Information
-
Patent Grant
-
6209265
-
Patent Number
6,209,265
-
Date Filed
Thursday, September 30, 199924 years ago
-
Date Issued
Tuesday, April 3, 200123 years ago
-
Inventors
-
Original Assignees
-
Examiners
-
CPC
-
US Classifications
Field of Search
US
- 049 382
- 049 385
- 049 386
- 049 397
- 049 398
- 049 501
- 049 381
- 016 386
- 016 362
- 016 364
-
International Classifications
-
Abstract
The present invention relates to a door for a refrigerator appliance having reinforcing corner brackets that structurally complete the corners of the door. The corner brackets are located at the door corners of the vertical and horizontal side walls of the outer door skin. The brackets structurally replace and reinforce the horizontal side wall immediately adjacent the vertical side wall with a thicker, stronger material, such as, metal or steel, so that loading normally transferred to the outer door skin through the horizontal side wall at this corner location is instead transferred directly to the brackets mounted in the door. The horizontal side wall at the corner adjacent the vertical side wall has a cut-out or an open section. The brackets each have an opening positioned at the cut-out section. The opening is adapted to receive a hinge pin or closure cap. The door has an elongate supporting strut in the form of a hollow cylindrical tube engaging the brackets to reinforce the corners. The strut extends adjacent the one vertical side wall for supporting the corner brackets within the door to reinforce the door. Reinforcement brackets and tubes are located on each side of the door.
Description
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a door for a refrigerator having load reinforced corners for reducing door loading stresses across the outer door skin.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
For several years the trend in domestic refrigerator cabinets has been to increase the size and in particular the width of the food compartments and doors in top or bottom mount refrigerators.
Typically, the refrigerator door is constructed from an outer door panel of sheet steel material having rearwardly extending side walls. The door has an inner liner wall of plastic material attached to the door panel. Foam insulation is injected in the space between the outer panel and the inner liner. The foam expands and cures to thermally insulate and rigidize the door.
In order to conserve costs, the amount of steel used in the manufacture of these doors is optimized. The practice is to use a relatively thin sheet of steel for the outer panel. Often this sheet is in the order of 0.017 inches thick. Consequently, in order for the refrigerator door to maintain it's integrity and support articles or items stored on door mounted shelves, one common approach is to reinforce the door with cross braces located within the space of the door between the inner liner and the outer door panel. The metal cross braces extend from the corners of the refrigerator outer panel in an X configuration to reinforce the refrigerator door.
Another known approach to rigidize the door is to use a sheet of paper, aluminum foil or cardboard embedded in the insulation injected into the door cavity. This paper sheet is sufficiently large to cover the inside of the door and is taped to the door to prevent shifting. The sheet improves the rigidity of the door without significantly adding to the weight or cost of the door. More recently, metal sheets have been substituted for paper to improve rigidity. However, the metal sheet adds more weight to the door.
While the above described approaches in refrigerator door construction improve the rigidity of the door, these solutions are more directed to reinforcing the door outer skin and inner liner. To further strengthen the door outer skin, the corners of the door, formed when the skin is rolled back onto itself to provide a supporting peripheral flange for the door liner have been welded to strengthen the corners. However, this results in the distribution of the corner hinge loading forces across the outer door skin which is the very problem for which the above methods of reinforcement are attempting to compensate. Clearly, there is a need for a refrigerator door corner construction that eliminates the problems associated with door corner loading, reinforces the door, and reduces load transfer from the corner through the door onto the relatively thin steel outer skin wall of the refrigerator door.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide a refrigerator door construction having door corner brackets and linking strut supports that improve the rigidity of the door.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a refrigerator door construction having improved corner reinforcement adjacent the side walls of the refrigerator door to reduce the stresses loaded onto the outer skin of the door through the door corners.
The present invention relates to a refrigerator appliance and, in particular, a door for a refrigerator appliance where the door includes reinforcing corner brackets that structurally complete the corners of the door. The corner brackets are located at the door corners adjacent vertical and horizontal side walls of the outer door skin. The brackets structurally replace the horizontal side wall immediately adjacent the vertical side wall with a thicker, stronger material, such as, for example, metal or steel, so that loading normally transferred to the outer door skin through the horizontal side wall at this corner location is instead transferred directly to the brackets mounted in the door. In the preferred embodiment, the horizontal side wall has an open section that is formed as cut-out section located adjacent where the door is normally mounted through hinge pins to the refrigerator appliance. It should be understood that this open section may be formed by rolling the vertical wall around a larger arc to result in an opening.
