GB2257192A

GB2257192A - Refrigerator cabinet with hermetically sealing magnetic door closure arrangement.

Info

Publication number: GB2257192A
Application number: GB9209440A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Oscar Patron; Adriano Sina
Original assignee: Zanussi Elettrodomestici SpA
Current assignee: Electrolux Zanussi Elettrodomestici SpA
Priority date: 1991-05-03
Filing date: 1992-05-01
Publication date: 1993-01-06
Anticipated expiration: 2012-05-01
Also published as: GB9209440D0; IT225644Y1; ITPN910013V0; ITPN910013U1; ES1021103U; FR2676084B3; FR2676084A1; GB2257192B; ES1021103Y; DE9205842U1

Description

REFRIGERATOR CABINET WITH HERMETICALLY SEALING DOOR CLOSURE ARRANGEMENT The invention relates to a refrigerator cabinet with a hermetically sealing door closure arrangement of simple type, which can be applied to doors without uprights, which is capable of ensuring effective air-tight sealing and permitting simple and fast opening and closing of such doors without causing the doors to rub against each other.

Refrigerators are known, which are provided with four doors for closing the refrigerating compartment, being of the same width and being formed by two pairs of mutually adjacent doors which are hingedly mounted to the casing of the apparatuses in mutually superposed positions. The doors of each pair of doors are usually provided with a respective peripheral magnetic seal which is applied against the surface of the door which is directed towards the interior of the compartment and interacts with the oppositely disposed front peripheral metal edge of the compartment itself, and the hermetic sealing effect for the compartment is also ensured, in the position of mutual closure of the doors, by providing an associated magnetic seal which also seals along the vertical edges which face towards each other of the doors, said seals adhering perfectly to each other in the closure position of both the doors.

In order to ensure that, during the opening and closing movement of each two mutually adjacent doors, the vertical seals do not rub against each other, with the consequent risk of their being damaged and ineffective closure of the compartment, various structural contrivances have been proposed.

In particular, a known solution provides for the presence of a spring-loaded hinge on two mutually adjacent doors, the hinge being shaped in such a way as to produce a slight movement thereof away from each other in the horizontal direction during opening or closing thereof, which is produced on rotating each door through a circular arc around the associated position of pivotal mounting to the casing of the apparatus. That movement therefore prevents mutual rubbing of and damage to the oppositely disposed seals of the doors, and the hinge is capable of maintaining the seals in a mutually adhering condition in the closure position of the doors, thus ensuring effective hermetic sealing of the compartment of the refrigerating apparatus.

However, while guaranteeing satisfactory operation, the above-mentioned hinge is structurally complicated and bulky and also requires various operations for fitting thereof to the doors of the refrigerating apparatus.

Therefore, the aim of the present invention is to eliminate the disadvantages linked to the use of that type of hinge, by means of a refrigerator door-closure arrangement which is of a structurally simple type which is designed in such a way as to permit effective closing and opening of said doors, such as to ensure satisfactory sealing for the compartment of such apparatuses in the closure position of the doors.

According to the invention, there is provided a refrigerator cabinet having an hermetically sealing closure arrangement comprising a heat-insulated vertically extending casing defining at least one compartment, the or each compartment hermetically closable by at least two doors which are hinged to the casing at adjacent positions and which are displaceable from an open position to a position of closing the associated compartment, said doors being respectively provided with a magnetic peripheral seal cooperating with a front metallic edge of the casing and at least one further magnetic seal which is applied against the vertical lateral edge of the associated door and incorporating at least one magnet also co-operating with at least one corresponding magnet associated with the adjacent door, in the closure position of both the doors, the arrangement comprising at least one separator element of material which is permeable to the magnetic flux, which is fitted in one of said doors in a position interposed between the magnets respectively associated with two mutually adjacent doors, said magnets being of bipolar type and positioned with opposite polarities in such a way as to exercise an attraction action in the closure position and a mutual repulsion action in the phase of opening of said doors.

The invention will be better appreciated from the following description which is set forth solely by way of non-limiting example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a four-door refrigerating apparatus whose cabinet is provided with the hermetically sealing closure arrangement of the invention, and Figure 2 and 3 are plan views of the present arrangement in section taken along line A-A in Figure 2, in two different embodiments.

