Cabinet internal ventilation system
The cabinet internal ventilation system addresses the issue of musty smells in clothes cabinets by using a double-walled rear wall and a removable unit insert for effective ventilation and easy maintenance, ensuring fresh air circulation and preserving the cabinet's appearance.
Patent Information
- Application Number
- DE102023002050
- Authority / Receiving Office
- DE · DE
- Patent Type
- Patents
- Current Assignee / Owner
- Filing Date
- 2023-05-19
- Publication Date
- 2025-06-12
- Estimated Expiration
- 2043-05-19
AI Technical Summary
Clothes cabinets often suffer from musty smells due to bacterial action on dirt residues, especially when clothes are stored for longer periods without active ventilation. Existing solutions either fail to prevent odor formation or complicate maintenance and repair.
A cabinet internal ventilation system featuring a double-walled rear wall with perforated air outlet regions and a removable unit insert in the cabinet base. This system ensures effective ventilation, easy maintenance, and minimal disruption to the cabinet's appearance.
The system effectively prevents musty smells by maintaining fresh air circulation, allows for tool-free maintenance and repairs, and preserves the cabinet's external appearance by hiding the ventilation components.
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Abstract
Description
The cabinet-type indoor ventilation system is mainly intended for clothes cabinets so that clothes do not absorb a muffy smell. And, cabinet interior lighting provides a bright interior of the cabinet once a cabinet door is opened.If clothing is present for a longer time in a cabinet without active ventilation, a muffous smell of clothing is often obtained on remaining dirt residues by bacterial action despite previously thoroughly washed clothing. This can be covered with fragrances, but can hardly be prevented. However, daily active ventilation of the clothes cupboard substantially prevents odour formation, since presumably the bacteria in question only poorly tolerate fresh air. One cause of odor formation in the clothes cabinet is possibly in wet or insufficiently dried clothes; the cabinet interior ventilation system thereby ensures a post-drying of the clothes stored in the cabinet.The cabinet-interior ventilation system also concerns the fact of preserving flat surfaces in the interior of the cabinet, of making it possible to easily access the essential system components for maintenance and repair work without having to clean out pieces of clothing in the interior, of ensuring repair by rapid change of the essential system components without tools, and of incorporating the system components as much as possible in an imperceptible but expedient manner, so that the external appearance of the cabinet is maintained as undisturbed as possible.This object is achieved by a cabinet internal ventilation system having the features of claim 1.For this purpose, on the one hand, a double-walled cabinet-interior ventilation rear wall with a planar front side and possibly also a planar rear side is used, wherein the front side directed towards the cabinet interior has small perforation holes for blowing air into the interior, while the rear side of the cabinet-interior ventilation rear wall consists of an air-tightly closed surface.On the other hand, a removable unit insert which is located in the cabinet base and contains essential components serves to enable maintenance and repair work in an easily accessible manner without having to open the cabinet door, or to be able to carry out a quick change of the unit insert even without using tools.The prior art is evident from the documentsD1 JP H09-262 141 AD2 EP 0 905 841 A9D3 WO 2021 / 184 613 A1D4 CN 1 12 617 439 AD5 CN 1 10 051 133 AD6 US 2015 / 0 113827 A1D7 DE 695 01 827 T2D8 JP 2003-959 AJP H09-262 141 A describes a spindle for deodorizing and disinfecting clothing with ozone.EP 0 905 841 A9 describes a switch cabinet for accommodating electrical or electronic units, wherein cooling takes place via heat exchangers.WO 2021 / 184 613 A1 describes a clothes care appliance similar to a cabinet which blows air into the interior from below.CN 1 12 617 439 A describes a cabinet in which a blower mounted on top of the cabinet blows air into the cabinet interior.CN 1 10 051 133 A describes a cabinet with air cleaner, heating and lighting.US 2015 / 0 113 827 A1 describes a cabinet with suction fans in the cabinet inner floor, wherein the air flows in at the top through the cabinet cover; as a result, however, the region at the top of the cabinet can no longer be used as a placement surface.DE 695 01 827 T2 describes a multi-purpose dryer for drying laundry, textile products and other household goods.JP 2003-959 A describes a cabinet ventilation system which blows air upwards from below in the cabinet interior and allows it to flow out at the top through the cabinet cover; in addition, the region between the cabinet rear wall and the building wall is also ventilated.The drawings show: FIG. 1 shows a single cabinet compartment with cabinet internal ventilation rear wall and unit insert in the cabinet base below the cabinet internal floor and the illustration of the left cabinet door leaf of