In accordance with an aspect of the present invention there is provided a door for a refrigerator appliance comprising an outer door panel having an outer skin sheet with rearwardly extending peripheral vertical and horizontal side walls. The door panel has a plurality of corners positioned between adjacent horizontal and vertical side walls. The door has an inner door liner secured to the outer door panel spaced from the sheet to define a cavity between the inner liner and the sheet. The door has reinforcing corner brackets positioned within the cavity adjacent at least two opposed corners located at ends of one of the vertical side walls. The brackets extend along and are secured to at least one of the horizontal and vertical side walls adjacent the vertically opposed corners to reinforce the corners. The door includes an elongate supporting strut having its opposing ends engaging the reinforcing corner brackets. The strut extends adjacent the one vertical side wall to support the corner brackets within the door to reinforce the door.
The corner bracket preferably is a plate that extends across the open or cut-out section of the horizontal wall and adjacent the horizontal wall for securement therewith. The bracket has a depending end peripheral flange that extends towards the cavity and abuts the adjacent vertical side wall. The bracket plate and depending end peripheral flange are crimped to the side walls to secure the bracket at the corner.
Preferably, the brackets include a central opening adjacent the removed horizontal side wall section for receiving a hinge pin and the strut is a hollow metal tube having and end peripheral rim secured to the bracket adjacent the central opening.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
For a better understanding of the nature and objects of the present invention reference may be had to the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying diagrammatic drawings wherein:
FIG. 1
is a perspective view of a top mount refrigerator appliance having top and bottom doors constructed in accordance with the present invention;
FIG. 2
is a sectional view taken at lines
2
—
2
of
FIG. 1
showing the construction for a refrigerator door;
FIG. 3
is a perspective partially exploded view showing the outer door skin from an inside view with the corner reinforcing brackets assembled and the reinforcing tubes about to be assembled;
FIG. 4
is a perspective view of the lower left hand bracket shown in
FIG. 3
relative to the side wall of the outer door skin;
FIG. 5
is an exploded view of the door corner construction and epaulet;
FIG. 6
is a front view looking up at the epaulet shown in
FIG. 5
;
FIG. 6A
is a side elevational view of the epaulet of
FIG. 6
; and
FIGS. 7 and 7
a
are sectional views showing the assembly of the corner reinforcement bracket and the epaulet for the refrigerator respectively at corners having a hinge pin and mounting cap.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS
Referring to
FIG. 1
there is shown a refrigerator
10
comprising a cabinet
12
, a top door
14
and a lower door
16
. Each of doors
14
and
16
are shown in a closed position and in the preferred embodiment have a width of 30 inches or larger. The top door
14
is typically adapted to close the freezer food compartment
18
and the lower door
16
typically closes the fresh food compartment
20
. Of course it is understood that the position of the freezer compartment
18
relative to the fresh food compartment
20
could be reversed as in a bottom mount refrigerator, or alternatively, the invention has application in side-by-side refrigerator doors. However, in accordance with the present invention, the preferred refrigerator construction is that shown having doors
14
and
16
respectively closing the upper and lower food compartments
18
and
20
.
In
FIGS. 1
to
3
the construction of door
16
is shown. Door
16
has an outer metal panel
22
. Door panel
22
has a sheet or an outer skin
24
with upstanding or rearwardly extending curved vertical side walls
26
and flat horizontal side walls
27
. The vertical side walls
26
and horizontal side walls
27
extend towards each other and would normally meet at corners
29
. However, a cut-out or open section
64
is cut out from the horizontal side wall
27
at the corner
29
so that the horizontal side wall does not meet or join the vertical side wall
26
. The vertical and horizontal side walls
26
,
27
each further include in-turned flanges
28
that preferably extend parallel to the sheet
24
and overlap at the corners
29
.
