consists of a single
luminous element, positioned on a lateral inner wall of the
body.
[0002] Such interior lighting illuminates items in its immediate
environment very brightly, but also conveys heat to these items
undesirably. Items, located at a greater distance from the luminous
element, possibly on other compartment floors of the interior than
that on which the luminous element is arranged, are illuminated
only poorly by comparison. Also, with such interior lighting it is
difficult to satisfactorily illuminate items in the front region of
the interior, without dazzling a user looking into the open
interior from the front.
[0003] EP 0971186 A2 discloses a refrigeration appliance according
to the preamble of claim 1, in which several luminous elements are
arranged on the insides of the body. These luminous elements, which
inter alia can be arranged on opposite sides of the interior or
extend over the major part of its height, enable homogeneous
lighting of the interior. Assembling the refrigeration appliance
however is extremely expensive, since a large number of apertures
is required in the inner wall of the body to mount the lighting
element and to contact it electrically. Further, with this
refrigeration appliance waste heat from the lighting means used is
discharged to the interior.
[0004] The object of the present invention is to provide a
refrigeration appliance which enables even lighting of the interior
without risk to the user of being dazzled and employing simple
means.
[0005] This task is solved by a refrigeration appliance having the
characteristics of claim 1. In that at least one luminous element
for lighting the interior is arranged on an inside of the door
facing the interior, the distance between the luminous element and
items illuminated by it is made greater, resulting in uniformly
bright lighting, and shading caused by items placed near the
luminous element is eliminated. Also, the luminous element lies
outside the main visual angle of any user looking into the interior
of the opened refrigeration appliance, such that there is almost no
direct risk of being dazzled.
[0006] To fully exclude the possibility of being dazzled, it is
preferred that the luminous element radiates light predominantly
into a angular range, whereof the apex is formed by the luminous
element itself and which on the one hand is delimited by a vertical
on the inside of the door and on the other hand by a section of its
inside running from the luminous element to the attached side of
the door. This means that if the door is opened and stands at a
right angle to the body, then the radiation of the luminous element
is directed substantially into the interior; radiation in the
direction of a user standing in front of the open refrigeration
appliance, which could dazzle the user, simply does not occur.
[0007] Such a luminous element is preferably arranged centrally
with respect to the direction of width of the door. In this way it
is always suitably placed, independent of which side the door is
attached.
[0008] If the luminous element is placed eccentrically, it is
appropriate to provide the door with two assembly points on both
sides of the middle line, on which the luminous element optionally
can be mounted, so that it can always be suitably placed, depending
on which side the door is attached.
[0009] In this case the luminous element is preferably mounted on
one of the two assembly points located on the side of the middle
line facing the attached side of the door. The risk of shading by
the user himself is less than if the luminous element were mounted
on the side of the door remote from where it is attached.
[0010] As a result of a preferred configuration the luminous
element can be mounted on the door optionally in two orientations
rotated against one another through 180.degree. about an axis
vertical to the door. This is particularly effective if the
luminous element is meant to radiate preferably not in the
direction of said axis, but rather in the angular range between the
axis and the section of the inside running from the luminous
element to the attached side of the door. Here rotation enables the
direction of radiation in each case to match the selected
attachment side of the door, without changes in the configuration
of the luminous element itself being necessary. If the luminous
element is mounted centrally on the door, its assembly point should
be such as to enable fastening of the luminous element in both
orientations; in the case of two eccentric assembly points it can
suffice if each permits assembly in one orientation only.
[0011] To ensure dazzle-free alignment of light radiation, an
adjustable beam-shaping element is preferably arranged on the
luminous element. This element can in particular be a reflector or
a light shade.
[0012] A refractive element is also considered.
[0013] If the interior of the refrigeration appliance is subdivided
into a number of compartments, there should be at least one
luminous element at the level of each compartment to effect even
lighting. This requisite can be satisfied by several luminous
elements, in each case arranged at different heights on the door;
preferably this is a single luminous element extending over the
height of several compartments.
[0014] Further characteristics and advantages of the invention will
emerge from the following description of embodiments with reference
to the attached figures, in which:
[0015] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an inventive refrigeration
appliance with open door;
[0016] FIGS. 2 to 5 in each case show partial sections through a
refrigeration appliance door with different variants of luminous
elements according to the present invention; and
[0017] FIG. 6 is a perspective view similar to FIG. 1 of a further
configuration of an inventive refrigeration appliance.
[0018] In a perspective view FIG. 1 shows a refrigerator 10 as an
example of an inventive refrigeration appliance. Attached pivotably
on a body 11 of the refrigerator 10 is a door 12. Body 11 and door
12 delimit an interior 13, which is subdivided by compartment
floors 16 into a large number of compartments 17. The door 12 has
an outer wall 14 made of sheet metal and an inner wall 15 made of
deep-drawn synthetic material, which are connected to one another
at the edges and delimit a cavity filled with insulating foam. The
inner wall 15 has a substantially smooth inside 18, which is framed
by a circular rib 19, and which projects slightly into the interior
13 when the door is open. A luminous element 20, whereof only an
outer visor is evident in the figure, extends centrally on the
inside 18 over its entire height.
