Patent Description:
The present invention finds advantageous application in the fixing of a built-in refrigerator inside a furniture, to which the following treatment will make explicit reference without losing its generality.

Nowadays, the built-in refrigerators, i.e. the refrigerators intended to be fixed inside a kitchen furniture, are fixed to the furniture by means of screw fixing systems.

In detail, currently to fix a built-in refrigerator inside a kitchen furniture, after placing the built-in refrigerator inside the kitchen furniture so that a first lateral wall of the built-in refrigerator is flanked and substantially in contact with a first lateral wall of the kitchen furniture and a second wall lateral of the built-in refrigerator is flanked and substantially in contact with a second lateral wall of kitchen furniture, an operator must screw a plurality of fixing screws between the first lateral wall of the built-in refrigerator and the first lateral wall of the kitchen furniture and a second plurality of fixing screws between the second lateral wall of the built-in refrigerator and the second lateral wall of kitchen furniture.

Subsequently, in order to connect the door of the built-in refrigerator to the door of the kitchen furniture, the operator must screw a guide profile (typically with a "T" cross section) to the door of the kitchen furniture by means of a third plurality of fixing screws, and he must fix a sled (typically with a "C" cross-section) at the edge of the door of the refrigerator, after having coupled the sled to the guide profile, so that the sliding coupling between the sled and the guide profile allows to open and close simultaneously the door of the kitchen furniture and the door of the built-in refrigerator.

Screw fixing systems require the use of screwdrivers (often of different shape and size since the fixing screws are not all the same) and they also require a certain skill in handling the screwdrivers, since at least some of the fixing screws are arranged in relatively uncomfortable position to reach. Moreover, when a built-in refrigerator is removed from a furniture (for example, to perform a repair operation), there is a (high) risk of losing one or more fixing screws, especially when the built-in refrigerator is reassembled in the furniture only after some days.

In light of what above, it is clear that the known screw fixing techniques require a certain amount of experience and practicality in the execution of the operations described above in order to correctly fix the built-in refrigerator inside the furniture and, at the same time, minimize the risk of damage to the furniture or the built-in refrigerator. Therefore, currently to mount, or disassemble, a built-in refrigerator in, or from, a furniture it is necessary to have a good dose of manual skills or it is necessary the assistance of a skilled operator, with a consequent cost increase. Relevant prior art can be found in <CIT>.

The object of the present invention is to provide a method for fixing a built-in domestic appliance inside a furniture which are free from the drawbacks described above and which, in particular, allow to simplify and speed up the fixing, i.e. assembly, and the separation, i.e. dismantling, of a built-in domestic appliance inside a furniture.

According to the present invention, there is provided a method for fixing a built-in domestic appliance to a furniture, in accordance with what is described in the attached claim.

The method for fixing a built-in domestic appliance to a furniture includes the step of:.

Preferred embodiments, not part of the current claim, are described below.

Preferably, the first removable protective film and/or the second removable protective film has a first graspable removal flap which extends beyond the first adhesive surface and/or the second adhesive surface to protrude outside the first lateral wall of the built-in domestic appliance when the built-in domestic appliance is inserted inside the furniture.

Preferably, the third removable protective film and/or the fourth removable protective film has a second graspable removal flap which extends beyond the third adhesive surface and/or the fourth adhesive surface to protrude outside the second lateral wall of the built-in domestic appliance when the built-in domestic appliance is inserted inside the furniture.

Preferably, the first fixing element comprises a first separable/joinable several times connecting device which is interposed between the first adhesive surface and the second adhesive surface.

Preferably, the second fixing element comprises a second separable/joinable several times connecting device which is interposed between the third adhesive surface and the fourth adhesive surface.

Preferably, the first separable/joinable several times connecting device comprises a first body which supports the first adhesive surface and a second body which supports the second adhesive surface and is connected to the first body in such a way to be separable/joinable several times.

