Movable or removable closures – Panel with closure feature
Reexamination Certificate
1999-09-30
2001-04-03
Redman, Jerry (Department: 3634)
Movable or removable closures
Panel with closure feature
C049S382000, C049S397000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06209265
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a door for a refrigerator having load reinforced corners for reducing door loading stresses across the outer door skin.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
For several years the trend in domestic refrigerator cabinets has been to increase the size and in particular the width of the food compartments and doors in top or bottom mount refrigerators.
Typically, the refrigerator door is constructed from an outer door panel of sheet steel material having rearwardly extending side walls. The door has an inner liner wall of plastic material attached to the door panel. Foam insulation is injected in the space between the outer panel and the inner liner. The foam expands and cures to thermally insulate and rigidize the door.
In order to conserve costs, the amount of steel used in the manufacture of these doors is optimized. The practice is to use a relatively thin sheet of steel for the outer panel. Often this sheet is in the order of 0.017 inches thick. Consequently, in order for the refrigerator door to maintain it's integrity and support articles or items stored on door mounted shelves, one common approach is to reinforce the door with cross braces located within the space of the door between the inner liner and the outer door panel. The metal cross braces extend from the corners of the refrigerator outer panel in an X configuration to reinforce the refrigerator door.
Another known approach to rigidize the door is to use a sheet of paper, aluminum foil or cardboard embedded in the insulation injected into the door cavity. This paper sheet is sufficiently large to cover the inside of the door and is taped to the door to prevent shifting. The sheet improves the rigidity of the door without significantly adding to the weight or cost of the door. More recently, metal sheets have been substituted for paper to improve rigidity. However, the metal sheet adds more weight to the door.
While the above described approaches in refrigerator door construction improve the rigidity of the door, these solutions are more directed to reinforcing the door outer skin and inner liner. To further strengthen the door outer skin, the corners of the door, formed when the skin is rolled back onto itself to provide a supporting peripheral flange for the door liner have been welded to strengthen the corners. However, this results in the distribution of the corner hinge loading forces across the outer door skin which is the very problem for which the above methods of reinforcement are attempting to compensate. Clearly, there is a need for a refrigerator door corner construction that eliminates the problems associated with door corner loading, reinforces the door, and reduces load transfer from the corner through the door onto the relatively thin steel outer skin wall of the refrigerator door.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide a refrigerator door construction having door corner brackets and linking strut supports that improve the rigidity of the door.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a refrigerator door construction having improved corner reinforcement adjacent the side walls of the refrigerator door to reduce the stresses loaded onto the outer skin of the door through the door corners.
The present invention relates to a refrigerator appliance and, in particular, a door for a refrigerator appliance where the door includes reinforcing corner brackets that structurally complete the corners of the door. The corner brackets are located at the door corners adjacent vertical and horizontal side walls of the outer door skin. The brackets structurally replace the horizontal side wall immediately adjacent the vertical side wall with a thicker, stronger material, such as, for example, metal or steel, so that loading normally transferred to the outer door skin through the horizontal side wall at this corner location is instead transferred directly to the brackets mounted in the door. In the preferred embodiment, the horizontal side wall has an open section that is formed as cut-out section located adjacent where the door is normally mounted through hinge pins to the refrigerator appliance. It should be understood that this open section may be formed by rolling the vertical wall around a larger arc to result in an opening.
In accordance with an aspect of the present invention there is provided a door for a refrigerator appliance comprising an outer door panel having an outer skin sheet with rearwardly extending peripheral vertical and horizontal side walls. The door panel has a plurality of corners positioned between adjacent horizontal and vertical side walls. The door has an inner door liner secured to the outer door panel spaced from the sheet to define a cavity between the inner liner and the sheet. The door has reinforcing corner brackets positioned within the cavity adjacent at least two opposed corners located at ends of one of the vertical side walls. The brackets extend along and are secured to at least one of the horizontal and vertical side walls adjacent the vertically opposed corners to reinforce the corners. The door includes an elongate supporting strut having its opposing ends engaging the reinforcing corner brackets. The strut extends adjacent the one vertical side wall to support the corner brackets within the door to reinforce the door.
The corner bracket preferably is a plate that extends across the open or cut-out section of the horizontal wall and adjacent the horizontal wall for securement therewith. The bracket has a depending end peripheral flange that extends towards the cavity and abuts the adjacent vertical side wall. The bracket plate and depending end peripheral flange are crimped to the side walls to secure the bracket at the corner.
Preferably, the brackets include a central opening adjacent the removed horizontal side wall section for receiving a hinge pin and the strut is a hollow metal tube having and end peripheral rim secured to the bracket adjacent the central opening.
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Banicevic Nedo
Estravillo Arnold
Klaas Murray
Camco Inc.
Redman Jerry
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