Abstract:
A housing for a refrigeration device is composed of an outer housing box that encloses an interior space, and at least one intermediate mounted shelf disposed in the interior space. The intermediate mounted shelf contains a pre-shaped core made of solid foam material, which is directly fastened on the inner wall of the housing box.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICAITON  
       [0001]    This application is a continuation, under 35 U.S.C. § 120, of copending international application No. PCT/EP02/10145, filed Sep. 10, 2002, which designated the United States; this application also claims the priority, under 35 U.S.C. § 119, of German patent application No. 101 45 140.7, filed Sep. 13, 2001; the prior applications are herewith incorporated by reference in their entirety. 
     
    
     
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    The present invention relates to a housing for a refrigerator. The refrigerator has an outer housing box which surrounds an interior space, and at least one shelf which is mounted in the interior space in order to divide it into subspaces. Typical refrigerators of this type are combination appliances, in which one subspace acts as a freezer compartment and a second acts as a normal cooling compartment. Refrigerators having a plurality of shelves and whose interior space is divided into a freezer compartment, a normal cooling compartment and a cellar-type compartment are also known.  
           [0003]    Since different temperatures have to be maintained in the different subspaces, the shelves have to tightly adjoin the inner wall of the housing box and, in a similar manner to the outer housing box, which surrounds all of the subspaces, have to be thermally insulated.  
           [0004]    Shelves of this type are conventionally constructed as hollow bodies that adjoin by their lateral flanks tightly to the inner walls of the housing box and are subsequently filled with foam in order to achieve the necessary insulating power. This technique is similar to the one conventionally also used to produce the outer housing box: the latter is assembled from outer and inner walls which delimit between them a cavity that is filled with foam to provide heat insulation.  
           [0005]    This technique is costly since the production of a hollow part, for example by blow-molding or injection-molding techniques, requires expensive hollow molds, and the tight fastening of these parts in the housing box with the aim of subsequently filling them with foam is complicated and labor intensive.  
           [0006]    In addition, the intimate bond which arises during the foam-filling process between the foam material and the hollow body that it fills would make it difficult to recover the used materials in a manner in which they are intact in terms of type if the refrigerator is dismantled after the end of service life.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0007]    It is accordingly an object of the invention to provide a housing for a refrigerator that overcomes the above-mentioned disadvantages of the prior art devices of this general type, in which the housing has an interior space divided by a shelf, and the costs for producing the internal shelf are reduced and its fitting is simplified. It is a further object to specify a recycling-friendly housing.  
           [0008]    With the foregoing and other objects in view there is provided, in accordance with the invention, a housing for a refrigerator. The housing contains an outer housing box having an inner wall and defining and surrounding an interior space. At least one shelf is fitted in the interior space and defines subspaces. The shelf has a preformed core formed of a foam material fastened to the inner wall of the outer housing box. The preformed core has lateral flanks and means disposed on the lateral flanks for obtaining an effective sealing between the subspaces produced by the shelf.  
           [0009]    Instead of producing a hollow body and filling the latter later with insulating foam, the invention envisages first producing an insulating body or core of a foam material, the strength of which is sufficient in order to fasten it directly to the inner wall of the housing. This makes it unnecessary to fabricate a hollow body with precise dimensions. An impervious covering of the core, which is desirable to protect the foam material from contamination and from the penetration of moisture, can be constructed from one or more panels that are simple to produce.  
           [0010]    The shelf of foam material can be fitted in a simple manner by pushing the core onto at least one channel or a projection that is formed on the inner wall of the housing box. It is expedient in each case to form, on a lateral flank of the core, a projection that is complementary to a channel of the inner wall or a channel that is complementary to a projection of the inner wall.  
           [0011]    In order to obtain an effective sealing between the subspaces on both sides of the shelf, knobs may be provided on the lateral flanks of the core, the knobs being deformed when the core is pushed into the interior space and thereby ensuring that the core is tightly connected to the inner wall.  
           [0012]    As an alternative, a sealing tape may be disposed on the lateral flanks of the core.  