Preferably, the second separable/joinable several times connecting device comprises a third body which supports the third adhesive surface and a fourth body which supports the fourth adhesive surface and is connected to the third body in such a way to be separable/joinable several times.

Preferably, each separable connecting device uses a closure system with micro-slots and micro-hooks.

Preferably, the second fixing element comprises a spacer group which is interposed between the third adhesive surface and the fourth adhesive surface and has an adjustable thickness to vary the distance between the third adhesive surface and the fourth adhesive surface.

Preferably, the spacer group comprises: an inner plate which is connected to the third adhesive surface; an outer plate which is connected to the fourth adhesive surface; a cylindrical seat solidally constrained to the inner plate or the external plate; and an adjustment element which is inserted in the cylindrical seat, is rotatably mounted to the outer plate or to the inner plate, and is adapted to be rotated relative to the cylindrical seat to vary the distance between the two plates.

Preferably, the cylindrical seat is threaded and the adjustment element is threaded and screwed into the cylindrical seat.

Preferably, the two plates are connected to each other by means of an "U" shaped flexible connecting element.

Preferably, the second fixing element comprises a removable reference plate which extends in a direction orthogonal to the third and fourth adhesive surfaces to abut against an inner edge of the door of the furniture when the second fixing element is resting on the second lateral wall of the furniture so as to allow correct arrangement of the second fixing element.

Preferably, the fixing system comprises: a guide profile; a third fixing element comprising a fifth adhesive surface suitable to be glued to the door of the furniture, a sixth adhesive surface parallel and opposite to the fifth adhesive surface and suitable to be glued to the guide profile, and a fifth removable protective film which initially covers the fifth adhesive surface; and a sled which can be fixed to a door of the built-in domestic appliance and shaped to can slidably be coupled to the guide profile.

Preferably, the third fixing element comprises a third separable/joinable several times connecting device which is interposed between the fifth adhesive surface and the sixth adhesive surface.

Preferably, the third separable/joinable several times connecting device comprises a fifth body which supports the fifth adhesive surface and a sixth body which supports the sixth adhesive surface and is connected to the fifth body in such a way to be separable/joinable several times.

Preferably, the method for fixing a built-in domestic appliance to a furniture comprising, after gluing the fourth adhesive surface of the second fixing element to the second lateral wall of the furniture and before inserting the built-in domestic appliance into the furniture, the further step of adjusting the thickness of the spacer group so that, once the built-in domestic appliance has been inserted into the furniture, the first lateral wall of the built-in domestic appliance to be contact with the first adhesive surface and the second lateral wall of the built-in appliance to be in contact with the third adhesive surface.

Preferably, includes also the step of: gluing the sixth adhesive surface to the guide profile; fixing the sled to a door of the built-in domestic appliance; coupling the sled with the guide profile before or after having fixed the sled to the door of the built-in domestic appliance; and gluing the fifth adhesive surface to the door of the furniture, by first removing the fifth removable protective film and by closing the door of the furniture towards the door of the built-in domestic appliance supporting the sled and the guide profile.

The present invention will be described with reference to the attached drawings, which illustrate some nonlimiting examples of embodiment thereof, in which:.

In the attached figures, the number <NUM> indicates as whole a fixing system for a built-in refrigerator <NUM> inside a kitchen furniture <NUM>.

According to what is illustrated in <FIG> and in <FIG>, the furniture <NUM> has a lateral wall <NUM>, a lateral wall <NUM> which is parallel and opposite to the lateral wall <NUM>, and a door <NUM> which is hinged to the lateral wall <NUM>.

The fixing system <NUM> illustrated in the attached figures comprises a fixing element <NUM> (shown in <FIG>) and a fixing element <NUM> (shown in <FIG>).

The fixing element <NUM> illustrated in <FIG> is suitable to fix a lateral wall <NUM> of the built-in refrigerator <NUM> to the lateral wall <NUM> of the furniture <NUM>; the fixing element <NUM> has an adhesive surface <NUM> which, in use, is glued to a lateral wall <NUM> of the built-in refrigerator <NUM> and an adhesive surface <NUM>, which is parallel and opposite the adhesive surface <NUM>, and which, in use, is glued to the lateral wall <NUM> of the furniture <NUM>.

