U.S. patent application number 11/919916 was filed with the patent office on 2009-02-19 for refrigerating device with frame heating.
This patent application is currently assigned to BSH BOSCH UND SIEMENS HAUSGERAETE GMBH. Invention is credited to Hans Ihle.
Application Number | 20090044556 11/919916 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 36498936 |
Filed Date | 2009-02-19 |
United States Patent
Application |
20090044556 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Ihle; Hans |
February 19, 2009 |
Refrigerating device with frame heating
Abstract
The invention relates to a refrigeration device having a main
body with a frame and an access opening and a door. The door and
the main body each have heat-insulated surfaces and together
delimit a heat-insulated compartment and the door is movable
between an open position in which access to the heat-insulated
compartment can be had through the access opening of the main body
and a closed position in which the door cooperates with the frame
of the main body restricts access through the access opening of the
main body to the heat-insulated compartment. An electrical frame
heating assembly is disposed relative to the frame of the main body
for heating the frame and has a Peltier element.
Inventors: |
Ihle; Hans; (Giengen,
DE) |
Correspondence
Address: |
BSH HOME APPLIANCES CORPORATION;INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY DEPARTMENT
100 BOSCH BOULEVARD
NEW BERN
NC
28562
US
|
Assignee: |
BSH BOSCH UND SIEMENS HAUSGERAETE
GMBH
MUENCHEN
DE
|
Family ID: |
36498936 |
Appl. No.: |
11/919916 |
Filed: |
March 30, 2006 |
PCT Filed: |
March 30, 2006 |
PCT NO: |
PCT/EP2006/061187 |
371 Date: |
November 1, 2007 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
62/275 ; 62/447;
62/449 |
Current CPC
Class: |
F25B 21/04 20130101;
H05B 3/84 20130101; F25D 23/028 20130101; E06B 7/12 20130101; F25D
11/02 20130101; F25D 21/04 20130101; F25D 2323/021 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
62/275 ; 62/447;
62/449 |
International
Class: |
F25D 21/00 20060101
F25D021/00; F25D 11/02 20060101 F25D011/02; F25D 19/00 20060101
F25D019/00 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
May 10, 2005 |
DE |
10-2005-021590.04 |
Claims
1-7. (canceled)
8. A refrigerating device comprising: a.) a main body having a
frame and an access opening; b.) a door, the door and the main body
each having heat-insulated surfaces and together delimiting a
heat-insulated compartment and the door being movable between an
open position in which access to the heat-insulated compartment can
be had through the access opening of the main body and a closed
position in which the door closes upon the frame of the main body
to restrict access through the access opening of the main body to
the heat-insulated compartment; and c.) an electrical frame heating
assembly disposed relative to the frame of the main body for
heating the frame, the electric frame heating assembly having at
least one Peltier element.
9. The refrigerating device as claimed in claim 8, wherein the
compartment of the main body is divided by a separating portion of
the frame of the main body into two zones, the door is movable
between its open and closed positions relative to one of the zones
of the main body, a second door is movable between its open and
closed positions relative to the other of the zones of the main
body, and the at least one Peltier element is arranged in the
separating portion of the frame of the main body.
10. The refrigerating device as claimed in claim 9, wherein the
separating portion of the frame of the main body is movable in
coordination with at least one of the doors.
11. The refrigerating device as claimed in claim 10, wherein the
separating portion of the frame of the main body is linked to a
side wall of the main body.
12. The refrigerating device as claimed in claim 11, wherein the
separating portion of the frame of the main body and the doors are
pivotable about the same axis.
13. The refrigerating device as claimed in claim 9, wherein the
separating portion of the frame of the main body is linked to one
of the doors.
14. The refrigerating device as claimed in claim 13, wherein the
separating portion of the frame of the main body is pivotable about
an axis that runs parallel to edges of the doors which face one
another.
Description
[0001] The invention relates to a refrigerating device having a
carcass and at least one door, which mutually delimit a
heat-insulating inner chamber.
[0002] With refrigerating devices, condensation can collect on the
exterior of a rubber profile, which is attached between the door
and a frame of the carcass frame facing the door, since here the
weakest insulation point lies externally.