Figure 1 shows a refrigerating apparatus, in particular a domestic refrigerator 4 provided with a heatinsulated casing 5 which extends vertically and which is provided with two individual compartments 6 and 7 for refrigeration of foodstuffs, which are disposed in mutually superposed relationship and which are separated by means of a horizontally extending heat-insulated divider wall 8. The compartments can be closed by respective pairs of doors 9,10 and 11,12 of the same size; doors are hinged by their vertical edge laterally to the casing 5 and provided with associated front handles (not shown) for effecting opening and closing thereof with a movement through a circular arc in the opposite directions B and C at the front of the casing.

In order to ensure hermetic sealing for each compartment in the closure position of the doors, the latter are also provided with a respective peripheral magnetic seal 13 of conventional type, which is applied against the internal surface of each door and which is directed towards the corresponding compartment of the apparatus, the seal being arranged to bear against and remain attracted to the appositely disposed metal front edge of the apparatus.In particular, still referring to Figure 1, it will be noted that the magnetic seal 13 of each door is formed by two horizontal portions 14 and 15, being an upper portion and a lower portion respectively, which are disposed along the corresponding upper and lower horizontal edges 16 and 17 of each door, and a vertical lateral portion 18 which is provided along the corresponding vertical lateral edge 19 of that door, the seal portions 14, 15 and 18 being arranged to bear against the corresponding horizontal front edges 20 and 21 of the casing 5 and the divider wall 8, as well as against the vertical lateral edge 22 of the casing. In addition, hermetically sealing closure of each compartment of the present refrigerating apparatus is also ensured by the provision of a further magnetic seal 23 which is applied against the entire vertical lateral edge 24 of each door, opposite to the above-described remaining vertical lateral edge 19, which seal, in the closure position of both the doors, is attracted by a similar magnetic seal 23 which is fitted along the associated vertical lateral edge 24 of the adjacent door.

Referring now to Figure 2, shown therein is a first embodiment of the hermetically sealing closure arrangement for the doors, in accordance with the invention.

It will be seen from Figure 2 that each of the magnetic seals 23 is suitably dimensioned and curved and incorporates at least one magnet 25 of bipolar type which is suitably fixed in its interior, the two mutually opposite polarities of which (identified by North-South) are disposed in sideby-side relationship in the direction of the width of the magnet and extend vertically over the entire length of the magnet, where the magnet of one door is positioned with the polarities which are opposite to those of the magnet of the other door, in such a way that in the closure position of both doors, the two magnets exert a mutual attraction effect and in the opening phase of those two doors the two ts exert a mutual repulsion effect which is caused by the oppositely disposed positioning of the polarities of the magnets.Each magnet seal 23 is also fixed over its entire extent to the rearward surface of the associated door in per se known manner by means of screws 26 or similar fixing elements, and at least one seal is also fixed in that position with the interposition of at least one thin extruded element 27 of plastics material, preferably PVC, of the same extent as the associated seal and substantially performing the function of a hermetically sealing closure arrangement in accordance with the invention for the reasons described hereinafter. The element 27 is also shaped in such a way as to have a straight portion 28 which is fixed by the screw 26 to the rearward surface of the associated door, together with the respective magnetic seal 23, and a curved portion 29 which is at least of the same width as the two magnetic seals.

In particular the curved portion 29 of the extruded element 27 is applied rigidly and firmly against the entire external surface of the magnetic seal 23 in such a way that, in the closure position of the two doors, the curved portion is disposed directly in contact with the magnetic seal of the other door and is therefore interposed between the two magnetic seals indicated. The function of the extruded element 27 will thus be apparent.In actual fact, by virtue of its reduced thickness and the fact that it is not made of ferromagnetic material, the element 27 is permeable with respect to the magnetic flux produced by the respective magnets 25 of the seals 23 which are in oppositely disposed relationship in the closure position of the doors of the refrigerating apparatus and in the position of mutual contact between the element 27 and the adjacent seal, and that fact also permits reciprocal attraction of the two magnets referred to above and thus permits the two doors to be held in the closure position, thus ensuring effective hermetic sealing for each compartment of the refrigerating apparatus and preventing the formation of condensation on the outside of the compartment.In addition, during the movement of the doors into the open position, which is facilitated by the mutual repulsion effect of the magnets of the two doors for the aboveindicated reasons, the two magnetic seals of the associated doors no longer rub against each other, as hitherto, which involved the consequent risk of damage to the seals, since in this case the rubbing effect occurs between one of the seals and the extruded element 27 which is applied to the other seal as indicated above, and that fact therefore prevents that disadvantage from arising and accordingly ensures that the seals have a greater service life.In addition to that, the provision of the extruded element 27 which is shaped in the above-described manner prevents undesirable reciprocal movements of the magnets 25 of the seals 23 during the opening and closing movement of the doors of the apparatus, therefore always ensuring correct alignment between the magnets and thus correct closure or opening of the doors.

