Abstract:
A refrigeration unit with improved storage and accessibility features has a thermally insulated cabinet and door defining a storage space with a plurality of support elements. The support elements include easily removable door shelves and horizontal cabinet shelves that can be removed or repositioned without the door being fully opened due to dished regions adjacent the shelf supports that allow the shelves to be pivoted and removed rather than slid straight out of the cabinet. Indicia on one of the shelves follows the contour of one of the door shelves to indicate approximately the shelf space occupied by an adjacent door shelf and thus where items can be set without interfering with the closure of the door. The refrigeration unit also includes a cam assembly at the lower door hinge which biases the door closed when open approximately 35 degrees or less. The refrigeration unit also includes features for attaching an overlay panel to the door easily.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     Not applicable. 
     STATEMENT OF FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT 
     Not applicable. 
     This invention relates to storage units, such as coolers and refrigerators, and in particular, the invention relates to refrigeration units with improved storage and accessibility features. 
     Cold storage units, such as refrigerators, freezers and beverage coolers, are well known, virtually indispensable appliances. There has thus been numerous refinements and improvements made to these devices to address and correct deficiencies in the prior art. One problem that has been addressed concerns the operation of the door. Industrial and in-home refrigeration units, for example, have large hinged doors. It is common for these doors to include shelving for holding, for example, condiments, beverages and other bottled goods, which can substantially increase the weight of the door. As a result, the door can become cumbersome to close and keep open. Moreover, if the door does not close and seal properly cool air will escape and raise the temperature in the cabinet, thus causing the compressor to run continuously and waste energy. 
     Various hinge assemblies have been developed to address these problems. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,628,845; 4,090,274 and 5,500,984 disclose refrigerators with opposing cam members at one or more hinges that have ramped surfaces operating to bias the door closed when it is open at some acute angles. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,774,740 and 4,864,691 provide hinge assemblies that include opposing cams that provide staged rotation of the door to hold it at predetermined open positions. While these systems provide the intended benefit, they require rather complex assemblies. 
     Another problem with conventional refrigeration units is that the shelves are sometimes immovable or are difficult to remove or reposition. Also, the door shelves are often too small to hold common items, such as beverages in liter and gallon containers, and if they are deep enough to accommodate such sized items, they often interfere with items on the cabinet shelving. This can cause items to be spilt or damaged by the door shelving and more importantly, it can interfere with the door closing and sealing properly. 
     Another issue primarily of concern to home owners, is that because refrigeration units are not made of wood, they do not match adjacent cabinetry, thus creating an unpleasant appearance by some standards. One known solution is to conceal the appliance with one or more panels of the same wood and stain of neighboring cabinets. Usually, such panels are mounted directly to the door, however, this can require considerable retrofitting. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention provides a solution to the above problems of the prior art. In one aspect, the invention provides a refrigeration unit having a cabinet defining a storage cavity open at a front side that is covered by a door mounted to the front of the cabinet by two hinge assemblies. At least one of the hinge assemblies includes a pair of mounting brackets spaced apart along a pivot axis on each side of a cam assembly. The cam assembly includes two cams with mating undulating face surfaces, each with at least one oblique ramp surface. Each cam has a back surface opposite the face surface that defines a key member. Each key member engages a corresponding key member in each of the mounting brackets to prevent relative rotation of the cams with respect to the brackets to which they are mounted. The cams rotate with respect to each other when the door is opened and closed such that engagement of the opposing ramp surfaces biases the door toward the cabinet. 
     In preferred embodiments, the cam assembly is part of a lower hinge assembly. Each cam is made of a low friction, lubricious material and has two radially spaced ramp surfaces aligned for engagement with the ramp surfaces of the opposing cam. Each cam also has two key members in the form of axially extending pins which fit into openings through the mounting brackets. The back side of one cam defines a sleeve extending through an opening in the corresponding mounting bracket, which preferably is a flat plate mounted to the door. A hinge pin disposed along the pivot axis fits through axial openings (and the sleeve) in the cams to unite the cams. 
