CA2025274A1 - Method of assembling a refrigerator cabinet - Google Patents
Method of assembling a refrigerator cabinetInfo
- Publication number
- CA2025274A1 CA2025274A1 CA 2025274 CA2025274A CA2025274A1 CA 2025274 A1 CA2025274 A1 CA 2025274A1 CA 2025274 CA2025274 CA 2025274 CA 2025274 A CA2025274 A CA 2025274A CA 2025274 A1 CA2025274 A1 CA 2025274A1
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- Prior art keywords
- bend
- front panel
- double layer
- panel
- assembling
- Prior art date
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- Abandoned
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Abstract
PATENT - Docket 9D-MA-17265 - Jenkins et al METHOD OF ASSEMBLING A REFRIGERATOR CABINET
ABSTRACT
A method of assembling a refrigerator cabinet of the type having an outer sheet metal shell with side walls connected by a top wall forming upper front corners and a front face adjacent each of the walls, an inner liner and a partition separating freezer and fresh food compartments. The front face is formed to include spaced front and rear panels by bending the sheet metal at a right angle to each of the respective walls to form a first bend and a first portion of the front panel. A second bend, which is a reverse bend, is made to double the sheet metal back upon itself to form a second portion that engages the rear surface of the first portion of the front panel to form a double layer front panel. There is a third bend at a right angle to the double layer front panel in the area of the first bend and a fourth bend at a right angle to space the rear panel from the double layer front panel. A
metal structural member is provided for interconnecting the front face of each side wall and is inserted in the space between the double layer front panel and the rear panel. The outer metal shell width is then sized to a desired dimension and the double layer front panel and the metal structure member are pierce riveted together adjacent each of the side walls.
ABSTRACT
A method of assembling a refrigerator cabinet of the type having an outer sheet metal shell with side walls connected by a top wall forming upper front corners and a front face adjacent each of the walls, an inner liner and a partition separating freezer and fresh food compartments. The front face is formed to include spaced front and rear panels by bending the sheet metal at a right angle to each of the respective walls to form a first bend and a first portion of the front panel. A second bend, which is a reverse bend, is made to double the sheet metal back upon itself to form a second portion that engages the rear surface of the first portion of the front panel to form a double layer front panel. There is a third bend at a right angle to the double layer front panel in the area of the first bend and a fourth bend at a right angle to space the rear panel from the double layer front panel. A
metal structural member is provided for interconnecting the front face of each side wall and is inserted in the space between the double layer front panel and the rear panel. The outer metal shell width is then sized to a desired dimension and the double layer front panel and the metal structure member are pierce riveted together adjacent each of the side walls.
Description
PATENT Docket 9D-MA-17265 - Jenkins et al BACKGROUNp oF THE ~NVENTION
In the construction of a household refrigerator it is often desirable to provide a partition within the refr19erator for separating the refrigerator tnto a freezer compartment and a fresh food compartment.
It is further desirable to have the partition construct~d in such a manner that there is a mullion bar across the front of the partition and secured to the cabinet outer case at each side to rigidify the cabinet, maint~i" ~ urrect width of the cabinet and afFord i pleasing appearanco. The freezer and fresh food compartm~nrs are in many cases closed by separate access doors whtch are hingedly attached to the cabinet outer case. For the pleasing appearance of the mullion bar and the proper f;t of the doors for the freezer and fresh food compartments it is important that the width of the refrigerator cabinet be maintained and that the loads on the door do not produce excessive deflection of the cabinet, and further that the door openings are square and more tmportantly remain square under normal loads iwposed on the cabinet. It has been common ~o utilize a mullion bar and a bottom front rail between the stde walls of the cabtnet to help rigidtfy the cabtnet.
Generally household refrigerators normal1y employ a sheet metal outer casing and an tnner liner with a res1n foam insulation medium tnterposed therebetween. The foam or polyurethlne compositions in ltqutd/gas form are introduced into the space between the outer casing and tnner liner, expand throughout the space and then are solidified by curtng. In practice this solid foam which inherently adheres to both the outer case and inner liner adds rigidity to the cabinet structure. In some instances due to uneven floors or the force placed on the cabinet by wetght of the doors the cablnet wtll deflect. Thts deflect10n tn some tnstances will cause a misalignment of the door where1n proper closure of the cabtnet ts tmpossiblq Tt has been determined that when 2 cabtnet deflects due to its be~ng posittoned on an uneven floor or excesstve door I
PATENT - Docket 9D-MA-17265 - Jenklns et al ,fJ 1,1 .'J ~ 2 J~'~
loadlng the foam insulatiDn between the nuter cas& and llner tends to creep. The ~oam insulation will set in its deflected positlon thereby causing the cabinet to form a permanent parallelogram as the cabinet conforms to the floor.
