Panel assembly for a home appliance and home appliance therewith

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2025164179-A1
Application number	US-202519035019-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Jan 23, 2025
Priority date	Jul 13, 2021
Publication date	May 22, 2025
Grant date	—

Abstract

A home appliance, e.g. a refrigerator, includes a cabinet forming a space and a door for opening and closing the space, the door including a door body with an insulator filled therein, and a panel assembly mounted in front of the door body, wherein the panel assembly includes a lighting device configured to emit light, a panel forming a front surface of the door and configured to transmit light therethrough, a light guide plate disposed behind the panel and configured to guide light emitted from the lighting device to the panel, and a member disposed between the panel and the light guide plate, including the panel and the light guide plate mounted thereon, and configured to transmit light of the light guide plate through an entire part of the panel.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A refrigerator comprising:
a cabinet having a storage space; and a door including door body configured to open and close the storage space and a panel assembly disposed at the door body, wherein the panel assembly comprises:
a lighting device configured to emit light,
a panel that defines a front surface of the door and through which the light passes the panel;
a light guide plate configured to guide the light toward the panel, and
a member that is made of a material configured to transmit the light and that is formed in a plate shape,
wherein the member is disposed between the panel and the light guide plate, and wherein the light emitted from the light device sequentially passes through the light guide plate, the member, and the panel to cause the panel to glow with a predetermined color.

2 . The refrigerator according to claim 1 , wherein the panel is mounted on the front surface of the member.

3 . The refrigerator according to claim 2 , wherein the panel adheres to a front surface of the member by an adhesive member.

4 . The refrigerator according to claim 2 , wherein the light guide plate is disposed at a rear surface of the member, and
wherein the light guide plate is in non-adhesive contact with a rear of the member.

5 . The refrigerator according to claim 4 , wherein the panel is formed with a larger thickness than the light guide plate.

6 . The refrigerator according to claim 1 , wherein the member includes:
a front part partitions a space between a rear surface of the panel and the front surface of the light guide plate; and side parts extend from lateral sides of the front part toward the door body to couple both sides of the light guide plate.

7 . The refrigerator according to claim 6 , wherein the side parts are exposed outside and defines both side surfaces of the panel assembly.

8 . The refrigerator according to claim 6 , wherein the front part is formed like a plate having a size corresponding to the panel,
wherein the panel is mounted on the front part and to cover the front part.

9 . The refrigerator according to claim 6 , wherein each of the side parts includes:
a first extension that extends from the front part toward the door body; and a second extension that extends from the first extension in a direction parallel to the front part, and wherein a first space is defined by the first extension and the second extension and receives the light guide plate.

10 . The refrigerator according to claim 9 , wherein the first space has an upper opening and a lower opening that are spaced apart from each other in a vertical direction to thereby allow the light guide plate to be inserted into the first space.

11 . The refrigerator according to claim 10 , wherein a distance between the front part and the second extension corresponds to a thickness of the light guide plate.

12 . The refrigerator according to claim 9 , wherein the panel assembly further comprises:
an upper bracket defining a top surface of the panel assembly; and a lower bracket defining a bottom surface of the panel assembly, and wherein the upper bracket is coupled to an upper end of the side part, and the lower bracket is coupled to a lower end of the side part.

13 . The refrigerator according to claim 12 , wherein the lighting device is disposed at the lower bracket, and the lighting device is located lower than a lower end of the panel.

14 . The refrigerator according to claim 12 , further comprising a back cover that couples the upper bracket and the lower bracket and that defines a rear surface of the panel assembly.

15 . The refrigerator according to claim 14 , wherein the back connects both side part and covers light guide plate.

16 . The refrigerator according to claim 12 , wherein each of the side parts further comprises a third extension that is spaced apart from the second extension and protrudes from the first extension in the direction parallel to the front part, and
a second space that is defined between the second extension and the third extension and receives the upper bracket and the lower bracket.

17 . The refrigerator according to claim 1 , wherein the lighting device comprises:
a substrate mounted at a bracket and extended along an end of the light guide plate; and a light source mounted on the substrate to emit the light to the end of the light guide plate, and wherein the light source includes a plurality of RGB LEDs.

18 . The refrigerator according to claim 1 , wherein the door body comprises:
a body plate defining a front surface of the door body; a door liner defining a rear surface of the door body; side decorations that define right and left side surfaces of the door body; an upper cap decoration is connected to an upper end of the side decoration and an upper end of the body plate, is configured to define an upper surface of the door body; a lower cap decoration is connected to a lower end of the side decoration and a lower end of the body plate, is configured to define a lower surface of the door body; and an insulating material filled in a space formed by the body plate, door liner, side decorations, upper cap decoration, and lower cap decoration.

19 . The refrigerator according to claim 18 , wherein a front end of the side decorations and front ends of the upper cap decoration and the lower cap decoration are protruded forward than a front surface of the body plate to define a panel receiving space, and
the panel assembly is detachably mounted into the panel receiving space.

20 . The refrigerator according to claim 18 , wherein a perimeter of the panel assembly is supported by protruding front ends of the side decoration, the upper cap decoration, and the lower cap decoration.

Assignees

• Lg Electronics Inc

Inventors

• Park Jaesung
• Jung Hyesun
• Han Doyoun
• Song Seongmin

Classifications

• G02B6/0088

  of the light guide or other optical sheets in the package · CPC title

• G02B6/0095

  Light guides as housings, housing portions, shelves, doors, tiles, windows, or the like · CPC title

• F25D2400/18

  Aesthetic features · CPC title

• F25D2327/001

  Lighting arrangements on the external side of the refrigerator, freezer or cooling box · CPC title

• F25D27/00

  Lighting arrangements (in general F21) · CPC title