The present invention refers to an hygienising and sanifying device, in particular for refrigerating compartments.

As known, refrigerators and freezers have nowadays become essential household appliances in evolved societies, providing the possibility of storing, at an optimum temperature and without any effort, different foods, that in the past had to be stored in a cumbersome way; in spite of the low temperatures that slow down the proliferation of pathogenic micro-organisms, refrigerators and freezers are critical points in which it is highly likely that crossed-contamination phenomena occur, namely the transfer of pathogenic agents causing toxical infections, from contaminated food to other food, either directly, or through the contact with infected surfaces. There are more than 250 food toxic infections that are able to strike the majority of foods, the most common of which are caused by bacteria belonging to the species Salmonella , Campylobacter, Escherichia , Listeria , Sthaphilococcus, Bacillus, Shigella, and some liver viruses such as Norwalk and Hepatitis A.

In order to reduce to a minimum the chance that crossed-contamination phenomena occur inside refrigerating systems, it is therefore mandatory to keep a perfect state of cleanness and hygiene, that traditionally is performed with unsuitable and cumbersome systems, that provide for the use of vinegar and/or bicarbonate, performed downstream of a defrosting operation. Obviously, such operation, in addition to be long, is also uncomfortable and fatiguing .

The art further proposes systems integrated with the refrigerator for hygienising air inside the refrigerating room: such systems are generally composed of active carbon filters with micro-pores, meso-pores and macro-pores, to stop and absorb particles with different sizes: from gaseous substances to bacteria. Such systems therefore take care of cleaning air inside the refrigerating room, reducing the bacterial growth and the production of bad odours. Such systems however to not remove nor simplify the necessary and periodic hygienisation operations of the refrigerating compartment.

US-A1-2003/031588, US-A1-2008/223404 , GB-A- 2233230 and WO 2007/051973 disclose devices for aerating or sending perfumes into environments.

Object of the present invention is solving the above prior art problems, by providing an hygienising and sanifying device, in particular for refrigerating compartments, that allows hygienising and sanifying the rooms for storing foods in a simple, practical and quick way.

The above and other objects and advantages of the invention, as will appear from the following description, are obtained with a hygienising and sanifying device, in particular for refrigerating compartments, as claimed in claim 1. Preferred embodiments and non-trivial variations of the present invention are the subject matter of the dependent claims.

It will be immediately obvious that numerous variations and modifications (for example related to shape, sizes, arrangements and parts with equivalent functionality) could be made to what is described without departing from the scope of the invention as appears from the enclosed claims.

The present invention will be better described by some preferred embodiments thereof, provided as a non-limiting example, with reference to the single enclosed drawing, in which Figure 1 shows a side sectional view of a refrigerating apparatus 1 equipped with a preferred embodiment of the hygienising and sanifying device according to the present invention.

With reference therefore to Figure 1, it is possible to note a preferred embodiment of the hygienising and sanifying device 10 according to the present invention. In particular, the device 10 according to the present invention is here described and shown as an example in a preferred application thereof for hygienising and sanifying a compartment or room for storing foods of a refrigerating apparatus, but it it wholly clear that the device 10 itself can be used for sanifying any other compartment, without therefore departing from the scope of the present invention.

Figure 1 therefore shows a refrigerating apparatus 1 of a substantially known type in the art and equipped, for example, with an upper compartment 3 for storing foods at positive temperatures and a lower compartment 5 for storing goods at negative temperatures. 0202

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The device 10 according to the present invention is then arranged inside one of the above compartments 3, 5: in particular, the device 10 according to the present invention preferably comprises at least one external frame 11 inside which at least one container 13 is arranged, adapted to contain therein at least one hygienising product. In particular, the hygienising product is any substance known in the art whose features are such as to remove pathogen micro-organisms from internal surfaces of the compartments 3, 5, though being completely degradable and free from residues.

The device 10 according to the present invention further comprises at least one delivering room 15 interposed between the container 13 and the internal environment of the compartment 3, 5, such room being connected to such container 13 through at least one delivering nozzle 17 of this latter one, such delivering nozzle 17 being preferably adapted to be inserted inside such room 15 with pressure, and the internal environment of the compartment 3, 5 through at least one delivering opening 19 for the hygienising product. The container 13 then cooperates with command means 21 adapted, once actuated by a user, to allow the hygienising product to go out of the container 13 inside the delivering room 15 and therefrom, through the delivering opening 19, inside the compartment 3, 5 of the refrigerating apparatus 1. The command means 21 preferably comprise at least one push-button, arranged for example on a front panel of the external frame 11 in order to make its use easier, the pressure of which makes the delivering nozzle 17 open.

If the hygienising product is in liquid form, the device 10 according to the present invention could comprise at least one nebulising system (not shown) of such product interposed between the delivering room 15 and the container 13.

In a preferred variation, the delivering room

15 is connected to at least one diffusion duct (not shown) suitably articulated inside at least one of the compartments 3, 5 and equipped with at least one delivering opening of the hygienising product delivered by the container 13, such duct being adapted to allow a more capillary and homogeneous distribution of the hygienising product inside the compartments 3, 5 themselves and to consequently make the hygienising and sanifying action more efficient. In addition, the device 10 according to the present invention can be equipped with control means 23, for example made as at least one electronic card, cooperating with at least one sensor 25, possibly arranged inside at least one of the compartments 3, 5 in a suitable position, such sensor 25 being adapted to detect the correct delivery and distribution of the hygienising product inside such compartment 3, 5. The device 10 according to the present invention can then also be equipped, for example in the front panel of the external frame 11, with displaying means (not shown) cooperating with the control means 23 to visually signal the various operating conditions of the device 10: for example, such displaying means can comprise at least one or more LEDs adapted to signal the filling level of the container 13 and, possibly, a state of scarce amount of hygienising product therein; moreover, such displaying means could comprise at least one or many LEDs adapted to signal a situation of sufficient/insufficient distribution of the hygienising product depending on information received by the sensor 25.

Moreover, the control means 23 can cooperate with at least one switch, for example with the switch already existing on the refrigerating apparatus 1 adapted to drive the turning on and off of internal lights in compartments 3, 5, respectively, upon opening and closing the related doors 27, 29, so that, once the command means of the container 13 are actuated, the delivery of the hygienising product occurs only once such switch detects the actual closure of the door 27, 29, and thereby no risks are run that the hygienising product is diffused also in the environment outside the compartments 3, 5 making its hygienising action inefficient .