Lining of refrigerator

Abstract

A refrigerator liner (40) is described and provided. The refrigerator liner includes a first layer (41) of recycled material adapted to face a partition wall of the refrigerator and a second layer (42) of native material adapted to face an interior of a cooling chamber of the refrigerator. As a result, less native material is required to be used in the production of the liner, and thus less new native material is required.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This disclosure relates to a refrigerator and a refrigerator inner liner, and also to a method for producing a refrigerator inner liner. Background Art

[0002] Refrigerators are used to keep items such as food and beverages at a cooled temperature in a cooling chamber. If a refrigerator is used to keep items at a temperature below the freezing point, the refrigerator is sometimes referred to as a freezer. However, the term "refrigerator" will be used for any device for storing items at a cooled temperature such that the temperature inside the refrigerator can be lower than the ambient air outside the refrigerator.

[0003] In a refrigerator, the items to be kept cooled are placed in a cooling chamber. The cooling chamber is bounded by walls and typically also by some kind of door for accessing the cooling chamber. The inner side of the walls of the cooling chamber and typically also the door for accessing the cooling chamber are covered by an inner liner. The inner liner of a refrigerator is typically produced by vacuum forming a sheet or roll / reel of some suitable material such as high impact polystyrene (HIPS) or acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS). The sheet and the roll typically include a main layer and a cover layer. The cover layer is provided to perform a proper surface treatment on the inner liner. For example, US 2012187132 describes a known structure of an inner liner inside a refrigerator cooling chamber. In addition, WO 2015 / 096968 and WO 2017 / 088913 elaborate on different methods of how a refrigerator inner liner can be manufactured.

[0004] Furthermore, all the internal parts of a refrigerator, and thus also the inner liner and the door inner liner, are food contact certified. This certification can be obtained through migration tests according to official protocols. For example, a food simulant is brought into contact with a part of the surface, and the presence of potential contaminants is checked by chemical analysis. Raw material suppliers must provide a list of certified potential contaminants based on their own production processes.

[0005] There has always been a desire to improve refrigerators and reduce the cost of manufacturing refrigerators. Therefore, there is a need for improved refrigerators. Summary of the Invention

[0006] The object of the present invention is to provide a more sustainable refrigerator and refrigerator inner liner and a method for producing a refrigerator inner liner.

[0007] This object and / or other objects are achieved by the refrigerator inner liner, method and refrigerator as described in the appended claims. In particular, since virgin materials are replaced by recycled (post-consumer) materials, the amount of virgin materials is reduced, thereby reducing CO2 emissions in the life cycle of the finished product.

[0008] As the inventors have recognized, due to food contact contamination requirements, recycled materials cannot be used in the lining because the food contact contamination requirements are not met. However, from the perspective of production costs and also to make the finished product more environmentally friendly, it is desirable to use recycled materials in the refrigerator.

[0009] The inventors have found that recycled materials can be used in the lining and still meet the food contact contamination requirements. This is achieved by providing a layer of virgin (clean) material between the cooling chamber and the recycled material of the lining. Thereby, less virgin material is needed when producing the lining, and thus less new virgin material is required.

[0010] According to the present invention, there is provided a refrigerator lining. The refrigerator lining includes a first layer of recycled material adapted to face the insulating wall of the refrigerator and a second layer of virgin material adapted to face the interior of the refrigerator cooling chamber. Thereby, less virgin material is needed when producing the lining, and thus less new virgin material is required.

[0011] According to some embodiments, the second layer is placed in direct contact with the first layer. Thereby, efficient production of a multi-layer refrigerator lining including both virgin and recycled materials can be achieved. For example, the multi-layer refrigerator lining can be produced in a co-lamination or co-extrusion process.

[0012] According to some embodiments, a third layer (cover layer) is placed on the second layer.

[0013] To maximize the benefits of the multi-layer refrigerator lining, in some embodiments, the third layer (cover layer) of the refrigerator lining can have a thickness of 0 to 200 μm. Further, according to some embodiments, the second layer can have a thickness of 100 to 1000 μm. Additionally, according to some embodiments, the first layer can have a thickness of 900 to 4800 μm.

