Cooling Unit

Abstract

A cooling unit has a first door hinged to the cooling unit away from the second door and has a second door hinged to the cooling unit away from the first door, each door rotatably opening way from one another to access the chamber. The first side of the first door faces the second side of the second door when the first door and the second door are in closed configuration to close the chamber. The first side of the first door has a first wall and a second wall forming a flat-surface-channel bottom between the first wall and the second wall. To fit between the first wall and the second wall, the second side of the second door has a gasket having an elastic surface. The elastic surface directly engages the flat-surface-channel bottom between the first wall and the second wall.

Description

SUMMARY

A cooling unit with at least two doors with a better sealing seal is presented herein. A cooling unit generally has a gasket mounted on about the circumference of the outer edges on the inside of each door to form a frictional seal between the outer surface of the cooling unit and the inside of the door to maintain the temperature within the chamber. However, a cooling unit with two cantilevered doors side by side on the front of the cooling unit faces a unique sealing challenge to preserve the cold temperature. The challenge is highlighted as the cooling unit becomes larger and the desire to have a bigger and wider opening to easily access the inner chamber becomes greater. Having a post to divide the wide opening helps with the seal, but it physically divides the opening into two smaller openings. A cooling unit without a post provides a big and wide opening but sealing of the gap between two doors presents with inefficient sealing.

The disclosure on a Korean utility model publication by Kim, Korean Utility Model Application number 10-2004-0100763 with its publication number 10-2006-0062061, depicted by FIG. 2, attempted to provide a seal between the two cantilevered doors of the cooling unit. The Kim disclosure has a concave cutout with a round bottom on one side of a first door and a convex gasket with the opposite contour on one side of a second door, so that the convex gasket is designed to fit in the concave cutout of the first door. Applicant believes the efficiency of the seal provided by the concave cutout and the matching convex gasket, designed with the round bottom of the concave cutout receiving a same configuration convex gasket, of the Kim disclosure is questionable due to considerable likelihood of having inevitable real-world gaps formed between the concave cutout with the round bottom and the convex gasket designed with the same contour as the round bottom.

The disclosure presented herein significantly reduces the likelihood of having inevitable real-world gaps formed between the cutout and the gasket by having a flat-surface-channel bottom rather than the round bottom so that the elastic and flexible surface of the gasket on the second door conform to provide pressurized frictional seal, ensuring a much better seal between the two doors. See, FIGS. 9 and 10, et al.

The disclosure presented herein has a cooling unit with at least two doors. The first door is hinged to the cooling unit away from the second door and the second door is hinged to the cooling unit away from the first door so that the first door and the second door rotatably open way from one another to access the chamber.

The first door has a first side (the side adjacent to the second door) and the second door has a second side (the side adjacent to the first door). The first side of the first door faces the second side of the second door when the first door and the second door are in closed configuration to close the chamber.

The first side of the first door has a first wall and a second wall forming a flat-surface-channel bottom between the first wall and the second wall. To fit between the first wall and the second wall, the second side of the second door has a gasket having an elastic surface. The elastic surface directly engages the flat-surface-channel bottom between the first wall and the second wall. The gasket may be designed to have a round surface so that when the first door and the second door are closed, the round surface of the gasket which is elastic conforms to fit tightly over the flat-surface-channel bottom. So long as the distance from the flat-surface-channel bottom to the top surface of the second side when both doors are closed, d1, is shorter than the distance from the tip of the gasket to the top surface of the second side when the second door is opened, d2, the pressurized fit of the gasket over the flat-surface-channel bottom is ensured, providing a tight seal between the two doors. See FIGS. 9 and 10.

The outer surface of the first wall may be a curved surface, as well as the outer surface of the second wall a curved surface. However, the first wall or the second wall, or both, may be shaped having angles, such as the cross-section of one or more walls is formed in a square, rectangular or other polygon shape.

An improvement to the cooling unit may be made by increasing the efficiency of the seal between two doors by the first side having one or more endcaps between a first wall end and a second wall end to close the ends of the first wall, the second wall and the flat-surface-channel bottom. The end caps are placed in-between the first wall end and the second wall end. Alternately, an adjacent side of the first door, adjacent to the first side, has an adjacent sidewall that extends over a first wall end and a second wall end to cap over and enclose the ends of the first wall, the second wall and the flat-surface-channel bottom.

