Refrigerator with Separately Formed Cooling System and Insulated Cabinet

This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 63/397,434 filed Aug. 12, 2022, which is herein expressly incorporated by reference.

The present disclosure relates generally to refrigerators and, more particularly, to a refrigerator including a cooling system formed separately from an insulated cabinet and functionally mountable to the insulated cabinet.

This section merely provides background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.

Vehicles, including but not limited to, recreational vehicles (“RVs”, in the United States and “Caravans” in Europe), tractor trailers, airplanes, boats, trains and the like, often incorporate refrigerators for the comfort and convenience of the occupants. For example, recreational vehicle campers often find it convenient, or even necessary, to refrigerate food, drinks, and medicine during their journey and while at their campsites. While many prepared camp sites in parks and commercial campgrounds provide for electrical outlets, many do not. Moreover, many highly desirable camping locations exist outside of these prepared sites. Thus, a popular solution has been to equip the recreational vehicle with a built-in refrigerator.

It is generally known to use both compressor refrigerators and absorption refrigerators for mobile applications. Compressor refrigerators and absorption refrigerators conventionally include a cooling system that is integrally formed with an insulated or foamed cabinet. With the exception of servicing, the cooling system is not separable from the foam cabinet.

Known refrigerators for mobile applications and the like have proven to be generally suitable for their intended purposes. A refrigerator having an integrally formed cooling system, however, leads to manufacturing limitations. For example, it is not practical for a first company to manufacture the cooling system and a second company to manufacture the cabinet for subsequent assembly with the cooling system.

This section provides a general summary of the disclosure, and is not a comprehensive disclosure of its full scope or all of its features.

The present teachings provide a refrigerator having a cooling system formed separately from an insulated cabinet and functionally mountable to the insulated cabinet.

According to one particular aspect of the present teachings provide a refrigerator including an insulated cabinet, a cooling system formed separately from the insulated cabinet, and a clamping arrangement including first and second clamping elements sealing a refrigerated compartment of the cabinet from the cooling system. The cooling system is functionally attached to the insulated cabinet after manufacture of the insulated cabinet and the cooling system.

According to another particular aspect of the present teachings provide a method of manufacturing a refrigerator including forming an insulated cabinet and separately forming a cooling system. The method further includes clamping the cooling system to the insulated cabinet with a clamping arrangement including first and second clamping elements to seal a refrigerated compartment of the cabinet from the cooling system to functionally attach the cooling system to the insulated cabinet and insulate the refrigerated compartment.

Further areas of applicability will become apparent from the description provided herein. The description and specific examples in this summary are intended for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.

The following description is merely exemplary in nature and is not intended to limit the present disclosure, its application, or uses. It should be understood that throughout the drawings, corresponding reference numerals indicate like or corresponding parts and features.

With reference toof the drawings, a first embodiment of a refrigeratorconstructed in accordance with the present teachings is shown. The refrigeratorgenerally includes a cooling systemformed separately from an insulated cabinet, the cooling systemconfigured for functional mounting to the insulated cabinet. In one particular embodiment, the cooling systemis a compressor cooling system and the refrigeratoris a mobile, refrigerator for a recreational vehicle, tractor trailer, airplane, boat, train or the like. The present teachings, however, are not limited to any particular type of refrigerator.

In the embodiment illustrated, the cooling systemis particularly design to be positioned under the insulated cabinetand an evaporatorof the refrigeratorprotrudes into a refrigerated compartment of the refrigeratorthrough a hole under the cabinet. As particularly shown in, the evaporatoris inserted into the refrigerated compartment with a turning or rotational motion as indicated by arrow A inand further discussed below.

The cooling systemmay be clamped to the insulated housingwith a clamping arrangement. As shown in the drawings, the clamping arrangementmay include first and second clamping elementsA andB. In accordance with one particular embodiment, the cooling systemmay be mounted relative to a lower wallof the refrigerated compartment. It will be understood, however, that the present teachings are no limited in this regard and may be used in connection with a mounting relative to other walls. As shown in, the first clamping element may defined by a bracketA arranged on a first side of the lower wallof the refrigerated compartment. A second clamping element may be defined by a capB carried by the cooling systemand located on a second, opposite side of the lower wallof the refrigerated compartment.

The second clamping elementB be carried by the cooling system. As shown throughout the drawings, the second clamping elementB may be configured to receive a portion of the cooling system. In the particular embodiment illustrated, the cooling systemhas an upper portion with a rectangular shape. The second clamping elementB, which may be constructed of plastic or other suitable material, may be rectangularly shaped to receive the upper, rectangular portion of the cooling system. The second clamping elementB has an openingthrough which the evaporatorof the cooling systemextends. The second clamping elementB defines a flat surface or flange that peripherally surrounds the evaporatorand upon installation of the cooling systemabuts a lower sideof the lower wallof the refrigerated compartment of the refrigerator. The second clamping elementB may be secured to the cooling systemwith fasteners, adhesive or any manner well known in the art.

