US2242335A - Cabinet construction - Google Patents

Description

y 1941. o. H. YOXSIMER 2,242,335

' CABINET CONSTRUCTION Original Filed Jan. 28, 1957 Patented May 20, 1941 2,242,335 CABINET CONSTRUCTION Orland H. Yoxsimer,

to Westinghouse Pennsylvania Continuation of application Springfield, Mass., assignor Electric & Manufacturing Company, East Pittsburgh, Pa.,

a corporation of Serial No. 122,748,

January 28, .1937. This application May 24,

1940, Serial No.

3 Claims.

This application is a continuation of my copending application, Serial No. 122,748, filed January 28, 1937. My invention relates to refrigerator cabinets and has for an object to provide an improved breaker strip and cabinet construction for retaining or fastening the breaker strip to the cabinet.

It is a further object of my invention to provide a cabinet construction wherein the use of nails, screws, and the like for fastening the breaker strip to the cabinet are dispensed with.

It is still another object of my invention to utilize a portion of a refrigerator cabinet construction for retaining the heat breakerin place,

and to thereby reduce the number of parts and the costvof construction of such cabinets.

It is still a further object of my invention to provide an improved construction for retaining the sealing gasket and the breaker strip of a refrigerator cabinet in place.

It is another object of my invention to provide an improved door construction for refrigerator cabinets.

These and other object are effected by my 1 invention as will be apparent from the following description and claims taken in connection with the accompanying drawing forming a part of this application, in which:

Fig. 1 is a front view of a refrigerator cabinet provided with a door embodying one form of my invention; V

Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectional view of a portion of the door taken on line IIII of Fig. i;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional view of the edge of the door shown in Fig. 1 taken on line m m of Fig. 2; and,

Fig. 4 is an enlarged sectional view of a portion of a door constructed in accordance with a second embodiment of my invention.

Referring specifically to the drawing for a detailed description of the first embodiment of my invention shown in Figs. 1 to 3, numeral M designates generally a refrigerator cabinet enrbodying a food storage compartment it having an access opening it and a door for closing the access opening, generally indicated at it. The cabinet is formed in the usual manner from an outer metallic shell 65 and an inner metallic shell it with a breaker strip El extending therebetween peripherally of the access opening 83.

The door it is formed from an outer metallic shell is and an inner metallic shell or door pan as. with heat insulation 25 disposed therebetween. The door pan is is provided with a flange 22 peripherally ofthe edge of the door it, which flange extends toward the outer shell it but is spaced therefrom. The outer shell 18 is provided with a portion 23 which is bent back upon itself to overlap the front marginal portions of the cabinet H peripherally of the access opening l3. A flange member 24 is fastened to the inner side of the outer shell I8 peripherally of the door preferably by welding and a portion 25 thereof extends toward but is spaced from the edge of portion 23 of the outer shell which overlaps the front of the cabinet ll. A sealing gasket 26, preferably made of soft rubber in the form shown, is retained between the edge of the portion 23 of the outer shell and the edge of the portion 25 of the flange 2d and extends completely around the edge of the door. The gasket 26 contacts the front marginal portions of the cabinet II when the door is closed and seals the food storage compartment 12. c 1

A breaker strip .21 is provided to close the space between the inner and outer shells, and to provide a heat break therebetween, and is preferably formed of anon-metallic, non-hygroscopic relatively rigid material such as, for enample, molded cellulose material'impregnated with a resinous condensate product. As shown in Figs. 2 and 3, 'the outer edge 38 of the breaker I stripg2'l is retained in place on the door by providing a strip of metal 28 which is preferably spot-welded to the flange 26 and which forms therewith a groove or depression 29 in which the edge 30 of the breaker strip is received or retained. Obviously, the member 28 may extend completely around the door, or separate pieces may be provided to form, with the flanges 2s, a plurality of pockets to receive the edge 36 of the breaker strip. The inner edge 3! of the breaker strip 21 is retained in place with respect to the inner door pan I9 by a piece of strip metal 32 bent to engage the edge of the breaker strip and the edge of the flange 22, in the manner completely described and claimed in the copending application of G. F. Forsthoefel, Serial No. 103,074, filed September 2.9, 1936, for Cabinet have provided an improved breaker strip cabinet construction in which the use of nails,

