Patent Application
20230152031
The present disclosure relates to a storage assembly for a household appliance.
Refrigerator door bins are generally known and can include a bin unit configured for removable assembly with a liner of the door. The configuration of the bin unit separate from the liner is generally a product of the material and process limitations associated with the liner, which is usually formed using a vacuum-forming process. The bin unit is generally more suitable for an injection molding or similar process. Accordingly, the bin unit and liner are separately made and must be assembled together. Most such assemblies facilitate selective placement of the bin within a number of available positions and ease of disassembly and repositioning of the bin by a consumer. Further, many bins are made of or include a transparent or translucent material.
According to one embodiment, a refrigerator is provided. The refrigerator may include a bin and a door that may be provided with an inner liner. The inner liner may include a first vertical wall, a second vertical wall, a third vertical wall and a first horizontal wall. The bin may include an enclosure portion, a retention portion, and a second horizontal wall. The first, second, and third vertical walls may extend in a vertical direction and may collectively define a pocket recessed with respect to an inner surface of the inner liner. The first vertical wall may be provided with a first protrusion that may include a first load-bearing surface, a second load-bearing protrusion, and a relief region that may be disposed therebetween. The first horizontal wall may extend from the third vertical wall in a depth direction and may be configured to support a number of food or beverage items. The bin may include an enclosure portion, that may extend in the vertical direction, a retention portion that may extend in the depth direction from the enclosure portion, and a second horizontal wall that may extend from at least one of the enclosure portion and the retention portion. The retention portion may include a fourth vertical wall that may define a slot that may be configured to receive at least one of the first load-bearing surface or the second load-bearing protrusion. The second horizontal wall may also be configured to engage the first horizontal wall so that the enclosure portion is detachably fixed in at least one of the depth direction or the width direction.
According to another embodiment, a refrigerator door is provided. The refrigerator door may include a door skin and an inner liner that may be fixed to the door skin. The inner liner may include a number of vertical walls, a first horizontal wall, and a first retention member. The number of vertical walls may extend in a vertical direction and may include a first vertical wall. The first horizontal wall may form a support surface and the first vertical wall and the first horizontal wall may collectively define a pocket that may be recessed with respect to an inner surface of the liner. The refrigerator door may include a bin that may be provided with an enclosure portion, a retention portion, and a second horizontal wall. The enclosure portion may be configured to at least partially close off a portion of the pocket. The retention portion may include a second retention member that may be configured to engage the first retention member so that the bin is detachably fixed to the inner liner. The second horizontal wall may extend from the enclosure portion and may be configured to lie along the first horizontal wall. The second horizontal wall may include a first edge that may be configured abut against a second edge formed by the support surface.
According to yet another embodiment, a refrigerator door is provided. The refrigerator door may include a door skin and an inner liner that may be fixed to the door skin. The inner liner may include first load supporting protrusion, a second load bearing protrusion, a relief region and a shelf. The relief region may be disposed between the first and second load bearing protrusions. The shelf may be disposed between the first and second load supporting protrusions and may extend in a first direction and a second direction that may be substantially orthogonal to the first direction. The refrigerator door may include a bin that may be provided with a side member, an enclosure member, and a support wall. The side member may form a slot that may be configured to receive one of the first or second load bearing protrusions. The enclosure member may extend from the side member and may be configured to at least partially close off the recessed portion. The support wall may extend from the side member and the enclosure member. A first portion of the support wall may be configured to lie along the shelf and a second portion may be configured to detachably fix the outer bin to the shelf.
As required, detailed embodiments of the present invention are disclosed herein; however, it is to be understood that the disclosed embodiments are merely exemplary of the invention that may be embodied in various and alternative forms. The figures are not necessarily to scale; some features may be exaggerated or minimized to show details of particular components. Therefore, specific structural and functional details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to variously employ the present invention.
As used in the specification and the appended claims, the singular form “a,” “an,” and “the” comprise plural referents unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. For example, reference to a component in the singular is intended to comprise a plurality of components.