Mounted on top of the in-turned flanges
28
of the door panel
22
is a inner door liner
30
of preferably plastic material. Liner
30
is spaced from the generally flat sheet
24
of the outer door panel
22
to define a cavity
32
. The liner
30
has dyke side walls
36
and an interior vertical wall
38
. Shelf supports
41
are integrally molded to walls
36
and
38
. The shelf supports
41
carry shelves
43
which in turn carry articles (not shown). The liner
30
includes a peripheral edge or flange
44
secured by suitable screw fasteners (not shown) to the in-turned flanges
28
of the outer door panel
22
. Mounted over the liner flange
44
and door panel flange
28
is a gasket
47
which seals the door in an airtight fashion with the refrigerator appliance
10
. Foamed insulation
48
fills the cavity or space
32
defined between the liner
30
and the outer panel
22
.
The refrigerator door
16
as shown in
FIGS. 3 through 7
has two unique features. The first unique feature resides in the use of brackets
60
, positioned at opposing corners
29
, and the reinforcing tube
83
that extends between the brackets
60
supporting the brackets
60
in the door cavity
32
. This feature improves the rigidity of the door
16
by providing localized corner reinforcement adjacent the vertical side walls
26
of the refrigerator door
16
. By using the bracket
60
and tube
83
in combination with the cut-out section
64
of the horizontal side wall
27
, the stresses associated with loading hinge pins
92
of the refrigerator door
16
are distributed through the bracket
60
and are not distributed directly to the outer skin
22
. Such direct distribution of force could otherwise cause large heavy doors
16
to warp over extended periods of use. The second unique feature relates to use of an epaulet cover
110
that covers exposed edges of the door corner
29
. The epaulet cover
110
covers the exposed edges and effectively joins the side walls of the door corner
29
eliminating the need for welding these side walls to each other at the corner
29
. The epaulet cover
110
also compensates for and hides manufacturing imperfections at the door corners
29
. The epaulet further improves the visual appearance of the door corners by smoothing the corners and eliminating the visual gap between the epaulet wall and door side walls.
Referring to
FIGS. 3
to
5
,
7
and
7
a,
the reinforcing corner brackets
60
are shown positioned within the cavity
32
adjacent to the corners
29
. Each bracket
60
comprises a plate
62
that extends across a removed or cut-out section
64
from the horizontal wall
27
at the corner
29
adjacent the vertical side wall
26
. The width of the bracket
60
is chosen to be substantially the width of the door
16
adjacent the horizontal wall
27
so that the bracket snugly fits into the door corners
29
.
The cut-out section
64
of the horizontal side wall
27
leaves exposed peripheral edges
66
,
66
a,
66
b,
66
c
respectively extending along the outer door skin
24
, the curved vertical side wall
26
, the in-turned flanges
28
, and along the horizontal side wall
27
. The exposes edge
66
,
66
a,
66
b,
66
c
and the removed section
64
can best be seen in FIG.
5
.
The bracket plate
62
has a first portion
68
which extends in abutting relation adjacent the horizontal side wall
27
. The corner bracket further includes a load bearing surface portion
70
that is recessed in spaced relation from the horizontal wall
27
. The load-bearing portion
70
extends across the removed horizontal wall section
64
to engage in abutting relation the inside surface
71
of the vertical side wall
26
.
The bracket plate
60
includes opposite side flanges
72
and an end flange
74
which depend from the bracket plate
60
towards the interior cavity
133
of the door. The opposite side flanges
72
respectively abut inside surfaces of the outer door skin
24
and the in-turned flange portions
28
associated with the horizontal side walls
27
. These in-turned flange portions
28
are also vertically extending side walls. The opposite side flanges
72
and the first portion
68
are crimped at
77
by a crimping tool to engage the horizontal side wall
27
and the in-turned flange
28
in a tag and lock fastening arrangement.
The load bearing portion
70
of the bracket member
60
further includes a dependent ring or rim
80
. The reinforcing tube
83
, preferably metal, has opposed flared ends
85
placed around and engaging rim
80
of the load bearing bracket portion
70
of the bracket member
60
. The rim
80
defines a first central opening
87
into which a plastic thimble
84
is inserted in interference fit into the flared ends
85
of the metal tube
83
. The thimble
84
has a shaft
86
in interference fit with the metal tube
83
. The thimble
84
includes an out-turned head portion
88
which rests on the recessed load bearing surface portion
70
of the bracket member
60
. Mounted within the hollow thimble
84
is either an end cap
90
(
FIG. 7A
) or a hinge pin
92
(FIG.