The elastic surface of the gasket may have a preformed flat-engaging surface that directly engages the flat-surface-channel bottom between the first wall and the second wall when the first door and the second door are in the closed configuration. Also, the elastic surface of the gasket may be an elastically flexible surface without a preformed flat-engaging surface. The elastically flexible surface pliably forms a flat-engaging surface when the elastically flexible surface engages the flat-surface-channel bottom between the first wall and the second wall when the first door and the second door are in the closed configuration.

As an alternative embodiment, the elastic surface of the gasket has a groove so that the groove is directly over the flat-surface-channel bottom when the first door and the second door are in the closed configuration. The groove forms an air pocket between the elastic surface and the flat-surface-channel bottom when the first door and the second door are in the closed configuration. The air pocket may increase the efficiency of the seal, because a pocket of air trapped within the groove acts as an effective insulation.

As an alternative embodiment, more than one groove may be formed on the elastic surface of the gasket. In this configuration, one or more grooves maybe directly over the flat-surface-channel bottom when the first door and the second door are in the closed configuration.

As an alternative embodiment, the elastic surface may have a pair of grooves but none of the grooves is directly over the flat-surface-channel bottom when the first door and the second door are in the closed configuration. Whether one or more grooves is directly over the flat-surface-channel bottom or not when the first door and the second door are in the closed configuration, having multiple grooves would improve the flexibility and the pliability of the gasket when engaging the flat-surface-channel bottom of the first side.

Although various embodiments are briefly summarized, a better understanding of the disclosure can be obtained by the following drawings, detailed description and appended claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other features, aspects and advantages of the cooling unit will become better understood with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a cooling unit with two doors cantilevered on each side,

FIG. 2 is a prior art showing a concave cutout with a round bottom on one side of a first door and a convex gasket with the opposite contour on one side of a second door,

FIG. 3 is a top view of the cooling unit,

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of the sealing area between the first door and the second door,

FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of an upper corner of the first door,

FIG. 6 is an enlarged view of an upper corner of the second door,

FIG. 7 is an enlarged view of an alternate configuration of the upper corner of the first door,

FIG. 8 is an embodiment of the cooling unit showing the first side and the second side,

FIG. 9 is another embodiment of the cooling unit showing the first side and the second side,

FIG. 10 is the embodiment shown in FIG. 9 with the second door opened,

FIG. 11: another embodiment of the cooling unit showing the first side and the second side,

FIG. 12 is the embodiment shown in FIG. 11 with the second door opened,

FIG. 13 is another embodiment of the cooling unit showing the first side and the second side, and

FIG. 14 is the embodiment shown in FIG. 11 with the second door opened.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 shows a cooling unit 10 with a first door 20 and a second door 25. A cooling unit 10 generally has an inner gasket mounted on about the circumference of the outer edges on the inside of each door to form a mechanical seal between the outer surface of the cooling unit and the inside of the door to maintain the temperature within the chamber 30.

A cooling unit 10 with two cantilevered doors 20, 25 side by side on the front of the cooling unit 10, as shown in FIG. 1, faces a unique sealing challenge to preserve the cold temperature in the chamber 30. The challenge to maintain the temperature within the chamber accentuates as the cooling unit 10 becomes greater as the desire to have a bigger and wider opening to easily access the inner chamber 30 increases. Having a post (not shown) to divide the wide opening helps with the seal, but it physically divides the opening into two smaller openings. A cooling unit 10 without a post, as shown in FIG. 1, provides a big and wide opening but sealing of the gap between two doors when closed presents with inefficient sealing.

FIG. 2 shows a cooling unit 10 disclosed on a Korean utility model publication by Kim, Korean Utility Model Application number 10-2004-0100763 with its publication number 10-2006-0062061 (“the ′061 publication”). The ′061 publication attempts to provide a seal between the two cantilevered doors 20, 25 of the cooling unit.

The ′061 publication discloses a concave cutout 13 with a round bottom on one side of a first door 20 and a convex gasket 17 with a matching shape 18 (but opposite contour to the concave cutout 13 to fit into the concave cutout 13) on one side of a second door 25. The convex gasket 17 is designed to fit in the concave cutout 13 of the first door 20. The ′061 publication also discloses a mounting surface 16 for the convex gasket 17.

Applicant believes the efficiency of the seal provided by the concave cutout 13 and the matching convex gasket 17 as presented in the ′061 publication, designed with the round bottom of the concave cutout 13 receiving a same configuration convex gasket 17, is questionable due to considerable likelihood of having inevitable real-world gaps forming between the concave cutout 13 with the round bottom and the convex gasket 17 designed with the same contour 18 (matching shape) as the round bottom of the concave cutout 13.