The first clamping elementA, which may be similarly constructed of plastic or other suitable material, may define a flangefor abutting the lower wallof the refrigerated compartment and an opening for receiving the evaporatorof the cooling system. The first clamping elementA may be secured to the second clamping elementB after insertion of the evaporatorof the cooling systemthrough an openingin the lower wallof the refrigerated compartment. For example, the first clamping elementA may be attached to the second clamping elementB with a plurality of fasteners. As such, the wall(e.g., the lower wallin the embodiment illustrated) of the refrigerated compartment is captured or sandwiched between the flangeof the first clamping elementA and the flangeof the second clamping elementB. The first and second clamping elementsA andB cooperate to clamp the cooling systemin place relative to the refrigeratorand effectively seal the refrigerated compartment at the cooling systemwith the evaporatorof the cooling systemextending into the refrigerated compartment of the refrigerator.

The refrigeratormay further include a bracketfor upwardly supporting the cooling system.

With continued reference to the drawings, a method of the present teachings will be described. In accordance with a first general step (as shown in, the evaporatorof the cooling systemis inserted in the openingof the lower wallof the refrigerated compartment with the second clamping elementB mounted to and carried by the cooling system. For purposes of reducing a clearance required at a lower side of the refrigerator, the evaporatormay be introduced into the opening of the lower wallwith the cooling unitat an angle.

In accordance with a second general step of the present teachings, the cooling systemmay be thereafter turned or rotated in the direction of arrow A (as shown in). Upon such rotation, the cooling systemmay be supported by the bracket(as shown in) and the flangedefined by the second clamping elementB abuts the lower side of the lower wall of the refrigerator compartment.

In accordance with a third general step of the present teachings, the first clamping elementA is installed in the direction of arrow B (see). The first clamping elementA is lower until the flangeis adjacent the upper side of the lower wallof the refrigerated compartment and the evaporatorextends through the opening in the first clamping elementA.

In accordance with a fourth general step of the present teachings, the first clamping elementA is secured to the second clamping elementB. The first clamping elementA may be secured to the second clamping elementB with fasteners.

While the present teachings are described with a clamping arrangementincluding first and second clamping elementsA andB, it is anticipated that an alternative construction may include a single clamping element. For example, in certain applications, the second clamping elementB may be eliminated and the first clamping elementA may be secured directly to the housing of the cooling systemwith fasteners, for example.

Turning toof the drawings, a portion of a refrigeratorconstructed in accordance with a second embodiment of the present teachings is shown. The refrigeratorwill be understood to be identical in construction to the refrigeratorof the first embodiment to the extend not shown or described otherwise. Like reference characters have been used in the drawings to identify similar elements between the refrigeratorsandof the first and second embodiments.

As with the refrigeratorof the first embodiment, the refrigeratorgenerally includes a cooling systemformed separately from an insulated cabinet, the cooling systemconfigured for functional mounting to the insulated cabinet. Again, the refrigerator includes a clamping arrangementfor clamping the cooling systemto the insulated housingthat includes first and second clamping elementsA andB′. Insofar as the present teachings are concerned, the refrigeratorprimarily differs from the refrigeratorby incorporating a different second clamping elementB′ and additionally incorporating a coverfor the second clamping elementB′.

The second clamping elementB′ may carry the electronics of the refrigeratorfor controlling the refrigerator. The second element memberB′ may also include a fanfor distributing cooling air. The fanmay be tilted at an angle to save space in the cabinet.

The coveris sized and covered to cover the second clamping elementB′. In this manner, the electronics of the second clamping elementB′ are made inaccessible to the end user. The coveris further configured to facilitate the flow of cooling air within the refrigerator.

The cooling unitmay be introduced into the refrigerated compartment of the refrigeratorin the same manner discussed above with regard to assembly of the refrigerator. The second clamping elementB′ and the covermay be secured to the first clamping elementA with fasteners are in any way well known in the art. As discussed above, in certain embodiments, the first clamping elementA may be eliminated and the second clamping elementB′ (and the cover) may be directly secured to the cooling unit.

It will now be appreciated that the present teachings provide two embodiments of a refrigerator that may include a cooling unit separately manufactured from an insulated cabinet without compromising the integrity of the sealed, refrigerated compartment at the cooling system.

While one or more specific examples have been discussed in the specification and illustrated in the drawings, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes may be made and equivalence may be substituted for elements thereof without departing from the scope of the present teachings. For example, while the present teachings have been described in connection with a mobile compressor refrigerator, the invention is not so limited and may be extended to other applications. Moreover, many modifications may be made to adapt a particular situation or material to the present teachings without departing from the essential scope thereof. Therefore, it may be intended that the present teachings not be limited to the particular examples illustrated by the drawings and discussed in the specification as the best mode of presently contemplated for carrying out the present teachings but that the scope of the present disclosure will include any embodiments following within the foregoing description and any appended claims.