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
  • F25D—REFRIGERATORS; COLD ROOMS; ICE-BOXES; COOLING OR FREEZING APPARATUS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • F25D23/00—General constructional features
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A47—FURNITURE; DOMESTIC ARTICLES OR APPLIANCES; COFFEE MILLS; SPICE MILLS; SUCTION CLEANERS IN GENERAL
  • A47B—TABLES; DESKS; OFFICE FURNITURE; CABINETS; DRAWERS; GENERAL DETAILS OF FURNITURE
  • A47B77/00—Kitchen cabinets
  • A47B77/04—Provision for particular uses of compartments or other parts ; Compartments moving up and down, revolving parts
  • A47B77/08—Provision for particular uses of compartments or other parts ; Compartments moving up and down, revolving parts for incorporating apparatus operated by power, including water power; for incorporating apparatus for cooking, cooling, or laundry purposes
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A47—FURNITURE; DOMESTIC ARTICLES OR APPLIANCES; COFFEE MILLS; SPICE MILLS; SUCTION CLEANERS IN GENERAL
  • A47B—TABLES; DESKS; OFFICE FURNITURE; CABINETS; DRAWERS; GENERAL DETAILS OF FURNITURE
  • A47B97/00—Furniture or accessories for furniture, not provided for in other groups of this subclass
• • 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
  • F25D23/003—General constructional features for cooling refrigerating machinery

