U.S. patent application number 12/534910 was filed with the patent office on 2010-03-04 for refrigeration appliance with an ice maker.
This patent application is currently assigned to BSH BOSCH UND SIEMENS HAUSGERATE GMBH. Invention is credited to Songtao Lu, Matthew Ricket, Alexander Rupp, Zhong Yang, Lisheng Zhang.
Application Number | 20100050677 12/534910 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 40589698 |
Filed Date | 2010-03-04 |
United States Patent
Application |
20100050677 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Lu; Songtao ; et
al. |
March 4, 2010 |
REFRIGERATION APPLIANCE WITH AN ICE MAKER
Abstract
A refrigerator includes an ice maker arranged in an interior
compartment, and an illuminant integrated into a housing of the ice
maker that illuminates a part of the interior compartment above the
ice maker.
Inventors: |
Lu; Songtao; (Chuzhou,
CN) ; Ricket; Matthew; (New Bern, NC) ; Rupp;
Alexander; (Chuzhou, CN) ; Yang; Zhong;
(Anhui, CN) ; Zhang; Lisheng; (Chuzhou,
CN) |
Correspondence
Address: |
BSH HOME APPLIANCES CORPORATION;INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY DEPARTMENT
100 BOSCH BOULEVARD
NEW BERN
NC
28562
US
|
Assignee: |
BSH BOSCH UND SIEMENS HAUSGERATE
GMBH
Munich
DE
|
Family ID: |
40589698 |
Appl. No.: |
12/534910 |
Filed: |
August 4, 2009 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
62/264 ;
62/344 |
Current CPC
Class: |
F25D 27/00 20130101;
F25C 5/22 20180101 |
Class at
Publication: |
62/264 ;
62/344 |
International
Class: |
F25D 27/00 20060101
F25D027/00; F25C 5/18 20060101 F25C005/18 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Aug 26, 2008 |
DE |
10 2008 041 568.5 |
Claims
1. A refrigerator comprising: an ice maker arranged in an interior
compartment; and an illuminant integrated into a housing of the ice
maker that illuminates a part of the interior compartment above the
ice maker.
2. The refrigerator of claim 1, further comprising a vertical light
channel on the housing and wherein the illuminant is arranged on
the light channel in order to radiate upward and downward.
3. The refrigerator of claim 1, wherein the ice maker comprises an
ice reservoir and the illuminant is adjacent to the ice
reservoir.
4. The refrigerator of claim 3, wherein an exterior of a wall
surrounding an ice supply includes a cutout that accommodates the
illuminant.
5. The refrigerator of claim 4, wherein the cutout comprises a
reflector.
6. The refrigerator of claim 1, wherein the illuminant comprises
two illuminants symmetrically positioned on opposite sides of the
housing of the ice maker.
7. The refrigerator of claim 1, wherein the illuminant comprises
light-emitting diodes.
8. The refrigerator of claim 7, wherein the light-emitting diodes
are on an upper side and on a lower side of the housing of the ice
maker.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The present invention relates to a refrigeration appliance,
in particular a domestic refrigeration appliance with an integrated
automatic ice maker.
[0002] Refrigeration appliances of this type generally have a niche
in a door, in which a container can be set and a passage running
through the wall of the niche, through which passage pieces of ice
can be dispensed out of the ice maker into the container without a
door having to be opened Since the niche is to be arranged at a
height which can be reached comfortably by a user and the ice maker
has to reach inside the refrigeration appliance up to the passage
in order to be able to dispense ice, it generally forms a block in
the interior compartment, which divides the interior compartment
into an upper and a lower subarea. If internal illumination is
arranged in the upper subarea, the ice maker casts shadows over the
lower subarea. This problem is particularly serious in the case of
refrigeration appliances with a narrow interior compartment, the
width of which is essentially completely filled by the ice maker.
Narrow interior compartments of this type appear in particular in
the case of freezer parts in side-by-side combination refrigeration
appliances.
[0003] The attachment of two lamps, one for the upper and one for
the lower subarea, is unsatisfactory, since this significantly
complicates the assembly of the refrigeration appliance. There is
thus a need for a refrigeration appliance comprising an ice maker
arranged in the interior compartment thereof, with which the
interior compartment can be illuminated satisfactorily both above
and also below the ice maker in a manner which is simple and
requires minimal assembly effort.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0004] An objective is achieved in a refrigeration appliance
comprising an ice maker arranged in an interior compartment by an
illuminant, which illuminates a part of the interior compartment
disposed above the icemaker, being integrated into the housing of
the icemaker. There is therefore no need to assemble the illuminant
and/or an housing into the interior compartment itself and to route
an electrical supply of the illuminant through the housing walls of
the refrigeration appliance. At the same time, electrical supply
lines in the ice maker can be used to supply the illuminant, and/or
a string of lines supplying the icemaker which is routed through
the housing can be augmented by the lines needed to operate the
illuminant with minimal additional costs and without increasing the
assembly outlay.
[0005] According to a preferred embodiment, a vertical light
channel is embodied on the housing and the illuminant is arranged
on the light channel in order to radiate upward and downward.
[0006] The space required to accommodate the illuminant can be
provided in the simplest of cases in the direct vicinity of the ice
reservoir.
[0007] A cut-out accommodating the illuminant is preferably formed
on an exterior of the ice reservoir.
[0008] This cut-out can be formed as a reflector in order to
improve the light efficiency.
[0009] To achieve a symmetrical illumination of the subareas on the
one hand but however to avoid central attachment of the illuminant,
which could impair the function of the ice maker, on the other
hand, two illuminants are preferably arranged in a
mirror-symmetrical fashion in respect of each other on opposite
sides of the housing of the ice maker.
