Abstract:
A moulded copolymer door for built-in household electrical appliances to which a panel is to be adjustably connected to the door. The panel is configured to be adjusted in height, laterally and in depth. Adjustable mounting brackets are mounted on the door adjacent to undercuts on the vertical sides of said door and are accessible from a face of the door opposite of the panel through which the undercuts of the panel may be secured to the adjustable mounting brackets.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a door for built-in household electrical appliances to which a panel is to be connected by means which enable the panel to be adjusted in height, laterally and in depth so that the door, including the panel, matches adjacent cabinets or furniture housings that are adjacent to and/or receive the appliance. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     In known doors, two examples of which are described in EP0 168 672 A2 and EP 0 873 704 A1, adjustable fitting elements are provided for mounting a panel to an appliance door. The fitting elements serve to secure and align the door panel relative to the door. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     An object of the present invention is to substantially simplify the operations involved in mounting and adjusting the position of a panel to a door using adjustable mounting brackets. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a door according to the invention; 
     FIGS. 2A and 2B are respectively a partial perspective and partial sectional view showing schematically in greater detail a lower adjustable mounting bracket for adjusting the distance between the panel and the door; and 
     FIG. 3 is a section through another embodiment of a lower adjustable mounting bracket. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     In the figures, the reference numeral  1  indicates the door of a built-in household electrical appliance, for example a refrigerator. The door may be constructed by injecting a polymer material, for example polystyrene, into a mould. As this embodiment concerns a refrigerator door, it includes upper and lower left and right groups of holes  2  for applying conventional hinges. In addition, lateral undercuts are provided along the vertical sides V of the door. Two undercuts  3 ,  4  are provided in the upper part of the sides V and, in the embodiment of FIG. 1, a single undercut  5  in the lower part. 
     Considering the relatively low mechanical strength of some polymer materials that can be used (for example polystyrene), reinforcement elements may be co-moulded at the corners. These reinforcement elements, which may be constructed of an engineered polymer, are indicated schematically by dashed lines, the upper of which are indicated by the reference numeral  6  and the lower by  7 . The reinforcement elements  6 ,  7  can be arranged to enable door hinges to be attached by conventional hinge screws. In addition, reinforcement elements  6 ,  7  can be arranged to provide seats for adjustable mounting brackets for adjustably mounting a door cover panel  8  (see FIG. 3) to door  1 . It will be appreciated by one skilled in the art that separate reinforcement elements can be provided for the adjustable mounting brackets if desired. Typically it is desired to have panel  8  match, not only by appearance and dimensions but also by position, the cabinet or furniture units surrounding the recess into which the household electrical appliance is built. The adjustable mounting brackets can be of the known screw and cam type or other types of known adjustable mounting brackets. The adjustable mounting fittings disclosed in EP 0 168 672 A2 and EP 0 873 704 A1 are two examples of known adjustable mounting brackets. Typically, three adjustable mounting brackets are used, although more than three brackets may be used when desired. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, bracket  10  is provided with one adjusting screw serves for vertically adjusting the panel  8  which may comprise a cam  9  cooperating with the lower edge of adjustment bracket  10 . Bracket  10  also includes a second adjusting screw that operates with its head  11  rotatably connected to adjustable mounting bracket  10  to move bracket  10 , and accordingly panel  8 , toward or away from door  1  as the screw is turned and thus enables the distance between the panel  8  and door  1  to be adjusted. 
     In the embodiment of FIG. 1 the adjustable mounting bracket  10  includes two pads  12 ,  13  provided with double-sided adhesive tape and with holes to enable panel  8  to be secured to adjustable mounting brackets  10  by screws. 
     Typically two of these holes, indicated by  12 A and  13 A, are used to secure panel  8  to adjustable mounting brackets  10  and hence to door  1 . The arrangement of the assembly is such that holes  12 A and  13 A are aligned with the undercuts  3  and  4 , thus enabling the operations involved in mounting and adjusting the panel  8  to be considerably simplified, as described hereinafter. 
     The panel mounting and adjustment means can also include one or two lower adjustable mounting brackets, one per side when two lower brackets are employed, indicated by  15  (in the embodiment of FIGS. 1,  2 A and  2 B) and by  16  (in the embodiment of FIG.  3 ). 
