Abstract:
A cabinet spacer to be applied to cabinets of the type used in refrigerators or freezers, having a rear face to be maintained at a certain minimum distance from an adjacent wall. The cabinet spacer comprises an elongated body having a free end and a mounting end, coupled to the cabinet and which is automatically displaced from an inoperative position, retracted close to the cabinet by actuation of a package portion, to an operative position in which the mounting end is seated on the cabinet and the free end projects beyond the rear face of the cabinet.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     The present invention refers to a spacer device to be applied usually to the rear face of cabinets in general, more particularly to the cabinets of household electric appliances, such as refrigerators and freezers, in order to guarantee a certain minimum distance between said rear face of the cabinet and an adjacent wall of an ambient in which the cabinet is placed.  
       PRIOR ART  
       [0002]     It is a usual procedure to place the cabinet of household electric appliances on the floor, close to one of the walls of a room in a building. In the case of the cabinets for the major domestic appliances, such as refrigerators and freezers, it is necessary to maintain a minimum distance between the rear face of the cabinet, where the condenser is usually mounted, and the adjacent wall of the room, against which the cabinet is positioned, in order to guarantee the necessary airflow through the condenser.  
         [0003]     There are well known in the art the spacers of the type considered herein, which are incorporated or previously affixed to the structure of the cabinet in a fixed operational condition, without requiring any provision from the user to install the cabinet.  
         [0004]     While exerting their function without requiring any mounting operation from the user, these spacers, which are incorporated or previously affixed to the cabinet already in the operative condition, present the serious inconvenience of projecting outwardly from the contour of the cabinet, making difficult the packaging process and the storing and shipping operations.  
         [0005]     There are also known the spacers designed to be mounted to the rear face of the cabinet by the user himself or by the retailer, immediately after the cabinet has been removed from its package. In this type of construction, the spacers do not interfere with the packaging, storing and shipping processes of the cabinets, since they are only mounted in the operative condition when the cabinet is removed from the package in the installation site.  
         [0006]     However, in this type of solution, the user or the retailer of the cabinet has to be careful to mount the spacers to the rear face of the cabinet, following the instructions which accompany the product. However, in many cases, the spacers are simply neglected, and the cabinet is placed in the working position without its rear face being adequately spaced from the adjacent wall of the room.  
       OBJECT OF THE INVENTION  
       [0007]     By reason of the disadvantages of the known cabinet spacers, it is the generic object of the present invention to provide a spacer of the type considered herein, which is previously incorporated to the cabinet in an inoperative condition, without interfering with the contour of the cabinet or with the storing and shipping processes, being automatically displaced to the operative condition, upon removing at least part of the package of the cabinet, without requiring the user to make any mounting or adjusting operation.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0008]     Aiming at attaining the above-mentioned object, the present spacer comprises an elongated body, having a free end, and a mounting end, coupled to the cabinet and which is automatically displaced, generally by gravity, from an inoperative position, retracted close to the cabinet by actuation of a package portion applied to the latter, to an operative position, in which the mounting end is maintained seated on the cabinet and the free end projecting beyond the rear face of the cabinet, so as to be seated against an adjacent wall, in relation to which the cabinet should maintain a minimum spacing.  
         [0009]     The construction proposed by the invention allows the cabinet to be packaged maintaining its basic dimensions, with the spacer in the retracted inoperative position, and allows the spacer to be automatically displaced to the operative position, as soon as the respective package portion of the cabinet is removed, without requiring any specific operation from the user, except the indispensable removal of the package portion. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0010]     The present invention will be described below, with reference to the enclosed drawings given by way of example of an embodiment of the invention, and in which:  
         [0011]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of the present spacer;  
         [0012]      FIG. 2  is a perspective view of the present spacer positioned to be mounted in a window provided in a rear wall portion of the cabinet of a refrigerator or freezer;  
         [0013]      FIG. 3  is a perspective view of the rear lower portion of a cabinet, illustrating the spacer in the inoperative position;  
         [0014]      FIG. 4  is a view similar to that of  FIG. 3 , but illustrating the spacer in the operative position;  
         [0015]      FIG. 5  is a vertical sectional view of the spacer in the inoperative position, longitudinally seated against a rear wall portion of the cabinet; and  
         [0016]      FIG. 6  is a sectional view similar to that of  FIG. 5 , but illustrating the spacer in the operative position.  
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0017]     As illustrated, the present spacer may be applied, for example, to a cabinet  1  of a refrigerator or freezer, having a rear wall portion  2  on each of the sides thereof (only one is illustrated).  
         [0018]     Each rear wall portion  2  is provided with a window  3 , which in the illustrated construction presents a rectangular contour in which the width is larger than the height. It should be understood that the existence of the window  3  and the shape of its contour are only related to a possible constructive embodiment that uses a known cabinet structure which need not suffer any constructive change in order to receive a pair of spacers.  
