The present invention refers to a system to facilitate the filling of the ice molds provided in the freezer compartment of a refrigeration appliance, generally a combined refrigerator comprising a freezer compartment and a refrigeration compartment, which are separated by an intermediary wall and closed by respective front doors.
There are known from the state of art different systems for mounting the ice molds inside the freezer compartment of a refrigeration appliance.
In some of these arrangements, the ice molds are simply placed on a shelf or on the bottom of the freezer compartment.
In other constructions, the ice molds take the form of compartments that slide on rails affixed to the internal structure of the freezer compartment.
There are also known the arrangements in which the ice molds are rotatably seated on frames sliding on rails provided in the structure of the freezer compartment, in order to be rotated around their longitudinal axis and preferably submitted to a certain torsion upon completion of the rotation of about 90°, in order to release the load of ice cubes inside an ice cube collecting box which is also slidingly seated on rails and positioned under the ice molds. An arrangement of this type is described in Brazilian patent documents PI960391-9 and PI9603902-7. Another ice mold supply system is known from WO02/0522057.
Independently of the characteristics of the prior art arrangements concerning the procedures for removing the ice cubes from the molds and for storing said ice cubes inside the freezer compartment, the prior art mounting systems require the ice molds to be manually supplied, generally outside the freezer compartment, and to be subsequently carried to be positioned in the determined place, which can be defined by a shelf or by rails inside the freezer compartment. This operation of supplying the ice molds is uncomfortable, often resulting in water spillage or in said molds being only partially filled. Furthermore, in the cases in which the water supply is effected outside the freezer compartment, the user has to carefully carry it to the mounting place, trying to avoid the frequent and almost inevitable water spillage.
Besides the deficiency mentioned above, these known mounting systems are defined in the project, not allowing the user to modify their operational characteristics, as a function of the usage particularities to be imparted to the ice molds. The known mounting systems are not versatile, forcing the user to utilize the molds according to a single pattern defined by the manufacturer.
Object of the Invention
By reason of the disadvantages mentioned above, it is a generic object of the present invention to provide an ice mold supply system for refrigeration appliances, which promotes a correct, reliable and automatic supply, with no water spillage, of the molds with an adequate volume of water, when said molds are already positioned in their mounting places inside a freezer compartment, and which allows the ice molds to be manually and selectively rotated in their mounting places, in order to gravitationally release the ice cubes to the interior of a collecting box which can be detached from the inside of the freezer compartment.
In order to comply with the object above, the invention provides an ice mold supply system for refrigeration appliances of the type comprising a freezer compartment, in whose interior is provided a support means, carrying at least one pair of median rails on which is slidingly and detachably seated at least one ice mold.
According to the invention, the support means carries at least one pair of upper rails, on which is slidingly and detachably seated a reservoir which is dimensioned to contain, when completely full, a volume of water corresponding to that required for adequately supplying the ice molds disposed immediately below, said reservoir being inferiorly provided with a discharge nozzle, positioned above the ice mold immediately below and in which is mounted an outlet valve which is constantly and resiliently forced to a closed position and automatically displaced to an open position when the reservoir is mounted to the support means.
In a preferred constructive form, the ice mold has its opposite ends horizontally rotatably seated on a frame which is slidingly and detachably seated on one of the pairs of median rails and upper rails, the ice mold being manually rotated around its longitudinal axis from a rest position, for freezing the volume of water supplied therein, to an inclined position for gravitationally releasing the ice cubes and in which the ice mold is submitted to a certain torsion.
The support means may further incorporate, particularly by applying the above-mentioned construction that uses rotatable ice molds, at least one pair of lower rails on which is slidingly and detachably seated an ice cube collecting box which is disposed immediately below at least one ice mold, in order to receive the ice cubes that are gravitationally released from an ice mold, which can be the one disposed immediately above which is displaced to the inclined position and submitted to a certain degree of torsion.
The invention will be described below, with reference to the enclosed drawings, given only by way of example and in which:
As illustrated, the present supply system is applied to refrigeration appliances of the type comprising a freezer compartment 1, which can be defined in the upper portion of a cabinet, in whose lower portion is formed a refrigeration compartment 2, as exemplarily illustrated and which is separated from the freezer compartment 1 by an intermediary wall 3.