This problem is further present when the refrigarator door is dlmensloned rela~lve to the cablnet to carry relatively large items such as one gallon milk containers and other large items. These larger items may pre~ L d ~lyrl~ increase of 50% over customdIr du~s, and when stored on the door shelves can exert a large force on the hinge side of the cabinet. This force when excessive together with an uneven floor can cause the hinge side of the cab;net to sag and the cabinet frame tn deflect and form a parallelogram. In th1s situation the door would be difficult to close and in some cases impossible.
There have been several structural arrangements to rigidify refrlgerator cablnets. Three such arrangements are shown in U.S. Patent Nos. 4,606,112; 4,632,470; and 4,706,363, all assigned to the same assignee as the present lnvention. Whlle these prevlous structural arrangements have been sat;sfactory, one of the problem~ is that there are many components that need to be assembled together by havlng apertures through ~he various components and then bolts or screws must pass through the aligned apertures to secure atl of these components together. As in any manufacturing process there is a tolerance deviatlon bu11d-up so that the final assembled components have ~play" in them and each cablnet can vary from the next, therefQre control of the exact s k1ng of the width of the cabinet may not be poss1ble. Another problem 1n the prevlous structural arrangements to rigidlfy the cabinets is the cost of the many components that were necessary to provide the rigld structure. It ls h1ghly des1rable to elimlnate as many components as posslble to reduce the cost nf the manufacture of the cablnet yet mainta1n the necessary rigldlty of the cab1net. Anothar problem is how .
.
..~ : .' ,'' -PATENT - Docket 9D-MA-17265 - Jenkins et al ~ v ~ ~ 2 -~
to assemble the refrigerator cabinet when it ls made from pre-painted sheet metal which cannot be welded or otherwise deformed during 1ts assembly for appearance sake.
By this invention there is proYided a method of assembling a refrigerator cabinet wherein there is absolute control of the s king of the width of the cabinet, thus avoidlng the tolerance build-up problem and the method will reduce the cost of the refrigerator cabinet with the elimination u~ ,~v~ral components heretofore thougn~ nec~ssar~ and the method allows fcr the assembly to be made from pre-paJnted sheet met~l components.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
By the present inYention there is provided a method of assembling a refrigerator cabinet of the type having an outer sheet metal shall with side walls connected by a top wall forming upper front corners lS and a front face adjacent each of said walls, an inner liner and a partition separating freezer and fresh food compartments. The front face is formed to include spaced front and rear panels by bending the sheet metal at a right angle to each of the respective walls to form a first bend and a first portion of the front panel. A second bend is made which is a reverse bend to double the sheet metal back upon itself to form a second portion tha~ engages the rear surface of the first portion of the front panel to form a double layer front panel. A third bend is made at a right angle to the double layer front panel in the area of the first bend and a fourth bend is made at a right angle to space ~he rear panel from the double layer front panel. A metal structure member interconnecting the front face of each side wall is inserted into the space between the double layer front panel and rear panel and then the width of the outcr metal shell is si~ed to the des1red dimension. While reta1ning the outer metal shell to the des1red dimension the d~ ole layer PATENT - Docket 90-MA-17265 - Jenkins et al ~ ~J ~'J _~ 2 ~ ~
front panel and the metal strllctural member are pierce riveted together adjacent each of the side walls.
BRIEF DESCR TION OF THEQ WINGS
FIG. 1 is a schematic front elevational vie~ of a refrigerator that util k es the present invention in its assembly.
FIG. 2 is a perspectiYe view of the outer metal shell of the household refrigerator shown in Fig. I.
FI6. 3 i~ ~ cross-sectional view taken along llnes 3-3 of Fig.
1.
FIG. 4 is a perspect~Ye view of a portion of the refrigerator cablnet similar to that shown in Fig. 3.
~ESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRE~ EMeODIMENT
Referring to Figs. 1 and 2 in particular, the refrigerator lO
shown is a top mount household refrigerator having a freezing compartment 12 anJ a fresh food compartment 13 separated by an insulation partition assembly. Positioned in front of the insulation partition assembly is a mullion bar l6, and the bottom of the refrigerator is a front rail I4.
