Refrigerator door assembly with decorative front trim panels

• US 4,948,206 A
• Filed: 12/02/1988
• Issued: 08/14/1990
• Est. Priority Date: 12/02/1988
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Ardco Holdings, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Ardco, Inc. (Carrier Global Corporation)
• Inventors: Fitzpatrick, James
• Primary Examiner(s): Dorner, Kenneth J.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Green, Brian K.
• Application Number:
  US07/279,017
• Time in Patent Office: 620 Days
• Field of Search: 312/296, 312/214, 312/137, 49/401, 49/402, 52/287, 52/288, 52/716
• US Class Current: 312/296
• CPC Class Codes: A47F 3/043 Doors, covers A47F3/0434 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: E06B 3/305 Covering metal frames with plastic or metal profiled members

Abstract

A refrigerator door assembly mountable in an opening of a refrigerator cabinet including a door mounting cabinet frame having a front wall positionable against the cabinet adjacent the opening and a plurality of insulated glass doors mounted in the cabinet frame. The insulated glass doors each include an insulated glass unit and a door frame surrounding and supporting the periphery of the glass unit. Decorative trim panels, preferably made of plastic, are detachably mounted on the door and cabinet frames in overlapping relation to the front walls thereof for providing the desired finished appearance for the door assembly, which may be color coordinated with the decor of the room or commercial establishment in which the refrigerator is installed.

Claims

1. A refrigerator door assembly mountable in an opening of a refrigerator cabinet comprising a door mounting cabinet frame having a front wall positionable against said cabinet adjacent said opening, at least one insulated glass door supported by said cabinet frame for relative movement, said insulated glass door including a glass unit made of a plurality of glass planes disposed in side by side relation with an air space therebetween, a door frame surrounding and supporting the periphery of said glass unit, said door frame having a front wall for retaining a front side of said glass unit and means for retaining a rear side of said glass unit, means interconnecting said front wall and said rear side retaining means with said glass unit securely retained therebetween, a first trim panel detachably mounted on said door frame in overlying relating to the front wall thereof, a second trim panel detachably mounted on said cabinet frame in overlying relation to the front wall thereof, said first panel and door frame having means for permitting removal of said first trim panel from said door frame without disassembly of the door frame and while leaving the front and rear sides of said glass unit securely retained by said front wall and said rear side retaining means of said door frame, and said second trim panel and cabinet frame having means for permitting removal of said second trim panel from said cabinet frame without disassembly of said cabinet frame.

2. The refrigerator door assembly of claim 1 in which said trim panels are made of plastic.

3. The refrigerator door assembly of claim 1 in which said trim panels each have inwardly directed retaining flanges at opposed ends thereof for releasable engagement with the respective door and cabinet frame.

4. The refrigerator door assembly of claim 1 in which said trim panels each have an outwardly curve contour which defines a dead air space between the trim panel and the front wall of the respective door and cabinet frame.

5. The refrigerator door assembly of claim 1 in which said trim panels each have a substantially flat front face.

6. The refrigerator door assembly of claim 5 in which said trim panels are mounted on said door and cabinet frames with said front face in closely spaced relation to the respective front wall of the door and cabinet frame.

7. The refrigerator door assembly of claim 3 in which said retaining flanges are disposed in planes parallel to the glass panes of said glass unit.

8. The refrigerator door assembly of claim 1 in which said trim panels each have an outwardly curve contour which defines a dead air space between the trim panel and the front wall of the respective door and cabinet frame and inwardly extending retaining flanges at opposed ends thereof for releasable engagement with the respective door and cabinet frame.

9. An insulated door for mounting in a cabinet frame comprising a glass unit made of a plurality of glass planes disposed in side by side relation with an air space therebetween, a door frame surrouding and supporting the periphery of said glass unit, said door frame having a front wall for retaining a front side of said glass unit, means for retaining a rear side of said glass unit in said door frame, means interconnecting said front wall and said rear side retaining means with glass unit securely retained therebetween, a trim panel detachable mounted on said door frame in overlying relation to said front wall for providing the desired finished appearance of said door when viewed from a front side thereof, and said trim panel and said door frame having means for permitting removal of said trim panel from said door frame without disassembly of the door frame and while leaving the front and rear sides of said glass unit securely retained by said front wall and said rear side retaining means of said door frame.

10. The insulated door of claim 9 in which said trim panel is made of plastic.

11. The insulated door of claim 9 in which said trim panel has inwardly extending retaining flanges at opposed ends thereof for releasable engagement with said door frame.