[0003] In order to prevent the formation of dew, it is necessary to
heat the frame area. A refrigerating device 10 embodied as a
cooling and freezing combination is thus indicated in DE 295 04 901
U1 for instance, the two compartments of which can be sealed with
separate doors, which comprise a magnetic seal arranged
circumferentially on their edges. The abutment region of the doors
on the carcass is provided with a lug made of ferromagnetic
material, on the rear side of which is located a heating tube, to
which is applied hot gas in order to prevent condensation from
forming on the lug.
[0004] Alternatively, heating wires can be arranged to this end in
the frame area. They are partially foamed when the dual cladding of
the carcass is foamed. Interchangeable heating wires have been
proposed in DE 3 505 759, said heating wires being positioned in a
hollow section of the carcass which is used to support the rubber
profile on the closure edge of the door.
[0005] Refrigerating or freezing devices, with which two doors seal
a connected inner chamber, are becoming more and more popular. The
majority of doors are not only practical when opening the device,
but are also advantageous in terms of energy consumption, since the
heat input is less when only one door is opened, than when all
doors are open. This favorable energy balance is herewith reduced
in that a non-foamed intermediate pillar, which is attached as a
stop element between two doors in each instance, is also
electrically heated, in addition to heating within the frame area
of the carcass, in order to prevent condensation from forming on
this component. The heating of the intermediate pillar by means of
a heating tube would namely be more favorable in terms of energy
consumption, since the waste heat of the compressor can be used for
this purpose, indeed the positioning of a heating tube in the
intermediate pillar would significantly complicate the assembly,
thereby significantly increasing manufacturing costs and production
time for the refrigerating device.
[0006] It would be desirable, not only with two or multiple door
fridges or freezers, but for all refrigerating devices, if, in
order to heat the frame area of the carcass or if necessary also on
the door, it is not necessary to opt either for a heating element
with a favorable energy balance or for a heating element which can
be easily assembled.
[0007] It is thus the object of the present invention to specify a
refrigerating device, with which a frame heating is
energy-efficient and at the same time can be easily assembled in
order to prevent the formation of condensation.
[0008] This object is achieved in accordance with the invention in
that in the case of a refrigerating device having a carcass and at
least one door, which mutually delimit a heat-insulating inner
chamber and a frame of the carcass facing the door is provided with
electrical frame heating, the frame heating comprises at least one
Peltier element.
[0009] The advantage of the Peltier element compared with the
heating tube lies in the fact that it is supplied with electricity
and can thus be assembled in the frame region in precisely the same
manner as a heating wire. By comparison with the heating wire, it
demonstrates a significantly better energy balance.
[0010] A Peltier element is an electrical component based on the
Peltier effect named after Jean Peltier. A Peltier element mostly
consist of two thin ceramic plates, between which differently doped
semiconductors which are connected one behind the other are
arranged such that all semiconductor barrier layers lie in the
vicinity of the first ceramic plate, on which the current passes
from one semiconductor of a first doping type into a semiconductor
of the second doping type, while the barrier layers, on which a
current transfer from a semiconductor of the second doping type to
one of the first type takes place, which are adjacent to the second
ceramic plate. The fact that heat is conducted from one ceramic
plate to the other, in the case of a current flowing through the
semiconductor, so that the one plate is cooled and other is warmed
depending on the current direction, is referred to as a Peltier
effect. This heat transmission from plate to plate, which
additionally develops into ohmic heat flow in the Peltier element,
improves the energy balance of the Peltier element by comparison
with heating wire, with which only ohmic heat is released.
[0011] With a preferred embodiment of the invention, the inner
chamber of the refrigerating device is divided by a separating body
into two zones, which can be sealed in each instance by a door, and
the Peltier element is arranged in the separating body, because the
application of a heating tube is particularly difficult in such a
separating body.
[0012] The separating body can be a continuous separating wall
between the two zones, in this case the two zones can be operated
at different storage temperatures.
[0013] The separating body can however also only have the form of a
bar, which forms a part of the frame of the carcass and behind
which the two zones connect with one another. Provision is made in
accordance with the invention for the separating body to be
moveable together with at least one of the doors, in order to
prevent the separating body from becoming a hindrance to the user,
who simultaneously opens both doors in order to fill, empty or
clean the refrigerating device.
