Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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BACKGROUND AND BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Presently, liners and gaskets are attached to the
inside surface of a refrigerator door using threaded fasteners
and reinforcing strips of some type. This technique requires
that a workman deflect a portion of the gasket out of the way,
position the reinforcing strip and then install 60 or more
fasteners using a power tool to secure the two gaskets to the
two doors which cover the cooling and freezing compartments.
Needless to say, such a fastening technique requires a large
amount of time for the laborer to complete and does not readily
adapt itself to automation. Further, when the gasket loses its
flexibility, tears, or the like, and requires replacement, this
laborious, time consuming procedure must be repeated twice in
removing the old gasket and replacing it with a new one.
The present invention overcomes the above problems
by providing a spring retainer strip that can be positioned in
either of two staging positions and quickly and easily moved
to the other staging position. This permits easy lnstallation
and replacement of gaskets and/or liners.
~3 The spring retainer strip in its broader aspect
comprises an elongate body portion with a length which is
substantially equal to the length of the gasket to be secured
and a width substantially less than the gasket width. A
plurality of spring fingers are spaced along and extend from
a first side face of the body portion, the fingers being
adapted to be received in apertures in both the refrigerator
door panel and in the liner which apertures have substantially
the same spacing as the fingers. Each of the fingers has a
first segment extending generally ou'cwardly from the body
portion and a second segment extending at least partially in the
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direction of the body portion. Each of the fingers and
the body portion is positionable in either of a first or a
second position by the spring fingers co-acting with the
door panel and the apertures therein. In the first position
the fingers retain the liner against lateral movement while
permitting positioning adjustments of the gasket. In the
second position, the body portion and the second segment
cooperate to engage the liner and the gasket to the
refrigerator door panel. Means engagable from a second
side face of the body portion opposite to the first side
face permits the spring retainer strip to be moved from the
second position to the first position to be released to permit
gasket and liner removal, replacement and adjustment.
More particularly, the spring fingers may be general-
ly U-shaped and can take any of several forms
including that of a bi-stable spring
...
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member or of a resilient expansion finger which, in its retention
mode, has a dimension which exceeds the length of the opening it
occupies. The spacing of the spring fingers corresponds to the
spacing of openings in both the panel of the refrigerator door and
in the liner. Each spring strip configuration has means to permit
the clamping force exerted by the strip to be easily disengaged.
This spring retainer strip permits a novel assembly method
to be employed. The liner can be placed with its apertures
generally overlying those in the door panel. The spring strips
can then be positioned in a so called first staging position in which
the spring fingers are inserted in the aligned apertures of the liner
and the door panel and serve to retain the liner against shifting. In
this position, the body portion of each of the retainer strips lies at
some distance from the side face of the door permitting the gasket
to be positioned with a portion thereof underlying the body of each
strip. The strips may then be shifted to a second staging position
in which the gasket and liner are resiliently but firmly clamped to
the side face of the refrigerator. Easy gasket replacement can be
effected by merely shifting the spring strips back to their first
staging positions utilizing the means provided.
Other features and advantages of the present invention will be
better understood after a reading of the following specification taken
in conjunction with the appended drawings.
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BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE D~AWINGS
Fig. 1 is a top elevational view of a portion of one embodiment
of the spring retainer strip of the current invention;
Fig. 2 is a end cross-sectional view of the Fig. 1 embodiment
shown in the first staging position;
Fig. 3 is a end cross-sectional view taken along lines III-III of
Fig. 4 showing the retainer strip assembled in the second staging
position;
Fig. 4 is a front elevational view of a portion of the refrigerator
door panel with parts broken away;
Fig. 5 is a end cross-sectional view showing how the retainer
strip may be returned to the first staging position to permit replace-
ment of the gasket and liner, appearing with Figs. 1, 2 and 3;
Fig. 6 is a end cross-sectional view of a second embodiment of
the present invention;
Fig. 7 is a top elevational view of a portion of the spring strip
shown in the Fig. 6 embodiment;
Fig. 8 is a side elevational viewin partial cross-section of the
second embodiment;
Fig. 9 is a top elevational view of a portion of yet a third
embodiment of the present invention;
Fig. 10 is a side elevation of the third embodiment of the spring
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retainer strip as seen from line X-X in Fig. 9;
Fig. ll is an end elevational view of the third embodiment as
viewed along line XI-XI in Fig. 9.
