Thermal insulation box

Details Thermal insulation box Thermal insulation box

2001-11-09

2003-10-28

Moy, Joseph M. (Department: 3744)

Receptacles

Receptacle having means to facilitate maintaining contents...

Ice-box, refrigerator, or freezer cabinet

C220S592090, C220S004020

Reexamination Certificate

active

06637615

ABSTRACT:

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a thermal insulation box, for example, for an automatic ice-making machine.
DESCRIPTION OF RELATED ART
As shown in
FIG. 15
, a thermal insulation box employed in an automatic ice-making machine has a casing body
12
. The casing body
12
is formed by disposing a pair of side panels
11
on the external sides of a right side wall and a left side wall of an ice bin
10
to be spaced away from each other crosswise. The ice bin
10
has an upward opening and a forward opening. An ice-making unit (not shown) suspended from a mounting frame (not shown) provided horizontally in an upper part of the casing body
12
is designed to be located in an upper space in the ice bin
10
. Each side panel
11
has at the front a U-shaped portion
11
a
having a U-shaped cross section in plan view and at the upper edge an upper inward bent portion
11
b
(bent toward the ice bin), so that the U-shaped portion
11
a
and the upper bent portion
11
b
of the side panel
11
are adapted to be positioned by fitting the former to the front face and by placing the latter on the top face of the associated side wall of the ice bin
10
, respectively.
A front frame
13
is attached to the front of the casing body
12
at a predetermined position lower than the top thereof. The front frame
13
prevents inward deformation and the like of the right and left sidewalls
12
a
(each sidewall being composed of the side wall of the ice bin
10
and the side panel
11
) in the casing body
12
and secures a forward opening
12
b
for the casing body
12
. The front frame
13
is box-shaped and opens backward (toward the ice bin) as shown in
FIG. 15
, and a heat-insulating material
14
formed separately is designed to be inserted into the frame
13
. The front frame
13
is fitted to the casing body
12
by abutting both lateral side faces of the frame
13
against the inner faces of the U-shaped portions
11
a
and, in this state, fixing the former to the latter by caulking, respectively, followed by insertion of the heat-insulating material into the frame
13
. Here, the front frame
13
is made of a suitable metallic material so that it can function as a magnetic attracting face for a magnet attached to a door (not shown), which opens and closes freely the forward opening
12
b
of the casing body
12
.
A front panel
15
is removably attached to the front of the casing body
12
. The front panel
15
covers the portion of the forward opening
12
b
upper than the location of the front fame
13
. This front panel
15
is box-shaped and opens backward (toward the ice bin), as shown in
FIG. 15
, and a heat-insulating material
16
formed separately is designed to be inserted into the front panel
15
. The front panel
15
has on the rear side a pair of engaging holes
15
a
near the crosswise ends thereof. The engaging holes
15
a
are engaged with screw collars
17
located on the front ends of the sidewalls
12
a
of the casing body
12
(front faces of the U-shaped portions
11
a
of the side panels
11
), respectively, to achieve positioning of the front panel
15
with respect to the casing body
12
. The front panel
15
has a positioning piece
15
b
extended downward from the rear lower edge thereof. With the positioning piece
15
b
being abutted against the front face of the front frame
13
, the positioning piece
15
b
is designed to be fixed to the front frame
13
through a screw
18
. Here, the front panel
15
has an engaging portion
15
c
formed along the rear upper edge thereof, which is engageable with a counterpart engaging portion
19
b
of a top plate
19
(to be described later).
A top plate
19
, which closes an upward opening
12
c
of the casing body
12
, is box-shaped and opens downward (toward the ice bin), and a heat-insulating material
20
formed separately is adapted to be inserted into the top plate
19
. The opening of the top plate
19
is designed to be slightly larger than the outside dimensions of the casing body
12
. With the top plate
19
being placed on the top of the casing body
12
, the top plate
19
is fixed at both lateral side faces to the right and left side panels
11
with screws
21
, respectively. The top plate
19
has an engaging slot
19
a
defined in the rear part thereof, which can be engaged with a latch
22
fitted to the rear face of the casing body
12
, and also has a counterpart engaging portion
19
b
formed at the front, which can be engaged with the engaging portion
15
c
of the front panel
15
. More specifically, the top plate
19
is designed to be placed on the top of the casing body
12
and to be screwed thereto at both lateral side faces with the latch
22
being engaged with the engaging slot
19
a
of the top plate
19
and with the counterpart engaging portion
19
b
being engaged with the engaging portion
15
c
of the front panel
15
.
The thermal insulation box described above involves a problem that the front panel
15
is merely brought into face contact at the rear face with the front faces of the sidewalls
12
a
of the casing body
12
, so that gaps are likely to be formed therebetween, and there is a fear that contaminated water, oil, dust, insects, etc. enter the ice bin
10
through these gaps.
While the front panel
15
is positioned by engagement of the engaging holes
16
a
with the screw collars
17
attached to the casing body
12
, the engaging holes
15
a
are designed to have a large inside diameter so as to facilitate engagement with the screw collars
17
, taking the trouble for carrying out accurate positioning of the front panel
15
for fixing it by screwing to the front frame
13
. Meanwhile, it can also be pointed out referring to the top plate
19
that it takes the trouble for achieving positioning thereof with respect to the casing body
12
, since the top plate
19
is designed to have outside dimensions large enough to achieve engagement of the front part and rear part thereof with the engaging portion
15
c
of the front panel
15
and with the latch
22
, respectively.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention was accomplished in view of the problems inherent in the prior art described above and to solve them suitably, and is directed to providing a thermal insulation box, which is easy to attach and can be kept always hygienically.
In order to solve the problems described above and to attain the intended object suitably, the thermal insulation box according to the present invention is provided with a front panel attached to a front part of a casing body having a forward opening so as to cover the forward opening; the front panel being packed with a foamed heat-insulating material; characterized in that the casing has front protrusions formed on the front face of the casing body; and fitting recesses which are formed on the rear face of the front panel and which are to be fitted to cover the front protrusions of the casing body.
In order to solve the problems described above and to attain the intended object suitably, the thermal insulation box according to another aspect of the present invention is provided with a top plate disposed on top of a casing body having an upward opening so as to cover the upward opening; the top plate being packed with a foamed heat-insulating material; characterized in that the casing has upper protrusions formed on the top face of the casing body; and fitting portions which are formed along the lower edge of the top plate and which are to be fitted to cover the upper protrusions of the casing body.


REFERENCES:
patent: 2537314 (1951-01-01), Mortensen
patent: 3240029 (1966-03-01), Wurtz
patent: 4360105 (1982-11-01), Williams
patent: 4368819 (1983-01-01), Durham
patent: 4903858 (1990-02-01), Clark et al.
patent: 4917256 (1990-04-01), Kruck et al.

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