U.S. patent application number 10/566220 was filed with the patent office on 2006-10-26 for refrigeration device having a door safety catch.
This patent application is currently assigned to BSH BOSCH UND SIEMENS HAUSGERATE GMBH. Invention is credited to Christine Linke, Bernd Pfister.
Application Number | 20060238091 10/566220 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 29225498 |
Filed Date | 2006-10-26 |
United States Patent
Application |
20060238091 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Linke; Christine ; et
al. |
October 26, 2006 |
Refrigeration device having a door safety catch
Abstract
The invention relates to a refrigeration device comprising a
housing which is constituted of at least two housing parts (2, 3),
amongst them a body (2) and at least one door (3), said housing
enclosing a heat-insulated interior compartment. The refrigeration
device further comprises a door safety catch (1) that includes a
catch element (7) swivelably mounted about an axis against a
restoring force on a first housing part and a projection (12)
mounted on the second housing part and interacting with the catch
element. The refrigeration device is characterized in that a shaft
(10) about which the catch part can be swiveled is mounted on the
first housing part while crossing a side wall (17) of the first
housing part.
Inventors: |
Linke; Christine;
(Gundelfingen, DE) ; Pfister; Bernd; (Ulm,
DE) |
Correspondence
Address: |
JOHN T. WINBURN
100 BOSCH BOULEVARD
NEW BERN
NC
28562
US
|
Assignee: |
BSH BOSCH UND SIEMENS HAUSGERATE
GMBH
MUNICH
DE
|
Family ID: |
29225498 |
Appl. No.: |
10/566220 |
Filed: |
August 16, 2004 |
PCT Filed: |
August 16, 2004 |
PCT NO: |
PCT/EP04/09179 |
371 Date: |
January 26, 2006 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
312/405 ;
312/401 |
Current CPC
Class: |
F25D 23/028 20130101;
E05C 19/02 20130101; E05F 5/02 20130101; E05D 11/1014 20130101;
E05D 11/1064 20130101; E05Y 2900/31 20130101; E05D 7/081
20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
312/405 ;
312/401 |
International
Class: |
A47B 96/04 20060101
A47B096/04 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Aug 14, 2003 |
DE |
20312620.3 |
Claims
1-18. (canceled)
19. A refrigerator comprising: a housing; said housing having at
least two housing parts, including a body and at least one door;
said housing enclosing a heat-insulated interior compartment; said
housing having a door safety catch; said door safety catch
including a catch element pivotably mounted against a restoring
force on a first housing part and a projection mounted on a second
housing part and cooperating with said catch element; and a shaft
about which said catch element can be pivoted mounted in said first
housing part while crossing a side wall of said first housing
part.
20. The refrigerator according to claim 19, including a section of
said shaft engaging in said first housing part received by a shank
which projects from said side wall of said housing part and into
said housing part.
21. The refrigerator according to claim 19, including one housing
part is said door.
22. The refrigerator according to claim 21, including said side
wall is one of an upper or lower end profile of said door.
23. The refrigerator according to claim 19, including a spring for
producing said restoring force on said catch element.
24. The refrigerator according to claim 23, including said spring
is a compression spring.
25. The refrigerator according to claim 23, including said spring
is a torsion spring wrapped around said shaft.
26. The refrigerator according to claim 19, including said shaft is
a screw.
27. The refrigerator according to claim 19, including a housing
which accommodates said catch element.
28. The refrigerator according to claim 27, including said spring
accommodated in said housing.
29. The refrigerator according to claim 27, including said door
mountable on said body hinged on the right or on the left as
desired and said housing mountable mounted on said door in two
orientations twisted relative to one another through
180.degree..
30. The refrigerator according to claim 29, including said housing
formed of two half shells which substantially are a mirror image of
one another.
31. The refrigerator according to claim 19, including said
projection includes at least two sloping faces facing away from one
another to cooperate with said catch element.
32. The refrigerator according to claim 31, including one of said
sloping faces in contact with said catch element when said door is
closed is at a larger angle (.alpha.) to the direction of movement
of said door than the other sloping face.
33. The refrigerator according to claim 19, including said
projection formed by a tab projecting from said body.