Both the mullion bar 16 and the front ra11 l4 wh k h, as will be explained fully here1nafter, lnsures the proper width of the cabinet between the side walls and adds rlgidity to the cabinet to reduce deflection of structure du~ to uneven floors or door loads of the cabinet. The insulation partit10n assembly does not form part of the present in~ention and accordingly will not be described in detail herein. Upon completion of the assembly of the refrigerator and freezer compartment, the fresh food compartments would have separate doDrs 17 and l9 respectlvely for clos1ng the respectlve compartmenes. The refrigerator 10 has a cabinet outer metal case or shell ]8 (F1g. 2) that has opposlte side walls 20, 22, and a top wall 23 which envelopes both the free~er and fresh food compartments. The outer metal shell l8 has an inner liner 24 ~lg IJ
wh1ch 1s made of sheet metal or plastlc mater1al.
.
PATENT - Docket 9D-MA-I7265 - Jenkins et al J ~ b Between the innsr liner 24 and outer metal shell I8 there 1s thermal insulation (not shown). Th;s insulation in many refrlgerators consists of polyurethane foam which is in 1iquid form and inserted or injected into the space between the outer metal shell I8 and the ~nner liner 24 and then cured in place. During the polyurethane foaming operation the outer metal shell I8 may bulge or bo~ outwardly due to pressure exerted by tha foam and thus cause some distortion of the side walls 20 and 22 of the outer metai sne~ 8. It 1s desirable that the bowin~ or bulging of the outer shell when it occurs be corrected and elimin'atea prior to the final assembly of the refrigerator so that the insulation partition assembly 15 fits correctly relatlve to the s1de walls of the liner with no gaps between those components. Moreover, when the doors I7 and I9 of the freezer compartment and fresh food compartment are hung it is again important that the case width dlmensions from one side 20 to the other side 22 be the same throughout the height of the refrigerator and that the door openings def1ning the free~er and fresh food compartments remain square so tha~ the doors align and seal the front openings of the compartments I2 and I3 correctly.
Wlth particular reference to F1gs. 2-4, the components and their arrangement involY2d ~ith the method of assembl1ng ~he refrigerator cab1net 1n accordance with this invention will be discussed. ~hile only one side of the refrigerator is shown in Figs. 3 and 4, it is to be understood that the other side of the refrigerator will have the same components and arrangement. Pr~or to the foaming operation to provide the 1nsulation between the outer metal shell I8 and interior liner 24, the outer metal shell is formed to provtde a front face ~6 along the side walls 20, 22 and top wall ~3 against which the doors of the free~er and fresh food compartments would engage and seal. The hinges 28 (Fig. I) for the doors may be mounted on either side of the outer metal shel'. I8.
The outer shell I8 1n the present embod1ment is fabricated from PATENT - Docket 9D-MA-17265 - Jenkins et al t~ t~
pre-painted sheet metal having a thickness generally between .014 and .019 inches. This use of relatively thin sheet metal requires that means be incorporated in the cabinet construction which will reduce deflection of the cabinet. Moreover, since the metal is pre-painted it is important that the means for rigidifying the refrigerator cabinet will not mar the finish of the sheet metal, such as would be the case with a welding operation. The cabinet door open1ngs defined by front face 26 may distort out of square 1f one side sags relative to the o~ r which results in the frame forming a parallelogram. A side may sag for example when forces are exerted on the cabinet when it is placed on an uneven floor or when an unexcessive weight is placed on the doors. This is especially true in cabinets having relatively deep door shelves that are designed to hold heavy items such as one~gallon milk containers.
As can be best seen in Fig. 3, the front face 26 is formed to include spaced front and rear panels 30 and 32 respectively by bending the sheet metal at a right angle designated 34 to each of the respective side walls 20, 22 and top wall 23 to fo~m a first bend 34 and a first portion 31 of the front panel 30. A second bend 36 ~hich is a reYerse bend to double the sheet metal back upon ~tself to form a second portion 33 and engage the rear surface 38 of the First portion 31 of the front panel 30 to form a double layer front panel. There is a third bend 40 at a right angle to the double layer front panel 30 in the area of the first bend 34 and a four~h bend ~2 at a right angle to space the rear panel 32 from the double layer front panel 30.
There is provided a metal structure member such as mullion bar 16 and front rail 14 interconnect1ng the front face of each side wall and inserted between the double layer front panel 30 and the rear panel 32 as shown in Fig. 2. The method of assembly will be described in connection with securing the mullion bar 16 to the outer metal shell 18; however, it 30 1s to be :nderstood that the sallle assembly hethrd can be and ~s used 1n PATEN-I - Docket 9D-MA-17265 - Jenkins et a1 ~.J ~J ~ C~ .~J :7 ~
the preferred embodiment for securing the front rall I4 to the bottom of the outer metal shell I8. Therefore, the method wlll only be dsscribed in connection with the mullion bar I6. The mullion bar 16 is formed from pre-painted sheet me~al and has a front face 50 and an upper portion 44 reversely bent to form a bend 45 and a lower portion 46 is also reversely bent to form a bend 48 and as can be seen in Figs. 3 and 4, the upper and lower portion; form a double sheet metal layer throughout a major portion of the area of tihe l~vn~ face 50. For appearance purpo;~, ~he mullion bar 16 may have a sli~ht bend or curvature 52 as particularly shown in Fig. 3 to accommodate the second bend 36 of the front face 26 to allow the front panel 30 and the front face 50 of the ~ullion bar 16 to be in the same vertical plane. It wil) be noted that the ends of the mullion bar I6 extend a major portion of the distance between the second bend 36 and the third bend ~0 of the front face and is inserted into the space between the front panel 30 and rear panel 32.