[0014] The present invention also relates to a refrigerator including the lining as described above, and also relates to a method for producing a refrigerator lining. The described refrigerator lining is suitable for both the inner walls of the refrigerator and the doors for accessing the refrigerator. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0015] The present invention will now be described in more detail by way of non-limiting examples and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0016] - Figure 1 is a view of the refrigerator,

[0017] - Figure 2 is Figure 1 a partial cross-sectional view of the refrigerator.

[0018] - Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view of the refrigerator lining, and

[0019] - Figure 4a and Figure 4b illustrates the steps performed in manufacturing a refrigerator inner liner. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0020] In Figure 1 a refrigerator 10 is depicted. The refrigerator 10 can be any type of appliance designed to keep items at a cooled temperature and can typically be a household refrigerator or a household freezer. Items stored in the refrigerator can typically be food. The term "refrigerator" as used herein refers to any device for keeping items at a temperature below that of the ambient air. The refrigerator 10 is bounded by walls 12. The refrigerator 10 has a cooling chamber 14. The cooling chamber 14 can be accessed via a door 16. The door 16 can be any type of opening for accessing the cooling chamber, such as a drawer or a so-called French door. The cooling chamber 14 is bounded by walls 12, a top portion 22, and a bottom portion 20. The cooling chamber 14 is cooled in a conventional manner by a cooling device 18.

[0021] In Figure 2 a partial cross-sectional view is shown looking from above along line A-A of Figure 1 . In Figure 2 an inner liner 40 is shown located inside the refrigerator. The inner liner 40 is located on the inner walls of the cooling chamber 14. The inner liner can also be provided on the inner side of the door 16 and can also be provided on the top portion 22 and the bottom portion 20 such that all the inner sides of the cooling chamber are covered by the inner liner 40. Further, additional components such as a controller 32 and pipes 34 can be located behind the inner liner 40.

[0022] It should be noted that Figure 1 and Figure 2 the exemplary configuration of the refrigerator in the examples of

[0023] only shows one of many possible configurations. For example, multiple cooling chambers can be provided. In some embodiments, the cooling chamber can include one or more freezer compartments.

[0024] According to the present invention, a refrigerator inner liner including recycled materials is provided.

[0025] In Figure 3In [the figure], the structure of the exemplary refrigerator liner 40 is shown in more detail in a cross-sectional view. The refrigerator liner includes a first layer 41 of recycled material, and a second layer 42 formed of virgin (i.e., non-recycled) material is provided. Additional layers may also be provided. For example, a shiny, so-called cover layer 43 may also be provided.

[0026] The second layer (virgin layer) 42 is provided to prevent the first layer formed of recycled material from contaminating food contact. It may be advantageous to use HIPS for both the first layer 41 of recycled material and the second layer 42 of virgin material. In such an embodiment, the thicknesses of the different layers (extruded sheets and rolls) may be:

[0027] - The cover layer 43 may advantageously have a thickness of 0 to 200 μm; when the surface treatment is matte, this layer is usually not present.

[0028] - The virgin layer 42 may advantageously have a thickness of 100 to 1000 μm, and

[0029] - The recycled layer 41 may advantageously have a thickness of 900 to 4800 μm.

[0030] By selecting the thicknesses of the materials in the above-described manner, a large amount of recycled material can be used, and at the same time, the requirements related to food contamination can be met.

[0031] In Figures 4a to 4b [the figure], some method steps of the production process of the refrigerator liner (and the refrigerator door liner) are depicted.

[0032] The manufacturing method of the present invention basically includes first extruding a material into a sheet 60 by using an extruder 61. Then, the sheet 60 is deformed by means of a male mold 62 having a forming surface 63 to form the refrigerator liner 40.

[0033] As Figure 4b shown, the extruder 61 preferably has a flat dye 64 to produce a thin, flat planar flow.

