EP2659207A2

EP2659207A2 - A cooling device comprising a door opening mechanism

Info

Publication number: EP2659207A2
Application number: EP11793828.2A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Ozgun Atac Gultekin; Resul Yavuz; Fethi Sen; Akin Ozdemir
Original assignee: Arcelik AS
Current assignee: Arcelik AS
Priority date: 2010-12-31
Filing date: 2011-12-13
Publication date: 2013-11-06
Anticipated expiration: 2031-12-13
Also published as: EP2659207B1; WO2012089493A3; WO2012089493A2

Abstract

The present invention relates to a cooling device (1) comprising a body (2) having two opposite side walls, a door (3) providing access into the body (2) and at least one door opening mechanism (4) providing the door (3) to be opened/closed, and wherein the door opening mechanism (4) does not project out from the outer surface of the door (3).

Description

A COOLING DEVICE COMPRISING A DOOR OPENING MECHANISM

The present invention relates to a cooling device comprising a door opening mechanism.
In cooling devices, doors are provided that maintain to preserve the foodstuffs placed into the compartments from the outside environment. In order to open these doors, mechanisms disposed at various places of the door and/or the body are used. Some of these mechanisms are not preferred because of high cost and some others get out of order easily due to their complex structures. In cases wherein the door opening mechanisms project outwards from the door surface, the handle bumps into the wall or furniture and damages both the wall or the furniture and also the door. Furthermore, the packaging volume of the cooling device and hence the transportation costs are increased because of the door opening mechanisms.
In the state of the art Japanese Patent Application No. JP2007147196, a refrigerator is described wherein an opening is situated on the doors of the refrigerating compartment and the freezing compartment. These openings provide the door handles, which are at the same level as the door, to be held and the door to be opened.
In the state of the art European Patent Application No. EP2078909, a cooling device is described that comprises a door handle that is on the same plane as the outer surface of the door. An opening is arranged on the side of the door handle that enables the door handle to be held. When the door is desired to be opened, the user turns the door handle outwards by inserting his/her hand through the opening and actuates the locking mechanism whereto the door handle is connected.
The aim of the present invention is the realization of a cooling device wherein ease of transportation is provided.
In the cooling device realized in order to attain the aim of the present invention, explicated in the first claim and the respective claims thereof, a door opening mechanism is present which provides the door to be opened/closed.
In the cooling device of the present invention, the door opening mechanism comprises a housing formed on the door and a cover that closes the front of the housing so as to be coplanar with the outer surface of the door. The cover is rotatably secured to the edge of the housing.
In an embodiment of the present invention, the cover is rotatably secured to one edge of the housing and extends up to the other side so as to almost entirely close the housing. In this embodiment, a recess is formed on the housing at the edge opposite to the edge whereto the door is secured. When the cover is in the free state, the recess cannot be viewed from the outside. When the user desires to open the door, he/she pushes the cover with the backside of his/her hand and inserts the fingers of his/her hand pushing the cover into the recess which is now accessible. From this moment on, by means of the recess that serves as the handle, the door can be opened by pulling.
In another embodiment of the present invention, the door opening mechanism comprises two covers. The covers are disposed on two opposite edges of the housing such that their free sides almost join at the middle point of the housing. The free sides of the covers are back to back with each other. The covers are coplanar with each other and with the door. When the door is desired to be opened, one of the covers is pushed into the housing and the other cover is pulled outwards by holding from its rear surface. Since the cover held from the rear surface does not turn when pulled, it serves as a handle and provides the door to be opened.
In an embodiment of the present invention, the two covers are positioned side by side. Thus, the door can be opened easily from both sides and by both hands.
In another embodiment of the present invention, the two covers are positioned one over the other. Thus, the doors hard to access by the user like the freezer door can be opened more easily. In a variation of this embodiment, the door moves back and forth on a rail and provides access to the storage container therein. In this embodiment, the pulling process can be made in a more balanced manner by using the lower cover or the upper cover.
In another embodiment of the present invention, the cover is mounted to a shaft that is disposed to the edge of the housing. A spring is fitted on the shaft and provides the covers to resume the position of being coplanar with the door when in the free state. The door opening mechanism furthermore comprises a stopper that prevents the cover to open outwards from the surface of the door.
By means of the present invention, the door opening mechanism, providing the door to be opened, is prevented from occupying space on the door and the door from bumping to the wall or the furniture when opened. Furthermore, the exterior appearance of the cooling device is improved since the surface of the door seems like a single piece. On the other hand, the transportation costs decrease since the total volume of the cooling device is decreased.
A cooling device realized in order to attain the aim of the present invention is illustrated in the attached figures, where:
Figure 1 – is the perspective view of the cooling device of the present invention.
Figure 2 – is the perspective view of the door related to an embodiment of the present invention when the cover is in the open position.
Figure 3 – is the perspective view of the door related to an embodiment of the present invention when the cover is in the closed position.
Figure 4 – is the perspective view of the door when the cover is in the open position related to another embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 5 – is the perspective view of the door related to another embodiment of the present invention when the cover is in the closed position.
Figure 6 – is the partial view of the door opening mechanism related to an embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 7 – is the top view of the door opening mechanism related to an embodiment of the present invention.
The elements illustrated in the figures are numbered as follows:

