1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to the art of appliances and, more particularly, to a fastening system for use in interconnecting, during varying stages of an overall assembly process, main and trim components of an overall appliance cabinet.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
In constructing an appliance cabinet, particularly a refrigerator cabinet, it is highly desirable to simplify the overall assembly of the cabinet to reduce manufacturing costs, yet it is imperative that the cabinet be structurally sound in order to counteract loads exerted thereon during use of the appliance. Mainly due to cost efficiencies and flexibility in workmanship, it has been commonplace to utilize sheet metal in the forming of most refrigerator cabinets in the market today. Since the sheet metal is thin and rather high loads are often placed on the cabinet, particularly by the opening and closing of a weighted down refrigerator door, a fair amount of effort has been applied in this art to provide reinforcement for such a refrigerator cabinet. Of course, an additional concern is the ease of assembly of the cabinet as a whole.
With this in mind, it has heretofore been proposed to form the sides and top of a refrigerator cabinet shell out of a single piece of bent sheet metal and then attach rear and bottom walls. Thereafter, the shell is structurally reinforced in an attempt to avoid deformation during use. Such known reinforcing arrangements generally take the form of either providing multiple, individually secured reinforcement members or a unitary reinforcing frame at a front opening of the cabinet shell. At least the sides of the shell are attached to the frame to integrate the overall assembly. To perform this assembly operation, either various holes provided in both the cabinet shell and the reinforcement member(s) must be aligned to receive mechanical fasteners or systematic welding operations are performed. In either case, these connections are designed to perform the sole function of interconnecting the shell to the reinforcement structure.
In today's market, it is becoming more popular to recess refrigerators between adjacent cabinetry or the like in a kitchen area in order to provide a built-in look which is considered aesthetically appealing. Since front doors of a refrigerator must be spaced from any adjacent structure in order to enable the free pivoting of the doors, the refrigerator must project from the adjacent structure to some degree. Unfortunately, the projecting of the refrigerator cabinet in this manner exposes, to a certain degree, frontal portions of the side walls of the cabinet which is considered to detract from the built-in appearance.
To compensate for this negative effect, it has been proposed to provide cosmetic trim pieces along exposed side portions of the cabinet to blend the sides with the adjacent structure. In such known arrangements, the trim pieces are individually attached to the cabinet shell through slip-fit or dedicated mechanical connections. Since both sides of the shell and the trim pieces need to be attached to the frame structure, all at a frontal peripheral portion of the cabinet shell, a fairly high number of connection locations need to be defined in a relatively small zone which can adversely affect the structural integrity. In addition, the need for the unrelated connections in this peripheral portion simply adds to the overall assembly time.
Based on the above, there exists a need in the art for an improved assembly arrangement for a refrigerator cabinet which minimizes the cost and time associated with connecting both side portions of a shell to one or more frontal frame members and trim pieces to the side portions.
The present invention is particularly directed to a fastening system used to secure an appliance cabinet side wall or panel to a front frame member and in subsequently securing a trim piece to the frame member along the side wall. In general, the attachment of the cabinet side wall occurs prior to a foaming insulation process, while the trim piece is attached at a much later assembly stage. Regardless, the fastening stages are interrelated through the use of at least certain common fastening elements, of the fastening system.
In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention, rivnuts are used to secure the cabinet front frame and each side wall together. After assembly of the cabinet shell, the foaming operation is performed. Most preferably, blind-type rivnuts are utilized to prevent any foam insulation leakage directly through or around the perimeter of the rivnuts. After the foaming process, a threaded internal portion of each rivnut is utilized to attach a respective perimeter trim piece to the cabinet shell through a respective screw. Utilizing screws to attach the trim piece enables the trim piece to be easily removed and/or replaced in case of damage, or even if the consumer desires to simply utilize a trim piece of another color or design.
Additional objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more fully apparent from the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment thereof, when taken in conjunction with the drawings wherein like reference numerals refer to corresponding parts in the several views.
With initial reference to
Although refrigerator 2 can take various forms,
For the sake of simplicity, the various components of a conventional refrigeration circuit have not been shown. However, with this configuration of refrigerator 2, the various compressor, condenser, evaporator and the like components are preferably supported upon top panel 60 of freezer compartment box 55, as well as top cover member 84. In accordance with the most preferred embodiment of the invention, the evaporator is supported above freezer compartment box 55 while the compressor and condenser are located above fresh food compartment box 65, with each of these components being accessible upon removing access panel 32.
The present invention is particularly directed to the preferred manner in which front frame 40 is interconnected to each of side walls 80 and 81, top cover member 84 and front cover member 85, along with the manner in which trim pieces 28–30 are also attached to these components. Specifically, with reference to
The manner in which front frame 40, sidewall 80 and trim piece 28 are interconnected together in accordance with the present invention includes the use of a rivnut 138. Rivnut 138 includes a first fastening element 140 having a cylindrical main body 142. A first end 144 of main body 142 is flared, while a second end 149 is tapered. First end 144 is preferably open such that main body 142 defines an internal bore 154 that is threaded. On the other hand, second end 149 is preferably closed such that rivnut 138 is of the blind-type. As also shown, main body 142 of first fastening element 140 includes an outer splined portion 155 directly adjacent the flared first end 144. Rivnut 138 also includes a second mechanical fastening element 160 that takes the form of a flat-head screw.
At this point, it should be noted that rivnuts are known in the art. However, in accordance with the present invention, each rivnut 138 is advantageously utilized to interconnect multiple components of refrigerator 2 during different stages of the overall construction, while minimizing components and overall assembly time and cost. In any event, cylindrical main body 142 is adapted to interconnect outer leg 105 of front frame 40 to sidewall 80 by extending through apertures 111 and 112 respectively and then being pressed into place such that both outer leg 105 and sidewall 80 become positioned directly adjacent to flared first end 144 along outer spline portion 155. A tool is then used to collapse rivnut 138 at outer spline portion 155 to form a throat 170 that holds outer leg 105 and sidewall 80 together between the flared first end 144 and the bulging section of outer spline portion 155. This configuration is clearly shown in
During a latter stage of assembly, trim piece 28 can be positioned such that each aperture 110 provided therein gets aligned with a respective internal bore 154 such that second fastening element 160 can be threadably attached to first fastening element 140. Therefore, in this manner, cylindrical main body 142 functions not only as the fastening member between front frame 40 and sidewall 80, but also as an anchor for trim piece 28. When trim piece 28 is secured in this fashion, spacer ribs 119–121 accommodate flared first end 144 of first fastening element 140 and abut against a respective one of sidewall 80 and outer leg 105 as clearly shown in
Although described with respect to a preferred embodiment of the invention, it should be readily understood that various changes and/or modifications can be made to the invention without departing from the spirit thereof. Particularly, it should be realized that the fastening system of the invention has applicability to various types of refrigerators, as well as other appliances. In any event, the invention is only intended to be limited by the scope of the following claims.
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20040178707 A1 | Sep 2004 | US |