General Electric Company

Michael Joseph McCauley

David G Beers

Bruce L Ruark

Jerry C Martin

Duane Jubenville

Joseph Murphy Miller

Richard L Shaner

Phillip D Baker

John Joseph Domagala

Robert L Werkmeister

Dennis Paul Matz

Michael Stephen Csernik

Mark Walter Steiner

Gerald Lee Mitchell

John P Raymond

Gordon Turner Walker

Charles William Nelson

A refreshment center having a modular construction and including a mini door and a frame is described. The mini door is fabricated and assembled separate from the frame, and the mini door includes a hinge system and a trigger. The mini door provides quick and convenient access to the refreshment center by being simple and easy to open and close. The frame, in an exemplary embodiment, is a one piece plastic molded part which serves as the main structural member of the assembly. The frame includes first and second spaced apart planar members, and further includes a keeper slot and a keeper for being inserted within the slot. The keeper extends from the slot and at least partially through a keeper slot in the door trim. The frame further includes a switch cavity for housing at least a portion of a switch assembly. A switch bracket is provided to be secured over the switch cavity and is engaged to the frame by a screw. The mini door is secured to the frame by a hinge system which includes a hinge arm which extends between, and is secured to, the mini door and the frame. More specifically, at the frame, the hinge arm is secured to a slide located between the frame first and second planar members. Hinge pins are secured to the mini door outer door member and extend from the outer door member and through the bushings of pivot slides. The pivot slides are secured to the frame by retainers, and springs are provided to maintain the pivot slides in position within the retainer. The switch assembly includes a switch having a switch actuator arm. Wires extend from the switch to a harness which mates with a receptacle. The receptacle is in electric circuit with a light in the fresh food compartment. The light used to illuminate the refreshment center can be one of the existing lights used in current side-by-side refrigerators since the inner cover is transparent.

Modular refreshment center for refrigerator fresh food compartment

A storage module assembly for a refrigerator door having an outer shell and an inner liner, including a rear wall and side walls forming a recess in the liner. Each side walls has a series of vertically spaced apart ribs aligned with corresponding ribs on the facing side wall. The ribs extend outwardly from the liner bottom wall and each rib has a horizontal top wall with an upwardly projecting tab adjacent its distal end. The bottom wall of each rib has a short horizontal portion adjacent the liner rear wall and an upwardly inclined portion adjacent its distal end. The module includes side walls positionable adjacent the liner side walls. A pair of vertically spaced apart, generally horizontally extending rails project outwardly of each module side wall and each rail defines a downwardly opening recess. The module is assembled to the door by sliding the module rails between vertically adjacent pairs of liner ribs until tabs are aligned with recesses and then lowering the module to insert the tabs into the recesses.

Refrigerator door module mounting assembly

A refrigerator cabinet has a valve controlling the amount of cooled air flowing from a cooling chamber having an evaporator to a fresh food compartment to control the ratio of the air flow from the cooling chamber to a freezer compartment and the fresh food compartment. The valve is retained in a predetermined position at the time of assembly by a duct cover, which is forward of an evaporator cover in the freezer compartment, having a frangible key on its front wall extend through an opening in a disc of the valve. If a user deems the freezer compartment too hot or too cold, a service person breaks the frangible key with pliers, for example, after removing the duct cover and rotates the valve to one of a plurality of selected positions to change the air flow. The dics has a plurality of notches in its periphery for cooperation with a second key on the front wall of the duct cover to hold the valve in its selected position. The spacing of the notches on the periphery is in accordance with various rates of air flow to the fresh food compartment.

Refrigerator cabinet having air flow control means

The present invention relates to a room air conditioning unit and is more specifically directed to the airflow control mechanism for adjusting the airflow through a vent generally associated with such units for permitting a flow of air between the air conditioned space and the outdoor air.

Air conditioner damper control

Growing community of inventors

Louisville, KY, United States of America

Michael Joseph McCauley