Whirlpool Corporation

John P Keil

George W Sisk

Glenn E Katterhenry

John T Woods

Shelby A Lynn

Raymond G Simons

Walter H Schentrup

An anti-pinch hinge assembly includes a hinge butt mounted to a refrigerator cabinet and having a generally planar section extending perpendicular to and outwardly from the cabinet. A planar hinge leaf is mounted to a cabinet door and is disposed in parallel relation with the hinge butt planar section. A pivot pin is included for pivotally mounting the hinge butt and hinge leaf to one another about a pivot axis disposed perpendicular to the hinge leaf and defining a gap between the hinge butt and the hinge leaf when the door is pivotally moved about, the axis. A gap cover is pivotally mounted to the pivot pin and is disposed between the hinge butt and the hinge leaf to cover the gap when the door is pivotally moved about the axis.

Refrigerator door hinge assembly

A rigid crossover tube is provided to bridge from a refrigerator door to a refrigerator cabinet and to serve as a guide and protective cover for a water and/or electrical conductors connected to a door mounted ice and water dispensing apparatus. A fitting is provided in the bottom surface of the door. The tube is held in the fitting and is permitted to pivot relative thereto. The tube enters the cabinet through an opening in the base of the cabinet and is slidable therein responsive to pivotal movement of the tube when the door is opened or closed.

Refrigerator cabinet and door construction

A resinous plastic breaker strip for a built-in refrigerator/freezer provides a substantially seamless front face therefor. The breaker strip includes a front portion defining a front face and a rearwardly extending sidewall portion fitted to the liner. A number of spacers partially secure a liner to a rigid frame that extends around the door openings. In-situ formed urethane foam provides the remainder of the rigidity and strength to the cabinet. The breaker strip front portion is spaced forwardly of the frame member. An elongated magnet is disposed between the breaker strip and the frame to magnetically attract the door gasket magnet. In a preferred embodiment an odd number of alternating magnet poles are aligned with the axis of elongation of the magnets and the poles of the stationary cabinet magnet are opposite those of the door gasket magnet. The seamless breaker strip provides a non-metallic door sealing surface which reduces heat transfer and condensation on the outer front face of the cabinet.

Breaker strip for a refrigerator cabinet

Conventional refrigerator/freezer cabinets are provided with an outer shell having fixed dimensions determined according to total width of inner liners, and thus storage capacity, of the cabinet. For a manufacturer assembling cabinets of varying capacity, it is therefore necessary to stock many different size outer shells. However, to minimize costs it is desirable to use standard parts with any size cabinets. Accordingly, a cabinet construction is disclosed adaptable to provide a plurality of different cabinet widths with one size outer shell section. Each cabinet includes a pair of outer shell sections with each section including a back wall having an inner forwardly turned flange and an inwardly extending end portion. The end portions of the two sections overlap a selected amount determined according to the width of the liners. The end portions are then spot welded to one another.

Growing community of inventors

Ohio Township, IN, United States of America

John P Keil