CA1335938C - Four-point support system for appliances, particularly refrigerators - Google Patents
Four-point support system for appliances, particularly refrigeratorsInfo
- Publication number
- CA1335938C CA1335938C CA 556548 CA556548A CA1335938C CA 1335938 C CA1335938 C CA 1335938C CA 556548 CA556548 CA 556548 CA 556548 A CA556548 A CA 556548A CA 1335938 C CA1335938 C CA 1335938C
- Authority
- CA
- Canada
- Prior art keywords
- refrigerator cabinet
- supports
- wall
- appliance
- door
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Expired - Fee Related
Links
Classifications
-
- F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
- F16—ENGINEERING ELEMENTS AND UNITS; GENERAL MEASURES FOR PRODUCING AND MAINTAINING EFFECTIVE FUNCTIONING OF MACHINES OR INSTALLATIONS; THERMAL INSULATION IN GENERAL
- F16M—FRAMES, CASINGS OR BEDS OF ENGINES, MACHINES OR APPARATUS, NOT SPECIFIC TO ENGINES, MACHINES OR APPARATUS PROVIDED FOR ELSEWHERE; STANDS; SUPPORTS
- F16M7/00—Details of attaching or adjusting engine beds, frames, or supporting-legs on foundation or base; Attaching non-moving engine parts, e.g. cylinder blocks
-
- F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
- F25—REFRIGERATION OR COOLING; COMBINED HEATING AND REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS; HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS; MANUFACTURE OR STORAGE OF ICE; LIQUEFACTION SOLIDIFICATION OF GASES
- F25D—REFRIGERATORS; COLD ROOMS; ICE-BOXES; COOLING OR FREEZING APPARATUS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- F25D23/00—General constructional features
-
- F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
- F25—REFRIGERATION OR COOLING; COMBINED HEATING AND REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS; HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS; MANUFACTURE OR STORAGE OF ICE; LIQUEFACTION SOLIDIFICATION OF GASES
- F25D—REFRIGERATORS; COLD ROOMS; ICE-BOXES; COOLING OR FREEZING APPARATUS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- F25D2323/00—General constructional features not provided for in other groups of this subclass
- F25D2323/0011—Means for leveling refrigerators
Landscapes
- Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
- General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
- Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
- Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
- Combustion & Propulsion (AREA)
- Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
- Thermal Sciences (AREA)
- Refrigerator Housings (AREA)
- Devices That Are Associated With Refrigeration Equipment (AREA)
Abstract
A refrigerator cabinet has a front roller at each front corner and a pair of rear rollers disposed closer to each other than the pair of front rollers. The centers of the rear rollers are closer to each other than the sum of the distances of the center of each rear roller from an adjacent side wall of the cabinet. The front rollers, which are disposed rearwardly of the front wall, are adjustable vertically while the rear rollers are not. This arrangement decreases the deflection of a refrigerator cabinet when it is positioned on an uneven floor.
Description
. ~ PATENT - ~D-HR-16~41 13~5938 FOUR-POIWT SUPPORT SYSTE~ FOR APPLIANCES, PARTICULARLY REFRIGERATORS
FIELD OF THE I~VENTIO~
This invention relates to a four-point support system for appliances having a door pivoted about a vertical axis and, more particularly, to a refrigerator cabinet having a four-point support system.
BACKGROUWD OF THE INVENTION
To obtain an effective seal between a refrigerator cabinet's front wall or face and a gasket on its door, the front wall or face .
of the refrigerator cabinet and the door must be maintained substantially parallel to each other. If this substantially parallel relationship is not maintained, the gasket will not have an effective seal so that heat will leak into the cooling compartment of tAe refrigerator to cause inefficient refrigeration and waste of electrical energy. Additionally, in a refrigerator cabinet having two doors such as a refrigerator/freezer, for example, in which the doors are either above each other or side by side, the failure of the doors to remain substantially parallel to the front wall or face of the refrigerator cabinet not only results in the leakage of heat into the cooling compartment but also may prevent the doors from being sufficiently aligned to be aesthetically acceptable.
While the front wall or face of the refrigerator cabinet and the door may be maintained substantially parallel when the 1~35938 refrigerator cabinet is disposed on a level surface and there is no load of food in the door, supporting the refrigerator cabinet on an uneven support surface and/or loading the door with food creates distortions causing the front wall or face of the refrigerator cabinet and the door to fail to be substantially parallel. This distortion is due to several factors.
To keep production costs as low as possible, the walls of a refrigerator cabinet are made as thin as possible such as with a mA~ ~ thickness of 0.019", for example. Additionally, to reduce costs, welding of the various walls of the refrigerator cabinet to each other is eliminated so that this decreases stiffness of the cabinet.
While the side, back, top, and bottom walls are infinitely stiff in the planar direction, they readily bend across their 1~ diagonals. The open front wall distorts similarly to a parallelogram in keeping its side flanges substantially straight.
