FLEXIBLE PASSTHROUGH INSULATION FOR VIS
20210381752 · 2021-12-09
Assignee
Inventors
- Giulia Marinello (St. Joseph, MI, US)
- Rafael D. Nunes (St. Joseph, MI, US)
- Sanjesh Kumar Pathak (Stevensville, MI, US)
- Manoj T. Sambrekar (Maharashtra, IN)
- Arpit Vijay (Rajasthan, IN)
Cpc classification
F25D2201/1262
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
F25D2201/14
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
F25D23/08
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
F25D23/061
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
International classification
Abstract
A refrigerator includes an insulated cabinet having a sidewall with a passthrough opening through the sidewall. A resilient insulating member is disposed in the passthrough opening. The resilient insulating member includes flaps that form an airtight seal between the resilient insulating member and the passthrough opening. At least one utility line extends through an aperture in the resilient insulating member. The utility line may comprise fluid conduit, electrical line, or the like that operably connect one or more components through the sidewall of the cabinet.
Claims
1. A refrigerator comprising: a vacuum insulated cabinet having a food storage space and an enlarged access opening permitting items to be placed in the food storage space and removed from the food storage space, the vacuum insulated cabinet including a sidewall having an inner liner on an inner side, an outer wrapper on an outer side, and a transverse wall extending between the inner and outer sides to form a passthrough opening, the transverse wall having a transverse passthrough surface extending around and facing the passthrough opening, wherein the inner liner, the outer liner, and the transverse wall form an airtight vacuum space; porous filler material disposed in the airtight vacuum space; a resilient insulating member comprising a resilient material, wherein the resilient insulating member is disposed in the passthrough opening, the resilient insulating member including a plurality of outwardly-projecting flexible flaps engaging the transverse passthrough surface of the passthrough opening and forming an airtight seal between the resilient insulating member and the transverse passthrough surface of the passthrough opening, the resilient insulating member further including an aperture extending through the resilient insulating member; an evaporator assembly disposed inside of the sidewall; a condenser assembly disposed outside of the sidewall; at least one conduit having an inner end fluidly connected to the evaporator assembly and extending through the aperture of the resilient insulating member, the fluid conduit having an outer end fluidly connected to the condenser assembly.
2. The refrigerator of claim 1, wherein: the outwardly-projecting flexible flaps have a base, a tip, and a central portion between the base and the tip, wherein a thickness of the outwardly-projecting flexible flaps at the central portions of the outwardly-projecting flexible flaps is less than a length of the outwardly-projecting flexible flaps.
3. The refrigerator of claim 2, wherein: the outwardly-projecting flexible flaps are substantially continuous and extend around the resilient insulating member in an annular manner, and wherein the outwardly-projecting flaps are spaced apart and form a plurality of annular grooves therebetween.
4. The refrigerator of claim 3, wherein: the outwardly-projecting flexible flaps have a substantially uniform cross-sectional shape.
5. The refrigerator of claim 2, wherein: at least two of the outwardly-projecting flexible flaps have substantially identical shapes and sizes.
6. The refrigerator of claim 1, wherein: the outwardly-projecting flexible flaps form a plurality of annular grooves therebetween having base surfaces that are spaced apart from the transverse passthrough surface to form a plurality of annular spaces.
7. The refrigerator of claim 1, wherein: the resilient insulating member comprises a PVC material having a durometer of about 60 to about 70.
8. The refrigerator of claim 1, wherein: the transverse passthrough surface of the passthrough opening includes a first portion having a first dimension, a second portion having a second dimension, and an annular step surface extending between the first and second portions; and the resilient insulating member includes a first portion including a first plurality of outwardly-projecting flexible flaps engaging the first portion of the passthrough surface, and a second portion including a second plurality of outwardly-projecting flexible flaps engaging the second portion of the passthrough surface.