Cooling device
Body
Door
Door opening mechanism
Housing
Cover
Recess
Shaft
Spring
Stopper

The cooling device (1) comprises a body (2) having two opposite side walls, a door (3) providing access into the body (2) and at least one door opening mechanism (4) providing the door (3) to be opened/closed .
The compartments wherein the items to be cooled are placed are situated inside the body (2). Doors (3) that provide superior heat insulation are used for separating the air in the interior volume of the body (2) from the outside environment and for preventing spoilage of the foodstuffs. When access into the body (2) is desired, the door (3) is opened/closed by using the door opening mechanisms (4).
In the cooling device (1) of the present invention, the door opening mechanism (4) comprises,

a housing (5) located on the front surface of the door (3) and
at least one cover (6), fixed rotatably to the edge of the housing (5), almost entirely covering the front of the housing (5) so as to be almost coplanar with the front surface of the door (3) and enabling the door to be held. The cover (6) can rotate towards the body (2) by means of the opening inside the housing (5) and enables the user to clutch the door (3). The depth of the housing (5) is selected such that the user can easily place at least the fingers of his/her hand. The door opening mechanism (4) is prevented from being damaged by impacting hard surfaces like the wall etc during opening/closing of the door (3) since it does not project out from the front surface of the door (3). Furthermore, the transportation costs are decreased since the packaging volume gets smaller.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the cover (6) is fixed to one edge of the housing (5) so as to rotate only towards inside the housing (5). The door opening mechanism (4) furthermore comprises a recess (7) disposed at the inner surface of the housing (5) at the edge opposite to the edge whereto the cover (6) is fixed and allows the user to insert his/hers hand when the cover (6) is pushed inwards as its front is opened. The cover (6) extends from one side of the housing (5) up to the other side and almost entirely closes the front of the housing (5). When the user desires to open the door (3), he/she inserts the tips of his/her fingers into the recess (7) by pushing the cover (6) into the housing (5) with the backside of his/her hand and pulls the door (3) outwards. When the door (3) opening operation is completed, the user takes his/her hand out of the housing (5) and the cover (6) returns to its initial state. The recess (7) providing the user to clutch the door (3) and the housing (5) enabling the movement of the cover (6), are concealed by means of the cover (6) being coplanar with the front surface of the door (3) when in free state and the front side of the door (3) seems like a single surface. Thus, an esthetic exterior appearance is maintained.
In another embodiment of the present invention, the door opening mechanism (4) comprises two covers (6), rotatably fixed to two opposite edges of the housing (5), almost entirely closing the front of the housing (5) such that their free sides are adjacent and being almost coplanar with the front surface of the door (3) when in the free state. The covers (6) can only turn towards into the housing (5) from the free state and serve as a fixed arm when pulled from inside the housing (5). When the user desires to open the door (3), he/she pushes one of the covers (6) into the housing (5) with the backside of his/her hand and clutches the other cover (6) with his/her fingers. The cover (6) that does not turn outwards serves as a handle and provides the door (3) to be opened when the user pulls the cover (6). When the door (3) is opened, the user takes his/her hand out of the housing (5) and the covers (6) return to their initial state. By means of this embodiment, the user can open the door (3) by using both of his/her hands. This provides ease of use.
