Patent Application
20120279247
The present subject matter relates generally to refrigerators, and more particularly to a refrigerator with a freezer sub-compartment in the fresh food section.
Generally, a refrigerator includes a freezer compartment and a fresh food compartment, which are partitioned from each other to store various foods at appropriate low temperatures.
It is a common practice to provide an automatic icemaker/water dispenser with a refrigerator. In a “side-by-side” type of refrigerator where the freezer compartment is arranged to the side of the fresh food compartment, the icemaker is usually disposed in the freezer compartment and, thus, utilizes the cold air in the freezer compartment, which typically includes an evaporator disposed in the freezer compartment.
In a “bottom freezer” type of refrigerator where the freezer compartment is arranged beneath a top mounted fresh food compartment, convenience necessitates that the icemaker is disposed in a thermally insulated sub-compartment (often referred to as an “icebox”) configured in one of the top mounted fresh food compartment doors, with ice delivered through an opening on the door. In such an arrangement, provision must be made for providing adequate cooling to the icebox to enable the icemaker to form and store the ice.
An access door is typically provided on the icebox to allow the consumer to access the internal ice bucket and icemaker. This door is typically insulated with foam between inner and outer door panels. Unfortunately, the access door is relatively thick and valuable space in the fresh food compartment is sacrificed to accommodate the insulated door.
The conventional design of the icebox access door is problematic from another standpoint. The temperature differential between the icebox and the fresh food compartment is substantial, often resulting in significant condensation (“sweating”) accumulating on the outer surface of the icebox door. This condensation is a highly visible and unsightly irritant to consumers when they open the fresh food compartment, and generates an impression of inferior appliance quality.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide an icebox door assembly that eliminates the sweating problem of conventional doors without increasing the depth of the door.
Aspects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the following description, or may be obvious from the description, or may be learned through practice of the invention.
In an exemplary embodiment, a refrigerator is provided with a compartment defined by a liner, for example a fresh food compartment defined by a fresh food liner. A door is configured with the compartment to provide access into the compartment and to seal the compartment in the closed position of the door. A sub-compartment is mounted in the door. This sub-compartment may, in one particular embodiment, constitute a freezer sub-compartment with an icemaker and an ice storage bin. The sub-compartment has an access door that opens to provide access into the sub-compartment. The access door may be variously configured in accordance with aspects of the invention. In a particular embodiment, the access door includes an inner door panel, an outer door panel, and a vacuum insulation panel disposed between the inner and outer door panels. The type and thickness of the vacuum insulation panel is selected so as to provide desired thermal insulating characteristics to the access door, particularly a thin profile that also prevents or at least significantly reduces sweating on the outer door panel. In a particular embodiment, the access door has a total thickness of less than 0.5 inches, with the vacuum insulation panel having a thickness of about 0.2 inches.
In a further embodiment, the access door includes an additional insulation material disposed against the vacuum insulation panel between the door panels. The vacuum insulation panel and the additional insulation material may have a combined thickness of less than 1.0 inch, for example a combined thickness of about 0.5 inches. In this embodiment, the access door may have a total thickness of less than 0.75 inches.
The additional insulation material may be a spray foam that is injected between the inner and outer door panels, with the vacuum insulation panel disposed against the inner door panel and the foam injected between the vacuum insulation panel and the outer panel door and formed around a periphery of the vacuum insulation panel. In this embodiment, the access door may have a total thickness of less than 0.75 inches. In other embodiments, the vacuum insulation panel may be disposed against the outer door panel, with the foam injected between the inner door panel and the vacuum insulation panel. The vacuum insulation panel may be spaced from both of the inner and outer door panels with the foam essentially encasing the vacuum insulation panel in still other embodiments.
In another embodiment, the additional insulation material may be a pre-formed sheet material, with the vacuum insulation panel disposed against the inner door panel and the pre-formed sheet material disposed between the vacuum insulation panel and the outer panel door. The pre-formed sheet material may be, for example, a closed-cell polystyrene foam sheet, or a cast polyurethane sheet.
A gasket seal may be disposed around an opening to the sub-compartment, with the inner panel of the access door sealing against the gasket seal in a closed position of the access door. The vacuum insulation panel may have dimensions so as to extend outboard of a periphery of the gasket seal.
These and other features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with reference to the following description and appended claims. The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention.
A full and enabling disclosure of the present invention, including the best mode thereof, directed to one of ordinary skill in the art, is set forth in the specification, which makes reference to the appended figures, in which:
Reference now will be made in detail to embodiments of the invention, one or more examples of which are illustrated in the drawings. Each example is provided by way of explanation of the invention, not limitation of the invention. In fact, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made in the present invention without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention. For instance, features illustrated or described as part of one embodiment can be used with another embodiment to yield a still further embodiment. Thus, it is intended that the present invention covers such modifications and variations as come within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.
It should be appreciated that the present invention is not limited to any particular type or style of refrigerator, and that the refrigerator 10 depicted in
An ice/water dispenser 26 is configured in the door 18 of the fresh food compartment 14. This dispenser 26 is serviced by a freezer sub-compartment 28 (
An opening 38 is defined in one of the side walls 32 of the sub-compartment 28 and is configured for mating to a cold air supply in the fresh food compartment liner 24 in a closed position of the door 18. Any manner of suitable gasket is provided around the opening 38 to compress and seal against the liner wall when the door 18 is closed. In order to provide a source of cold air to the sub-compartment 28, a cold plate assembly (not visible in the figures) is disposed within (behind) the liner 24 with an outlet in the compartment side wall that mates with the opening 38 in the closed position of the door 18. A fan may be provided in the sub-compartment 28 to draw the cold air into the compartment.
Referring to
The access door 40 may be variously constructed. In the embodiment of
In the particular non-limiting embodiment illustrated in
Referring to
The construction and function of vacuum insulation panels is well known by those skilled in the art and need not be described in detail herein. Vacuum insulation panels are readily obtainable from any number of commercial sources and can be provided with precise dimensions as needed. The type and thickness of the vacuum insulation panel 50 is selected so as to provide desired thermal insulation characteristics to the access door 40. Desirably, the thickness of the vacuum insulation panel is selected so as to provide the access door 40 with a relatively thin profile yet prevent or at least significantly reduce sweating on the outer door panel 48. In a particular embodiment, the access door 40 has a total thickness of less than 0.5 inches, with the vacuum insulation panel 50 having a thickness of about 0.2 inches.
In additional embodiments of the access door 40, an additional insulation material 52 may also be provided between the inner door panel 46 and the outer door panel 48. For example, referring to
It should be appreciated that the use of an SPF may serve additional benefits. The foam, when cured, serves to further bond the components of the access door 40 together, and adds significant structural rigidity to the access door 40.
In the embodiment illustrated in
In the embodiments wherein the access door 40 includes the additional insulation material 52, the vacuum insulation panel 50 and the additional insulation material 52 may have a combined thickness of less than 1.0 inch, for example a combined thickness of about 0.5 inches. In a particular embodiment, the access door 40 has a total thickness (including the vacuum insulation panel 50 and the additional insulation material 52) of less than 0.5 inches.
As can be readily seen in
This written description uses examples to disclose the invention, including the best mode, and also to enable any person skilled in the art to practice the invention, including making and using any devices or systems and performing any incorporated methods. The patentable scope of the invention is defined by the claims, and may include other examples that occur to those skilled in the art. Such other examples are intended to be within the scope of the claims if they include structural elements that do not differ from the literal language of the claims, or if they include equivalent structural elements with insubstantial differences from the literal languages of the claims.
