CN101776364B

CN101776364B - Refrigerator

Info

Publication number: CN101776364B
Application number: CN200910028341.9A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 马敬东; 柏玉发; 赵世勇; 任晓光
Original assignee: BSH Electrical Appliances Jiangsu Co Ltd
Current assignee: BSH Electrical Appliances Jiangsu Co Ltd
Priority date: 2009-01-08
Filing date: 2009-01-08
Publication date: 2014-12-31
Anticipated expiration: 2029-01-08
Also published as: US20110239689A1; WO2010079111A3; EP2386049B1; EP2386049A2; CN101776364A; PL2386049T3; EP3056844A1; WO2010079111A2

Abstract

The invention relates to a refrigerator comprising a door (2) and a distributor (3) mounted on the door (2). The door (2) comprises a front panel (5) forming at least part of the front surface of the door, wherein the front panel (5) is provided with a through hole (6) partially corresponding to the distributor (3). According to a suggestion of the invention, the front panel (5) is a glass plate and comprises an upper region (7) located above the through hole (6), a lower region (8) located below the through hole (6) and lateral regions (9a and 9b) that are located between the upper region (7) and the lower region (8) and connected with the upper region (7) and the lower region (8).

Description

Refrigerator with a door

[ technical field ]

The invention relates to a refrigerator, in particular to a household or commercial refrigerator.

[ background art ]

In recent years, consumer demands for diversification of functions of refrigerators have been increasing. For example, there is a refrigerator in the related art including a dispenser provided on a refrigerator door to obtain ice and water stored in the refrigerator without opening the refrigerator door.

Meanwhile, since the appearance of the refrigerator door is one of important factors determining the overall appearance of the refrigerator, the material, color, etc. of the front panel constituting the front surface of the refrigerator door have been one of the factors that are considered by the refrigerator designer. A typical front panel of a refrigerator door is formed of a metal sheet coupled with a foaming liquid during a foaming process of the refrigerator door, and a refrigerator manufacturer may vary the color/texture of the metal sheet by spraying paints of different colors/materials on the metal sheet to diversify the appearance of the refrigerator. In addition, the prior art has appeared a refrigerator using a glass plate as a front panel of a refrigerator door, and such a refrigerator is particularly popular with consumers due to the characteristics of glass materials.

However, in the related art, in the case of the refrigerator having the dispenser provided on the refrigerator door, the glass panel can be provided only to avoid the peripheral area of the dispenser due to the interference of the dispenser. For example, separate glass panels are provided above and below the dispenser and no glass panels are provided around the dispenser (particularly on both sides of the dispenser). This arrangement makes it difficult to make the regions above the dispenser and below the dispenser and the peripheral regions of the dispenser different in material on the front surface of the refrigerator door, which regions are also difficult to be located on the same plane. Thus, the front surface of the refrigerator door is visibly distinct around the dispenser. In addition, the separate provision of glass panels above and below the dispenser increases the assembly cost of the refrigerator door.

[ summary of the invention ]

The object of the present invention is to overcome at least one of the above technical problems, thereby providing an improved refrigerator.

Accordingly, an aspect of the present invention relates to a refrigerator. The refrigerator comprises a door including a front panel constituting at least a part of a front surface thereof, and a dispenser mounted on the door, wherein the front panel has a through hole at least partially corresponding to the dispenser, characterized in that the front panel is a glass plate and includes an upper region located above the through hole, a lower region located below the through hole, and side regions located between and connecting the upper region and the lower region.

Thus, the front surface of the area around the dispenser of the refrigerator door can be formed of the glass panel as the front surface of the other portion of the door, so that it is expected that a neat and compact refrigerator having the glass panel as the front panel can be obtained.

Other features which are considered as characteristic for the invention, individually or in combination with other features, are set forth in the following appended claims.

According to a particularly preferred embodiment of the invention, said front panel is of one-piece construction. Thus, seamless connection of the respective portions of the front panel is achieved, which reduces the inevitable gaps existing between the different portions provided respectively by the front panel, thereby contributing to obtaining an aesthetically pleasing and compact refrigerator.

