Patent Publication Number: US-8123315-B2

Title: Domestic appliance comprising a support system

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to a cabinet-type domestic appliance, especially a refrigerator or freezer cabinet, with an interior in which a height-adjustable support system is installed. Such a domestic appliance is known for example from DE 10 2004 058199 A1. The support system of the domestic appliance comprises a vertical rail provided with a plurality of snap-in recesses and at least one support arm which features at least one projection engaging into one of the snap-in recesses. 
     A problem with this construction is that the rail is subjected by the load transferred from the support arm to significant bending moments and requires a solid anchorage on the wall in order to bear the loads occurring. A simple screw fixing of the rail to the wall is felt to be aesthetically unsatisfactory since the heads of the screws remain visible in the interior. The object of the present invention is thus to create a domestic appliance of the type specified at the start in which the vertical rail is anchored solidly but invisibly on the wall. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The object is achieved in accordance with the invention by the rail comprising a profile element held immovably on the wall by at least one screw and including a strip able to be moved vertically between a position in which the screw is accessible through an opening formed in a side of the profile element facing away from the wall and a position in which the screw is hidden behind the strip. 
     If the snap-in recesses are breakthroughs in each case, the screw can be arranged to be accessible through one of the breakthroughs so that, even when it is not covered by the strip, it is unobtrusively placed. 
     The snap-in recesses can be formed in the displaceable strip itself. 
     If the snap in recesses are formed in an arm of the profile element the strip can be arranged between the wall holding the rail and the arm. 
     In accordance with a preferred embodiment, an opening is formed on a side of the profile element facing towards the wall and, when the screw is released, the profile element can be moved on the wall between a position in which a head of the screw passes through a wide entry section of the opening and a position in which the head is held on a narrow section of the opening. This allows the screws to be fixed to the wall even before the profile element and the profile element subsequently to be suspended on the screws. No openings then have to be made on the front side of the profile element which are wide enough to let the screw head pass through. 
     Preferably the snap-in recesses are arranged unobtrusively on a floor surface of a slot open towards the interior. 
     This slot can advantageously be undercut and the support arm can feature at least one projection held in the undercut slot. The support arm can thus not release from the rail inadvertently and after release of the projection from the snap-in recess it can be moved comfortably and securely vertically, in which case the projection glides along in the undercut slot. 
     The vertical rail can be attached to a door of the domestic appliance, with in this case the support arm being used to retain a door compartment; but it can also be attached in the carcass of the domestic appliance in order to be used to support compartment shelves. 
     Preferably two vertical rails and two support arms are joined into a rigid unit which engages into one of the rails provided in each case. If at least one of the rails features a vertical slot open to the interior into which a guide projection of one of the support arms extends, this simplifies retaining a horizontal orientation of the unit during height adjustment so that, once a desired height is reached, the projections of the two support arms engage at the same height into snap-in recesses of the strip, with a user having to pay particular attention to this aspect. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Further features and advantages of the invention emerge from the description of exemplary embodiments given below which refer to the enclosed figures. The figures show: 
         FIG. 1  a perspective, fragmentary view of a first embodiment of the inventive refrigerator; 
         FIG. 2  a horizontal section through a vertical rail of the refrigerator and its environs; 
         FIG. 3  a frontal view of a part of the rail; 
         FIG. 4  a perspective view of a rail section seen from its rear side facing an inner container wall of the refrigerator in accordance with a modified embodiment; 
         FIG. 5  a horizontal section through a vertical rail and its environs as claimed in a further embodiment; 
         FIG. 6  a vertical section along the plane designated by VI in  FIG. 5  and  FIG. 7 ; and 
         FIG. 7  a schematic horizontal section through a refrigerator door in which vertical rails of the type shown in  FIG. 5  are installed. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS OF THE PRESENT INVENTION 
     The partly cut away refrigerator carcass  1  shown in  FIG. 1  comprises in a known way an outer skin  2  joined from rigid elements such as metal sections and an inner container  3  which is delimited by walls  4 ,  5  filled with insulating foam material. Two vertical slots  12  are formed on the rear wall  5  of the inner container  3  (see  FIG. 2 ) which extend over the entire height of the interior and into which hollow support rails  6  of rectangular cross-section are inserted. Hooked into the support rails  6  are support arms  10  which, as shown in  FIG. 1 , can support compartment shelves  13  resting loosely on them or of which two in each case can be integrated with a compartment shelf to form a rigid unit. 
