EP3015799B1 - Refrigeration and/or freezer device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a refrigerator and / or freezer with a device body and with a cooled interior that is located in the device body, the device being designed such that an air flow is formed in the cooled interior when the device is in operation.

From the prior art it is known to generate areas of different temperatures in the cooled interior of refrigerators or freezers, for example by means of built-in components such as horizontal partition plates. From the DE 10 2008 029 138 A1 a freezer is known, in the interior of which a plate can be used. The panel divides the cooled interior into two areas, one of which is used as a freezer and the other is not actively cooled, but indirectly due to the lower insulation thickness. The part of the inner container used as a freezer compartment can thus be variably adjusted through the plate. The DE 10 2007 034 530 A1 discloses a refrigerator with a warm compartment which is arranged in the upper part of the interior space and is separated from the further cooling space. In addition, central evaporator systems are known which introduce the cold air into certain areas of the device through ducts. The document also discloses WO 2008/120907 A2 a cooling device with a fan, which is continuously adjustable by means of a rail and can be positioned inside the cooling device. In addition, the document discloses KR 0156369 B1 a cooling device with a fan, which can be continuously adjusted within the cooling device by means of a gear rail.

The document also discloses JP 2006 329592 A a cooling device with a continuously adjustable fan. Also according to the publication KR 100812368 B1 a fan is provided which can be continuously moved along a rail and which can be fixed in any position using locking screws.

In the case of refrigerators or freezers which have a temperature zone and which have a fan, by means of which cold air is guided past an evaporator, only the temperature in the entire cooled area can be lowered or raised.

The present invention is based on the object of developing a refrigerator and / or freezer of the type mentioned at the outset in such a way that regions of different temperatures can be generated in a comparatively simple manner.

This object is achieved by a refrigerator and / or freezer with the features of claim 1.

It is then provided that the device has means which act on the air flow in such a way that, depending on the effect on the air flow, areas with different temperatures are formed in the cooled interior.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the means have a preferably horizontal partition plate which divides the cooled interior into at least partial areas. In the partition plate and / or next to the partition plate there are one or more openings, such as gaps, the size of which can be changed. In this way it is possible, depending on the size and number of the openings, to bring about, reduce or completely prevent an air flow into the area of the cooled interior divided by the partition plate. Depending on which volume flow of air passes through the openings, corresponding temperatures are set in front of and behind or above and below the partition plate.

The partition plate can also be a preferably vertical partition plate which separates a cold air duct, in which an evaporator is located, from the cooled interior. This can have one or more openings, the size of which is variable, so that an air flow from the cold air duct into the cooled interior can be effected, throttled or completely prevented through the at least one opening.

The air, the flow of which can be changed by the means mentioned, is preferably cold air that would be cooled by an evaporator of the refrigerator or freezer.

The air flow is generated by at least one fan.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, it is conceivable that the means for changing the size of said at least one opening in the partition plate are mechanically operated or by means that are moved by a drive means, such as a motor.

In a further embodiment of the invention it is provided that the means comprise a movable slide which, depending on its position, releases, partially releases or closes an opening in the partition plate or an opening next to the partition plate.

The means can also comprise a seal between the partition plate and an adjacent wall, in particular the inner container wall of the refrigerator or freezer, wherein the position of the seal can be changed, i.e. it is not permanently inserted.

The seal can for example run around a partition plate and be removable. When the seal is removed, there is thus a gap between the partition plate and the adjoining walls of the refrigerator or freezer, in particular of its inner container. Air can flow through the opening formed in this way and thus influence the temperature of the compartments in front of and behind or above and below the partition plate.

In the invention it is provided that the means comprise at least one fan which is held by fastening means, for example by means of a latching connection, the fastening means being designed so that they can be arranged in different positions. The fastening means can be arranged on the inner container or, for example, on a partition plate of the device.

The at least one fan is thus displaced, with the result that the air flow conveyed by the fan only reaches certain areas of the cooled interior, for example, which are then cooled particularly strongly.

The fastening means and thus also the fan can be fixed, for example, to the inner container of the refrigerator and / or freezer or to a plate arranged thereon, such as a partition plate or facing of a cold air duct, and an evaporator can be located in the cold air duct overflow of which the air is cooled.

It is also conceivable that the means mentioned have at least one air duct and one or more flaps, slides or other means by which the free flow cross section of the air duct can be changed. In a further embodiment of the invention it is provided that the device has at least one temperature sensor and at least one that is connected to it Has control unit for setting the temperature in the cooled interior. The temperature sensor reports an actual temperature value to the control unit. A setpoint can be entered via an input unit. In this embodiment of the invention it is provided that setting means are present which are connected to the control unit and which are designed in such a way that they change the mode of operation of the control unit as a function of the air flow set.

