General Electric Company

Mark A Dilk

David S Perry

Roy T Toutant

Michael A Brennan

James E Kreko

A refrigerator cabinet has a front flange, which as a gasket on its door seal thereagainst when the door is closed, formed by a plurality of longitudinally spaced sets of rollers of a roll forming machine so that the front flange is at a specific angular relation to a top wall of the refrigerator cabinet when the roll formed part is fabricated into a portion of the refrigerator cabinet. The angular relationship of the flange and the top wall of the refrigerator cabinet is determined at a first fabrication station of a roll formed part, which forms a portion of the refrigerator cabinet after fabrication, by two linear variable differential transformers engaging each of the two adjacent surfaces of the roll formed part that will constitute the front flange and the top wall of the refrigerator cabinet and transmitting signals indicating the angle therebetween to a personal computer. If the measured angle does not fall within a predetermined range, a roller of the last set of rollers of the roll forming machine is adjusted through a motor controller while production continues. This adjustment is accomplished by the motor controller sending a signal to an adjustment motor, which turns a screw to vary the position of a roller of the last set of forming rollers of the roll forming machine. The amount of movement of the adjusted roller is measured by an electronic gage with a data system recording the actual amount of adjustment.

Growing community of inventors

Louisville, KY, United States of America

Mark A Dilk