Patent ID: 7556324
Filing Date: 2009-07-07
Classification: F25D,Y10S,Y10T

Abstract:
1. A refrigerator, comprising: a heat-insulating housing having a front side and an access opening formed on the front side; a door mounted on the housing, the door having a front side and a rear side located opposite its front side, the door being movable between a closed position in which the door is in a covering disposition relative to the access opening of the housing and an open position in which the door is spaced away from the access opening of the housing such that access can be had through the access opening of the housing; a sealing profile, the sealing profile performing a sealing function in which it creates a seal between the housing and the door, the sealing profile being mounted on the rear side of the door and the sealing profile having a dislodgable location that is in contact with the front side of the heat-insulating housing; a swelling assembly including a push away location and a flexible swelling element retaining therein a fluid, the push away location of the swelling assembly being spaced from the dislodgable location of the sealing profile, the flexing swelling element being mounted on the rear side of the door and having a dimension that changes as a function of a change in a distribution of the retained fluid and the swelling assembly being disposable between a stand by disposition in which the swelling assembly does not diminish the sealing function of the sealing profile and a seal breaking disposition in which the dimensional property of the fluid retainer has changed such that the flexible swelling element expands and causes the push away location of the swelling assembly to exert a force in one direction against the front side of the heat-insulating housing and causes the swelling assembly to exert a force in an opposite direction against the door, the oppositely directed forces exerted by the swelling assembly resulting in an increase in a spacing between the door and the dislodgable location of the sealing profile such that the sealing function of the sealing profile at the dislodgable location is diminished; and a reservoir provided on the front side of the door, the reservoir being connected to the flexible swelling element and operating in response to an opening input that indicates that the status of the door is to be changed from its closed position into its open position, the reservoir operating, in response to such an opening input, to effect a change in the distribution of the flexible swelling element in the flexible swelling element such that the fluid retainer expands and causes the swelling assembly to change from its stand by disposition into its seal breaking disposition and the operation of the reservoir and the swelling assembly being configured such that, in connection with an opening of the door, the sealing function of the sealing profile at its dislodgable location is initially diminished by the action of the one force exerted by the push away location of the swelling assembly on the heat-insulating housing and by the opposite force exerted by the swelling assembly on the door as the swelling assembly changes from its stand by disposition into its seal breaking disposition.