the cabinet compartment; FIG. 2 shows an example of an operating unit with a display display and operating keys; FIG. 3 shows a modular plug-in with the functional units shown, but without an air guide hood; FIG. 4 shows the lower region of a cabinet interior ventilation rear wall with the electrical connection sockets located below the cabinet interior floor and the air feed opening; FIG. 5 is a cabinet interior vent rear wall of a left hand cabinet compartment; FIG. 6 shows the internal structure of the cabinet internal ventilation rear wall shown in FIG. 5 ; FIG. 7 shows a horizontal cross section of the internal structure of a cabinet internal ventilation rear wall, i.e. viewed from above; FIG. 8 is a horizontal cross-sectional view of the internal structure of one embodiment of a cabinet-type interior ventilation rear wall with molded cabinet-type interior ventilation rear wall outer panel; FIG. 9 shows the rear outer side of a cabinet made of three cabinet inner ventilation rear wall segments for three cabinet compartments, showing the toothing of the mounting tab edge in the region of the intermediate walls; FIG. 10 is a horizontal cross-sectional top view showing the mounting of the cabinet inner vent rear wall segments to the outer and intermediate walls of a three compartment cabinet; FIG. 11 illustrates an embodiment of the cabinet interior ventilation backplane with multiple cabinet interior lighting power supply jacks distributed throughout cabinet interior height for multiple cabinet temporary shelves with lighting (not shown) mounted on their undersides and shelf patch cables; FIG. 12 shows a cabinet with three compartments, wherein only one cabinet door panel is shown for the sake of clarity.An essential component of the cabinet internal ventilation system is a double-walled cabinet internal ventilation rear wall (1). Towards the inside of the cabinet, it has air outlet regions (2) perforated with small holes, which provide good ventilation over the entire cabinet height. The air flow is fed into the cabinet inner ventilation rear wall ( 1) below the cabinet inner floor ( 3). The modular drawer (4) is located in the cabinet base (7), which is similar in construction to a drawer. The air is drawn in at the unit insertion front wall ( 11) of the unit insertion ( 4) by an air inlet grille ( 5). An insert buckle (6) serves for unlocking and pulling out the unit insert (4), while it latches during insertion and thus ensures secure retention of the unit insert. FIG. 1 illustrates a single cabinet compartment, wherein the left-hand wing of the cabinet door (8) is also shown with a lighting bar (9) attached thereto, and a door switch (10) responsible for the lighting.The aggregate insert (4) represents a further essential component of the cabinet internal ventilation system. It contains a ventilation fan (12), an air filter box (13) for filters and perfume inserts and, if appropriate, anti-moth inserts, an electronics unit (14) and, in the rear wall (18) of the unit insert, a power supply connector (15), a lighting and control line connector (16) and a ventilation channel (19) coming from the outlet of the ventilation fan (12). An air guiding hood (not shown) provides the unit drawer with the effect of guiding the air flow from the air filter box (13) to the ventilation fan (12). The unit insert (4) has on its unit insert front wall (11) an air inlet grille (5) and an insert buckle (6). FIG. 3 shows a unit plug-in (4).The unit inserts (4) have on their unit insert rear wall (18) the ventilation channel (19) and the power supply connector (15) and the lighting and control line connector (16). In the lower region (23) of the cabinet interior ventilation rear wall (1) are the counterparts thereof. When the unit drawer (4) is inserted, the ventilation channel (19) pushes against the air feed opening (20) of the cabinet interior ventilation rear wall (1), and the power supply plug (15) pushes onto its counterpart, the power supply plug socket (21), and the lighting and control line plug (16) likewise pushes onto the lighting and control line plug socket (22). Thus, the air feed and the electrical connections automatically adjoin the cabinet interior ventilation rear wall (1) when the unit insert (4) is inserted and separate when it is pulled out. FIG. 4 shows that region of the cabinet interior ventilation rear wall ( 1) below the cabinet interior floor ( 3).In order to be able to fasten the segments of the cabinet inner ventilation rear wall (1) to the cabinet walls, the ventilation rear wall outer covering plates (28) have a protrusion serving as mounting edge (24). FIG. 5 shows a segment of a cabinet interior ventilation rear wall ( 1) with mounting edge ( 24).In cabinets with several compartments, the problem arises that two segments of the cabinet internal ventilation rear wall (1) must be fastened to the same cabinet intermediate wall (36), wherein the thickness of the cabinet intermediate wall is often not sufficient for a stable fastening. This is remedied by a mounting tab edge (25), wherein the tabs of the ventilation rear wall outer cover plates (28) of adjacent segments engage in one another in a toothed manner and the full thickness of the cabinet intermediate wall (36) is thus