Although foamed insulation utilized in a refrigerator cabinet between its plastic inner liner and its outer walls provides a sandwich structure having some resistance to bending across the diagonals, this is not sufficient to provide the necessary stiffness to prevent twisting of a refrigerator cabinet when it is not supported on a level support surface.
Even if the refrigerator cabinet could be formed with its walls having substantial stiffness to prevent twisting, it is not 133593~
economically feasible to form a door of sufficient ~tiffness that it will not twist, particularly when loaded with food.
Therefore, it is necessary that a refrigerator cabinet be capable of twisting to some degree to coincide with the door twist.
Otherwise, twisting of the door due to its own weight and, more particularly, to a food load therein would cause the door to no longer be substantially parallel to the front wall or face of the refrigerator cabinet so that the gasket would not have an effec.ive seal. Accordingly, the refrigerator cabinet cannot be formed so stiff that it will not twist even when supported on a level support surface.
Tne twist of the door is created by its thinness along with the door being hinged on one side for pivoting about a vertical axis. This twisting is increased when food is loaded into the door.
1~ Because of the relatively large containers now available for various liquids that are stored in a refrigerator, it is desired that the door be capable of storing larger containers than previously. For example, the shelf of the refrigerator door preferably should extend for six inches into the interior of the 2~ refrigerator ca~inet; this is twice the extension of the present three inch shelf. Tnis increased size of the shelf not only will increase the weight of the food load on the door but also creates further twisting because of the increased size of the shelf.
A three-point support system for a refrigerator cabinet in which there is a support at each of the two front corners and one support in the middle at the rear would normally support a refrigerator cabinet on a non-level support surfa~e and would not distort the cabinet due to its own weight and load but would allow twisting of both the cabinet and the door due to the weight of the door and its load. However, it will not pass the stability feel test in which a refrigerator is pushed with a specific force at a sDecific location on the cabinet since a three-point support system has potential for rocking of the cabinet when the force is applied.
Therefore, to pass the stability feel test, it is necessary to support the refrigerator cabinet on four points. However, with a four-point support system, the refrigerator cabinet is subjected to more twisting than with the three-point support system, particularly on a non-level support surface.
For example, with a support at each of the four corners of a refrigerator cabinet and the left rear not being supported because of the support surface not being level, the refrigerator cabinet tends to deflect towards the left re~r corner due to its own weight and food load. ~ith a right-hand hinged door, the effect of the door and its load adds to the deflection created by the cabinet load. Loading of the right-hand hinged door prevents roc~ing or lifting at the front right corner when the left rear -corner is not supported.
~ f the right rear corner of the cabinet is not supported, the right-hand hinged door and its load will counteract the distortion due to the load of the cabinet and possibly raise the right rear corner above its support height.
It should be understood that the door load is forward of the front supports. This provides a sufficient load to always keep the front supDorts in engagement with the su?port surface irrespective of the level of the support surface.
If the refrigerator cabinet has all of its four supports resting on a level support surface, the support surface acts as an infinitely stiff panel so that no base deflection occurs.
Thus, ~; n; mum effects from loading of the cabinet and/or door are experienced when this occurs.
One previously suggested load equalizing support system for a refrigerator cabinet is disclosed in U.S. patent No. 4,192,564 to Losert. The aforesaid Losest patent has an adjustable threaded support at each of its two front corners and a pair of rollers at the rear. The rear rollers are connected to each other so that one roller is shifted upwardly and the other downwardly when not resting on a level support surface. However, since the door always causes the front supports of the cabinet to engage the surface, it has been found that the support system of the aforesaid Losert patent does not function satisfactorily as ~3~5938 would appear since the cabinet becomes rigid because all four points are on the floor but the door will twist due to its weight and load to leave a gap between the door gasket and the cabinet.
The support system of the present invention overcomes the foregoing problems of the previous four-point system by utilizing the advantages of the three-point system. At the same time, the - support system of the present invention is capable of passing the stability feel test.
SUMMARY OF THE INVE~TION
The support system of the present invention contemplates positioning the two rear supports of the refrigerator cabinet substantially close to each other so as to have the advantages of the three-point system while still not having its disadvantage of failing to pass the stability feel test. The support system of the 1~ present invention contemplates positioning its two rear supports closer to each other than the sum of the distances of the two rear supports from the adjacent side walls of the refrigerator cabinet.
An object of this invention is to provide a support system for an appliance having a door pivotable about a vertical axis, ~articularly a refrigerator cabinet, that decreases its deflection when disposed on a non-level support surface.
Another object of this invention is to provide a support system for an appliance having a door pivotable about a vertical axis, particularly a refrigerator cabinet, having its front wall 133~938 or face maintained substantially parallel to its door irrespective of the level of the support surface on which the refrigerator cabinet is disposed.
