BRPI0902027A2 - refrigerator cabinet manufacturing process, refrigerator cabinet manufacturing process and one cabinet production line - Google Patents

Abstract

REFRIGERATOR CABINET MANUFACTURING PROCESS, REFRIGERATOR MANUFACTURING PROCESS AND PRODUCTION LINE OF A CABINET The present invention relates to a process of manufacturing a refrigerator cabinet, which basically comprises forming a long U profile of sheet metal steel, plastic sheet and polyurethane between said sheets, and then cut said profile to the required lengths. The invention also relates to a production process for a refrigerator using the cabinet according to the invention, as well as a production line for the cabinet, which line comprises a plastic extruder (1), forming and cooling equipment in profile (4), a painting chamber (5) and a cutting device (6), arranged one after the other.

Description

"REFRIGERATOR CABINET MANUFACTURING PROCESS, REFRIGERATOR MANUFACTURING PROCESS AND UMBRELLA PRODUCTION LINE"

FIELD OF INVENTION

The present invention relates to a process of manufacturing a cooler cabinet as well as to a process of manufacturing a cooler using the cabinet manufactured by the new process. The invention further relates to a dogabinet production line.

PRIOR TECHNIQUE AND ITS INCONVENIENTS

As is well known, manufacturing a cabinet of a refrigerator basically comprises the following steps:

1) manufacture the outer metal box;

2) manufacture the inner plastic box;

3) assemble the inner box in the outer box with polyurethane injection between said boxes; and

4) Assemble wiring, ducts, conduits and fences.

These basic steps are subdivided into the following sub steps:

Substeps of basic step 1)

bending the sheet metal to form a U;

- fabrication of the bottom and top plate, and mounting on the U-shaped sheet metal, forming a metal box;

- painting and curing of the metal box; and

- movement.

Substeps of basic step 2)

- extrusion of the plastic sheet;

- thermoforming of the plastic box;

- drilling;

- box preparation; and

- movement.

Substeps of basic step 3)

- insert the plastic box inside the metal box; and

- inject polyurethane and fix the plastic box in the metal box. Sub-steps of the basic step 4)

- cut wires, ducts and conduits to pre-specified lengths; and

- Mount the wires, ducts, conduits and seals in the cabinet.

Thus, as can be seen from the above description, a drawback of the known manufacturing process is the fact that it involves many steps. Another drawback is that the known process requires a lot of moving parts inside the factory since that basic steps 1 to 4 occur in isolation from each other. Of course, moving parts requires transportation equipment or higher man-hours.

Thus, too many cabinet manufacturing steps and increased parts handling substantially increase the final cost of the refrigerator.

OBJECTIVES AND ADVANTAGES OF THE INVENTION

The present invention aims to reduce the manufacturing costs of a refrigerant generator.

This objective is achieved through a manufacturing process for a refrigerator cabinet, which comprises the following steps:

a) unwinding a metal sheet from a coil;

b) feeding granules to a plastic extruder;

d) unwinding tubes, conduits and ducts from their respective coils;

e) feeding the sheet metal and the plastic sheet formed in the extruder simultaneously and in parallel and at a certain distance from one another to a cooling and forming equipment;

f) inserting the pipes, conduits and ducts between the sheet metal and the plastic sheet, when said sheets are fed to the profile forming equipment;

g) forming the metal and plastic plates, together with the pipes, conduit ducts between both plates, forming a U-profile, and simultaneously injecting polyurethane between said plates;

h) cool profile U

i) paint the U profile;

j) cut sections of U-profile to cabinet lengths;

k) repeat steps 'a' to 'e';

l) forming top and bottom tops and simultaneously injecting polyurethane between said sheets;

m) cut the sections of the tops; and

n) mount the caps on the U profiles.

Thus, one of the advantages of the process according to the invention is that it provides high productivity, since the number of manufacturing steps is substantially smaller and the production of the cabinet is practically in a single continuous line. .