The fixing element <NUM> illustrated in <FIG> is suitable, instead, to fix a lateral wall <NUM> of the built-in refrigerator <NUM> to the lateral wall <NUM> of the furniture <NUM>; the fixing element <NUM> has an adhesive surface <NUM> which, in use, is glued to the lateral wall <NUM> of the built-in refrigerator <NUM> and an adhesive surface <NUM>, which is parallel and opposite to the adhesive surface <NUM>, and which, in use, is glued to the lateral wall <NUM> of the furniture <NUM>.

As shown in <FIG>, <FIG>, the adhesive surfaces <NUM>-<NUM> and <NUM>-<NUM> are initially covered by respective removable protective films <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM> and <NUM>: a removable protective film <NUM> is arranged on the adhesive surface <NUM>; a removable protective film <NUM> is arranged on the adhesive surface <NUM>; a removable protective film <NUM> is arranged on the adhesive surface <NUM>, and a removable protective film <NUM> is arranged on the adhesive surface <NUM>.

Furthermore, preferably, the removable protective film <NUM> has a graspable removal flap <NUM> extending beyond the adhesive surface <NUM> so that, when the adhesive surface <NUM> is resting on the lateral wall <NUM> of the built-in refrigerator <NUM>, the graspable removal flap <NUM> protrudes outwardly from the lateral wall <NUM> of the built-in refrigerator <NUM> (and therefore it can be easily grasped by an installer to be pulled, so as to remove the removable protective film <NUM>). Similarly, the removable protective film <NUM> preferably has a graspable removal flap <NUM> extending beyond the adhesive surface <NUM> so that, when the adhesive surface <NUM> is resting on the lateral wall <NUM> of the <NUM> built-in refrigerator <NUM>, the graspable removal flap <NUM> protrudes outwardly from the lateral wall <NUM> of the <NUM> built-in refrigerator <NUM> (and therefore it can be easily grasped by an installer to be pulled so as to remove the removable protective film <NUM>).

In this way, the installer who fixes the built-in refrigerator <NUM> in the furniture <NUM> can easily remove the removable protective films <NUM> and <NUM>, by pulling the respective graspable removal flaps <NUM> and <NUM>, after inserting the built-in refrigerator <NUM> inside of the furniture <NUM> in the correct position.

In this regard, preferably each removable protective film <NUM> and <NUM> is made of a low-friction smooth material so as to permit the built-in refrigerator <NUM> to slide between the removable protective films <NUM> and <NUM>, reducing friction to a minimum.

As shown in <FIG>, to fix a door <NUM> of the built-in refrigerator <NUM> to the door <NUM> of the furniture <NUM>, the fixing system <NUM> shown in the attached figures preferably comprises a guide profile <NUM> intended to be fixed to the door <NUM> of the furniture <NUM> through a fixing element <NUM> (shown in <FIG> and <FIG>) and a sled <NUM> intended to be fixed to the door <NUM> of the built-in refrigerator <NUM> and shaped so that it can be slidably coupled to the guide profile <NUM>.

In detail and as illustrated in <FIG>, the fixing element <NUM> preferably comprises an adhesive surface <NUM> intended to be glued to the door <NUM> of the furniture <NUM> and an adhesive surface <NUM>, which is parallel and opposite the adhesive surface <NUM>, and is intended to be glued to the guide profile <NUM>. Preferably, the adhesive surface <NUM> of the fixing element <NUM> is glued from the beginning to the guide profile <NUM> (i.e. the guide profile <NUM> is already glued to the fixing element <NUM> and therefore this gluing operation must not be carried out by the installer); in this case, the fixing element <NUM> comprises a single removable protective film <NUM>, which is arranged to initially cover the adhesive surface <NUM>, i.e. before the adhesive surface <NUM> is glued to the door <NUM> of the furniture <NUM>. According to a different embodiment shown in <FIG>, initially the fixing element <NUM> is apart from the guide profile <NUM> and therefore the fixing element <NUM> comprises a further removable protective film <NUM> to initially cover the adhesive surface <NUM>, i.e. before the adhesive surface <NUM> is glued to the guide profile <NUM>.