The term “substantially” or “about” may be used herein to describe disclosed or claimed embodiments. The term “substantially” or “about” may modify a value or relative characteristic disclosed or claimed in the present disclosure. In such instances, “substantially” or “about” may signify that the value or relative characteristic it modifies is within ±0%, 0.1%, 0.5%, 1%, 2%, 3%, 4%, 5% or 10% of the value or relative characteristic.
When an element or layer is referred to as being “on,” “engaged to,” “connected to,” or “coupled to” another element or layer, it may be directly on, engaged, connected or coupled to the other element or layer, or intervening elements or layers may be present. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being “directly on,” “directly engaged to,” “directly connected to,” or “directly coupled to” another element or layer, there may be no intervening elements or layers present. Other words used to describe the relationship between elements should be interpreted in a like fashion (e.g., “between” versus “directly between,” “adjacent” versus “directly adjacent,” etc.). The term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.
Although the terms first, second, third, etc. may be used to describe various elements, components, regions, layers and/or sections, these elements, components, regions, layers and/or sections should not be limited by these terms. These terms may be only used to distinguish one element, component, region, layer or section from another region, layer or section. Terms such as “first,” “second,” and other numerical terms when used herein do not imply a sequence or order unless clearly indicated by the context. Thus, a first element, component, region, layer or section discussed below could be termed a second element, component, region, layer or section without departing from the teachings of the example embodiments.
Spatially relative terms, such as “inner,” “outer,” “beneath,” “below,” “lower,” “above,” “upper,” and the like, may be used for ease of description to describe one element or feature's relationship to another element(s) or feature(s) as illustrated in the figures. Spatially relative terms may be intended to encompass different orientations of the device in use or operation in addition to the orientation depicted in the figures. For example, if the device in the figures is turned over, elements described as “below” or “beneath” other elements or features would then be oriented “above” the other elements or features. Thus, the example term “below” can encompass both an orientation of above and below. The device may be otherwise oriented (rotated 90 degrees or at other orientations) and the spatially relative descriptors used herein interpreted accordingly.
Referring generally to the figures, a refrigerator 100 is provided. The refrigerator 100 may include a main body such as a cabinet 102 that may form a fresh food compartment 104. One or more doors 106 may be pivotally attached to the cabinet 102 and the doors 106 may be configured to pivot about the cabinet 102 between an open position and a closed position. When the one or more doors 106 are in the open position, a user may access the fresh food compartment 104. The doors 106 may include an inner liner 108, that may face the fresh food compartment 104, and an door skin 110 that may form an exterior surface of the refrigerator door 106. The inner liner 108 may include a number of vertical walls, such as a first vertical wall 112, a second vertical wall 114, and a third vertical wall 116 extending between the first and second vertical walls 112, 114. The first, second, and third vertical walls 112, 114, 116 may form a pocket 118 that may be recessed with respect to an inner surface 120 of the inner liner 108. For purposes of clarity, the inner surface 120 faces the fresh food compartment 104 when the door is closed.
The first vertical wall 112, the second vertical wall 114, or both may include a supporting portion that may be configured to support a bin 122 or portions or a bin enclosure 125. As an example, the first vertical wall 112 may include a first protrusion 124, a second protrusion 126 and a relief region 128 disposed therebetween. The first protrusion 124 may include a first load-bearing surface 186 and the second protrusion 126 may include a second load-bearing surface 188 (
The retention portion 132 may include a fourth vertical wall 134 that may define a slot 136 that may be configured to receive at least one of the first protrusion 124 or the second protrusion 126. The retention portion 132 may include a retention protrusion 135 that may be inserted into the relief region 128 when the bin 122 is assembled to the inner liner 108. The retention portion 132 may include a first lip 156 that may extend from the fourth vertical wall 134 and the first lip 156 may lie against the first protrusion 124. The first lip 156 may be configured to prevent the bin 122 from being dislodged from the inner liner 108 in response to tipping the bin 122 towards the door skin 110. The retention protrusion 135 may be formed by a pair of vertical struts 138 and a number of horizontal struts 140 that may extend between the pair of vertical struts 138. In one or more embodiments, a portion of the first vertical wall 112 disposed in the relief region 128 may include a number of relief notches 142. The relief notches 142 may form a number of stiffening ribs 143 to stiffen the portion of the first vertical wall 112 disposed in the relief region 128.
