Claims
- 1. 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, and four corners positioned between adjacent horizontal and vertical side walls; 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 respective ones of the corners, the corner brackets each having a base wall extending substantially flush with, along and secured to at least one of the horizontal and vertical side walls to reinforce the corners, and the base wall having a connecting tab member extending from the base wall and inwardly from the corresponding one of the horizontal and vertical side walls, the connecting tab member being spaced from the outer skin sheet and the inner door liner; and, a reinforcing sheet having connecting portions connected within the cavity to the connecting tab members of the corner brackets and extending substantially across the door width within the cavity in spaced non-contacting thermal relationship from the outer skin sheet and the inner door liner to reinforce the door.
- 2. The door for a refrigerator appliance of claim 1 wherein the sheet is a continuous material substantially across the width of the door.
- 3. 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.
- 4. The door for a refrigerator appliance of claim 3 wherein the brackets each include a land section with an opening extending across the open section in the horizontal side wall for receiving a hinge pin in the opening of the land section.
- 5. The door for a refrigerator appliance of claim 1 wherein the base wall of the bracket extends along the horizontal side wall and the connecting tab member is spaced from the vertical side wall and extends into the cavity from the horizontal side wall.
- 6. The door for a refrigerator appliance of claim 1 wherein the base wall of the bracket extends along the vertical side wall and the connecting tab member is spaced from the horizontal side wall and extends into the cavity from the vertical side wall.
- 7. The door for a refrigerator appliance as claimed in claim 1 wherein the outer door panel includes in-turned flanges extending from the horizontal and vertical side walls generally parallel to the outer skin sheet, and the reinforcing corner brackets each including a side flange that extends along an inside surface of the in-turned flanges of the horizontal and vertical side walls adjacent a respective corner.
- 8. The door for a refrigerator of claim 7 wherein portions of the side flange of the corner brackets extend beyond the in-turned flanges for connection to the inner door liner.
- 9. The door for a refrigerator appliance of claim 1 wherein the base wall is secured by toggle lock connection to a corresponding one of the horizontal and vertical side walls.
- 10. The door for a refrigerator appliance of claim 1 further including foam insulation in the cavity extending around the sheet and the connecting tab members of the corner brackets.
- 11. The door for a refrigerator appliance as claimed in claim 1 further including a door sealing gasket extending over the in-turned flange of the side walls of the door.
- 12. The door for a refrigerator appliance of claim 1 wherein the sheet comprises a metal frame with a central opening and paper mounted to the frame extending across the central opening.
Priority Claims (1)
Number |
Date |
Country |
Kind |
2,350,419 |
Jun 2001 |
CA |
|
Parent Case Info
[0001] This application is a divisional application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/963,502 filed Sep. 27, 2001 entitled “THERMAL AND REINFORCED REFRIGERATOR DOOR”, which is incorporated herein by referenced in its entirety.
Divisions (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09963502 |
Sep 2001 |
US |
Child |
10263770 |
Oct 2002 |
US |