Door seal assembly
AssigneeWhirlpool Corporation
InventorCharles W. Haag
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A door assembly having first and second pivotally mounted doors defining juxtaposed portions in a closed arrangement thereof. A seal structure is provided for sealing the juxtaposed edges of the doors in the closed arrangement. The seal structure defines inner and outer seals cooperatively forming a large closed air space therebetween. The seals may include overlapping sealing portions which may have magnetized structures therein for effecting a positive seal. The seals may include relatively stiff or rigid mounting portions secured to rearwardly projecting dikes on the doors and effectively defining opposed projections of the dikes extending a substantial portion of the distance between the dikes. The seals may include flexible sealing portions at the distal ends of the rigid mounting portions.
Claims19
In a door assembly having first and second pivotally mounted doors defining juxtaposed edge portions in a closed arrangement of the doors, a pair of dikes carried one each on said doors to extend rearwardly from said edge portions in spaced relationship to each other in said closed arrangement, the improvement comprising:
- an outer, first pair of seals mounted one each to said doors and extending therefrom into sealed engagement with each other in said closed arrangement of the doors;
- and
- an inner, second pair of seals mounted one each on said dikes and extending therefrom into sealed engagement with each other inwardly of said first pair of seals in said closed arrangement of the doors, said first and second pairs of seals defining a sealed dead air space between said dikes providing an effective thermal and moisture barrier between said doors in said closed arrangement.
In a refrigeration apparatus defining a refrigerated chamber and having a door assembly having first and second pivotally mounted doors defining vertically extending juxtaposed edge portions in a closed arrangement of the doors across the chamber, a pair of vertically extending dikes carried one each on said doors to extend rearwardly from said edge portions in spaced relationship to each other in said closed arrangement, the improvement comprising:
- a pair of mounting means;
- an outer, first pair of seals having a relatively rigid mounting portion mounted one each by said mounting means to said doors and a flexible sealing portion extending therefrom into overlapped sealed engagement with each other in said close arrangement of the doors;
- an inner, second pair of seals having a relatively rigid mounting portion mounted one each by said mounting means to said dikes and a flexible sealing portion extending therefrom into sealed engagement with each other inwardly of said first pair of seals in said closed arrangement of the doors, said first and second pairs of seals defining a substantial dead air space within said refrigerated chamber adjacent said doors, thereby providing an effective thermal and moisture barrier when said doors are in said closed arrangement.
In a refrigeration apparatus defining a refrigerated chamber and having a door assembly having first and second pivotally mounted doors defining juxtaposed edge portions when said doors close said chamber, a pair of rearwardly extending members carried one each on the inner surface of said doors and extending vertically therealong and being laterally spaced from each other by a distance greater than the space between said juxtaposed edge portions, the improvement comprising:
- an outer, first pair of seals carried one each by said doors and extending laterally between said rearwardly extending members into sealed engagement with each other when said doors are positioned to close said chamber;
- and,
- an inner, second pair of seals carried one each by said doors and extending laterally between said rearwardly extending members into sealed engagement with each other when said doors are positioned to close said chamber, said first and second pairs of seals defining a dead air space extending substantially completely between said rearwardly extending members.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.