According to what shown in <FIG>, the fixing element <NUM> preferably comprises a separable/joinable several times connecting device <NUM> which is interposed between the adhesive surface <NUM> and the adhesive surface <NUM>. As shown in <FIG>, the fixing element <NUM> comprises a separable/joinable several times connecting device <NUM> which is interposed between the adhesive surface <NUM> and the adhesive surface <NUM>. As shown in <FIG>, the fixing element <NUM> preferably comprises a separable/joinable several times connecting device <NUM> which is interposed between the adhesive surface <NUM> and the adhesive surface <NUM>.

The connecting devices <NUM>, <NUM> and <NUM>, advantageously, allow to separate and subsequently join together, respectively, the adhesive surfaces <NUM> and <NUM>, the adhesive surfaces <NUM> and <NUM>, and the adhesive surfaces <NUM> and <NUM>, thus allowing the disassembly of the built-in refrigerator <NUM> from the furniture <NUM> and the subsequent re-assembly of the built-in refrigerator <NUM> into the furniture <NUM>.

According to what shown in <FIG>, the separable/joinable several times connecting device <NUM> preferably comprises a body <NUM> which supports the adhesive surface <NUM>, and a body <NUM> which supports the adhesive surface <NUM> and is connected to the body <NUM> in such a way to be separable/joinable several times, so that every time you want to separate the built-in refrigerator <NUM> from the furniture <NUM> (i.e. you want to separate the lateral wall <NUM> of the built-in refrigerator <NUM> from the lateral wall <NUM> of the furniture <NUM>) you just need to separate the two bodies <NUM> and <NUM>, for example by inserting a thin tool between the bodies <NUM> and <NUM> of the connecting device <NUM> so that the thin tool act as a lever for applying a separating force to the bodies <NUM> and <NUM>.

According to what shown in <FIG>, the separable/joinable several times connection device <NUM> preferably comprises a body <NUM> which supports the adhesive surface <NUM> and a body <NUM> which supports the adhesive surface <NUM> and is connected to the body <NUM> in such a way to be separable/joinable several times, so that whenever you want to separate the built-in refrigerator <NUM> from the furniture <NUM> (i.e. you want to separate the lateral wall <NUM> of the built-in refrigerator <NUM> from the lateral wall <NUM> of the furniture <NUM>) you just need to separate the two bodies <NUM> and <NUM>, for example by inserting a thin tool between the bodies <NUM> and <NUM> of the connecting device <NUM> so that the thin tool act as a lever for applying a separating force to the bodies <NUM> and <NUM>.

According to what shown in <FIG>, the separable/joinable several times device <NUM> preferably comprises a body <NUM> which supports the adhesive surface <NUM> and a body <NUM> which supports the adhesive surface <NUM> and is connected to the body <NUM> in such a way to be separable/joinable several times, so that whenever you want to separate the guide profile <NUM> from the door <NUM> of the furniture <NUM> (or if you want to separate the door <NUM> of the built-in refrigerator <NUM> from the door <NUM> of the piece of furniture <NUM>) you just need to separate the two bodies <NUM> and <NUM> between them, for example by inserting a thin tool between the bodies <NUM> and <NUM> of the connecting device <NUM> so that the thin tool act as a lever for applying a separating force to the bodies <NUM> and <NUM>.

In detail, in the embodiment illustrated in the attached figures, the connecting devices <NUM>, <NUM> and <NUM> use a closing system with micro-slots and micro-hooks to keep the respective bodies <NUM>-<NUM> joined together (i.e. in a body <NUM>-<NUM> are present a plurality of micro-slots while in the other body <NUM>-<NUM> there are a plurality of micro-hooks, which couple mechanically and separably with respective micro-slots).