7
). Hinge pin
92
is shown to have a central portion
97
which is of a greater diameter than the diametrically opposed hinge pins
98
. The diametrically opposed hinge pins
98
may be hollow to allow for the insertion or passage of conduit or wire along the metal tube between doors. The hinge pin central has threads
94
threadably mounted to a hinge bracket
95
mounted to the refrigerator cabinet. The hinge pin
92
is a central hinge pin for supporting doors
14
and
16
. Alternatively, hinge pin
92
could be a lower hinge pin or an upper hinge pin depending on its location.
The door tube
83
is typically foamed in place within the door to rigidly locate the opposing corner brackets
60
between the ends of the rigid tube
83
. The door corner reinforcing bracket
60
and metal tube
83
co-operate to reinforce the door corners
29
along the vertical side walls
26
of the refrigerator door
16
and to bear the load associated with the loading of the door
16
onto the hinge pin
92
. The bracket reduces the load transferred from the hinge pin
92
directly onto the horizontal side wall
27
and the outer door skin
24
. Consequently, the stresses and strains associated with door loading are not directly transferred from the area of the hinge pin
92
onto the outer skin
24
of the door
16
. The reduction in the transference of these stresses and the additional reinforcement provided by the metal bracket member
60
and the reinforcing metal tube
83
further rigidizes the door.
In order to assist in venting of gases from the door during the foaming of insulation into the door
16
, the horizontal portion
68
of the bracket member
60
extending adjacent the horizontal side wall
27
has a recess or opening
104
. Opening
104
is located adjacent a corresponding opening in the horizontal side wall
27
. Recess opening
104
is covered with a vent tape
106
which allows gases to escape through the wall
27
and yet prevents the escape of foam. The opening
104
is closed by cap
108
which is shown in
FIGS. 7 and 7A
secured by interference fit through the horizontal side wall
27
and the horizontal extending bracket portion
68
.
Referring to
FIGS. 5 through 7A
, the epaulet
110
used to cover the cut-out section
64
to complete the door
16
construction is shown. The epaulet
110
has a relatively flat and smooth outer surface
112
having a circular central recess
114
through which the thimble
84
passes. The epaulet
110
has a beveled corner
116
from which depends downwardly or rearwardly a peripheral flange
118
.
As shown in
FIG. 5
, the epaulet
110
is positioned over the cut out section
64
such that a flange
118
overlaps outside surface portions of the side wall
26
, outer skin
24
, and the in-turned flange at
28
of the door. The epaulet cover
110
further has a portion
112
that is adapted to overlay a portion of the horizontal side wall
27
.
As best seen in
FIGS. 6
,
7
and
7
A, a bottom surface
122
of the epaulet cover
110
has a series of first fasteners or ribs
124
. The ribs
124
are spaced a distance from the flange
118
that is equal to or slightly less than the thickness of the metal used in the outer door panel
22
. The ribs
124
are adapted to engage inside surface
71
of the vertical sidewall
26
and an inside portion of the other door skin
24
.
Thus, as the epaulet cover
110
is inserted onto the horizontal side wall
27
over the cut-out section
64
, the ribs
124
co-operate with the depending flange
118
to tightly secure the epaulet cover
110
over the exposed edges
66
,
66
a,
and
66
b.
The epaulet cover also overlays a portion of the horizontal side wall
27
covering the exposed edge
66
c.
As of the epaulet cover
110
, is moved into the position covering the cut-out section
66
, second fasteners or extensions
124
depending from the underside of the epaulet cover
110
pass through slotted apertures
128
located in the recessed load bearing surface portion
70
of the bracket
60
. The extensions
124
of the epaulet cover
110
have hooks
126
that engage the under surface of the bracket
60
preventing of the epaulet cover
110
from being pulled away from the bracket
60
. The slotted apertures
128
have a width of that is larger than the width of the extensions
124
so that relative lateral movement of the epaulet cover
110
with respect to the bracket
60
may occur in the longitudinal direction of the horizontal side wall
27
.