[0034] Since the extrusion process can generate internal stresses within the material that can then be released at high temperatures, during the subsequent thermoforming process, it is advantageous to control the extrusion process to obtain an almost non-oriented sheet.

[0035] The extruded material exiting the dye 64 is drawn through a rolling unit 65 including a set of cooling rolls, where the material is cut into sheets 60, the sheets 60 are cooled, and the final thickness of each sheet 60 is precisely determined. Then the sheets 60 are stacked.

[0036] Then each individual sheet 60 is supplied to a thermoforming section 66 including a heating unit 67 and a forming unit 68.

[0037] In the thermoforming section 66, the sheet 60 is first heated, for example, by passing through a heating unit 67; and then formed by thermoforming in a forming unit 68 to form the inner liner 40.

[0038] To form a two - or three - layer refrigerator inner liner 40, the sheet 60 can be produced, for example, by co - extrusion or by a co - lamination process or some other suitable process.

[0039] When using the co - extrusion process, a second (and third) layer of molten polymer is poured onto the main layer by a second extruder (third extruder), not shown. Then, the two layers can be forced through a set of common rollers between the die head 64 and the rolling unit 65. After cooling, the two (or more) layers are bonded together.

[0040] When using the co - lamination process, the second (and third) layer is extruded separately and then passed through a set of rollers after being heated to a molten state.

[0041] A similar process can be applied to extrude a roll for vacuum forming of a door inner liner.

[0042] As described herein, for a refrigerator inner liner, a certain amount of recycled material from post - consumer sources, such as polystyrene, can be used during the production of the refrigerator inner liner. Thus, while recycled polystyrene or similar materials cannot be used for direct contact with food, an additional layer that provides a barrier without recycled material is added to prevent possible contaminants from migrating from the recycled material to the food. Thereby, the use of virgin (clean) materials can be significantly reduced, and recycled materials can be used alternatively. This will typically reduce the manufacturing cost of the refrigerator and also reduce the environmental impact by reducing the carbon footprint.

Claims

1. A refrigerator inner liner (40), the refrigerator inner liner comprising a first layer (41) of recycled material adapted to face an insulating wall of a refrigerator cooling chamber and a second layer (42) of virgin material adapted to face the interior of the refrigerator cooling chamber.

2. The refrigerator inner liner (40) according to claim 1, wherein, The second layer is placed in direct contact with the first layer.

3. The refrigerator inner liner (40) according to claim 2, wherein, A third layer / cover layer (43) is placed on the second layer.

4. The refrigerator inner liner (40) according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein, The cover layer has a thickness of 0 to 200 μm.

5. The refrigerator inner liner (40) according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein, The second layer has a thickness of 100 to 1000 μm.

6. The refrigerator inner liner (40) according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein, The first layer has a thickness of 900 to 4800 μm.

7. A refrigerator (10) comprising a cooling chamber (14) and a door (16) for accessing the cooling chamber, wherein, The inner wall (12) of the cooling chamber is provided with the refrigerator inner liner (40) according to any one of claims 1 to 6.

8. The refrigerator (10) according to claim 7, wherein, The door (16) is provided with the refrigerator inner liner (40) according to any one of claims 1 to 6.

9. A method of manufacturing a refrigerator inner liner (40), the method comprising providing a first layer (41) of recycled material adapted to face an insulating wall (12) of a refrigerator (10) and a second layer (42) of virgin material adapted to face the interior of a refrigerator cooling compartment (14), wherein, The second layer (42) is placed in direct contact with the first layer (41).

10. The method according to claim 9, further comprising: A cover layer (43) placed on the second layer is provided.

11. The method according to claim 9 or 10, wherein The second layer is placed on the first layer using a coextrusion process.

12. The method according to claim 9 or 10, wherein, The second layer is placed on the first layer using a co-lamination process.

13. The method according to claim 9 or 10, wherein, The cover layer is placed on the second layer using a coextrusion process.

14. The method according to claim 9 or 10, wherein, The cover layer is placed on the second layer using a co-lamination process.

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