WO2012007217A1

WO2012007217A1 - Door opening mechanism for cooler devices

Info

Publication number: WO2012007217A1
Application number: PCT/EP2011/058737
Authority: WO
Inventors: Halil Turan; Can Imir; Omer Can Inci
Original assignee: Vestel Beyaz Esya Sanayi Ve Ticaret A.S.
Priority date: 2010-07-16
Filing date: 2011-05-27
Publication date: 2012-01-19
Also published as: EP2593620B1; TR201005874A2; EP2593620A1

Abstract

The cooler device (A) of the invention comprises at least one door (1) which is used for accessing to the inner volume of the device body (12) and is connected to this body (12) and also at least one door opening mechanism (2) developed for opening of this door (1) easily. The door opening mechanism (2) comprises at least one body (4) fixed to device door; at least one skid (5) moving back and forth within the body (4) and extending form its one side to outside of the body (4); at least one arm (3) which is used for opening the device door (1) and activating the mechanism (2) (for moving the skid (5)) and is in connection with the body (4).

Description

DESCRIPTION

DOOR OPENING MECHANISM FOR COOLER DEVICES Technical Field

This invention relates to the mechanisms which ensure easy opening of the doors of the cooler devices. Prior Art

In the state of art, lower pressure occurs in outer environment compared with the inner parts of the cooler devices' doors due to the air circulation occurring during the cooling cycle. This makes the door difficult to open. In case the user has his/her hands full, it turns much more difficult to open the door. As known, when the user would like to open the door, he/she exerts force on the door handle and the door is opened by rotating about the centre of a hinge. In this embodiment, the user can open the door only by pulling the door handle and exerting extra force on it. Various mechanisms are developed for ensuring the doors to be opened easily and the examples for these mechanisms are showed in the published patent applications No JP2000018803 and CN200989706.

Brief Disclosure of the Invention

A system in which the user can open the cooler device door for example by his/her elbow even if he/she has his/her hands full is developed by this invention. The invention ensures that the user can open the door by exerting less force on the door according to the prior art.

In consideration of this, the cooler device of the invention comprises at least one door which is connected to the body of the device and is used for the accession to the inner volume of its body, and at least one door opening mechanism on the door.

In the door opening mechanism, there are provided at least one mechanism body fixed to the device door, at least one skid which can move back and forth within the body and extends from one side towards outside of the mechanism body, at least one arm which is in connection with the mechanism body and moves the skid.

The door opening mechanism comprises also one crank which is fixed to the arm, extends towards inside of the mechanism body, can rotate about a pivot within the mechanism body and at least one spring which restores the positions of the arm, crank and skid when the arm is released. The skid, one end of which is hung up one side of the crank, is made of a flexible material, is hard in longitudinal axis. Objective of the Invention

An aim of the invention is to create a cooler device, the door of which can be opened easily. Another aim of the invention is to develop a mechanism in order to ensure the door of the said cooler door to be opened easily.

A further aim of the invention is to develop a door opening mechanism which is applicable to many cooler devices without difficulty.

Still a further aim of the invention is to create an easy to produce, cheap and secure cooler device and a door opening mechanism related to this device.

Description of the Drawings

An exemplary cooler device of the invention and the related door opening mechanisms are illustrated in the attached figures, in the figures

Figure 1 is the general perspective view of the cooler device.

Figure 2 is the general perspective view of the door opening mechanism.

Figure 3 is the top sectional view of the interior structure of the door opening mechanism.

All the parts illustrated in the figures are individually assigned a reference numeral and the corresponding terms of these numbers are listed as follows: Cooler device (A)

Device door (1 )

Mechanism (2)

Arm (3)

Body (4)

Skid (5)

Crank (6)

Pivot (8)

Device body (12)

Opening (13)

Spring (14)

Channel (17)

End part (18)

Front part (19)

Disclosure of the Invention

The cooler device (A) shown in the Figure 1 comprises at least one door (for example with hinge) which is used for accessing to the inner volume of the body (12) and is connected to this body (12), and also at least one door opening mechanism (2) which is developed for opening the door (1 ) easily.

The door opening mechanism (2) shown in more detail in the Figure 2 comprises at least one body (4) which is fixed to device door (1 ), at least one skid (5) which can move within the body (4) by sliding and extends from one side towards the outside of the body (4), at least one arm (3) which is used for opening the device door (1 ) and activating the mechanism (2) (for moving the skid (5)) and is in connection with the body (4).