For example, it is conceivable that the control is suspended if the temperature sensor is located in an area of the refrigerator and / or freezer that is no longer surrounded by air or cold air after the change in the air flow, so that a predetermined one is not sets changeable temperature in the areas.

It is also conceivable that the air flow is changed in such a way that the temperature sensor is still in the area acted upon by the air flow after the change in the air flow, so that this area can still be regulated normally via the control unit.

Adjustment of the control unit is also possible if two temperature sensors are provided, one of which is located in the area through which air is still flowing and one in the area not through which air is flowing. The sensor located in the area where there is no flow can be switched off, ie it cannot be used to control the temperature. It is also conceivable that both sensors are used, the temperature sensor not arranged in the flow-through area being used only to display the temperature and the temperature sensor arranged in the flow-through area for temperature control of this area. In a conceivable embodiment, the sensor is located on the fan so that it takes part in a change in location of the fan and thus also maintains controllability.

The temperature control can also be adapted in such a way that the temperature control only works for the area through which there is flow and the area which is not flowed through is not taken into account in the temperature control.

The agents according to the invention are preferably suitable for deflecting the prevailing air flow in a refrigerator and / or freezer in such a way that previously cooled sub-areas are cooled even more, since the entire evaporator output is conducted in one sub-area and no longer in the entire area.

The present invention makes it possible, by deflecting the air flow, to generate regions of different temperatures using simple means. Energy can be saved by creating one or more areas with a comparatively high temperature that can be used, for example, as a pantry or tropical fruit compartment. If less cooling or freezing space is required, this can be reduced in volume, which saves energy.

The different temperatures are preferably created in that a cold air flow is generated or deflected accordingly.

It is conceivable that areas that were previously cooled are no longer cooled after the action of the air flow and / or areas are cooled to a greater extent than before the change in the air flow.

Further details and advantages of the invention are explained in more detail using an exemplary embodiment shown in the drawing.

Figur 1:

schematische Ansichten eines Kühl- oder Gefriergerätes mit einer horizontalen Trennplatte mit verstellbaren Öffnungen,

Figur 2:

Längsschnittansichten durch ein Kühl- bzw. Gefriergerät mit unterschiedlichen Ventilatoranordnungen,

Figur 3:

eine schematische Draufsicht auf die Rückwand eines Kühl- bzw. Gefriergerätes mit denkbaren Einbaupositionen des Ventilators,

Figur 4:

Längsschnittansichten durch ein Kühl- bzw. Gefriergerät mit unterschiedlichen Betriebszuständen des Ventilators.

Show it:

Figure 1:

schematic views of a refrigerator or freezer with a horizontal partition plate with adjustable openings,

Figure 2:

Longitudinal sectional views through a refrigerator or freezer with different fan arrangements,

Figure 3:

a schematic plan view of the rear wall of a refrigerator or freezer with conceivable installation positions of the fan,

Figure 4:

Longitudinal sectional views through a refrigerator or freezer with different operating states of the fan.

Figure 1 FIG. 9 shows a schematic view of a freezer 10, the cooled interior of which is divided into two sub-areas 21 and 22 by a horizontal partition plate 30.

The horizontal partition plate 30 is a functional plate that has one or more openings that can be closed, throttled or opened via a mechanical or electronic adjustment facility.

In the in Figure 1a In the state shown, the openings of the partition plate 30 are closed. This has the result that the air flow marked by arrows is present within the cooled interior only in the partial area 20. In this part there is accordingly cooling by the cold air. The lower area 21, partitioned off by the partition plate 30, can be used for other purposes and has higher temperatures than the area 20.

It is conceivable that the device according to Figure 1 has setting means by means of which the user can specify the target temperature in the area 20 and / or 21. If cooling is to take place in the area 21, the openings in the horizontal partition plate 30 are opened depending on the desired temperature in this area, ie depending on the regulator position, so that the desired temperature is reached in the area 21.

In principle, manual opening of the openings is also conceivable independently of a regulation. The user can actuate an opening mechanism if it is desired that cold air flows into the area 21.

An air stream 31 passes through the openings in the partition plate 30 according to FIG Figure 1b In the area 21, ie cold air from the freezer part 20 or from the area 20 into the sealed off area 21. Thus, part of the cold air from the freezer part 20 is used functionally, for example, to bring drinks, cakes or food to be thawed into the area 21 cool or store at a certain temperature.

