Abstract:
A table refrigerator has a housing enclosing an internal volume that is divided into a normal cooling compartment and a freezer compartment. The freezer compartment is disposed underneath the normal cooling compartment and it is equipped with a drawer-type carrier for frozen products.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION  
       [0001]    This application is a continuation, under 35 U.S.C. § 120, of copending international application PCT/EP02/12080, filed Oct. 29, 2002, which designated the United States; this application also claims the priority, under 35 U.S.C. § 119, of German patent application No. 101 54 273.9, filed Nov. 5, 2001; the prior applications are herewith incorporated by reference in their entirety. 
     
    
     
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    Field of the Invention  
           [0003]    The present invention relates to a table refrigerator with a housing that surrounds an interior space and wherein the interior space is divided into at least one freezing compartment and one normal refrigerating compartment.  
           [0004]    Conventionally, in refrigerators of this type, the freezing compartment forms an upper portion of the interior space, and the bottom of the freezing compartment is at the same time the ceiling of the normal refrigerating compartment. The normal refrigerating compartment is cooled partially by heat exchange with the freezing compartment, use being made of the fact that air which has cooled on the ceiling of the normal refrigerating compartment flows downward in the normal refrigerating compartment and thus ensures a uniform temperature distribution in the latter.  
           [0005]    The overall height of what may be referred to as table refrigerators is generally no more than approximately 1.20 m. In such table refrigerators, the result of placing the freezing compartment in the upper region of the interior space in the conventional way is that a user has to kneel down in front of the appliance so that he can look into the freezing compartment. In this position, he is forced to look in the horizontal direction, thus leading to an unnatural and uncomfortable body posture which, in particular, elderly or physically disabled persons may find difficult to assume.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0006]    It is accordingly an object of the invention to provide a table refrigerator which overcomes the above-mentioned disadvantages of the heretofore-known devices and methods of this general type and which provides for easy access to the freezing compartment in spite of the low overall height of the device.  
           [0007]    With the foregoing and other objects in view there is provided, in accordance with the invention, a table refrigerator, comprising:  
           [0008]    a housing enclosing an interior space;  
           [0009]    the interior space being divided into a normal refrigerating compartment and at least one freezing compartment disposed underneath the refrigerating compartment; and  
           [0010]    a pull-out frozen-product carrier disposed in the freezing compartment.  
           [0011]    In other words, the objects of the invention are achieved, in that the freezing compartment is arranged underneath the normal refrigerating compartment and it is equipped with a pull-out frozen-product carrier.  
           [0012]    It would, admittedly, be conceivable to equip even a freezing compartment in a conventional position in the upper region of the interior space with a pull-out frozen-product carrier. However, such a carrier is complicated in mechanical terms and is costly, since, so that access to this carrier can be gained from above, it is necessary to guide it in pull-out rails over a distance which is longer than the depth of the carrier itself. Moreover, it is possible for the carrier to be pulled out as far as is then necessary only when the door of the refrigerator is opened over more than 90°.  
           [0013]    Moving the freezing compartment out of the conventional position in the upper region of the interior space into the lower region of the latter is, in and of itself, also no solution to the set problem, since the lower the freezing compartment is arranged, the further a user must also lower his head so that he can look into the compartment from the front.  
           [0014]    Surprisingly, however, the combination of the positioning of the freezing compartment underneath the normal cooling compartment and the provision of a pull-out frozen-product carrier affords a considerable improvement in the accessibility of the freezing compartment, since, in this position, it is sufficient that the pull-out carrier can be pulled out at most over a distance corresponding to its depth, so that free access to it can be gained from above. In order to examine the contents of the freezing compartment, a user kneeling in front of the refrigerator no longer has to look horizontally, but, instead, can look obliquely downward, as is natural in the body posture assumed in front of the appliance.  
           [0015]    So that as large a volume as possible can be provided for the freezing compartment in the lower region of the interior space, the compressor of the refrigerator is preferably accommodated in an upper region of the latter.  
           [0016]    Furthermore, it is preferred that the freezing compartment be closable by means of a flap which, to open it, can be pivoted downward about a horizontal axis. This flap, in the pulled-out state, may serve at the same time for supporting the pulled-out frozen-product carrier, so that a complicated rail mechanism for guiding the latter is not necessary.  
           [0017]    In a particularly simple and mechanically robust design, the flap, in its open state, lies on the bottom of the interior space, so that the weight of the frozen-product carrier carried, in the pulled-out state, essentially by the flap is transferred via the latter directly onto the bottom of the interior space.  
           [0018]    A stop which limits the pull-out movement of the frozen-product carrier can be formed by a projection on the door of the refrigerator, in particular by a spar which is integrally formed on the inside of the door and to which a door storage compartment can be fastened, or by just such a storage compartment.  