After the mullion bar I6 is in place, the width of the outer metal shell is sized to the desired dimension by any suitable apparatus and when so sized and held at the desired dimenslon the double layer front panel 30 and the mullion bar 16 are pierce rlveted together adjacent each of the side walls 20 and 22 of the outer metal shell I8.
Preferably, there are two pierce rivets in this area as shown in Fig. ~.
In a pierce rivet operation it is necessary that there be an anvil or back-up tool 52 to stop movement of the pierce rivet 54 and allow the rivet to mushroom and extend outwardly of the hole which it has just pierced through the sheet metal. To accommodate the back-up tool 53 there is an aperture 56 in the rear panel 3Z larger than the diameter of the back-up tool so that the tool may pass through the aperture and be in posltion to intercept and stop further inward movement of the rivet and allow it to mushroom as shown in Fig. 3. It will be understood also that the plerce rlvet operation 1ncludes means for forclng the rivet through PATENT - Docket 9D-MA-17265 - Jenkins et al ~2~2 ~-~J~, the sheet metal wlthout the need of pre-drIl11ng or punching holes for the r1vet to pass through. Thls ls a hammer-11ks member 58 which will exert force on the rivet and dr1ve 1t through the double layer front panel 30 and the double layer mullion bar 16 as shown in Fig. 3. It will be noted that with this kind of structural arrangement and method of securing the mull10n bar 16 to the outer metAl case I8 that there are no apertures, cut-outs or anything else tha~ needs to be in alignment to receive the usual threadea bolts or screws used heretofore. unce the refrigeratDr cab1net has been correctly sized to the desirad w.dth dimens10n and held to that dimension then the pierce riveting operation takes place and all of the components that are riveted together will have no ~play" in them and there will have been eliminated any tolerance build-up that may have been the result of tolerance differences in the various components.
As mentioned previously, the same operation can take place at the bottom of the cab1net where the front rail l4 1s used to also r1gidify the outer metal shell 18. The same type of metal structure member as the mullion bar 16 may be used for the front rail I4 and again once the cabinet 1s sized to 1ts correct w1dth dimension and held at tha~
dimension, the p1erce riveting operation takes place and rivets th& front rail 14 to the double layer front panel 30 and the front rail 14.
Pierce rivet1ng equipment 1s available from a number of commercial suppliers and therefore there is no need to describe the spec1fic equipment 1n order to pract~ce th~s invention. Only ordinary mechan1cal skill 1s needed to coordinate the sizing apparatus that may be used with the pierce r1veting equ~pment to assure that the pierce ; riveting operat10n 1s accomplished wh11e the ~idth of the outer metal shell 1s held to the des1red dimens10n.
It shculd be apparent to those sktlled 1n the art that the method descr1bed here1n 1s cons1dered to be the presently preferred form of th1s 1nvention. In accordance w1th the Patent Statutes, changes may be made in the disclosed method w1thout actually departlng from the true sp1rlt and scope of th1s lnYention.
.~
In the construction of a household refrigerator it is often desirable to provide a partition within the refr19erator for separating the refrigerator tnto a freezer compartment and a fresh food compartment.
It is further desirable to have the partition construct~d in such a manner that there is a mullion bar across the front of the partition and secured to the cabinet outer case at each side to rigidify the cabinet, maint~i" ~ urrect width of the cabinet and afFord i pleasing appearanco. The freezer and fresh food compartm~nrs are in many cases closed by separate access doors whtch are hingedly attached to the cabinet outer case. For the pleasing appearance of the mullion bar and the proper f;t of the doors for the freezer and fresh food compartments it is important that the width of the refrigerator cabinet be maintained and that the loads on the door do not produce excessive deflection of the cabinet, and further that the door openings are square and more tmportantly remain square under normal loads iwposed on the cabinet. It has been common ~o utilize a mullion bar and a bottom front rail between the stde walls of the cabtnet to help rigidtfy the cabtnet.