           [0013]    The panels (already mentioned) of the impervious covering are expediently held on the core by a plug-in or clamping connection. A connection of this type can easily be released during the disassembly of the refrigerator and promotes a recovery of the used materials in a manner in which they are intact in terms of type. In addition, it permits a simple replacement of individual panels in the event of damage, in contrast with the conventional technique in which, in the event of the hollow body being damaged, it has to be entirely replaced together with its foam filling.  
           [0014]    At least one groove for accommodating heating devices is preferably formed on a front side of the core and, if each of the subspaces is assigned its own door, the groove prevents condensation of air moisture on the front side of the core.  
           [0015]    If a fan is provided in the subspace situated below the shelf, in particular for circulating cold air in the subspace, then preferably at least one rib is formed on the lower side of the shelf, the rib surrounding a surface of the lower side, below which the fan is disposed. If moisture precipitates on the lower side of the shelf outside this surface, a rib of this type prevents drops of condensation water from migrating along the lower side to a position above the fan and dripping onto the latter.  
           [0016]    Likewise in order to protect the fan from drops of condensate, that surface of the lower side that is surrounded by the rib may be shaped concavely, so that condensate forming on the surface drains in the direction of the rib and drips off on the latter.  
           [0017]    The core is preferably produced from EPS (polystyrene foam).  
           [0018]    Other features which are considered as characteristic for the invention are set forth in the appended claims.  
           [0019]    Although the invention is illustrated and described herein as embodied in a housing for a refrigerator, it is nevertheless not intended to be limited to the details shown, since various modifications and structural changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention and within the scope and range of equivalents of the claims.  
           [0020]    The construction and method of operation of the invention, however, together with additional objects and advantages thereof will be best understood from the following description of specific embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawings.  
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0021]    [0021]FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic, sectional view of a refrigerator having an interior space divided by a shelf according to the invention;  
         [0022]    [0022]FIG. 2 is an exploded, perspective view of the shelf;  
         [0023]    [0023]FIG. 3 is a side-elevational view of a core of the shelf; and  
         [0024]    [0024]FIG. 4 is a partial section view through a refrigerator housing having the shelf. 
     
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0025]    Referring now to the figures of the drawing in detail and first, particularly, to FIG. 1 thereof, there is shown a highly diagrammatized illustration of a section through a refrigerator housing, in which the present invention can be used. The housing contains an outer housing box, which is composed of an inner container  1  and outer walls  2  and in which an intermediate space  3  between the inner container  1  and outer walls  2  is filled with insulating foam. A shelf  4  divides an interior space of the housing box into an upper subspace  5 , for example a freezer compartment, and a lower subspace  6 , for example a normal cooling compartment. Each of the subspaces  5 ,  6  is assigned a respective door  7  and  8  which are adjacent to a gap  9  level with the shelf  4 .  
         [0026]    The shelf  4  has an essentially L-shaped cross section with a horizontal main section  10 , which extends from the doors  7 ,  8  as far as a rear wall of the inner container  1 , and a section  11  that is angled downward on a front edge of the main section  10 . The shape of the shelf  4  ensures, first, that level with the gap  9  there is a sufficiently thick insulating layer to protect against heat penetrating into the gap from the outside; second, the thickness of the main section  10  can remain limited over most of the main section to a small value required for an effective heat insulation between the subspaces  5 ,  6  and for a sufficient mechanical strength of the shelf  4  in order not to impair the available storage volume in the inner container  1  beyond the necessary extent.  
         [0027]    [0027]FIG. 2 shows, in a perspective, exploded illustration, the construction of the shelf  4 . The self contains a single-part core  12  of expanded polystyrene (EPS) that substantially fills the shelf  4 .  
         [0028]    Two horizontal grooves  13  are formed on a front side  14  of the core  12 , which side faces the observer. They are provided in order to accommodate a non-illustrated hot gas pipe through which warm refrigerant is conducted after it has passed through the condenser of a refrigerating machine and before it passes through a heat exchanger. This keeps the front side  14  sufficiently warm such that a formation of condensation water in the gap  9  is avoided. The horizontal grooves  13  are connected in a left edge region of the front side  14  by a vertical groove and merge on a right edge region into grooves extending along a right side flank  15 , with the result that the hot gas pipe can be laid continuously through these grooves.  