A Other objects of this invention will be readily perceived from the following description, claims, and drawings, BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF T~E DRAWINGS
The attached drawings illustrate a preferred embodiment of the invention, in which:
FIG. l is a top plan view of a refrigerator cabinet having the four-point support system of the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a top plan view, similar to FIG. l, but showing the door of the refrigerator cabinet in an open position;
FIG. 3 is a fragmentary front elevational view of a portion of the refrigerator cabinet of FIG. l;
lS FIG. 4 is a fragmentary side elevational view of a portion of the refrigerator cabinet of FIG. l and showing one of its front supports and one of its rear supports;
FIG. 5 is a fragmentary too plan view, partly in section, of the front support of FIG. 4; and FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view of the refrigerator cabinet of FIG. l.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREF~RRED EMBODIMENT
Referring to the drawings and particularly FIG. l, there is shown a refrigerator cabinet 10 having a top wall ll, a front wall 12, a rear wall 13, and side walls 14 and 15 extending between the front wall 12 and the rear wall 13. The refrigerator cabinet 10 includes a bottom wall 16 (see FIG. 4).
An opening 17 (see FIG. 3) in the front wall 12 provides access to a cooling compartment 18 having food stored on shelves 19.
The opening 17 is cIosed by a door 20 (see FIG. 1), which has a gasket 21 engaging the front wall 12 to form a seal therewith to seal tne cooling com?artment 18 (see FIG. 3) when the door 20 (see FIG. 1) is substantially parallel to the front wall 12 in its closed position to seal the cooling compartment 18 (see FIG. 3).
The door 20 has at least one shelf 22 (see FI5. 2) extending inwardly therefrom for dis?osition within the cooling com?artment 18 (see FIG. 3) of the refrigerator cabinet 10 when the door 20 (see FIG. 1) is in its closed position.
The door 20 is pivotally mounted on the refrigerator cabinet 10 by a hinge 23, which is fixed to the top wall 11 of the refrigerator cabinet 10. The door 20 is pivotable about a vertical pin 24 of the hinge 23.
The refrigerator cabinet 10 has a front roller 25 supported adjacent each of its front corners and rearwardly of the front wall 12. Each of the two front rollers 25 is vertically adjustable relative to the refrigerator cabinet 10.
Tne refrigerator cabinet 10 has a pair of rear rollers 26 mounted inwardly of the rear wall 13 and spaced a selected distance from each of the rear corners of the refrigerator cabinet 10. The distance between the centers of the rear rollers 26 is smaller than the sum of the distances of the cen-ters of the rear rollers 26 from the adjacent side walls 14 and 15.
For example, if the r~frigerator cabinet 10 has a width of 34 1/2", the centers of the rollers 26 would be spaced 15" from each other, and the center of each of the rollers 26 would be 9 3/4" from the adjacent side wall 14 or 15 so that the sum of the distances i5 19 1/2" and the centers of the rollers 26 are spaced a lesser distance of 15" from each other.
This arrangement of the rear rollers 26 simulates a three-point support system while still providing a modified four-point support system to enable the refrigerator cabinet 10 to pass the stability feel test. That is, the refrigerator cabinet 10 will not tilt at one of the rear corners when subjected to a specific force at a specific location on the refrigerator cabinet 10.
The mounting for each of the front rollers 25 is the same, and the mounting for one of the front rollers 25 is shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. The front roller 25 is mounted on an axle 27, which is rotatably mounted in a U-shaped support 28. Tne support 28 is pivotally mounted by a pivot pin 29 on a pair of brackets 30 on opposite sides of the front roller 25. Each of the brackets 30 is supported by suitable means on a front bracket 31 extending across the entire front of the refrigerator cabinet 10. The front bracket 31 is fixed to the bottoms of a pair of parallel framing strips 31' (see FIG. 6) secured to the front wall 12.
The U-shaped bracket 28 (see FIGS. 4 and 5) is pivoted about the pivot pin 29 by rotating a bolt 32, which is rotatably supported 5 in the front bracket 31. The bolt 32 extends through a threaded ele~ent 33, which is fixed to tne U-shaped support 28 to transform the rotary motion of the bolt 32 into linear movement of the upper portion of the U-shaped support 28 along the axis of the bolt 32 to cause the U-shaped support 28 to pivot about the pivot 10 pin 29.
Thus, rotation of the bolt 32 causes vertical adjustment of the axle 27 with respect to the refrigerator cabinet 10 to raise or lower the front of the refrigerator cabinet 10 relative to a support surface 34. Each of the front rollers 25 is 15 individually adjustable to enable the refrigerator cabinet 10 to be substantially level when the support surface 34 is not level.
Each of the rear rollers 26 is fixed and not vertically adjustable relative to the refrigerator cabinet 10. Each of the rear rollers 26 has its axle 35 supported in a bracket 36 20 extending across the entire rear of the refrigerator cabinet 10.
