US2708052A

US2708052A - Breaker strip construction and assembly

Info

Publication number: US2708052A
Application number: US221303A
Authority: US
Inventors: Floyd R Eck
Original assignee: Motor Products Corp
Current assignee: Motor Products Corp
Priority date: 1951-04-16
Filing date: 1951-04-16
Publication date: 1955-05-10
Anticipated expiration: 1972-05-10

Description

May 10, 1955 F. R. ECK

BREAKER STRIP CONSTRUCTION AND ASSEMBLY 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed April 16. 1951 INVENTOR. FLOYD R. ECK

ATTORNEYS y 1955 F. R. ECK 2,708,052

BREAKER STRIP CONSTRUCTION AND ASSEMBLY Filed April 16,.1951 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

FLOYD R.ECK

' ATTORNE S United States Patent BREAKER STRIP CONSTRUCTION AND ASSEMBLY Floyd R. Eek, Des Plaines, Ill., assignor to Motor Products Corporation, Detroit, Mich., a corporation of New York Application April 16, 1951, Serial No. 221,303

7 Claims. (Cl. 220-15) The present invention relates to refrigerator cabinet construction and refers more particularly to breaker strips for use between the outer shell and inner liner of said cabinet.

It is an object of the present invention to provide breaker strips characterized by their attractive appearance, the ease with which they may be assembled with the outer shell and inner liner, and the provision of means assuring easy and quick connections between the breaker strips and the liner and shell.

More specifically, it is an object of the present invention to provide a breaker strip having a groove along one edge thereof and a series of hooks along its other edge for assembly with the shell and liner respectively.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a refrigerator cabinet having an outer shell and liner, each being provided with laterally extending flanges adjacent to the margins of the access opening of the storage compartment, and a breaker strip provided at one edge thereof with a groove for the reception of an edge of one of said flanges, and provided at its opposite edge with hooks for engagement with suitable openings in the other of said flanges.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a breaker strip structure wherein a top breaker strip, a bottom breaker strip, and side breaker strips have interfitting or overlapping end portions.

Other objects and features of the invention will become apparent as the description proceeds, especially when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure l is a fragmentary front elevation of a refrigerator with the door and cover parts removed.

Figure 2 is a front elevation of the refrigerator with the door-removed, showing the breaker strip structure in lace.

D Figure 3 is a fragmentary enlarged section on the line 33, Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a front elevation of the bottom breaker strip.

' Figure 5 is a transverse sectional view of the breaker stri Figure 6 is an elevational view of a tie strip assembly used for interconnecting adjacent edges of the liner and shell.

Figure 7 is a section on the line 7-7, Figure 6. Figure 8 is a section on the line 88, Figure 2. Figure 9 is a section on the line 99, Figure 2. Referring now to the drawings, there is illustrated in Figure 1 a refrigerator cabinet indicated generally at 10 and having an enlarged food storage compartment 12 provided with a front access opening 13 which is normally closed by a door (not shown). The refrigerator cabinet isfprovided with a metal outer shell 14, and the storage compartment 12 is formed by an inner liner 16. As usual, the liner 16 and shell 14 are spaced apart and the space therebetween is filled with suitable insulating material 18.

Referring now to Figure 2 the breaker strips are shown as comprising a top breaker strip 20, a bottom breaker strip 22, and side breaker strips 24.

Preferably, the top breaker strip 20 is of a special construction and serves also as a means for supporting suitable control mechanism as described in my copending application, Serial No. 221,301, filed April 16, 1951,.

now Patent No. 2,703,353. However, all of the breaker strips include specially formed means for attachment to the liner and shell, and as this attaching means is alike in all of the breaker strips, a description of one of the breaker strips will be suflicient.

Reference is made to Figures 4 and 5 in which the. bottom and

side breaker strips

22 and 24 respectively As seen in these figures, the bottom breaker strip 22 comprises an interhave been selected as illustrative.

mediate portion 30 adapted to extend completely across the front of the refrigerator cabinet beneath the access opening 13 and in addition is provided with short up'-- turned legs 32. As best seen in Figure 5, the breaker strip 20 includes a straight portion 34 which is substantially flat and which terminates along one edge in a thickened bead 36 provided with a groove 38 for a purpose which will presently appear. The opposite edge portion of the breaker strip 20 is bent as indicated at 39. Preferably, this bent portion 39 is gradually curved to impart a pleasing appearance to the construction and tov conform to the offset relation between the lateral flanges of the liner and outer shell, as shown in Figure 3.

