Patent Abstract:
A refrigeration appliance, in particular a household refrigeration appliance, has a body and a door leaf which is hinged to the body and delimits a storage compartment. At least one door-opening aid is mounted on the body and includes a pusher element that can move between a rest position and an active position. A drive mechanism for the door-opening aid is housed in a machine compartment in the body.

Full Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a refrigeration appliance, in particular a domestic refrigeration appliance, with a door-opening aid, as known for example from DE 10 2010 020 626 A1. 
     In such a conventional built-in appliance a door-opening aid is mounted on an outer face of the body and comprises a movable pusher element, which pushes against a furniture panel suspended on the door leaf on the path from a rest position to an active position, thus moving the door into a partially open position, from which a user can open the door further with little force expenditure. 
     A drive mechanism for the pusher element is mounted on an outer face of the body. If space has to be found for such a drive mechanism in a built-in refrigeration appliance between an outer wall of its body and a wall of the recess, the usable volume of the refrigeration appliance is significantly restricted. It is also much more difficult to position a free-standing appliance as a result of an isolated drive mechanism projecting from an outer face of the body. However it is also not possible simply to lower the drive mechanism into the heat-insulating insulation layer of the body without creating a cold bridge to the storage compartment there. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     It is therefore the object of the present invention to create a refrigeration appliance with door-opening aid, in which a drive mechanism of the door-opening aid does not project beyond an outer face of the body or significantly restrict the usable volume of the storage compartment. 
     This object is achieved in that, in a refrigeration appliance, in particular a domestic refrigeration appliance, with a body and a door leaf hinged to the body, which delimit a storage compartment, and with at least one door-opening aid arranged on the body and having a pusher element that can be moved between a rest position and an active position, a drive mechanism of the door-opening aid is housed in a machine compartment of the body. As such a machine compartment generally still has free space between the components of a refrigeration machine conventionally contained in it, such as the compressor, condenser, etc., there will frequently also be space for the drive mechanism here without having to enlarge the machine compartment at the expense of the storage area and without a heat bridge being created between the chilled storage area and the environment. 
     The distance between the drive mechanism and the pusher element, which is generally mounted on a front face of the body, can be bridged by an arm. Said arm is preferably passed through a tube. 
     A front end of the tube can be arranged centrally between two side walls of the body so that the pusher element can engage with the door leaf with the same lever arm length regardless of the side on which said door leaf is hinged. 
     The tube can however also run along a first side wall of the body in order to allow the pusher element to engage with the door leaf at a distance from a pivot axis. 
     A second tube can run along a second side wall opposite the first side wall in order to be able to receive the arm if the hinge side of the door is changed. 
     The tube can be embedded into a thermal insulation layer of the body. However it can also run along an outer wall of the body, outside a thermal insulation layer of the same. 
     The pusher element can be moved by the drive mechanism preferably between a rest position and an active position, pushing against an edge region of the door leaf on the path from the rest position to the active position and thus opening the door at least so far that it can be opened further by hand with little force expenditure. 
     The door leaf preferably comprises a base body provided with a thermally insulating filling in the known manner. A pressure plate projecting in the direction of a pivot axis of the door leaf can be joined to this in order to form the edge region against which the pusher element pushes. Such a multi-part door leaf structure on the one hand allows already existing refrigeration appliance door leaves to be used as the base plate. Also because of its small dimensions the pressure plate can be manufactured from a high quality durable material at low cost or it can be replaced when the signs of wear become too obvious. 
     The pusher element can be arranged in a space-saving manner level with a hinge element connecting the door leaf to the body. 
     The drive mechanism can comprise an electric drive, in particular an electric motor. 
     A rotary drive, for example an electric motor, is preferably arranged on a side of the machine compartment away from the door to allow sufficient space between it and a front wall of the machine compartment for the conversion of the rotational movement of the electric motor to a to and fro movement of the arm. 
     For such conversion the drive mechanism can comprise in particular a piston rod that extends through the machine compartment. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING 
       Further features and advantages of the invention will emerge from the description that follows of exemplary embodiments with reference to the accompanying figures, in which: 
         FIG. 1  shows a perspective view of a refrigeration appliance according to a first embodiment of the invention; 
         FIG. 2  shows a section in the depth wise direction through the base region of the body of the refrigeration appliance from  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 3  shows a perspective partial view of a refrigeration appliance according to a second embodiment of the invention; 
         FIG. 4  shows a view similar to  FIG. 3  of a third embodiment of the invention; and 
         FIG. 5  shows a perspective partial view according to a fourth embodiment of the invention. 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       FIG. 1  shows an oblique perspective view from below of the housing of a domestic refrigeration appliance, which can be either a free-standing appliance or a built-in appliance. In the usual manner the housing comprises a body  1  and a door leaf  2 , which is hinged to the body  1  in a pivotable manner and in the closed position rests against a front frame  3  of the body in an almost air-tight manner. This almost air-tight connection means that when warm air passes through the open door  2  into a storage space  4  in the body and cools there, a reduced pressure results, which presses the door  2  against the front frame  3  with great force, making it difficult to open the door  2  again, until the pressure difference between storage space  4  and environment is fully equalized. 
