Patent Publication Number: US-2023137690-A1

Title: Refrigeration appliance having an air distributor

Description:
With frost-free refrigeration appliances, the evaporator is accommodated in an evaporator chamber which is separated from the storage area for items to be refrigerated, and air is circulated between this and the evaporator chamber in order to cool the storage area. In order to achieve a uniform cooling of the entire storage area, the air cooled on the evaporator must be distributed uniformly in the storage area. An air distributor which supplies cold air to different regions of the storage area by way of a plurality of openings which are spaced apart from one another is required to ensure that this can be achieved independently of the positioning of shelves, pull-out boxes or suchlike which hinder the air circulation in the storage area and due to items to be refrigerated positioned thereon/therein. 
     DE 10 2015 203 145 A1 and DE 10 2014 224 648 A1 disclose refrigeration appliances having an air distributor. An air duct of this known distributor runs in each case in a flat groove, which is molded in a rear wall of an internal container, and which is differentiated from the storage area by a cladding locked to lateral flanks of the groove. An escape of air from the air duct is therefore only possible by way of noticeable openings in a visible surface of the cladding. If the storage area is typically to be divided by shelves, then the height of the compartments produced as a result should be able to be selected as freely as possible to ensure that the user is able to adjust them to his/her requirements. The position of the openings is fixed, however, so that an unfavorable positioning of the shelves may result in a compartment, into which no opening leads, only being poorly cooled, whereas another is possibly cooled more intensely than necessary. The lack of coordination between the positions of the openings and the shelves is also esthetically unsatisfactory for the user. 
     An object of the present invention is therefore to create a refrigeration appliance having an air distributor which enables a satisfactory distribution of cold air onto several compartments of a storage area independently of the positioning of the shelves. A further object is to create a refrigeration appliance, the storage area of which offers a tidy, esthetically satisfactory aspect. 
     For this purpose, it is proposed, in the case of a refrigeration appliance with an internal container having a rear wall and side walls, and an air distributor cladding arranged on the rear wall to make a visible surface of the air distributor cladding so wide that it covers the majority of the width of the rear wall and that side surfaces of the air distributor cladding, together with the internal container bound grooves that run on either side of the air distributor cladding and that are open toward a front side of the internal container ( 2 ), and to provide outlet openings of the air distributor cladding on the side surfaces. The outlet openings can be elongated vertically and in this way already favor a uniform distribution vertically, in addition the inevitable deflection of the air into the grooves also promotes an expansion of the flow of air vertically. The quantity of air allotted to a compartment of the storage zone is as a result substantially proportional to its height, but dependent only to a minor extent upon how many openings are in the height of the compartment in question. 
     The visible surface is preferably level and can be kept completely free of outlet openings. This offers on the one hand an esthetically satisfying aspect, on the other hand the level wall surface facilitates the use of the space in front of it with the aid of shelves extending close to the visible surface. The lack of openings on the visible side also helps keep the storage area clean. 
     Due to the technology of its production the side walls of an internal container are generally connected with its rear wall by way of rounding zones which are curved along a vertical axis. This rounding is used in accordance with the invention to forwardly deflect the flow of air leaving the openings of the air distributor only in the width direction of the refrigeration appliance in a low-loss manner. 
     For this purpose, the distance of the visible surface from the rear wall should be smaller than the double curvature radius of the rounding zones, it is preferably smaller than the single curvature radius of the rounding zones. 
     The depth of the grooves preferably amounts to between 0.5 times and double their width. 
     An air distributor duct concealed by the air distributor cladding can run in a cut-out in a rear side of the air distributor cladding facing the rear wall. An area of the rear wall which likewise bounds the air distributor duct can be level and flush with the rest of the rear wall; in other words, the rear wall preferably extends in a straight line between the areas of the air distributor cladding which make contact with the cut-out on either side. 