           [0019]    Alternatively, such a stop may also be formed directly by a projection produced on the flap itself.  
           [0020]    If the freezing compartment is arranged in the lower region of the interior space of the refrigerator, then, contrary to the conventional arrangement, heat exchange between the freezing compartment and the normal refrigerating compartment is undesirable, since it would lead to temperature stratification in the normal refrigerating compartment. The freezing compartment is therefore effectively insulated thermally both relative to the surroundings of the refrigerator and relative to the normal refrigerating compartment, preferably by means of a hollow wall arranged between the freezing compartment and the normal refrigerating compartment and filled with heat-insulating material, by the flap being designed as a hollow body filled with heat-insulating material and, not least, by the wall thickness of the housing being greater in the surroundings of the freezing compartment than in the surroundings of the normal refrigerating compartment.  
           [0021]    Other features which are considered as characteristic for the invention are set forth in the appended claims.  
           [0022]    Although the invention is illustrated and described herein as embodied in a table 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.  
           [0023]    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  
       [0024]    [0024]FIG. 1 is a perspective illustration of a section (along the line I-I in FIG. 3A) through a refrigerator according to the invention, with the door open and with the flap of the freezing compartment closed;  
         [0025]    [0025]FIG. 2 is a similar view of the table refrigerator of FIG. 1, with the flap open and with the frozen-product carrier partially pulled out;  
         [0026]    [0026]FIG. 3A is a horizontal section through the table refrigerator of FIG. 1, at the level of the freezing compartment;  
         [0027]    [0027]FIG. 3B is a horizontal section through the table refrigerator with the frozen-product carrier pulled out, at the same level as the section of FIG. 3A;  
         [0028]    [0028]FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a flap of the freezing compartment according to a second embodiment of the invention; and  
         [0029]    [0029]FIG. 5 is a partial section through a refrigerator with the freezing compartment flap from FIG. 1 and with a frozen-product carrier adapted specially to this flap. 
     
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0030]    Referring now to the figures of the drawing in detail and first, particularly, to FIG. 1 thereof, there is shown a diagrammatic vertical section through a table refrigerator  1  according to a first embodiment of the invention. A housing  2  of the appliance  1  is constructed in a way known per se from an outer wall  3 , from an inner container  4  deep-drawn in one piece from a plastic sheet, and from insulating foam material  5  which fills an interspace between the outer wall  3  and the inner container  4 .  
         [0031]    A rear upper corner of the housing  2 , i.e., a corner facing away from the door  6 , accommodates a compressor  7  which, together with other devices such as evaporators, a heat exchanger, and so on, forms the refrigerating machine of the table refrigerator  1 .  
         [0032]    An interior space  8  of the table refrigerator  1  is divided and subdivided into a normal refrigerating compartment  9  and a freezing compartment  10 . The normal refrigerating compartment  9  occupies the upper three quarters of the interior space  8  and is subdivided by a plurality of compartment floors  11 . In the lowermost of the compartments divided in this way there is located a pull-out box  12  for vegetables or the like.  
         [0033]    The freezing compartment  10  is upwardly separated from the normal refrigerating compartment  9  by way of a horizontal hollow wall  13  which is filled with foam material  5  in exactly the same way as the side walls of the housing  2 . This hollow wall  13  can be produced in one piece with the inner container  4  in the same deep-drawing process in which the latter was formed; it may also be inserted subsequently as an intermediate wall into the inner container  4  originally formed with a continuous cavity.  
         [0034]    As can be seen in FIG. 1 for the rear wall and the bottom of the housing  2 , the thickness of the foam material  5  which insulates the freezing compartment  10  relative to the surroundings is greater than in the insulation of the normal refrigerating compartment  9 . A step  14  is formed on the bottom of the inner container  4  and constitutes a limit of the freezing compartment  10  forward toward the door  6 . The height of the step corresponds to the thickness of a door flap  15  which closes the front side of the freezing compartment  10 . The flap  15  is a plastic hollow body that is filled with the same insulating foam material  5  as the side walls. The flap  15  is pivotable about a horizontal axis of rotation which runs through a lower end portion  16  of the flap  15  that has a rounded cross section. On the inside of the flap  15  facing the freezing compartment  10  there is formed a central portion  19 , the thickness of which is greater than that of edge regions surrounding the latter all-round. In the closed state of the flap  15 , the edge regions lie against the step  14 , against the front edge of the wall  13  and against corresponding shoulder surfaces of the side walls. The the central portion  19  projects into the interior of the freezing compartment  10 .  
         [0035]    Inside the freezing compartment  10  there is located a pull-out frozen-product carrier  17 , here in the form of a plastic box similar to the pull-out box  12 , but with a base area somewhat reduced as compared with the box  12 .  