34. The refrigerator according to claim 19, including said
projection fixed on a door bearing attached to said body.
35. The refrigerator according to claim 19, including said catch
element having two sloping faces facing away from one another to
cooperate with said projection.
36. The refrigerator according to claim 31, including one of said
sloping faces in contact with said projection when said door is
closed is at a larger angle (.alpha.) to the direction of movement
of said door than the other sloping face.
Description
[0001] The invention relates to a refrigerator comprising a housing
which is constituted of at least two housing parts, amongst them a
body and at least one door, said housing enclosing a heat-insulated
interior compartment, and comprising a door safety catch that
includes a catch element swivellably mounted against a restoring
force on a first housing part and a projection mounted on a second
housing part and cooperating with the catch element. A refrigerator
with this type of door safety catch is known from DE 101 17 782
A1.
[0002] Refrigerators comprising a body and at least one door are
usually fitted with a circumferential magnetic seal on their doors,
which seals the interior in a largely airtight fashion when the
door is closed and in addition holds the door in the closed
position as a result of a magnetic force acting between the seal
and a door frame on the body. However, the range of this magnetic
force is very short. Thus, it cannot be reliably avoided that the
door does not slam completely shut but leaves a gap wide open
without this being seen in a conspicuous fashion from the outside
of the refrigerator.
[0003] This problem is particularly disturbing in refrigerators
with two or more doors which close interior compartments which are
not separated from one another in an airtight manner. These
interior compartments can, for example, comprise a freezer
compartment and a cool compartment of a combination refrigerator or
a cool compartment and a so-called cellar compartment which is held
at a higher temperature than the cool compartment and is possibly
only cooled by air exchange with the cool compartment. If a door is
slammed shut in such an appliance, the resulting pressure thrust
can have the result that the respectively other door springs open
if a safety device is not provided to prevent this, by exerting a
force on the closed door which supports the magnetic seal and holds
the door closed.
[0004] In the refrigerator in DE 101 17 782 A1 such a safety device
is formed by the projection and the spring-loaded bolt part which
exerts a force in the closing direction when the door is closed and
when the door is open, is pressed by the projection against the
restoring force of the spring. Said bolt part is pivotally mounted
about an axis in a bearing in a housing shell affixed to the
body.
[0005] It has been shown that considerable forces act on the
bearing of the bolt part when opening and closing the door. In
particular, in the case of a plastic housing shell, the bearing can
be damaged and even destroyed in extreme cases. This makes it
necessary to achieve a stable design of the housing shell so that
these forces can be compensated. It would be possible to fabricate
the housing shell from a more stable material such as metal instead
of plastic but this would result in increased production costs
because plastic housings of injection mouldings are substantially
simpler and cheaper to manufacture than metal housings.
[0006] It is thus the object of the invention to provide a
refrigerator with a projection and a catch element where these
disadvantages are eliminated.
[0007] This object is solved by a refrigerator according to claim
1.
[0008] Since the shaft of the catch element according to the
invention is mounted so that it crosses a side surface of the
housing part which carries it, considerable forces acting on the
shaft can be introduced into the housing part whereby stresses on a
housing shell are reduced and the requirements on the mechanical
loading capacity of the housing shell are reduced. In the simplest
case, the housing shell could even be dispensed with completely
since it is no longer necessary as the bearing of the catch
element.
[0009] A section of the shaft engaging in the housing part of the
refrigerator is preferably accommodated in shank extending from a
wall of the housing part into the housing part in order to give the
shaft a stable hold. The shank is preferably formed in an end
profile which forms the upper or lower flank of the door. The shank
can be formed in one piece in an injection-moulded plastic end
profile without any expenditure.
[0010] If the catch element is fixed on a flank of the door, it can
be placed behind a decorative panel of the refrigerator so that it
is covered and is not visible when the door is closed. The
aesthetic impression of the refrigerator is thus not impaired by
the catch element.
[0011] A restoring force for the catch element can be produced by a
spring. In a preferred embodiment of the invention the spring is a
compression spring. Thus, opening or closing of the door is not
impaired by the spring. However, it is also possible to construct
the spring as a torsion spring wrapped around the shaft.