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DETAILED DESCRIPTION
In each of the Figures, the spring retainer strip is shown
generally at 10. In the embodiment depicted in Figs. 1 - 5, each
of the spring strips comprises a bi-stable spring. ~longate
body portion 12 has a length which substantially corresponds to
that of gasket l4 but whose width is substantially less than that of
the gasket. A plurality of U-shaped spring fingers 16 are each
joined to the body portion 12 by one arm 17 of the "U" and project
from one side face 11 of the body 12. The other arm 18 of each "Il"
is the means which engage the rear side 19 of the inside panel 20
of the refrigerator door through a plurality of spaced apertures 22
and through spaced apertures 26 in liner 24 to assist in the clamping.
As shown in Fig. 2, the bi-stable spring strip 10 is capable
of remaining in a first staging position in which the body portion
12 is spaced some distance from the front side 21 of the inside
panel 20 of the door. In this manner, gasket 14 can be positioned
around the periphery of the door panel 20 with the portion 15 thereof
underlying the body 12 of of spring strip 10. The bi-stable spring
strip 10 is then moved to its second staging position in which the
gasket 14 and liner 24 are clampingly engaged to the front side 21
of the inside panel 20 as shown in Fig. 1. This movement can be
accomplished by engaging body portion with a structural member
~not shown) with sufficient force to cause the spring strip to snap
to its second position.
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Of course, the gasket and liner can be easily replaced by
deflecting the spring strip back to the first staging position as
shown in Fig. 5. Means are provided permitting movement to said
first staging position to release the clamping, said means being
engageable from the side face 13 of the strip which is opposite to
the one from which fingers 16 extend. In this embodiment, said
means comprises a plurality of slots 28 in the body 12 which may
be engaged by a tool such as that shown generally at 30 or by a
conventional screwdriver 31 to deflect the bi-stable spring to the
first staging position and release the clamping.
A second embodiment is depicted in Figs. 6 - 8. In this
embodiment, the generally U-shaped spring finger 16 is again
attached to body portion 12 by one of the arms of the "U". However,
the other of the "U" arms 18 is configured to provide a projecting
abutment 32. The arms of the spring finger 16 will collapse toward
one another as the strip 10 is pushed through apertures 22, re-
expanding to a size larger than that of the opening once the projection
is through.
In this embodiment the first staging position is as shown in
dotted lines in Fig. 6. The spring finger is wedged in aperture 22
by means of its one arm 17 and projection 32. Liner 24 is secured
against lateral displacement and body portion 12 is spaced from
front side 21 of the door panel 20 such that the gasket 14 may be
positioned around the periphery of the door. As in the previous
embodiment, the spring strips 10 may now be engaged by a structural
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member (not shown) to either, individually sequentially or nearly
simultaneously, move the strips to the second staging position in
which the gasket 14 and liner 24 are resiliently but firmly clamped
to the door panel 20.
In this embodiment, the means for releasing the clamping to
permit gasket replacement compriees a portion 34 of leg 18 which
extends above the surface of the body 12. In addition, a recess
36 is provided in the body 12 to provide a surface against which
leverage may be applied to extension 34 by a screwdriver or the
- 10 like, to collapse the expansion finger 16. Extension 34 preferably
has a partial slit 38 to permit upward leverage as well as inward
leverage. This will facilitate movement of retainer strip 10 to its
first staging position for gasket or liner replacement.
Yet a third embodiment is depicted in Figs. 9-11. This embodi-
ment is similar to the previous one with but two exceptions. The
expansion fingers 16 are turned ninety degrees with respect to the
body 12. This orientation of expansion fingers 16 is preferred due
to the material savings. Further, in this embodiment the unclamping
means compri~es a hook 40 formed atop arm 18. The hook will
permit both upward and inward leverage to be applied as in the
previous embodiment so that the retainer strip may be moved to
the first staging position.
In utilizing the assembly method of the present invention, the
liner 24 is positioned on (or adjacent, depending whether the door
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panel is extending horizontally or vertically) the panel 20 and the
two sets of apertures 26 and 22 are aligned. The spring retainer
strips 10 are positioned with the fingers 16 positioned within the
apertures and the body portion 12 spaced from the front side 21 of
the refrigerator door panel 20 (in the first staging position). Gasket
14 may then be positioned with a portion 15 of the gasket underlying
the body portion 12. The retainer strips 10 are then moved to a
second postion either sequentially, or preferredly, simultaneously,
by exerting a force on the strips (i. e., the strips are moved to the
second staging position). In this position, the spring retainer
strips resiliently, but firmly clamp the gasket and liner to the
refrigerator door.
Various changes, modifications or alternatives will become
apparent to those skilled in the art after reading the foregoing
disclosure. Accordingly, it is intended that all such changes,
modifications or alternatives as come within the scope of the
appended claims be considered part of this invention.