9. The refrigerator of claim 8, wherein: the resilient insulating member includes a step surface extending between the first and second portions of the resilient insulating member, wherein the step surface of the resilient insulating member engages the annular step surface of the passthrough surface of the passthrough opening.
10. The refrigerator of claim 1, wherein: the aperture through the resilient insulating member comprises a first aperture, the resilient insulating member including a second aperture extending through the resilient insulating member; and including: a drain tube extending through the second aperture.
11. The refrigerator of claim 1, wherein: the transverse passthrough surface extending around the passthrough opening is oblong.
12. A refrigerator comprising: a vacuum insulated cabinet having a food storage space and an enlarged access opening permitting items to be placed in the food storage space and removed from the food storage space, the vacuum insulated cabinet including a sidewall having inner and outer sides, and a passthrough surface that is transverse to the inner and outer sides and forming a passthrough opening extending between the inner and outer sides; a resilient insulating member comprising a resilient material, wherein the resilient insulating member is disposed in the passthrough opening, the resilient insulating member including a plurality of outwardly-projecting annular flexible flaps having a first shape when no force is applied to the outwardly-projecting annular flexible flaps prior to installation of the resilient insulating member in the passthrough opening, the outwardly-projecting annular flexible flaps extending completely around an outside of the resilient insulating member and flexing into a second shape and engaging the passthrough surface of the passthrough opening and forming an airtight seal between the resilient insulating member and the passthrough surface of the passthrough opening when the resilient insulating member is installed in the passthrough opening, the resilient insulating member further including an aperture extending through the resilient insulating member; an evaporator assembly disposed inside of the sidewall; a condenser assembly disposed outside of the sidewall; and at least one conduit having an inner end fluidly connected to the evaporator assembly and extending through the aperture of the resilient insulating member, the fluid conduit having an outer end fluidly connected to the condenser assembly.
13. The refrigerator of claim 12, wherein: the passthrough surface is substantially rigid.
14. The refrigerator of claim 13, wherein: the sidewall includes a wrapper and a liner that are spaced-apart to form a vacuum space therebetween, and a transverse wall extending between the wrapper and the liner and being sealed with the wrapper and the liner, wherein the passthrough surface comprises a first side of the transverse wall, the transverse wall having a second side opposite the first side and facing the vacuum space.
15. The refrigerator of claim 14, including: porous filler material disposed in the vacuum space.
16. The refrigerator of claim 12, wherein: the outwardly-projecting flexible flaps have a length and a central portion having a thickness, wherein the thickness of the central portion is less than the length.
17. The refrigerator of claim 16, wherein: the flexible flaps have a substantially uniform cross-sectional shape.
18. The refrigerator of claim 12, wherein: the aperture through the resilient insulating member comprises a first aperture, the resilient insulating member including a second aperture extending through the resilient insulating member; and including: a drain tube extending through the second aperture.
19. The refrigerator of claim 12, wherein: the passthrough surface extending around the passthrough opening is oblong.
20. The refrigerator of claim 12, wherein: the passthrough surface of the passthrough opening includes a first portion having a first dimension, a second portion having a second dimension, and an annular step surface extending between the first and second portions.
Description
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0007] In the drawings:
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[0018] The components in the figures are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon illustrating the principles described herein.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0019] The present illustrated embodiments reside primarily in combinations of method steps and apparatus components related to an insulated refrigerator structure. Accordingly, the apparatus components and method steps have been represented, where appropriate, by conventional symbols in the drawings, showing only those specific details that are pertinent to understanding the embodiments of the present disclosure so as not to obscure the disclosure with details that will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of the description herein. Further, like numerals in the description and drawings represent like elements.
[0020] For purposes of description herein, the terms “upper,” “lower,” “right,” “left,” “rear,” “front,” “vertical,” “horizontal,” and derivatives thereof shall relate to the disclosure as oriented in
[0021] The terms “including,” “comprises,” “comprising,” or any other variation thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements does not include only those elements but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus. An element proceeded by “comprises a . . . ” does not, without more constraints, preclude the existence of additional identical elements in the process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises the element.