Generally household refrigerators normal1y employ a sheet metal outer casing and an tnner liner with a res1n foam insulation medium tnterposed therebetween. The foam or polyurethlne compositions in ltqutd/gas form are introduced into the space between the outer casing and tnner liner, expand throughout the space and then are solidified by curtng. In practice this solid foam which inherently adheres to both the outer case and inner liner adds rigidity to the cabinet structure. In some instances due to uneven floors or the force placed on the cabinet by wetght of the doors the cablnet wtll deflect. Thts deflect10n tn some tnstances will cause a misalignment of the door where1n proper closure of the cabtnet ts tmpossiblq Tt has been determined that when 2 cabtnet deflects due to its be~ng posittoned on an uneven floor or excesstve door I
PATENT - Docket 9D-MA-17265 - Jenklns et al ,fJ 1,1 .'J ~ 2 J~'~
loadlng the foam insulatiDn between the nuter cas& and llner tends to creep. The ~oam insulation will set in its deflected positlon thereby causing the cabinet to form a permanent parallelogram as the cabinet conforms to the floor.
This problem is further present when the refrigarator door is dlmensloned rela~lve to the cablnet to carry relatively large items such as one gallon milk containers and other large items. These larger items may pre~ L d ~lyrl~ increase of 50% over customdIr du~s, and when stored on the door shelves can exert a large force on the hinge side of the cabinet. This force when excessive together with an uneven floor can cause the hinge side of the cab;net to sag and the cabinet frame tn deflect and form a parallelogram. In th1s situation the door would be difficult to close and in some cases impossible.
There have been several structural arrangements to rigidify refrlgerator cablnets. Three such arrangements are shown in U.S. Patent Nos. 4,606,112; 4,632,470; and 4,706,363, all assigned to the same assignee as the present lnvention. Whlle these prevlous structural arrangements have been sat;sfactory, one of the problem~ is that there are many components that need to be assembled together by havlng apertures through ~he various components and then bolts or screws must pass through the aligned apertures to secure atl of these components together. As in any manufacturing process there is a tolerance deviatlon bu11d-up so that the final assembled components have ~play" in them and each cablnet can vary from the next, therefQre control of the exact s k1ng of the width of the cabinet may not be poss1ble. Another problem 1n the prevlous structural arrangements to rigidlfy the cabinets is the cost of the many components that were necessary to provide the rigld structure. It ls h1ghly des1rable to elimlnate as many components as posslble to reduce the cost nf the manufacture of the cablnet yet mainta1n the necessary rigldlty of the cab1net. Anothar problem is how .
.
..~ : .' ,'' -PATENT - Docket 9D-MA-17265 - Jenkins et al ~ v ~ ~ 2 -~
to assemble the refrigerator cabinet when it ls made from pre-painted sheet metal which cannot be welded or otherwise deformed during 1ts assembly for appearance sake.
By this invention there is proYided a method of assembling a refrigerator cabinet wherein there is absolute control of the s king of the width of the cabinet, thus avoidlng the tolerance build-up problem and the method will reduce the cost of the refrigerator cabinet with the elimination u~ ,~v~ral components heretofore thougn~ nec~ssar~ and the method allows fcr the assembly to be made from pre-paJnted sheet met~l components.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
By the present inYention there is provided a method of assembling a refrigerator cabinet of the type having an outer sheet metal shall with side walls connected by a top wall forming upper front corners lS and a front face adjacent each of said walls, an inner liner and a partition separating freezer and fresh food compartments. The front face is formed to include spaced front and rear panels by bending the sheet metal at a right angle to each of the respective walls to form a first bend and a first portion of the front panel. A second bend is made which is a reverse bend to double the sheet metal back upon itself to form a second portion tha~ engages the rear surface of the first portion of the front panel to form a double layer front panel. A third bend is made at a right angle to the double layer front panel in the area of the first bend and a fourth bend is made at a right angle to space ~he rear panel from the double layer front panel. A metal structure member interconnecting the front face of each side wall is inserted into the space between the double layer front panel and rear panel and then the width of the outcr metal shell is si~ed to the des1red dimension. While reta1ning the outer metal shell to the des1red dimension the d~ ole layer PATENT - Docket 90-MA-17265 - Jenkins et al ~ ~J ~'J _~ 2 ~ ~
front panel and the metal strllctural member are pierce riveted together adjacent each of the side walls.
BRIEF DESCR TION OF THEQ WINGS
FIG. 1 is a schematic front elevational vie~ of a refrigerator that util k es the present invention in its assembly.
FIG. 2 is a perspectiYe view of the outer metal shell of the household refrigerator shown in Fig. I.