According to a particularly preferred embodiment of the invention, the sum of the heights of the upper, lower and side regions in the longitudinal direction is substantially equal to the height of the door in the longitudinal direction. Particularly preferably, the front surface of the door is substantially formed by the front panel.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the lateral extent of said lateral zones is not less than 5 cm, for example 7 to 8 cm. This is particularly advantageous when the upper, lower and side regions are integrally formed, as it reduces the probability of the front panel breaking due to insufficient strength of the front panel at the periphery of the through hole due to the presence of the through hole.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the door includes a first wall forming a rear surface of the door, a second wall spaced a predetermined distance from the first wall, and a thermal insulation layer received between the first wall and the second wall, and the front panel is attached to a front side of the second wall.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a gap is formed between the front panel and the second wall in the front-rear direction, and the door includes a shielding member shielding the gap along the through hole. The gap between the front panel and the second wall is thus concealed from the dispensing chamber of the dispenser, which is not only advantageous for reducing the ingress of foreign bodies into the gap between the front panel and the second wall, but also, more importantly, is particularly advantageous for obtaining a neat appearance.

According to a particularly preferred embodiment of the invention, the dispenser comprises a dispenser housing from which the shutter element is formed.

According to a particularly preferred embodiment of the invention, the dispenser comprises a dispensing chamber for receiving at least a portion of an outer container, at least a portion of the chamber wall defining the dispensing chamber extending forwardly into the through-opening. On the one hand, the cavity wall that extends into in the through-hole can shelter from the terminal surface of second wall and the gap between second wall and the front panel, and on the other hand, comes to shelter from the gap that is unfavorable for the outward appearance and the terminal surface of second wall through the cavity wall, is favorable to reducing extra component.

Another aspect of the present invention relates to a refrigerator. The refrigerator includes a door including a front panel forming at least a portion of a front surface thereof, wherein the front panel has a through hole having a lateral width at least half of a lateral width of the front panel, characterized in that the front panel is made of glass and includes an upper region located above the through hole, a lower region located below the through hole, and side regions located on respective sides of the through hole and connecting the upper region and the lower region.

In a particularly preferred embodiment, the door has a dispensing chamber for receiving at least a portion of an outer container, the through-opening constituting with at least a portion thereof an inlet of the dispensing chamber. In another preferred embodiment, the door includes a bar counter door to selectively open or close the through hole.

In a preferred embodiment, the refrigerator may include a control panel at least partially received within the through-hole.

It is particularly preferred that the front panel is of one-piece construction and the front surface of the door is substantially formed by the front panel.

The construction of the present invention and other objects and advantages thereof will be more apparent from the following description of the preferred embodiments taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

[ description of the drawings ]

The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the invention and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and together with the description serve to explain the principles of the invention. Wherein,

fig. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a refrigerator according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a schematic exploded view of a door of a refrigerator according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 3 is a schematic partial sectional view of a door of a refrigerator according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged view of a portion a in fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a schematic perspective view of a refrigerator according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

[ detailed description of the invention ]

Please refer to the drawings, and particularly to fig. 1. The refrigerator 1 includes a cabinet 18, and in the present embodiment, the cabinet 18 defines a freezing chamber (not shown) and a refrigerating chamber (not shown) that are disposed side by side. The refrigerator 1 includes a freezing chamber door 2 and a refrigerating chamber door 2' connected to a cabinet 18. The freezing chamber door 2 and the refrigerating chamber door 2' are pivotally connected to respective sides of the cabinet 18 to selectively open or close the freezing chamber and the refrigerating chamber, respectively. The freezing chamber door 2 and the refrigerating chamber door 2' are provided with corresponding handles 19 to facilitate a user to open or close the corresponding doors.

The freezing chamber door 2 is provided with a dispenser 3, and the dispenser 3 is provided to obtain ice and/or water stored in the refrigerator 1 without opening the freezing chamber door 2. It should be understood that the invention is not limited thereto, for example in an alternative embodiment it is also possible that the dispenser 3 is arranged on the refrigerating compartment door 2' by means of a suitable arrangement.

In this embodiment, the dispenser 3 comprises a dispensing chamber 4 open at the front end to receive an external container, such as a cup. The dispensing chamber 4 is recessed rearward from the front surface of the freezing chamber door 2 by a certain depth.

