ITMI20020153U1 - REFRIGERATOR WITH SAFETY DEVICES FOR THE ADDITIONAL AND LOWER DOOR COMPARTMENT THAT CAN BE SYNCHRONICALLY OPERATED FOR MOBILE USE - Google Patents

Description

Utility model

WAECO INTERNATIONAL GMBH,

based in Emsdetten (Federal Republic of Germany)

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2002 U 0 00 1 5 3 The invention relates to a refrigerator with additional upper and lower safety devices for the door compartment, which can be operated synchronously, for mobile use. From patent publication EP 0640 735 A1 it is known to realize such safety devices for the door compartment as an arrangement of push rods. In this case, a lockable pusher arranged vertically near the free edge of the refrigerator door protrudes beyond the upper edge of the door, while a hole for housing the push rods is screwed onto the lower edge of the vertically opposite door leaf. The body of the refrigerator receives a longitudinal rod, loaded by a compression spring, in a guide of the longitudinal rod near the opening edge placed in front of the hinges. By itself, the traditional door lock, made for example as a magnetic strip, keeps the door closed in a sufficiently stable manner. For mobile use, for example in a motor vehicle or ship, however, the safety device for the additional door compartment is required, for example because refrigerator doors on the inside are loaded with beverage bottles or other heavy objects and the refrigerator door could open unintentionally when centrifugal forces develop or when a vehicle jerks. Since a safety device for the additional door compartment applied at the half height of the door could not only disturb from an aesthetic point of view, but also

which protrudes from the front surface and therefore could be involuntarily released, the pusher of the longitudinal rod is arranged perpendicularly to the upper edge of the refrigerator door in a vertical operating position. With the refrigerator door closed and aligned exactly, the pusher, the push rod and the longitudinal rod housing are sufficiently aligned exactly with each other to be able to move the longitudinal rod in the refrigerator body by means of the pressure pusher push rod spring down. The lower end of the push rod engages in the push rod housing, made for example as a hole, at the lower end of the refrigerator door. This provides a safety device for the lower door compartment. At the same time, the pusher fits into a pusher housing at the upper end of the refrigerator body and thus forms an upper safety device for the door compartment. Thus the refrigerator door in mobile use is equipped with sufficient safety both against complete opening and against deformations and involuntary loss of cold due to a possible imperfect closure. However, if the refrigerator door is not installed with sufficiently exact alignment or if it is slightly warped or slanted due to heavy loading of the refrigerator door with heavy objects, or if the highly elastic door seal is already slightly worn or compressed with particular force, there is no longer sufficient alignment of the three push rod locking components. This locking is still possible with a "push" of the user during locking at most in the area of the locking (upper) by means of the pusher, but not on the lower locking of the push rod. Since both locks can only be operated synchronously, general locking is no longer possible in this situation, and therefore up and down. The predetermination of the compressive force for the relatively long friction-stressed push rod is also problematic, as this compressive force on one side must be sufficient to bring the push rod back, pulling the push rod up, against its weight and against its friction, in the push rod guide and in the door-side push rod housing in the unlocked position. Otherwise the lower safety device would not unlock. On the other hand, the push rod spring must not be too strong since in this case with a limited frictional stress and a not too strong holding force of the pusher, it could unlock automatically. This can be favored, for example, by vertical blows, to which the vehicle housing the refrigerator is exposed during travel. There is also a security problem in this respect.

Starting from this, the aim of the invention is to provide additional upper and lower safety devices for the door compartment, which can be operated synchronously, of a refrigerator of this kind for mobile use in such a way as to eliminate the aforementioned alignment problem. In general, good operational safety is therefore desired both for the intended locking and unlocking of the safety devices for the door compartment, and for avoiding inadvertent unlocking in mobile use.

The invention solves this task by means of the combination of characteristics reported in claim 1. Therefore the invention is based on the use of a locking mechanism for the rotating rod made in a particular way, i.e. in such a way that it is possible to rotate it from the front side of the door. of the refrigerator towards the edge area of the upper and / or lower door. For this purpose, the rotating rod can extend into or out of the refrigerator door. The upper and lower revolving latches, connected integrally in rotation with the revolving rod, preferably have a double function, being simultaneously realized as revolving levers which can be activated from the front, for example in the form of a knurled wheel with wings.