     In this embodiment the lower adjustable mounting brackets  15  and  16  are used to adjust only the distance between the panel and the door  1 . The adjustable mounting brackets  15  comprise a plate  15 A, with holes, typically only one of which is used to secure the panel  8  to adjustable mounting bracket  15  and hence to door  1 . A mounting screw hole is indicated by  15 B and is aligned with the undercut  5  to enable easy and rapid securing of the panel  8  to door  1 . The adjustable mounting bracket plate  15 A comprises anti-rotation tabs  15 C arranged to bear against the door edge. A threaded hole is provided in the corner reinforcement  7  in which a screw  15 D is rotatably mounted. Plate  15 A is connected to screw  15 D (see detail of FIG. 2B) so that screw  15 D can rotate in reinforcement  7 . When screw  15 D is rotated by, such as by a screwdriver, the plate  1   5 A, and hence panel  8 , are moved axially relative to the door. Alternatively the screw  15 D and the plate  15 A can be rigidly joined together and tabs  15 C eliminated, in which case the adjustment can be made in discrete steps (every half turn of the screw  15 D) by rotating screw  15 D. 
     In the embodiment of the lower adjustable mounting bracket shown in FIG. 3, and indicated by  16 , the reinforcement  7  includes a hole. An axially bored setscrew  16 A with a notch enabling it to be screwed into a suitable threaded hole in reinforcement  7 . The threaded setscrew bears against the panel  8  so that as the setscrew is rotated the distance between the panel and door can be adjusted. After the position of the panel is adjusted by use of setscrew  16 A, the panel can be secured to reinforcement  7  by a screw  16 B screwed into the panel (FIG. 3) through the axial bore in the setscrew. 
     As can be also seen in FIG. 1, the lower portion of door  1  includes a longitudinal channel  20 . The base wall of channel  20  includes tang  20  which extends beyond the lower edge of the door. Tang  20 A includes a perpendicular protuberance  20 B having an axial hole. The outer surface of the tang  20 A is knurled, toothed or roughened at  20 C. The channel  20  is intended to receive a bracket-shaped support  20 D which includes a longitudinal slot at  20 E. The rear face of support  20 D is roughened, toothed or the like to cooperate with the roughened region  20 C of the tang  20 A. Support  20 D can be secured in channel  20  with a screw through the slot  20 E into the hole in the protuberance  20 B. The purpose of the bracket-shaped support  20 D is to support the panel  8  during the mounting operation and to form a stop or support, during the mounting operation, to position the lower edge of the panel and hence the vertical position of panel  8  on door  1  (which, once mounted, can extend beyond the lower side of the door, as is well known). If desired, after the panel installation and adjustment is complete tang  20 A, protuberance  20 B and bracket  20 D can be removed since the panel is fully secured to the door by the screws securing the panel at the adjustable mounting brackets. 
     Mounting and adjusting the panel  8  on the door does not require the use of templates, reference markings or the application, removal and re-application of the panel to and from the door as is required in prior art adjustable mounting systems. 
     In order to mount a panel to a door according to this invention first, support  20 D is adjusted to the required height and secured to channel  20 . Second, the lower edge of the panel  8  is placed on support  20 D. Third, panel  8  is horizontally aligned relative to the edge of door  1  and then pressed against the adjustable mounting brackets  10  to engage the double-sided adhesive tape and against the lower adjustable mounting bracket(s)  15  in correct position side to side on door  1 . Fourth, the panel  8  is secured to adjustable mounting brackets  10 , while held in its correct position by bracket  20 D and the double faced adhesive tape, by means of screws inserted through the undercuts  3  and  4  through holes  12 A,  13 A in the brackets  10  into the panel  8 . Fifth, the height of the panel relative to door  1  is adjusted by operating the adjustment cams  9  (operating on the adjustment brackets  10 ). Sixth, the spacing of panel  8  from the door is adjusted by rotating the screws attached to head  11  rotatably connected to brackets  10 . 
     The lower portion of panel  8  is secured to door  1  by screws passing through the undercuts  5  and the aligned hole in the lower adjustable mounting brackets  15 . Last, the distance between the panel  8  and the lower portion of the door is adjusted. 
     The corner reinforcements  6 ,  7  can be of polyamide (nylon) filled with glass fibre, set in position and then affixed to the door by known gluing or bonding (for example ultrasonic) methods. 
     Alternatively, the corner reinforcements can be co-moulded to reduce the number of operations involved in pre-assembling the door in the factory.