available. Figure 9 shows mounting tab edges (25), the intermediate compartment venting rear wall outer cover panel (31) having a mounting tab edge (25) on both sides. FIG. 10 shows a horizontal cross section of the fastening of the segments of the cabinet interior ventilation rear wall (1), wherein the left cabinet side wall (35), the cabinet intermediate walls (36), the right cabinet side wall (37) and the fastening elements (38) are also shown.In the case of the double-walled cabinet-interior ventilation rear wall (1), spacer profiled rails (26), for example as U-profiles, keep the ventilation rear-wall exterior covering plate (28) and the ventilation rear-wall interior covering plate (29) at a distance, form the rear-wall air ducts (27) and also impart stability to the cabinet-interior ventilation rear wall. FIG. 6 shows the internal structure of a cabinet interior ventilation rear wall (1) with the spacer rails (26) and the rear wall air ducts (27). FIG. 7 shows a cross section in the horizontal through a rear wall segment, the air outflow holes (30) also being indicated.A method of manufacturing the cabinet interior ventilation rear wall ( 1) that is faster from a manufacturing standpoint consists in the use of preforming, with thermoforming often being suitable for plastics. This makes it possible to preform a ventilation rear wall profile outer panel (42) which already contains the rear wall air ducts (27), the ventilation rear wall side edges (43), the mounting edges (24) and mounting tab edges (25) and the necessary air guidance formed in the lower region of the cabinet inner ventilation rear wall and thus makes spacer profiles unnecessary. However, not every manufacturing material is suitable for this, such as plywood. In addition, a thermoforming plant is required for plastics. FIG. 8 shows a horizontal cross section through a cabinet inner ventilation rear wall (1) with a ventilation rear wall profile outer panel (42).The air is discharged from the cabinet through the gaps of the cabinet doors. However, in the event that the cabinet doors are too close together or that the cabinet doors contain seals, sufficient venting must be provided by additional openings.Several possibilities for mounting the same are available for the cabinet interior lighting. FIG. 1 shows a lighting strip ( 9) attached to the inside of the cabinet door ( 8), which, when the cabinet door is open, radiates in the direction of the cabinet interior. Other possible embodiments of a cabinet interior lighting system consist in mounting it at the front on the cabinet side walls, and lighting system can also be mounted on the undersides of the trays and integrated into the cabinet interior ventilation rear wall. Finally, the design of the cabinet interior lighting depends on the desires of the cabinet manufacturers and the cabinet buyers.In one embodiment, the cabinet interior ventilation rear panel (1) has a plurality of cabinet interior lighting power supply sockets (41) distributed over the cabinet interior height for a plurality of cabinet intermediate shelves (39) with lighting (not shown) attached to the undersides thereof. On the undersides of the cabinet trays are tray connecting cables (40) with plugs for connecting to the cabinet interior lighting power supply jacks (41). Figure 11 shows a cabinet compartment, without showing the cabinet doors, having a plurality of cabinet temporary trays (39), cabinet interior lighting power supply jacks (41), and tray patch cables (40).For embodiments of the cabinet-interior ventilation system, it is also possible to feed a plurality of segments of a cabinet-interior ventilation rear wall (1) by dividing the air flow coming from a ventilation fan (12) and thus to ventilate a plurality of cabinet compartments by a single ventilation fan (12).The cabinet ventilation system is operated by means of an operating unit (32). It contains a display (33) and operating keys (34) to make settings such as ventilation times and ventilation run time. The control unit should be mounted at a suitable location in the cabinet, for example on the inside of a cabinet door.Suitable materials for the cabinet interior ventilation rear walls (1) are plastics resistant to cleaning agents, such as PVC, but other materials can also be used, such as coated plywood or press board. If the production material used can be glued well and permanently, glue joints offer the advantage of distortion-free surfaces and the avoidance of protrusions and depressions when assembling the individual parts of the cabinet interior ventilation rear walls.The advantages of this type of cabinet-type interior ventilation system consist in the fact that the flat cabinet inner surfaces are maintained by the double-walled cabinet-type interior ventilation rear wall (1) and the ventilation system in the cabinet interior hardly falls open, and moreover, by the combination of essential system components in an assembly plug-in (4) placed at the bottom in the cabinet base (7), maintenance work, such as air filter replacement or replacement of a perfume insert, can be carried out in an easily accessible manner, quickly and easily without having to open even only one cabinet door. Only the air inlet grille (5) and the insertion buckle (6) of the