FI6. 3 i~ ~ cross-sectional view taken along llnes 3-3 of Fig.
1.
FIG. 4 is a perspect~Ye view of a portion of the refrigerator cablnet similar to that shown in Fig. 3.
~ESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRE~ EMeODIMENT
Referring to Figs. 1 and 2 in particular, the refrigerator lO
shown is a top mount household refrigerator having a freezing compartment 12 anJ a fresh food compartment 13 separated by an insulation partition assembly. Positioned in front of the insulation partition assembly is a mullion bar l6, and the bottom of the refrigerator is a front rail I4.
Both the mullion bar 16 and the front ra11 l4 wh k h, as will be explained fully here1nafter, lnsures the proper width of the cabinet between the side walls and adds rlgidity to the cabinet to reduce deflection of structure du~ to uneven floors or door loads of the cabinet. The insulation partit10n assembly does not form part of the present in~ention and accordingly will not be described in detail herein. Upon completion of the assembly of the refrigerator and freezer compartment, the fresh food compartments would have separate doDrs 17 and l9 respectlvely for clos1ng the respectlve compartmenes. The refrigerator 10 has a cabinet outer metal case or shell ]8 (F1g. 2) that has opposlte side walls 20, 22, and a top wall 23 which envelopes both the free~er and fresh food compartments. The outer metal shell l8 has an inner liner 24 ~lg IJ
wh1ch 1s made of sheet metal or plastlc mater1al.
.
PATENT - Docket 9D-MA-I7265 - Jenkins et al J ~ b Between the innsr liner 24 and outer metal shell I8 there 1s thermal insulation (not shown). Th;s insulation in many refrlgerators consists of polyurethane foam which is in 1iquid form and inserted or injected into the space between the outer metal shell I8 and the ~nner liner 24 and then cured in place. During the polyurethane foaming operation the outer metal shell I8 may bulge or bo~ outwardly due to pressure exerted by tha foam and thus cause some distortion of the side walls 20 and 22 of the outer metai sne~ 8. It 1s desirable that the bowin~ or bulging of the outer shell when it occurs be corrected and elimin'atea prior to the final assembly of the refrigerator so that the insulation partition assembly 15 fits correctly relatlve to the s1de walls of the liner with no gaps between those components. Moreover, when the doors I7 and I9 of the freezer compartment and fresh food compartment are hung it is again important that the case width dlmensions from one side 20 to the other side 22 be the same throughout the height of the refrigerator and that the door openings def1ning the free~er and fresh food compartments remain square so tha~ the doors align and seal the front openings of the compartments I2 and I3 correctly.
Wlth particular reference to F1gs. 2-4, the components and their arrangement involY2d ~ith the method of assembl1ng ~he refrigerator cab1net 1n accordance with this invention will be discussed. ~hile only one side of the refrigerator is shown in Figs. 3 and 4, it is to be understood that the other side of the refrigerator will have the same components and arrangement. Pr~or to the foaming operation to provide the 1nsulation between the outer metal shell I8 and interior liner 24, the outer metal shell is formed to provtde a front face ~6 along the side walls 20, 22 and top wall ~3 against which the doors of the free~er and fresh food compartments would engage and seal. The hinges 28 (Fig. I) for the doors may be mounted on either side of the outer metal shel'. I8.
The outer shell I8 1n the present embod1ment is fabricated from PATENT - Docket 9D-MA-17265 - Jenkins et al t~ t~
pre-painted sheet metal having a thickness generally between .014 and .019 inches. This use of relatively thin sheet metal requires that means be incorporated in the cabinet construction which will reduce deflection of the cabinet. Moreover, since the metal is pre-painted it is important that the means for rigidifying the refrigerator cabinet will not mar the finish of the sheet metal, such as would be the case with a welding operation. The cabinet door open1ngs defined by front face 26 may distort out of square 1f one side sags relative to the o~ r which results in the frame forming a parallelogram. A side may sag for example when forces are exerted on the cabinet when it is placed on an uneven floor or when an unexcessive weight is placed on the doors. This is especially true in cabinets having relatively deep door shelves that are designed to hold heavy items such as one~gallon milk containers.
As can be best seen in Fig. 3, the front face 26 is formed to include spaced front and rear panels 30 and 32 respectively by bending the sheet metal at a right angle designated 34 to each of the respective side walls 20, 22 and top wall 23 to fo~m a first bend 34 and a first portion 31 of the front panel 30. A second bend 36 ~hich is a reYerse bend to double the sheet metal back upon ~tself to form a second portion 33 and engage the rear surface 38 of the First portion 31 of the front panel 30 to form a double layer front panel. There is a third bend 40 at a right angle to the double layer front panel 30 in the area of the first bend 34 and a four~h bend ~2 at a right angle to space the rear panel 32 from the double layer front panel 30.
