US1507636A - Refrigerator-door seal - Google Patents

Description

sept- 1924.

J. TWARDOWSKY REFRIGERATOR DOOR SEAL Filed May 31 Patented Sept. 9, 1924.

UNITED STATES 1,507,636 PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN TWARDOWSKY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, '10 UNIVERSE CORPORATION, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

REFRIGERATOR-DOOR SEAL.

Application filed May 31, 1923. Serial No. 642,514.

To. all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, J OHN TWARDOWSKY, a citizen of Russia, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in aRefrigerator-Door Seal; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to means for sealing doors so as to afiord a substantially air tight closure. Generally speaking, it aims to provide a simple and inexpensive arrangement for this purpose and one which can readily be adjusted so as to provide the desired sealing effect regardless of variations in the exact size and interfitting of the door with the door frame. Moreover, it aims .to pro- I vide a seal of this class which can readily be adjusted from time to time if necessary, in which the "sealin portion can readily be replaced if desire and in which the seal is effective both as to air and as to moisture.

In using refri erators, it is well known that the require; amount of cooling effect depends to a considerable extent on a tight closing of the refrigerating chamber with respect to the outer air so as to prevent the outer (and much warmer) air from entering this chamber. If the cooling is effected by means of a mechanical refrigerating system in which power is derived from an electric circuit, the cost of the current makes it. all the more important that the required cooling action be reduced to a minimum, hence it is particularly desirable that the doors of mechanicallycooled refrigerators should be tightly sealed. Furthermore, since many kinds of fruits and vegetables, as well as other foods, are easily affected bythe pres once of moisture within the refrigerating chamber even if the latter is contlnuously kept at a desirably low temperature, it 1s likewise important that the door of the refri crating chamber should be kept tightly sea ed so long'as it is closed, 7

However, the usual refrigerator door constructions do not readily lend themselves to such a tight sealing, this being partly due to initial departures from an exact interfitting of the door with the frame and also because these parts 'may gradually change somewhat in their exact size and shape.

as to its position whenever this may seem desirable. Still furtherand also more detailed objects will appear from the fo1lowing specification and from the accompanying drawings, in which- Fig. 1 is an elevation of a refrigerator door equipped with the sealing arrangement embodying my invention, taken from the inner side of the door.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary enlarged view of a corner portion of the same.

Fig. 3 is a correspondingly enlarged horizontal section throughan edge .of the door and through the adjacent portion of the easing of the refrigerator, taken with the door in its closed position.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged portion of Fig. 3, showing the sealing strip as itappears when the door is still more tightly pressed shut.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary section similar to a portion of. Fig. 4 showing the sealing member in two positions of adjustment.

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of a portion of the sealing strip.

In accomplishing the purposes of my inventionafter the manner of the accompanying drawings, I, construct the door of the re frigerator with a wooden rim 1 of such a size as to loosely enter within the inner frame portion 2 of the front of the refrigerator, this frame portion being here shown as-screwed to a corner post 3; The

corner post itself is shown as partly surrounded by the outer metal side piece 40f the refrigerator, while the frame portion 2- has screwed to it the inner metal shell portion- 5 which forms part of the interior of the refrigerating chamber. The space between I the inner and outer metal sides 4; and 5 is filled with an insulating packing 6 of cork board or the like, and a similar heat-insuloo Cal

lating packing is interposed between the outer meta]. face 7 of the door and the inner metal face 8 of the door.

of the door and which, is screwed-to the frame member 2. The lining 5 and frann member 2 conjointly form an angular seal. 11 with which the web 10 engages. Thus arranged, the said portion 11 of the inner lining 5 also constitutes a forwardly facing ledge on the frame of the'door, and by spacing this ledge from the inner face of the door by a distance less than the width of the web 10 of the sealing member, I cause thiswebto be compressed when the door is closed. To permit such a compressing action to flex the sealing member to an extent which will automatically compensate for. the differences in distance between the parts in case the inner face of the door is not exactlyparallel at all points with the forward-face of the said ledge 11, I provide the rim or peripheral edge portion 1' of the door with a recess 12 ,which is overhung by the back of the web 10 of the sealing member, so that this back can be flexed into the said recess after the manner shown in Fig. 4.