The bracket 36 has a vertically extending rear portion 37 fixed to the rear wall 13 of the refrigerator cabinet 10 by suitable means such as a screw, for example.
Accordingly, the refri~erator cabinet 10 can be mounted on the support surface 34, even if the support surface 34 is not level, so that the refrigerator cabinet 10 will be substantially stable. This is accomplished through vertically adjusting each of the front rollers 25 in accordance with the tilt of the support surface 34.
Because the rear rollers 26 are positioned close to each other and inward from the side walls 14 (see FIG. 1) and 15 of the refrigerator cabinet 10, tlle stability of a three-point system is substantially obtained with the modified four-point system of the present invention. Therefore, the food load in the cooling compartment 18 (see FIG. 3) of the refrigerator cabinet 10 will not cause tilting of the refrigerator cabinet 10. Likewise, when the shelf 22 (see FIG. 2) of the door 20 is loaded with-food, it also will not cause twisting of the refrigerator cabinet 10 so that the gasket 21 will remain in sealing engagement with the front wall 12 of the refrigerator cabinet 10.
~ nile the refrigerator cabinet 10 has been shown and described as being supported by the front rollers 2~ and the rear rollers 26, it should be understood that these supports could be other than rollers if desired. While the refrigerator cabinet 10 has been snown and described as having only the single door 20 and the single cooling compartment 18 (see FIG. 3), it should be understood that the refrigerator cabinet 1~ could have two separate compartments with one being a freezer compartment in the well-known -13~5938 manner. Likewise, there could be two of the doors instead of the single door 20 (see FIG. 1) with one door being for the freezer compartment and the other door for a food compartment.
While the modified four-point support system of the present invention has been shown and described as being employed with the refrigerator cabinet 10, it should be understood that the modified four-point support system of the present invention could be utilized with any appliance having a door pivotable about a vertical axis for closing an opening in the appliance.
An advantage of this i~vention is that it prevents distortion of a refrigerator cabinet when the refrigerator cabinet is installed on a non-level support surface. ~nother advantage of this invention is that it substantially evenly distributes the loading of a refrigerator cabinet.
For purposes of exemplification, a particular embodiment of the invention has been shown and described according to the best present understanding thereof. ~owever, it will be apparent that changes an~ modifications in the arrangement and construction of t~e parts thereof may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.
FIELD OF THE I~VENTIO~
This invention relates to a four-point support system for appliances having a door pivoted about a vertical axis and, more particularly, to a refrigerator cabinet having a four-point support system.
BACKGROUWD OF THE INVENTION
To obtain an effective seal between a refrigerator cabinet's front wall or face and a gasket on its door, the front wall or face .
of the refrigerator cabinet and the door must be maintained substantially parallel to each other. If this substantially parallel relationship is not maintained, the gasket will not have an effective seal so that heat will leak into the cooling compartment of tAe refrigerator to cause inefficient refrigeration and waste of electrical energy. Additionally, in a refrigerator cabinet having two doors such as a refrigerator/freezer, for example, in which the doors are either above each other or side by side, the failure of the doors to remain substantially parallel to the front wall or face of the refrigerator cabinet not only results in the leakage of heat into the cooling compartment but also may prevent the doors from being sufficiently aligned to be aesthetically acceptable.
While the front wall or face of the refrigerator cabinet and the door may be maintained substantially parallel when the 1~35938 refrigerator cabinet is disposed on a level surface and there is no load of food in the door, supporting the refrigerator cabinet on an uneven support surface and/or loading the door with food creates distortions causing the front wall or face of the refrigerator cabinet and the door to fail to be substantially parallel. This distortion is due to several factors.
To keep production costs as low as possible, the walls of a refrigerator cabinet are made as thin as possible such as with a mA~ ~ thickness of 0.019", for example. Additionally, to reduce costs, welding of the various walls of the refrigerator cabinet to each other is eliminated so that this decreases stiffness of the cabinet.
While the side, back, top, and bottom walls are infinitely stiff in the planar direction, they readily bend across their 1~ diagonals. The open front wall distorts similarly to a parallelogram in keeping its side flanges substantially straight.
Although foamed insulation utilized in a refrigerator cabinet between its plastic inner liner and its outer walls provides a sandwich structure having some resistance to bending across the diagonals, this is not sufficient to provide the necessary stiffness to prevent twisting of a refrigerator cabinet when it is not supported on a level support surface.
Even if the refrigerator cabinet could be formed with its walls having substantial stiffness to prevent twisting, it is not 133593~
economically feasible to form a door of sufficient ~tiffness that it will not twist, particularly when loaded with food.
Therefore, it is necessary that a refrigerator cabinet be capable of twisting to some degree to coincide with the door twist.