As best shown in
FIGS. 6
,
7
and
7
A, epaulet cover
110
has a depending circular rim
130
that rests on the recessed load bearing surface
70
of bracket
60
. The opening
114
within the rim
130
is aligned with the opening
87
of the bracket
60
and the opening
114
is slightly larger in diameter than the opening
87
of the bracket
60
. As a result the rim
130
defines an opening
87
that is adapted to receive hinge pin
92
in a manner that the hinge pin
92
does not translate any loading door forces onto the epaulet cover
110
. Hinge pin
92
loads the thimble
84
by resting on the head
88
of the thimble
84
which in turn rests on the recessed load bearing surface
70
. The head
88
of thimble
84
is spaced from the rim
130
and does not touch the rim
130
. Hence loading of the thimble
84
is not translated onto the epaulet cover
110
. The thimble
84
through its interference engagement with a the tube
83
supports the hinge pin
92
relative to the tube
83
with minimal loading of the bracket
60
and with substantially no loading of the epaulet cover
110
. This reduces stresses or loads associated with supporting the door
16
to the refrigerator through the hinge pin
90
from being distributed over the other door skin
24
of the door panel
22
.
In
FIG. 7
a,
a cap
90
replaces pin
92
. This permits the opposed vertical sides of the door
16
to be structurally symmetrical with one side of the door pivotally mounted to the cabinet and the other side of the door capped.
As is apparent from the foregoing disclosure, various other embodiments and alterations and modifications which may differ from the embodiments disclosed may be readily apparent to one skilled in the art. It should be understood that the scope of the patent shall be defined by the claims and those embodiments which come within the scope of the claims that follow.
Claims
- 1. A door for a refrigerator appliance comprising:outer door panel having an outer skin sheet with rearwardly extending peripheral vertical and horizontal side walls, a plurality of corners positioned between adjacent horizontal and vertical side walls, and each of the peripheral vertical and horizontal side walls having an inside surface portion adjacent the corners; an inner door liner secured to the outer door panel spaced from the sheet to define a cavity between the inner liner and the sheet; reinforcing corner brackets positioned within the cavity adjacent at least two opposed corners located at ends of one of the vertical side walls, the corner brackets each extending within the cavity along the inside surface portions of the horizontal and vertical side walls adjacent the vertically opposed corners to reinforce the corners, and each of reinforcing corner brackets secured to at least one of the horizontal and vertical side walls; and, an elongate supporting strut having opposing ends engaging the reinforcing corner brackets, the supporting strut extending adjacent the one vertical side wall for supporting the corner brackets within the door to reinforce the door.
- 2. The door for a refrigerator appliance of claim 1 wherein the horizontal side walls have an open section positioned adjacent the vertical side walls.
- 3. The door for a refrigerator appliance of claim 2 wherein the brackets each include a dependent rim extending into the cavity, and the strut is a hollow tube having opposed ends engaging the dependent rim of the bracket.
- 4. The door for a refrigerator appliance of claim 3 wherein the tube is cylindrical with its end positioned to surround and engage in interference fit the rim of the bracket.
- 5. The door for a refrigerator appliance of claim 4 wherein the opposing ends of the tube are flared, and the door further including thimble members each having an elongate shaft inserted though the bracket central opening in interference fit with the flared ends of the tubes, and the thimbles having a flange head spaced overlaying the bracket.
- 6. The door for a refrigerator appliance of claim 5 wherein the thimble members are plastic.
- 7. The door for a refrigerator appliance of claim 5 further including a cap adapted to fit into each said thimble member and cover the central opening of the bracket.
- 8. The door for a refrigerator appliance of claim 5 wherein a hinge pin for supporting the door to the refrigerator appliance is positioned within said thimble member.
- 9. The door for a refrigerator appliance as claimed in claim 2 wherein the door has a width in excess of 30 inches.
- 10. The door for a refrigerator appliance of claim 1 wherein the horizontal side walls have an open section adjacent the vertical side walls whereby the horizontal side wall ends at the open section.
- 11. The door for a refrigerator appliance of claim 10 wherein the brackets each include a central opening, and the strut is a hollow tube having opposed ends that each engage one of the brackets adjacent the central opening for the bracket.
- 12. The door for a refrigerator appliance of claim 11 wherein the brackets each include a dependent rim extending into the cavity, and the strut is a hollow tube having opposed ends each engaging the dependent rim of the bracket.
- 13. The door for a refrigerator appliance of claim 12 wherein the tube is cylindrical with its end positioned to surround and engage in interference fit the rim of the bracket.
- 14. The door for a refrigerator appliance of claim 13 wherein the opposing ends of the tube are flared, and the door further including thimble members each having an elongate shaft inserted though the bracket central opening in interference fit with the flared ends of the tubes, and the thimbles having a flange head spaced overlaying the bracket.
- 15. The door for a refrigerator appliance of claim 14 wherein the thimble members are plastic.
