US3883198A

US3883198A - Cabinet construction

Info

Publication number: US3883198A
Application number: US395634A
Authority: US
Inventors: Harry L Tillman
Original assignee: Whirlpool Corp
Current assignee: Whirlpool Corp
Priority date: 1973-09-07
Filing date: 1973-09-07
Publication date: 1975-05-13
Anticipated expiration: 1992-05-13
Also published as: AU7217074A; CA1031027A; BR7407376D0

Abstract

A cabinet construction having improved means for closing the end of a foaming-in-place space extending between an outer cabinet panel and an inner liner panel. The edges of the panels are slip fitted together to close the space and tape is provided overlying the interfitted portions to prevent expansion of the foaming insulation to between the slip fitted portions thereby effectively preventing locking together of these panel portions by injected foam material. Thus, relative movement between the cabinet and liner panels is permitted to prevent development of excessive tensile stresses resulting from variations in the temperature conditions to which the cabinet is subjected.

Description

United States Patent Tillman May 13, 1975 CABINET CONSTRUCTION Primary E.\'aminerPaul R. Gilliam [75] Inventor. Harry L. Tillman, Evansville, Ind. Assistant Examiner carl F Pietruszka Assigneei Whirlpool p n, Benton Attorney, Agent, or FirmHofgren, Wegner, Allen,

Harbor, Mich. Stellman & McCord [22] Filed: Sept. 7, 1973 [57] ABSTRACT [21] Appl. No.: 395,634

A cabinet construction having 1mproved means for closing the end of a foaming-in-place space extending U-S- Cl- F between an outer cabinet panel and an inner liner lnt. paneL The edges of the panels are fitted together Field of Search 312/214; 52/309; /9 F to close the space and tape is provided overlying the interfitted portions to prevent expansion of the foam- References Cited ing insulation to between the slip fitted portions UNITED STATES PATENTS thereby effectively preventing locking together of 3,152,199 10/1964 Roberts 312 214 ux these Panel Portions by injected foam material Thu$- 3,243,855 4/1966 Houvener et a]. 312 214 x relative movement between the Cabinet and liner P 3,278,065 10/1966 Cyrus 312/214 els is permitted to prevent development of excessive 3,294, 62 12/ 66 Kesling 12/21 tensile stresses resulting from variations in the temper- 361 6/1970 Franck 220/9 F ature conditions to which the cabinet is subjected. 3,632,0l2 l/l972 Kitson 220/9 F 3,684,342 8/1972 Jansen 312 214 9 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures PATENIED RAY I 3 975 CABINET CONSTRUCTION BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION l. Field of the Invention This invention relates to cabinet constructions and in particular to cabinet constructions having foamed-inplace insulation.

2, Description of the Prior Art In U.S. Letters Pat. issued to R. K. Hupfer, No. 3,512,323, owned by the assignee hereof, an insulated wall structure is disclosed having a fiberglass buffer disposed between the trim and the foamed-in-place insulation. In this structure, the liner and cabinet walls are rigidly secured together so that no relative movement therebetween occurs to be accommodated by the fiberglass buffer. C

In U.S. Letters Pat No. 3,294,462 issued to K. K. Kesling; US. Pat. No. 3,174,642 of Loewenthal et al; U.S. Pat. No. 3,302,820 of Lander et al; U.S. Pat. No. 3,370,738 of Kesling; and U.S. Pat. No. 3,684,342 of Jansen, different types of foam stop elements are utilized for limiting the expansion of the foam during the foaming-in-place operation.

In the Loewenthal et al cabinet construction. a sealing strip is disposed outwardly of the engagement of the liner and cabinet clip portion so that stresses may be transmitted between the liner and cabinet as a result of temperature variation. In Kesling U.S. Pat. No. 3,294,362, the liner is provided with an offset end portion having a distal end extending closely adjacent the confronting end portion of the cabinet with a compressible element disposed therebetween. In Kesling U.S. Pat. No. 3,370,738, a clip is provided for holding the two parallel end portions of the cabinet and liner with the compressible element retained therebetween. In Jansen, the foam insulation engages the turned end of the liner and, thus, the liner would tend to be cracked by a cabinet expansion movement.

In Houvener et al U.S. Letters Pat. No. 3,243,855, a cold space door is shown to be provided with a sheet of flexible insulation abutting a doorframe portion and underlying the end of the inner shell. In the patent of W. P. Gobeille U.S. Pat. No. 3,411,657, a gasket is provided surrounding the inturned end of a breaker strip received in a U-shaped flange defined by the distal end of the refrigerator cabinet wall. Adhesive tape is applied between the liner wall and the breaker strip at a point remotely from the gasket.