Otherwise, twisting of the door due to its own weight and, more particularly, to a food load therein would cause the door to no longer be substantially parallel to the front wall or face of the refrigerator cabinet so that the gasket would not have an effec.ive seal. Accordingly, the refrigerator cabinet cannot be formed so stiff that it will not twist even when supported on a level support surface.
Tne twist of the door is created by its thinness along with the door being hinged on one side for pivoting about a vertical axis. This twisting is increased when food is loaded into the door.
1~ Because of the relatively large containers now available for various liquids that are stored in a refrigerator, it is desired that the door be capable of storing larger containers than previously. For example, the shelf of the refrigerator door preferably should extend for six inches into the interior of the 2~ refrigerator ca~inet; this is twice the extension of the present three inch shelf. Tnis increased size of the shelf not only will increase the weight of the food load on the door but also creates further twisting because of the increased size of the shelf.
A three-point support system for a refrigerator cabinet in which there is a support at each of the two front corners and one support in the middle at the rear would normally support a refrigerator cabinet on a non-level support surfa~e and would not distort the cabinet due to its own weight and load but would allow twisting of both the cabinet and the door due to the weight of the door and its load. However, it will not pass the stability feel test in which a refrigerator is pushed with a specific force at a sDecific location on the cabinet since a three-point support system has potential for rocking of the cabinet when the force is applied.
Therefore, to pass the stability feel test, it is necessary to support the refrigerator cabinet on four points. However, with a four-point support system, the refrigerator cabinet is subjected to more twisting than with the three-point support system, particularly on a non-level support surface.
For example, with a support at each of the four corners of a refrigerator cabinet and the left rear not being supported because of the support surface not being level, the refrigerator cabinet tends to deflect towards the left re~r corner due to its own weight and food load. ~ith a right-hand hinged door, the effect of the door and its load adds to the deflection created by the cabinet load. Loading of the right-hand hinged door prevents roc~ing or lifting at the front right corner when the left rear -corner is not supported.
~ f the right rear corner of the cabinet is not supported, the right-hand hinged door and its load will counteract the distortion due to the load of the cabinet and possibly raise the right rear corner above its support height.
It should be understood that the door load is forward of the front supports. This provides a sufficient load to always keep the front supDorts in engagement with the su?port surface irrespective of the level of the support surface.
If the refrigerator cabinet has all of its four supports resting on a level support surface, the support surface acts as an infinitely stiff panel so that no base deflection occurs.
Thus, ~; n; mum effects from loading of the cabinet and/or door are experienced when this occurs.
One previously suggested load equalizing support system for a refrigerator cabinet is disclosed in U.S. patent No. 4,192,564 to Losert. The aforesaid Losest patent has an adjustable threaded support at each of its two front corners and a pair of rollers at the rear. The rear rollers are connected to each other so that one roller is shifted upwardly and the other downwardly when not resting on a level support surface. However, since the door always causes the front supports of the cabinet to engage the surface, it has been found that the support system of the aforesaid Losert patent does not function satisfactorily as ~3~5938 would appear since the cabinet becomes rigid because all four points are on the floor but the door will twist due to its weight and load to leave a gap between the door gasket and the cabinet.
The support system of the present invention overcomes the foregoing problems of the previous four-point system by utilizing the advantages of the three-point system. At the same time, the - support system of the present invention is capable of passing the stability feel test.
SUMMARY OF THE INVE~TION
The support system of the present invention contemplates positioning the two rear supports of the refrigerator cabinet substantially close to each other so as to have the advantages of the three-point system while still not having its disadvantage of failing to pass the stability feel test. The support system of the 1~ present invention contemplates positioning its two rear supports closer to each other than the sum of the distances of the two rear supports from the adjacent side walls of the refrigerator cabinet.
An object of this invention is to provide a support system for an appliance having a door pivotable about a vertical axis, ~articularly a refrigerator cabinet, that decreases its deflection when disposed on a non-level support surface.
Another object of this invention is to provide a support system for an appliance having a door pivotable about a vertical axis, particularly a refrigerator cabinet, having its front wall 133~938 or face maintained substantially parallel to its door irrespective of the level of the support surface on which the refrigerator cabinet is disposed.
A Other objects of this invention will be readily perceived from the following description, claims, and drawings, BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF T~E DRAWINGS
The attached drawings illustrate a preferred embodiment of the invention, in which:
FIG. l is a top plan view of a refrigerator cabinet having the four-point support system of the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a top plan view, similar to FIG. l, but showing the door of the refrigerator cabinet in an open position;
FIG. 3 is a fragmentary front elevational view of a portion of the refrigerator cabinet of FIG. l;
lS FIG. 4 is a fragmentary side elevational view of a portion of the refrigerator cabinet of FIG. l and showing one of its front supports and one of its rear supports;
FIG. 5 is a fragmentary too plan view, partly in section, of the front support of FIG. 4; and FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view of the refrigerator cabinet of FIG. l.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREF~RRED EMBODIMENT
Referring to the drawings and particularly FIG. l, there is shown a refrigerator cabinet 10 having a top wall ll, a front wall 12, a rear wall 13, and side walls 14 and 15 extending between the front wall 12 and the rear wall 13. The refrigerator cabinet 10 includes a bottom wall 16 (see FIG. 4).