12. The insulated door assembly of claim 11 in which said trim panel has an outwardly curve contour which defines a dead air space between the trim panel and the front wall of said door frame.

13. The insulated door of claim 11 in which said trim panel has a substantially flat front face.

14. The insulated door of claim 12 in which said trim panel has an integrally formed rearwardly extending reinforcing wall disposed in abutting relation to the front wall of the door frame.

15. A refrigerator door frame assembly mountable in an opening of a refrigerator cabinet comprising a metallic structural frame member, a plurality of insulated glass doors, said insulated glass doors each including a glass unit made of a plurality of glass planes disposed in side by side relation with an air space therebetween, a door frame surrouding and supporting the periphery of each glass unit, means supporting said insulated glass doors on said frame member for relative movement, said frame member having a web portion positionable along the periphery of said cabinet opening and a front wall positionable against said cabinet adjacent said opening, a trim panel detachably mountable on said frame member in overlying relation to said front wall for providing the desired finished appearance of said frame assembly when viewed from a front side thereof, said trim panel being made of plastic and having inwardly extending retaining flanges at opposed ends thereof for engagement with said frame member, and said trim panel and frame member having means for permitting disengagement of said retaining flanges from said frame member to enable removal of said trim panel from said frame member without effecting the support of said insulated glass doors by said frame member.

16. The refrigerator door frame assembly of claim 15 in which said trim panel has an outwardly curve contour which defines a dead air space between the trim panel and the front wall of said frame member.

17. The refrigerator door frame assembly of claim 15 in which said trim panel has a substantially flat front face.

18. The refrigerator door frame assembly of claim 15 in which said trim panel has a rearwardly extending wall overlapping at least a portion of said frame member web portion.

19. A refrigerator door assembly mountable in an opening of a refrigerator cabinet comprising a door mounting cabinet frame having a front wall positionable against said cabinet adjacent said opening, at least one insulated glass door mounted in said cabinet frame, said insulated glass door including a glass unit made of a plurality of glass planes disposed in side by side relation with an air space therebetween, a door frame surrounding and supporting the periphery of said glass unit, said door frame having a front wall for retaining a front side of said glass unit, a first trim panel detachably mounted on said door frame in overlying relation to the front wall thereof, a second trim panel detachably mounted on said cabinet frame in overlying relation to the front wall thereof, and said trim panels each having an outwardly curve contour which defines a dead air space between the trim panel and the front wall of the respective door and cabinet frame and an integrally formed rearwardly extending reinforcing wall disposed in abutting relation to the front wall of the respective door and cabinet frame.

20. A refrigerator door assembly mountable in an opening of a refrigerator cabinet comprising a door mounting cabinet frame having a front wall positionable against said cabinet adjacent said opening, at least one insulated glass door mounted in said cabinet frame, said insulated glass door including a glass unit made of a plurality of glass planes disposed in side by side relation with an air space therebetween, a door frame surrounding and supporting the perphery of said glass unit, said door frame having a front wall for retaining a front side of said glass unit, a first trim panel detachably mounted on said door frame in overlying relation to the front wall thereof, a second trim panel detachably mounted on said cabinet frame in overlying relation to the front wall thereof, said trim panels each having inwardly directed retaining flanges at opposed ends thereof for releasable engagement with the respective door and cabinet frame, said door frame including an end wall extending rearwardly of said front wall, said door frame being formed with a notch at the approximate juncture of said front and end walls, and said first trim panel being mounted on said door frame with one of the retaining flanges thereof engaging said door frame notch and the other of the retaining flanges thereof engaging an innermost side of said door frame front wall.

21. A refrigerator door assembly mountable in an opening of a refrigerator cabinet comprising a door mounting cabinet frame having a front wall positionable against said cabinet adjacent said opening, at least one insulated glass door mounted in said cabinet frame, said insulated glass door including a glass unit made of a plurality of glass planes disposed in side by side relation with an air space therebetween, a door frame surrounding and supporting the periphery of said glass unit, said door frame having a front wall for retaining a front side of said glass unit, a first trim panel detachably mounted on said door frame in overlying relation to the front wall thereof, a second trim panel detachably mounted on said cabinet frame in overlying relation to the front wall thereof, said trim panels each having inwardly directed retaining flanges at opposed ends thereof for releasable engagement with the respective door and cabinet frame, said cabinet frame being formed with a notch adjacent said cabinet opening, and said second trim panel is mounted on said cabinet frame with one of the retaining flanges thereof engaging said cabinet frame notch and the other of the retaining flange thereof engaging an outermost side of the cabinet frame front wall.

