Appliance door having stiffened inner panel with shelves and method of forming
US4740042A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Mar 2, 1987 |
| Grant date | Apr 26, 1988 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Mar 2, 2007 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
- CPC primaryY10S108/901
- WIPO fieldOther consumer goods
- WIPO sectorOther fields
Abstract
A refrigerator door has its plastic inner panel, which has a plurality of container supporting shelves extending therefrom, stiffened through forming integral vertical stringers adjacent each other across substantially the entire width of the surface of the inner panel between the shelves. Gussets extend from one end of each of the integral stringers into one of the upper and lower surfaces of each adjacent shelf. The integral stringers are V-shaped or U-shaped in cross section. The gussets are V-shaped when the integral stringers are V-shaped and may be V-shaped or U-shaped when the integral stringers are U-shaped. The integral stringers stiffen the entire door without adding material and control the stiffness through the cross sectional moment of inertia of each of the integral stringers. When there is a lack of space beneath the bottom shelf, the gussets cannot be employed, but a shadow line is used to increase the moment of inertia. The integral stringers have an aesthetic pattern in either the V-shaped or U-shaped configuration.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.