     Another aspect of the invention provides a refrigeration unit in which the door has an inner surface with at least one pair of vertically aligned shelf support mounts. The shelf support mounts support at least one door shelf having a bottom and a side rail with opposite ends extending generally perpendicular to the door. The ends of the side rail define a pair of shelf mounts for engaging the shelf support mounts such that the door shelf can be detached from the shelf support by tilting the door shelf with respect to the shelf support and moving the door shelf away from the door. 
     In preferred embodiments, a thermoformed plastic insert liner defines the inner surface of the door. The liner is formed with a pair of laterally spaced uprights that include the shelf support mounts, which preferably are laterally inwardly extending bosses. The shelf mounts are tracks sized to receive the bosses. The tracks have an open end toward the terminal side of the side rail ends and define a straight portion adjacent the open end and an angled portion extending at an oblique angle from the straight portion to a closed end. 
     Another aspect of the invention provides a refrigeration unit in which the cabinet has opposite inner walls defining a pair of vertically aligned rests for a planar shelf. One of the inner walls defines a concave recess adjacent an upper side of the rest such that the shelf can be pivoted upward about the opposite rest so that the shelf can be dislocated from both rests and removed from the cabinet without the door being swung totally clear of the opening. Preferably, a thermoformed plastic insert liner forms the inner wall of the cabinet and has a plurality of vertically aligned rests spaced apart at different heights within the storage cavity so as to support a plurality of shelves. 
     Yet another aspect of the invention provides a refrigeration unit with a door shelf extending into the storage cavity and a planar shelf supported by the cabinet in a horizontal orientation within the storage cavity such that a front portion of the shelf is disposed slightly beneath the door shelf. The shelf has an indication of the approximate location of the innermost extension of the door shelf when the door is closed. Preferably, the shelf includes graphical and/or textual indicia corresponding to the location of the door shelf when the door is closed, such as graphics shaped to follow the contour of the door shelf. The shelf can be transparent so that the indicia can be applied to the underside of the shelf by any suitable means such as etching, printing or adhesion. The shelf can also have an edge guard mounted to a front edge of the shelf that is contoured to correspond to the door shelf. 
     Still another aspect of the invention provides a refrigeration unit in which the door has a handle, framing and a floating face panel to which can be mounted an overlay panel for concealing the refrigeration unit. The handle and framing define a retaining lip extending around the perimeter of the face panel to retain the face panel in the door. Preferably, the handle includes upper and lower handle components, with the lower handle component defining a portion of the retaining lip. Filler material disposed behind the face panel biases the face panel against the retaining lip. 
     The foregoing and other objects and advantages of the invention will appear from the following description. In this description reference is made to the accompanying drawings which form a part hereof and in which there is shown by way of illustration preferred embodiments of the invention. Such embodiments do not necessarily represent the full scope of the invention, however, and reference must be made therefore to the claims for interpreting the scope of the invention. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a front perspective view of the refrigeration unit of the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a perspective view of the refrigeration unit similar to  FIG. 1  albeit with its door shown opened; 
         FIG. 3  is a perspective view of the refrigeration unit with the door hinged at the right side of the refrigeration unit and opened; 
         FIG. 4  is a perspective view similar to  FIG. 3  albeit with the shelves and crisper shown in  FIG. 3  removed; 
         FIG. 5  is a front plan view thereof with the door closed; 
         FIG. 6  is a right side view thereof; 
         FIG. 7  is rear view thereof, 
         FIG. 8  is a front view of the refrigeration unit with the door removed; 
         FIG. 8A  is an enlarged view of a shelf and a scooped portion of a liner; 
         FIG. 9  is a side cross-sectional view taken along line  9 — 9  of  FIG. 5 ; 
         FIG. 10  is a partial front perspective view of an upper door hinge assembly with the door opened; 
         FIG. 11  is a partial exploded assembly view of the upper door hinge assembly; 
         FIG. 12  is an enlarged partial side cross-sectional view within arc  12 — 12  of  FIG. 9 ; 