Moreover, the wall thickness of this bent portion 39 of the breaker strip is of reduced thickness as is readily apparent in Figure 5. This is for the purpose of imparting suflicient flexibility to the breaker strip to enable the same to be easily and quickly attached to the liner and outer shell. Preferably the breaker strip is formed of a thermally insulating material such as white polystyrene. This material has a certain amount of inherent flexibility and by reducing the thickness of the curved portion- 39,

its free edge may be given substantial movement with respect to the straight portion 34 of the strip. At the same time the breaker strip is resilient so that it will im; mediately resume its original configuration when stress is removed.

The free edge of the curved portion 39 of the breaker strip is formed to provide a laterally extending continu ous flange 40. Rearwardly of the flange 40 and at spaced,

intervals therealong there is provided a plurality of hooks 42, each of which is provided with an inclined camming surface 44 for a purpose which will presently appear.

Reference is now made to Figure 3 showing the manner in which the breaker strips are assembled with the liner and shell. In this figure the shell 14 has its forward:

edge portion doubled and bent inwardly to provide a lateral flange 50. Rearwardly of the flange 50 the metal of the shell 14 is bent inwardly to form another lateral flange 52. The liner 16 also has a lateral flange 54 which extends toward but is offset inwardly relative to the flange 50 of the outer shell. The breaker strip, which in the sectional view of Figure 3 happens to be a side breaker strip 24, is positioned with its groove 38 receiving the free edge of the inwardly extending flange 50. The lateral flange 54 of the liner, as best seen in Figure l, is provided with a plurality of hook receiving openings 56, and in Figure 3 the breaker strip is'i1lus'- trated with its hooks 42 received within said openings 56.

When assembling the parts, the breaker strip is.first moved to fit the grooved head 36 over the free edge ofv the lateral flange 50 of the outer shell. curved portion 39 of the strip is flexed to engage the hooks 42 of the breaker, strip with the openings; 56 in. a g the lateral flange 54 of the liner.

Due to the inclined camming surface 44 of the hooks, the lateral flange 40 Patented May 10, 1955;

Thereafter, the- 3 is thus drawn tightly against the outer surface of the flange 54.

In order that a proper interfitting relation will be obtained between abutting portions of the separate

breaker strip members

20, 22 and 24, the construction best illustrated in Figures 8 and 9 is employed. In Figure 8 there is shown a sectional view through the lower portion of the depending legs of the top breaker strip and the upper portion of a side breaker strip 24. It will be observed that at its lower end the top breaker strip is provided with an outwardly formed downwardly extending flange 60, the inner surface of which is coplanar with the outer surface 62 of the top breaker strip and the outer surface 64 of the bottom breaker strip. The flange therefore provides a cover over the con nection between the two breaker strips and conceals any space which may exist therebetween such as the space indicated at 66 in the figure. Moreover, the flange 60 is smoothly rounded to present an attractive bead appearance as is apparent from an inspection of Figure 8.

The connections between the side breaker strips 24 and the upper ends of the upwardly extending legs of the bottom breaker strip 22 is shown in Figure 9. Each side breaker strip 24 is provided at its bottom end with a rearwardly extending flange 70. Each upwardly extending leg of the bottom breaker strip 22 is provided with a rearwardly projecting flange 71, upwardly extending flange 72, and forwardly extending flange 73, providing an opening 74 for the reception of the rearwardly extending flange 70, and by this arrangement the forward exposed surface 75 of each side breaker strip 24 is coplanar with the corresponding surface 76 of the bottom breaker strip. Inasmuch as the connections between the top breaker strip and the side breaker strips include provision for slight variation in spacing, no such provision need be made at the points of connection between the side breaker strips and the bottom breaker strip.

It will be apparent from an inspection of Figure 3 that means such as a tie strip assembly indicated generally at 80 in Figure 3 is preferably provided for connecting together the inner liner 14 and outer shell 16.

