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EP-4051973-B1 - HOUSEHOLD APPLIANCE WITH A CRISPER

EP4051973B1EP 4051973 B1EP4051973 B1EP 4051973B1EP-4051973-B1

Inventors

  • MALAUSA, ANDREA
  • SIMIONI, MATTEO

Dates

Publication Date
20260513
Application Date
20191028

Claims (15)

  1. Household appliance (2), comprising a casing (4) defining an inner compartment (10) in which a crisper (30) is arranged, whereby said crisper (30) comprises a frontal part (32) and further comprises a permeable membrane (70), which allows an exchange of atmosphere of said crisper (30) and an atmosphere outside of said crisper (30) to avoid a building up of humidity within said crisper (3), whereby said membrane (70) is attached to said frontal part (32), and whereby a handle (58) is provided on said frontal part (32), which handle is suitable to allow the pulling or pushing of the crisper (30) from or to its closure position, characterized in that said handle (58) and said membrane (70) are dimensioned and arranged in such a way that said membrane (70) is covered from view by said handle (58) in a frontal direction (72) towards said crisper (30).
  2. Household appliance (2) according to claim 1, whereby the height (h) of said handle (58) essentially corresponds to the height (H) of said membrane (70).
  3. Household appliance (2) according to claim 1 or 2, whereby in a lateral direction said membrane (70) extends over more than half of the width of said crisper (30).
  4. Household appliance (2) according to one of the claims 1 to 3, whereby said handle (58) is detachably connected to said frontal part (32).
  5. Household appliance (2) according to one of the claims 1 to 4, whereby said frontal part (32) is detachably connected to a drawer part (40).
  6. Household appliance (2) according to claim 5, whereby said connection between said frontal part (32) and said drawer part (40) is a snap connection, preferably with three snap elements arranged on said drawer part (40) which engage in corresponding recesses on said frontal part (32) or vice versa.
  7. Household appliance (2) according to one of the claims 1 to 6, whereby said membrane (70) is arranged in at least one shell (82, 84) which is attached to said frontal part (32).
  8. Household appliance (2) according to claim 7, whereby said shell (82, 84) is attached to said frontal part (32) on the side facing an interior space of said crisper (30) in a mounted position.
  9. Household appliance (2) according to claim 7 or 8, whereby said shell comprises a first shell (82) and a second shell (84) attached to each other, said membrane (70) being arranged between said first shell (82) and said second shell (84).
  10. Household appliance (2) according to claim 9, whereby said shells (82, 84) are attached to each other by a snap connection (90-96; 100-106).
  11. Household appliance (2) according to one of the claims 1 to 10, whereby on said frontal part (32) two or more membranes (70) are arranged adjacent to each other.
  12. Household appliance (2) according to claim 11, whereby at least two of said membranes (70) differ in their permeability.
  13. Household appliance (2) according to one of the claims 1 to 12, whereby a decorative element (120) is arranged on said handle (58).
  14. Household appliance (2) according to one of the previous claims which is built as refrigerating and/or freezing appliance.
  15. Method for mounting a permeable membrane (70) to a crisper (30) of a household appliance (2), the household appliance comprising a casing (4) defining an inner compartment (10) in which the crisper (30) is arranged, the crisper (30) comprising a frontal part (32), said membrane (70) allowing an exchange of atmosphere of said crisper (30) and an atmosphere outside said crisper (30)to avoid a building up of humidity within said crisper (3), whereby said membrane (70) is positioned in at least one shell (82, 84) , and whereby said shell (82, 84) is attached to the frontal part (32), whereby said membrane (70) is arranged in such a way that it is covered from view in a frontal direction (72) towards said crisper (30), by a handle (58) provided on said frontal part (32), which handle is suitable to allow the pulling or pushing of the crisper (30) from or to its closure position.

Description

Field of the Invention The present invention concerns the field of household appliances, especially refrigerating and/or freezing appliances. In particular, the present invention refers to household appliance with a crisper. Background art Appliances for the purpose of cooling or freezing food can be built as separate devices or as combined devices, whereby in a refrigerating compartment, goods such as vegetables, milk products etc. are cooled and in a freezing compartment, goods such as ice cream or frozen food can be stowed. These appliances in the refrigerating compartment typically comprise a crisper for stowing vegetables. The crisper is typically arranged in a bottom region of the refrigerating compartment and can be built as a drawer. Moreover, the crisper can be provided in the freezing compartment, sometime several crispers are stacked one over the other along the vertical direction. The crisper be can equipped with a membrane with the purpose to control the humidity in the crisper, especially to prevent entry of humidity, thereby slowing down the degradation of the food inside the crisper. It is known to place the membrane in several places, allowing the communication between the internal space of the crisper and the external ambient; for example, it is known to arrange the membrane on the frontal part of the crisper. The disadvantage of such a configuration is that membrane is exposed on the front and can be damaged by operation the crisper or by handling of items. Additionally, the membrane disturbs the aesthetical impression of the crisper. Alternatively, it is known to arrange the membrane on a top part of the crisper. The disadvantage of such a configuration is that damages can occur by items which are dropped by a user during handling. Relevant prior art can be found in US2004/031705A1 and JP2018109510A. Summary of the invention The aim of the invention is to provide a household appliance in which the membrane is protected from damage. It is a further aim to provide a household appliance with a crisper with an improved visual appearance. The invention therefore relates to a household appliance, comprising a casing defining an inner compartment in which a crisper is arranged, whereby the crisper comprises a frontal part and further comprises a permeable membrane, which allows an exchange of atmosphere of the crisper and an atmosphere outside of the crisper, to avoid a building up of humidity within said crisper, whereby the membrane is attached to the frontal part, and whereby a handle is provided at the frontal part, whereby the handle and the membrane are dimensioned and arranged in such a way that the membrane is covered from view by the handle in a frontal direction towards the crisper. Preferred embodiments of the invention are described in relation to the dependent claims and the description of the enclosed drawings. The invention is based on the consideration that the membrane fulfills a significant function and is essential for the quality and reliability of the appliance since it is responsible for the life period of the food stored in the crisper. If the membrane is arranged on a top part of the crisper, damage can likely occur by items which are dropped by a user during handling, thereby destroying or weakening the important functionality of the membrane. If the membrane is arranged in the front, it also can get damaged, and it reduces the appeal of the crisper. Especially for high-quality appliances, the user expects a high-quality outer finish but also an aesthetically appealing interior of the appliance. Applicant has found that an aesthetically advantageous design can be designed with simultaneously a reliable protection of the membrane by arranging the membrane on the frontal part of the crisper behind a handle in such a way that is hidden from the view of the user during regular handling of the crisper. The frontal direction towards the crisper denotes a viewing direction perpendicular to a front face of the handle and/or frontal part of the crisper and pointing towards the handle and/or frontal part. In this direction there is a full overlap of handle with membrane, i.e. the membrane in this projection is fully hidden behind the handle. According to the invention, the handle provided at the frontal part is suitable to allow the pulling or pushing of the crisper from or to its closure position through the action of the user to said handle. The membrane is preferably arranged and dimensioned to remain, in its working position, at least partially behind the handle. This applies preferably to any working position (inserted to extracted) of the cover of the crisper. Preferably the height of the handle, preferably essentially, corresponds to the height of the membrane. Advantageously, in a lateral direction said membrane extends over more than half of the width of the crisper, especially more than two thirds. In this way, the humidity control extends over a wide region of the cris