- 16. The door for a refrigerator appliance of claim 14 further including a cap adapted to fit into each said thimble member and cover the central opening of the bracket.
- 17. The door for a refrigerator appliance of claim 14 wherein a hinge pin for supporting the door to the refrigerator appliance is positioned within said thimble member.
- 18. The door for a refrigerator appliance of claim 10 further including foam insulation in the cavity.
- 19. The door for a refrigerator appliance of claim 10 wherein the vertical side walls are curved.
- 20. The door for a refrigerator appliance as claimed in claim 10 wherein the door has a width in excess of 30 inches.
- 21. A door for a refrigerator appliance comprising:an outer door panel having an outer skin sheet with rearwardly extending peripheral vertical and horizontal side walls, a plurality of corners positioned between adjacent horizontal and vertical side walls, the horizontal side walls having an open section adjacent the vertical side walls whereby the horizontal side wall ends at the open section, and the outer door panel having in-turned flanges extending from the side walls generally parallel to the sheet; an inner door liner secured to the outer door panel spaced from the sheet to define a cavity between the inner liner and the sheet; reinforcing corner brackets positioned within the cavity adjacent at least two opposed corners located at ends of one of the vertical side walls, the corner brackets each extending along and secured to at least one of the horizontal and vertical side walls adjacent the vertically opposed corners to reinforce the corners, and the reinforcing corner brackets each having a plate that extends across the open section of the horizontal wall and adjacent the horizontal wall in abutment therewith, the bracket including opposite side flanges and an end flange that extends towards the cavity, the opposite side flanges respectively abutting inside surfaces of the outer door skin and a corresponding in-turned flange of the horizontal wall, and the end flange abutting the adjacent vertical side wall, and the bracket having a load bearing portion recessed in spaced relation from the horizontal wall and extending across the open section of the horizontal wall to engage the vertical side wall; and, an elongate supporting strut having opposing ends engaging the reinforcing corner brackets, the supporting strut extending adjacent the one vertical side wall for supporting the corner brackets within the door to reinforce the door.
- 22. The door for a refrigerator of claim 21 wherein at least one of the opposite side flanges and end flange of the bracket and at least one of the in-turned flange and the vertical side wall are crimped together to support the corner.
- 23. The door for a refrigerator appliance of claim 21 wherein the brackets each include a central opening in the recessed load bearing portion adjacent the open section, and wherein the strut is a hollow tube having opposed ends engaging a corresponding bracket adjacent the central opening.
- 24. The door for a refrigerator appliance of claim 23 wherein the bracket plate and abutting horizontal wall each including aligned vent openings, and the door further including vent tape overlying the bracket and aligned vent openings to prevent the escape of foam during foaming of the door.
- 25. The door for a refrigerator appliance of claim 24 further including a vent closure cap snapped into the aligned vent openings in the bracket plate and horizontal side wall.
- 26. The door for a refrigerator appliance of claim 25 wherein the brackets each include a dependent rim extending into the cavity, and the strut is a hollow tube having opposed ends engaging the dependent rim of the bracket.
- 27. The door for a refrigerator appliance of claim 26 wherein the tube is cylindrical with its end positioned to surround and engage in interference fit the rim of the bracket.
- 28. The door for a refrigerator appliance of claim 27 wherein the opposing ends of the tube are flared, the door further including thimble members each having an elongate shaft inserted though the bracket central opening in interference fit with the flared ends of the tubes, and the thimbles having a flange head overlaying the bracket.
- 29. The door for a refrigerator appliance of claim 28 wherein the thimble members are plastic.
- 30. The door for a refrigerator appliance of claim 28 further including a cap adapted to fit into the thimble member and cover the central opening of the bracket.
- 31. The door for a refrigerator appliance of claim 28 wherein a hinge pin for supporting the door to the refrigerator appliance is positioned within said thimble member.
- 32. The door for a refrigerator appliance of claim 23 further including foam insulation in the cavity.
- 33. The door for a refrigerator appliance as claimed in claim 23 further including a door sealing gasket extending over the in-turned flange of the side walls of the door.
- 34. The door for a refrigerator appliance as claimed in claim 23 wherein the door has a width in excess of 30 inches.
Priority Claims (1)
Number |
Date |
Country |
Kind |
2273476 |
May 1999 |
CA |
|
US Referenced Citations (14)