[0012] Such a torsion spring can, for example, be a coil spring or
a spiral spring. The main advantage of this embodiment is the
space-saving design.
[0013] The shaft can be a screw. This can be fixed quickly and
simply on the one housing part by means of its thread.
[0014] Although the basic design of the invention does not
necessarily require a housing, it can be advantageous to provide a
housing in which the catch element is concealed. Undesirable
external influences from the catch element can be repelled by the
housing for example. For precisely the same reasons it can be
advantageous to provide the spring likewise accommodated in the
housing.
[0015] In order that the door can be mounted as hinged on the right
or the left as desired, the housing can preferably be mounted on
the door in two orientations twisted by 180.degree. towards one
another, each adapted to the selected hinging. Such a housing can
appropriately be composed of two half-shells which are a mirror
image of each other.
[0016] The projection preferably comprises two sloping faces facing
away from one another for cooperation with the catch element. When
the door is opened, the catch element is initially pressed back on
the projection by sliding on one of the sloping faces whilst the
catch element is then pressed back by the restoring force against
the second sloping face on which the catch element slides, which
drives the door in the completely open direction. The relationships
are reversed during a closing movement.
[0017] In order to make it easy to close the door, but prevent
unintentional opening of the door as far as possible, it is
preferable if that sloping face which contacts the catch element
when the door is closed is arranged at a larger angle to the
direction of motion of the door than the other sloping face.
[0018] The projection can be formed, for example, by a tab
projecting from the body. The tab can, for example, comprise an end
section of a metal sheet bent to the right.
[0019] The projection is advantageously fixed to a door bearing
attached to the body because the same fixing means can then be used
for projection and door bearing. Thus, no additional fixing means
or holes are required in the body.
[0020] The catch element for its part preferably has two sloping
faces facing away from one another for cooperation with the
projection. That sloping face which is in contact with the
projection when the door is closed, is preferably arranged at a
larger angle to the direction of motion of the door than the other
sloping face.
[0021] A description of a preferred embodiment of the invention
follows. In the figures:
[0022] FIG. 1: is a cross-section through projection and catch
element in plan view when the door is closed;
[0023] FIG. 2: is a cross-section through a fixing of the catch
element;
[0024] FIG. 3: shows the projection and catch element in
cross-section during opening or closing of the door; and
[0025] FIG. 4: shows the projection and catch element in
cross-section when the door is opened.
[0026] FIG. 1 shows a part of a refrigerator according to the
invention where a door safety catch 1 can be seen in cross-section
viewed from above. From a refrigerator housing it is possible to
see a part of the front of a body 2 and a door 3 in a closed state.
The door 3 is pivotally fixed on the body 2 by means of a door
bearing 4. The door bearing 4 is a metal fitting and comprises a
flat strip attached to the body 2 by means of screws 5, and an arm
bent away from the strip which bears an upright cylindrical pin at
its free end which engages in a hole of the door 3 and thus defines
its pivot axis.
[0027] The door safety catch 1 comprises a metal sheet 6, a catch
element 7, a spring 8, a housing 9 and screws 10 and 11. The metal
sheet 6 is fixed to the body 2 together with the door bearing 4
using the same screws 5. An end section of the metal sheet 6 is
bent to the right as a tab 12 projecting from the body 2. The tab
12 has two sloping faces 13 and 14 facing away from one another,
forming an angle. The sloping face 13 facing the body 2 intersects
a line N perpendicular to the front of the body 2, which
corresponds to the direction of motion of the door during opening,
at an angle .alpha. of about 60.degree., the sloping face facing
away from the body at a smaller angle .beta. of about
20.degree..
[0028] The catch element 7 is fixed to the door 3 by the screw 10
so that it is pivotable about a vertical axis, as indicated by the
double representation of the catch element 7, once in contact with
the tab 12 and once in the pivoted back position. The catch element
7 also has two sloping faces 15 and 16 facing away from one
another, forming an angle. In the closed state of the door 3 which
is shown, the sloping face 15 of the catch element abuts parallel
against the sloping face 13 of the tab 12. The housing 9 is
attached to the door 3 using the screw 11 and also the screw 10.