       FIG. 2  shows a horizontal section through one of the support rails  6  along a plane above a support arm  10  suspended in the support rail  6  as well as through the slot  12  of the inner container  3  accommodating the support rail  6 . As shown in this figure, the two support rails  6  each comprise an outer profile  7  with an approximately C-shaped cross-section, with the open side of the C-profile facing towards the interior of the carcass  1  as well as a strip which is guided for vertical movement in two slots facing towards each other of the arms of the outer profile  7 . The strip  8  is provided at regular intervals with breakthroughs  9 , of which one is shown in the cross-section depicted in  FIG. 2 . 
     A support arm  10  shown as a fragment in an overhead view is provided with two hooks  17  which engage in other lower-lying breakthroughs  9  of the strip  8 . 
     While the outer profile  7  extends over the entire height of the inner container  3 , the strip  8  is slightly shorter. As can be seen in the front view of the upper area of the support rail  6  in  FIG. 3 , the strip  8  does not extend right to the upper end of the outer profile  7 . The strip  8  is thus able to be moved vertically in the outer profile  7  and can be raised into a position in which a screw  11  anchoring the outer profile  7  to the rear wall  5  of the carcass  1 , which is shown as dashed outline in  FIG. 3  because it is covered by the strip  8 , is accessible through one of the breakthroughs  9 . The screw  11  has a head diameter which is slightly smaller than the dimensions of the breakthroughs  9 , so that, when the strip has been suitably raised, the screw  11  is introduced through the breakthrough  9  into the inside of the support rail  6  and can be introduced into a rear-side screw hole in order to anchor the support rail  6  to the rear wall  5  in this way. 
     In general a plurality of screws  11  is provided on each support rail in order to fix them to the rear wall  5  at a number of points distributed over their height, so that parts of the support rail  6  as a result of the torsion exerted on them by the support arms suspended from them are not deformed and project beyond the inner surface of the rear wall  5 . 
     The screw holes on the rear side of the outer profile  7  are positioned so that in each case they are only accessible when the strip  8  is raised, whereas in the lowered position of the strip  8 , when this is supported at a lower end of the support rail  6 , the screw holes with the screws  11  fitted into them are hidden behind the strip  8 . 
     The support arms  10  of a compartment shelf  13  can be embodied in each case as elements able to be suspended separately from each other in the support rails  6  which extend over a majority of the depth of the inner container  3 , so that the compartment shelf can be laid loosely on top of them as indicated in the drawing depicted in  FIG. 1 . 
     In accordance with a preferred development the support arms  10 , as shown in  FIG. 2 , simultaneously represent longitudinal bars of a frame  14  formed from two longitudinal bars and two transverse bars  15 , in which a carrier plate  16 , for example a sheet of safety glass, is held. The figure shows cutaway sections of the rear transverse bars  15 , the left-hand longitudinal bars  10  and also the carrier plate  16  in each case. 
       FIG. 4  shows a preferred development of the support rail  6  in a perspective view. This support rail  6  is identical in its cross-section to the one shown in  FIG. 2 . Formed on the rear side of the outer profile  7  are screw holes  18  with a shape similar to that of a keyhole, which each feature a wide lower section  19  and a narrower upper section  20 . The lower section  19  is dimensioned so that a head of a screw  11  used to attach the support rail  6  to the carcass  1  can pass freely through it, whereas the narrower section  20  is dimensioned in order to only let the shaft of the screw  11  pass through it. The support rail  6  is slightly shorter than the slot  12  on the rear wall  5  of the carcass  1  accommodating it. This makes it possible to install the support rail  6  by first screwing the screw  11  into the rear wall  5  then fitting the support rail  6  onto the screws  11  such that their heads fit in each case into the lower section  19  of the screw holes  18 , and subsequently the support rail now lying in the slot  12  of the rear wall  5  is lowered so that the shafts of the screws  11  engage in the narrower sections of the screw holes  18 . In this position the strip  8  is raised again in order to make the heads of the screws in  11  accessible and the screws  11  are tightened with the aid of a tool inserted through one of the breakthroughs  9 . Since with this variant the screws  11  do not themselves have to pass through the breakthroughs  9 , the breakthroughs  9  can be made narrower and also the width of the space between the two arms of the outer profile  7  guiding the strip  8  can be made narrower than depicted in the embodiment shown in  FIG. 2 , which improves the load-bearing capacity of the support rail  6 . 