Definitions

• the present invention refers to a spacer device to be applied usually to the rear face of cabinets in general, more particularly to the cabinets of household electric appliances, such as refrigerators and freezers, in order to guarantee a certain minimum distance between said rear face of the cabinet and an adjacent wall of an ambient in which the cabinet is placed.
• the present spacer comprises an elongated body, having a free end, and a mounting end, coupled to the cabinet and which is automatically displaced, generally by gravity, from an inoperative position, retracted close to the cabinet by actuation of a package portion applied to the latter, to an operative position, in which the mounting end is maintained seated on the cabinet and the free end projecting beyond the rear face of the cabinet, so as to be seated against an adjacent wall, in relation to which the cabinet should maintain a minimum spacing.
• the construction proposed by the invention allows the cabinet to be packaged maintaining its basic dimensions, with the spacer in the retracted inoperative position, and allows the spacer to be automatically displaced to the operative position, as soon as the respective package portion of the cabinet is removed, without requiring any specific operation from the user, except the indispensable removal of the package portion.
• Figure 1 is a perspective view of the present spacer
• Figure 2 is a perspective view of the present spacer positioned to be mounted in a window provided in a rear wall portion of the cabinet of a refrigerator or freezer;
• Figure 3 is a perspective view of the rear lower portion of a cabinet, illustrating the spacer in the inoperative position;
• Figure 4 is a view similar to that of figure 3, but illustrating the spacer in the operative position
• Figure 5 is a vertical sectional view of the spacer in the inoperative position, longitudinally seated against a rear wall portion of the cabinet
• Figure 6 is a sectional view similar to that of figure 5, but illustrating the spacer in the operative position.
• the present spacer may be applied, for example, to a cabinet 1 of a refrigerator or freezer, having a rear wall portion 2 on each of the sides thereof (only one is illustrated) .
• Each rear wall portion 2 is provided with a window 3, which in the illustrated construction presents a rectangular contour in which the width is larger than the height. It should be understood that the existence of the window 3 and the shape of its contour are only related to a possible constructive embodiment that uses a known cabinet structure which need not suffer any constructive change in order to receive a pair of spacers .
• each spacer comprises an elongated body 10, molded in plastic material and which presents a free end 11, and a mounting end 12 coupled to the cabinet 1, so as to be angularly displaced in a vertical plane, between an inoperative position, in which it remains retracted close to the cabinet, and an operative position, in which it maintains the mounting end 12 seated on the cabinet 1 and the free end 11 projecting beyond the rear face of the cabinet 1, in order to be seated against an adjacent wall P, guaranteeing a minimum spacing of the cabinet 1 in relation to said adjacent wall P.
• a package portion E which can be defined by a wrap made of plastic, paperboard or other adequate material affixed around the cabinet 1, or only by a strip involving the cabinet 1 and the elongated body 10, maintaining the latter longitudinally seated against the adjacent rear wall portion 2, with its free end 11 maintained above the mounting end 12.
• the elongated body 10 After the removal of the package portion E which maintains the elongated body 10 in the inoperative position, the latter is automatically displaced to the operative position by the action of gravity, being angularly downwardly displaced until its mounting end 12 is seated on the adjacent rear wall portion 2.
• the elongated body 10 might be mounted to the cabinet 1, in order to be constantly forced to the operative position by any resilient means, and the displacement can also be made in a substantially linear manner, impelled by said resilient means.
• the mounting end 12 is eccentrically coupled to the cabinet 1, so as to allow the gravitational force to act onto the elongated body
• the elongated body 10 has its mounting end 12 incorporating a small L-shaped projection 13, with a basic leg 13a projecting to one of the sides of the basic body 10, and a free leg 13b projecting beyond the mounting end 12, and having an end edge retained in the cabinet 1, particularly when the elongated body 10 is displaced to the operative position.
• the end edge of the basic leg 13a of the small L- shaped projection 13 incorporates a bar 14 with a width that is larger than that of the small projection 13.
• the small projection 13 is loosely mounted through the window 3, so as to allow the bar 14 to be seated against the internal face of the rear wall portion 2 in both operative positions of the elongated body 10, as better illustrated in figures 5 and 6, maintaining the elongated body 10 coupled to the cabinet 1.
• the basic leg 13a of the small projection 13 is seated on a lower edge of the window 3, when the elongated body 10 is in its operative position illustrated in figure 5, whereby the weight of the elongated body 10 is applied external to the support region defined above, producing a momentum which tends to displace the elongated body 10 angularly downwardly to the operative position illustrated in figure 6, in which the free leg 13b of the small projection 13 seats on the lower edge of the window 3, and the mounting end 12 of the elongated body 10 seats against the adjacent rear wall portion 2.
• the elongated body 10 presents, in the region of its mounting end 12, a pair of lateral projections 17, imparting to the elongated body 10 a width which is larger than the width of the window 3.
• the assembly of each elongated body 10 is preferably made from the inside to the outside, through the respective window 3 so as to allow the passage of the projections 17 through the window 3, until the bar 14 reaches the internal face of the respective rear wall portion 2, with the elongated body 10 occupying the operative position.
• the elongated body 10 presents the pair of lateral projections 17 seated against the rear wall portion 2, guaranteeing a better stability for the spacer.
• the spacers normally two and each provided close to one of the sides of the cabinet 1, are displaced to the inoperative position illustrated in figures 3 and 5, and so maintained by a package portion E, schematically illustrated in figure 5 and which can take the form of a strip involving the cabinet 1, or a wrap made of plastic or paperboard which protects the product until its delivery to the user.
• the package portion E has to be necessarily removed when the cabinet is placed in operation, making the spacers lose the element that retains them in the inoperative position.

Landscapes

• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
• Combustion & Propulsion (AREA)
• Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Thermal Sciences (AREA)
• General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
• Sustainable Development (AREA)
• Refrigerator Housings (AREA)
• Drawers Of Furniture (AREA)
• Packaging Of Machine Parts And Wound Products (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (3)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=36642303

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (9)

Cited By (1)

Families Citing this family (3)

Family Cites Families (8)

• 2003
  • 2003-03-13 BR BR0300793-6A patent/BR0300793A/pt not_active IP Right Cessation
• 2004
  • 2004-03-03 EP EP04716521A patent/EP1608921A1/en not_active Withdrawn
  • 2004-03-03 KR KR1020057017142A patent/KR20060028671A/ko not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 2004-03-03 WO PCT/BR2004/000024 patent/WO2004081472A1/en not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 2004-03-03 US US10/549,405 patent/US20060273702A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2004-03-03 CN CNA2004800105370A patent/CN1777783A/zh active Pending
  • 2004-03-03 PL PL377255A patent/PL377255A1/pl unknown
  • 2004-03-03 MX MXPA05009783A patent/MXPA05009783A/es not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 2004-03-03 AU AU2004219992A patent/AU2004219992A1/en not_active Abandoned

Non-Patent Citations (1)

Also Published As

Similar Documents

Legal Events