         [0029]    A sealing tape  30  of a closed-pore foam material, such as, for example, cellular polyethylene, is provided in order, following the fitting of the hot gas line, to be disposed in the grooves thereof or in non-illustrated grooves dedicated to the sealing tape  30  on the side flanks  15 , front side  14  and rear side of the core  12  and thus to ensure a tight connection of the shelf  4  to the inner container  1 . Although only one sealing tape  30  is shown in FIG. 2, such sealing tapes may also be placed in twos, in each case in the vicinity of the upper and lower sides of the core  12 .  
         [0030]    A respective guide groove  16  extends in the horizontal direction on both side flanks  15  of the core  12 . The guide groove  16  is provided in order to accommodate a complementary rib that is formed on the inner container  1 , so that the shelf  4  can be fitted by simple pushing the core  12  onto the ribs.  
         [0031]    Of course, a horizontal rib could also be provided with the same effect on a side flank of the core, the rib engaging in a complementarily shaped groove in a side wall of the inner container  1 .  
         [0032]    An upper side  17  of the core  12  is protected against damage and contamination by an upper covering panel  18 , for example of solid polystyrene. The covering panel  18  engages by its downwardly bent, front edge  19  in the upper of the two grooves  13 ; an analogous groove engagement with a groove on one of the side flanks  15  of the core or on the rear side thereof may also be provided in order to clamp the upper covering panel  18  to the core  12 . As an alternative, the lower side of the upper covering panel could also be provided with spikes—possibly equipped with barbs—which can be driven into the core  12  in order to install the covering panel thereon.  
         [0033]    In both cases, an adhesive bond is not required between the covering panel  18  and core  12 , which makes it possible for them to be separated from each other during disassembly in a manner in which they are intact in terms of type.  
         [0034]    A lower covering panel  20  which covers a lower side of the core  12  is equipped on its front edge  21  in an analogous manner to the covering panel  18  with a retaining lug for engagement in the lower of the grooves  13 . It may also be clamped in the same manner as the upper covering panel  18  to the core  12  without an adhesive bond by engagement of a further retaining lug in a lateral or rear groove of the core; a fastening with the aid of spikes is also suitable.  
         [0035]    As can be seen more clearly in the side view of the core of FIG. 3, two narrow slots  22 , which can be formed in a simple manner by cutting into the material of the core, are situated on the front side  14  of the core  12  parallel to the grooves  13 . These slots  22  are provided in order to receive tongues  23  of upper and lower cross pieces  24  (shown in FIG. 2) which can be formed as extruded profiles of plastic or metal and, first, can serve to stiffen the shelf  4  and, second, serve as a support for a non-illustrated metallic screen which completely covers the front side  14  of the core  12 .  
         [0036]    [0036]FIG. 2 furthermore shows a downwardly directed rib  25  on the lower covering panel  20 , the rib  25  extending in an approximately C-shaped manner around a surface  26  of the lower covering panel  20 , which surface is adjacent to the rear wall of the inner container  1  in the fitted state of the shelf  4 . As the section view of FIG. 4 shows, the surface  26  is provided in order to accommodate an electric fan  27  below it in the lower subspace  6 . The rib  25  prevents drops of moisture that might be formed, for example, by condensation on the lower covering panel  20  outside the surface  26  surrounded by the rib  25 , from reaching the fan  27 . A corresponding protection of the fan  27  against condensate forming on the surface  26  can be achieved if the surface  26  is sloped toward the rib  25 .  
         [0037]    As can be seen in FIG. 4, the guide groove  16  extends not only over the side flanks  15  of the core  12 , but also over the rear side thereof, and a rib  28  which engages in a load-bearing manner in the guide groove  16  is also formed on the rear wall of the inner container  1 . The shelf  4  thereby obtains a high load-bearing capacity without excessive wall thicknesses of the covering panels  18 ,  20  or of the core  12  being required for this.  
         [0038]    In order to additionally support the shelf  4 , it is possible, as shown, for an additional rib  29  also to be formed on the inner container  1  in the region of the lower subspace  6 , the lower covering panel  20  resting on said rib.