Double cabinet vacuum insulated refrigerator with a structural foamed mullion

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10907890-B2
Application number	US-201616090679-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 14, 2016
Priority date	Apr 14, 2016
Publication date	Feb 2, 2021
Grant date	Feb 2, 2021

Abstract

An insulation system for an appliance includes a first vacuum insulated structure having a first set of sidewalls that define a first refrigerating compartment, a second vacuum insulated structure having a second set of sidewalls that define a second refrigerating compartment and a medial insulation structure having a rigid perimeter wall. The rigid perimeter wall includes a front portion that defines at least one hinge support adapted to support an appliance door. The rigid perimeter wall defines an insulating cavity that is filled with an insulating material. The first vacuum insulated structure engages a first edge of the perimeter wall and the second vacuum insulated structure engages a second edge of the perimeter wall.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An insulation system for an appliance, comprising:
a first vacuum insulated structure having a first set of sidewalls that includes a first-structure inner liner that defines a first refrigerating compartment and a first-structure outer wrapper;
a second vacuum insulated structure having a second set of sidewalls that includes a second-structure inner wrapper that defines a second refrigerating compartment and a second-structure outer wrapper; and
a medial insulation structure having a rigid perimeter wall that extends around an outer perimeter of the medial insulation structure, wherein the rigid perimeter wall includes a front portion that defines at least one hinge support adapted to support an appliance door, wherein:
the rigid perimeter wall includes a first edge and a second edge that define an insulating cavity that is filled with an insulating material, wherein the insulating material is contained within the rigid perimeter wall and between the first and second edges; and
the first vacuum insulated structure engages the first edge of the rigid perimeter wall and the second vacuum insulated structure engages the second edge of the rigid perimeter wall to separate the first-structure and second-structure inner liners and the first-structure and second-structure outer wrappers from one another.

2. The insulation system of claim 1 , wherein the first vacuum insulated structure includes an upper rigid support that defines an upper hinge support adapted to at least partially support the appliance door.

3. The insulation system of claim 1 , wherein the rigid perimeter wall includes a cross section defining a mullion wall, an upper flange and a lower flange, wherein the at least one hinge support is defined in the mullion wall, wherein the first vacuum insulated structure engages the upper flange and the second vacuum insulated structure engages the lower flange.

4. The insulation system of claim 2 , wherein the first-structure inner liner and the first-structure outer wrapper are coupled together at a first-structure trim breaker that spans therebetween and defines a seal of the first vacuum insulated structure.

5. The insulation system of claim 4 , wherein the upper rigid support is attached to the exterior of the first-structure outer wrapper.

6. The insulation system of claim 4 , wherein the second-structure inner liner and the second-structure outer wrapper are coupled together at a second-structure trim breaker that spans therebetween and defines a seal of the second vacuum insulated structure.

7. The insulation system of claim 1 , wherein the rigid perimeter wall includes an insulation port through which the insulating material is disposed within the insulating cavity.

8. The insulation system of claim 7 , wherein the insulating material is a foam-type injected insulation.

9. The insulation system of claim 6 , wherein the first-structure and second-structure trim breakers are injection molded members that form hermetic seals of the first and second vacuum insulated structures, respectively.

10. An appliance comprising:
a first vacuum insulated structure defining a first refrigerating compartment, the first vacuum insulated structure having an injection molded first-structure trim breaker extending between a first-structure inner liner and a first-structure outer wrapper of the first vacuum insulated structure;
at least one door that is operable to at least partially enclose the first refrigerating compartment; and
an interior mullion having a medial insulation structure with a rigid perimeter wall, wherein:
the interior mullion further defines the first refrigerating compartment;
the rigid perimeter wall is a continuous perimeter wall that defines a metallic outer frame of the interior mullion, the rigid perimeter wall including a front portion that defines at least one hinge support adapted to support the at least one door;
upper and lower flanges extend from the rigid perimeter wall to define an insulating cavity that is at least partially filled with an insulating material; and
the first-structure outer wrapper abuts the upper flange of the rigid perimeter wall and remains separated from the lower flange.

11. The appliance of claim 10 , further comprising:
a second vacuum insulated structure defining a second refrigerating compartment, the second vacuum insulated structure having an injection molded second-structure trim breaker extending between a second-structure inner liner and a second-structure outer wrapper of the second vacuum insulated structure, wherein the interior mullion at least partially defines the second refrigerating compartment, and wherein the second structure outer wrapper abuts the lower flange of the rigid perimeter wall and remains separated from the upper flange, and wherein the rigid perimeter wall separates the first and second refrigerating compartments, wherein the interior mullion entirely separates the first and second vacuum insulated structures and the respective outer wrappers of the first and second vacuum insulated structures.

12. The appliance of claim 10 , wherein the rigid perimeter wall includes a mullion wall and an upper flange that engages the first vacuum insulated structure.

13. The appliance of claim 11 , wherein the rigid perimeter wall includes a lower flange that engages the second vacuum insulated structure.

14. The appliance of claim 10 , wherein the at least one door includes right and left French doors, and wherein the at least one hinge support includes right and left hinge supports that support the right and left French doors, respectively.

15. The appliance of claim 10 , wherein the first vacuum insulated structure includes an upper rigid support that defines an upper hinge support adapted to at least partially support the at least one door.

Assignees

• Whirlpool Co

Inventors

• Deka Lakshya J

Classifications

• F16L59/065

  using vacuum (F16L59/075 takes precedence) · CPC title

• F16L59/07

  the air layer being enclosed by one or more layers of insulation · CPC title

• F25D23/062

  defining a cabinet · CPC title

• F25D11/02

  with cooling compartments at different temperatures · CPC title

• F25D23/069 Primary

  Cooling space dividing partitions · CPC title