     At least the areas of the air distributor cladding adjoining the air duct can be molded from foam, in particular expanded polystyrene. The visible side can be in particular an injection molded part or a rigid film which lines the foam. 
     In order to avoid a time-consuming screwing process, the air distributor cladding can be displaceably guided on the rear wall between an engaging position, in which it is fixed in the depth direction of the internal container, and an extraction position, in which it can be moved in the depth direction. The direction of the guidance is preferably vertical, therefore in order to move the air distributor cladding between the engaging position and the extraction position said air distributor cladding can be grasped from both sides by way of the grooves. 
     A groove between an upper narrow side of the air distributor cladding, which is open in the engaging position, can offer the freedom of movement required for the transition into the extraction position. In the engaging position, the grooves form a continuous frame, which, with a preferably constant width, pulls along three edges of the air distributor cladding. 
     The groove along the upper narrow side of the air distributor cladding can naturally also be used to provide an outlet opening there. 
     If the side walls and the ceiling of the internal container are connected in a per se known manner with the horizontal axis by means of a rounding zone in each case, an esthetically satisfactory design can in particular be achieved in that the axis of each rounding zone intersects one of the upper corners of the visible surface. 
     In order to fix the air distributor cladding in the engaging position in the depth direction, at least one pocket can be molded to the rear wall and in the engaging position a locking projection of the air distributor cladding engages into an undercut area of the pocket. 
     Areas of at least two pockets which are undercut on the rear wall are preferably arranged in a mirror-inverted manner with respect to one another and are bounded by edges of the rear wall which run at an acute angle with respect to one another. By locking projections of the air distributor cladding engaging in both pockets and being exposed to forces which oppose one another in the width direction when in contact with the edges, the air distributor cladding is on the one hand centered in the width direction upon transition into the engaging position, on the other hand production tolerances of the pockets can be compensated to a certain degree by a more or less significant deformation of the locking projections at the edges. 
     In order to determine precisely the position of the air distributor cladding in the engaging position, a reinforcing part can be mounted on the rear wall, concealed by the air distributor cladding, on which reinforcing part the air distributor cladding in the engaging position is held immovably in the depth direction. As the position of the reinforcing part is only fixed after assembly of the air distributor cladding during foaming, it is possible during the mounting process to optimize the position of the air distributor cladding in respect of a uniform width of the grooves; since the reinforcing part is fixed in contact with the foam, the once set position can be reliably reestablished after each disassembly of the air distributor cladding. 
     An evaporator cover which is mounted in the internal container downstream of the air distributor cladding can be used to secure the air distributor cladding in the engaging position. For this purpose, a lower edge area of the air distributor cladding can engage in particular in a gap between the rear wall and an evaporator cover and have at least one cut-out or a projection which extends in the depth direction and interacts with a complementary projection or a complementary depression of the rear wall or the evaporator cover. By the evaporator cover blocking a disengaging of the projection from the cut-out, the evaporator cover is prevented from being able to be detached by untrained persons. It is therefore possible in particular to prevent a user from coming into contact with voltage-carrying components behind the evaporator cover. 
     The cut-out or the projection is preferably provided on two lower corners of the air distributor cladding, in particular on arms of the air distributor cladding which project downward above a lower edge of the visible surface. There is therefore sufficient space between the two for an inlet opening, by way of which cold air extends from the evaporator into the air duct. 
     The complementary depression or the complementary projection is preferably provided in the rear wall. The engaging position is then only reachable if the air distributor cladding is bent there temporarily on the way from the extraction point; however, at the same time this bending also ensures a provisional securing of the air distributor cladding in the engaging position if the evaporator cover is not (yet) mounted. 
    
