US2264543A - Refrigerator - Google Patents

Description

c. H. NAUER-r REFRIGERATOR Filedl aan. 12, 1940` 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Dec. 2, 1941. c. H. NAUERT.

REFRIGERATOR 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Llecl Jan. l2, 1940 l Patented Dec. 2 1941 carl n. Nauen, Evansville, nul., assigner to Servei, Inc., New York, N. Y.a corporation of Delaware Application January 12, 1940, serial No. 313,627 I (cl. .2o-35) 7 Claims.

This invention relates to refrigerators and is particularly concerned with the construction of refrigerator cabinets.

An object of the invention is to provide an improved type of marginal wall construction and coacting molding or breaker vstrip assembly for the space between the marginal portions or edges of the outer and inner shells or wallsvof a'refrigerator cabinet resulting in economy in materials and expedition of the assembling operation, while at the same time maintaining a neat and attractive exterior appearance'and stability and rigidity of construction without the use of the conventional wood or analogous framework. The invention is particularly applicable to doors for refrigerator cabinets, and is illustrated and described in such embodiment herein.

'back portion Ia terminating inan outturned edge or flange I2b. Breaker strip retaining members I3 are provided and may be in the form of spring metal clips having a portion thereofv secured, as by spot welding, to the inner side of the strip I2 and a nger or prong |30 projecting outwardly into the space between the iianges Ib y and i217. 'I'his portion I3a constitutes in effect a.

` resilient prong to which a breaker strip It is con- The foregoing and other objects and advantages will become apparent in view of the following description taken in conjunction with the drawings, wherein: y

Fig. 1 is a view in front elevation of a refrig- "erator oi' the domestic or household type with the Referring to the drawings in detail and first v to Figs. 1 to 4 inclusivev a refrigerator cabinet is generally indicated at A and is provided with a door D affording access to the food compartment C.

The improved breaker strip or molding assembly constituting the features of the present lnvention is shown herein applied to the door D, the latter having an outer wall or shell I@ with a marginal edge portion Ia terminating in an inturned flange ith, ,and an inner shell or door pan Ii terminating in an lnturned flange IIa.

'The walls III and Ii are spaced apart to receive insulation material of any suitable type therebetween.

The molding or breaker strip assembly includes one or more reinforcing members inthe `form of a metal molding strip or strips I2 which are secured as by spot welding to the outer wall or shell III and are each formed with a doubled the food compartment and the exterior of the cabinet when the door is closed.

One method of assembling is to first spot weld the retaining clips to the strips I2, and'then spot weld the strips I2 to the inner side of the shell III.4 Insulation material may then be in# serted in the space between the` outer shell ill and door pan or inner shell II, and the breaker strip Hi and gasket IS mounted and secured in position by screws I5. Corner plates or trim I8 may then be applied to the'outer and inner wall members I 0 and II by means of screws I9 to hold the wall members in structurally spaced apart relation and to complete the assembling' operation. y

With the use of this type of breaker strip assembly the necessity of employing framework around the door or the door opening is avoided.

The breaker strips I5 are formed of a material having poor thermal conductivity such as, for example,V the material commercially known as Bakelite Fig. 5 shows a construction substantially similar to that illustrated in Fig. 4 with the exception that the breaker strip I4 is connected to the projections or prongs Isa of the members I3 in a quick-detachable manner by means of fasteners 20 of the push type, thereby expediting the assembling operation. In this ligure parts corresponding to those illustrated in Figs. 1 to 4 inclusive are given corresponding reference numerals.

In Fig. 6 the breaker strip or molding retaining clips indicated at I3' are .sprung" into engagement with the reinforcing molding strips I2, the clips I 3 each being provided with a bowed spring leg |30 tending to maintain the clips in place.

l receive insulation therebetween, a cover strip to which the outer ends of breaker strip or moldattaching clips l2! are pivotally connected as by rivets 22. During the first part of the assembling operation, the clips are turned to the dotted line position shown at the right of Fig. 7, and after the insulation has been applied, the clips are moved to the full line position, at which point they engage in back of the edge Ila' of the door` pan Il'. The breaker strip Il may be then ,applied by means of screws i5, the said breaker strip and clips being drawn together under tension. The gasket I 6a' is formed with a lip lib' which engages in back of the breaker strip I4' in a manner similar to the construction shown in Fig. 6. The assembly shown in Fig. 'I results in the elimination of a number o! parts as well as all spot welding operations.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that certain changes in construction and design may be adopted without departing from the member overlying said edge portions, attaching means for resiliently holding said strip member over said edge portions, one end of said attaching means being secured to a portion of one of said walls, the other end of said attaching means comprising a resilient arm portion adapted to project into the space between said edge portions, and means connecting said strip to said arm portion,A said arm portion being adapted to resiliently urge said cover strip inwardly and to hold it underftension against said edge portions.

4. The combination of claim 3 wherein said attaching means is pivotally connected to said wall member, whereby said attaching means may be sidewardly pivoted to permit the admission of insulation batting between said wall members.

5. 'Ihe combination of claim 3 wherein said t attaching means is resiliently held under tension scope or spirit of the invention as dened by the 1 appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a refrigerator, a cabinet having inner and outer insulated walls terminating in marginal edge portions provided with spaced inturned ilanges, a metallic reinforcing strip of generally U-shaped contour in cross section connected to the marginal edge portion of the outer wall and having a iiange projected towards the inturned flange of the opposing wall, breaker strip attaching members consisting of spring metal clips each having a substantially U-shaped portion adapted to engage under tension in the said reinforcing stripand a spring leg projecting beyond the flange of said latter strip, and a breaker strip connected to said spring legs.

2. In a refrigerator, a cabinet having inner and outer insulated walls terminating in marginal edge portions provided With spaced inturned flanges, breaker or molding strip attaching means in the form of spring metal strips each having one end pivotally connected to the flange of one of said walls and its opposite end adapted to in said portion of one of said walls.

6. In a refrigerator cabinet, inner and outer wall members having spaced apart marginal edges, said walls being adapted to receive insulation therebetween, a reinforcing strip connected to one of said wall members adiacent its marginal edge, said reinforcing strip being provided with an inwardly disposed channel portion and a ilange portion projecting toward the other o! said wall members, a cover strip member overlying said ange portion and the marginal edge of said other wall member, attaching means for resiliently holding said cover strip member over said j ange portion and said marginal edge portion, one end of said attaching means being connected

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