Subject of Invention

The object of the invention is a refrigerating appliance having a fan, preferably a refrigerating appliance for temperature control of beverages, preferably wine, comprising at least one storage and refrigeration compartment, preferably two or more storage and refrigeration compartments.

Technical Problem

The technical problem is to configure a refrigerating appliance having a fan, preferably a refrigerating appliance for temperature control of beverages, preferably wine, comprising at least one storage and refrigeration compartment capable of accommodating a large number of bottles and controlling the temperature of beverages efficiently, while meeting all ecological standards in terms of both energy consumption and noise.

Prior Art

A refrigerating appliance having a fan for temperature control of beverages, preferably wine, comprises a housing formed by two side walls, a rear wall, a bottom and a top wall to form a storage and refrigeration compartment, and a door which closes the housing and the storage and refrigeration compartment from the front side. There may be a single storage and refrigeration compartment, but it is often divided by at least one barrier to form at least two separate compartments. In this way, it is possible to achieve different temperatures in each storage and refrigeration compartment and, consequently, to refrigerate different wines. The refrigerating appliance closes by a single door. The beverage, preferably wine, is stored in the refrigerating appliance in bottles, for example 0.75 litre bottles. Suitable temperature in each storage and refrigeration compartment of the refrigerating appliance is achieved by means of air of suitable temperature coming from the evaporator and pushed into the storage and refrigeration compartment by a fan. The fan, which is an axial fan, is placed in the rear wall area of the refrigerating appliance between the evaporator and the rear wall of the storage and refrigeration compartment and arranged so that the fan axis is perpendicular to the rear wall of the housing or the rear wall of the storage and refrigeration compartment. In order to provide adequate space for the fan, the rear wall of the storage and refrigeration compartment is moved inwards towards the door, which reduces the storage and refrigeration compartment and thus the available space for bottles.

Cool air travels from the evaporator to the axial fan, which fan pushes the air through slots in the rear or top wall into the storage and refrigeration compartment. In order to achieve sufficient air flow and thus the desired temperature in the storage and refrigeration compartment, especially when the latter is filled with bottles, an axial fan of sufficient power must be installed, which is achieved either by an appropriate fan size and/or appropriate fan speed. Since a larger fan means a further reduction in the storage and refrigeration compartment, a fan with a higher speed is often chosen. Such a fan generates a higher noise level, which quickly becomes annoying in the room where the refrigerating appliance is located. In order to ensure the required performance of this type of refrigerating appliances, suitably powerful axial fans are usually installed, which extend into the storage and refrigeration compartment, thereby reducing it.

Solution to the Technical Problem

The technical problem is solved by a refrigerating appliance, preferably a refrigerating appliance for temperature control of beverages, in particular wine, the characteristics of which are defined in the first independent claim. A refrigerating appliance having a fan, preferably a refrigerating appliance having a fan for temperature control of beverages, in particular wine, comprises a housing formed by two side walls, a rear wall, a bottom and a top wall to form a storage and refrigeration compartment; a door which closes the housing and the storage and refrigeration compartment from the front side; an air circulation system in the refrigerating appliance comprising at least one evaporator arranged in the rear wall of the refrigerating appliance and at least one ventilation element with a fan for pushing the tempered air, the ventilation element being configured as a flat element and arranged above the storage and refrigeration compartment, the fan in the ventilation element arranged such that the rotational axis of the fan is perpendicular to the horizontal plane of the flat ventilation element.

The fan installed in the ventilation element is a radial fan. The ventilation element incorporating a rotary fan requires less space and does not interfere significantly with the storage and refrigeration compartment itself, due to its optimum installation above the storage and refrigeration compartment. As a consequence, such configuration of the ventilation element does not adversely affect the number of bottles that may be stored in the storage and refrigeration compartment. The positioning of the ventilation element and thus the fan above the storage and refrigeration compartment and the installation of the rotary fan make it possible to store and refrigerate a greater number of bottles in the refrigerating appliance according to the invention compared to the number of bottles in the storage compartment of refrigerating appliances, in which the fan is installed in the rear wall area. The maximum number of bottles in the refrigerating appliance according to the invention may be higher because the length of the storage compartment is not reduced. The unreduced length of the storage and refrigeration compartment also allows the stacking of bottles in a zig-zag system, i.e. two adjacent bottles with their necks facing each other.

The refrigerating appliance for refrigerating wine may have a single storage and refrigeration compartment or may be divided by barriers into several smaller storage and refrigeration compartments for storing and refrigerating beverage. The refrigerating appliance according to the invention has a barrier comprising a ventilation element in which a fan is arranged. This allows two, smaller storage and refrigeration compartments to be separately temperature controlled at different temperatures, thus allowing storage of two different types of wine, e.g. white and red wine, each requiring its own temperature. The barrier itself means a reduction in storage compartment. However, as the fan is incorporated in the barrier or ventilation element, respectively, there is no further reduction in the storage compartment due to the fan.