An opening 17 (see FIG. 3) in the front wall 12 provides access to a cooling compartment 18 having food stored on shelves 19.
The opening 17 is cIosed by a door 20 (see FIG. 1), which has a gasket 21 engaging the front wall 12 to form a seal therewith to seal tne cooling com?artment 18 (see FIG. 3) when the door 20 (see FIG. 1) is substantially parallel to the front wall 12 in its closed position to seal the cooling compartment 18 (see FIG. 3).
The door 20 has at least one shelf 22 (see FI5. 2) extending inwardly therefrom for dis?osition within the cooling com?artment 18 (see FIG. 3) of the refrigerator cabinet 10 when the door 20 (see FIG. 1) is in its closed position.
The door 20 is pivotally mounted on the refrigerator cabinet 10 by a hinge 23, which is fixed to the top wall 11 of the refrigerator cabinet 10. The door 20 is pivotable about a vertical pin 24 of the hinge 23.
The refrigerator cabinet 10 has a front roller 25 supported adjacent each of its front corners and rearwardly of the front wall 12. Each of the two front rollers 25 is vertically adjustable relative to the refrigerator cabinet 10.
Tne refrigerator cabinet 10 has a pair of rear rollers 26 mounted inwardly of the rear wall 13 and spaced a selected distance from each of the rear corners of the refrigerator cabinet 10. The distance between the centers of the rear rollers 26 is smaller than the sum of the distances of the cen-ters of the rear rollers 26 from the adjacent side walls 14 and 15.
For example, if the r~frigerator cabinet 10 has a width of 34 1/2", the centers of the rollers 26 would be spaced 15" from each other, and the center of each of the rollers 26 would be 9 3/4" from the adjacent side wall 14 or 15 so that the sum of the distances i5 19 1/2" and the centers of the rollers 26 are spaced a lesser distance of 15" from each other.
This arrangement of the rear rollers 26 simulates a three-point support system while still providing a modified four-point support system to enable the refrigerator cabinet 10 to pass the stability feel test. That is, the refrigerator cabinet 10 will not tilt at one of the rear corners when subjected to a specific force at a specific location on the refrigerator cabinet 10.
The mounting for each of the front rollers 25 is the same, and the mounting for one of the front rollers 25 is shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. The front roller 25 is mounted on an axle 27, which is rotatably mounted in a U-shaped support 28. Tne support 28 is pivotally mounted by a pivot pin 29 on a pair of brackets 30 on opposite sides of the front roller 25. Each of the brackets 30 is supported by suitable means on a front bracket 31 extending across the entire front of the refrigerator cabinet 10. The front bracket 31 is fixed to the bottoms of a pair of parallel framing strips 31' (see FIG. 6) secured to the front wall 12.
The U-shaped bracket 28 (see FIGS. 4 and 5) is pivoted about the pivot pin 29 by rotating a bolt 32, which is rotatably supported 5 in the front bracket 31. The bolt 32 extends through a threaded ele~ent 33, which is fixed to tne U-shaped support 28 to transform the rotary motion of the bolt 32 into linear movement of the upper portion of the U-shaped support 28 along the axis of the bolt 32 to cause the U-shaped support 28 to pivot about the pivot 10 pin 29.
Thus, rotation of the bolt 32 causes vertical adjustment of the axle 27 with respect to the refrigerator cabinet 10 to raise or lower the front of the refrigerator cabinet 10 relative to a support surface 34. Each of the front rollers 25 is 15 individually adjustable to enable the refrigerator cabinet 10 to be substantially level when the support surface 34 is not level.
Each of the rear rollers 26 is fixed and not vertically adjustable relative to the refrigerator cabinet 10. Each of the rear rollers 26 has its axle 35 supported in a bracket 36 20 extending across the entire rear of the refrigerator cabinet 10.
The bracket 36 has a vertically extending rear portion 37 fixed to the rear wall 13 of the refrigerator cabinet 10 by suitable means such as a screw, for example.
Accordingly, the refri~erator cabinet 10 can be mounted on the support surface 34, even if the support surface 34 is not level, so that the refrigerator cabinet 10 will be substantially stable. This is accomplished through vertically adjusting each of the front rollers 25 in accordance with the tilt of the support surface 34.
