US2307159A - Refrigerator door and gasket construction - Google Patents

Description

-T. RUNDELL REFRIGERATOR DOOR AND GASKET CONSTRUCTION Jan. 5, 1943.

Filed July 1, 1940 Patented Jan. 5, .1943

REFRIGERATOR nooR AND GASKET ooNs'rRUc'rIoN' Theodore W. Randell, Jenkintown, Pa., assignor,

y Philadelphia, Pa.,

vanla mesne assignments, to Philco Corporation,

a corporation of Pennsyl- Application July 1 1940, Serial No. 343,489

A 3 Claims. This invention relates to new and useful improvements in domestic refrigerator cabinets and more particularly to the construction and arrangement of the doors and sealing gaskets therefor.

It is, of course, well understood that gasket members have heretofore been employed at the door openings of refrigerator cabinets for sealing the door openings against the circulation of air More specifically itis shell thereby improving both the operation and appearance of the refrigerator.

Another object of the invention is to provide a refrigerator door and gasket construction of. the character described which is unusually neat and appealing in appearance.

A further object of the invention is to provide I a novel refrigerator door and gasket construction wherein the constructionarrangement of the refrigerator door gasket is-such that .a relativelylarge Emmj yedi n tion of the type described wherein the door has between the interior and exterior of the cabinet. 10 I10 exposed flanges- I'hese gaskets are usually of rubber r th r it- These and other objects of the invention'and able resilient material, and, to properly seal the the various features and details of the construcrefrigerator, it is necessary that such a gasket be tion and arrangement t reof e he ei a te compressed sufliciently to form an air-tight seal fully Set forth and described d Shown in e between the door and cabinet of the refrigerator. 15 accompanying d aw in Which! 'To accomplish this compression of the door Figure 115 a diagrammatic fragmcntalfy View gasket without placing a substantially large in pir p ct e of a r e ise mtor r a hz t eu:- strain upon the door hinges, and to eliminate tiOIl d b m; 5 Own n Sec 011 0 I1 ca 8 binding of the door when closing, it is desirable, the r i m nt a d u j t ma f and has become more or less customary, to em- .20 e inven 10 v ploy gaskets which have a thin-walled honow Figure 2 is an enlarged view in section taken b d of relatively large diameter which is easily horizontally through a refrigerator door and gascompressed or flattened between the cabinet and ket constructed in accordance with the present its d h th tt is closed. inventiotn, the central porion o; the door having From the standpoint of function these gaskets cu away or remove an a are entirely satisfactory and eflectively seal the Figures 3, 4, 5 and 6 comprise a group of fragdoor opening against. the passage of without mentary sectional views diagrammatically illusplacing undue strain upon the door hinges trating the several steps 1n the fabrication and However, it is wen known that the head portion n assembly of the novel refrigerator door and gasof gaskets, of this type are clearly visible even ket construction i when the refrigerator door is closed and, in order Referring now more partlcularly to the draw to. detract as little as possible from the external reference 33 3 fi g i i' appearance of the refrigerator, it is desirable -gf i gg gfiggg g yg g g cor pwo y that this head portion be relatively small. ,o

Further, it is desirable that the door and sealg gi m f g i fi of ing gasket be so arranged that no flanges of the par C ar re gem or ere 5 '8 mardoor panels are visible when the door is open gins; portions t surmundmg the dour opening arranged in a fiat plane for engagement The appearance of product of this type is by and compression of a door gasket 5 when the 9 in importance only to the proper function 0 door 2 is closed, the said door when closed overmg of the product lapping said marginal portionfl of the cabinet! Accordingly and with the foregoing objects in as Shown v mind the principal object of the Present inven The gasket 5 is formed of rubber or other fiextion is to provide a refrigeratordoor andgasket ib1e or resilient tq tm material constmcfion afiordmgPmper hn the comprises a thin-walled-bead portiont having mgemtor cabinet against the circulation a an .arcuate or convexouter sealing face of relawithout the introduetionrof unnecessary strains timely, large diameter anda 13p portion which the door hinges and Without detracting from is ofiset and extends horizontally at the inner the external DQEBIaf e r frigerator-cab: side or said bead portion 6 and is connected inet. thereto by a shankportion fl. Thus'there isprovided aslotfor recess zbetweenasaidlip-portion?i and the head 5 andspreferablyltl e latterhas 1 an outwardly oifset portionid arran 1 935891,

" partially concealed ibyiiihesfianges ofsthe door outliedlangeofthedoor-for a-purpose'thatwill hereinafter appear.

The refrigerator door 2 comprises outer and inner sheet members or panels l and H, respectively, the former being of sheet metal material and the latter preferably of fibrous material or other similar heat-insulating composition. These panels to and H are arranged in the relation shownin the drawing with the aforesaid gasket interposed between their adjacent edge portions and the space between them filled with suitable insulating material [2 such as mineral or'glass Wool, or the like.

A bracket or member I3 is provided interiorly about the periphery of the door panel In comprising an intermediate flat body portion 54 and leg portions l5 and I6 which project in opposite directions at right angles from the respective sides of said body portion M. This bracket or member [3 extends continuously and is permanently secured about the internal periphery of the door outer panel ill by welding the leg portion [5 thereof to the inner surface of the flange portion I! of said outer panel in such manner that the intermediate body portion l4 of said bracket l3 projects inwardly of the door 2 in a plane perpendicular to the said flange portion ll of the outer door member ID, as shown in Figure 3. The edge portion of this flange i1 is then turned or bent inwardly as indicated at Ila (see Figure 4) to a position parallel to and spaced outwardly from the bracket body portion IA.