An individual ventilation element is in fluid communication both with the evaporator located in the rear wall of each storage and refrigeration compartment and with the storage and refrigeration compartment located below an individual ventilation element.

The ventilation element comprises a support plate and a thermal insulation layer arranged on top of the support plate, with strength sufficient to withstand the static and dynamic loads of the incorporated radial fan. The thermal insulation layer of the ventilation element comprises a cavity to receive the radial fan, an inlet duct with one end fluidly connected to the cavity, and an outlet duct with one end fluidly connected to a portion of the peripheral wall of the cavity. Due to the thermal insulation layer having sufficient strength, the fan bed and all the necessary parts needed to ensure the fluid connection are carried out by the insulation layer being designed without additional components. The thermal insulation layer is produced by injection moulding and all air flow guiding elements, i.e. the inlet duct, the fan bed and the outlet duct, are produced at the same time as the thermal insulation layer. This way of production is quick, easy and economically justified. Due to the sufficient strength of the thermal insulation layer, a casing-free radial fan can be installed, which further contributes to simplification and economic efficiency. The radial fan comprises a base plate with at least three elastic legs which engage snap pins of the bottom support plate and form a detachable connection therewith. The elastic legs are wholly or at least in part made of rubber. The snap pins are moulded onto the support plate. The radial fan is to be mounted on the support plate of the ventilation element by being mounted from above on the snap pins which are part of the support plate. Attachment and installation is quick and easy. The radial fan is then covered with a thermal insulation layer comprising pre-formed segments to guide the airflow. As the attachment is made with a detachable connection, the radial fan can also be easily removed from the ventilation element. Disassembly is in the reverse order of assembly. The servicing of the ventilation element which is configured as a barrier is further facilitated by the way it is fixed in the refrigerating appliance. The barrier comprising the ventilation element is positioned and secured in the refrigerating appliance by means of guiding elements arranged on the barrier and on each side wall of the refrigerating appliance from the inside. In this way, the barrier together with the ventilation element may be easily removed from the refrigerating appliance and serviced as necessary.

The refrigerating appliance is very efficient due to the use of the radial fan which is placed above each storage and refrigeration compartment. The refrigeration/temperature control of the storage and refrigeration compartment is very efficient because a radial fan of any size can be installed without adversely affecting the size of the storage and refrigeration compartment. Since a large-diameter radial fan can be installed, a positive refrigerating effect may be achieved even at relatively low speeds. This in turn means lower energy consumption and also lower noise levels.

The refrigerating appliance of the invention will be described hereinbelow in more detail by way of an embodiment and drawings representing in

Fig. 1 a refrigerating appliance of the invention with a door open and having a single storage and refrigeration compartment Fig. 2 a refrigerating appliance of the invention with a door open and having a barrier with a ventilation element dividing the single storage and refrigeration compartment

Fig. 3 a ventilation element with a radial fan in orthogonal projection, partial crosssection

Fig. 4 partial cross-section of the ventilation element with a radial fan in projection

The relative expressions such as front, rear, upper, lower, etc. are herein defined from the perspective of the refrigerating appliance user, when the appliance is in its functional state.

A refrigerating appliance 100 having a fan for temperature control of beverages, in particular wine, comprises a housing 1 formed by two side walls 2, a rear wall 3, a bottom 4 and a top wall 5 to form a storage and refrigeration compartment 7 ; a door 6 which closes the housing 1 and the storage and refrigeration compartment 7 from the front side; at least one evaporator 19 being part of the air circulation system in the refrigerating appliance and arranged in the rear wall 3, at least one ventilation element 8 with a fan 14 for guiding the refrigerated air from the evaporator 19 to the storage and refrigeration compartment 7.

The ventilation element 8 is configured essentially as a flat element and is arranged above the storage and refrigeration compartment 7 in close proximity to and parallel to the upper wall 5. The ventilation element 8 is in fluid communication with the evaporator 19, which evaporator is located in the rear wall 3 in the area of the storage and refrigeration compartment 7, and the storage and refrigeration compartment 7.