Because the rear rollers 26 are positioned close to each other and inward from the side walls 14 (see FIG. 1) and 15 of the refrigerator cabinet 10, tlle stability of a three-point system is substantially obtained with the modified four-point system of the present invention. Therefore, the food load in the cooling compartment 18 (see FIG. 3) of the refrigerator cabinet 10 will not cause tilting of the refrigerator cabinet 10. Likewise, when the shelf 22 (see FIG. 2) of the door 20 is loaded with-food, it also will not cause twisting of the refrigerator cabinet 10 so that the gasket 21 will remain in sealing engagement with the front wall 12 of the refrigerator cabinet 10.
~ nile the refrigerator cabinet 10 has been shown and described as being supported by the front rollers 2~ and the rear rollers 26, it should be understood that these supports could be other than rollers if desired. While the refrigerator cabinet 10 has been snown and described as having only the single door 20 and the single cooling compartment 18 (see FIG. 3), it should be understood that the refrigerator cabinet 1~ could have two separate compartments with one being a freezer compartment in the well-known -13~5938 manner. Likewise, there could be two of the doors instead of the single door 20 (see FIG. 1) with one door being for the freezer compartment and the other door for a food compartment.
While the modified four-point support system of the present invention has been shown and described as being employed with the refrigerator cabinet 10, it should be understood that the modified four-point support system of the present invention could be utilized with any appliance having a door pivotable about a vertical axis for closing an opening in the appliance.
An advantage of this i~vention is that it prevents distortion of a refrigerator cabinet when the refrigerator cabinet is installed on a non-level support surface. ~nother advantage of this invention is that it substantially evenly distributes the loading of a refrigerator cabinet.
For purposes of exemplification, a particular embodiment of the invention has been shown and described according to the best present understanding thereof. ~owever, it will be apparent that changes an~ modifications in the arrangement and construction of t~e parts thereof may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.
Claims (18)
1. A four-point support system for supporting on a supporting surface in a stationary position an appliance or the like having a door pivoted about a vertical axis including:
a pair of front supports adjacent each front corner of the appliance and extending downwardly from the bottom of the appliance for engaging the supporting surface to support the appliance in a stationary position, said front supports being rearwardly of the vertical pivot axis of the appliance's door;
a pair of rear supports adjacent the rear of the appliance and extending downwardly from the bottom of the appliance for engaging the supporting surface to support the appliance in a stationary position;
said rear supports being disposed closer to each other than said front supports are to each other;
and said rear supports being fixed in position on the appliance.
a pair of front supports adjacent each front corner of the appliance and extending downwardly from the bottom of the appliance for engaging the supporting surface to support the appliance in a stationary position, said front supports being rearwardly of the vertical pivot axis of the appliance's door;
a pair of rear supports adjacent the rear of the appliance and extending downwardly from the bottom of the appliance for engaging the supporting surface to support the appliance in a stationary position;
said rear supports being disposed closer to each other than said front supports are to each other;
and said rear supports being fixed in position on the appliance.
2. The support system according to claim 1 in which each of said front supports and each of said rear supports is a roller.
3. The support system according to claim 2 in which each of said front supports is vertically adjustable with respect to the appliance.
4. The support system according to claim 3 in which said rear supports are disposed closer to each other than the sum of the distances of each of said rear supports from an adjacent side wall of the appliance.
5. The support system according to claim 2 in which said rear supports are disposed closer to each other than the sum of the distances of each of said rear supports from an adjacent side wall of the appliance.
6. The support system according to claim 1 in which said rear supports are disposed closer to each other than the sum of the distances of each of said rear supports from an adjacent side wall of the appliance.
7. The support system according to claim 1 in which each of said front supports is vertically adjustable with respect to the appliance.
8. A refrigerator cabinet including:
a front wall;
a rear wall;
a pair of substantially parallel side walls extending between said front wall and said rear wall;
said front wall having at least one opening;
at least one door engaging said front wall to close said opening, said door being pivotable about a vertical axis;
a pair of front supports for engagement with a surface on which said refrigerator cabinet is to be stationarily supported for supporting said refrigerator cabinet in a stationary position, each of said front supports being adjacent a front corner of said refrigerator cabinet;
said front supports being disposed rearwardly of said front wall of said refrigerator cabinet; and a pair of rear supports fixed thereto adjacent said rear wall for engagement with the surface on which said refrigerator cabinet is to be stationarily supported for supporting said refrigerator cabinet in a stationary position, said rear supports being disposed closer to each other than said front supports.
a front wall;
a rear wall;
a pair of substantially parallel side walls extending between said front wall and said rear wall;
said front wall having at least one opening;
at least one door engaging said front wall to close said opening, said door being pivotable about a vertical axis;
a pair of front supports for engagement with a surface on which said refrigerator cabinet is to be stationarily supported for supporting said refrigerator cabinet in a stationary position, each of said front supports being adjacent a front corner of said refrigerator cabinet;
said front supports being disposed rearwardly of said front wall of said refrigerator cabinet; and a pair of rear supports fixed thereto adjacent said rear wall for engagement with the surface on which said refrigerator cabinet is to be stationarily supported for supporting said refrigerator cabinet in a stationary position, said rear supports being disposed closer to each other than said front supports.