In particular, the bodies <NUM>-<NUM> of the connecting devices <NUM>, <NUM> and <NUM> may be made of fabric of polymeric material, or of natural fibres.

For example, according to a variant not shown, the body <NUM>, the body <NUM> and the body <NUM> could be made by intertwining the constituent fabric so as to define a first weft, while the body <NUM>, the body <NUM> and the body <NUM> could be made by intertwining the same fabric according to a second weft, which is different from the first weft and is configured so as to be suitable to be coupled and decoupled with the first weft several times, so as to be suitable to easily separate/join several times the bodies <NUM> and <NUM>, <NUM> and <NUM>, <NUM> and <NUM> among them.

According to a further embodiment, not shown, the bodies of the connecting devices <NUM>, <NUM> and <NUM> can be made of a non-woven fabric, for example made of polymeric material or alternatively natural fibres, configured to be separable and joinable several times. According to a variant of said embodiment, the bodies <NUM> and <NUM> of the connecting device <NUM>, the bodies <NUM> and <NUM> of the connecting device <NUM> and the bodies <NUM> and <NUM> of the connecting device <NUM> could be made in such a way as to form a single a layer made, for example, of non-woven fabric, or fabric, which can be separated and reattached several times.

According to what shown in <FIG>, the fixing element <NUM> preferably further comprises a spacer assembly <NUM> which is interposed between the adhesive surface <NUM> and the adhesive surface <NUM> and which has an adjustable thickness to vary the distance between the adhesive surfaces <NUM> and <NUM>.

The spacer assembly <NUM> allows the adhesive surfaces <NUM> and <NUM> to be moved apart or brought together so as to compensate any small differences in width between the furniture <NUM> and the built-in refrigerator <NUM> and so as that the fixing element <NUM> have a thickness greater than the hinges <NUM> (partially shown in <FIG>), arranged on the lateral wall <NUM> of the furniture <NUM> (i.e. the hinges <NUM> by means of which the door <NUM> of the furniture <NUM> is connected to the lateral wall <NUM>) in order to ensure that once the built-in refrigerator <NUM> is inserted in the furniture <NUM>, the built-in refrigerator <NUM> comes into contact with the removable protective film <NUM> or, after the removable protective film <NUM> has been removed, with the adhesive surface <NUM>. Indeed, if this were not the case, the fixing between the built-in refrigerator <NUM> and the furniture <NUM> could be compromised.

Particularly, the spacer assembly <NUM> shown in <FIG> comprises an inner plate <NUM>, which is connected to the adhesive surface <NUM> (by means of the interposing of the connecting device <NUM>) and carries a cylindrical seat <NUM>, and an outer plate <NUM>, which is connected to the adhesive surface <NUM> and carries an adjustment element <NUM> which is rotatably mounted on the outer plate <NUM>. The inner plate <NUM> and the outer plate <NUM> are arranged in such a way that the cylindrical seat <NUM> rotatably receives the adjustment element <NUM> so that by rotating the adjustment element <NUM> inside the cylindrical seat <NUM> it is possible to vary the distance between the two plates <NUM> and <NUM>.

In detail, the spacer assembly <NUM> shown in <FIG> has a threaded cylindrical seat <NUM> and a threaded adjusting element <NUM> screwed into the cylindrical seat <NUM> so that by screwing or unscrewing the adjustment element <NUM> with respect to the cylindrical seat <NUM> there is a forward or a retraction of the adjustment element <NUM>, and therefore of the external plate <NUM> to which said adjustment element <NUM> is connected, with respect to the internal plate <NUM>.