The refrigerator 1 includes a control panel 17 provided on the door 2. In the present embodiment, the control panel 17 is arranged immediately above the dispensing chamber 4. Preferably, the control panel 17 comprises a display screen 20 and a plurality of switch means 21. The display screen 20 may display information such as the operating state and/or setting parameters of the refrigerator 1. Preferably, the switch means 21 is located below the display screen 20 so as to be closer to the dispensing chamber 4 than the display screen 21. In the present embodiment, by the operation of the respective switch devices 21, the user can select, for example, the supply of water, the supply of crushed ice, the supply of ice cubes, and the turning on of the lighting devices (not shown) that illuminate the dispensing chamber 4.

Referring to fig. 2 and 3, the freezing compartment door 2 includes a first wall 10 forming a rear surface of the freezing compartment door 2 and a front panel 5 forming a front surface of the freezing compartment door 2, wherein the first wall 10 faces the freezing compartment when the freezing compartment door 2 is closed. The freezing chamber door 2 further includes a second wall 11 between the first wall 10 and the front panel 5. The second wall 11 is preferably formed from sheet metal.

The second wall 11 is at a distance from the first wall 10 so that a space for accommodating the thermal insulation layer 12 can be formed between the first wall 10 and the second wall 11. The thermal insulation layer 12 is preferably formed by foaming a thermal insulation foam.

The dispenser 3 includes a dispenser housing 26, the dispenser housing 26 defining a cavity 27 recessed from the front to the rear. The front end of cavity 27 is substantially quadrangular. The second wall 11 is provided with an opening 23 corresponding to the cavity 27. Opening 23 is positioned and sized to substantially correspond with the front port of cavity 27.

The cavity 27 is divided into upper and lower portions by a partition wall 28. In particular, the portion of the cavity 27 located below the partition wall 28 remains open at the front end, thus constituting the dispensing chamber 4 for receiving the external container. The portion of the cavity 27 above the partition wall 28 is closed by the control panel 17. The partition wall 28 is provided with an ice outlet 30, and ice held in the freezer compartment enters the portion of the cavity 27 above the partition wall 28 via an ice transfer chute 29 and finally enters the dispensing chamber 4 through the ice outlet 30. When there is no need to deliver ice, the ice delivery channel 29 is closed by the closing element 44.

As shown in fig. 4, the dispenser housing 26 includes a mounting cavity rim 31 in mating connection with the second wall 11. Preferably, the front surface of the mounting cavity rim 31 abuts the inner surface of the second wall 11 along the opening 23. Preferably, a sealing means (not shown) for preventing a bubble leakage phenomenon during foaming is provided between the front surface of the mounting cavity rim 31 and the rear surface of the second wall 11. Such sealing means are preferably formed by an adhesive tape facilitating the fixing of the dispenser housing 26 on the inner surface of the second wall 11. The dispenser housing 26 may comprise coupling slots 32 distributed along the periphery of the cavity 27, and correspondingly the second wall 11 comprises a coupling flange 33 extending rearwardly from the edge of the opening 23. The attachment flange 33 is inserted into the attachment slot 32 to secure the dispenser housing 26 to the second wall 11. Since the dispenser housing 26 does not have a portion overlapping the front surface of the second wall 11 beyond the front side of the second wall 11, the front panel 5 can be closely attached to the front side of the second wall 11. The front panel 5 is described in detail below.

The front panel 5 is made of tempered glass and includes a through hole 6 corresponding to the dispenser 3. The size and position of the through-hole 6 substantially correspond to the front port of the cavity 27. In this embodiment, the through-hole 6 is closed at its upper part by a control panel 17 and at its lower part constitutes the inlet of the distribution chamber 4.

The front panel 5 is preferably adhered to the front surface of the second wall 11 by adhesive means, which is particularly advantageous in that the front surface of the front panel 5 is completely exposed to the outside. Preferably, the bonding means is a double-sided adhesive tape having a strong bonding force. In the present embodiment, the bonding means includes first bonding portions 24 distributed in the peripheral edge region of the front panel 5 and second bonding portions 25 provided along the edge region of the through-hole 6. The first and second adhesive portions 24 and 25 respectively include a plurality of strip-shaped adhesive tapes, which are preferably connected to each other to form a closed-loop adhesive frame to prevent foreign substances such as dust from entering between the front panel 5 and the second wall 11.