The inner liner 108 may include a first horizontal extending wall 144 that may extend between the first vertical wall 112 and the second vertical wall 114. The first horizontal wall 144 may form a first food support surface 147 that may be configured to support food or beverages. In one or more embodiments, the inner liner 108 may include a V-shaped cross-section portion and the first horizontal wall 144 may form a portion of the V-shaped cross-section. As an example, a bottom portion of the V-shaped cross-section may include a nose 146 that may be tapered with respect to the food support surface 147. In one or more embodiments, the bin 122 may be formed by one or more plastic or polymeric materials by injection molding. Portions of the bin 122 such as the enclosure portion 130 may be formed by opaque material and other portions of the bin 122 including but not limited to the fourth vertical wall 134 and the second horizontal wall 170 may be formed by a translucent material.
A number of bins 122a-122d, configured to store food and beverage items, may be fixed to the inner liner 108 of one or more of the doors 106. Typically, bins of different size and shapes may be arranged on the inner liner 108. One of the challenges with bins that are generally available is that the bins in certain location within the door include various interfaces to fix the bin to the inner liner.
One or more of the components 108, 110, 148 may optionally be made from metal or other suitable material. For example, the door skin 110 may be made from sheet metal, and inner liner 108 may be made from a multi-layer thermoformed polymer material having barrier properties. The door skin 110 may include a generally planar central sidewall portion 152, and four sidewalls 154A-154D that extend transversely from the central sidewall portion 152 to define an interior space that receives inner liner 108 when assembled. The inner liner 108 may include the first, second and third sidewalls 112, 114, 116 and the third sidewall 116 may be spaced apart from the central sidewall portion 152 when assembled. When assembled, the sidewalls 112, 114 are spaced inwardly from the sidewalls 154A, 154D, respectively, of door skin 110 to form a gap or space therebetween that may be filled with a porous filler material and evacuated to form a vacuum. The sidewalls 112, 114 may form the inner surface 120 of the inner liner 108 that faces the refrigerated compartment 104 when the doors 106 are in the closed position. The third sidewall 116 may be recessed towards the door skin 110 to form the recessed pocket 118.
The bin 122 is shown in an uninstalled position, spaced apart from the inner liner 108. The bin 122 may include the enclosure portion 130 that may extend in a direction parallel to the third vertical sidewall 114. A second horizontal wall 170 may extend from the enclosure portion 130 in a direction that may be substantially orthogonal to the enclosure portion 130. The second horizontal wall 170 may form a second support surface 172 that may be configured to support a number of food or beverage items.
The second horizontal wall 170 may cooperate with the retention features formed by the fourth vertical wall 134 to provide support for the bin 122. Because the second horizontal wall 170 may lie along the first horizontal wall 144, portions of the load of the bin or contents disposed therein may be supported by the first horizontal wall 144. Accordingly, a less robust and more adaptable or removable interface between the fourth vertical wall 134 and the first vertical wall 112 may be employed. The second horizontal wall 170 may define a number of slots 174 that may have an elongated shape. The slots 174 may be arranged so that the air may flow through the slots 174 to the storage area formed by the first horizontal wall 144 and the bin 122. While only one side of the bin 122 is illustrated, the side not shown may include substantially the same features described herein.
In one or more embodiments, a majority of the second horizontal wall 170 may lie along a portion of the first horizontal wall 144 such as the nose 146. The nose 146 or other portions of the first horizontal wall 144 may support the second horizontal wall 170 in the vertical direction. The second horizontal wall 170 may lie along the nose 146 so that the second horizontal wall 170 and the first horizontal wall 144 lie in a common plane. In other words, the first horizontal wall 144 and the second horizontal wall 170 may form a planar surface that may be configured to evenly support a number of food or beverage items stored within the bin 122. The planar surface between the second horizontal wall 170 and the food support surface 147 may provide a relatively seamless appearance for the bottom portion of the bin 122.