The supply system of the invention comprises a support means 10, which can take the form of a frame made of injected plastic, presenting a cross section in the form of an inverted "U", and having an upper wall 11 from which vertically depend two opposite lateral walls 12, the longitudinal extension of said frame being dimensioned so as to be mounted inside the freezer compartment 1.
The support means 10 carries, internally and along the extension of its lateral walls 12, a pair of upper rails 20, two pairs of median rails 30, and a pair of lower rails 40, said pairs of rails being disposed in horizontal planes that are vertically spaced from each other by a certain gap.
It should be understood that the distribution of the pairs of rails mentioned above is illustrated only exemplarily, and that other arrangements with a different number of pairs of rails could be used, as long as they allow defining at least an upper level, a median level, and a lower level for supporting the elements to be described ahead.
The rails may be constructed in different manners, as separated pieces affixed to the support means 10, or as pieces incorporated to the lateral walls 12 of the support means 10.
In a constructive form according to figure 5, on the pair of upper rails 20 is slidingly and detachably seated a reservoir 50 which is dimensioned to contain, when filled up, a volume of water corresponding to that required for adequately supplying an ice mold 60 disposed immediately below, as described below.
The reservoir 50, which is generally molded in plastic material, comprises: a body 51 in the form of a tray that is slidingly seated on the pair of upper rails 20, a lid 52 in the form of a plate to be hermetically and detachably mounted to the body 51, in order to define an upper wall for the latter; and a small overlid 53 provided in the lid 52 and which is manually operated between an open position, for filling the reservoir 50, and a closed position, hermetically enclosing the volume of water inside the reservoir 50.
The overlid 53 is constructed in such a way as to facilitate the filling of the reservoir 50 and to provide the user with a visual indication of the water level to be reached for the adequate supply of a respective ice mold 60.
The reservoir 50 is inferiorly provided with a discharge nozzle 55 to be positioned, upon mounting the reservoir 50 to the support means 10, above a respective ice mold 60 immediately below, and in the discharge nozzle 55 is mounted an outlet valve 56 which is constantly and resiliently forced to a closed position and automatically displaced to an open position upon mounting the reservoir 50 in the support means 10.
It should be understood that the outlet valve 56 could be constructed to be opened only as a function of a specific operation made by the user, after the reservoir 50 has been correctly positioned inside the support means 10. In this case, the opening of the outlet valve 56 is not automatic.
In the embodiment in which the automatic opening of the outlet valve 56 is provided, the latter incorporates an actuating rod 57 disposed under the reservoir 50 and which is designed to interfere with the support means 10, generally with the closest upper rail 20, in order to actuate the outlet valve 56 when the reservoir 50 is introduced in the support means 10, promoting the displacement of the outlet valve 56 to the open position (see figure 3) and the consequent supply of the ice mold 60 disposed immediately below.
In the illustrated construction, the body 51 of the reservoir 50 is medianly divided in two body portions 51a, 51b, each incorporating a discharge nozzle 55 provided with an outlet valve 56 positioned above the respective ice mold.
The construction described above for the reservoir 50 is employed when, under the latter, two ice molds 60 are positioned side by side, each having its opposite ends horizontally rotatably seated on a frame 70 which is slidingly and detachably seated on at least one of the two pairs of median rails 30. Thus, each ice mold 60 can be rotated around its longitudinal axis, from a rest position, for freezing the water volume supplied therein, to an inclined position, for gravitationally releasing the ice cubes and in which the ice mold 60 is submitted to a certain torsion.
It should be understood that the frame 70 can rotatably support only one ice mold 60, in which situation the body 51 of the reservoir 50 can be formed in a single piece provided with one or more discharge nozzles 55, each having a respective outlet valve 56.
Still in accordance with figure 5, the pair of lower rails 40 slidingly and detachably support an ice cube collecting box 80 which remains in a mounted condition, disposed immediately below the ice mold or molds 60 which are rotatably seated on the frame 70 in order to receive the ice cubes being gravitationally released from the ice molds 60 when the latter are rotated to the inclined position.