The ventilation element 8 is configured as a flat element with a support plate 10 and a thermal insulation layer 12 arranged thereon. The thermal insulation layer 12 is formed of a thermal insulation material having strength sufficient to withstand the static and dynamic loads of the incorporated radial fan 14. In the part of the ventilation element 8 closer to the rear wall 3 of the refrigerating appliance, a cavity

13 is formed in the thermal insulation layer 12, in which a fan 14 is arranged, the rotational axis A of which is perpendicular to the support plate 10 of the ventilation element and thus also perpendicular to the ventilation element 8 itself. The fan 14 is preferably a radial fan. Due to the sufficient strength of the thermal insulation material of the insulation layer 12, the walls of the cavity 13 which is made in the thermal insulation material, may replace the casing of the radial fan 14, so that the radial fan

14 may also be installed without a casing. The radial fan 14 comprises a fan blade 16 and a base plate 17 with at least three elastic legs 18 which, together with snap pins 20 of the support plate 10 of the ventilation element, form a detachable connection 21. The snap pins 20 are moulded onto the support plate 10 of the ventilation element. The elastic legs 18 are at least partially made of rubber or of a material with rubberlike vibro-elastic properties. In an embodiment, the elastic legs 18 are made of rubber. The radial fan 14 may be attached to the support plate 10 by any other known type of connection, such as a screw connection. Preferably, the connection should be detachable.

The cavity 13 in the thermal insulation layer 12 is formed as a circular cavity and sized to fit the circumference of the radial fan 14. In addition to the cavity 13, the thermal insulation layer 12 also comprises an inlet duct 22, one end 22.1 of which is in fluid communication with the cavity 13 on the inlet side of the radial fan 14, and the other end 22.2 of which is in fluid communication with the evaporator 19 arranged in the rear wall 3 of the housing. In addition to the inlet duct 22, the thermal insulation layer 12 also comprises an outlet duct 23 which has one end 23.1 in fluid communication with a portion of the circumference of the cavity 13 and the other end 23.2 in fluid communication with openings 24 in the support plate 10. The openings 24 may be in the form of elongated slots or any other shapes which allow the flow of tempered air from the ventilation element 8 into the storage and refrigeration compartment 7 which is directly beneath the ventilation element 8. The radial fan 14 arranged in the cavity 13 sucks in the refrigerated air and generates a stream of temperature controlled air which flows through the evaporator 19 and the inlet duct 22 and onwards in the direction of the rotational axis A of the radial fan into the radial fan 14 and then flows in the radial direction perpendicular to the rotational axis A into the outlet duct 23 and onwards through the slots 24 into the storage and refrigeration compartment 7. The cavity 13, the inlet duct 22 and the outlet duct 23 are pre-formed in the thermal insulation layer by forming, each inlet duct 22 and each outlet duct 23 being formed as a duct for the flow of the refrigerated air.

The refrigerating appliance 100 may have the single storage and refrigeration compartment 7 for receiving wine bottles divided by at least one barrier 15 into smaller storage and refrigeration compartments. In another embodiment, the refrigerating appliance 100 comprises a barrier 15 comprising a ventilation element 8 with a rotary fan 14, the rotational axis A of which is perpendicular to the support plate 10 of the ventilation element and thus also perpendicular to the ventilation element 8 itself. The barrier 15 divides the storage and refrigeration compartment 7 into an upper storage and refrigeration compartment 7.1 and a lower storage and refrigeration compartment 7.2. Each of the smaller storage and refrigeration compartments 7.1, 7.2 is associated with its own evaporator 19.1, 19.2 for refrigerating the circulating air, which evaporator is in fluid communication with the fan 14 in the ventilation element 8.

The ventilation element 8 which is arranged directly below the upper wall 5 of the refrigerating appliance is in fluid communication with the evaporator 19.1, which evaporator is located in the rear wall 3 in the area of the upper storage and refrigeration compartment 7.1, and the upper storage and refrigeration compartment 7.1. The ventilation element 8 which is arranged in the barrier 15 of the refrigerating appliance is in fluid communication with the evaporator 19.2, which evaporator is located in the rear wall 3 in the area of the lower storage and refrigeration compartment 7.2, and the lower storage and refrigeration compartment 7.2. The ventilation element 8 is arranged in the refrigerating appliance 100 directly above each storage and refrigeration compartment 7, 7.1, 7.2. The barrier 15 comprising the ventilation element 8 is positioned and secured in the refrigerating appliance 100 by means of guiding elements 25 arranged on the ventilation element 8 and on each side wall 2 of the refrigerating appliance, viewed from the inside. Such an attachment allows easy installation of the barrier 15 and hence of the ventilation element 8 in the refrigerating appliance 100, as well as its removal. This is particularly important in the case of servicing the refrigerating appliance. The barrier 15 is provided with a sealing element 26 longitudinally arranged on a front edge 11 of the barrier that is in direct vicinity of the door 6. When the door 6 is closed, the sealing element 26 prevents the flow of air between the storage and refrigeration compartments.