[0014] To this end, with a first embodiment of the invention, the
separating body is linked to a side wall of the carcass. This
embodiment is characterized in that the separating body can be
assembled using the hinges which are conventional in the field of
refrigerating devices, with which the doors can also be fastened to
the carcass. These mostly consist of an arm supporting a mounting
pin, which is fastened to the frame, and a matching mounting pin
sleeve, which is to be attached to the door and/or separating body.
The separating body can, like the doors, optionally have a right or
left hinge.
[0015] The assembly and movement control of doors and separating
body is then particularly simple if the separating body and doors
can be pivoted about the same axis. Only then can the common
pivoting process of the separating body and door be realized using
simple fastening means between the door and separating body.
[0016] With another embodiment of the invention, the separating
body is linked to one of the doors. This variant of the embodiment
is particularly suited to refrigerating devices with doors arranged
one above the other. The separating body should in this case be
pivotable about an axis, which runs parallel to one of the edges of
the door which face each other.
[0017] Further features and advantages of the invention result from
the subsequent description of exemplary embodiments with reference
to the appended figures, in which;
[0018] FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a two-door refrigerating
device as claimed in the present invention, in which both doors are
open;
[0019] FIG. 2 shows a perspective view of the same refrigerating
device with only one door open
[0020] FIG. 3 shows a vertical section through the separating body
of the refrigerating device from FIGS. 1 and 2;
[0021] FIG. 4 shows a perspective view of a second embodiment of a
refrigerating device according to the invention,
[0022] FIG. 5 shows a horizontal partial section through an
articulation link between the separating body and the door of the
refrigerating device from FIG. 4.
[0023] A first embodiment of the refrigerating device according to
the invention is described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3.
[0024] In FIG. 1, a refrigerating device according to the invention
is designated with the reference character 1. The perspective
illustration shows the carcass 2 of the refrigerating device 1 with
doors 3a and 3b arranged one above the other and linked thereto in
an open position. The doors 3a and 3b are connected to a front side
of the carcass 2 referred to as frame 6 by means of hinges 10, 11.
Each door 3a, 3b is provided on the inside with a circumferential
elastic magnetic profile seal 5. Of the four straight sealing
sections, of which each magnetic profile seal 5 is conventionally
composed, those three which are visible in the Fig. rest on the
frame 6 of the carcass when the doors 3a, 3b are closed. The fourth
sections of both doors 3a, 3b adhere magnetically to a beam-like
separating body 9, in the position in FIG. 1, said separating body
being suspended in a pivotable fashion on the hinges 11 of the two
doors 3a and 3b which are adjacent to one another. The doors 3a, 3b
and the separating body 9 have the same pivoting axis and execute
the same pivoting movement when the doors 3a and 3b are opened and
closed. When the doors 3a, 3b are in the closed position, the
separating body 8 penetrates into a cooling chamber 4 of the
carcass 2.
[0025] Three shelves 7 divide the cooling chamber 4 into four
cooling compartments 8.
[0026] As shown in FIG. 1, the doors 3a and 3b can be opened
jointly so that the cooling chamber 4 is easily accessible. To
enable both doors 3a, 3b to be opened with one single hand
movement, the lateral edges of the doors are provided with an
undercut 12. This extends over the entire height of the doors 3a,
3b, so that these can be gripped at any height; it is particularly
possible to grip both doors with one hand at the same time, in
order to open them.
[0027] It is also possible to open each door 3a, 3b individually,
as shown in FIG. 2.
[0028] FIG. 2 shows a perspective illustration of the refrigerating
device 1 with an open upper door 3a and a closed lower door 3b. If
only one door is opened, like door 3a in FIG. 2, the respective
other door 3b prevents the separating body 9, from following the
opening movement. The separating body 9 remains in the same
position it has with closed doors, its front side remains flush
with the frame 6 of the carcass 2. On the one hand, the partial
opening of the refrigerating device reduces the loss of cold air in
the inner chamber 4 and on the other hand reduces the relatively
large force which the user has to apply when opening a large
refrigerating device door.