The catch element 7 is concealed inside the housing 9. The spring 8
is also accommodated by the housing 9. This acts on the catch
element 7 and the screw 11. The spring 8 rests on the screw 11 and
exerts a restoring force on the pivotable catch element 7 which
presses the door 3 against the front of the body 2 and thus
prevents any unintentional opening of the door 3.
[0029] FIG. 2 shows a cross-section through an upper area of the
door 3 and the door safety catch 1 mounted on the door, which runs
through the catch element 7, the housing 9 and the screw 10. A
front plate 21 and a rear wall 22 of the door define an
intermediate space filled with insulating material which is closed
at the top by an end profile 17 which is placed on the upper edge
of the front plate 21 and the rear wall 22. A shank 18 projecting
into the intermediate space is formed in one piece on the end
profile 17. A thread-bearing section 20 of the screw 10 is screwed
in this shank 18. A section 19 of the shank of the screw 10 close
to the head passes through two holes in the housing and serves as a
shaft for the catch element 7 about which the catch element 7 can
be pivoted. A second shank in the end profile 17, which is not
shown is used to fix the screw 11 in the door 3. The housing is
formed of two half-shells 23, 24, the one being a mirror image of
the other. A recess 25 at the top of the upper shell receives the
head of the screw 10.
[0030] A corresponding recess, not shown, is provided to receive
the head of the other screw 11. Mirror-image opposing recesses 26
in the lower half-shell are provided to receive respectively the
heads of the screws 10, 11 if the hinge of the door 3 is not
mounted at its right edges, as shown in FIG. 1, but at its left
edge: precisely the same door safety catch as shown in FIG. 1 can
also be used in this case; it is sufficient to fix the angled sheet
6 turned through 180.degree. about the line N to the door bearing 4
now mounted at the left edge of the body and to screw the housing 9
together with the catch element therein, likewise turned through
180.degree. about the line N, in two further shanks 18 of the end
profile 17 which are pre-formed in the left end region of the end
profile 17.
[0031] FIG. 3 shows a situation during opening of the door 3. The
door 3 pivots away from the body 2. The shaft 19 of the catch
element 7 fixedly anchored on the door 3 follows this movement. In
this case, the catch element 7 whose sloping face 15 is initially
in contact with the sloping face 13 of the tab 12 is pivoted about
the screw 10 against the resistance of the spring 8. At the same
time, the sloping face 15 of the catch element 7 slides on the
sloping face 13 of the tab 12. As a result of the large angle
.alpha., the spring 8 is severely compressed; so that a
considerable force is required to open the door 3. FIG. 2 shows a
moment immediately after the sloping face 15 has lost contact with
the sloping face 13. As the door 3 pivots further, the sloping face
16 of the catch element 7 comes in contact with the sloping face 14
of the tab 12 since the catch element 7 is pressed against the tab
12 as a result of the restoring force of the spring 8. Tab 12 and
catch element 7 slide adjacent to one another on the sloping faces
14 and 16 in parallel contact with one another during the further
course of the opening process. The pivoting movement of the door is
supported in this case as a result of the restoring force by the
spring 8 which presses the catch element 7 against the tab 12.
Since the angle .beta. is smaller than .alpha., the force with
which the spring 8 now drives the door is smaller than the closing
force exerted previously during contact of the sloping faces 13,
15. Forces exerted by the tab 12 on the catch element 7 during the
opening process are absorbed by the screw 10 and fed into the door
3. Likewise, as a result of the compression of the spring 8 during
the opening process, forces produced at the support point of the
spring 8 i.e. at the screw 11 are led into the door 3 by the screw
11.
[0032] FIG. 4 shows the situation at the moment when the catch
element 7 which has meanwhile been pivoted out again by the
restoring force of the spring 8, is released by the tab 12.
[0033] When the door 3 is closed again, the stages in FIGS. 2 to 4
are passed through in the inverse order. In this case, the force
with which the spring opposes closing when the sloping faces 14, 16
are in contact, is again smaller than the force with which said
spring pushes the door into the closed position when the sloping
faces 13, 15 are in contact.
* * * * *