Refrigerator door assembly with venting system
AssigneeArdco, Inc.
InventorsMelvin Kaspar, Matthew Rolek
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A vent plate is attached to the bottom frame member of a door mounting frame of the insulated door assembly of a refrigerator unit. The vent plate includes passages which enable ambient air to be drawn into the cabinet of the refrigerator unit at a controlled location in order to avoid frost build up.
Claims12
A refrigerator door assembly for closing an opening in the wall of a refrigerated cabinet, said door assembly comprising a door mounting frame mountable within the cabinet opening and having an outer peripheral portion with a sealing surface, said sealing surface having a primary portion extending along a substantial length of the perimeter of said opening and disposed in a predetermined upright plane, said sealing surface having a shorter portion extending along the remaining length of the perimeter of said opening and disposed in an upright plane which is spaced outwardly from said predetermined plane, an insulated glass door mounted for pivotal movement on said frame between closed and open positions, a flexible sealing gasket on said door and engageable with said sealing surface when said door is in said closed position thereby to seal the interior of the cabinet from ambient air, and passage means permitting limited quantities of ambient air to enter the interior of said cabinet when said door is in said closed position, said passage means being defined in part by a chamber located adjacent said shorter portion of said sealing surface and between the upright plane of said shorter portion and the upright plane of said primary portion, said passage means further including openings permitting ambient air to flow through said chamber and into the interior of said cabinet.
A refrigerator door assembly for closing an opening in the wall of a refrigerated cabinet, said door assembly comprising a door mounting frame mountable within the cabinet opening, said frame including a generally horizontal bottom member having an outwardly facing surface, means for heating said bottom member, plate means detachably secured to said bottom member and coacting with a portion of the outwardly facing surface thereof to define a chamber, an insulated glass door mounted on said frame for pivotal movement between closed and open positions, a flexible sealing gasket on said door and engageable with said plate means when said door is in said closed position thereby to seal the interior of the cabinet from ambient air, entrance openings formed in said plate means at a location beneath the position occupied by said gasket when said door is closed thereby to permit limited flow of ambient air into said chamber, and exit openings formed in said plate means and permitting ambient air to flow from said chamber and into the interior of said cabinet.
A refrigerator door assembly mountable in an opening in the wall of a refrigerator cabinet comprising
- a door mounting frame,
- at least one insulated door mounted on said frame for pivotable movement between open and closed positions relative to said mounting frame, said door including an insulated glass unit having a plurality of glass panes mounted in spaced apart relation to each other with an air insulating space therebetween,
- means on one of said door and mounting frame for defining a sealing gasket, means on the other of said door and mounting frame for defining a sealing surface against which said gasket is engageable when said door is in a closed position, and said sealing surface defining means includes passage means for permitting ambient air to flow into the interior of the cabinet at a controlled location adjacent said sealing surface.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.