In the main embodiment of the invention, after the arm (3) is moved towards one side on the body (4), the skid (5) moves out from the other side of the body (4) or moves in the body (4). After the skid (5) moves out, the skid (5) pushes the device body (12) and the door (1 ) is opened by moving off the device body (12). In an another alternative embodiment, when the arm (3) is moved, the skid (5) is moved towards inside of the body (4) and it budges the seal (not shown in figures) between the device body (12) and device door (1 ) and pressure of the interior and exterior environment of the device (A) is get balanced, and then the door (1 ) is opened. In brief, after these embodiments, by a slight movement of the arm (3), the device door (1 ) can be opened easily.

In Figure 3 the interior structure of the mechanism (2) is shown. In this structure, there is a crank (6) which is fixed to the arm (3). The crank (6) extends towards into the body (4) from an opening (13) in the part on which the arm (3) is provided and it can rotate about the pivot (8) within the body (4). For this reason, the arm (3) can rotate about (within the angle in which the opening (13) limits the crank (6)) said pivot. The crank (6) is in connection with a skid (5) in the body (4) from its other side. The skid (7) has the feature of sliding within the body (4) and end part (18) of the skid (5) extending towards outside of the body (4) can move back and forth by means of the rotation of crank (6). In case the arm (3) is released by the user, at least one spring (14), (in the example in figure 3, one end of the spring (14) is connected to a fixed part of the body (4) and its other end is connected to the crank (6)) which restores the positions of the arm (3) and thus the crank (6) and the skid (5), is used.

The skid (5) used in the door opening mechanism (2) is made of a flexible material and in a thin and long form. One end of the skid (5) having the feature of stretching sideward in contrast to being inflexible in the longitudinal axis is fixed on one side of the crank (6). By means of the rotation of the crank (6), the flexible skid (5) can slide in a channel (17) in the body (4). By interspacing (gap having the same width as the skid (5)) between the channel (17) and the skid (5) as slightly as possible, it becomes possible that the skid (5) is moved by sliding longitudinally. In fact, the front part (19) of the skid (5) can slide in the gap between the body (4) and the crank (6). This gap is formed in such a way that it has the same width as the skid (5), and thus folding of the skid (5) is prevented during its movement.

Even if the channel (17) is in curved form as shown in the Figure 3, the sideward flexibility of the skid (5) and inflexibility along the longitudinal axis makes possible the skid to move without folding along the said longitudinal axis. The end part (18) of the skid (5) extending from the body (4) to outside (gets into the channel (17) partly) is hard and can push the body (4) to ensure the opening of the door (1 ) or can budge the seal (not shown in the figures) located between the device body (12) and its door (1 ). By means of the simple structure of the flexible skid (5), the cost of the door opening mechanism may be low. By adjusting and the position of the pivot (8) and sizes of the moving members (for example, the arm (3), the crank (6), the skid (5)) in the door opening mechanism (2) used in cooler device (A) of the invention, the door (1 ) can be opened easily by a slight movement of the arm (5). In other words, in movement transmissions, force transmission is also regarded and thus, the door (1 ) can be opened by desired force.

Claims

A cooler device (A) comprising at least one door (1 ) which is used for accessing to the inner volume of the device body (12) and is connected to this body (12);

at least one door opening mechanism (2) on which there are provided at least one body (4) fixed to device door (1 ); at least one skid (5) moving back and forth within the body (4) and extending from its one side to outside of the body (4); at least one arm (3) moving the skid (5) and being in connection with said body (4) characterized in that the door opening mechanism (2) comprises

at least one crank (6) which is fixed to arm (3), extends towards inside of the body (4), can rotate about one pivot (8) inside (6) of the body (4) by the movement of the arm (3);

at least one spring (14) which restores the positions of the arm (3), the crank (6) and the skid (5) when the arm (3) is released and;

the skid (5) which is made of a material having the feature of stretching sideward, being inflexible along longitudinal axis, being in thin and long form and a flexible material; one end of the skid (5) is fixed to one side of the crank (6).

A cooler device (A) according to Claim 1 , characterized in that; it comprises one bed (17) in which the skid (5) is placed in the body (4) and can slide.

A cooler device (A) according to Claim 2, characterized in that; the skid (5) has an inflexible end part (18) which extends towards outside of the body (4).

A cooler device (A) according to Claim 3, characterized in that; one end part (18) of it gets in the channel (17) partly.

A cooler device (A) according to Claim 1 , characterized in that; one end of the spring (14) is connected to a fixed part within the body (4) and the other end of it is connected to the crank (6).

6. A cooler device (A) according to Claim 1 , characterized in that; it comprises one opening (13) in the part in which the arm (3) is provided and the crank (6) gets in the body (4).

7. A cooler device (A) according to Claim 1 , characterized in that; the skid (5) has the feature of pushing the device body (12).

8. A cooler device (A) according to Claim 1 , the skid (5) has the feature of budging the seal between the device body (12) and its door (1 ).