There is provided a metal structure member such as mullion bar 16 and front rail 14 interconnect1ng the front face of each side wall and inserted between the double layer front panel 30 and the rear panel 32 as shown in Fig. 2. The method of assembly will be described in connection with securing the mullion bar 16 to the outer metal shell 18; however, it 30 1s to be :nderstood that the sallle assembly hethrd can be and ~s used 1n PATEN-I - Docket 9D-MA-17265 - Jenkins et a1 ~.J ~J ~ C~ .~J :7 ~
the preferred embodiment for securing the front rall I4 to the bottom of the outer metal shell I8. Therefore, the method wlll only be dsscribed in connection with the mullion bar I6. The mullion bar 16 is formed from pre-painted sheet me~al and has a front face 50 and an upper portion 44 reversely bent to form a bend 45 and a lower portion 46 is also reversely bent to form a bend 48 and as can be seen in Figs. 3 and 4, the upper and lower portion; form a double sheet metal layer throughout a major portion of the area of tihe l~vn~ face 50. For appearance purpo;~, ~he mullion bar 16 may have a sli~ht bend or curvature 52 as particularly shown in Fig. 3 to accommodate the second bend 36 of the front face 26 to allow the front panel 30 and the front face 50 of the ~ullion bar 16 to be in the same vertical plane. It wil) be noted that the ends of the mullion bar I6 extend a major portion of the distance between the second bend 36 and the third bend ~0 of the front face and is inserted into the space between the front panel 30 and rear panel 32.
After the mullion bar I6 is in place, the width of the outer metal shell is sized to the desired dimension by any suitable apparatus and when so sized and held at the desired dimenslon the double layer front panel 30 and the mullion bar 16 are pierce rlveted together adjacent each of the side walls 20 and 22 of the outer metal shell I8.
Preferably, there are two pierce rivets in this area as shown in Fig. ~.
In a pierce rivet operation it is necessary that there be an anvil or back-up tool 52 to stop movement of the pierce rivet 54 and allow the rivet to mushroom and extend outwardly of the hole which it has just pierced through the sheet metal. To accommodate the back-up tool 53 there is an aperture 56 in the rear panel 3Z larger than the diameter of the back-up tool so that the tool may pass through the aperture and be in posltion to intercept and stop further inward movement of the rivet and allow it to mushroom as shown in Fig. 3. It will be understood also that the plerce rlvet operation 1ncludes means for forclng the rivet through PATENT - Docket 9D-MA-17265 - Jenkins et al ~2~2 ~-~J~, the sheet metal wlthout the need of pre-drIl11ng or punching holes for the r1vet to pass through. Thls ls a hammer-11ks member 58 which will exert force on the rivet and dr1ve 1t through the double layer front panel 30 and the double layer mullion bar 16 as shown in Fig. 3. It will be noted that with this kind of structural arrangement and method of securing the mull10n bar 16 to the outer metAl case I8 that there are no apertures, cut-outs or anything else tha~ needs to be in alignment to receive the usual threadea bolts or screws used heretofore. unce the refrigeratDr cab1net has been correctly sized to the desirad w.dth dimens10n and held to that dimension then the pierce riveting operation takes place and all of the components that are riveted together will have no ~play" in them and there will have been eliminated any tolerance build-up that may have been the result of tolerance differences in the various components.
As mentioned previously, the same operation can take place at the bottom of the cab1net where the front rail l4 1s used to also r1gidify the outer metal shell 18. The same type of metal structure member as the mullion bar 16 may be used for the front rail I4 and again once the cabinet 1s sized to 1ts correct w1dth dimension and held at tha~
dimension, the p1erce riveting operation takes place and rivets th& front rail 14 to the double layer front panel 30 and the front rail 14.
Pierce rivet1ng equipment 1s available from a number of commercial suppliers and therefore there is no need to describe the spec1fic equipment 1n order to pract~ce th~s invention. Only ordinary mechan1cal skill 1s needed to coordinate the sizing apparatus that may be used with the pierce r1veting equ~pment to assure that the pierce ; riveting operat10n 1s accomplished wh11e the ~idth of the outer metal shell 1s held to the des1red dimens10n.
It shculd be apparent to those sktlled 1n the art that the method descr1bed here1n 1s cons1dered to be the presently preferred form of th1s 1nvention. In accordance w1th the Patent Statutes, changes may be made in the disclosed method w1thout actually departlng from the true sp1rlt and scope of th1s lnYention.