[0019] A first example for a possible inner structure of the
luminous element 20 is shown in FIG. 2. The inside 18 has a
cylindrical segment-shaped depression 21, in which lighting means
22, here a neon lamp, is mounted. The neon lamp is in each case
attached at its ends by clips 23 to the inner wall 15, through
which an electrical power supply cable 24 for the luminous element
20 also runs. Of, the necessary two wires of the power supply cable
24 in each case one can be guided at the level of each clip 23 into
the cavity 25 of the door 12 and from there via the door hinge into
the body 11. Alternatively, one wire of the power supply cable
inside the depression 21 can also be guided from one clip 23 to the
other, so that both wires pass through a single aperture in the
inner wall 15 on one of the clips 23.
[0020] Instead of a single neon lamp several lighting means
distributed over the height of the luminous element 20 can also be
used. In particular, instead of the tubes a rod-shaped carrier can
be provided, on which these several luminous elements, e.g. halogen
globes or LEDs, are mounted, and which has a pair of terminals for
attaching to the power supply cable, to which these several
luminous elements are connected in parallel or in series.
[0021] The depression 21 is covered by a semi-cylindrical visor 26,
preferably made of a transparent or translucent synthetic material.
Arranged on the outside of the visor 26 is a strip-like light shade
27 extending over its entire height, which can be moved along the
surface of the visor 26 between two mirror-opposite positions. When
the light shade 27 is in the position, illustrated as a continuous
outline, the light shade 27 concentrates the radiation onto an
angular range between the line 30 perpendicular to the door at the
level of the lighting means 22 and the part of the door inside 18
to the right thereof. This position is sensible for a door attached
to the right, to avoid dazzling a user standing to the left of the
door. When the door is to be attached to the left side, for
adapting the light radiation it suffices to shift the light shade
27 to the opposite side of the visor 26 into the position
illustrated as a dashed outline.
[0022] The luminous element 20 illustrated in section in FIG. 3
differs from that in FIG. 2 in that there is no light shade 27, and
that the visor 26 is built as a series of prismatic segments. The
segments are arranged such that they deflect a light beam emanating
from the lighting means 22 in the clockwise direction, as shown in
an example in the figure on a light beam 28. This is also effective
to avoid or at least minimise dazzling a user standing to the left
of the door attached on the right.
[0023] In order to adapt the radiation of this luminous element 20
to a change of attachment of the door, it suffices to detach the
visor 26 and remount it rotated through 180.degree., resulting in
deflection of the beams in the counter-clockwise direction.
[0024] In the case of the configuration in FIG. 4 the distribution
of light is determined substantially by a reflector 29 arranged
between the lighting means 22 and the inner wall 15 in the
depression 21. The reflector, which can have e.g. a parabolic or
ellipsoid cross-section, is arranged asymmetrically so that light
radiation can predominantly reach the region between the line 30
vertical to the door and the attachment-side part of the inside 18.
The reflector 20 is anchored on the visor 26, so that the entire
luminous element 20, consisting of visor 26, lighting means 22 and
reflector 29, can be remounted as a unit separated from the door
and rotated through 1800 about the line 30 in order to change the
preferred direction of radiation, whenever the door is to be
attached to the left side.
[0025] In the configuration in FIG. 5 the lighting means 22 and a
reflector 31 are fully enclosed by a cylindrical visor 26. The
entire luminous element 20 with visor, reflector and lighting means
is mounted by its ends rotatably on the inside 18 of the door and,
depending on which side the door 12 is attached, can be turned by
hand to adapt the direction of radiation.
[0026] A further configuration of the inventive refrigerator is
shown in FIG. 6 as a perspective view. The luminous element 20 is
shown here separate from the door 12. On the inside 18 of the door
12 there are two assembly points 32, 33, which are prepared for
taking up the luminous element 20. The assembly points 32, 33 can
be defined e.g. as a depression adapted to the shape of the
luminous element 20, in which the latter can be snap-locked or
otherwise fastened, by other fastening means or by an adhered
marking. Provided at each assembly point 32, 33 are electrical
contact means, here in the form of a pair of bushings, for the
power supply of the luminous element 20. The bushings 34 are
located on the two assembly points 32, 33 at different heights, so
that the luminous element can be mounted on the two assembly points
in each case rotated through 180.degree. about the standard test
surface of the door.
[0027] In this configuration also the luminous element 20 is
constructed such that it preferably radiates obliquely to the
standard test surface 30. The luminous element 20 should always be
mounted on that assembly point 32 or 33 which is nearer to the
attached edge of the door 12, in the case illustrated here
therefore on the assembly point 32. Similar to the luminous
elements described with respect to FIGS. 2 to 5 here too the
luminous element 20 is constructed such that it radiates obliquely
to the standard test surface 30, and such that, when it is mounted
on the assembly point 32, and with the door 12 open, it preferably
shines into the interior 13.
[0028] If the stop of the door 12 is to be placed on the left side
of the body 11, then the luminous element 20 is also to be set on
the assembly point 33. It is guaranteed, by rotating the luminous
element 20 required on account of placing of the bushings 24 that
it shines into the interior 13 in this position when the door is
open, without dazzling a user.
[0029] Instead of a single luminous element, extending over the
entire height of the door 12 or at least a major part thereof, it
is understood also that several luminous elements distributed in
similar fashion over the height of the door, as described above,
can be provided.
* * * * *