Classifications

• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F25—REFRIGERATION OR COOLING; COMBINED HEATING AND REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS; HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS; MANUFACTURE OR STORAGE OF ICE; LIQUEFACTION SOLIDIFICATION OF GASES
  • F25C—PRODUCING, WORKING OR HANDLING ICE
  • F25C5/00—Working or handling ice
  • F25C5/20—Distributing ice
  • F25C5/22—Distributing ice particularly adapted for household refrigerators
• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F25—REFRIGERATION OR COOLING; COMBINED HEATING AND REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS; HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS; MANUFACTURE OR STORAGE OF ICE; LIQUEFACTION SOLIDIFICATION OF GASES
  • F25D—REFRIGERATORS; COLD ROOMS; ICE-BOXES; COOLING OR FREEZING APPARATUS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • F25D23/00—General constructional features
  • F25D23/02—Doors; Covers
  • F25D23/025—Secondary closures
• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F25—REFRIGERATION OR COOLING; COMBINED HEATING AND REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS; HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS; MANUFACTURE OR STORAGE OF ICE; LIQUEFACTION SOLIDIFICATION OF GASES
  • F25D—REFRIGERATORS; COLD ROOMS; ICE-BOXES; COOLING OR FREEZING APPARATUS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • F25D23/00—General constructional features
  • F25D23/08—Parts formed wholly or mainly of plastics materials
  • F25D23/082—Strips
  • F25D23/087—Sealing strips

Definitions

• the present invention relates to a refrigerator with a heat-insulating housing and a running through a wall of the housing, closed by a movable flap opening.
• a flap may serve, for example, but is not limited to closing an ice dispensing opening of a refrigerator with ice maker.
• seals In order to close the dispensing opening tight, it is common to provide a seal which is compressed in the closed position of the flap between this and an edge of the opening.
• Common seals are solid rings of a rubbery polymeric material such as TPE or silicone rubber.
• the seal requires a certain contact pressure. This must be large enough so that the seal can compensate for unevenness in a pressed against the sealing surface of the flap. If the contact pressure is too small and the unevenness is too great, no adequate sealing effect is achieved. Accordingly, if a high contact pressure is needed to achieve sealing effect, then powerful and costly drive means must be provided for pressing the flap against the seal and / or for pulling the flap away from the seal.
• the object of the invention is therefore to provide a structure for a refrigeration device, in which a reliable sealing effect with low contact pressure can be achieved.
• the object is achieved in that in a refrigerator with a heat-insulating housing and extending through a wall of the housing, by a movable Flap closable opening, wherein in the closed position of the flap, a seal between the flap and an edge of the opening is compressed, the seal is formed on a major part of its Oueritess by a fluid-filled, dense cavity.
• This structure allows the gasket to yield well in a region which is strongly compressed between the latter and the edge of the opening in the closed position of the valve, without building up a high restoring force by moving the fluid from this region into a less compressed region of the valve Dodge seal.
• the cavity should expediently extend over the entire length of the seal.
• the seal for this purpose has the shape of an annular tube.
• the fluid with which the seal is filled is preferably a gas, since this has at most a slight tendency to collect at non-horizontal installation position of the seal at the lowest point of the seal compared to a liquid.
• the gas is air.
• the gas In order to ensure a slight deformability of the gasket, the gas should be under atmospheric pressure.
• the seal should also preferably have a non-circular Ouerterrorism. Further features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description of an embodiment with reference to the accompanying figures. Show it:
• Figure 1 is a schematic section through a refrigerator with an ice dispenser, which is associated with an output flap according to the invention.
• Fig. 2 is a schematic sectional view of a passage between the ice dispenser and an expenditure tables.
• the refrigerator shown in a schematic section in Fig. 1 has a heat-insulating body 1 and a door 2 defining an interior space.
• the interior space 3 is cooled by an evaporator which is accommodated in an evaporator chamber 4 divided off in the upper region of the body 1.
• An automatic ice maker 5 is arranged in the immediate vicinity of the evaporator chamber 4 in the interior 3. Under the icemaker 5, a collecting container 6 is mounted, which catches ice pieces 5 produced by the ice maker. A screw conveyor 7 at the bottom of the collecting container 6 is used to convey ice pieces to a discharge opening 8 at the door near the end of the collecting container. 6
• a niche 12 is formed, from which a top wall is located below the discharge opening 8 of the collecting container. Through this wall extends a tube or funnel-shaped passage, also referred to as an ice chute 9.
• the ice chute 9 is hermetically sealed at its lower end by a heat-insulating flap 18, so that no hot air from the niche 12 can pass through the ice chute 9 of the refrigerator.
• FIG. 2 shows a schematic partial section through the ice chute 9 and the flap 18 pivotable about an axis 11, which closes the discharge opening 10 of the ice chute 9 which opens into the niche 12.
• the flap 18 can act on the axis 1 1 a (not shown) in opposite directions drivable actuator motor attack; it can also be one - A -
• the flap 18 has the shape of a flat shell with a truncated cone-shaped, possibly elastic in dimensions truncated cone-shaped sealing apron 13.
• the interior of the shell is filled with insulating material.
• An electric heater may be provided in the flap 18 adjacent the sealing skirt 13 to prevent the flap 18 from freezing in the closed position.
• a seal is compressed, which is formed by an endless annular plastic tube 14 with limp walls.
• An inner cavity 15 of the plastic tube extending around the opening 10 contains air in an amount insufficient to inflate the tube 14 to a circular cross-sectional shape. Therefore, the hose 14 may yield to the pressure of the sealing skirt 13 directed against the discharge opening 10 without building up any appreciable restoring force until the sealing skirt 13 sealingly contacts the hose 14 over its entire circumference. Due to the minimum restoring force of the hose material, a small pressing force of the flap 18 is sufficient to achieve a secure sealing effect. It is therefore sufficient a small, space-saving and inexpensive drive element to drive the opening and closing movements of the flap 18.

Landscapes

• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Thermal Sciences (AREA)
• General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Refrigerator Housings (AREA)
• Cold Air Circulating Systems And Constructional Details In Refrigerators (AREA)
• Devices That Are Associated With Refrigeration Equipment (AREA)

Priority Applications (3)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (2)

Family

ID=38537404

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (5)

Cited By (1)

Families Citing this family (4)

Family Cites Families (6)

• 2007
  • 2007-07-24 DE DE202007010238U patent/DE202007010238U1/de not_active Expired - Lifetime
• 2008
  • 2008-07-08 PL PL08785985T patent/PL2171379T3/pl unknown
  • 2008-07-08 WO PCT/EP2008/058872 patent/WO2009013128A2/de not_active Ceased
  • 2008-07-08 EP EP08785985.6A patent/EP2171379B1/de not_active Not-in-force
  • 2008-07-08 CN CN2008800256063A patent/CN101779090B/zh not_active Expired - Fee Related

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