9. The refrigerator cabinet according to claim 8 in which each of said front supports and said rear supports is a roller.
10. The refrigerator cabinet according to claim 9 in which each of said front supports is adjustably mounted on said refrigerator cabinet for vertical movement.
11. The refrigerator cabinet according to claim 10 in which said rear supports are disposed closer to each other than the sum of the distances of each of said rear supports from said adjacent side wall of said refrigerator cabinet.
12. The refrigerator cabinet according to claim 9 in which said rear supports are disposed closer to each other than the sum of the distances of each of said rear supports from said adjacent side wall of said refrigerator cabinet.
13. The refrigerator cabinet according to claim 8 in which said rear supports are disposed closer to each other than the sum of the distances of each of said rear supports from said adjacent side wall of said refrigerator cabinet.
14. The refrigerator cabinet according to claim 8 in which each of said front supports is adjustably mounted on said refrigerator cabinet for vertical movement.
15. A refrigerator cabinet including:
a front wall;
a rear wall;
a pair of substantially parallel side walls extending between said front wall and said rear wall;
said front wall having at least one opening;
at least one door engaging said front wall to close said opening, said door being pivotable about a vertical axis;
a bracket supported by said front wall;
said bracket having a pair of front supports mounted thereon for engagement with a surface on which said refrigerator cabinet is to be stationarily supported for supporting said refrigerator cabinet in a stationary position, each of said front supports being adjacent a front corner of said refrigerator cabinet;
means to individually adjust the position of each of said front supports with respect to said bracket for vertical movement with respect to said refrigerator cabinet;
said front supports being disposed rearwardly of said front wall of said refrigerator cabinet;
a bracket fixed to said rear wall; and said bracket on said rear wall having a pair of rear supports supported thereby for engagement with the surface on which said refrigerator cabinet is to be stationarily supported for supporting said refrigerator cabinet in a stationary position, said rear supports being disposed closer to each other than said front supports.
a front wall;
a rear wall;
a pair of substantially parallel side walls extending between said front wall and said rear wall;
said front wall having at least one opening;
at least one door engaging said front wall to close said opening, said door being pivotable about a vertical axis;
a bracket supported by said front wall;
said bracket having a pair of front supports mounted thereon for engagement with a surface on which said refrigerator cabinet is to be stationarily supported for supporting said refrigerator cabinet in a stationary position, each of said front supports being adjacent a front corner of said refrigerator cabinet;
means to individually adjust the position of each of said front supports with respect to said bracket for vertical movement with respect to said refrigerator cabinet;
said front supports being disposed rearwardly of said front wall of said refrigerator cabinet;
a bracket fixed to said rear wall; and said bracket on said rear wall having a pair of rear supports supported thereby for engagement with the surface on which said refrigerator cabinet is to be stationarily supported for supporting said refrigerator cabinet in a stationary position, said rear supports being disposed closer to each other than said front supports.
16. The refrigerator cabinet according to claim 15 in which each of said front supports and said rear supports is a roller.
17. The refrigerator cabinet according to claim 16 in which said rear rollers are disposed closer to each other than the sum of the distances of each of said rear rollers from said adjacent side wall of said refrigerator cabinet.
18. The refrigerator cabinet according to claim 15 in which said rear supports are disposed closer to each other than the sum of the distances of each of said rear supports from said adjacent side wall of said refrigerator cabinet.
Priority Applications (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA 556548 CA1335938C (en) | 1988-01-14 | 1988-01-14 | Four-point support system for appliances, particularly refrigerators |
Applications Claiming Priority (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA 556548 CA1335938C (en) | 1988-01-14 | 1988-01-14 | Four-point support system for appliances, particularly refrigerators |
Publications (1)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| CA1335938C true CA1335938C (en) | 1995-06-20 |
Family
ID=4137259
Family Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA 556548 Expired - Fee Related CA1335938C (en) | 1988-01-14 | 1988-01-14 | Four-point support system for appliances, particularly refrigerators |
Country Status (1)
| Country | Link |
|---|---|
| CA (1) | CA1335938C (en) |
Cited By (1)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US11168935B2 (en) | 2017-03-09 | 2021-11-09 | Fisher & Paykel Appliances Limited | Refrigeration appliance cabinet |
-
1988
- 1988-01-14 CA CA 556548 patent/CA1335938C/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
Cited By (1)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US11168935B2 (en) | 2017-03-09 | 2021-11-09 | Fisher & Paykel Appliances Limited | Refrigeration appliance cabinet |
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| Date | Code | Title | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| MKLA | Lapsed |