Abstract:
An appliance cabinet side wall is secured to a front frame member by a first mechanical fastening element of a fastening system. Subsequently, a trim piece is attached along the side wall through the use of a second mechanical fastening element which is threadably connected to the first fastening element. Most preferably, a blind-type rivnut is utilized to prevent any foam, used in insulating the cabinet, from leaking. Utilizing multi-functioning mechanical fastening elements minimizes the number of assembly components, eases assembly and enables the trim piece to be easily removed and/or replaced in case of damage, or even if the consumer desires to simply utilize a trim piece of another color or design.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    1. Field of the Invention  
           [0002]    The present invention pertains to the art of appliances and, more particularly, to a fastening system for use in interconnecting, during varying stages of an overall assembly process, main and trim components of an overall appliance cabinet.  
           [0003]    2. Discussion of the Prior Art  
           [0004]    In constructing an appliance cabinet, particularly a refrigerator cabinet, it is highly desirable to simplify the overall assembly of the cabinet to reduce manufacturing costs, yet it is imperative that the cabinet be structurally sound in order to counteract loads exerted thereon during use of the appliance. Mainly due to cost efficiencies and flexibility in workmanship, it has been commonplace to utilize sheet metal in the forming of most refrigerator cabinets in the market today. Since the sheet metal is thin and rather high loads are often placed on the cabinet, particularly by the opening and closing of a weighted down refrigerator door, a fair amount of effort has been applied in this art to provide reinforcement for such a refrigerator cabinet. Of course, an additional concern is the ease of assembly of the cabinet as a whole.  
           [0005]    With this in mind, it has heretofore been proposed to form the sides and top of a refrigerator cabinet shell out of a single piece of bent sheet metal and then attach rear and bottom walls. Thereafter, the shell is structurally reinforced in an attempt to avoid deformation during use. Such known reinforcing arrangements generally take the form of either providing multiple, individually secured reinforcement members or a unitary reinforcing frame at a front opening of the cabinet shell. At least the sides of the shell are attached to the frame to integrate the overall assembly. To perform this assembly operation, either various holes provided in both the cabinet shell and the reinforcement member(s) must be aligned to receive mechanical fasteners or systematic welding operations are performed. In either case, these connections are designed to perform the sole function of interconnecting the shell to the reinforcement structure.  
           [0006]    In today&#39;s market, it is becoming more popular to recess refrigerators between adjacent cabinetry or the like in a kitchen area in order to provide a built-in look which is considered aesthetically appealing. Since front doors of a refrigerator must be spaced from any adjacent structure in order to enable the free pivoting of the doors, the refrigerator must project from the adjacent structure to some degree. Unfortunately, the projecting of the refrigerator cabinet in this manner exposes, to a certain degree, frontal portions of the side walls of the cabinet which is considered to detract from the built-in appearance.  
           [0007]    To compensate for this negative effect, it has been proposed to provide cosmetic trim pieces along exposed side portions of the cabinet to blend the sides with the adjacent structure. In such known arrangements, the trim pieces are individually attached to the cabinet shell through slip-fit or dedicated mechanical connections. Since both sides of the shell and the trim pieces need to be attached to the frame structure, all at a frontal peripheral portion of the cabinet shell, a fairly high number of connection locations need to be defined in a relatively small zone which can adversely affect the structural integrity. In addition, the need for the unrelated connections in this peripheral portion simply adds to the overall assembly time.  
           [0008]    Based on the above, there exists a need in the art for an improved assembly arrangement for a refrigerator cabinet which minimizes the cost and time associated with connecting both side portions of a shell to one or more frontal frame members and trim pieces to the side portions.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0009]    The present invention is particularly directed to a fastening system used to secure an appliance cabinet side wall or panel to a front frame member and in subsequently securing a trim piece to the frame member along the side wall. In general, the attachment of the cabinet side wall occurs prior to a foaming insulation process, while the trim piece is attached at a much later assembly stage. Regardless, the fastening stages are interrelated through the use of at least certain common fastening elements, of the fastening system.  
           [0010]    In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention, rivnuts are used to secure the cabinet front frame and each side wall together. After assembly of the cabinet shell, the foaming operation is performed. Most preferably, blind-type rivnuts are utilized to prevent any foam insulation leakage directly through or around the perimeter of the rivnuts. After the foaming process, a threaded internal portion of each rivnut is utilized to attach a respective perimeter trim piece to the cabinet shell through a respective screw. Utilizing screws to attach the trim piece enables the trim piece to be easily removed and/or replaced in case of damage, or even if the consumer desires to simply utilize a trim piece of another color or design.  