In U.S. Letters Pat. No. 3,456,833 of R. T. Cornelius, a pair of flanges are taped together with the foamed plastic extending about the inturned flanges to lock them permanently together in forming a refrigerator cabinet. The tape is pressure sensitive and the foamed plastic acts through the tape on the flanges to hold them in abutting relation as taught by the patentee.

The present invention comprehends an improved cabinet construction utilizing a resilient tape secured to an inturned flange portion of one of the cabinet walls and overlying a turned end portion of the opposite cabinet wall to prevent the foam insulation from passing between the slip fitted wall portions during the foaming in-place process and thereby preventing locking together of the wall portions upon subsequent setting of the foam insulation. The resultant cabinet construction, wherein the slip fitted wall portions are free to move relative to each other as a result of the prevention of the locking together thereof, provides an improved break-resistant construction adapted for use where substantial temperature differences occur.

More specifically, the invention comprehends the provision of an improved cabinet construction including a first wall, a second wall spaced from the first wall to define an expansion space therebetween provided with rigid foamed-in-place insulation, a U-shaped flange on one of the walls extending and opening toward the other wall at the end of the space, the inner leg of the flange having a distal edge spaced from the other wall, a turned end portion of the other of the walls slip fitted between the legs of the flange, and a flexible tape in the first space facially engaging the inner surface of the inner leg and the end portion of the other of the walls and sealing the end of the expansion space against expansion of the insulation between the slip fitted end portion and flange legs during foamingin-place thereof.

In the illustrated embodiment, the first wall comprises an inner liner and the second wall comprises an outer cabinet on which the U-shaped flange is provided. The tape is secured to the U-shaped flange by adhesive means and extends in overlying relationship to the liner turned end portion flange for preventing the expansion of the foam between the flanges. The tape is arranged to wipe the liner as the liner is installed in the cabinet during the assembly operation to provide the desired lock prevention functioning.

Thus, the present invention comprehends an improved cabinet construction which is extremely simple and economical while yet providing the highly desirable advantages discussed above.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING Other features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a refrigerator cabinet construction embodying the invention;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary perspective view illustrating a section of the cabinet wall construction embodying the invention;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary horizontal section taken substantially along the line 3-3 of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary enlarged perspective view of the flexible tape utilized in the cabinet construction.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT In the exemplary embodiment of the invention as disclosed in the drawing, a cabinet construction generally designated 10 is shown to comprise a first wall 11 defining an inner liner which illustratively may be formed of synthetic plastic, and a second wall 12 defining an outer cabinet wall which illustratively may be formed of metal. Liner 11 and cabinet 12 are spaced apart to define an insulating space 13 therebetween in which is provided a body of foamed-in-place plastic insulation 14. Plastic insulation 14 adheres to the internal surfaces of the

walls

11 and 12 to form a rigid, thin, highly insulative cabinet wall construction. In the illustrated embodiment, the cabinet construction is utilized in forming the cabinet of a refrigeration apparatus generally designated 15, it being obvious to those skilled in the art that the cabinet construction hereof may be utilized in any suitable apparatus.

Cabinet construction defines refrigerating

chambers

16 and 17 selectively closed by

front doors

18 and 19, respectively.

The front of the cabinet construction defining the

openings

16 and 17, as illustrated in FIG. 2, is formed by inturned cooperating portions of the liner 11 and cabinet wall 12. More specifically, as shown in FIG. 2, cabinet 12 includes a U-shaped flange generally designated 20 which extends and opens toward liner wall 1 l at the front distal end of space 13. The outer leg 21 of flange 20 is returned to define a double thickness wall and the inner leg 22 is spaced inwardly from leg 21. Liner 11 includes a turned end portion 23 which is slip fitted between

legs

21 and 22 to cooperate with flange 20 in closing the front end of space 13 while yet permitting some relative movement between the

wall portions

20 and 23.

It has been found that in the normal operation of refrigeration apparatus, such as refrigerator 10, a temperature differential between the ambient atmosphere externally of the refrigerator and the refrigerated air within the refrigerator compartments produces substantial tensile stresses in the cabinet construction as the internal plastic liner wall contracts because of the relatively low temperature thereby tending to move away from the cabinet wall. Where the joint at the front of the cabinet is rigid, these substantial tensile forces tend to break the plastic.