A lip 176 may extend from the fourth vertical wall 134 to the second horizontal wall 170. The lip 176 may include an edge 178 that may be configured to engage a portion of the food support surface 147 such as an inner edge 164 so that the fourth vertical wall 134, by way of the lip 176, is sandwiched between the retention members such as the first protrusion 124 and the second load bearing protrusion 126. The food support surface 147 may also include a front edge 182 that may be configured to abut against a rear edge 185 of the second horizontal wall 170. As an example, the edge 178 and the edge 180 of the food support surface 147 may fix the bin 122 so that the bin 122 is fixed to prevent movement of the bin in a width direction such as towards the first vertical wall 112 and the second vertical wall 114.
In one or more embodiments, the bin 122 may include a peripheral lip 190 that may extend from the enclosure portion 130. The peripheral lip 190 may be configured to route or transport condensate from the bin 122 to a bottom portion of the fresh food compartment 104 that may be provided with a drain configured to route the condensate to a drip pan (not illustrated). The peripheral lip 190 may also provide a finished surface for improved aesthetics.
In one or more embodiments, the first protrusion 124 may have a first width W1 and a first height H1 and the second protrusion 126 may define a second height H2 that may be substantially equal to the first height H2. The relief region 128 may have a second width W2 and the third load-bearing protrusion 126 may have a third width W3. The second width W2 may be less than the first width W1 and may be greater than the third width W3. As an example, the first, second, and third widths W1, W2, W3 may be relatively constant between the top and bottom portions of the protrusions 124, 126 and the relief region 128. As another example, the 124, 126 and the relief region 128 may be tapered.
As an example, the first protrusion 124 may be disposed closer to the third vertical sidewall 116 than the relief region 128 and the second protrusion 126. The first protrusion 124 may include a top surface such as the first load-bearing surface 186 and the second protrusion 126 may include another top surface such as the second load-bearing surface 188. When the bin 122 is assembled to the inner liner 108, the first lip 156 may line along the load-bearing surfaces 186, 188 so that front and rear portions of the fourth vertical wall 134 are supported. Supporting the front and rear portions of the fourth vertical wall 134 may prevent inadvertent rocking or movement of the bin 122 with respect to the inner liner.
The first and third inner edges 194a, 194c may be spaced apart so that the retention protrusion 135 formed by the pair of vertical struts 138 may engage the first and third inner edges 194a, 194c to form a force-fit condition. The force fit condition may allow the bin 122 to be selectively attached and detached from the inner liner 108. The first and third inner edges 194a, 194c may engage the vertical struts 138 so that the bin 122 is fixed in a vertical direction and depth direction, extending towards and away from the in the inner surface 120. As another example, a gap may be formed between the
As previously mentioned, a number of horizontal struts 140 may extend between the vertical struts 138 and engage the relief notches 142 disposed in the relief region 128. Use of struts 138, 140, as opposed to a solid member, may allow the retention protrusion 135 to flex and prevent cracking or breaking of the retention protrusion 135 as the retention protrusion 135 is inserted and removed from the relief region 128. The horizontal struts 140 may engage edges of the relief notches to act against an upward force or lateral force applied to the bin 122. The horizontal struts 140 may also help stabilize the fourth vertical wall 134 and the bin 122 to prevent rattling of the bin 122 against the inner liner 108, caused by vibration of the refrigerator 100.
A bottom portion of the V-shaped cross-section may be formed by the second horizontal wall 158 a radii 194 may extend between the bottom portion and the third vertical sidewall 116. The radii 194 and a space disposed between the second horizontal wall 158 and the first and second protrusions 124, 126 may facilitate injection molding of the first and second protrusions 124, 126. As an example, the dashed lead lines may indicate material flow of the inner liner 108 material and insulation disposed between the inner liner 108 and the door skin 110.
While exemplary embodiments are described above, it is not intended that these embodiments describe all possible forms of the invention. Rather, the words used in the specification are words of description rather than limitation, and it is understood that various changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Additionally, the features of various implementing embodiments may be combined to form further embodiments of the invention.