         FIG. 13  is an exploded assembly view of the door including an overlay panel, a handle and the upper and lower door hinge assemblies; 
         FIG. 14  is an enlarged partial exploded assembly view within arc  14 — 14  of  FIG. 13 ; 
         FIG. 15  is a side cross-sectional assembly view taken through line  15 — 15  of  FIG. 13 ; 
         FIG. 16  is a partial front perspective view of a lower door hinge assembly with the door opened; 
         FIG. 17  is a partial exploded perspective view within arc  17 — 17  of  FIG. 13 ; 
         FIG. 18  is a partial front view of the assembled lower door hinge assembly including a door cam assembly; 
         FIG. 19A  is a partial right side view showing the lower door hinge assembly; 
         FIG. 19B  is front cross-sectional view taken along line  19 B— 19 B of  FIG. 19A ; 
         FIG. 20  is a perspective view of the door in isolation and the assembly of a door shelf; 
         FIG. 21  is a partial perspective view of an end of the door shelf within arc  21 — 21  of  FIG. 20 ; 
         FIG. 22  is a partial side view of a boss mount for the door shelf within arc  22 — 22  of  FIG. 20 ; 
         FIG. 23  is a partial top cross-sectional view taken along line  23 — 23  of  FIG. 20 ; 
         FIG. 24  is a partial side cross-sectional view within arc  24 — 24  of  FIG. 9 ; 
         FIG. 25  is a top view of a shelf looking down from line  25 — 25  of  FIG. 2 ; 
         FIG. 26  is a side cross-sectional view taken along line  26 — 26  of  FIG. 25 , showing a food or beverage item in phantom; 
         FIG. 27  is an exploded view of an alternate hinge assembly with a pivot stop; and 
         FIG. 28  is a cross-section view showing the hinge assembly of  FIG. 27  with the door in a fully open position in which the stop member abuts a mounting bracket to prevent further rotation of the door. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       FIGS. 1-7  show a refrigeration unit  10 , the term used herein to mean any self-contained storage unit, for example, a refrigerator, freezer and a wine or beverage cooler. The refrigeration unit  10  generally includes a thermally insulated cabinet  12  defining a storage cavity with an access opening at the front face of the cabinet  12 . The opening is sealed by a thermally insulated door  14  pivotally mounted to the front of the cabinet  12  by upper  16  and lower  18  door hinge assemblies. Reversible door hinge assemblies mount the door  14  either to the left side (see  FIGS. 1 and 2 ) or the right side (see  FIGS. 3 and 4 ) of the cabinet  12 . The refrigeration unit  10  includes a compressor, a capillary tube and interior and exterior heat exchanger coils containing a standard refrigerant, as known in the art, for lowering the temperature of the air inside the cabinet  12 . The compressor, exterior coils and associated electronics are contained in a compartment in the bottom of the cabinet  12  accessible from the back side of the unit (see FIGS.  7  and  9 ). A thermostatic control  20  is provided to set the storage cavity air temperature to be maintained. The inside of the cabinet  12  is fit with an insert liner  22  supporting a plurality of shelves  24  (three are shown in the drawings) and defining a recess for a crisper drawer  26 . The door  14  is also lined and includes a plurality of door shelves  28  (two are shown in the drawings). The perimeter of the door  14  mounts a flexible magnetic seal  27  typically used with conventional refrigerators. 
     Turning now to  FIGS. 8-8A , a unique feature of the refrigeration unit  10  of the present invention is that the shelves  24  can be dislocated from their horizontal resting position for removal or repositioning within the cabinet  12  without requiring the door  14  to be swung completely clear of the front of the door opening. That is the shelves  24  can be repositioned or removed with the door  14  opened approximately 90 degrees. The liner  22  is formed with aligned pairs of rests  30  supporting opposite side edges of the shelves  24 . On one side (the right side in the drawings), the liner  22  is formed with a dished or scooped recesses  29  extending up from outer edges of the shelf rests  30 . The recesses  29  extend from the access opening at the front of the cabinet  12  back a distance less than the length of the corresponding edges of the shelves  24 . As shown in  FIG. 8A , this allows the right side of the shelves  24  to be freely lifted and pivoted up along the opposite side of the shelf resting on the opposite rest  30  when each shelf is pulled out slightly so that the back end of the shelf  24  is just in front of the back of the recess  29 . Each shelf  24  can be pivoted until its effective lateral dimension is less than that of the inside of the cabinet  12 , between lateral sides of the liner  22 , and the pivot edge of the shelf  24  can be dislocated from its rest  30 . Each shelf  24  then can be removed from the cabinet  12  for cleaning or remounted at a different height by reversing the steps for removing the shelf  24 . 