         [0019]     In the illustrated construction, each spacer comprises an elongated body  10 , molded in plastic material and which presents a free end  11 , and a mounting end  12  coupled to the cabinet  1 , so as to be angularly displaced in a vertical plane, between an inoperative position, in which it remains retracted close to the cabinet, and an operative position, in which it maintains the mounting end  12  seated on the cabinet  1  and the free end  11  projecting beyond the rear face of the cabinet  1 , in order to be seated against an adjacent wall P, guaranteeing a minimum spacing of the cabinet  1  in relation to said adjacent wall P.  
         [0020]     The construction of the elongated body  10  and its coupling to the rear wall portion  2  of the cabinet  1  is made so that the elongated body  10  is maintained in the inoperative position, seated against the respective rear wall portion  2 , by actuation of a package portion E, which can be defined by a wrap made of plastic, paperboard or other adequate material affixed around the cabinet  1 , or only by a strip involving the cabinet  1  and the elongated body  10 , maintaining the latter longitudinally seated against the adjacent rear wall portion  2 , with its free end  11  maintained above the mounting end  12 .  
         [0021]     After the removal of the package portion E which maintains the elongated body  10  in the inoperative position, the latter is automatically displaced to the operative position by the action of gravity, being angularly downwardly displaced until its mounting end  12  is seated on the adjacent rear wall portion  2 .  
         [0022]     Although not illustrated herein, it should be understood that the elongated body  10  might be mounted to the cabinet  1 , in order to be constantly forced to the operative position by any resilient means, and the displacement can also be made in a substantially linear manner, impelled by said resilient means.  
         [0023]     In the illustrated construction, in which the elongated body  10  is angularly displaced to the operative position, the mounting end  12  is eccentrically coupled to the cabinet  1 , so as to allow the gravitational force to act onto the elongated body  10 , angularly downwardly displacing it when removed from the package portion E.  
         [0024]     In the illustrated constructive form, the elongated body  10  has its mounting end  12  incorporating a small L-shaped projection  13 , with a basic leg  13   a  projecting to one of the sides of the basic body  10 , and a free leg  13   b  projecting beyond the mounting end  12 , and having an end edge retained in the cabinet  1 , particularly when the elongated body  10  is displaced to the operative position.  
         [0025]     The end edge of the basic leg  13   a  of the small L-shaped projection  13  incorporates a bar  14  with a width that is larger than that of the small projection  13 .  
         [0026]     The small projection  13  is loosely mounted through the window  3 , so as to allow the bar  14  to be seated against the internal face of the rear wall portion  2  in both operative positions of the elongated body  10 , as better illustrated in  FIGS. 5 and 6 , maintaining the elongated body  10  coupled to the cabinet  1 .  
         [0027]     With the proposed construction, the basic leg  13   a  of the small projection  13  is seated on a lower edge of the window  3 , when the elongated body  10  is in its operative position illustrated in  FIG. 5 , whereby the weight of the elongated body  10  is applied external to the support region defined above, producing a momentum which tends to displace the elongated body  10  angularly downwardly to the operative position illustrated in  FIG. 6 , in which the free leg  13   b  of the small projection  13  seats on the lower edge of the window  3 , and the mounting end  12  of the elongated body  10  seats against the adjacent rear wall portion  2 .  
         [0028]     In the illustrated construction, the elongated body  10  presents, in the region of its mounting end  12 , a pair of lateral projections  17 , imparting to the elongated body  10  a width which is larger than the width of the window  3 .  
         [0029]     The assembly of each elongated body  10  is preferably made from the inside to the outside, through the respective window  3  so as to allow the passage of the projections  17  through the window  3 , until the bar  14  reaches the internal face of the respective rear wall portion  2 , with the elongated body  10  occupying the operative position.  
         [0030]     In the operative condition, the elongated body  10  presents the pair of lateral projections  17  seated against the rear wall portion  2 , guaranteeing a better stability for the spacer.  
         [0031]     After being mounted to the cabinet  1 , the spacers, normally two and each provided close to one of the sides of the cabinet  1 , are displaced to the inoperative position illustrated in  FIGS. 3 and 5 , and so maintained by a package portion E, schematically illustrated in  FIG. 5  and which can take the form of a strip involving the cabinet  1 , or a wrap made of plastic or paperboard which protects the product until its delivery to the user.  
         [0032]     The package portion E has to be necessarily removed when the cabinet is placed in operation, making the spacers lose the element that retains them in the inoperative position. By removing the package portion E, the elongated bodies  10  are gravitationally automatically displaced to the operative position.  
         [0033]     While only one embodiment of the invention has been illustrated, it should be understood that changes in the form and arrangement of the components could be made without departing from the constructive concept defined in the claims which accompany the present description.