Insulated refrigerator door assembly with substantially all glass front doors
First Claim
1. A refrigerator door assembly comprisinga metal cabinet frame for mounting in an opening of a refrigerator cabinet,an insulated glass door mounted for pivotal movement relative to said cabinet frame,said door including a glass unit having a plurality of glass panes disposed in side-by-side relation including a forward glass pane and a rear glass pane, a spacer interposed between adjacent panes for maintaining said panes in parallel relation with an air space therebetween, and means sealing said air space from the outside environment;
- an outer metal frame about the periphery of said glass unit for supporting the weight of said glass unit;
said metal frame having a forward perimeter portion in the plane of said forward glass pane disposed in outwardly spaced relation to the peripheral edge of said forward glass pane, said forward perimeter portion does not extend in front of said forward glass pane, thus for defining a forwardly opening space about the peripheral edge of said forward glass pane; and
a moulding disposed within said space between said forward frame perimeter portion and the peripheral edge of said forward glass pane, said molding having a forward end extending over a front side of said frame perimeter portion and a front side of said forward glass pane for bridging and covering the space therebetween.
11 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A multi-pane insulated glass door assembly in which the forward pane of the glass unit extends outwardly a greater than the panes rearwardly thereof and is supported by an outer metal frame having a relatively narrow forwardly extending perimeter portion adjacent the peripheral edge of the forward glass pane so as to provide the door with a modernistic, substantially all glass front appearance. In the illustrated embodiment, the outer metal frame has a rear portion extending inwardly behind the forward glass pane and a moulding is interposed between the forwardly extending perimeter portion of the metal frame and the peripheral edge of the forward glass pane to provide a finished appearance. A dark ink is affixed to an inside peripheral face of the forward glass pane for masking the peripheral components of the door assembly from sight through the forward glass pane from the front side thereof.
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Citations
33 Claims
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1. A refrigerator door assembly comprising
a metal cabinet frame for mounting in an opening of a refrigerator cabinet, an insulated glass door mounted for pivotal movement relative to said cabinet frame, said door including a glass unit having a plurality of glass panes disposed in side-by-side relation including a forward glass pane and a rear glass pane, a spacer interposed between adjacent panes for maintaining said panes in parallel relation with an air space therebetween, and means sealing said air space from the outside environment; -
an outer metal frame about the periphery of said glass unit for supporting the weight of said glass unit; said metal frame having a forward perimeter portion in the plane of said forward glass pane disposed in outwardly spaced relation to the peripheral edge of said forward glass pane, said forward perimeter portion does not extend in front of said forward glass pane, thus for defining a forwardly opening space about the peripheral edge of said forward glass pane; and a moulding disposed within said space between said forward frame perimeter portion and the peripheral edge of said forward glass pane, said molding having a forward end extending over a front side of said frame perimeter portion and a front side of said forward glass pane for bridging and covering the space therebetween. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. The refrigerator door assembly comprising
a metal cabinet frame for mounting in an opening of a refrigerator cabinet, an insulated glass door mounted for pivotal movement relative to said cabinet frame said door including a glass unit having a plurality of glass panes disposed in side-by-side relation including a forward glass pane and a rear glass pane, a spacer interposed between adjacent panes for maintaining said panes in parallel relation with an air space therebetween, and means sealing said air space from the outside environment; -
an outer metal frame about the periphery of said glass unit for supporting the weight of said glass unit; and said metal frame including a unitary metallic frame member having a forward perimeter portion substantially in the plane of said forward glass pane disposed in outwardly spaced relation to the peripheral edge of said forward glass pane, said forward perimeter portion does not extend in front of said forward glass pane, thus defining a forwardly opening space about the outer peripheral edge of said forward glass pane and a rear portion extending inwardly behind said forward glass pane and rearwardly to a location in outwardly adjacent relation to the peripheral edge of said rear pane, and a moulding disposed within said space between said forward frame perimeter portion and the peripheral edge of said forward glass pane. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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24. The refrigerator door assembly comprising
a metal cabinet frame for mounting in an opening of a refrigerator cabinet, an insulated glass door mounted for pivotal movement relative to said cabinet frame said door including a glass unit having a plurality of glass panes disposed in side-by-side relation including a forward glass pane and a rear glass pane, a spacer interposed between adjacent panes for maintaining said panes in parallel relation with an air space therebetween; -
an outer metal frame about the periphery of said glass unit for supporting the weight of said glass unit; adhesive means securing said glass unit within said metal frame; said forward glass pane extending substantially to the outer perimeter of said door; and said metal frame having a forward perimeter portion substantially in the plane of said forward glass pane, said forward perimeter portion does not extend in front of said forward glass pane; masking means on an inside face of said forward glass pane about the periphery thereof for preventing viewing of said adhesive and spacer through said forward glass pane from a front side thereof while permitting unobstructed viewing of the interior of the refrigerator cabinet within which said door assembly is mounted. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26, 27)
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28. The refrigerator door assembly comprising a metal cabinet frame for mounting in an opening of a refrigerator cabinet, an insulated glass door mounted for movement relative to said cabinet frame, said glass door comprising an insulated glass unit having a plurality of glass panes disposed in side-by-side relation and including a forward pane and a rear pane, a metal spacer interposed between adjacent panes for maintaining said panes in parallel relation with an air space therebetween, an outer metal door frame about the periphery of said glass unit for supporting the weight of said glass unit, means securing said glass unit within said metal door frame, said forward glass pane being of larger size and having a portion extending outwardly a greater distance than said rear pane,
said metal frame having a forward perimeter portion substantially int he plane of said forward glass pane, said forward perimeter portion does not extend in front of said forward glass pane; - and masking means on an inside face of said forward glass pane about the periphery thereof for preventing viewing of said securing means and spacer through said forward glass pane from a front side thereof while permitting unobstructed viewing of the interior of the refrigerator cabinet within which said door assembly is mounted.
- View Dependent Claims (29, 30, 31, 32, 33)
Specification