Moreover, as shown in <FIG>, preferably the two plates <NUM> and <NUM> are connected to each other by means of an "U" shaped flexible connecting element <NUM>. This flexible connecting element <NUM> serves to keep the two plates <NUM> and <NUM> constrained to each other, so that in the case that the adjusting element <NUM> is rotated too much until to cause, unintentionally, the decouple of the adjusting element <NUM> with respect to the cylindrical seat <NUM>, the plates <NUM> and <NUM> remain bound to each other.

Furthermore, again with particular reference to <FIG>, the adjustment element <NUM> preferably has a maneuvering portion <NUM> (typically provided with a slit wide enough to be engaged also by a coin) for screwing and unscrewing the adjustment element <NUM>. Preferably, this maneuvering portion <NUM> is arranged to be accessible even when the fixing element <NUM> is fixed to the lateral wall <NUM> of the furniture <NUM>.

According to a non-illustrated embodiment of the spacer assembly <NUM>, the cylindrical seat <NUM> could solidaly constrained to the outer plate <NUM> and the adjusting element <NUM> could be mounted rotatable to the inner plate <NUM>.

In order to facilitate the correct arrangement of the fixing element <NUM>, the fixing element <NUM> shown in <FIG> and <FIG>, preferably comprises a removable reference plate <NUM> which extends in a direction orthogonal to the adhesive surfaces <NUM> and <NUM> to abut against an inner edge <NUM> (shown in <FIG>)of the door <NUM> of the furniture <NUM> when the fixing element <NUM> is resting against the lateral wall <NUM> of the piece of furniture <NUM>. Preferably, the removable reference plate <NUM> is connected to the fixing element <NUM> by interposition of a weakening portion <NUM>, so as to facilitate the removal of the reference plate <NUM>, once the fixation device <NUM> has been fixed to the lateral wall <NUM> of the furniture <NUM> by means of the adhesive surface <NUM>.

With particular reference to figures from <NUM> to <NUM>, a method for fixing the built-in refrigerator <NUM> in the furniture <NUM> which can be implemented using the above described fixing system <NUM> is described.

As shown in <FIG>, initially the built-in refrigerator <NUM> is outside the furniture <NUM> and the three fixing elements <NUM>, <NUM> and <NUM> are apart from the built-in refrigerator <NUM> and from the furniture <NUM>.

Initially, the installer removes the removable protective film <NUM> from the adhesive surface <NUM> of the fixing element <NUM> and then glues the adhesive surface <NUM> to the lateral wall <NUM> of the furniture <NUM> to firmly connect the fixing element <NUM> to the lateral wall <NUM> of the furniture <NUM> in a position such as to ensure that the preferred graspable removal flap <NUM> will protrude with respect to the lateral wall <NUM> of the built-in refrigerator <NUM> (when the built-in refrigerator <NUM> will be positioned inside the furniture <NUM>).

Subsequently, or even previously, the installer removes the removable protective film <NUM> from the adhesive surface <NUM> of the fixing element <NUM> and then glues the adhesive surface <NUM> to the lateral wall <NUM> of the furniture <NUM> to firmly connect the fixing element <NUM> to the lateral wall <NUM> of the furniture <NUM> in a position such as to ensure that the preferred graspable removal flap <NUM> will protrude with respect to the lateral wall <NUM> of the built-in refrigerator <NUM> (when the built-in refrigerator <NUM> will be positioned inside the furniture <NUM>). Preferably, in order to correctly arrange the fixing element <NUM> shown in <FIG> and <FIG> to the lateral wall <NUM> of the furniture <NUM>, the installer, before gluing the adhesive surface <NUM> to the lateral wall <NUM> of the furniture <NUM>, arranges the fixing element <NUM> so that the removable reference plate <NUM> abut against the inner edge <NUM> of the door <NUM> of the furniture <NUM>. After the adhesive surface <NUM> has been glued to the lateral wall <NUM> of the furniture <NUM>, then the installer breaks and removes the removable reference plate <NUM>.