     Another unique feature of this refrigeration unit pertains to the mounting of upper and lower door shelves  28 , shown in  FIGS. 2-4 ,  9  and  20 - 23 . The door shelves  28  have a bottom and a generally U-shaped side rail  32  having a front and opposite ends  34  extending away from the cabinet  12  generally perpendicular to the door  14 . Each end  34  is formed with a raised track  36 . The tracks  36  open at the terminal end of the side rail  32  and extend forward first in a straight path and then upward at approximately 45 degrees to closed ends. The tracks  36  have inwardly extending nibs  37  that decreases the width of each track at the bend. The tracks  36  are designed to receive a pair of boss mounts  38  extending inwardly from shelf support uprights  40  formed in a door liner  42 . The door shelves  28  can thus be mounted to the door  14  by aligning the openings in the tracks  36  with the boss mounts  38  and pushing the door shelf  28  toward the door  14  until the closed end of the tracks  36  rest on the boss mounts  38 . The door shelves  28  can be removed by pivoting them upward and pulling them away from the door  14  to pass the nibs  37  by the mounts  38 . The nibs  37  act to capture the boss mounts  38  in the tracks  36  and thereby inhibit inadvertent dislocation of the door shelves  28 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 20 , the shelf support uprights  40  preferably include three sets of boss mounts  38  at different heights of the door  14 . The top two sets of boss mounts  38  are used allow the upper door shelf to be repositioned or to mount two such door shelves. Also, it should be noted that the shelf support uprights  40  are of increased depth at the bottom ends. The door liner  42  also is formed with a small ledge  44  that combines with the bottom of the door shelf  28  to form a deeper overall shelf. Still further, the door liner  42  is formed with a dished bottle recess  46  to accommodate large bottles, such as standard 2-liter soda bottles. 
     Referring now to  FIG. 9 , the upper shelves  24  are sized small enough not to interfere with the upper door shelf  28  when the door  14  is closed. However, the bottom shelf  24  is larger because it acts as a cover for the crisper drawer  26  (see also FIG.  24 ). The bottom shelf would extend into the space occupied by the bottom door shelf  28  if they were not at a different heights. As shown in  FIGS. 25-26 , the bottom shelf has a raised edge guard  48  around its perimeter that includes a contoured portion  50  corresponding to the side wall  32  of the bottom door shelf  28 . Adjacent the contoured portion  50  is indicia  52  similarly contoured and indicating approximately the innermost extension of the bottom door shelf  28 . This indicia  52  is preferably graphics and/or text formed at the underside of the bottom shelf by a suitable printing or etching process. The indicia  52  thus provides visual notification that items should not be stored beyond that point so as not to interfere with the closure of the door  14 . The bottom shelf and the door shelf thus cooperate to avoid the refrigeration unit  10  from being used in a way that results in the stored items being damaged or the door  14  being left ajar. 