Thanks to the invention it becomes possible on the one hand to use the additional upper and lower safety devices for the door compartment with sufficient operating safety, even when the installation or use position of the refrigerator door differs from the nominal position. In fact, the revolving latches allow operation even with considerable tolerances in height, since the housing of the revolving latch, which will usually be fixed on the body of the refrigerator, can be equipped with sufficient tolerance in height, i.e. vertical extension. Accordingly, the pivot bolt and its frontally actuated pivot lever can advantageously be constructed in a flat manner, in particular be made in the form of a disc. Significant lateral tolerances are also possible without additional adjustment work, i.e. both because the pivot bolt and the pivot bolt housing, even in the event of considerable play, allow sufficient

cient safety against inadvertent opening of the refrigerator door during mobile use. In addition, if desired, wedge-shaped upward sliding zones can be provided which allow to a large extent lateral tolerances between the pivot bolt and the pivot bolt housing. In particular, the angles of rotation of the pivot bolt can differ in different situations of use, without thereby nullifying the purpose of safety for mobile use.

Moreover, thanks to the invention, the possibility of installing the refrigerator in a motor vehicle becomes more variable than before, since only a very flat, frontally operated pivot lever is required to operate the additional door compartment safety devices. . There is no free space previously required above the refrigerator door for a pusher and its handling.

Likewise, there are no synchronization problems for a return spring, since on the one hand a return spring can be completely dispensed with. On the other hand, a return spring, which is preferably used to maintain the closed position of the additional door compartment safety devices, can be made relatively rigid, since the spring force is actively overcome when unlocking by the door lock takes place. 'user by operating the revolving lever. Also the frictional forces, which are formed due to the support of the pivot rod and the closing forces on the safety device for the opposite doorway, and therefore on the lower safety device (when only the upper one has a pivot lever) , are harmless, as both the safety device for the upper and lower doorway are actively locked or unlocked by the user by means of a forced coupling. Therefore, if a spring is to be used, it has - unlike the case of EP 0640 735 A1 - a closing function (and no opening function) and therefore represents an increase in safety for the unlocking state, without unlocking can be unnecessarily complicated or even prevented.

Thanks to the invention, a ventilation position of the refrigerator door can also be achieved without problems if the refrigerator and the motor vehicle are not used, for example by means of a stepped housing of the rotating bolt.

A further advantage for storage and installation of the refrigerator is achieved when the pivot rod guide can also be used as a support for the door hinge. This allows in an economically advantageous way to manufacture a refrigerator door which can be fastened to the right and to the left. Correspondingly, the hinge support on the body side is then exchanged with the housings of the pivot bolt. This is possible in a particularly simple way, especially when, as preferred, the swivel latch and the swivel latch housing on the upper and lower refrigerator ends are / are applied from above respectively from below, on the refrigerator body or the refrigerator door respectively. , and therefore from the outside. The (preferred) possibility of a plate-shaped embodiment of the revolving bolt, allows at the same time its usability left-right by exchanging the upper side with the lower side, and then rotating them 180 ° around a virtual horizontal rotation axis.

If you want to install the refrigerator - rather than as usual relatively low - relatively high, the pivot lever for the two pivot latches is provided on the lower edge of the door. Among other things, this is possible by simply exchanging the upper and lower pivot bolts. However, both pivot bolts are preferably equipped with pivot lever, so that the pivot bolt can be operated on the lower and / or upper ends of the door and even on both ends of the door, the latter for example. when a particular stress case has occurred and an increased rotational force is desirable.

By "frontal actuation" of the revolving lever in the sense of the invention it is meant that the revolving lever can be manipulated from the respective front side. In particular, for this, a knurled wheel slightly protruding in a convex or concave way beyond the front surface with a portion of a circular arc can be provided. The front operation is naturally also given when it occurs on a lateral front of the refrigerator, and therefore in the door edge area on the closure side, and therefore in the upper and / or lower door edge area. In the same way, an inversion of the function is possible, that is to place the revolving rod in or on the refrigerator body and provide the upper and lower revolving latch housings in or on the refrigerator door.

Finally it is also possible that, for example for aesthetic reasons, at least one of the two pivot latches and pivot latch housings are not mounted from the outside, but are arranged in the door of the refrigerator body close to the upper and lower edge, so that the perfect control surface. However, as such refrigerators are usually installed in furniture, this complication is usually unnecessary. Here the lever which can be operated from the front does not disturb in any way, not even from an aesthetic point of view, since it can be made as flat as the free space however necessary ("light") at the upper and lower installation levels of the refrigerator.

Refrigerators according to the invention can be used both with a neutral door front configuration and with replaceable front panels in interaction with a so-called dragging door, in which a front door of the cabinet is dragged during the opening and closing of the refrigerator door. In this case, at least one revolving lever of the safety devices for the additional door compartment is arranged in such a way that, with the furniture door closed (driving door), it can be operated through the gap in any case present with respect to the pieces of furniture or adjacent installation.