In an embodiment of the present invention, the two covers (6) are positioned side by side. Thus, the door (3) can be opened easily from both sides and by both hands.
In another embodiment of the present invention, the two covers (6) are positioned one over the other. In cases where the user can access the door (3) by reaching or bending (for example the freezing compartment door), inserting his/her hand into the housing (5) from the top or bottom becomes easier.
In another embodiment of the present invention, the door opening mechanism (4) comprises a shaft (8) providing the cover (6) to be rotatably mounted to the housing (5), a spring (9) fitted over the shaft (8), providing the cover (6) to resume its initial position when pushed and released, and a stopper (10) preventing the cover (6) from turning outwards from the plane of the door (3). In a variation of this embodiment, the shaft (8) is configured such that it rests against the stopper (10) when the cover (6) is desired to be turned outwards. Thus, the movement of the covers (6) is realized in a controllable manner.
By means of the present invention, the door opening mechanism (4) providing the door (3) to be opened does not project out from the front surface of the door (3) and prevents the transportation costs and thus the packaging volume of the cooling device (1) from increasing. Furthermore, visual integrity is obtained since the door opening mechanism (4) and the door (3) being disposed almost at the same plane and the exterior appearance becomes more esthetic. Moreover, the door (3) can be opened easily by both hands and customer satisfaction is maintained.
It is to be understood that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments disclosed above and a person skilled in the art can easily introduce different embodiments. These should be considered within the scope of the protection postulated by the claims of the present invention.

Claims

A cooling device (1) comprising a body (2) having two opposite side walls, a door (3) providing access into the body (2) and at least one door opening mechanism (4) providing the door (3) to be opened/closed,

characterized by the door opening mechanism (4) having

- a housing (5) located on the front surface of the door (3) and

- at least one cover (6), fixed rotatably to the edge of the housing (5), almost entirely covering the front of the housing (5) so as to be almost coplanar with the front surface of the door (3) and enabling the door (3) to be held.
A cooling device (1) as in Claim 1, characterized by the door opening mechanism (4) having the cover (6) rotatably fixed to one edge of the housing (5) and a recess (7) disposed at the inner surface of the housing (5) opposite to the edge whereto the cover (6) is fixed, the said recess (7) being revealed when the cover (6) is pushed inwards so as to allow the user to insert his/her hand .
A cooling device (1) as in Claim 1, characterized by the door opening mechanism (4) having two covers (6) fixed to two opposite edges of the housing (5) so as to only rotate into the housing (5), almost entirely closing the front of the housing (5) such that their free sides are adjacent and being almost coplanar with the front surface of the door (3) when in the free state.
A cooling device (1) as in Claim 3, characterized by the two covers (6) that are positioned side by side.
A cooling device (1) as in Claim 3, characterized by the two covers (6) that are positioned one over the other.
A cooling device (1) as in any one of the above Claims, characterized by the door opening mechanism (4) having a shaft (8) providing the cover (6) to be rotatably mounted to the housing (5), a spring (9) fitted over the shaft (8), providing the cover (6) to resume its initial position when pushed and released and a stopper (10) preventing the cover (6) to turn outwards from the plane of the door (3).