     Another aspect of the refrigeration unit of the present invention is that the door hinges include a unique cam assembly that provides a door close-assist feature. Referring to  FIGS. 16-19B , the lower door hinge assembly  18  includes an L-shaped lower pivot bracket  54  that mounts to the front face of the cabinet  12  by three bolts to support the bottom end of the door  14 . The lower door hinge assembly  18  also includes a rectangular mounting plate  56  that mounts to the underside of bottom corner of the door  14  with two bolts inserted through two slots  57  that allow for adjustment of the position of the mounting plate  56  with respect to the door. A cam assembly  58  mounts between the bracket  54  and the mounting plate  56 . The cam assembly  58  includes an upper cam  60  and a lower cam  62 . The upper cam  60  has a face surface that defines two raised plateaus  64  and two smaller recessed valleys  66  between which are two sets of ramp surfaces  68 . The lower cam  62  has a face surface that defines two raised plateaus  65  sized to fit in the valleys  66  of the upper cam  60  and two recessed valleys  67  between which are two sets of ramp surfaces  69 . The back side of each cam  60  and  62  has a pair of key pins  70  that are disposed 180 degrees apart. Each cam  60  and  62  also has an axial opening  72  therethrough and the upper cam  60  also defines a cylindrical sleeve member  74  at the back side. The pins  70  of the lower cam  62  fit into a pair of keyways  76  at the tip of bracket  54  attached to the cabinet  12 . Similarly, the pins  70  of the upper cam  60  fit into a pair of keyways  78  at the outer end of the mounting plate  56  on the door  14 , the sleeve member  74  fits through a larger opening  80  (see FIG.  19 B). The pins  70  prevent the cams  60  and  62  from rotating with respect to the mounting plate  56  and the bracket  54 , respectively. The cams  60  and  62  are mounted 90 degrees offset from each other so that the plateaus of one cam engage the valleys of the other cam when the door  14  is closed. The cams  60  and  62  are held together by gravity under the weight of the door  14  and a hinge pin  82  that extends along a pivot axis through the axial openings  72  in the cams (and the sleeve member  74  in the upper cam  60 ). The hinge pin  82  has an enlarged head that threads into a threaded opening  84  in the bracket  54 . 
     Referring to  FIGS. 10 and 11 , the upper door hinge assembly  16  has an upper pivot bracket  86  that mounts to the front face of the cabinet  12  by three bolts. The bracket  86  includes an opening  88  in which a hinge pin  90  is inserted along the pivot axis to fit within an opening  92  in a handle  94  at the top of the door  14 . The pin  90  has an enlarged threaded head that threads into the opening  88  to secure it to the bracket  86 . The bracket  86  is spaced a distance from the top of the handle to allow the door  14  to float between the upper  86  and lower  54  brackets and be raised and lowered as needed when being opened and closed. 
     As mentioned, this arrangement helps to close the door  14 . Specifically, as the door  14  is opened from the closed position, it pivots about the pivot axis extending through the hinge pins  82  and  90 . This causes the upper cam  60  to rotate with respect to the lower cam  62 . As it does, opposing ramp surfaces  68  and  69  engage and cause upward axial translation of the upper cam  60  (and thus the door  14 ). The raised position of the door  14  is opposed by gravity which will bias the upper cam  60  to rotate back to its initial position (in the absence of a counter-acting force) when the ramp surfaces  68  and  69  are engaged. Thus, the cam assembly  58  biases the door  14  closed when partially open, for example, 25 to 35 degrees or when the free edge of the door  14  is approximately eight to ten inches from the cabinet  12 . When the door  14  is swung open far enough, approximately 60-90 degrees, the cams  60  and  62  will engage at the raised plateaus  64  and  65 . Since these surfaces are flat, friction will keep the door  14  at this opened position in the absence of an external force (either opening the door  14  further or closing it). In this way, the cam assembly  58  also helps hold the door  14  open. 