In the present construction, the slip fit between liner wall portion 23 and the U-shaped flange 20 permits relative movement therebetween transversely of the wall while yet effectively closing the front of the insulated space 13. However, a problem arises in that the foaming of the insulation material may cause a portion thereof to be. forced outwardly between the

wall portions

23 and 20 so that upon setting of the insulation the

wall portions

23 and 20 are locked together preventing the desirable transverse movement. One attempt to solve this vexatious problem has been to provide a release film on the confronting surfaces. Such a film, however, has not been found to be fully satisfactory in preventing the locking action.

The present invention comprehends a positive prevention of such locking of the

wall portions

23 and 20 by means of a flexible tape generally designated 24 which is installed across the outer end of space 13 to positively prevent extrusion of the foaming plastic between the slip fitted

wall portions

23 and 20 during the foaming process. As best seen in FIGS. 2-4, tape 24 comprises a thin flexible tape which, illustratively, may be formed of paper or synthetic plastic, such as polyethylene. One surface portion 25 of the tape may be provided with an adhesive 26 for holding the tape to the inner surface 27 of leg 22 during the assembly of the cabinet construction. With the tape thus retained, the distal portion 28 thereof wipes against the inner surface 29 of the liner 11 as the liner is installed in association with the cabinet wall 12. This wiping action closes the end of space 13 against flow of foaming plastic outwardly from the space 13 to between the slip fitted

wall portions

23 and 20.

Illustratively, the tape has a width somewhat greater than the spacing between

walls

11 and 12 and in the illustrated embodiment, where the cabinet construction 10 comprises a conventional insulated wall construction, the tape may have a width of approximately 2 inches with the adhesive backing 26 on approximately one-half of one surface thereof.

The liquid foam material is suitably inserted into space 13 whereupon the foaming thereof causes the tape to be urged against the wall surface 29 to protect the slip fitted portions from the locking action discussed above. As the tape is retained in place by the adhesive 26, the provision of the tape does not interfere with the normal simple installation of the liner relative to the cabinet wall thereby maintaining facilitated assembly of the cabinet construction. The foaming insulation itself functions to assure a tight seal thereby resulting in an improved lock-free assembly.

The foregoing disclosure of specific embodiments is illustrative of the broad inventive concepts comprehended by the invention.

Having described the invention, the embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. A cabinet construction comprising: a first wall; a second wall spaced from said first wall to define an expansion space therebetween provided with foamed-inplace insulation; a U-shaped flange on one of said walls extending and opening toward the other wall at an end of said space, said U-shaped flange having an inner leg defining an inner surface adjacent said expansion space and having a distal edge spaced from said other wall; a turned end portion on the other of said walls slip fitted between the legs of said flange; and a flexible tape in said expansion space having a first portion facially engaging said inner surface of said inner leg and a second portion facially engaging said turned end portion of the other of said walls and sealing said end of said expansion space against expansion of the insulation between said slip fitted turned end portion and flange legs during foaming-in-place thereof, one of said tape portions being adhesively secured to its engaged wall and the other of said tape portions being freely facially slidable relative to its engaged wall.

2. The cabinet construction of claim 1 wherein said first wall comprises an inner liner, said second wall comprises an outer cabinet, and said U-shaped flange is formed on said second wall.

3. The cabinet construction of claim 1 wherein said flexible tape extends substantially fully across said expansion space between said walls.

4. The cabinet construction of claim 1 wherein said tape is secured to said inner leg of the U-shaped flange.

5. The cabinet construction of claim 1 wherein said tape includes an edge portion extending inwardly from said turned end portion along said other wall.

6. The cabinet construction of claim 1 wherein said tape is formed of paper.

7. The cabinet construction of claim 1 wherein said tape is formed of synthetic plastic.

8. The cabinet construction of claim 1 wherein said tape is formed of polyethylene.

9. The cabinet construction of claim 1 wherein the U-shaped flange defines a returned double wall outer leg.

Claims

1. A cabinet construction comprising: a first wall; a second wall spaced from said first wall to define an expansion space therebetween provided with foamed-in-place insulation; a U-shaped flange on one of said walls extending and opening toward the other wall at an end of said space, said U-shaped flange having an inner leg defining an inner surface adjacent said expansion space and having a distal edge spaced from said other wall; a turned end portion on the other of said walls slip fitted between the legs of said flange; and a flexible tape in said expansion space having a first portion facially engaging said inner surface of said inner leg and a second portion facially engaging said turned end portion of the other of said walls and sealing said end of said expansion space against expansion of the insulation between said slip fitted turned end portion and flange legs during foaming-in-place thereof, one of said tape portions being adhesively secured to its engaged wall and the other of said tape portions being freely facially slidable relative to its engaged wall.

6. The cabinet construction of claim 1 wherein said tape is formed of paper.