Food container with a specifically attached decoration foil as well as a household refrigerator with such a food container
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing food storage containers in household refrigeration appliances face challenges in uniformly applying decorative films, leading to uneven and unclean appearances due to limited attachment areas, especially on bowl-shaped containers where the film cannot be applied over the entire height without creating steps and optically undesirable shadows.
Innovation Solution
A one-piece decorative film is applied to the casing wall of a food storage container, covering the transition and adjacent walls seamlessly, providing a continuous surface area without steps, and is applied using a hot stamping process for precision and durability across varying temperatures.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If a decorative film is applied only to certain areas of the bowl-shaped food storage container, then the application area is limited and easier to manage, but the appearance becomes uneven and unclean due to steps and discontinuities
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extends the decorative film application from a two-dimensional planar surface to a three-dimensional continuous surface that wraps around the bowl-shaped container. The film is applied to cover the curved transition zones between walls and the bottom surface, creating a seamless appearance that eliminates steps and discontinuities by utilizing the container's three-dimensional geometry.
Solution Approach 2:
The decorative film is divided into multiple segments or sections that are applied to different surfaces of the container (walls, curved transitions, bottom). These segments are designed to connect seamlessly, with each segment covering specific geometric features of the bowl-shaped container, allowing for precise positioning and uniform appearance across the entire surface.
2Area of stationary object
If a decorative film is applied over the entire height of the container, then complete coverage is achieved, but the application becomes difficult and creates uneven lower edges
Solution Approach 1:
The decorative film application is optimized for each local area of the container. Different sections of the film are designed with specific properties and application methods suited to their location - for example, sections covering curved transitions may have different flexibility or adhesion characteristics compared to sections on flat walls, allowing for easy application while achieving complete coverage.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent utilizes the curved and bowl-shaped geometry of the container to facilitate film application. The decorative film is designed to conform to curved surfaces and transition zones, allowing it to wrap around the container's geometry naturally. This curvature-based approach simplifies application by eliminating sharp corners and abrupt edges that would create uneven lower edges.
3Adaptability or versatility
If separate decorative elements are used on different walls, then individual customization is possible, but the overall appearance becomes discontinuous and uneven
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple decorative film sections into a unified continuous decoration scheme. While individual walls or sections may have distinct decorative patterns or colors, these are integrated through seamless transitions and continuous film application across curved surfaces, creating an overall unified appearance that maintains both customization and continuity.
Solution Approach 2:
The decorative film may utilize composite material structures with different layers or properties in different sections. This allows for individual customization of decorative characteristics (such as color, pattern, or texture) on different walls while maintaining physical continuity and seamless integration through the film's composite construction and continuous application method.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution ensures a sharp, precise, and optically appealing application of the decorative film, preventing shadows and maintaining a clean appearance by creating a flush transition, enhancing the container's visual appeal and hygiene while mimicking metallic materials at a cost-effective level.
Implementation Method 1
The decorative film is applied to the outside of the food storage container by a hot stamping process.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
AI summary
The invention relates to a food-accommodating container (13, 14, 15, 16, 17) for a domestic refrigeration appliance (1), said container being of tray-like design and having a lateral wall (18) with a first planar wall (20) and at least a second planar wall (21), which is arranged at an angle to the first wall, wherein the walls (20, 21) open out at a curved transition (22) of the lateral wall (18), said transition connecting the walls (20, 21), and a decorative film (23) is formed in certain regions of the lateral wall (18), wherein the decorative film (23) is formed in one piece over the transition (22) and in certain regions of the first wall (20) and in certain regions of the second wall (21), wherein a lower edge (24) of the decorative film (23), said lower edge being directed away from an upper periphery (19) of the food-accommodating container (13 to 17), is arranged along a stepless surface-area region of the transition (22), along a stepless surface-area region of the first wall (20) and along a stepless surface-area region of the second wall (21). The invention also relates to a domestic refrigeration appliance (1).