Figure 2 Figure 3 shows another embodiment of the present invention. In this case, the air flow is acted upon by changing the position of a fan. According to Figure 2 a there is a fan 40 in the cooled interior 20 and in this there are two sub-areas 20 a and 20 b which can be drawers, for example.

The sub-area 20 is a cooling area of a refrigerator or freezer, and the area arranged underneath and separated by a partition plate 30 is a cold storage compartment 21.

According to Figure 2 a) the fan 40 is arranged in the upper area of the cooled interior or of the sub-area 20. The fan 40 conveys air from the area 20 into a cold air duct 50 in which an evaporator is located. The cold air duct 50 is separated from the area 20 by a vertical partition plate. The fan 40 is located in an opening of this vertical partition plate.

In the rear area of the horizontal partition plate 30 there is an opening so that cold air can pass from the channel 50 into the cold storage compartment 21. This is traversed by cold air and the cold air passes through a gap in the front area of the horizontal partition plate 30 back into the cooling area 20. As indicated by the arrows to the right of the sub-areas 20 a and 20 b, these thus evenly exposed to cold air, so that a temperature of 5 ° Celsius or the same temperature is set in both areas.

This temperature specification and the other temperature specifications within the scope of the invention are exemplary and should not be interpreted as restrictive.

If the fan 40 is displaced downwards from its position according to FIG. 2 a) so that it is only arranged behind the sub-area 20 b, there is no flow through the sub-area 20 a. The air circuit includes according to Figure 2 b) thus only the lower area of the cooling air duct 50, which extends below the fan 40, the cold storage compartment 21 and the sub-area 20 b of the cooling compartment 20. The sub-area 20 a is no longer or only subordinately flowed through by cold air.

This leads to the area 20 b being cooled more than the area 20 a and thus having a lower temperature.

In the exemplary embodiment shown here, the temperature in the area 20 a 10 ° C and in the area 20 b 5 ° C.

The arrows L in Figure 2 a) and b ) identify the air flow for cooling the respective sub-areas 20 a and 20 b. By moving the fan 40, the air flow is thus only directed into certain areas or only reaches certain areas.

According to the invention, the displacement of the fan 40 takes place in discrete steps, for example behind each drawer or behind each glass plate or other storage shelf, or in any height and width in any position.

Figure 3 shows an exemplary embodiment in which the displacement of the fan 40 is possible in a grid dimension at 12 different preferred positions.

The means that act on the air flow can be designed in such a way that the prevailing air flow in a refrigerator and / or freezer is deflected so that previously cooled areas are no longer cooled or areas are cooled more than before.

It is also conceivable to design the means in the form of an air duct, which can be modified so that cold air only flows into certain areas. This setting of the air duct cross-section or the flow can, for example, be done electrically using air flaps or by manual actuation. This can be done, for example, by opening by means of a flap or a horizontal partition plate by inserting or pulling out a seal that is located between the horizontal partition plate or the inner container.

If the fan is put off like this Figure 2 emerges or the air flow is otherwise changed, the control can be suspended if the temperature sensor for the control is in the warm area, for example in the area 20 a according to Figure 2 so that a prescribed, unchangeable temperature is set in the respective areas.

It is also conceivable that the regulation is adapted if the temperature sensor is located in the area that is still flowed through, so that this area can still be regulated normally. This applies according to Figure 2 for example for area 20 b or also for area 21.

It is also conceivable that the control is adapted if there are two temperature sensors in the area that is still flowed through and in the area no longer flowed through. It is thus conceivable that a temperature sensor in area 20 a and a temperature sensor in area 20 b according to FIG Figure 2 are located. The temperature sensor in area 20 a can then be switched off when the fan has been moved to the position according to 2 b). In this case the temperature sensor is no longer used for control. Both temperature sensors can also continue to be used , whereby only the temperature sensor in area 20 b is used for temperature sensor in area 20 a for temperature display.

It is also conceivable that the regulation only works for the flow area.

A variant of the present invention is that the fan is completely shut down and the device is thus converted into a static device, as it were. In this case the air flow is created only by natural convection and falls from the evaporator in the form of a cold air flow into a lower area. The upper area can be cut off from the air flow with the means according to the invention, which leads to a correspondingly higher temperature in this area. Temperature control of the remaining area is then still possible.

An example of this embodiment can be found in Figure 4 .

Figure 4 b) shows the state in which the fan is in operation. The cooling device according to this embodiment corresponds to that according to Figure 2 However, with the difference that the cold air duct is already separated above the horizontal partition plate 30, so that the cold air is introduced exclusively into the upper compartment 20. As a result, the lower compartment 21 is only cooled indirectly and not by the supply of cold air.

