Title of Invention

A DEVICE FOR INHIBITING THE FORMATION OF ICE IN REFRIGERATION APPLIANCES

Abstract

A device for inhibiting the formation of ice in refrigeration appliances, such as refrigerators of the type comprising a cabinet (10) provided with a front door (20) and lodging, at the upper part thereof, an evaporator (30) having a "C" shaped lateral profile, with upper and lower walls (31), (33) having free front end edges facing the front door (20), characterized in that it comprises a finish part (60) made of a material with reduced thermal conductivity, having an approximately "U" shaped lateral profile with a central web (62), and with an outer lateral flap (61) and an inner lateral flap (63) to be fitted onto substantially the whole extension of, the front edge of each of the respective upper and lower walls (31), (33) of the evaporator (30), in order to cover respective front marginal portions of both faces of said upper and lower walls (31), (33) of the evaporator (30), and to form an air bag (BA) with the adjacent front edge of the evaporator (30), the outer lateral flap (61) of the finish part (60) keeping a slight spacing from the adjacent face of the respective wall of the evaporator (30) and being seated thereon by at least one spacing element (61a) also made of a material with reduced thermal conductivity.

Full Text

FORM 2 THE PATENTS ACT 1970 [39 OF 1970] COMPLETE SPECIFICATION [See Section 10] "A DEVICE FOR INHIBITING THE FORMATION OF ICE IN REFRIGERATION APPLIANCES" MULTIBRAS S.A. ELETRODOMESTICOS, of Av. Das Nacoes Unidas, 12995 - 32 ° andar, Sao Paulo - SP, Brazil, The following specification particularly describes the nature of the invention and the manner in which it is to be performed:- Field of the Invention The present invention refers to a device to be applied to the evaporator, which is usually of the plate type in the form of a "C" and provided at the upper inner region of the cabinet of a refrigeration appliance, such as a refrigerator with only one front door, for inhibiting the formation of ice on the upper and lower front edges of said evaporator. Background of the Invention There are well known in the art the refrigerators of the type having only one front door, usually provided with inner shelves and closing a cabinet, which is usually parallelepipedic and refrigerated by natural convection by means of an upper inner evaporator, which is generally of the plate type and with a C shaped lateral profile defined by horizontal upper and lower walls connected by a vertical rear wall, the upper and rear walls having a certain spacing from the adjacent upper and rear inner walls of the cabinet, in order to permit the circulation of air. In these refrigerators by natural convection usually of domestic use, the cooling of the load under refrigeration is mostly achieved by the circulation of cold air inside the cabinet. A descending cold air current is initiated at the rear lower region of the evaporator and tends to ge.t down towards the bottom of the cabinet, passing through the gap existing between the lower rear wall of the latter and the rear edge of a tray for collecting the defrost water and positioned under the evaporator. On the other hand, an ascending hot air current is initiated at the lower regions of the cabinet, going up along part of the width of the rear wall of the cabinet and along the gap formed between the door and the front edge of the shelves of the refrigerator, and being finally conducted through the gap formed between the open front face of the evaporator and the cabinet door, in order to establish an airflow over the upper wall of the evaporator, towards the rear wall of the cabinet, so as to give continuity to the descending cold air current to be formed between the rear walls of both the evaporator and the cabinet. One of the known consequences of this type of air circulation is the strong tendency to form ice on the upper and lower front edges of the evaporator which are subject to the direct impact and to the flow of the ascending current of hot humid air. The concentrated and exaggerated formation of ice on the upper and lower front edges of the evaporator usually leads to the partial or complete blocking of the circulation of air external to the upper and lower walls of the evaporator, significantly reducing the refrigeration capacity of the refrigerator. Besides the problem of loss of efficiency in terms of refrigeration, the concentrated formation of ice at the front region of the evaporator often reaches levels that makes difficult for the user to open or close the door of the freezing compartment. The exaggerated accumulation of ice on the upper and lower front edges of the evaporator impairs the strength of the product, leading to a lower time interval between the defrost operations, in order to avoid the blocking of air circulation and the consequent loss of efficiency of the refrigeration appliance. Disclosure of the Invention Thus, it is a general object of the present invention to provide a device of simple construction, which may be easily applied to the evaporator of a refrigeration appliance refrigerated by natural convection, such as a refrigerator, in order to minimize the concentrated and exaggerated formation of ice on the upper and lower front edges of the evaporator. The present inhibiting device to be applied to an evaporator of the plate type with a WC" shaped lateral profile and localized at the upper inner region of the cabinet of the refrigeration appliance comprises a finish part made of a material with reduced thermal conductivity, having an approximately "U" shaped lateral profile with a central web, and with an outer lateral flap and an inner lateral flap, which are to be fitted onto substantially the whole extension of the front edge of each of the respective upper and lower walls of the evaporator, in order to cover, respective front marginal portions of both faces of said walls of the evaporator, and