    
     
       Further features and advantages of the invention become apparent from the subsequent description of exemplary embodiments with reference to the appended figures, in which: 
         FIG.  1    shows a front view of an internal container; 
         FIG.  2    shows the internal container from  FIG.  1    with an air distributor cladding mounted therein; 
         FIG.  3    shows the internal container with an evaporator cover mounted in front; 
         FIG.  4    shows a view of the air distributor cladding from the rear; 
         FIG.  5    shows a schematic section through the reinforcing part and a part of the air distributor cladding in the extraction position; and 
         FIG.  6    shows a schematic section through a pocket of the internal container and a locking hook of the air distributor cladding which engages therein. 
     
    
    
       FIG.  1    shows a view frontally from the front onto the carcass  1  of an unfinished refrigerator. An evaporator  3  is mounted in the lower area of an internal container  2 , a cover, which will subsequently divide the internal container  2  in the storage area and evaporator chamber, is still missing. 
     Above the evaporator  3  the internal container  2  has a level upper rear wall  4  which is surrounded along its lateral and upper edges by approximately quarter cylindrical rounding zones  5 ,  6  and at the corners by spherical rounding zones  7 . A ceiling  10  and side walls  11  of the internal container  2  or rounding zones  9  connecting ceiling  10  and side walls  11  adjoin the rounding zones  5 ,  6 . Ribs  45  which are to be used as support for shelves still to be mounted are molded on the side walls  11 . A chamfer  8  compensates for an offset in the depth direction of the carcass  1  between the upper rear wall  4  and a lower rear wall  12 , in front of which the evaporator  3  is mounted. 
     Two depressions  13 , here in the form of hollow cylinders or truncated cones, the axis of which is at right angles to the rear wall  4  in each case, are molded on the rear wall  4  just above the evaporator  3 . 
     A number of pockets  14  are molded in a top area of the rear wall  4 . The pockets  14  each have an edge  15 , behind which, viewed from a direction at right angles to the rear wall, there lies an undercut area  16 . 
     As shown in  FIG.  1   , the pockets  14  can face one another in a mirror-inverted manner on either side of a vertical center plane. The edges  15  run at an angle with respect to the horizontal, in particular the edges  15  of two pockets  14  which face one another in a mirror-inverted manner span an acute angle. 
     Furthermore, a reinforcing part  17  is mounted in at least one opening cut in the rear wall  3 , said reinforcing part supporting a pin projecting through the opening into the internal container  2 . The opening is slightly larger than the pin so that the position of the reinforcing part  17  can be adjusted in the height and width direction of the internal container  2 . 
     The depressions  13 , pockets  14  and reinforcing parts  17  are used to fasten an air distributor cladding  18 , which is shown mounted in the internal container  2  in  FIG.  2   . The air distributor cladding  18  has the shape of a substantially rectangular plate, here with rounded corners  19  on an upper edge, and with two arms  21  which project above a lower edge  20 . A visible surface  22  of the air distributor cladding  18  facing the observer or the storage area is level and free of openings. The visible side  22  can be a plate injection molded from solid plastic. 
     In the mounted position, the visible side  22  is raised above the rear wall  4  and surrounded at the top and on the sides by grooves  23 ,  24 , the bases of which are formed in each case by the rounding zones  5 ,  6 . The width of the grooves  23 ,  24  is in each case the same and slightly smaller than the curvature radius of the rounding zones  5 ,  6 . An axis of the curvatures zones  9  intersect in each case the upper corners  19  of the air distributor cladding  18 . If the air distributor cladding  18  is mounted precisely, points of intersection  46  of the axes coincide in each case with the center points of the quadrant arcs forming the corners  19 . 
     The lower ends of the arms  21  extend as far as the lower rear wall  12 . One part of the chamfer  8  is exposed therebetween. 
       FIG.  4    shows the air distributor cladding  18  in a perspective view from the rear side (facing the rear wall  4  in the fully mounted state). The visible side  22  is here largely covered by a flat mold  25  made from foam, typically from expanded polystyrene. An air distributor duct  26  is recessed on the rear side of the mold  25 . An inlet opening  27 , by way of which in the mounted state cold air extends from the evaporator  3  into the air distributor duct  26 , is located on the lower edge  20  of the air distributor cladding  18 , between the arms  21 . From there the air distributor duct  26  extends upward, wherein it branches repeatedly to form outlet openings  28 ,  29  leading into the grooves  23  and  24  on side surfaces  47  and an upper narrow side  48  of the air distributor cladding  18 . Areas  30  of the mold which project on either side of the air distributor duct  26  tightly abut the rear wall  4  in the mounted state so that the cross-sectionally rectangular air distributor duct  26  is bounded on two narrow sides and a broadside by the mold  25  and on a second broadside by the rear wall  4 . 
     Individual projecting areas  31  of the mold  25  in the middle of the air distributor duct  26  are used to support the air distributor cladding  18  against pressure exerted thereagainst from the front, out of the storage area. 
     Some of the projecting areas  30 ,  31  have in each case a passage, through which a locking projection  32 ,  33  extends. The locking projections  32 ,  33  are preferably integral with the plate forming the visible side  22 . 
     The arms  21  in each case support a pin-shaped projection  40 , the distal end of which projects beyond those of the projecting areas  30 ,  31 . 