22. A refrigerator door assembly mountable in an opening of a refrigerator cabinet comprising a door mounting cabinet frame having a front wall positionable against said cabinet adjacent said opening, at least one insulated glass door mounted in said cabinet frame, said insulated glass door including a glass unit made of a plurality of glass planes disposed in side by side relation with an air space therebetween, a door frame surrounding and supporting the periphery of said glass unit, said door frame having a front wall for retaining a front side of said glass unit, a first trim panel detachably mounted on said door frame in overlaying relation to the front wall thereof, a second trim panel detachably mounted on said cabinet frame in overlying relation to the front wall thereof, said trim panels each having inwardly directed retaining flanges at opposed ends thereof for releasble engagement with the respective door and cabinet frame, said retaining flanges being disposed in planes parallel to the glass panes of said glass unit, said cabinet frame having a web portion extending rearwardly of the front wall thereof into said cabinet opening and a rear wall extending inwardly into the cabinet opening from said web portion for defining a stop surface for said door, and said cabinet frame web portion being formed with a notch for receiving one of the retaining flanges of the trim panel mounted thereon.

23. A refrigerator door assembly mountable in an opening of a refrigerator cabinet comprising a door mounting cabinet frame having a front wall positionable against said cabinet adjacent said opening, at least one insulated glass door mounted insaid cabinet frame, said insulated glass door including a glass unit made of a plurality of glass planes disposed in side by side relation with an air space therebetween, a door frame surrounding and supporting the periphery of said glass unit, said door frame having a front wall for retaining a front side of said glass unit, a first trim panel detachably mounted on said door frame in overlying relation to the front wall thereof, a second trim panel detachably mounted on said cabinet frame in overlying relation to the front wall thereof, said trim panels each having an outwardly curved contour which defines a dead air space between the trim panel and the front wall of the respective door and cabinet frame and inwardly extending retaining flanges at opposed ends thereof for releasable engagement with the respective door and cabinet frame, and said trim panels each having an integrally formed rearwardly extending reinforcing wall disposed in abutting relation to the front wall of the respective door and cabinet frame.

24. An insulated door for mounting in a abinet frame comprising a glass unit made of a plurality of galss planes disposed in side by side relation with an air space therebetween, a door frame surrounding and supporting the periphery of said glass unit, said door frame having a front wall for retaining a front side of said glass unit, means for retaining a rear side of said glass unit in said door frame, a trim panel detachably mounted on said door frame in overlying relation to said front wall for providing the desired finished appearance of said door when viewed from a front side thereof, said trim panel having an outwardly curved contour which defines a dead air space between the trim panel and the front wall of the door frame, said trim panel having inwardly extending retaining flanges at opposed ends thereof for releasable engagement with said door frame, said door frame including an end wall extending rearwardly of said front wall, said door frame being formed with a notch at the approximate juncture of said front and end walls, and said trim panel being mounted on said door frame with one of said retaining flanges engaging said door frame notch and the other of said retaining flanges engaging an innermost side of said door frame front wall.

25. A refrigerator door frame assembly mountable in an opening of a refrigerator cabinet for supporting a plurality of insulated glass doors each having a glass unit made up of a plurality of glass panes disposed in side by side relation with an air space therebetween comprising a metallic structural frame member, said frame member having a web portion positionable along the periphery of said cabinet opening and a front wall positionable against said cabinet adjacent said opening, a trim panel detachable mountable on said frame member in overlying relation to said front wall for providing the desired finished appearance of said frame assembly when viewed from a front side thereof, said trim panel having inwardly extending retaining flanges at opposed ends thereof for releasable engagement with said frame member, and said trim panel having an outwardly curve contour which defines a dead air space between the trim panel and the front wall of said frame member and an integrally formed rearwardly extending reinforcing wall disposed in abutting relation to the front wall of said frame member.

26. A refrigerator door frame assembly mountable in an opening of a refrigerator cabinet for supporting a plurality of insulated glass doors each having a glass unit made up of a plurality of glass panes disposed in side by side relation with an air space therebetween comprising a metallic structural frame member, said frame member having a web portion positionable along the periphery of said cabinet opening and a front wall positionable against said cabinet adjacent said opening, a trim panel detachably mountable on said frame member in overlying relation to said front wall for providing the desired finished appearance of said frame assembly when viewed from a front side thereof, said trim panel having a inwardly extending retaining flanges at opposed ends thereof for releasable engagement with said frame member, and said frame member web portion being formed with a notch for receiving one of said trim panel retaining flanges.