The components to be used according to the invention, cited above, as well as claimed and described in the embodiment examples, are not subject, in their size, shape, choice of materials and technical design, to particular exceptional conditions, so that selection criteria known in the field of use can be used without limitations.

Further details, characteristics and advantages of the object of the invention result from the dependent claims as well as from the following description of the related drawing, in which - by way of example - a preferred embodiment example of the safety device for the door compartment according to the invention is shown. In this drawing:

Figure 1 shows a refrigerator for mobile use, in principle and in some details, as well as in perspective with additional upper and lower safety devices for the door compartment, which can be operated synchronously, in an exploded view;

Figures 2A / B show a top view of the safety device for the upper door compartment on the revolving bolt and revolving lever in the open position (Figure 1, 2A) as well as in the closed position (Figure 2B);

Figures 3A-3D show the safety device for the upper door compartment of the same refrigerator, a sequence of 4 working positions;

figure 4 shows the working position according to figure 3C of a view rotated by 90 °;

Figure 5 shows the safety device for the lower door compartment of the same refrigerator in the working position according to Figure 3D as well

figure 6 shows the same refrigerator in an overall front view;

Figures 7A / B show a top view of an alternative embodiment of a revolving bolt, revolving lever and strike plate in the open position (Figure 7A) as well as in the closed position (Figure 7B);

figure 8 shows the pivot bolt-pivot lever combination of figures 7A / B in a perspective view;

figure 9 shows the abutment plate of figures 7A / B in a perspective view.

The refrigerator represented as a principle in Figure 1 globally indicated with 10 is represented disproportionately, to highlight the essential pieces. It consists of a refrigerator door 10A and a refrigerator body 10B as well as a peripheral gasket 10C associated with the door, where the door and the gasket are indicated only by dashes. On the upper side of the body and under the bottom of the body, housings of revolving latch 22 of the same shape are fixed by means of screws 22A, where the longitudinal holes 22B are used for adjustment. The housing areas of the two-step rotating bolt 22C protrude on the front part of the body and can serve as a guide for the refrigerator door or its gasket.

The refrigerator door 10A on its closing side opposite the hinge side, shown in Figure 1, is equipped with additional safety devices for the upper and lower door compartment 20A, 20B which can be operated synchronously, where the safety device for the door compartment is globally indicated with 20. This in addition to the revolving bolt housings 22 consists of revolving latches 24A, upper and lower 24B, upper and lower revolving levers 26a, 26B, which are made as knurled wheels, which are made in one piece with the revolving latches and slightly protrude from the front surface of the refrigerator to be operable from the front side, as well as from a revolving rod 28 with a revolving support system provided inside the door 10A near the closing edge and parallel to this. The pivot bolt housings 22 as well as the pivot bolt-pivot lever combination can be sawn disc-like, for example from continuous casting sections.

Striking plates 29 which can be screwed to the door serve as a pivot bearing for the pivot rod 28 and rotation limit stops for the pivot latches. The torsion springs 27 hold the no-load pivot latches in the open position shown in FIG. 2A or in the closed position shown in FIG. 2B. Among these there is a dead point indicated by T in Figure 2A, in which the torsion spring 27 has the maximum tension. An integral connection in the rotation between the revolving rod 28 and the revolving bolt and the revolving lever takes place by means of fixing screws 25, which are screwed into a transversal hole of the revolving bolt 24 and are brought into integral grip in the rotation with the revolving rod 28. Both the two-step turnbuckle housing zones 22C that the two-step turnbuckle zones 24C can be brought and held in a double-acting locking position according to Figure 3A as well as in a single-acting ventilation position according to Figure 3C . A sliding area 22D on the housing of the rotating bolt has the effect of simplifying the closure. Furthermore, a pair of abutment recesses 23, 29 are provided on the pivot lever-pivot bolt combination. The refrigerator door 10A is closed and kept closed as well as opened in the usual way. In this case, the additional safety device for the door compartment 20 is normally in the open position (Figure 2A, Figure 3B and 3D as well as Figure 5). An additional transport lock for mobile use is missing. If the refrigerator is not used, both in the stationary state and in mobile use, it can be kept in the ventilation position shown in figures 3C and 4. The locking for transport takes place, with the refrigerator door closed, by means of a slight rotation, indicated with double arrows in figure 2A / B, of the revolving bolt 24A / B by means of the revolving lever 26A / B made as a knurled wheel. In this case, the upper and lower revolving latches 24B necessarily move synchronously together with the revolving rod 28, ie regardless of whether the upper or lower knurled wheel is operated. As can be seen from Figure 6, the door hinges 30 can also be screwed respectively up and down on respectively under the refrigerator body 10B in the same way and by means of the same holes as those used on the opposite closing side for the device. additional safety device for the door compartment.

