Side access panel for an appliance

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11156396-B2
Application number	US-201916729832-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 30, 2019
Priority date	Dec 30, 2019
Publication date	Oct 26, 2021
Grant date	Oct 26, 2021

Abstract

An appliance cabinet includes first and second sidewalls. A rear wall is disposed between the first and second sidewalls. A machine compartment is defined by a lower portion of the rear wall. An attachment feature defines openings and is coupled to at least one of the first and second sidewalls. A side access panel is selectively coupled to at least one of the first and second sidewalls via fasteners extending through the openings defined by the attachment feature.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An appliance, comprising:
a base;
a wrapper coupled to the base, the wrapper having a rear planar surface, sidewalls, and a curved surface;
a machine compartment defined by the base and the curved surface of the wrapper;
an attachment feature operably coupled to the curved surface of the wrapper;
a selectively removable side access panel operably coupled to the sidewalls of the wrapper via the attachment feature to define a single access point to the machine compartment, the side access panel including:
a brim extending toward the machine compartment;
a base edge proximate to the base;
an arcuate portion defining apertures and operably coupled to the attachment feature; and
a central body having an interior surface and an exterior surface, the interior surface defining support ribs; and

a controller operably coupled to the interior surface of the side access panel.

2. The appliance of claim 1 , wherein the attachment feature includes a frame and a support extending between a top and a bottom of the frame, and wherein the frame is operably coupled to the curved surface and the base.

3. The appliance of claim 2 , wherein the side access panel includes a retention tab removably coupled to the frame to provide selective access to the machine compartment.

4. The appliance of claim 1 , wherein the wrapper includes projections outwardly extending from the curved surface toward the machine compartment, and wherein the attachment feature includes coupling features that couple to the projections.

5. The appliance of claim 1 , wherein the side access panel further includes an arcuate support rib positioned between an edge of the arcuate portion and the central body.

6. The appliance of claim 1 , wherein the exterior surface of the central body defines a grasping portion of the side access panel.

7. The appliance of claim 1 , wherein the attachment feature is a bracket that partially extends along a peripheral edge of the curved surface.

8. An appliance cabinet, comprising:
a body having a rear planar surface, sidewalls, and a curved surface that at least partially defines a machine compartment;
a base coupled to the body;
an attachment feature coupled to the curved surface of the body, the attachment feature defining a retention slot; and
a selectively removable side access panel removably coupled to the sidewalls via the attachment feature to define at least one access point to the machine compartment, the side access panel including:
a central body; and
a retention tab selectively coupled to the attachment feature via the retention slot; and further comprising a controller coupled to an interior surface of the side access panel.

9. The appliance cabinet of claim 8 , wherein the attachment feature is disposed along an edge of the curved surface.

10. The appliance cabinet of claim 8 , wherein the attachment feature is a frame and the retention slot is defined along a perimeter of the frame.

11. The appliance cabinet of claim 8 , wherein the body defines a vacuum insulated structure.

12. The appliance cabinet of claim 8 , wherein the side access panel has an arcuate portion selectively coupled to the attachment feature, and wherein the attachment feature is operably coupled to an edge of the curved surface.

13. The appliance cabinet of claim 8 , wherein the attachment feature includes supports extending from a top of the attachment feature to a bottom of the attachment feature, and wherein the retention slot is defined along each of the supports.

14. An appliance cabinet, comprising:
first and second sidewalls;
a rear wall disposed between the first and second sidewalls;
a machine compartment defined by a lower portion of the rear wall;
an attachment feature defining openings and coupled to at least one of the first and second sidewalls, wherein the attachment feature is a frame that defines an arcuate edge and a reinforcement segment, and wherein the frame has flanges extending toward the machine compartment, the frame including supports extending from a top of the frame to a bottom of the frame and from the arcuate edge to the reinforcement segment to define a lattice structure; and
a side access panel selectively coupled to at least one of the first and second sidewalls via fasteners extending through the openings defined by the attachment feature.

15. The appliance cabinet of claim 14 , wherein the attachment feature further includes a first attachment feature and a second attachment feature, and wherein the side access panel further includes a first side access panel selectively coupled to the first attachment feature and a second side access panel selectively coupled to the second attachment feature.

16. The appliance cabinet of claim 15 , wherein the first attachment feature removably couples the first side access panel to the first sidewall, and wherein the second attachment feature removably couples the second side access panel to the second sidewall.

17. The appliance cabinet of claim 14 , wherein the arcuate edge of the attachment feature is operably coupled to a curved surface defined by at least one of the first and second sidewalls.

Assignees

• Whirlpool Co

Inventors

• Gochika Koteswara Rao
• Kapure Narendra A
• Navalgund Manjunathraddi
• Sambrekar Manoj T

Classifications

• F25D2323/00277

  from the side · CPC title

• F25D23/003 Primary

  for cooling refrigerating machinery · CPC title

• F25D23/006 Primary

  for mounting refrigerating machinery components · CPC title

• F25D2201/14

  using subatmospheric pressure · CPC title

• F25D23/06

  Walls (F25D23/08 takes precedence; containers with thermal insulation B65D81/38) · CPC title