With respect to the through hole 6, the front panel 5 is divided into an upper region 7 located above the through hole 6, a lower region 8 located below said through hole 6, and side regions 9a, 9b located on respective sides of the through hole 6 and connecting the upper region 7 and the lower region 8.

The front panel 5 has a rectangular outer contour. Preferably, the width of the upper and lower regions 7 and 8 is at least substantially equal to the width of the freezer door 2. The sum of the heights of the upper region 7, the lower region 8 and one of the side regions 9a, 9b in the longitudinal direction is substantially equal to the height of the door 2 in the longitudinal direction. Thus, the front surface of the second wall 11 can be completely covered by the front panel 5.

It is contemplated that the front panel 5 is of one-piece construction such that there is a seamless connection between the upper region 7, the lower region 8 and the side regions 9a, 9b, which is particularly advantageous in reducing the gap on the front surface of the freezer door 2, resulting in a refrigerator having a neat appearance.

The width of the through-hole 6 in the lateral direction is at least half of the width of the front panel 6. Preferably, the side regions 9a and 9b are symmetrical with respect to the longitudinal axis of the front panel 5. In order to ensure that the front panel 5 has sufficient strength, the lateral dimensions of the lateral zones 9a, 9b are greater than 5 cm, for example 7-8 cm. In the present embodiment, the width of the front panel 5 is 40 cm, the width of the through-hole 6 is 24 cm, and the width of each of the side regions 9a, 9b is 8 cm. Of course, it is also possible that the lateral dimensions of the side areas 9a and 9b are different.

The front panel 5 is provided with a small hole 41 for mounting the handle 19. The front end of the handle attachment portion 42 fixed to the second wall 11 extends into the corresponding small hole 41 and is connected to the connection root portion 43 of the handle 19.

Referring to fig. 3 and 4, a gap 13 is formed between the front panel 5 and the second wall 11 in the front-rear direction. The distance of the slit 13 in the front-rear direction is substantially equal to the thickness of the first connecting portion 24 and the second bonding portion 25 after being pressed. In the present embodiment, the gap 13 is approximately 1 mm.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the end of the cavity wall 15 of the dispensing housing 26 defining the cavity 27 extends forward beyond the second wall 11 and into the through hole 6, so that the end of the cavity wall 15 forms a shielding element 14 which obstructs the cavity 27 from the second wall 11 and from the slit 13. Since the dispensing chamber 4 is constituted by a portion of the cavity 27, the second wall 11 and the slit 13 are not exposed inside the dispensing chamber 4. Preferably, the dispensing chamber wall 15 extends into the through hole 6 but not beyond the front surface of the front panel 5.

Fig. 5 shows a schematic perspective view of a refrigerator 1' according to another embodiment of the present invention. As shown in fig. 5, the refrigerating chamber door 34 of the refrigerator 1' is provided with a home bar opening 35 penetrating the refrigerating chamber door 34 in front and rear directions, the home bar opening 35 being selectively closed or opened by the home bar door 16 provided on the refrigerating chamber door 35.

The front surface of the refrigerating compartment door 34 is formed by a front panel 36. The front panel 36 is made of glass and is of one-piece construction. The front panel 36 forms a through hole 37 at a position corresponding to the bar opening 35 substantially corresponding to the position and size of the bar opening 35. The width of the through-hole 37 in the lateral direction is greater than half of the total width of the front panel 36. The front panel 36 includes an upper region 38 located above the through hole 36, a lower region 39 located below the through hole 37, and side regions 40a, 40b located on both sides of the through hole 36 and connecting the upper region 38 and the lower region 39. Thus, the front surface of the refrigerating chamber door 34 including the peripheral area of the home bar opening 35 may be formed of only one glass panel, which is advantageous in solving the technical problems of non-uniform material and many seams when the refrigerating chamber door 34 provided with the home bar door 16 uses a glass panel.