extends toward, but is spaced from the outer shell 42. The outer shell 42 is bent back upon itself to form a portion 45, which overlaps the front marginal portions of the cabinet II and which is then bent to. form a depression or groove 46 and a flange 41 extendin toward the flange 44 in spaced relation thereto.

-'A breaker strip 48, formed of the same material and in the same shape as the breaker'strip 21 shown in Figs. 1 and 2, and a sealing gasket 49 are attached to the door 40 in the following manner. The sealing gasket 49 is provided with a sealing portion 5| which is supported by the overlapping portion 45 of the outer shell 42, and

with a retaining portion 52 which conforms with the shape of the depression 46 of the outer shell 42. The outer edge is inserted in the depression 46 and is retained therein. The other edge 54 of the breaker strip is retained in place by a metal strip 55 same manner as set forth with respect to the embodiment shown in Fig. 2, and corner clips, similar to those shown at 33 in Fig. l, clamp the inner and outer shells 4| and 42 together with the breaker strip 48 and retaining portion 52 of the sealing gasket therebetween, thus retaining the breaker strip and sealing gasket in place on the door 40.

From the foregoing, it will be apparent that a screws, and the like are eliminated and in which the number of parts and the cost of manufacture are reduced. It will also be apparent that, although the improved construction is illustrated as applied to a door construction alone, it is equally applicable to the body of the refrigerator without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. The words cabinetconstruction and the like in the claims are, therefore, intended to apply either to the cabinet body or to the access door.

While I'haveshown my invention in several forms, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that it is not so limited, but is of various other changes and modifications without departing from the spirit thereof, and I desire, therefore, that only such limitations shall be placed thereupon as are imposed by the prior 53 of the breaker strip 48 inthe' art or as are specifically set forth in the appended .claims.

What I claim is: 1. In refrigerator cabinet construction, the

combination of inner and outer metallic shells, a

flange associated with one of the shells, extending towards the other shell and spaced therefrom, a breaker strip for closing the space betweenthe shells, said flange having a groove formed therein, which groove provides the sole means for retaining one edge of said breaker strip in place and a gasket member held in position at least partially by said flange.

2. A refrigerator cabinet construction, the

combination of inner and outer metallic shells spaced from each other, a breaker strip closing the space between the shells, one of said shells being provided with, a depression, which de- .-;.pressi0n provides the sole means for retaining 20' gasket member, said depression also being formed one edge of the breaker strip in position and a to retain said gasket in place.

3. In cabinet construction, the combination of spaced-apart inner and outer sheet metal shells, a flange on each of said shells, said flanges being spaced apart and extending towards one another, said outer shell having a groove formed thereon and adjacent the flange thereof, a heat breaker of thin non-metallic material secured adjacent said spaced-apart flanges to bridge the space therebetween, one edge of said breaker being positioned in saidgroove, a preformed strip of substantially S-shaped section having two oppositely-facing grooves therein, one of the grooves of said strip engaging the edge of the heat breaker opposite a the edge engaged by the groove on the outer shell and the other groove of said strip engaging the edge of the flange on said inner shell in such a manner that said 'S-shaped strip may be slid susceptible onto said flange during assembly and is retained thereon without the use of nails, screws, or the like, said strip being substantially undeformed during and after the assembly of the refrigerator structure, widely spaced apart members adjacent the heat breaker for holding said inner and outer shells in spaced relationship, said members being the sole means adjacent the breaker strip for so holding said shells to minimize the flow of heat from one of said shells to the other through said members, and heat insulation between said shells.

- ORLAN'D H. YOXSIMER.

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