to form an air bag with the adjacent front' edge of the evaporator, the outer lateral flap of the finish part keeping a slight spacing from the adjacent face of the respective wall of the evaporator and being seated thereon by at least one' spacing element also made of a material with reduced thermal conductivity. The provision of the finish parts mentioned above allows creating around the front edge of the upper and lower walls of the evaporator a protecting barrier, which is maintained at a higher temperature than that of the plate of the evaporator, preventing the ascending current of hot humid air from contacting said front edges of the evaporator and consequently avoiding the exaggerated formation of ice on these edges. With this constructive arrangement, the condensation of the humidity contained in the hot air current reaching the evaporator is more homogeneously distributed along the outer face of the upper wall of the evaporator, considerably retarding the blocking of air circulation around the evaporator. Accordingly the present invention relates to a device for inhibiting the formation of ice in refrigeration appliances, such as refrigerators of the type comprising a cabinet (10) provided with a front door (20) and lodging, at the upper part thereof, an evaporator (30) having a "C" shaped lateral profile, with upper and lower walls (31), (33) having free front end edges facing the front door (20), characterized in that it comprises a finish part (60) made of a material with reduced thermal conductivity, having an approximately "U" shaped lateral profile with a central web (62), and with an outer lateral flap (61) and an inner lateral flap (63) to be fitted onto substantially the whole extension of, the front edge of each of the respective upper and lower walls (31), (33) of the evaporator (30), in order to cover respective front marginal portions of both faces of said upper and lower walls (31), (33) of the evaporator (30), and to form an air bag (BA) with the adjacent front edge of the evaporator (30), the outer lateral flap (61) of the finish part (60) keeping a slight spacing from the adjacent face of the respective wall of the evaporator (30) and being seated thereon by at least one spacing element (61a) also made of a material with reduced thermal conductivity. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS The invention will be described below, with reference to the appended drawing, in which: Figure 1 is a simplified vertical cross-sectional view of the upper portion of the cabinet of a refrigerator with only one front door, in which the evaporator is provided with the device for inhibiting the formation of ice of the present invention; Figure 2 is an enlarged vertical cross-sectional view of the front portion of the evaporator illustrated in figure 1, with the upper and lower front edges of the evaporator being covered by the device of the present invention; and Figure 3 is an enlarged lateral view of the device of the present invention, mounted to the front edge of the upper wall of the evaporator illustrated in dashed lines. Best Mode of Carrying Out the Invention As illustrated in the appended figures, the device for inhibiting the formation of ice is applied to a refrigeration appliance, such as a refrigerator of the type comprising a cabinet 10, usually parallelepipedic, with an upper wall 11, a rear wall 12, lateral walls 13 and a bottom wall (not illustrated) and which is closed at the front by a front door 20. The cabinet is internally cooled by an evaporator 30, usually of the plate type with a lateral profile in the form of a "C" facing the front door 2 0 and having an upper wall 31 and a rear wall 32, which are spaced from the upper wall 11 and the rear wall 12, respectively, of the cabinet 10, and also a lower wall 33. Under the lower wall 33 of the evaporator 30 is provided a tray 40 for collecting defrost water, which is slightly spaced from the rear wall 12 of the cabinet 10, there defining a gap for the passage of a descending cold air current, represented by the arrows F, originated at the rear upper region of the evaporator 3 0 and which is at least partially downwardly directed, towards the rear part of the shelves (not illustrated) of the cabinet 10. An ascending hot air current Q, originated at the region of the shelves (not illustrated) of the cabinet 10, flows along the gap formed between the front edge of the shelves of the cabinet 10 and the door 20, and along the front region of the evaporator 30. For preventing said ascending hot air current Q from contacting the cold front edges of both the upper wall 31 and the lower wall 33 of the evaporator 30, these edges are surrounded by the device for inhibiting the formation of ice, comprising a finish part 60 made of a material with reduced thermal conductivity, such as a plastic material molded by any adequate process, having an approximately "U" shaped lateral profile with a central web 62, which has a preferably rounded semi-cylindrical surface and is incorporated to an outer lateral flap 61 and an inner lateral flap 63, which are fitted over substantially the whole extension of the front edge of each of the upper and lower walls 31, 33 of the evaporator 30, in order to cover respective front marginal portions of both faces of said upper and lower walls 31, 33 of the evaporator 30. In the illustrated embodiment, the front edges of the evaporator 3 0 incorporate, along the extension thereof, a respective flange, 31a and 33a, outwardly projecting in a substantially orthogonal way in relation to the plane of the respective wall of the evaporator 30. For this type of construction for the evaporator 30, each finish part 60 has its central web 62 dimensioned with a width which is slightly larger than the total width of the flanged front edge of the upper and lower walls 31, 32 of the evaporator 30, said central web 62 being incorporated to the outer lateral flap 61 by means of a step 64 