[0029] FIG. 3 shows a vertical section through the separating body
9. The separating body 9 consists of a quadratic body made of
heat-insulating material, in which a ferromagnetic plate 13 is
embedded, to which the magnetic seals 5 of the doors 3a, 3b adhere.
The plate 13 extends vertically over the entire intermediate space
between the seals 5 of the two doors, into which moist ambient air
can penetrate, but only across one part of the width of the seals
5.
[0030] A Peltier element 14 is accommodated within the separating
body 9, said Peltier element being shown here in a manner known per
se with two ceramic plates 15, 16 and between these a plurality of
differently doped semiconductor pieces 17, 18. One of the ceramic
plates 15 touches the ferromagnetic plate 13, the other 16 is
located close to the rear side of the separating body 9. The plates
15, 16 are thus thermally coupled closely to the surroundings
and/or the cooling chamber 4 in each instance. The Peltier element
14 thus has direct current applied to it such that plate 15
functions as a warm side and plate 16 as a cold side, i.e. the
heating power, which the Peltier element 14 outputs to the
ferromagnetic plate 13, is composed of ohmic heat released by the
current flow in the element 14 and heat which is guided outwards
from the cooling chamber 4 by the Peltier effect.
[0031] FIGS. 4 und 5 show a further exemplary embodiment of the
invention. The perspective view shows the refrigerating device 21
with a carcass 22, doors 23a and 23b and a cooling chamber 24. The
doors 23a, 23b extend over the entire height of the carcass 22 and
are linked to opposite sides of the carcass 22. The door 23a is
conventionally provided on the inside with a circumferential
elastic magnetic profile seal 25. On the other door 23b, one of the
four sections of the magnetic profile seal 25 is replaced by an
air-tight hinge, which links a separating body in the form of a
vertical beam with the door 23b.
[0032] FIG. 5 shows a horizontal subsection through the separating
body 29 and its surroundings. To clarify the functionality of the
separating body when opening and closing the doors, a number of
positions of the separating body are shown, which the separating
body adopts if the door 23b is closed and/or if it is opened.
[0033] To simplify the figures, the inner structure of the
separating body 29 is not shown. It corresponds largely to the
structure of the separating body 9 shown in FIG. 3. A Peltier
element has a warm side, which touches a ferromagnetic plate, to
which a section of the magnetic seal 25 of the door 23a adheres
when the doors are in a closed position. A cold side is thermally
coupled to the cooling chamber 24.
[0034] Current supply lines for the Peltier element are guided
through the hinge 30 and door 23b.
[0035] A groove 40 is formed in each instance on the upper and
lower side of the separating body 29, into which groove pins 41,
which are at a distance from the floor and ceiling of the cooling
chamber, engage when the door 23b is closed.
[0036] When the door 23b is closed, the position of the separating
body 29 is shown as a filled outline with a closed contour. The pin
41 is located on one end of the groove 40, and the front side of
the separating body 20, in which the ferromagnetic plate (not
shown) is embedded, is flush with the front side of the carcass 22,
so that the whole length of the metal profile seal 25 of the closed
door 23a lies closely either against the carcass 22 or against the
separating body 29.
[0037] The door 23a can be opened and closed in a conventional
fashion, precluding the need for further explanation.
[0038] The door 23b is shown in the Figure in two positions, namely
as an empty contour in the closed position and as a filled contour
in the partially open position. If the door 23b is opened, the
separating body 29 is pulled by way of the hinge 30 and the pin 41
slides along the groove 40 and herewith pivots the separating body
29. The region of the front side of the separating body 29 against
which the magnetic profile seal 24 of the door 23a rests first
pivots into the interior of the cooling chamber 24 and releases
itself from the seal 25. The pivoting movement enables the
separating body 29 to be pushed up past the closed door 23a. In
this way, the separating body 29 finally reaches a position
illustrated as an empty continuous contour, in which a side edge 42
thereof abuts the rear side of the door 23b. In this position, the
pin 41 emerges from the groove 40, and the door 23b can be freely
opened again.
[0039] If the door 23b is closed again, the open end of the groove
40 once again meets the pin 41, slides into the groove 40 and thus
guides the separating body 29 on a pivoting movement, which returns
back to the initial position which lies flush with the carcass
22.
* * * * *