Freezers and refrigerators

Abstract

A cold storage device, notably a freezer configured to operate at a temperature which is ≤−30° C., includes a door seal which comprises a single piece door seal, the single piece door seal comprising i) a sealing portion configured to provide a seal between the door and the door frame when the door is in its closed position and ii) a thermal insulating portion which, when the door is in its closed position, extends at least partially between inner periphery of the door frame and the outer periphery of the door frame.

Claims

1. A cold storage device, comprising: a cold storage compartment; a door which is openable to provide access to the cold storage compartment and closable to isolate the cold storage compartment from the surroundings of the cold storage device; a door frame against which the door fits when the door is in its closed position, the door frame having an inner periphery adjacent to the cold storage compartment and an outer periphery adjacent to the exterior of the cold storage device; a door seal positioned between the door frame and the door when the door is in its closed position; and; a door handle and door latch mechanism configured to move the door from a partially closed to a fully closed position when closing the door and to retain the door in a fully closed position in which the door seal is compressed between the door and the door frame; wherein the door seal comprises a single piece door seal, the single piece door seal comprising i) a sealing portion configured to provide a seal between the door and the door frame when the door is in its closed position, the sealing portion of the door seal comprising a solid, resilient stop configured to completely fill a separation between the door and the door frame when the door is in its closed configuration, and ii) a thermal insulating portion which, when the door is in its closed position, extends at least partially between the inner periphery of the door frame and the outer periphery of the door frame; and wherein the thermal insulating portion is provided in the form of a core of the door seal; and the sealing portion is provided by a portion of a sleeve which surrounds an entire periphery of the core.

2. The cold storage device of claim 1, wherein the cold storage device is freezer compartment configured to operate at a temperature which is ≤−30° C.

3. The cold storage device of claim 1, wherein the solid resilient stop is configured to be compressed between the door and the door frame when the door is in its closed configuration.

4. The cold storage device of claim 1, wherein the sealing portion comprises an outer sealing portion configured, when the door is in its closed position, to provide a seal between the door and the door frame at a position adjacent to the outer periphery of the door frame and an inner sealing portion configured, when the door is in its closed position, to provide a seal between the door and the door frame at a position adjacent to the inner periphery of the door frame, and in which the thermal insulating portion is positioned between the inner sealing portion and the outer sealing portion.

5. The cold storage device of claim 1, wherein the thermal insulating portion comprises a foamed material and the sealing portion comprises a non-foamed material.

6. The cold storage device of claim 5, wherein the thermal insulating portion comprises a silicone rubber foam and the sealing portion comprises a silicone rubber.

7. The cold storage device of claim 1, wherein the core and the sleeve are coextruded.

8. The cold storage device of claim 1, wherein a separate adhesive is provided between a base of the core and a base of the sleeve.

9. The cold storage device of claim 1, wherein the sealing portion of the single piece door seal comprises a deformable lip configured to resiliently deform to contribute to provision of a seal when the door is moved from its open position to its closed position.

10. The cold storage device of claim 1, wherein the cold storage device is selected from a freezer, a medical freezer, a refrigerator and a medical refrigerator.

11. A cold storage device, comprising: a cold storage compartment; a door which is openable to provide access to the cold storage compartment and closable to isolate the cold storage compartment from the surroundings of the cold storage device; a door frame against which the door fits when the door is in its closed position, the door frame having an inner periphery adjacent to the cold storage compartment and an outer periphery adjacent to the exterior of the cold storage device; a door seal positioned between the door frame and the door when the door is in its closed position; and; a door handle and door latch mechanism configured to move the door from a partially closed to a fully closed position when closing the door and to retain the door in a fully closed position in which the door seal is compressed between the door and the door frame; wherein the door seal comprises a single piece door seal, the single piece door seal comprising i) a sealing portion configured to provide a seal between the door and the door frame when the door is in its closed position, the sealing portion of the door seal comprising a solid, resilient stop configured to completely fill a separation between the door and the door frame when the door is in its closed configuration, and ii) a thermal insulating portion which, when the door is in its closed position, extends at least partially between the inner periphery of the door frame and the outer periphery of the door frame; The cold storage device of claim 1, wherein the door seal is attached to a door seal support and the single piece door seal comprises a resilient door seal support lip configured to contribute to providing a seal between the door seal and a door seal support; and; wherein the door seal support lip comprises a portion which wraps around an edge of the door seal support.

12. The cold storage device of claim 11, wherein the cold storage device is freezer compartment configured to operate at a temperature which is ≤−30° C.

