DE29600041U1 - De-icing equipment for freezers - Google Patents

Description

-1 -

^Heinrich Schreiber
Richard-Strauß-Strasse 7
74629 Pfedelbach 23.12.1995

To the German Patent Office in Munich

Defrosting equipment for freezers Description

Freezers used for long-term storage of food supplies in households, restaurants, and grocery stores tend to get ice on the walls and on the parts that generate cold due to frost. As these layers of ice become thicker, they increasingly impair the cooling performance of the appliance. These layers of ice therefore have to be removed again and again.

This method of defrosting freezers is not very popular with housewives and maintenance staff because of the effort required. This is why manufacturers of refrigerators are now equipping new iceboxes and freezers with an automatic defrosting system.

There are various methods for automatically defrosting ice in freezers. Using heat to remove ice from refrigerators seems highly questionable, as this would stop the cooling and would also require a lot of energy. In addition, installing such automatic defrosting devices and heaters requires a considerable amount of additional manufacturing effort, which makes the refrigerator more expensive.

My invention is intended to facilitate the defrosting of freezers or

-2-

H. Schreiber - 2 -

make it almost superfluous, simplify the production of modern, maintenance-friendly refrigeration devices, and eliminate the need for energy to defrost.

My invention "De-icing device" (G 94 14 828.7, F 2SO 21/00), which I submitted to the patent office on 13.09.94, has a similar purpose. When I used it, it turned out that the insert for removing the ice deposits hardly or not at all needs to be removed and replaced, because the layers of ice that form on it do not adhere firmly at all. They can often be easily removed by hand, in slabs or clumps. Now and then, when the refrigerated goods are only removed for a very short time, the ice particles that have trickled down to the bottom between the refrigerated goods can easily be swept up. The foil bag, foil pouch, which is hung in the freezer and fits tightly against the inside wall of the freezer with a few folds, is tightly attached all around the upper inner edge with adhesive tape. The disadvantage is that inserting and securing the large foil bag is somewhat cumbersome, and the folds and the adhesive tape fastening are considered unsightly. A shortcoming of this invention that has often been reported to me is that it can only be easily used with chests with a lid that opens upwards.

That is why I looked for new ways to remove the ice deposits in refrigerators, chests and cupboards. There are films that are used in the home because of their non-stick properties. For example, there is baking paper and baking foil on which baked goods do not stick and therefore easily slide off the baking tray. I carried out experiments with similar films. I found that the parts in refrigerators that are exposed to frost only need to be covered with a water and ice-repellent layer. A weakly adhering, easily wiped-off frost forms on top of this. As soon as this becomes thicker and heavier, the ice slides off or can be wiped off very easily. Larger pieces of ice remain on and between the refrigerated goods and can be picked up, smaller ones trickle down to the floor, where they can be removed if the refrigerated goods are only removed for a short time.

-3 -

H.Schreiber - 3 -

can be easily swept up.

My defrosting device (G 94 14 828.7, F 250 21/00) has the advantage that it can be retrofitted relatively easily to conventional freezers in use, but the disadvantage that, as in the application I tested here, it looks unsightly and the attachment to the edge is not yet satisfactory. This new defrosting system using an ice-repellent coating is even easier to use, no folds, no hollow spaces, no attachment to the edge. New refrigerators, freezers and freezer cabinets can be equipped with it with little technical effort. Time-consuming, energy-wasting, laborious and complicated defrosting measures become superfluous, and the ice that forms is removed very easily. In particular, heat-generating, electricity-wasting defrosting devices and heaters become unnecessary.

This defrosting equipment can also be used in commercial refrigerators. Defrost heaters become superfluous. Structures to limit the formation of ice become unnecessary. In long refrigerator rows, the refrigerated goods can be pushed to the side if the density is lower so that the ice on the floor can be swept up. Of course, floor inserts, trays, sieves, grids, baskets, sloping floors, gutters, and similar devices can also be used, whereby the refrigerated goods can be easily separated from the ice trickling down; or the ice collects inside for easy removal. For example, it would be possible to remove the ice collecting in the gutter-shaped floor through a drawer at the bottom.

In terms of energy saving, simplicity, manufacturing costs, user-friendliness, and design, freezers equipped with this defrosting feature should be preferred to conventional refrigerators without, or even more so with, automatic defrosting or heating.

-4-

Claims (3)

H. Schreiber - 4 - Protection claims 1. Defrosting equipment for freezers, characterised by that the parts and interior surfaces of freezers and cabinets and the like exposed to frost are covered with a water and ice-repellent coating. 2. Defrosting equipment for freezers characterised in that that the interior surfaces and parts of freezers and cabinets and the like exposed to frost are provided with a water- and ice-repellent skin or shell. 3. De-icing equipment for freezers according to protection requirements or 2 characterized, that the ice that slides down, is wiped off and trickles down is collected in a removable container.