Finally, looking now at Figure 3, shown therein is a further possible version of the hermetically sealing closure arrangement of an embodiment of the invention. In this case therefore the arrangement in question is formed by a profiled element 30 which is shaped with a box-like configuration provided with a recess 31 which can be fitted on to the sheet material member 32 of the door, and further provided with a flat side wall 33 of at least the same width as the single magnetic seal 23 which is used and which is also provided with a magnet 25 in its interior and is inserted with a shank portion 34 thereof into a corresponding hole 35 which is provided through a flat side edge 36 of the adjacent door. The flat wall 33 of the profiled element 30 is also connected to a wall 37 which is internal to the door, thus defining a seat 38 intended for accommodating a magnet 25 in a position corresponding to that of the magnet 25 which is incorporated in the seal 23, the magnets also being of bipolar type with opposite polarities in order to be able to attract and repel each other respectively in the closure position and in the open position of the two doors, in the same manner and for the same purposes as described above. In turn the magnetic seal 23 is shaped with a flat external surface in order to be able to fit perfectly against the flat wall 33 of the profiled element 30 which in that case performs the function of the present hermetically sealing closure arrangement in the closure position of the two doors, thereby attaining the advantages as described above.

Claims

1. A refrigerator cabinet having an hermetically sealing closure arrangement comprising a heat-insulated vertically extending casing defining at least one compartment, the or each compartment hermetically closable by at least two doors which are hinged to the casing at adjacent positions and which are displaceable from an open position to a position of closing the associated compartment, said doors being respectively provided with a magnetic peripheral seal co-operating with a front metallic edge of the casing and at least one further magnetic seal which is applied against the vertical lateral edge of the associated door and incorporating at least one magnet also co-operating with at least one corresponding magnet associated with the adjacent door, in the closure position of both the doors, the arrangement comprising at least one separator element of material which is permeable to the magnetic flux, which is fitted in one of said doors in a position interposed between the magnets respectively associated with two mutually adjacent doors, said magnets being of bipolar type and positioned with opposite polarities in such a way as to exercise an attraction action in the closure position and a mutual repulsion action in the phase of opening of said doors.

2. A cabinet according to claim 1 wherein said separator element is a thin extruded element which is fixed against the rear surface of the associated door, together with said further magnetic seal, said extruded element being provided with a straight portion and a curved portion which is applied rigidly and firmly against the whole of the outside surface of said further magnetic seal and disposed in contact with the further magnetic seal of the adjacent door in the closure position of both said doors.

3. A cabinet according to claim 1 wherein said separator element comprises a profiled element shaped with a box-like configuration which can be applied to the associated door along its vertical lateral edge, and with a flat side wall capable of bearing against said further magnetic seal which is fixed to the adjacent door, said profiled element being provided with a seat internal to the door for accommodating a magnet disposed in opposite relationship to that of said further magnetic seal.

4. A cabinet according to claims 1, 2 or 3 wherein each of said magnets has two mutually opposite polarities which are disposed side-by-side in the direction of the width of the relative magnet and extend vertically over the entire length of said magnet.

5. A cabinet according to any one of the preceding claims, the interior of the casing being subdivided into a pair of compartments one above the other and each having a closure arrangement as claimed.

6. A refrigerator cabinet constructed and arranged to operated substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

7. A refrigerating apparatus having a cabinet according to any one of the preceding claims.