At this point, the installer adjusts, if necessary, the thickness of the fixing element <NUM> acting on the adjustment element <NUM> of the spacer assembly <NUM>. The adjustment of the thickness of the fixing element <NUM> has the purpose of ensuring that, once the built-in refrigerator <NUM> has been inserted in the furniture <NUM>, the lateral wall <NUM> of the built-in refrigerator <NUM> is in contact with the adhesive surface <NUM> of the fixing element <NUM> and that the lateral wall <NUM> of the built-in refrigerator <NUM> is in contact with the adhesive surface <NUM> of the fixing element <NUM>. In detail, once the fixing element <NUM> has been fixed to the lateral wall <NUM> of the furniture <NUM> and the fixing element <NUM> has been fixed to the lateral wall <NUM> of the furniture <NUM>, the adjustment element <NUM> is rotated, for example by means of a normal screwdriver or even by a coin, until the adhesive surfaces <NUM> and <NUM>, still covered by the respective protective films <NUM> and <NUM>, do not lie between them at a distance which is substantially equal to the distance between the walls <NUM> and <NUM> of the built-in refrigerator <NUM>.

Once the thickness of the fixing element <NUM> has been preferably adjusted, the installer inserts the built-in refrigerator <NUM> into the furniture <NUM>, leaving the protection films <NUM> and <NUM> in position and then making slide the walls <NUM> and <NUM> between the films <NUM> and <NUM> of protection.

Once the refrigerator <NUM> has been correctly inserted in the furniture <NUM>, the installer removes the removable protective film <NUM>, preferably through the graspable removal flap <NUM>, to glue the adhesive surface <NUM> of the fixing element <NUM> to the lateral wall <NUM> of the built-in refrigerator <NUM> and removes (subsequently or formerly) the removable protective film <NUM>, preferably by means of the graspable removal flap <NUM>, to glue the adhesive surface <NUM> of the fixing element <NUM> to the lateral wall <NUM> of the built-in refrigerator <NUM>.

When the door <NUM> of the built-in refrigerator <NUM> must also be fixed to the door <NUM> of the furniture <NUM>, the installer must initially glue the adhesive surface <NUM> of the fixing element <NUM> to the guide profile <NUM>, after removing the removable protective film <NUM> (obviously, if the fixing element <NUM> is already pre-glued to the guide profile <NUM>, this operation is not necessary). Subsequently, the installer preferably fixes the sled <NUM> to the door <NUM> of the built-in refrigerator <NUM> (typically by means of a screw fixing system of known type); alternatively, the sled <NUM> could be already pre-mounted on the door <NUM> of the built-in refrigerator <NUM>. At this point, the installer couples the guide profile <NUM> (which is preferably glued to the fixing element <NUM> and is still separated from the door <NUM> of the furniture <NUM>) to the sled <NUM>. Finally, the installer removes the protective film <NUM> from the adhesive surface <NUM> and he glues the adhesive surface <NUM> of the fixing element <NUM> to the door <NUM> of the furniture <NUM>; this operation is performed extremely easily and quickly, by simply closing the door <NUM> of the furniture <NUM> and pressing on the door <NUM> so that the door <NUM> sticks to the adhesive surface <NUM> of the fixing element <NUM>.

According to a possible embodiment, the guide profile <NUM> has a "disposable" support system which keeps the guide profile <NUM> in the correct position after the guide profile <NUM> has been mounted on the sled <NUM> and before the door <NUM> of the furniture <NUM> is closed against the guide profile <NUM> to glue the adhesive surface <NUM> of the fixing element <NUM> to the door <NUM>.

According to a further not shown embodiment, any one or all of the separable connecting devices <NUM>, <NUM> and <NUM> are not present; in this case, to separate the built-in refrigerator <NUM> from the furniture <NUM> to which the built-in refrigerator <NUM> is fixed is necessary to brake (cut) the fixing elements <NUM>, <NUM> and <NUM> and to use new fixing elements <NUM>, <NUM> and <NUM> to subsequent newly insert the built-in refrigerator <NUM> into the furniture <NUM>.