The gasket 5 is next placed or mounted upon the inner door panel I I by stretching said gasket 5 thereover so that the peripheral edge portions of said panel II are engaged in the slot or recess provided between the bead B and lip 1 of the gasket 5 in the relation shown in Figure 5, the inherent resilience of said gasket functioning to retain the latter on the inner panel II.

This inner door panel II with its peripherally mounted gasket 5 is now placed within the outer panel ID of the door so that the underside of the gasket lip rests upon the outer surface of the bracket body portion H with the outwardly oilset portion 5a of the gasket-bead B lapped over the outwardly facing surface of the inwardly turned flange portion Ila of said outer panel Hi, all as shown in Figure 6 of the drawing.

With the several parts of the door thus assembled the bead portion 6 of the gasket may be lifted away from the inner door panel II and the latter and said gasket secured by means of screws l8 to the outer door panel I0 through the body portion M of its bracket 13 at suitably spaced intervals thereabout.- V

The foregoing construction and assembly oi the refrigerator door and gasket is the same all the way about the door and this construction is well suited to the mounting of hinges. It is only necessary to notch out a portion from the lip portion 1 and shank 8 of the gasket for a short length and provide an opening IS in the door flange l1 and bracket leg I! through which a hinge tongue 20 can be inserted between the inner door panel I l and the bracket body portion ll, as shown in Figure 2 or the drawing, The hinge tongue 20 is secured to the bracket body It by means of a screw II, and, as shown, a reinforcing or strengthening plate 22 is preferably disposed at the opposite side of said bracket bodyportion I4 for the purpose ofproviding a stronger, more rigid support for the hinge. To provide a moisture-proof seal about the tongue 20 it is preferred that the portion 23 of the gasket lip I be retained when the same is notched for rec pflon 91 s id hinge tongue so that the casket 76 will be continuous and unbroken'and will surround the hinge tongue and be compressed into engagement with the latter when the inner panel H is tightened against the bracket body M.

Another important advantage to be gained from this door and hinge construction is that a standard type hinge plate may be employed at the same time enabling the hinge axis to be disposed forwardly of the plane of the front face of the cabinet and thus permit relatively easy closing of the door without binding and without setting up any shearing forces on the gasket 5. This is made possible by the'recessing of the bracket I3 inwardly of the intumed flange portion Ila of the door shell and the securing of the hinge tongue 20 to said bracket.

From the foregoing construction it will be seen that the provision of the inwardly offset bracket body portion it affords a recessed structure or support to which the gasket 5 and inner doorpanel H may be secured, with the result that the adjacent outwardly projecting flange portion i? of the outer door panel I 0 acts to conceal a substantial portion of said gasket 5 so that only v the srhalloffset portion 6a of the bead portion 6 is visible when the completed refrigerator door 2 is closed against the cabinet I. Also, by turning the edge portion of flange I1 inwardly, as Ila, a seat is provided for the offset portion of the gasket bead 6 and at the same time a refrigerator door is produced which is entirely free from exposed flanges or other raw'edges.

Thus the refrigerator door and gasket construction of the present invention makes possible the use of a gasket having a, relatively large diameter bead thereby affording proper sealing of the door against the circulation of air without unnecessarily straining the door hinges, and at the same time effectively conceals a good part of the gasket so that when the door is closed only a small part of the bead is visible with the result that the refrigerator is afforded an unusually neat, and finished external appearance eminently appealing to the eye.

While a. particular embodiment of the present invention has been herein illustrated and de-- scribed, it is not intended that said invention be limited to such disclosure but that changes and modifications may be, made and embodied therein within the scope of the annexed claims.

I claim:

1. In a domestic refrigerator door comprisin an outer shell having an intumed marginal flange, and an inner panel member, a bracket member secured to said outer shell and having a body portion offset inwardly of and parallel to saidinturned marginal flange of the shell and underlying the edge portions of the inner panel member, and a resilient gasket member comprising a lip portion interposed between the lapping portions of the bracket and inner panel members, a head portion outwardly overlying both the allel tosaid inturned marginal flange of the allel to said inturned marginal flange oi the shell and underlying the edge portions of the inner panel member, and a resilient gasket member comprising a lip portion interposed between the lapping portions. of the bracket and inner panel members, a bead portion outwardly overlying both the inturned marginal flange of the outer shell and the edge portions of said inner panel, and a shank portion Joining said lip and said bead and extending outwardly between the edges of the outer shell inturned marginal flange and the inner panel member.

3. In a domestic refrigerator door comprising a dished-out outer shell having an inturned marginal flange extending substantially continuously thereabout, and an inner panel member, a bracket member secured within said outer shell and having a body portion extending continuously about the shell and oflset inwardly 0i and parshell and underiying'the edge portions 01 the inner panel member, and a resilient gasket member comprising a lip portion interposed between i the lapping portions oi! the bracket and the inner panel members, a bead portion outwardly overlying both the inturned marginal flange of the outer shell and the edge portions of said inner panel, a shank portion joining said lip and said bead and'extending outwardly between the edges of the outer shell inturned marginal flange and the inner panel member, and means-securing the inner panel member and said gasket to

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