13. The cold storage device of claim 11, wherein the solid resilient stop is configured to be compressed between the door and the door frame when the door is in its closed configuration, and wherein the sealing portion comprises an outer sealing portion configured, when the door is in its closed position, to provide a seal between the door and the door frame at a position adjacent to the outer periphery of the door frame and an inner sealing portion configured, when the door is in its closed position, to provide a seal between the door and the door frame at a position adjacent to the inner periphery of the door frame, and in which the thermal insulating portion is positioned between the inner sealing portion and the outer sealing portion.

14. The cold storage device of claim 11, wherein the thermal insulating portion comprises a foamed material and the sealing portion comprises a non-foamed material.

15. The cold storage device of claim 11, wherein the thermal insulating portion is provided in the form of a core of the door seal; and the sealing portion is provided by a portion of a sleeve which surrounds an entire periphery of the core.

16. A cold storage device, comprising: a cold storage compartment; a door which is openable to provide access to the cold storage compartment and closable to isolate the cold storage compartment from the surroundings of the cold storage device; a door frame against which the door fits when the door is in its closed position, the door frame having an inner periphery adjacent to the cold storage compartment and an outer periphery adjacent to the exterior of the cold storage device; a door seal positioned between the door frame and the door when the door is in its closed position; and; a door handle and door latch mechanism configured to move the door from a partially closed to a fully closed position when closing the door and to retain the door in a fully closed position in which the door seal is compressed between the door and the door frame; wherein the door seal comprises a single piece door seal, the single piece door seal comprising i) a sealing portion configured to provide a seal between the door and the door frame when the door is in its closed position, the sealing portion of the door seal comprising a solid, resilient stop configured to completely fill a separation between the door and the door frame when the door is in its closed configuration, and ii) a thermal insulating portion which, when the door is in its closed position, extends at least partially between the inner periphery of the door frame and the outer periphery of the door frame; wherein the single piece door seal comprises a continuous, closed, rectangular band having four straight lengths and four corner joints; and; wherein when the door is in its closed position, the door seal seals against a sealing face which comprises four sealing face corner portions, each of which cooperates with a respective corner joint of the door seal, each sealing face corner portion comprising a continuous sealing face portion which cooperates with its respective corner joint of the door seal and an abutment with an adjacent portion of the sealing face, the position of the abutment being offset around the periphery of the sealing face with respect to the position of the corner joint of the door seal.

17. The cold storage device of claim 16, wherein the cold storage device is freezer compartment configured to operate at a temperature which is ≤−30° C.

18. The cold storage device of claim 16, wherein the solid resilient stop is configured to be compressed between the door and the door frame when the door is in its closed configuration, and wherein the sealing portion comprises an outer sealing portion configured, when the door is in its closed position, to provide a seal between the door and the door frame at a position adjacent to the outer periphery of the door frame and an inner sealing portion configured, when the door is in its closed position, to provide a seal between the door and the door frame at a position adjacent to the inner periphery of the door frame, and in which the thermal insulating portion is positioned between the inner sealing portion and the outer sealing portion.

19. The cold storage device of claim 16, wherein the thermal insulating portion comprises a foamed material and the sealing portion comprises a non-foamed material.

20. The cold storage device of claim 16, wherein the thermal insulating portion is provided in the form of a core of the door seal; and the sealing portion is provided by a portion of a sleeve which surrounds an entire periphery of the core.

Description

(1) An embodiment of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which:

(2) FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a freezer with its door closed;

(3) FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view of a freezer with its door open;

(4) FIG. 3 is a schematic cross section through a door seal;

(5) FIG. 4 is a plan view of a closed door seal band; and

(6) FIG. 5 is a schematic perspective view of a corner portion of a frame sealing face.

(7) The cold storage device 10 of FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 is a medical freezer having a heat insulated cold storage compartment 11 which in this example is divided by shelves in to four horizontal sub-compartments. The freezer 10 has a door 12 which is openable to provide access to the cold storage compartment 11 and closable to isolate the cold storage compartment for its surroundings. A door seal 13 runs around a periphery of the door 12 and, when the door is closed, contacts and seals against a frame sealing face 14 of a door frame 15 of the freezer. A door handle 16 and door latch 17 cooperate to retain the door in its closed position and, in the closed position of the door, to compress the door seal 13 against the frame sealing face 14.

(8) The illustrated freezer 10 is configured to operate with its cold storage compartment at a temperature of about −80° C.; it is particularly suitable for the storage of blood products, for example plasma. It is provided with hinged, internal upper 18 and lower 19 compartment closures which allow independent access to upper and lower portion of the cold storage compartment 11 when the door 16 is open. The freezer 10 has an electrically powered compressor (not shown) arranged in its base 20 as part its cooling circuit.

(9) The door seal 13 is illustrated in more deal in FIG. 3 and comprises a foamed silicone rubber thermal insulating portion 21 provided in the form of a core and a non-foamed silicone rubber sealing portion 22 provided by a sleeve which, in this example, entirely surrounds a periphery of the thermal insulating core 21. It is manufactured by co-extrusion in continuous lengths. The foamed silicone rubber thermal insulating material 21 has a thermal conductivity of about 0.058 W/m.Math.K when measured at 23° C.; the non-foamed silicone rubber material has a thermal conductivity of about 0.22 W/m.Math.K when measured at 23° C. An additional adhesive 23 is preferably provided between the core 21 and a base of the sleeve. The door seal 13 is a single piece door seal, the thermal insulation core 21 and the sealing portion 22 forming an integral assembly which can be handled as a single piece.

(10) The sealing portion 22 comprises:

(11) an outer sealing portion 24 which, when the door 12 is in its closed position, provides a seal between the door 12 and the sealing face 14 of the door frame 15 at a position adjacent to an outer periphery of the door frame 15 and

(12) an inner sealing portion 25 which, when the door 12 is in its closed position, provides a seal between the door 12 and the sealing face 14 of the door frame 15 adjacent to the inner periphery of the door frame.

(13) The outer sealing portion 24, or at least its exposed side surface, will be at a temperature close to the temperature of the surroundings, for example room temperature or about 20° C., whilst the inner sealing portion 25 or at least its exposed side surface, will be at a temperature close to the temperature of the cold storage compartment, for example about −80° C. The thermal insulating portion 21 positioned between the inner sealing portion 25 and the outer sealing portion 24 thus reduces the heat loss across the width of the door seal 13.

(14) Each of the outer 24 and inner 25 sealing portions comprises a solid, resilient stop which completely fills the separation between the door 12 and the sealing face 14 when the door is in its closed configuration and is compressed between the door 12 and the sealing face 14 by action of the door handle 16 and door latch 17. Each of the outer 24 and inner 25 sealing portions comprises a flexible, deformable lip 27, 28 which contributes to providing a seal. A bridging portion 29 of the sealing portion 22 covers an upper portion of the thermal insulation portion 21 between the outer 24 and inner 25 sealing portions; the bridging portion 29 has a thickness which provides physical protection for the foam core 21 without being significantly detrimental to thermal conduction.

(15) A base 30 of the door seal which, in the illustrated embodiment, is contiguous with the extruded sealing portion 22, sits on a door seal support 31 which is part of the door 12 and is connected thereto by a pair of spaced projections 32a, 32b which form door seal attachments. These are extruded strips which form part of the sleeve and provide a resilient, self-locking press-fit and pull release with corresponding openings in the door seal support. The base 30 of door seal 13 also comprises a resilient outer 33a and inner 33b door seal support lip which contribute to providing a seal between the door seal 13 and the door seal support 31, each of which comprises a projection in the form of an arm which wraps around an edge of the door seal support 31.

(16) As illustrated in FIG. 4, the door seal 13 is fabricated into a continuous closed band having a geometry corresponding to that of the periphery of the door 12. In the illustrated embodiment, a continuous rectangular band is formed from four discrete lengths of door seal 34a, 34b, 34c, 34d, respective ends of which are cut, for example at 45° angles, arranged in a mould and joined together by injection of non-foamed silicone rubber to form respective corner joints 35a, 35b, 35c, 35d of the door seal band. The joint between individual lengths of the door seal is positioned at a respective corner of the rectangular band.

(17) FIG. 5 illustrates a corner portion of the frame sealing surface 14 against which the door seal sits when the door is in its closed position. A corner section 36 of the frame sealing surface 14 is provided with a continuous, uninterrupted sealing face 37 which extends around the corner. Joints 38a, 38b between the sealing face 37 of the corner section 36 and adjacent portions 39a, 39b of the frame sealing face are spaced away from the corner. In this way, the positions of the frame sealing face joints 38a, 38b is offset around a periphery of the frame sealing face 14 with respect to the position of the door seal joint.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMBERS

(18) 10 medical freezer 11 cold storage compartment 12 door 13 door seal 14 frame sealing face 15 door frame 16 door handle 17 door latch 18 upper compartment closure 19 lower compartment closure 20 base of freezer 21 thermal insulation portion 22 sealing portion 23 additional adhesive 24 outer sealing portion 26 inner sealing portion 27 lip 28 lip 29 bridging portion 30 base of door seal 31 door seal support 32a attachment 32b attachment 33a outer door seal support lip 33b inner door seal support lip 34a discrete length of door seal 34b discrete length of door seal 34c discrete length of door seal 34d discrete length of door seal 35a corner joint of door seal 35b corner joint of door seal 35c corner joint of door seal 35d corner joint of door seal 36 corner section of the sealing surface 37 continuous sealing face 38a joint 38b joint 39a adjacent portion of the sealing surface 39b adjacent portion of the sealing surface