In the embodiment shown in the attached figures, only the removable protective films <NUM> and <NUM> are provided with the graspable removal flaps <NUM> and <NUM>; according to other embodiments not shown, the protective films <NUM> and <NUM> are provided with respective graspable removal flaps in addition or in alternative to the graspable removal flaps <NUM> and <NUM> of the removable protective films <NUM> and <NUM> (in this case, the fixing elements <NUM> and <NUM> could be glued firstly to the built-in refrigerator <NUM> and then to the furniture <NUM> instead of being glued firstly to the furniture <NUM> and then to the built-in refrigerator <NUM>).

In the embodiment shown in the attached figures, the built-in domestic appliance <NUM> which is mounted inside the furniture <NUM> is a refrigerator; according to other embodiments not illustrated, the built-in domestic appliance <NUM> which is mounted inside the furniture <NUM> is for example an oven, a dishwasher, or a washing machine.

The fixing system <NUM> described above has numerous advantages.

Firstly, the fixing system <NUM> described above allows the assembly and possible subsequent disassembly of the built-in refrigerator <NUM> into the furniture <NUM> in a quickly and easy manner (even without using any tool like a screwdriver). Advantageously, the fixing method described above can be easily performed even by an unskilled user.

Likewise, even the separation of a built-in refrigerator <NUM> from a furniture <NUM>, after they have been fixed with the fixing system <NUM> described above, will be much simpler and, therefore, easily performable even by an unskilled user. Indeed, thanks to the presence of separable connecting devices <NUM>, <NUM> and <NUM>, each time it is desired to separate the built-in refrigerator <NUM> from the furniture <NUM> to which the built-in refrigerator <NUM> is fixed, it just need to separate the separable connecting devices <NUM>, <NUM> and <NUM>.

Claim 1:
Method for fixing a built-in domestic appliance (<NUM>) to a furniture (<NUM>) using a fixing system (<NUM>) including:
a first fixing element (<NUM>) comprising a first adhesive surface (<NUM>) suitable to be glued to a first lateral wall (<NUM>) of the built-in domestic appliance (<NUM>), a second adhesive surface (<NUM>) parallel and opposite to the first surface adhesive (<NUM>) and suitable to be glued to the first lateral wall (<NUM>) of the furniture (<NUM>), a first removable protective film (<NUM>) which initially covers the first adhesive surface (<NUM>), and a second removable protective film (<NUM>) which initially covers the second adhesive surface (<NUM>); and a second fixing element (<NUM>) comprising a third adhesive surface (<NUM>) suitable to be glued to a second lateral wall (<NUM>) of the built-in domestic appliance (<NUM>) and a fourth adhesive surface (<NUM>) parallel and opposite to the third adhesive surface (<NUM>) and suitable to be glued to the second lateral wall (<NUM>) of the furniture (<NUM>), a third removable protective film (<NUM>) which initially covers the third adhesive surface (<NUM>), and a fourth removable protective film (<NUM>) which initially covers the fourth adhesive surface (<NUM>); the method for fixing includes the steps of:
gluing the second adhesive surface (<NUM>) of the first fixing element (<NUM>) to the first lateral wall (<NUM>) of the furniture (<NUM>), by first removing the second protective film (<NUM>);
gluing the fourth adhesive surface (<NUM>) of the second fixing element (<NUM>) to the second lateral wall (<NUM>) of the furniture (<NUM>), by first removing the fourth protective film (<NUM>);
inserting the built-in domestic appliance (<NUM>) into the furniture (<NUM>), leaving in position the first removable protective film (<NUM>) and the third protective film (<NUM>) ;
removing the first removable protective film (<NUM>) to glue the first adhesive surface (<NUM>) of the first fixing element (<NUM>) to the first lateral wall (<NUM>) of the built-in domestic appliance (<NUM>); and
removing the third removable protective film (<NUM>) to glue the third adhesive surface (<NUM>) of the second fixing element (<NUM>) to the second lateral wall (<NUM>) of the built-in domestic appliance (<NUM>).