           [0011]    Additional objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more fully apparent from the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment thereof, when taken in conjunction with the drawings wherein like reference numerals refer to corresponding parts in the several views.  
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0012]    [0012]FIG. 1 illustrates a recessed refrigerator cabinet assembly incorporating trim pieces fastened in accordance with the present invention;  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the refrigerator cabinet assembly of the invention;  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 3 is an enlarged, exploded view of a portion of the refrigerator cabinet assembly of FIG. 2 showing the components of the overall fastening system in detail; and  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 4 is a top, assembled view of the fastening system of FIG. 3. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
       [0016]    With initial reference to FIG. 1, a refrigerator constructed in accordance with the present invention is generally indicated at  2 . Refrigerator  2  is shown to include a freezer door  6  having an associated handle  7  and a fresh food door  10  having an associated handle  11 . In the embodiment shown, refrigerator  2  is of the recessed type such that, essentially, only freezer and fresh food door  6  and  10  project forward of a wall  15 . The remainder of refrigerator  2  is recessed within wall  15  in a manner similar to a plurality of surrounding cabinets generally indicated at  18 - 23 . Refrigerator  2  also includes a plurality of peripheral trim pieces  28 - 30 . In accordance with the most preferred embodiment of the invention, trim pieces  28 - 30  are formed of aluminum. However, other materials, such as plastic, could also be utilized. The configuration and mounting of trim pieces  28 - 30  form an aspect of the present invention as will be detailed more fully below. Finally, it should be noted that refrigerator  2  is preferably designed with main components of a refrigeration system positioned behind an access panel  32  arranged directly above trim piece  29  as clearly shown in this Figure.  
         [0017]    Although refrigerator  2  can take various forms, FIG. 2 represents, in exploded view form, the main cabinet components of refrigerator  2 . As illustrated, refrigerator  2  includes a front frame  40  including a plurality of laterally spaced upstanding frame members  43 - 45  which are interconnected by upper and lower cross frame members  49  and  50 . Refrigerator  2  also includes a freezer compartment box  55  defined by interconnected side, bottom, top and back panels  57 - 61 . In a similar fashion, a fresh food compartment box  65  is formed from side, bottom, top and back panels  67 - 71 . As freezer compartment box  55  and fresh food compartment box  65  are preferably formed as separate units, they are integrated into an overall refrigerator cabinet assembly by front frame  40  and an outer shell as defined by side walls  80  and  81 , a back wall  82  which is preferably defined by four separate panels  82   a - 82   d , a bottom wall  83 , a top cover member  84  and a front cover member  85 . As will be detailed more fully below, front frame  40  is adapted to be attached to forward portions of each of side walls  80  and  81  such that, front frame  40 , freezer compartment box  55 , fresh food compartment box  65 , side walls  80 ,  81 , back wall  82 , bottom wall  83 , top cover member  84  and front cover member  85  are all integrated together. Also provided about openings (not separately labeled) defined by front frame  40  are associated peripheral breaker elements  90  and  91  that are adapted to cooperate with freezer door  6  and fresh food door  10  in defining sealed freezer and fresh food compartments within boxes  55  and  65  respectively.  
         [0018]    For the sake of simplicity, the various components of a conventional refrigeration circuit have not been shown. However, with this configuration of refrigerator  2 , the various compressor, condenser, evaporator and the like components are preferably supported upon top panel  60  of freezer compartment box  55 , as well as top cover member  84 . In accordance with the most preferred embodiment of the invention, the evaporator is supported above freezer compartment box  55  while the compressor and condenser are located above fresh food compartment box  65 , with each of these components being accessible upon removing access panel  32 .  
         [0019]    The present invention is particularly directed to the preferred manner in which front frame  40  is interconnected to each of side walls  80  and  81 , top cover member  84  and front cover member  85 , along with the manner in which trim pieces  28 - 30  are also attached to these components. Specifically, with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4, there is shown, by way of example, a section of side wall  80 , a portion of upstanding frame member  43  and a section of trim piece  28 . The manner in which these components are interconnected will now be described in detail and it is to be understood that corresponding connections are utilized for the other, identified components. As shown, upstanding frame member  43  generally takes the form of a U-shaped channel defined by inner and outer legs  104  and  105  which are interconnected by a front leg  106 . Outer leg  105  wraps around a front portion  108  of side wall  80 . Trim piece  28 , outer leg  105  and side wall  80  are formed with respective, aligned apertures  110 - 112 . Trim piece  28  includes a main body  116  formed with a plurality of elongated spaced ribs  119 - 121  projecting toward side panel  80  and outer leg  105 . Spaced forward from ribs  119 - 121 , main body  116  has projecting therefrom a flange  124 . The forwardmost end  128  of trim piece  28  is in-turned so as to define a channel  130 .  