       FIG.  5    shows a section through an upper corner of the internal container  2  with a part of the rear wall  4 , the ceiling  10 , the rounding zone  5  arranged therebetween and the reinforcing part  17 , the pin of which projects through the opening  34  into the internal container  2 . The pin comprises a shaft  35  and a head  36 , the diameter of which is larger than that of the shaft  35 . The air distributor cladding  18  is shown in an extraction position, in which it rests against the rear wall  4 , but is freely movable in a direction at right angles to the rear wall  4  and can be removed from the internal container  2 . Its locking projection  32  has, complementary to the shape of the pin, two semicircular-shaped cut-outs, a proximal cut-out  37  with a diameter fitted to the head  36  and a distal cut-out  38  with a diameter fitted to the shaft  35 . If the air distributor cladding  18  is lowered out of the extraction position into an engaging position, the groove  23  between the ceiling  10  and the top edge of the air distributor cladding  18  opens, and by the head  36  and shaft  35  engaging in the complementary cut-outs  37 ,  38 , the air distributor cladding  18  is made immobile in the vertical direction with respect to the rear wall  4 . 
     The head  36  and shaft  35  can be slotted in order to enable a minimal elastic deformation and thus a play-free clamping fit when engaging in the cut-outs. 
     Since the shaft  35  penetrates the opening  34  while maintaining play, the position of the reinforcing part  17  on the rear wall can still be corrected after establishing engagement with the locking projection  32  in order to set a uniform width of the grooves  23 ,  24  annularly around the air distributor cladding  18 . After adjustment, the reinforcing part can be provisionally fixed, e.g. by adhesive, to the exterior of the rear wall, in order then to be permanently fixed by embedding in an insulating foam layer attached in a per se known manner annularly about the internal container  2 . 
       FIG.  6    shows a horizontal section through one of the grooves  24  and its surroundings. The thickness of the air distributor cladding  18  or the distance d between its visible side  22  and the rear wall  4  is here marginally smaller than the radius r of the rounding zone  6 , so that a flow of air out of an outlet opening  28  over its entire width strikes the rounding zone  6  and is deflected hereon in a substantially laminar manner toward a front side of the appliance. The width w of the groove  24  is slightly larger than the radius so that the rear wall  4  projects slightly on both sides of the air distributor cladding  18  and the projecting areas  30 ,  31  of the mold can be flat and rest against the entire surface of the rear wall  4 . 
       FIG.  6    further shows one of the pockets  14  of the rear wall  4  and a locking projection  33  engaging therein. The locking projection  33  is in the shape of a hook with a tip  39 , which is provided to engage in the undercut area  15  of the pocket  14 , behind the edge  16 . 
     Since the edge  16  runs obliquely with respect to the direction of movement between the extraction and engaging position, the path which the locking projection  33  covers at right angles to the edge  16  is shorter than that of the air distributor cladding  18  between the extraction and engaging position. Since moreover the pockets  14  and the locking projections  33  engaging therein are arranged in a mirror-inverted manner with respect to one another, the locking projections  33  can strike the edges  16  before reaching the engaging position and are elastically deflected against these until reaching this engaging position; this ensures that the air distributor cladding  18  is fixed to the rear wall  4  without play. 
     In order to insert the locking projections  33  so deeply into the pockets  14  that their tips  39  can reach the undercut areas  15 , the projecting areas  30 ,  31  must be brought into contact on the rear wall. Since the projections  40  of the arms  21  in the relaxed state project beyond the plane of the projecting areas  30 ,  31 , this is only possible if the arms  21  are elastically deflected in the process. If the projecting areas  30 ,  31  rest against the rear wall  4 , the air distributor cladding  18  is displaced downward along the rear wall  4  until the projections  40  reach the depressions  13  and engage herein. Once this occurs, a further downward movement is blocked and the engaging position is reached. At the same time, the elastic locking of the projections in the depressions provides for a provisional, not readily detachable anchoring of the air distributor cladding  18  in the internal container  2 . 
     In a subsequent mounting step, an evaporator cover  41  is mounted upstream of the evaporator  3 , as shown in  FIG.  3   . The evaporator cover  41  has a vertical wall  42 , the lower edge of which bounds an intake opening  43 . The vertical wall  42  rests in in the mounted state against the evaporator  3 , and functions as a bypass blocker, which prevents a flow of air past the evaporator  3 . An oblique wall  44  upwardly adjoins the vertical wall  42  and runs toward the air distributor cladding  18 , conceals its arms  21  and the intermediate inlet opening  27  and rests with its upper edge tightly against the visible side  22 . By the evaporator cover  41  thus blocking the access to the arms  21  and simultaneously rendering impossible a bending of the air distributor cover  18 , by means of which the projections  40  could detach from the depressions  13 , it reliably prevents disassembly of the air distributor cover  18  by untrained persons. 
     REFERENCE CHARACTERS 
     
         
           1  carcass 
           2  internal container 
           3  evaporator 
           4  rear wall 
           5  rounding zone 
           6  rounding zone 
           7  rounding zone 
           8  chamfer 
           9  rounding zone 
           10  ceiling 
           11  side wall 
           12  rear wall 
           13  depression 
           14  pocket 
           15  edge 
           16  undercut area 
           17  reinforcing part 
           18  air distributor cladding 
           19  corner 
           20  lower edge 
           21  arm 
           22  visible side 
           23  groove 
           24  groove 
           25  mold 
           26  air distributor duct 
           27  inlet opening 
           28  outlet opening 
           29  outlet opening 
           30  projecting area 
           31  projecting area 
           32  locking projection 
           33  locking projection 
           34  opening 
           35  shaft 
           36  head 
           37  cut-out 
           38  cut-out 
           39  tip 
           40  projection 
           41  evaporator cover 
           42  vertical wall 
           43  intake opening 
           44  oblique wall 
           45  rib 
           46  point of intersection 
           47  side surface 
           48  upper narrow side