Claims

1. A refrigerator (1) comprising a door (2) and a dispenser (3) mounted on the door (2), the door (2) comprising a front panel (5) forming at least a part of its front surface, wherein the front panel (5) has a through hole (6) corresponding at least in part to the dispenser (3), the door (2) comprising a first wall (10) forming the rear surface of the door (2), a second wall (11) spaced from the first wall (10) by a predetermined distance, and a thermal insulation layer (12) housed between the first wall (10) and the second wall (11), the front panel (5) being connected at the front side of the second wall (11), characterized in that the front panel (5) is glued to the front surface of the second wall (11), the front panel (5) being a glass plate and comprising an upper region (7) located above the through hole (6), A lower region (8) located below the through hole (6) and side regions (9a, 9b) located between the upper region (7) and the lower region (8) and connecting the upper region (7) and the lower region (8), a gap (13) being formed in a front-rear direction between the front panel (5) and the second wall (11), the door (2) comprising a shielding element (14) shielding the gap (13) along the through hole (6), the dispenser (3) comprising a dispenser housing (26), the shielding element (14) being formed by the dispenser housing (26), the dispenser housing (26) comprising a cavity wall (15) defining a dispensing cavity (4), at least a portion of the cavity wall (15) extending forward into the through hole (6) to form the shielding element (14).

2. A refrigerator (1) as in claim 1, characterized by the front panel (5) being of one-piece construction.

3. A refrigerator (1) as in claim 1, characterized by the upper zone (7), the lower zone (8) and the side zones (9a, 9b) having a sum of their height in the longitudinal direction substantially equal to the height of the door (2) in the longitudinal direction.

4. A refrigerator (1) as in claim 2, characterized by the upper zone (7), the lower zone (8) and the side zones (9a, 9b) having a sum of their height in the longitudinal direction substantially equal to the height of the door (2) in the longitudinal direction.

5. A refrigerator (1) as in any one of the above claims, characterized by the front surface of the door (2) being substantially formed by the front panel (5).

6. A refrigerator (1) as in any one of the claims 1 to 4, characterized by the lateral extent (9a, 9b) of not less than 5 cm.

7. A refrigerator (1) as in any one of the claims 1 to 4, characterized by the lateral extent of the side areas (9a, 9b) being 7 to 8 cm.

8. A refrigerator (1) comprising a door (2, 34), said door (2, 34) comprising a front panel (5, 36) forming at least a part of its front surface, wherein said front panel (5, 36) has a through hole (6, 37), the lateral width of said through hole (6, 37) being at least half of the lateral width of said front panel (5, 36), said door (2) comprising a first wall (10) forming the rear surface of said door (2), a second wall (11) spaced from said first wall (10) by a predetermined distance, and a thermal insulation layer (12) housed between said first wall (10) and said second wall (11), said front panel (5) being connected at the front side of said second wall (11), characterized in that said front panel (5, 36) is made of glass and comprises an upper region (7) located above said through hole (6, 37), 38) a lower region (8, 39) located below the through hole (6, 37) and side regions (9a, 9b, 40a, 40b) located on respective sides of the through hole (6, 37) and connecting the upper region (7, 38) and the lower region (8, 39), the door (2) having a dispensing chamber (4) for receiving at least a portion of an external container, the through hole (6) constituting with at least a portion thereof an entrance of the dispensing chamber (4), the front panel (5) and the second wall (11) forming a gap (13) therebetween in a front-rear direction, the door (2) comprising a shielding element (14) shielding the gap (13) along the through hole (6), the dispenser (3) comprising a dispenser housing (26), the shielding element (14) being formed by the dispenser housing (26), the dispenser housing (26) comprises a chamber wall (15) defining the dispensing chamber (4), at least a portion of the chamber wall (15) extending forward into the through hole (6) to form the shield element (14).

9. A refrigerator (1) as in claim 8, characterized by comprising a control panel (17) housed at least partially inside said through hole (6).

10. A refrigerator (1) as in claim 8 or 9, characterized by the front panel (5) being of one-piece construction and the front surface of the door (2) being substantially formed by the front panel (5).