cabinet interior ventilation system remain visible on the exterior of the cabinet, so that the external appearance of the cabinet remains largely undisturbed. The method of combining essential system components in a modular plug-in unit (4) placed in the cabinet base (7) and thereby effecting an automatic connection of electrical connections and air duct during the plug-in operation allows a tool-free rapid change of the modular plug-in unit (4) in the event of repair.List of reference numbers:1 Cabinet-interior ventilation rear wall 2 perforated air outlet regions 3 cabinet-interior floor 4 unit plug-in 5 air inlet grille 6 plug-in buckle 7 cabinet base 8 cabinet door 9 lighting strip 10 door switch 11 unit plug-in front wall 12 ventilation fan 13 air filter box 14 power supply part 15 power supply plug 16 lighting and control line plug 17 plug-in guide rail 18 unit plug-in rear wall 19 ventilation channel 20 air feed opening 21 power supply plug socket 22 lighting and control line plug socket 23 lower region of the cabinet-interior ventilation rear wall 24 mounting edge 25 mounting tab edge 26 spacer profile rails 27 rear wall air channels 28 ventilation rear wall exterior cover plate 29 ventilation rear wall interior cover plateList of reference numbers: 30 air outflow holes 31 intermediate compartment ventilation rear wall outer cover plate 32 operating unit 33 display display 34 operating buttons 35 left cabinet side wall 36 cabinet intermediate wall 37 right cabinet side wall 38 fastening element 39 cabinet intermediate shelves 40 shelf connecting cables 41 cabinet interior lighting power supply sockets 42 ventilation rear wall profile outer plate 43 ventilation rear wall side edges
Claims
Cabinet-interior ventilation system which has as essential components a double-walled cabinet-interior ventilation rear wall (1), a ventilation fan (12) and a cabinet-interior lighting, wherein the ventilation rear wall-interior covering plate (29) of the cabinet-interior ventilation rear wall (1) has a multiplicity of small air outflow holes (30) distributed over large surface areas and an air feed opening (20) at the bottom, and also has an assembly insert (4) which can be removed without tools and can be exchanged without tools in the cabinet base (7) below the cabinet inner base (3), wherein the assembly insert (4) has a ventilation fan (12), an air filter box (13) for filters and perfume inserts and anti-moth-agent inserts, a power supply part (14), and also in the unit plug-in rear wall (18) a power supply plug (15), a lighting and control line plug (16) and a ventilation channel (19) coming from the outlet of the ventilation fan (12), additionally containing an air guide hood (not shown), and on its unit plug-in front wall (11) an air inlet grid (5) and a plug-in buckle (6), characterized in that the unit plug (4) on its unit plug-in rear wall (18) has the ventilation channel (19) and also the power supply plug (15) and the lighting and control line plug (16), while, with a matching fit, the cabinet interior ventilation rear wall (1) has the air feed opening (20) and a power supply socket (21) and a lighting and control line socket (22) in the region below the cabinet interior floor (3).Cabinet-type interior ventilation system according to Claim 1, characterized in that compartment segments of the cabinet-type interior ventilation rear wall (1) have a mounting edge (24), wherein, in one embodiment, in the region of the cabinet partitions (36), the latter is in the form of a mounting tab edge (25) in such a way that the mounting tab edges (25) of two adjacent cabinet-type interior ventilation rear walls (1) engage one inside the other and in the process largely cover the thickness of the respective cabinet partition (36).Cabinet-type interior ventilation system according to claim 1, characterised in that in one embodiment a ventilation-rear-wall profile outer panel (42) is used which already contains rear-wall air ducts (27), ventilation-rear-wall side edges (43), the mounting edges (24) and mounting tab edges (25) and the air guide formed in the lower region of the cabinet-type interior ventilation rear wall (1).Cabinet-interior ventilation system according to claims 1 to 3, characterised in that the cabinet-interior lighting comprises lighting elements which, depending on the conditions of the insides of the cabinet doors (8), at the front on the side walls of the respective cabinet compartment, are integrated into the cabinet-interior ventilation rear wall (1) or are attached to the undersides of the cabinet intermediate trays (39).Cabinet-type indoor ventilation system according to claims 1 to 4, characterized in that in one embodiment the cabinet-type indoor ventilation rear wall (1) comprises a plurality of cabinet-type indoor lighting power supply sockets (41) distributed over the cabinet's internal height.Cabinet-type interior ventilation system according to Claims 1 to 5, characterized in that, in cabinets having a plurality of cabinet compartments, there are designs in which a plurality of segments of the cabinet-type interior ventilation rear wall (1) are fed by splitting the air stream coming from a ventilation fan (12).
Citation Information
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