US1654094A - Refrigerator-door construction - Google Patents

Description

Dec. 27, 1927.

R. A. RIEK REFRIGERATOR DOOR CONSTRUCTION Filed March 28, 1927 I I1/wanton jzzagvzjze Stimm-11,4.

Patented Dec. 27, 1.927.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.v

BEBIGERATOB-DOOR CONSTRUCTION.

Application led March 28, 1927. Serial No. 179,049.

This invention relates to a door construction designed primarily for use in connection with refrigerators and the casings of refrigerating units.

6 yOne of the objects of the invention is to- 'provide a structure wherein the outer and inner surfaces can be formed of sheet metal bent to proper shape utilizin novel means for holding the same assem led with the frame of the door. Heretofore doors'of this type have been v made with one-piece porcelained metal hnings but it has been necessary to utilize fastening meanskfor theI linings which have been exposed to view and consequently have detracted from the appearance of the door.

It is an object of this invention to provide lining retaining means which do not detract from the appearance but permit the formation of a door having a smooth inner surface free of objectionable projections such as screw heads and the like.y

Another object is to provide a one-piece porcelained metal lining which can be easily assembled with the frame -of the door, the means employed for holding it in position being so constructed as to take care of any buckling of the metal that might result from. the intense heat to which it is subjected 30' during the porcelaining operation.

c With the foregoing and other objects.l in view which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention resides in the combination and arrangement of parts and inv the details of construction hereinafter described and claimed, it being understood Y that changes. in the precise embodiment of the invention herein disclosed may be'made within the scope of what is claimed, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

In the accompanyingvdrawings the preferred form of the invention has been shown. In said drawings, v Figure 1 is an elevation of the inner surface of a door constructed in accordance with the present invention.

Figure 2 is a section on line 2 2, Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a section on lined-3, Figure 1.

Referring to the figures by characters of 5@ reference 1 designates a sheet metal pan constituting the outer or front surface of the door, this pan being formed in one piece and provided along its edges with backwardly extended portions 2 from which a continuous unbroken flange 3 extends inwardly. Seated within the pan is a frame made up of side strips 4 and end strips 5 and 6. The ends of the strips are beveled so as to contact when the strips are assembled in the pan and the outer edges of all of the strips are formed of longitudinal beads 7 so shaped as to fit snugly against the baclrturned portions 2 and in lapped relation with the ianges 3. The several strips are adapted to be assembled by first tilting them so as to insert the beads 7 linto engagement with the flanges 3 and thereafter fiattening out the strips so as to rest snugly upon the inner surface of the pan l and with the ends of the strips in contact. Thereafter a backing 8 formed pref# erably of wood, liber board Aor any other suitable material is inserted into the space surrounded by the strips 4, 5 and 6 so as to *fit snugly against them and flush with the frame. y

v The strips 4 and 5 are provided with beveled shoulders 9 extending inwardly beyond the beads 7 and flanges 3 and the inner surfaces of these strips 4 and 5, that is to say, those surfaces forming the walls of the space defined by the strips, are formed with longitudinal grooves 10 which register at their ends so as to extend continuously along the sides and one end of said space.

The strip 6 differs from the strips 4 and 5 in that it is of the same thickness as the backing 8 and has one face flush with the exposed face of the flange 3 lapping the bead on said strip. retaining strip 11 is adapted to be fastened in any suitable manner on the strip 6 so as to extend longitudinally thereof, the two strips 6 and 11, when assembled,having the same appearance as any one of the strips 4c and 5. The inner side wall of the strip 11 has a longitudinal groove 12 correspon ing with the groove 10 and adapted to register 4 therewith at its ends when all of the parts are assembled.

The inner section of the door is formed of a pan 13 formed preferably of porcelained metal, the walls of this pan being beveled and provided, at their free edges, with outturned flanges-14. Fitted within this pan so as to bear snugly against the walls thereof is a frame 15 formed preferablyv of strips of wood, there being one or more layers of suitable insulating material 16 filling this fra-me.

The frame 15 projects out of the pana distance e ual to the distance between the plane of the anges 3 and the plane of the grooves 10 and 12.