positioned behind and slightly spaced from the respective flange 31a or 33a of the evaporator 30. In order that the finish part 60 be not excessively cooled by the evaporator, it has its central web 62 spaced from the adjacent front edge of the evaporator 30, there forming an air bag BA, which functions as a thermal insulator for said central web 62, the outer and inner lateral flaps 61, 63 being kept spaced from the adjacent faces of the respective wall of the evaporator 30, seating against said faces by means of spacing elements 61a, 61b and 63a. In the illustrated embodiment, the outer lateral flap 61 incorporates two inner spacing elements 61a, in the form of small lateral projections to be seated against the external face of the respective wall of the evaporator 30, and also a front spacing element 61b, in the form of a small projection to be seated against the rear face of the adjacent flange 31a, 33a of the evaporator 30, so as to assure a positioning of the finish part 60 which avoids contacting its central web 62 with the adjacent front edge of the evaporator 30. In the constructive example proposed herein, the inner lateral flap 63 of the finish part 60 is inclined, in order to converge towards the outer lateral flap 61 and to seat against the adjacent face of the evaporator 3 0 with a certain elastic deformation and usually solely by its free end portion 63a, which thus defines a spacing element. It is also possible to dimension the convergence of both lateral flaps 61 and 63 so that, after mounting the finish part 60 to the evaporator 30, the inner lateral flap 63 is completely seated against the adjacent face of the evaporator 30. The convergence of the outer and inner lateral flaps 61, 63 and their elastic deformation when mounted to the evaporator 30 permit a stable adaptation of the finish part 60, with no need of using additional fixation means, such as adhesives, screws, etc. WE CLAIM: 1. A device for inhibiting the formation of ice in refrigeration appliances, such as refrigerators of the type comprising a cabinet (10) provided with a front door (20) and lodging, at the upper part thereof, an evaporator (30) having a "C" shaped lateral profile, with upper and lower walls (31), (33) having free front end edges facing the front door (20), characterized in that it comprises a finish part (60) made of a material with reduced thermal conductivity, having an approximately "U" shaped lateral profile with a central web (62), and with an outer lateral flap (61) and an inner lateral flap (63) to be fitted onto substantially the whole extension of, the front edge of each of the respective upper and lower walls (31), (33) of the evaporator (30), in order to cover respective front marginal portions of both faces of said upper and lower walls (31), (33) of the evaporator (30), and to form an air bag (BA) with the adjacent front edge of the evaporator (30), the outer lateral flap (61) of the finish part (60) keeping a slight spacing from the adjacent face of the respective wall of the evaporator (30) and being seated thereon by at least one spacing element (61a) also made of a material with reduced thermal conductivity. 2. The device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the outer and inner lateral flaps (61), (62) of the finish part (60) are mutually convergent and elastically deformable, in order to seat onto the adjacent faces of the upper and lower walls (31), (33) of the evaporator (30). 3. The device as claimed in any of the claims 1 or 2, wherein the outer lateral flap (61) of the finish part (60) incorporates two inner spacing elements (61a) in the form of small lateral projections to W seated against the outer face of the respective wall of the evaporator (30). 4. The device as claimed in any of the claims 1, 2 or 3, wherein the inner lateral flap (63) of the finish part (60) is seated against the inner face of the adjacent wall (31, 33) of the evaporator (30) only by its free end portion (63a). 5. The device as claimed in any of the claims 1, 2, 3 or 4 and to be applied to an evaporator (30) whose front edges incorporate, along the whole extension thereof, a respective flange (31a, 33a) projecting orthogonally outwardly from the evaporator (30), wherein each finish part (60) has the width of its. central web (62) slightly larger than the total width of the flanged front edge of the upper and lower walls (31), (33) of the evaporator (30), said central web (62) being incorporated to the outer lateral flap (61) by means of a step (64) positioned behind and slightly spaced from the respective flange (31a, 33a) of the evaporator (30). 6. The device as claimed in claim 5, wherein the outer lateral flap (61) of each finish part (60) incorporates a front spacing element (61b) in the form of a small projection to be seated against the adjacent flange (31a, 33a) of the evaporator (30). 7. The device as claimed in anyone of the preceding claims, wherein the central web (62) of the finish part (60) has a rounded semi-cylindrical surface. 8. A device for inhibiting the formation of ice in refrigeration substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings Dated this October 23, 2000. ( RANJNA HEHTA DUTT) OF REMFRY AND SAGAR ATTORNEY FOR THE APPLICANTS

Documents:

948-mum-2000-cancelled page(26-12-2005).pdf

948-mum-2000-claim(granted)-(26-12-2005).doc

948-mum-2000-claim(granted)-(26-12-2005).pdf

948-mum-2000-correspondence(26-12-2005).pdf

948-mum-2000-correspondence(ipo)-(01-12-2005).pdf

948-mum-2000-form 1(24-11-2005).pdf

948-mum-2000-form 19(30-09-2004).pdf

948-mum-2000-form 2(granted)-(26-12-2005).doc

948-mum-2000-form 2(granted)-(26-12-2005).pdf

948-mum-2000-form 3(10-11-2005).pdf

948-mum-2000-form 3(23-10-2000).pdf

948-mum-2000-form 5(23-10-2000).pdf

948-mum-2000-petition under rule 138(10-11-2005).pdf

948-mum-2000-power of authority(24-05-2001).pdf

948-mum-2000-power of authority(24-11-2005).pdf

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