[0010] It may also be expedient to provide light-emitting diodes as
illuminants, since the space requirement thereof is very minimal
and they can therefore be inserted relatively easily into different
points in the ice maker housing.
[0011] In particular, light-emitting diodes for radiating upward
and downward can be arranged both on the upper side and also on the
lower side of the ice maker.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0012] Further features and advantages of the invention result from
the following description of exemplary embodiments with reference
to the appended figures, in which;
[0013] FIG. 1 shows a schematic section through a refrigeration
appliance comprising an automatic ice maker;
[0014] FIG. 2 shows a perspective view of the ice maker;
[0015] FIG. 3 shows a section through the ice maker according to a
first embodiment, and
[0016] FIG. 4 shows a section through the ice maker according to a
second embodiment.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENT INVENTION
[0017] FIG. 1 shows a schematic section through a refrigeration
appliance comprising an integrated automatic ice maker 3. A niche 2
is formed in a manner known per se in a door 1 of the refrigeration
appliance, in which niche a container to be filled can be
positioned. The refrigeration appliance is as tall as or taller
than a person, the niche 2 should however, in order to enable
user-friendly operation, not be arranged above the chest height of
a user. To be able to fill a container (not shown) which is
positioned in the niche 2 with pieces of ice from the ice maker 3
through a passage 4 formed in the wall of the niche 2, the icemaker
3 is to be positioned directly above the niche 2 and extend in the
depth direction to beyond the niche 2. The ice maker 3 thus
subdivides the interior compartment of the refrigerator into an
upper subarea 5 and a lower subarea 6.
[0018] The ice maker 3 includes a tray 7, which can be pivoted
about an axis which runs at right angles to the sectional plane in
FIG. 1 and a plurality of hollow molds which can be filled with
water in order to generate ice. A distributor for filling the
hollow molds is identified with 8, an electronic control circuit
and a motor for driving the pivoting movement of the tray 7 are
accommodated in an upper housing part 9 of the ice maker 3. A lower
housing part 10 of the icemaker 3 essentially accommodates an ice
reservoir 11 and, separated herefrom by a wall 12, a motor 13 for
driving a feed helix 14 extending through the ice reservoir 11 and
a crusher 15 arranged directly above the passage 4.
[0019] If pieces of ice develop in the cavities of the tray 7, the
control circuit switches on an electrical heater in the tray 7, in
order to thaw out the surface of the pieces of ice and to render
them moveable and the motor pivots the tray 7 so that the pieces of
ice fall out of the hollow molds or are pressed out over a
stationary branch of the distributor 8 which extends across a
hollow mold and slide into the reservoir 11 above the sloping upper
side of the wall 12.
[0020] FIG. 2 shows a perspective view of the ice maker 3. The tray
7 with the hollow molds formed therein and the distributor 8 with
its branches as well as a part of the ice reservoir 11 is apparent.
The ice reservoir 11 is largely hidden inside the essentially
square lower housing part 10. A triangular arm 16 protrudes
approximately centrally upward from the side walls 15 of the
housing part 10 in each instance. A cover plate 17 seals the upper
side of the housing part 10 in front of the arms 16. The cover
plate 17 consists of an opaque plastic. Two transparent plastic
windows 18 which are adjacent to their lateral edges in each
instance are inserted into slits in the cover plate 17.
[0021] A vertical shield plate 19 rises above a rear edge of the
cover plate 17. It allows the cover plate 17 to be used to
accommodate refrigerated goods by preventing them from protruding
beyond the rear edge of the cover plate 17 and hindering the
operational movement of the tray 7. The shield plate 19 is held in
a pivotable fashion on the upper ends of the arms 16 and can be
folded up in order to enable access to the tray.
[0022] The side walls 15 of the lower housing part 10 are connected
along their lower edges by means of a transparent base plate
20.
[0023] FIG. 3 shows a section through the upper housing part 10 of
the ice maker 3 along a plane lying in front of the shield plate
19. The ice reservoir 11 is accommodated in a dish 21, in which
cutouts 22 on lower lateral corners are in each instance formed in
an approximately quarter-cylindrical shape. These cutouts 22
receive the glass tube comprising two bulbs 23, the threads of
which are anchored to holders in a vertical region of the wall 12
surrounding the motor 13. On the one hand the bulbs 23 radiate
directly downward through the transparent base plate 20 and
therefore illuminate the subarea 6. Light radiated toward the dish
21 is also largely reflected downward toward the inner surfaces of
the cutouts 22. One part of the light radiated upward passes
through vertical channels 24, which extend in each instance between
the side walls 15 of the housing part 10 and those of the dish 21
and reach the window 17, and form an upper termination in the
channels 24. The undersides of the windows can be structured so as
refract or scatter the light which passes through the upper subarea
5 toward the center of the subarea 5 respectively.
[0024] According to a second embodiment of the invention, FIG. 4
shows a section which is similar to FIG. 3 through the housing part
10. The housing parts of the ice maker are the same as in the
embodiment in FIG. 3, however the bulbs 23 are omitted so that
their holders 25 are visible in the wall 12 and a printed circuit
board 27 equipped on its lower side with light-emitting diodes 26
extends instead across essentially the whole width of the housing
part 10 between the base of the dish 21 and the base plate 20 in
order to illuminate the lower subarea 6 and narrow, elongated
printed circuit boards 28 with upwardly directed light-emitting
diodes 26 are arranged below the windows 17 in order to illuminate
the upper subarea 5.
* * * * *