In assembling this door the stri s 5 and 6 and the backing 8 are placed in t e pan 1 as heretofore explained.' The frame 15 is strips 4. Pan 13 and the parts therein are then thrust longitudinally until one of the end flanges 14 becomes seated in the groove in the end strip 5. Should the metal Ban be minutely buckled as a result of the eat to which it has been subjected in the preparation thereof, -the walls of the grooves in the sides and ends of the door structure would tend to`straighten out the thin engaged fianges of the pan. After the pan has been full seatedi-n the manner described, with the rame and the insulation 16 bearing on the backing 8, the strip 11 is positioned on the strip 6 with the adjacent flange 14 seated in the groove 12. Said strip 11 is then fastened by a suitable adhesive or by brads driven upwardly therethrough into the bottom of frame 15. `Thus the assembly of theparts will be completed, the outturned iianges 14 being concealed and both the outer and inner surfaces of the door being left smooth and free of exposed fastening means or projecting portions. `'Ihe strip 11 islocated close to the bottom edge of the door and if brads are driven upwardly therethrough they will be invisible ordinarily j when the door is hung for use.

Importance 1s attached to the fact that the grooved strips 4, 5 and 11 serve to straighten out the engaged anges of the pan 13 and support itwith its walls fitted snugly against the strips, so that there will be no crevices in which foreign matter might accumulate.

What is claimed is: 1. Adoor for refrigerators and the like including a metal pan havin inturned marginal anges, a frame seate in and having its sides and one end portion projecting from the pan, there being registering longitudinal grooves in the projecting portions of the frame, a porcelained metal pan having longitudinal flanges along the walls thereof seated within said grooves, an insulating structure including a frame seated in and projecting from` the pan, and a retain'- ing strip separate from and attached to the ot er end portion of the first mentionedv frame, said strip having a groove for the reception of the adjacent flange of the porcelainedV metal pan.

2. A door for refrigerators and the like including a metal outer pan, a frame seated therein having its sides and one end projectin from the p an, the other end of the frame being flush with the pan, an inner pan movable longitudinally into and out of engagement with opposed portions of the frame, insulating lnaterial carried by the inner pan, and a retaining strip for engagement with one end of the inner pan and attached to that portion of the frame flush with the pan for holding said pans assembled.

3. A door for refrigerators and the like including an outer pan, a frame assembled therewith having one end flush with one surface of the pan and its other end and sides projecting from the pan, there being a continuous groove in the projecting portions, an inner porcelained metal pan having outturned fianges upon its walls seated in the grooves, and a retaining iange detachably secured to the flush portion of the frame and grooved to receive one of the iianges of the inner an.

4. A re rigerator door or thev like including an outer pan, a frame assembled therewith having its sides and one end portion projecting therefrom and formed with a continuous groove, theother end of the frame terminating short of the plane of the continuous groove, a porcelained metal inner pan having anges slidable into the groove to hold said pan assembled with the frame, and a retaining strip having a groove for receiving aportion of the flange of the inner pan, sald strip being separate from but .attached to that end of the frame terminating shortiof the groove.

5. A door for refrigerators or the like including an outer panl having inturned marginal flanges, a frame seated in the pan and engaging the flanges, said frame having .two sides and one end projecting from the pan, a retainin strip separate from and secured to the ot er end of the frame, ascontinuous groove within the retaining strip and the projecting sides and end of the frame, a porcelained metal inner pan, and outturned flanges on the walls of said inner pan seated in the grooves, said pan being slidable into and out of position within the frame when the retaining strip is removed.

6. A door for refrigerators or the like includln an outer pan having inturned marginal anges, a frame seated in the pan and engagmg the anges, said frame having its sldes and one end projecting from the pan, a backing withinthe pan surrounded by the j frame and flush with the exposed surface of of the frame, an inner porcelained metal the outer pan when the retaining strip is pan having outturned nges on the Walle removed. thereof seated within the groove, and insu- In testimony that I cla-im the foregoing 10 iating material including a frameseated in as my own, I have hereto affixed my signa- 5 the inner pan and bearing upon the backture.

ing, said inner pan and insulating material being slidable into and out of the frame in RUDOLPH A. RIEK.

Images