HOUSEHOLD APPLIANCE AND METHOD OF ASSEMBLING HOUSING PARTS OF THE HOUSEHOLD APPLIANCE

Abstract

A household appliance includes at least one compartment and a housing connection arrangement which surrounds the compartment and includes an outer liner facing outside, an inner liner spaced apart from the outer liner, and a housing frame connected to the outer liner from one side and to the inner liner facing the compartment from the other side. At least one elastic member is provided on a region of the housing connection arrangement where the housing frame connects to the outer liner. At least one reinforcement member is provided adjacent to the outer liner, the housing frame and the elastic member. The reinforcement member includes a first connection lug which is at least partially received by a portion of the elastic member from one side, and a second connection lug configured to be connected to the outer liner with a connection member, from the other side.

Claims

1. A household appliance, comprising: at least one compartment; and a housing connection arrangement surrounding said at least one compartment, said housing connection arrangement including: an outer liner facing outside the household appliance, an inner liner spaced apart from said outer liner and facing said at least one compartment, a housing frame having one side connected to said outer liner and another side connected to said inner liner, a region having a connection of said housing frame to said outer liner, at least one elastic member provided on said region of said housing connection arrangement, and at least one reinforcement member provided adjacent to said outer liner, said housing frame and said elastic member, said at least one reinforcement member including a first connection lug being at least partially received by a portion of said elastic member from one side, and a second connection lug having a connection member configured to be connected to said outer liner from another side.

2. The household appliance according to claim 1, wherein said connection member is a connection hole provided in said reinforcement member for combining said outer liner with said reinforcement member from outside of the household appliance.

3. The household appliance according to claim 1, wherein said elastic member is made from a thermoplastic material.

4. The household appliance according to claim 1, wherein said reinforcement member is made of a steel material.

5. The household appliance according to claim 1, wherein said elastic member has a receiving channel at least partially receiving said first connection lug in a loose manner.

6. The household appliance according to claim 5, wherein said channel has a monolithic structure with said elastic member.

7. The household appliance according to claim 1, wherein said reinforcement member has at least one cutout providing a free area for insulation material to be filled in.

8. The household appliance according to claim 1, which further comprises a bent part extending from said reinforcement member towards said housing frame for being filled with insulation material.

9. The household appliance according to claim 1, wherein said first and second connection lugs have a monolithic structure with said reinforcement member.

10. The household appliance according to claim 1, wherein said connection member of said second connection lug is a connection hole for assembling the household appliance.

11. The household appliance according to claim 1, wherein said first and second connection lugs extend parallel to each other.

12. The household appliance according to claim 1, wherein said first and second connection lugs extend in mutually opposite directions.

13. The household appliance according to claim 1, wherein said reinforcement member is shrink-fitted to said elastic member.

14. The household appliance according to claim 1, wherein the household appliance is a cooling device or a refrigerator.

15. A method of assembling housing parts of a household appliance, the method comprising: combining an elastic member with a housing frame by inserting the housing frame into a channel provided on a first side of the elastic member; combining a reinforcement member with the elastic member by inserting a first connection lug of the reinforcement member into a channel provided on a second side of the elastic member opposite to the first side; and combining an outer liner with the reinforcement member by using a connection hole on the second connection lug from outside of the appliance.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

[0037] FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic, perspective view of the cooling device according to the invention;

[0038] FIG. 2 is an enlarged, fragmentary, cross-sectional view of a region of a cooling device where the housing frame, reinforcement member and elastic member is provided;

[0039] FIG. 3 is another enlarged, fragmentary, cross-sectional view of a region of a cooling device where the housing frame, inner liner, outer liner, reinforcement member and elastic member is provided;

[0040] FIG. 4 is a further enlarged, fragmentary, cross-sectional view of a region of a cooling device where the elastic member is assembled to the housing frame;

[0041] FIG. 5 is yet another enlarged, fragmentary, cross-sectional view of a region of a cooling device where the reinforcement member and the housing frame with elastic member is provided; and

[0042] FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the reinforcement member.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0043] In this detailed description, the subject matter is explained with references to examples without forming any restrictive effect, only in order to make the subject more understandable.