       FIG. 5  shows a horizontal section through a support rail  6  and a part of the inner container  3  on which it is installed in accordance with a further embodiment of the invention. An outer profile  7  of the support rail  6  has two parallel sidewalls  21  here which are connected to each other in the shape of an H by a crossbar  22 . Breakthroughs  9  are made in the crossbar  22  at regular intervals to accept hooks of a support arm  10  not shown in the figure. The crossbar  22  forms the floor surface of an undercut slot  23  open towards the interior. A second undercut slot  24  is provided on the side of the crossbar  22  facing away from the interior. 
     An entry gap  25  of the slot  24  facing towards the inner container  3  has a width such that it allows a shaft but not a head of an attachment screw  11  to pass through it. Only at points on the entry gap  25 , shown in  FIG. 5  by dashed delimitation lines, are widened-out sections  26  created which, like the lower section  19  of the opening  18  in  FIG. 4 , are wide enough to let a screw head pass through them. This makes it possible to mount the support rail  6  of  FIG. 5  in the same way on the rear wall  5  as described above for the embodiment of  FIG. 4 . 
     Formed in the two sidewalls  21  is a pair of opposing slits, in which a narrow strip  27  is guided for vertical displacement. The strip  27  divides the interior of the slot  24  into a rear area accommodating the heads of the screws  11  and a front area which accepts the hooks of support arms  10  extending through the breakthroughs  9 . 
     The strip  27  is provided with a plurality of holes  28  which lie in a sunken position of the strip  27  just below a breakthrough  9  of the crossbar  22  in each case and are thus not visible from the interior of the refrigerator. The strip  27  can however be lifted into a position in which the hole  28  is flush with one of the breakthroughs  9  in each case and through this breakthrough  9  and the corresponding hole  28  the head of a screw  11  lying behind them is accessible to a tool to enable the support rail  6  to be attached to the inner container  3  or released from it. During normal use of the refrigerator closed areas of the strip  27  lie in front of the screws  11  so that none of them are visible. 
     The support rails  6  shown in  FIGS. 2 and 5 , can, as already specified, be mounted in the carcass  1  of the refrigerator so that support arms  10  for compartment shelves can be suspended from them; in exactly the same way however they can also be mounted on the inner side of the door so the door compartments can be suspended from them, as it shown in  FIGS. 6 and 7 . 
       FIG. 6  is a vertical section through the rail  6  depicted in  FIG. 5 , with a support arm  10  suspended on the rail and the door compartment  29  held by the former being shown in a side view. The support arms  10  engaging in the two support rails  6  of the door  30  are each connected rigidly here to a rectangular frame  31  in which a box  32  injection molded from plastic is loosely suspended in order to form the door compartment. A full-width lid  33  of the box lies on the frame  31 . 
     The support arms  10  each comprise a guide body  34  with a T-shaped cross-section of with a crossbar  35  lying on the outside of the support rail  6  and a rib  36  projecting centrally from the crossbar  35  which engages into the slot  23  of the support rail  6 . At the upper end of the rib  36  are formed pins  37  protruding in opposing directions which engage into the undercuts of the slot  23  in each case. Protruding from a lower end of the rib  36  is a hook engaging into a breakthrough  9  of the crossbar  22 . 
     To change the height of the door compartment  29 , it is sufficient to lift the unit slightly out of the frame  31  and support arms  10  and turn it in a counterclockwise direction in relation to  FIG. 6 , so that the two hooks come free from the breakthroughs  9 , whereas the pins  37  remain held in the slot  23 . If during pivoting it is ensured that at least the hooks  38  do not leave the slots  23 , because of the rigid connection between the support arms  10  via the frame  31  it is not possible to raise or lower one of these support arms  10  significantly more than the other. A tilting of the door compartment while changing its height is largely excluded by this. 
     As shown in  FIG. 6 , the pins  37  can have a non-round cross section. It is conceivable to extend the pin  37  so greatly in a vertical direction that they restrict the ability of the unit comprising frame  31  and support arm  10  so greatly that the hooks  38  can no longer leave the slots  23 . The same purpose could also be served by a number of pins arranged on the same side of the ribs  36  or on opposing sides offset in height in relation to each other, as indicated in  FIG. 6  by a dashed outline  37 ′.