.~
Claims (6)
1. A method of assembling a refrigerator cabinet of the type having an outer sheet metal shell with side walls connected by a top wall forming upper front corners and a front face adjacent each of said walls, an inner liner and a partition separating freezer and fresh food compartments comprising:
forming said front face to include spaced front and rear panels by bending the sheet metal at d right angle to each of the respective walls to form a first bend and a first portion of the front panel, a second bend which is a reverse bend to double the sheet metal back upon itself to form a second portion that engages the rear surface of the first portion of the front panel to form a double layer front panel, a third bend at a right angle to the double layer front panel in the area of the first bend, and a fourth bend at a right angle to space the rear panel from the double layer front panel, providing a metal structure member interconnecting the front face of each side wall and inserted in the space between the double layer front panel and the rear panel, sizing the width of the outer metal shell to the desired dimension, and while retaining the outer metal shell to the desired dimension pierce riveting the double layer front panel and the metal structure member together adjacent each of the side walls.
forming said front face to include spaced front and rear panels by bending the sheet metal at d right angle to each of the respective walls to form a first bend and a first portion of the front panel, a second bend which is a reverse bend to double the sheet metal back upon itself to form a second portion that engages the rear surface of the first portion of the front panel to form a double layer front panel, a third bend at a right angle to the double layer front panel in the area of the first bend, and a fourth bend at a right angle to space the rear panel from the double layer front panel, providing a metal structure member interconnecting the front face of each side wall and inserted in the space between the double layer front panel and the rear panel, sizing the width of the outer metal shell to the desired dimension, and while retaining the outer metal shell to the desired dimension pierce riveting the double layer front panel and the metal structure member together adjacent each of the side walls.
2. The method of assembling a refrigerator cabinet of Claim 1 wherein the pierce riveting is done at two spaced apart areas adjacent each of the side walls.
PATENT - Docket 9D-MA 17265 - Jenkins et al
PATENT - Docket 9D-MA 17265 - Jenkins et al
3. The method of assembling a refrigerating cabinet in accordance with Claim 1 wherein the rear panel of the front face has an aperture to receive therethrough a back-up tool to aid in pierce riveting the double layer front panel and metal structure member together.
4. The method of assembling a refrigerator cabinet in accordance with Claim 1 wherein the metal structure member is formed by having the upper and lower portions reversely bent to form a double sheet metal layer throughout a major portion of its area.
5. The method of assembling a refrigerator cabinet in accordance with Claim 1 wherein there are two metal structure members, one in the area of the partition separating the freezer and fresh food compartments and one at the bottom of the outer metal shell.
6. The invention as defined in any of the preceding claims including any further features of novelty disclosed.
Applications Claiming Priority (2)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| US44078689A | 1989-11-24 | 1989-11-24 | |
| US440,786 | 1989-11-24 |
Publications (1)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| CA2025274A1 true CA2025274A1 (en) | 1991-05-25 |
Family
ID=23750183
Family Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA 2025274 Abandoned CA2025274A1 (en) | 1989-11-24 | 1990-09-13 | Method of assembling a refrigerator cabinet |
Country Status (1)
| Country | Link |
|---|---|
| CA (1) | CA2025274A1 (en) |
Cited By (2)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CN107931453A (en) * | 2017-11-24 | 2018-04-20 | 安徽鲲鹏装备模具制造有限公司 | A kind of pre- riveting equipment of the bottom plate of freezer liner |
| CN107931459A (en) * | 2017-11-24 | 2018-04-20 | 安徽鲲鹏装备模具制造有限公司 | A kind of freezer liner size coaming plate riveting equipment |
-
1990
- 1990-09-13 CA CA 2025274 patent/CA2025274A1/en not_active Abandoned
Cited By (4)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CN107931453A (en) * | 2017-11-24 | 2018-04-20 | 安徽鲲鹏装备模具制造有限公司 | A kind of pre- riveting equipment of the bottom plate of freezer liner |
| CN107931459A (en) * | 2017-11-24 | 2018-04-20 | 安徽鲲鹏装备模具制造有限公司 | A kind of freezer liner size coaming plate riveting equipment |
| CN107931453B (en) * | 2017-11-24 | 2023-10-17 | 安徽鲲鹏装备模具制造有限公司 | Bottom plate pre-riveting equipment of refrigerator liner |
| CN107931459B (en) * | 2017-11-24 | 2023-10-20 | 安徽鲲鹏装备模具制造有限公司 | Refrigerator inner container large and small coaming riveting equipment |
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Legal Events
| Date | Code | Title | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| EEER | Examination request | ||
| FZDE | Dead |