Sealing assembly for refrigerator
AssigneeWhirlpool Corporation
InventorShekhar Shetty
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A refrigerator including a body, a door, configured to pivot about the body, a female sealing member, and a male sealing member. The body is provided with a first refrigerated compartment. The door may be configured to pivot between an open position, in which the refrigerated compartment is open, and closed position, in which the refrigerated compartment is closed. The female sealing member extends along portions of the body or portions of the door. The male sealing member extends along the other of the portions of the body or the door. When the door is in the closed position, the female sealing member receives the male sealing member.
Claims19
A refrigerator comprising:
- a body (i) defining a refrigerated compartment and (ii) having a first exterior mating surface;
- a door (i) configured to move about the body between an open position, in which the refrigerated compartment is open, and a closed position in which the refrigerated compartment is closed and (ii) having a second exterior mating surface configured to be positioned opposite to the first mating surface when the door is in the closed position, wherein one of the first exterior mating surface or the second exterior mating surface defines an inwardly extending slot;
- a female sealing member disposed on and extending along one of the first exterior mating surface or the second exterior mating surface and within the slot;
- and
- a male sealing member disposed on and extending along the other of the first exterior mating surface or the second exterior mating surface, wherein (i) the female sealing member is configured to receive and engage with the male sealing member when the door is in a closed position to form a seal between the refrigerated compartment and surroundings external to the refrigerated compartment and (ii) the male sealing member is configured to disengage the female sealing member when the door is in the open position to break the seal between the refrigerated compartment and the surroundings external to the refrigerated compartment.
A refrigerator comprising:
- a main body defining a first refrigerated compartment;
- a first door (i) defining a second refrigerated compartment, (ii) configured to move with respect to the main body, and (iii) having a first exterior mating surface;
- a second door (i) configured to move with respect to the first door between an open position, in which the second refrigerated compartment is accessible, and a closed position in which the second refrigerated compartment is inaccessible and (ii) having a second exterior mating surface configured to be positioned opposite to the first mating surface when the second door is in the closed position, wherein one of the first exterior mating surface or the second exterior mating surface defines an inwardly extending slot;
- a female sealing member disposed on and extending along one of the first exterior mating surface or the second exterior mating surface and within the slot;
- and
- a male sealing member disposed on and extending along the other of the first exterior mating surface or the second exterior mating surface, wherein (i) the male sealing member is at least partially disposed in and engages the female sealing member when the second door is in a closed position to form a seal between the first refrigerated compartment and the second refrigerated compartment and (ii) the male sealing member disengages the female sealing member when the second door is in the open position to break the seal between the first refrigerated compartment and the second refrigerated compartment.
A sealing assembly for use in a refrigerator provided with a body and a door configured to pivot about the body between an open position and a closed position, the sealing assembly comprising:
- a gasket socket disposed (i) along a first exterior mating surface on an ice making storage assembly that is disposed within the body and (ii) within a slot that is defined by and extends inward from the first exterior mating surface;
- and
- a gasket protrusion fixed to a second exterior mating surface on the door, wherein (i) the second exterior mating surface is configured to be positioned opposite to the first mating surface when the door is in the closed position, (ii) the gasket protrusion is configured to engage and be at least partially disposed within the gasket socket when the door is in the closed position to form a seal between a refrigerated compartment defined by the ice making storage assembly and surroundings external to the ice making storage assembly, and (iii) the gasket protrusion is configured to disengage the gasket socket when the door is in the open position to break the seal between the refrigerated compartment and the surroundings external to the ice making storage assembly.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.