For example, it is possible that in the upper region 20 according to FIG Figure 4 b) a temperature of 5 ° C and in the lower range of 14 ° C prevails.

Complete separation of the cold air duct is possible, for example, by means of a seal D in the rear region of the partition plate 30. It is also conceivable to control the flow of cold air into the lower compartment 21 through the size of the opening between the seal and the adjoining inner container wall or the partition plate.

By switching off the fan according to Figure 4 a) this temperature stratification can be changed.

Like this Figure 4 a) As can be seen, the region 20 is cut off from the cooling air flow in that there is no longer any direct connection between the cooling air duct 50 and the compartment 20. This can be achieved, for example, by closing a flap or some other seal. In principle, it is also conceivable to change the distribution of the cold air flow to both compartments by changing the size of an opening between the horizontal partition plate and the adjoining wall of the inner container.

According to Figure 4 a) Cold air, which is cooled by means of the evaporator, falls through the cold air duct 50 exclusively into the lower compartment 21 and cools it down to a comparatively low temperature of 5 ° C. The upper region 20 is cut off from the cold air flow, for example by seals or other means, so that a correspondingly higher temperature, for example 14 ° C., is established there. This can take place, for example, in that the opening in the partition plate of the cold air duct, which is connected to the upper region 20, is closed. A reduction in the opening cross-section, that is to say not just the complete closing of the opening, is also conceivable.

Of course, the areas can also be rearranged, i.e. the cold air flow can take place so that only the upper area, but no longer the lower area, is flowed through.

In the area through which cold air flows, temperature regulation to a target value is of course conceivable.

The means that act on the air flow can thus also be formed, for example, by flaps or the like that close or open openings in a cooling air duct.

According to Figure 4 a) it is provided that the seals D are arranged in such a way that the upper region 20 is completely cut off from the cold air flow. In this case there are seals in the rear area also in the front area of the horizontal partition plate 30.

Claims (8)

1. Refrigerator and/or freezer (10), with
   an appliance carcass, and
   a refrigerated inner space which is located in the appliance carcass, wherein
   the appliance (10) is designed such that an air flow forms in the refrigerated inner space during operation of the device (10),
   the appliance (10) comprises adjustable means which act on the air flow such that the air flow depends on the setting of the means, so that in the refrigerated inner space depending on the setting of the means and hence depending on the effect on the air flow regions of different temperature are formed, the means comprise a fan (40) which conveys air from a region (20) into a cold-air duct (50) in which an evaporator (40) is located, and which is held by way of fastening means which are designed such that they can be arranged in different positions, characterised in that predetermined positions are present between which the fastening means can be displaced in discrete steps.
2. Refrigerator and/or freezer according to Claim 1, characterised in that the means comprise a preferably horizontal separating plate (30) which divides the refrigerated inner space into two partial regions (20, 21), wherein an opening is located in the separating plate (30) and/or next to the separating plate (30), the size of which opening is changeable, and/or in that the means comprise a preferably vertical separating plate in particular for delimiting the cold-air duct (50), which separating plate comprises at least one opening, the size of which is changeable.
3. Refrigerator and/or freezer (10) according to Claim 2, characterised in that the means for changing the size of the opening are to be actuated manually or are driven by a drive means.
4. Refrigerator and/or freezer (10) according to Claim 2 or 3, characterised in that the means comprise a movable slide which, dependent on its position, uncovers, partially uncovers or closes an opening.
5. Refrigerator and/or freezer (10) according to one of Claims 2 to 4, characterised in that the means comprise a seal (D) between the separating plate and an adjacent wall, wherein the seal (D) is designed such that its position can be changed.
6. Refrigerator and/or freezer (10) according to one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the means have an air guidance duct and also a flap, slide or the like, by means of which the free flow cross-section of the air guidance duct is changeable.
7. Refrigerator and/or freezer (10) according to one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the appliance (10) has a temperature sensor and a regulating unit communication therewith for setting a temperature in the refrigerated inner space, and in that setting means are present which are communicated with the regulating unit and are designed such that said unit changes the functioning of the regulating unit depending on the setting of the means which act on the air flow.
8. Refrigerator and/or freezer (10) according to Claim 7, characterised in that the setting means are designed such that the regulating unit is switched off or that the functioning of the regulating unit is adapted dependent on the position of the temperature sensor relative to the air flow, and/or in that the functioning of the regulating unit is changed such that temperature regulation takes place only for the region through which air flows.

Images