     Also large-scale magnetic attraction between a magnetic seal (not shown here) on the door  2  and the front frame  3  can make it difficult to open the door  2  by hand. 
     Hinge elements  5 , which hold the door  2  so that it can be pivoted about an axis  6 , are fastened here at upper and lower ends of a right side wall  7  of the body  1 , level with a top or base plate  8 ,  9 , and engage in bearing bushes (not visible) of the door  2 . Corresponding bearing bushes  10  are also provided in a mirror image on a left edge of the door leaf  2  in order also to be able to mount the door leaf  2 , if desired, with a pivot axis running along its left edge. 
     The door leaf  2  comprises a flat cuboidal base body  11  of a structure known per se, with a fixed outer skin made of sheet metal or plastic and a filling of thermally insulating rigid foam. The bearing bushes  10  engage in upper and lower narrow faces  12  of the base body  11 . A pressure plate  13  is fastened to the center of the lower narrow face  12  and projects downward. The pressure plate  13  can be an injection molded part made of plastic, optionally with a metallic layer on a stop face  14  facing the front frame  3 . 
     On the frame  3  opposite the stop face  14  is a pusher element  15  that can be moved in the depth wise direction of the body  1 . The pusher element  15  can be moved between a rest position, in which it is at a distance from the pressure plate  13  when the door leaf  2  is in the closed position, and an active position, in which it pushes against the pressure plate  13  and keeps the door leaf  2  away from the frame  3 . The movement of the pusher element  15  is driven by a drive mechanism  16 , which is housed in a machine compartment  17  on the rear face of the body  1 . The machine compartment  17  also contains components of a refrigeration machine that are known per se and are therefore not shown in the figure, such as a compressor, condenser, etc. The drive mechanism  16  comprises an electric motor  18  and a piston rod hinged eccentrically to the electric motor  18 , preferably by way of a reduction gear unit. An arm concealed in the interior of the base plate  9  in  FIG. 1  connects the front end of the piston rod  19  to the pusher element  15 . 
     According to the section through the base plate  9  shown in  FIG. 2  the arm, marked  20  here, is passed through a tube  21 , which is embedded into the thermal insulation material  22  of the body  1  and extends between a front wall  23  of the machine compartment  17  and an indentation  24  in the front frame  3 , which receives the pusher element  15 . The arm  20  is configured as a single piece with the piston rod  19  here and a tapering  25  between the two ensures the necessary pivoting movement between the arm  20 , which passes in a linear manner through the tube  21  in the depth wise direction of the body  1 , and the piston rod  19 , the rear end of which is driven by the electric motor  18  to execute a pendulum movement in the widthwise direction of the body at the arm. 
       FIG. 2  shows the piston rod  19  at a rear turning point of its movement. Beyond the rest position shown here it cannot pull the pusher element  15  back into the indentation  24 . An active position, in which the pusher element is moved to the maximum distance out of the indentation  24 , is shown with a broken line. Before the pusher element can reach this position, it pushes against the pressure plate  13 , thereby pushing the door leaf  2  out of the illustrated position, in which its magnetic seal  29  rests tightly against the front frame  3 , into a partially open position, in which magnetic seal  29  and front frame  3  are separated by an air gap. 
       FIG. 3  shows a partial view of the refrigeration appliance housing illustrating a change to the embodiment in  FIGS. 1 and 2 . The tube  21  is not embedded into the thermal insulation material  22  here but runs in a cutout  26  in the base plate  9  which is open at the bottom. There is therefore no need to seal the ends of the tube  21  to prevent the passage of the thermal insulation material  22  during foaming. 
       FIG. 4  shows a simplified variant in a section similar to the one in  FIG. 2 . The lower face of the base plate  9  here is smooth and the tube  21  runs below the base plate  9  in a space between the base plate and a support (not shown), on which the body is positioned, kept free by feet  27  of the body  1 . 
     Again in a perspective view similar to the one in  FIG. 3 ,  FIG. 5  shows a variant in which two tubes  21  extend along both side walls  7  of the body  1 . In the embodiment illustrated here the tubes  21  run within the base plate  9 , as shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 , but it goes without saying that the tubes  21  could also run outside the thermal insulation material  22 , in a cutout in the base plate  9  or, at least in a rear region, below the base plate  9 . 
     Positioned in the machine compartment  17  are two holders  28 , of which the one adjacent to the left side wall  7  holds the electric motor  18  of the drive mechanism  16 , while the other holder  28 , which is the only one visible in the figure, is empty. The piston rod  19  here drives an arm extending through the left tube  21 , the tip of said arm forming the pusher element  15  projecting from an opening in the frame  3 . A corresponding opening at the front end of the right tube  21  is covered by the lower hinge element  5  mounted in front of it. 
     A pressure plate  13  projecting downward from the lower narrow face  12  of the door leaf base body  11  is arranged here on the end of the narrow face away from the hinge to interact with the pusher element  15 . 
     The pressure plate  13  can be removed and can be replaced or mounted on the opposite end of the lower narrow face  12  of the base body  11  if required, instead of the hinge element  5  shown there in  FIG. 5 , and the hinge element  5  can be moved to the left side wall  7 , in front of the end of the left tube  21 . The opening of the door can be assisted effectively even after the door has been hinged on the other side in that the electric motor  18  is moved to the opposite holder  28  and the arm is inserted into the right tube  21 . 
     LIST OF REFERENCE CHARACTERS 
     
         
           1  Body 
           2  Door 
           3  Frame  3   
           4  Storage space 
           5  Hinge elements 
           6  Axis 
           7  Side wall 
           8  Base plate 
           9  Base plate 
           10  Bearing bushes 
           11  Base body 
           12  Lower narrow face 
           13  Pressure plate 
           14  Stop face 
           15  Pusher element 
           16  Drive mechanism 
           17  Machine compartment 
           18  Electric motor 
           19  Piston rod 
           20  Arm 
           21  Tube 
           22  Thermal insulation material 
           23  Wall 
           24  Indentation 
           25  Tapering 
           26  Cutout 
           27  Feet 
           28  Holders 
           29  Magnetic seal

Technology Classification (CPC): 4