     Also, as shown in  FIGS. 2 and 3 , the door can be mounted to either side of the cabinet using the same hinge assemblies. The hinge assemblies are reversible in that the lower bracket  54  (see  FIG. 17 ) and the upper bracket  86  (see  FIG. 11 ) for the right-side mounted door of  FIG. 3  can be interchanged and mounted to the left side of the cabinet for the left-side mounted door of FIG.  2 . Thus, only one set of hinge assembles is needed to change the pivot of the door. Additionally, the one of the hinge assemblies can be made to include a stop member. In one embodiment, as shown in  FIGS. 27-28 , the mounting plate  56 A can have an increased length with a downwardly depending stop member  63 . The stop member  63  is disposed in front of (and spaced from) the lower mounting bracket  54  when the door is closed. As the door is opened, the stop member  63  swings around the front right comer of the bracket  54  (the left front comer for a left-side mounted door). At some angle, for example 85 degrees, the stop member  63  abuts the right edge of the bracket  54  so as to prevent further rotation of the door. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 13-15 , the refrigeration unit  10  of the present invention also provides easy attachment of an overlay panel  96  to the door  14  that can be made of a material and design that matches neighboring cabinetry, thereby concealing the refrigeration unit. When an overlay panel  96  is to be mounted to the door  14 , deeper upper  86 A and lower  54 A pivot brackets and mounting plate  56 A are used to increase the pivot radius and accommodate for the added thickness of the door so that the overlay panel  96  so that the door  14  can maintain zero clearance with an adjacent wall or cabinet so that the comer of the panel  96  next to the hinge does not swing out and interfere with the adjacent wall or cabinet. This also requires the upper hinge pin  90  to be disposed in a recess in  98  the overlay panel  96 . Since the overlay panel  96  is most often made of wood, a metal L-bracket  100  is used to add support at the pivot connection. The recess  98  is sized to receive the L-bracket so that it is flush with the back side of the overlay panel  96 . Threaded inserts  102  can be used to mount the L-bracket  100  to the overlay panel  96 . 
     Because overlay panels  96  are designed to match the stain and ornamental elements of neighboring cabinetry, they are ordinarily assembled in the field. Thus, a kit including the larger hinge assemblies and a modified upper handle component  104  can be purchased and installed onto the unit. To do this, the hinge pins  82  and  90  are removed and the door  14  is dismounted from the cabinet  12 . The original door hinge assemblies are removed and the supplied larger door hinge assemblies are mounted to the cabinet  12  and the L-bracket  100  is installed onto the back side of the overlay panel  96 . The original upper  106  and lower  108  components of the handle  94  are then unscrewed from the door  14 . This permits a floating face panel  110  to be slid up and disengaged from a retaining lip  112  defined by the inner edge of the lower handle component  108  and door framing  116 . As shown in  FIG. 12 , the face panel  110  is held against the lip  112  by filler material  118 , such as cardboard. The face panel  110  then can be screwed onto the back of the overlay panel  96  with spacers  114  providing a gap therebetween to accommodate for the thickness of the lip  112 . The overlay panel  96  and face panel  110  assembly can then be reattached to the door  14  by sliding the face panel  110  behind the lip  112 . The lower handle component  106  then can be reattached with its lip disposed between the back side of the overlay panel  96  and the front side of the face panel  108 . The supplied upper handle component  104  can then be fastened to the lower handle component  108 . This upper handle component  104  is identical to the original upper handle component  106 , however, the curved grip area has been removed so the handle is flush with the front of the door  14  and does not interfere with the overlay panel  96 . Since the lip has been removed and the handle is covered by the overlay panel  96 , a separate pull (not shown) can be fastened to the front or side of the overlay panel  96 . The pull can, for example, match that of neighboring cabinetry. 
     In one preferred embodiment, the cam elements  60  and  62  are preferably nylon or other low-friction, lubricious material, such as Delrin® or Celcon® and the hinge brackets and pins are steel. The liner  22  and the door liner  42  are made of thermoformed high impact polystyrene. The door shelves  28  are a durable injection molded plastic, such as ABS. The shelves  24  are a transparent, tempered glass with an ABS plastic edge guard  48 . The crisper drawer  26  is a clear hard plastic. The face panel  110  of the door  14  is a vinyl clad sheet steel and the framing is a very hard extruded plastic. The upper handle component  106  (and  104 ) are a rigid thermoset plastic and the lower handle component  108  is an injection molded plastic. 
     Illustrative embodiments of the invention have been described in detail for the purpose of disclosing a practical, operative structure whereby the invention may be practiced advantageously. However, the apparatus described is intended to be illustrative only, and the novel characteristics of the invention may be incorporated in other structural forms without departing from the scope of the invention. Accordingly, to apprise the public of the full scope of the invention, the following claims are made: