US 11,629,906 B2Granted

Refrigerator and transparent panel assembly for refrigerator

AssigneeLG Electronics Inc.

InventorsSeungjin Choi, Jaehoon Ha

Life of this patent

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Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a refrigerator and a transparent panel assembly for a refrigerator. The transparent panel assembly for a refrigerator comprises: a front panel defining at least a part of a front appearance of a refrigerator door and made of a glass material; a rear panel defining at least a part of a rear appearance of the refrigerator door and made of a transparent material; and an intermediate member connected between the front panel and the rear panel and made of a transparent plastic member, wherein the intermediate member comprises: an edge portion having both ends connected to a screening area formed at peripheries of the front panel and the rear panel; and a partition portion formed to cross an inner surface of the edge portion to partition a gap between the front panel and the rear panel to thereby form a sealed insulation layer.

Claims20

Dependent claims

A method for manufacturing a transparent panel assembly configured to be disposed on a door of a refrigerator and to allow a rear space of the door to be visible from an outside of the door, the transparent panel assembly including a plurality of transparent panels spaced apart from one another in a front-rear direction of the refrigerator, the method comprising:

providing a front panel and a rear panel that are made of a transparent material and that define a front surface and a rear surface of the transparent panel assembly, respectively;
injection-molding an intermediate member with a transparent plastic material;
and
placing the intermediate member between the front panel and the rear panel to couple the front panel to the rear panel,
wherein the intermediate member comprises:
a partition portion that partitions a space between the front panel and the rear panel in the front-rear direction, and
an edge portion that extends along a circumference of the partition portion, the edge portion having a front end attached to the front panel and a rear end attached to the rear panel.

4 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 17/704,887Filed 25 Mar 2022 · continuation
Priority: KR 10-2017-001032323 Jan 2017
Published: US 2022/0214097 A17 Jul 2022
Granted: 18 Apr 2023
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification12 codes

F25D 21/04
Defrosting; Preventing frosting; Removing condensed or defrost water: preventing the formation of frost or condensate
F25D 23/04
Doors; Covers: with special compartments, e.g. butter conditioners
A47F 3/0434
Details: glass or transparent panels
C08L 33/12
Homopolymers or copolymers of methacrylic acid esters: homopolymers or copolymers of methyl methacrylate

Family

PCT/KR2018/000806Parent of this continuation · filed 17 Jan 2018
Application15/930,827Parent of this continuation · filed 13 May 2020
US 10,677,515 B2Parent of this continuation · filed 9 Jun 2020
US 2022/0214097 A1Pre-grant publication · published 7 Jul 2022
US 11,300,353 B2Parent of this continuation
Application16/480,263Parent of this continuation
US 2019/0383551 A1Published application
US 2020/0271374 A1Published application
US 11,629,906 B2This patent

From the US filing history. Foreign family members aren’t listed.