[0022] With reference to
[0023] With further reference to
[0024] The refrigerator 1 further includes a resilient insulating member 20 (
[0025] When assembled, refrigerator 1 further includes an evaporator assembly 23 (
[0026] With reference to
[0027] First portion 33 of body 32 includes one or more flexible flaps 22A, and second portion 34 of body 32 includes a plurality of flexible flaps 22B. Flaps 22A and 22B are preferably formed integrally with the body 32 and extend around a periphery of body 32. Flaps 22A and 22B deform elastically when resilient insulating member 20 is positioned in passthrough opening 12 due to engagement of flaps 22A and 22B with passthrough surface 13 to thereby form an airtight seal between resilient insulating member 20 and passthrough opening 12 of vacuum insulated cabinet 2. When resilient insulating member 20 is installed (
[0028] With reference to
[0029] With reference to
[0030] Referring again to
[0031] With further reference to
[0032] With reference to
[0033] During assembly, the fluid conduit 28 and foam insulation sleeve 57 may be first inserted into aperture 25 through opening 58 of pull sleeve 50. Force “P1” and “P2” may be applied to tabs 55 while an axial force “F” is applied to conduit 28. The fluid conduit 28 may be positioned in the opening 58 of pull sleeve 50 before or after the resilient insulating member 20 is positioned in passthrough opening 12, the fluid conduit 28 is preferably positioned in opening 58 of pull sleeve 50 before resilient insulating member 20 is positioned in passthrough opening 12. During assembly, the second fluid conduit 30 is positioned in aperture 26 (
[0034] During assembly, electrical lines 61 are positioned in wire grommet 60 by opening the wire grommet 60 along cut 65 as described above, and the wire grommet 60 is then positioned in aperture 27 by opening resilient insulating member 20 along cut 66 (
[0035] With reference to
[0036] It will be understood by one having ordinary skill in the art that construction of the described disclosure and other components is not limited to any specific material. Other exemplary embodiments of the disclosure disclosed herein may be formed from a wide variety of materials, unless described otherwise herein.
[0037] For purposes of this disclosure, the term “coupled” (in all of its forms, couple, coupling, coupled, etc.) generally means the joining of two components (electrical or mechanical) directly or indirectly to one another. Such joining may be stationary in nature or movable in nature. Such joining may be achieved with the two components (electrical or mechanical) and any additional intermediate members being integrally formed as a single unitary body with one another or with the two components. Such joining may be permanent in nature or may be removable or releasable in nature unless otherwise stated.
[0038] It is also important to note that the construction and arrangement of the elements of the disclosure as shown in the exemplary embodiments is illustrative only. Although only a few embodiments of the present innovations have been described in detail in this disclosure, those skilled in the art who review this disclosure will readily appreciate that many modifications are possible (e.g., variations in sizes, dimensions, structures, shapes and proportions of the various elements, values of parameters, mounting arrangements, use of materials, colors, orientations, etc.) without materially departing from the novel teachings and advantages of the subject matter recited. For example, elements shown as integrally formed may be constructed of multiple parts or elements shown as multiple parts may be integrally formed, the operation of the interfaces may be reversed or otherwise varied, the length or width of the structures and/or members or connector or other elements of the system may be varied, the nature or number of adjustment positions provided between the elements may be varied. It should be noted that the elements and/or assemblies of the system may be constructed from any of a wide variety of materials that provide sufficient strength or durability, in any of a wide variety of colors, textures, and combinations. Accordingly, all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of the present innovations. Other substitutions, modifications, changes, and omissions may be made in the design, operating conditions, and arrangement of the desired and other exemplary embodiments without departing from the spirit of the present innovations.
[0039] It will be understood that any described processes or steps within described processes may be combined with other disclosed processes or steps to form structures within the scope of the present disclosure. The exemplary structures and processes disclosed herein are for illustrative purposes and are not to be construed as limiting.