Figures 7 to 9 show an alternative embodiment of a pivotable lever-pivot bolt combination in addition to the strike plate, in which an alternative bi- or tristable lever stop is provided. In the case of this embodiment, the revolving lever-revolving bolt combination (figure 8) is held in the open position (figure 7A) or closed position (figure 7B) by an elastic bridge 33 to one or more axes of the plate. stop (figure 9). In this case, a camber 32 acts on the elastic bridge 3, optionally in one of the three recesses 31 of the revolving lever and revolving bolt combination and thus confers stability, where the spring elasticity of the bridge 33 makes it possible to engage in position and release the stop means (crowning 32 and recess 31). The recesses 31 formed as a hole-like opening are located in a circular arc around the axis of rotation 21 of the pivot lever / pivot bolt combination and serve for the unlockable stop of this combination in the open and closed position. The third recess 31 allows the right / left use of the revolving lever / revolving bolt combination, since the door stop - as mentioned - can be either on the left or on the right.

As a further alternative, the embodiment according to figures 7 to 9 realizes a concave handle 34 'on the revolving lever / levers 226A, 26B instead of the convex handle 34 of figures 1 to 6. In this way, a optical marking of the closed position and the open position.

In the case of the additional safety device for the door compartment according to the invention, neither tolerance problems nor elastic reaction problems arise, as exist in the state of the art mentioned at the beginning. Height tolerances are compensated for by sufficiently high pivoting latches and / or pivoting latch housings. Lateral tolerances are mostly negligible due to the mutual engagement of the pivot bolt and the pivot bolt housings. Vertical shocks, centrifugal forces or jolts, such as can occur in mobile use of the refrigerator in a motor vehicle, cannot normally deactivate the additional safety device for the door compartment.

In particular, the installation of the additional door compartment safety devices on and under the refrigerator also makes it possible to use it in combination with a furniture front with a pull door arrangement between the furniture door and the door. refrigerator. The pivoting levers that can be activated from the front allow installation at the level of the refrigerator front in a cabinet front.

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Claims (12)

R IV E N D I CA C T IO N I 1. Refrigerator with additional upper and lower door safety devices, which can be operated synchronously, for mobile use, characterized in that a pivotable rod (28) supported rotatably, extending parallel to the closing edge of the refrigerator door ( 10A) on its upper and lower ends is integrally connected in rotation with revolving latches (24A, 24B), which revolving latch housings (22) interacting with the revolving latches are connected in a fixed manner in the area of the upper door ends and lower with the refrigerator body (10B), or vice versa, the revolving latches are provided on the body and the revolving latch housings on the door, and furthermore by the fact that the revolving rod (28) by means of at least one upper revolving lever ( 26A) or lower (2GB) which can be operated from the front, or by means of both, can be rotated from the unsecured opening position to a position one locking secured and vice versa. 2. Refrigerator according to claim 1, characterized in that the respective upper or lower rotating bolt is made in one piece with the rotating lever. 3. Refrigerator according to claim 2, characterized in that the lever, pivotable-pivot bolt combination is made as a plate-shaped component. Refrigerator according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the upper and lower rotatable latch housing protrudes as guides from the front side of the refrigerator body. Refrigerator according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that pivoting latches and pivoting latch housings are designed in two stages with at least one closing position and at least one ventilation position. 6. Refrigerator according to claim 5, characterized in that the pivot bolt and the pivot bolt housings engage in a comb shape with each other. Refrigerator according to one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that limit stops for the angle of rotation (23, 29) are provided for the pivot bolt or the pivot lever or for both. Refrigerator according to claim 7, characterized in that the stop (29) as a strike plate is fastened to simultaneously support the pivot rod (28) on the refrigerator door (10A) or on the body of the refrigerator. Refrigerator according to one of claims 1 to 8, characterized by a bistable spring arrangement for holding the pivot bolt or pivot lever in a locking position or in an open position. Refrigerator according to one of claims 1 to 8, characterized by an elastic bridge (33) for holding the pivot bolt or the pivot lever or the pivot lever / pivot bolt combination at least in a locking position and in an open position with means corresponding stop (31, 32) on the revolving lever or on the revolving bolt on one side and on the elastic bridge (33) on the other. Refrigerator according to claim 10, characterized in that the elastic bridge (33) is formed on the abutment plate (29). Refrigerator according to one of claims 1 to 11, characterized in that the safety devices for the additional upper and lower door compartment, which can be operated synchronously, can be exchanged with the door hinges to provide a right hinging option / to the left of the refrigerator door.