         [0020]    The manner in which front frame  40 , sidewall  80  and trim piece  28  are interconnected together in accordance with the present invention includes the use of a rivnut  138 . Rivnut  138  includes a first fastening element  140  having a cylindrical main body  142 . A first end  144  of main body  142  is flared, while a second end  149  is tapered. First end  144  is preferably open such that main body  142  defines an internal bore  154  that is threaded. On the other hand, second end  149  is preferably closed such that rivnut  138  is of the blind-type. As also shown, main body  142  of first fastening element  140  includes an outer splined portion  155  directly adjacent the flared first end  144 . Rivnut  138  also includes a second mechanical fastening element  160  that takes the form of a flat-head screw.  
         [0021]    At this point, it should be noted that rivnuts are known in the art. However, in accordance with the present invention, each rivnut  138  is advantageously utilized to interconnect multiple components of refrigerator  2  during different stages of the overall construction, while minimizing components and overall assembly time and cost. In any event, cylindrical main body  142  is adapted to interconnect outer leg  105  of front frame  40  to sidewall  80  by extending through apertures  111  and  112  respectively and then being pressed into place such that both outer leg  105  and sidewall  80  become positioned directly adjacent to flared first end  144  along outer spline portion  155 . A tool is then used to collapse rivnut  138  at outer spline portion  155  to form a throat  170  that holds outer leg  105  and sidewall  80  together between the flared first end  144  and the bulging section of outer spline portion  155 . This configuration is clearly shown in FIG. 4. Due to the tapering of second end  149 , the insertion of cylindrical main body  142  through, as well as the alignment of, apertures  111  and  112  is enhanced. Furthermore, since second end  149  of main body  142  is closed, foam insulation can be injected between compartment boxes  55 ,  56  and sidewalls  80 ,  81 , backwall  82 , top cover member  84  and front cover member  85  for insulation purposes. The use of foamed insulation is also widely known in the art of refrigerators and therefore this operation will not be discussed in detail. However, it will be readily recognized that the foam can essentially be injected at one location and will meander through all cracks and crevices. Thereafter, when the foam cures, considerable structural integrity is given to the overall refrigerator  2 . Given that second end  149  is closed, injected foam will not be able to leak through cylindrical main body  142 .  
         [0022]    During a latter stage of assembly, trim piece  28  can be positioned such that each aperture  110  provided therein gets aligned with a respective internal bore  154  such that second fastening element  160  can be threadably attached to first fastening element  140 . Therefore, in this manner, cylindrical main body  142  functions not only as the fastening member between front frame  40  and sidewall  80 , but also as an anchor for trim piece  28 . When trim piece  28  is secured in this fashion, spacer ribs  119 - 121  accommodate flared first end  144  of first fastening element  140  and abut against a respective one of sidewall  80  and outer leg  105  as clearly shown in FIG. 4. In addition, flange  124  extends in front of and preferably abuts front leg  106  of front frame  40  to visually close off the gap created by spacer ribs  119 - 121 . Although not specifically shown in FIG. 4, it should be realized that the area forward of front leg  106  and to the side of trim piece  28  is later occupied by freezer door  6 . Therefore, the thickness of freezer door  6 , along with an associated sealing breaker (not shown), is used to define the preferred extent to which trim piece  28  projects forward of front frame  40 . With the inclusion of channel  130 , a decorative panel  165  can be readily connected to the overall refrigerator  2  in order to blend with a remainder of cabinets  18 - 23 . That is, trim pieces  28 - 30  and/or decorative panel  165  can be of different colors which can be selected by the consumer. In any event, the overall use of trim pieces  28 - 30  and decorative panel  165  provides a further built-in look to refrigerator  2  which is considered to be advantageous in accordance with the present invention.  
         [0023]    Although described with respect to a preferred embodiment of the invention, it should be readily understood that various changes and/or modifications can be made to the invention without departing from the spirit thereof. Particularly, it should be realized that the fastening system of the invention has applicability to various types of refrigerators, as well as other appliances. In any event, the invention is only intended to be limited by the scope of the following claims.