[0044] Referring now to the figures of the drawings in detail and first, particularly, to FIG. 1 thereof, it is seen that the present invention relates to a cooling device having a non-illustrated storage chamber in a non-illustrated body of the cooling device. The storage chamber includes a compartment C which is defined by inner and outer liners 2, 1 and a non-illustrated rear panel. At least one non-illustrated door for opening and closing the storage chamber is disposed in front of the storage chamber. A housing frame 3 is provided for mounting the door. During the assembly of all of these housing parts to produce a household appliance A, additional support members are required which are an elastic member 4 and a reinforcement member 5, as can be seen from FIGS. 2-6.

[0045] With reference to FIGS. 2 and 4, it is seen that the elastic member 4 is firstly assembled to the housing frame 3. The elastic member 4 has at least two channels 8 facing in opposite directions relative to each other for being connected to the outer liner 1 from one side and to the housing frame 3 from the other side. Hence, the assembly of the outer liner 1 and the housing frame 3 is achieved by using the channels 8 provided on the elastic member 4. The elastic member 4 can be made from thermoplastic material, such as recycled polystyrene. This material increases the elasticity of the assembly part during the mounting process and also increases the durability of the household appliance A. The channel 8 also has a monolithic structure with the elastic member 4 and is produced by molding.

[0046] Then, the reinforcement member 5 is combined with the elastic member 4, which can be seen from FIGS. 2, 3 and 5, preferably by shrink fitting. The reinforcement member 5 includes at least one first connection lug 6 and at least one second connection lug 7 provided thereon, as seen in FIG. 6. The first connection lug 6 extends from the reinforcement member 5 towards to the elastic member 4 and is significantly parallel to the outer liner 1 and the elastic member 4 in order to be combined with the channel 8 on the elastic member 4 in a loose manner. Similarly, the second connection lug 7, which has a connection hole 9 therein, also extends from the reinforcement member 5 towards to the outer liner 1 in an opposite direction to the first connection lug 6 and is significantly parallel to the outer liner 1 and the elastic member 4 for connecting with the outer liner 1. The reinforcement member 5 is made of a steel material, preferably a stainless steel material to increasing the rigidity of the appliance A. Additionally, the first and second connection lugs 6,7 have a monolithic structure with the reinforcement member 5 and are formed by cutting and bending the relative part of the reinforcement member 5.

[0047] For the purpose of further improving durability, it is proposed that the reinforcement member 5 has the connection holes 9 provided on the second connection lug 7. The connection holes 9 are provided on the reinforcement member 5 for assembling the outer liner 1 to the reinforcement member 5 by providing a rivet connection which can be applied from outside of the appliance A by operators.

[0048] With reference to FIGS. 5 and 6, it is seen that a bent part 11 extends from the reinforcement member 5. The bent part 11 creates extra space and is filled with insulation material to provide heat insulation for the household appliance A, especially for cooking devices.

[0049] As can be seen from FIG. 6, the reinforcement member 5 has at least one cutout 10 around each of the first and second connection lugs 6,7, which is produced by bending the lugs 6,7. These cutouts 10 provide space for insulation material to be filled in.

[0050] The following is a summary list of reference numerals and the corresponding structure used in the above description of the invention: [0051] A Household appliance [0052] C Compartment [0053] 100 Housing connection arrangement [0054] 1 Outer liner [0055] 2 Inner liner [0056] 3 Housing frame [0057] 4 Elastic member [0058] 5 Reinforcement member [0059] 6 First connection lug [0060] 7 Second connection lug [0061] 8 Channel [0062] 9 Connection hole [0063] 10 Cut out [0064] 11 Bent part