As seen in Figure 3, and as shown more in detail in Figures 6 and 7, the tie strip assembly 80 comprises a flat metal strip 82 provided with an elongated narrow strip 84 of a suitable insulating material, such for example as polystyrene. The plastic strip is formed with a projecting pilot 86 which extends through an opening 88 provided in the metal plate 84, and is further provided with an attaching stud 90 which extends through an opening 92 provided in the metal plate as shown in Figure 7. After the stud 90 has been inserted through the opening 92 it may be formed outwardly to provide a rivet type connection as illustrated in Figure 7. The strip assembly is provided with

openings

94 and 96 for use in assembly with the edges of the liner and shell. As best seen in Figure 3, one edge of the metal strip 82 is fastened to the inwardly extending flange 52 provided on the outer shell, suitable fastening means for this purpose being illustrated at 93. The strip extends across the space between the shell and liner and the insulating strip 84 is abutted against the inner surface of the flange 54 extending outwardly from the liner 16, thus preventing heat transfer between the shell and liner. Suitable fastener means indicated at 109 are employed for fastening the tie strip assembly to the flange 54 and this means may if desired include means for insulating the fastening elements from the flange 54.

The drawings and the foregoing specification constitute a description of the improved breaker strip construction and assembly in such full, clear, concise and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to practice the invention, the scope of which is indicated by the appended claims.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. A thermally insulated cabinet having a storage compartment provided with an access opening, a shell for said cabinet having a flange at the side of the opening extending inwardly of the opening and generally parallel to the plane of the opening, a liner for said compartment having a flange at the side of the opening extending outwardly of the opening generally parallel to the plane of the opening, one of said flanges being spaced outwardly from the interior of the cabinet further than the other of said flanges, said one flange having a free edge portion, the other flange having a series of aligned openings located substantially beyond the free edge of said one flange in the direction in which said free edge extends, a breaker strip formed of a hard flexible and resilient plastic material having along one edge thereof a groove for receiving the free edge of said one flange, said strip being transversely bowed to present a convex curvature at its exposed side, said strip having a continuous edge portion along its other edge engaging the front of said other flange and overlying and concealing the openings therein and having a series of hooks spaced from said continuous edge portion and extending rearwardly through said openings and engaging the rear of said other flange.

2. Structure as defined in claim 1 in which said hooks extend away from the free edge of said one flange to provide for insertion into said openings by flexing said strip in a direction to increase its transverse how.

3. Structure as defined in claim 2 in which the edge portion of said strip at the edge engaged with said free edge of said one flange is substantially flat and the transversely bowed portion thereof is adjacent its other edge.

4. Structure as defined in claim 3 in which the bowed portion of said strip is thinner than the fiat portion to provide for localized bending of the strip in its bowed portion.

5. Structure as defined in claim 2 in which the surfaces of said hooks engaged with the rear of said other flange are inclined rearwardly toward the adjacent wall of the compartment liner to cam said strip tightly against said other flange.

6. A thermally insulated cabinet having a storage compartment provided with a front access opening, a compartment liner having an inner flange at a side of the opening and extending outwardly generally parallel to the plane of the opening, a cabinet shell having an outer flange located forwardly of said inner flange and extending inwardly generally parallel to the plane of the opening, said outer flange having a free edge, said inner flange having a series of openings parallel to the free edge of said outer flange and spaced inwardly therefrom in the direction in which said outer flange extends, a thermal breaker strip of hard but flexible and resilient material having spaced means along the outer edge thereof for receiving therebetween the free edge of said outer flange, said strip being bowed rearwardly and having along its inner edge a bead overlying and concealing the openings in said inner flange, and having a series of hooks extending through said openings and engaging the rear of said inner flange.

7. A thermally insulated cabinet having a storage compartment provided with a front access opening, a compartment liner having an inner flange at a side of the opening and extending outwardly generally parallel to the plane of the opening, a cabinet shell the forward portion of which is provided with a front flange located forwardly of said inner flange and extending inwardly generally parallel to the plane of the opening and a rear flange located rearwardly of said front flange and also extending inwardly generally parallel to the plane of the opening, said inner flange having a series of openings spaced from its edge, a breaker strip having its laterally outer edge provided with spaced means receiving theiebetween the edge of said front flange and hook portions along its laterally inner edge received in the openings in said inner flange, and tie means connecting said rear flange and the portion of said inner flange outward from the openings therein.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 86,571 Miller Feb. 2, 1869 1,127,643 Kramer Feb. 9, 1915 1,694,291 Sywert Dec. 4, 1928 2,172,458 Shuart Sept. 12, 1939 2,286,109 Rundell June 9, 1942 6 Goulooze May 9, 1944 Quinn May 9, 1944 Anderson June 13, 1944 Drake Sept. 12, 1944 Nauert Jan. 23, 1945 Kruck Dec. 7, 1948 Iwashita Mar. 6, 1951 Frykdahl Jan. 15, 1952 Sulcek Mar. 4, 1952 Moore Jan. 13, 1953 FOREIGN PATENTS Australia June 5, 1947