-To hold the sealing-member'properly in position, I provide a series of metal clamping strips 13 fastened to the door strips 1 by screws 14. These strips, which desirably are of a socalled half-oval cross-section, lap over the inner face of the web 9 of the sealing strip and clamp this web tightly against With the parts properly proportioned, and with the web 10 of such a Width that' it will engage the said ledgell before the overhanging portion 116 of the metal door front engages the metal front lining 4 of the door frame; I can readily 'cause the sealing strip to engage the ledge 11 as shown in Fig. 3 even when the door is only lightly pressed shut. Then if the pressure is greater at any point along the sealing strip, the sealing strip may be expanded in thickness memes and also forced back into therecess 12 as 4 shown in Fig. 4. Inpractice, the extent of this compression and distorting of the sealing member may vary considerably at difierent points of that member, thereby compensating for irregularities in the shape and spacing of the door and door'frame.

If the sealing member thus employed were permanently clamped in position, I might encounter the same objection which has been met with fiat sealing strips heretofore tried for a similar purpose, namely, that the strip will wrin le and hence will not afford the desired tlght closure. To avoid this, I do not fasten the sealing strip-by nails or screws extending through it, but merely clamp it under a portion of the clamping strips 13 which in turn are secured in place by screws 1% that do not extend through the rubber sealing strip. In'alfixing the sealing strip, I can initially tension this somewhat so as to stretch it around the outer edge of the clamping strips 13, whereupon the tensioned rubber strip will avoid any initial tendenci towards wrinkling. Furthermore, if gra ual changes in the relative disposition of the door with respect to the door frame or any gradual change in the shape of the sealing strip reduce the initial sealing effect, I can readily readjust the sealing member. by merely loosening the screws 14- and sliding the web 9 of the sealing strip laterally after the manner shown in Fig. 5. That is to 'say, I can readily increase or decrease the entire arrangement is exceedingly simple,

that .the sealing means employed will readily adjust themselves to such variations as ordinarily might occur at various portions of the door, and that a further general adjustment also can readily be made if desired. Incidentally, my sealing strip through its cushioning action also avoids any slamming noise when the door is closed, thereby accomplishing a further and highly desirable effect. 7

However, while- I have illustrated and described my invention as applied to a refrigerator door and body of a struction, namely one' having inner and outer metal linings, I do not wish to be limitedto the use of my invention in connection with any particular type. of refrigerator door. Nor do I wish to be limited to its use in connection with refri erators, as it. obviousl might be employef also incomiection wit other doors-when a sealing of the same is desired. Neither do I wish tobe limited to the details of the construction and arrange'ment herewith disclosed, as many articular conmodifications might obviously be made without departing either from the spirit of my invention or from the appended claims, and particularly so since I have exaggerated the spacing of some of the parts in the drawings so as to make these show the underlying principles more clearly,

I claim as my invention:

1. In combination with a door frame, and a door having a continuous recess adjacent to the inner edges thereof, a compressible sealing member of substantially L-shape cross-section having one web thereof secured to the inner face of the door so as to cause the other web to lie in alinement with the recess and to have edgewise engagement with the door frame, whereby upon such engagement the apex portions of the member may move into the recess.

2. In combination with a door frame,- and a door having a continuous recess adjacent to the inner edges thereof, a compressible sealing member of substantially L-shape cross-section having one web thereof secured to the inner face of the-door so as to cause the other web to lie in alinement with the recess and to have edgewise engagement with the door frame, whereby upon such engagement the apex portions of the member may move into the recess, and clamping means for the first named web formed to permit the latter to be adjusted inwardly and outwardly relative to the inner edges of the door.

3. In combination with a door frame, and a door having a continuous recess adjacent to the inner edges thereof, com ressible sealing means havln a part thereo secured to the inner face 0 the door and having a second part at an angle to the first named part and in register with the recess and havmg a free edge adapted for edgewise engagement with the door frame, whereby upon such engagement the second part may move into the recess in a plane at substan-' tially right angles to the plane of the first.

named part. a

4. In combination with a door frame having an angular seat at its inner edge, and

a door having a recess in alinement with the seat, compressible sealing means secured to the door and having a art engaged in the angular seat and mova le into the recess upon closing of the door, and means for securing the sealingmeans to the door the apex portion of the sealing means may move into the recess, and means for securing the sealing means to the door so as to en.- able the sealing. means to be moved inwardly or outwardly thereby to regulate the degree of engagement of'the second web with the angular seat.

Signed at Chicago, Illinois, May 25th, 1923.

JOHN TWARDOWSKY.

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