Another advantage of the process according to the invention is that the moving of parts within the factory is substantially reduced, which makes various conveyor equipment unnecessary.The invention also consists of a refrigerator manufacturing process, which comprises the steps'. a 'a' m 'described above, and additionally the following steps:

o) mount the doors in the cabinet;

p) mount the compact refrigeration and control unit in the cabinet; and

q) assemble internal components and accessories.

The invention also relates to a cabinet production line for carrying out the processes described above. The production line according to the invention will hereinafter be described in more detail by way of example based on the accompanying figures:

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIGURE 1 - Perspective schematic view of a cabinet production line according to the invention;

FIGURE 2 - Schematic perspective view of the production line of Figure 1;

FIGURE 3 - schematic side sectional view of the production line of Figure 1;

FIGURE 4 - View of a two module refrigerator;

FIGURE 5 - View of another type of two module refrigerator; and

FIGURE 6 - View of a three module refrigerator.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PRODUCTION LINE

Figures 1, 2 and 3 show a plastic extruder 1 with a funnel 2 where the plastic granules are poured. Below the extruder is arranged a metal sheet coil 3, preferably steel sheet. The steel plate 3 and the plastic plate formed in the extruder are fed to a forming and cooling equipment 4 simultaneously and parallel to and at a certain distance from each other. Simultaneously, between the two plates, the ducts, conduits and tubes are also fed. The equipment then injects polyurethane between the plates and simultaneously folds said plates to set up a U-profile. After forming the profile, it is cooled, for example, by means of air or water jets. Thus, the U-profile when leaving the forming and cooling equipment 4 consists of the steel outer housing, plastic inner housing, and ducts, conduits and pipes between said boxes adhered to the polyurethane.

After forming and cooling equipment 4, profile U passes through the paint chamber 5 and then through a cutting device 6, where profile U is cut to the required size. The U-profile can be cut to the length of an entire cabinet, or several different lengths to form modules, which after joining form the cabinet. It also shows U 7 profiles already cut.

Figures 4 and 5 show a refrigerator, whose cabinet consists of two modules, where the freezer is located in the smaller module.

Figure 6 shows a refrigerator whose cabinet consists of three modules. In addition to the processes and embodiment of the production line presented earlier, the same inventive concept may be applied to other alternatives or possibilities of use of the invention.

Accordingly, it will be understood that the present invention is to be interpreted broadly and its scope is determined by the terms of the appended claims.

Claims (5)

1. Refrigerator cabinet manufacturing process, FEATURED characterized by the following steps: a) unrolling a metal plate from a coil b) feeding granules to a plastic extruder d) unrolling pipes, conduits and ducts therefrom e) feed the metal sheet and the plastic sheet formed in the extruder simultaneously and parallel and at a certain distance from each other to a cooling and forming equipment; f) insert the pipes, conduits and ducts between the sheet metal and the plastic sheet, when said sheets are fed to the profiling equipment g) forming the sheet metal and plastic together with the pipes, conduit ducts between both sheets forming a profile U, and simultaneously inject polyurethane between said plates h) cool profile Ui) paint U profile j) cut sections of U profile to cabinet lengths k) repeat steps' a 'a' and '; I) conform top and bottom tops and simultaneously inject polyurethane between said sheets, m) cut the top sections; en) mount the caps on the U profiles. A process according to claim 1, characterized in that the cabinet may consist of two or more modules joined together and manufactured according to the steps described in claim 1. A refrigerator manufacturing process, characterized in that it comprises steps 'a' through 'n' of claim 1, and additionally the following steps: o) mounting the doors in the cabinet, p) mounting the compact unit of cabinet cooling and control; eq) assemble internal components and accessories. 4 Cabinet production line according to the process defined in claim 1, characterized in that it comprises a plastic extruder (1), a profile forming and cooling equipment (4), a painting chamber (5) and a cutting device (6) arranged one after the other.