         [0036]    [0036]FIG. 2 shows a second illustration, similar to FIG. 1, of the table refrigerator, in which the flap  15  is pivoted out of its closed position shown in FIG. 1 into an open position. In the open position, the flap  15  lies flat on the bottom  18  of the inner container. Since the height of the step  14  corresponds to the thickness of the flap  15 , in this open position of the flap  15  the inner surface of the latter, more precisely its central portion  19  projecting in the closed state into the interior of the freezing compartment  10 , is located level with the bottom  20  of the freezing compartment  10 . The height of the flap  15  is selected such that, when the door  6  stands open at an angle of 90°, projections formed on the inside of the door  6 , specifically compartment floors  21  or spars  22  carrying the compartment floors  21  and integrally formed on the inside of the door  6 , do not obstruct the pivoting of the flap  15  downward against the bottom  18 .  
         [0037]    [0037]FIG. 3A shows a section through the table refrigerator, level with the freezing compartment  10 , with the flap  15  closed. It can be seen that, at the lateral edges of the flap  15 , in exactly the same way as can be seen in FIG. 1 for the upper and lower edge of the latter, a gap  23  between the inner container  4  and the flap  15  is doubly angled, so that only slight air exchange, if at all, is possible through the gap  23  between the freezing compartment  10  and the normal refrigerating compartment  9 .  
         [0038]    [0038]FIG. 3B shows a similar section through the table refrigerator  1 , with the flap  15  open, with the pull-out frozen-product carrier  17  pulled out of the freezing compartment  10 . The carrier butts with a front edge against a spar  22  of the door  6  which stands open at 90°. The latter thus limits the freedom of pull-out movement of the pull-out frozen-product carrier  17 , so that the latter cannot be inadvertently pulled out too far and fall out of the table refrigerator  1 . It is possible, however, to remove the pull-out frozen-product carrier  17  completely, in that it is lifted at its front edge in the position shown in FIG. 3B and is tilted into a vertical position. A cutout  24  in the side walls of the pull-out frozen-product carrier  17  that allows such lifting and pivoting is indicated in FIG. 2.  
         [0039]    While, in the exemplary embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the depth of the freezing compartment  10  or of the pull-out frozen-product carrier  17  is markedly greater than that between the front edge of the wall  13  and the stop formed here by the spar  22 , it is also possible to select the two sizes identically or, at most, to select the depth so that it is slightly greater than the distance, so that, in the completely pulled-out state of the pull-out frozen-product carrier  17 , virtually the entire top side of the latter is freely accessible and the pull-out carrier  17  can be lifted out of the appliance without difficulty. The cutout  24  is not required in this case.  
         [0040]    [0040]FIG. 4 shows a perspective view of the flap  15 ′ of a table refrigerator according to a second embodiment of the invention, in the swung-open position. A journal  25  on the lateral flank of the flap  15 ′, concentrically to the rounding of the lower portion  16 ′ of the latter, forms a pivot axis for the opening and closing movement of the flap.  
         [0041]    The flap differs from that shown in FIG. 2 in a plurality of stop projections  26  which are arranged along the inner edge, which is the upper edge in the closed state of the flap  15 ′, and its upper edge, which is on the right in the open position of FIG. 4. The stop projections  26  serve as stops for limiting the pull-out movement of the pull-out frozen-product carrier  17 . They limit the pull-out movement reliably even when the door  6  of the table refrigerator can be opened over more than 90° and its spars  22  and compartment floors  21  therefore do not provide a secure abutment.  
         [0042]    The bottom of the pull-out frozen-product carrier  17  may be planar here, in exactly the same way as in the embodiment described with reference to FIGS.  1  to  3 , so that in each case a door-facing front wall of the pull-out frozen-product carrier  17  butts against the stop projections  26 .  
         [0043]    By contrast, in an advantageous development, illustrated in FIG. 5, of the pull-out frozen-product carrier  17 ′, the bottom of the latter has provided on it, in each case in positions corresponding to the stop projections  26  of the flap  15 ′, grooves  27  which emanate from the front wall  28  of the pull-out carrier  17 ′, but which do not reach the rear wall  29  of the pull-out carrier  17 ′. As can be seen in FIG. 5, the length of the grooves  27  is defined in such a way that the stop projections  26  in each case butt against an end face  30  of the groove  27  shortly before the rear wall  29  of the pull-out frozen-product carrier  17 ′, when the latter is being pulled out, comes out from under the horizontal hollow wall  13 . Thus, the pull-out frozen-product carrier  17 ′, even when its depth is substantially greater than its height, can be pulled out of the freezing compartment  10  virtually completely, without the risk of falling out, and the entire contents of the pull-out frozen-product carrier  17 ′ can be seen by a user.