The disclosure presented in this application, as illustrated by FIGS. 3-14, significantly reduces the likelihood of having inevitable real-world gaps formed between the round bottom of the cutout 13 and the gasket 17. The embodiments of this disclosure reduces real-world gaps formed between the cutout 13 and the gasket 17 by having a flat-surface-channel bottom 35 (FIG. 4, et al) rather than a round bottom of the concave cutout 13 of the ′061 publication. Because the flat-surface-channel bottom 35 is used rather than the round bottom of the cutout 13, an elastic and flexible surface of the gasket 40 (FIG. 4, et al) on the second door 25 flexibly and pliably conform to provide pressurized frictional seal, safely hugging much greater surface areas of the flat-surface-channel bottom 35 than if the round bottom of the cutout 13 is used; ensuring a much better seal between the two doors 20, 25. See, FIGS. 4, et al. The separation between the first door 20 and the second door 25 ensures that a pressure is always applied onto the gasket 40 towards the flat-surface-channel bottom 35, ensuring a good seal.

As shown in FIGS. 1, 3-14, the disclosure presented herein has a cooling unit 10 with at least two doors 20, 25. The first door 20 is hinged to the cooling unit 10 away from the second door 25 and the second door 25 is hinged to the cooling unit 10 away from the first door 20 so that the first door 20 and the second door 25 rotatably open away from one another to access the chamber 30. The handle 21 on each door 20, 25 helps opening and the closing of the doors 20, 25, by pulling and pushing, respectively.

The first door 20 has a first side 45 (the side adjacent to the second door 25) and the second door 25 has a second side 50 (the side adjacent to the first door 20). The first side 45 of the first door 20 faces the second side 50 of the second door 25 when the first door 20 and the second door 25 are in closed configuration to close the chamber 30.

As shown in FIGS. 3-14, the first side 45 of the first door 20 has a first wall 55 and a second wall 60 forming a flat-surface-channel bottom 35 between the first wall 55 and the second wall 60. To fit between the first wall 55 and the second wall 60, the second side 50 of the second door 25 has a gasket 40 having an elastic surface 41. The elastic surface 41 of the gasket 40 directly engages the flat-surface-channel bottom 35 between the first wall 55 and the second wall 60.

The gasket 40 may be designed to have a round surface 65 (FIG. 10) so that when the first door 20 and the second door 25 are closed, the round surface 65 of the gasket 40, which is elastic, flexible and/or pliable, conforms to fit tightly over the flat-surface-channel bottom 35 and securely fit against the first wall 55 and the second wall 60. So long as the distance, d1, from the flat-surface-channel bottom 35 to the top surface 70 of the second side 50 on which the gasket 40 is mounted, when both doors are closed, is shorter than the distance, d2, from the tip 75 of the gasket 40 to the top surface 70 of the second side 50, when the second door is opened, the pressurized fit of the gasket 40 over the flat-surface-channel bottom 35 is ensured, providing a tight seal between the two doors 20, 25. See, FIGS. 9 and 10. The greater height of the gasket 40 (d2), compared to the distance d1 ensures the flexible gasket 40 is compressed against the flat-surface-channel bottom 35 of the first side, providing significantly better sealing. FIG. 3 shows a topside view of the cooling unit 10, illustrating the pressured, the compressed elastic surface 41 of the gasket 40 tightly sealing the gap between the first door 20 and the second door 25; the elastic surface 41 of the gasket 40 is pressed against the flat-surface-channel bottom 35, the first wall 45 and the second wall 60, tightly sealing the gap between the first door 20 and the second door 25.

The arrows shown in FIGS. 9-14 show the direction of the second door 50 to close the chamber and to open the chamber 30. Although d2 is greater than d1, because the gasket is made of elastic, flexible and/or pliable material, the preformed flat-engaging surface 105 deforms to glide over one of the first wall 55 or the second wall 60 to fit into and engages the flat-surface-channel bottom 35 between the first wall 55 and the second wall 60 when the first door 20 and the second door 25 are in the closed configuration.

As shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, the outer surface 56 of the first wall 55 may be a curved surface, as well as the outer surface 56 of the second wall 60 be a curved surface. However, although not shown, the first wall 55 or the second wall 60, or both, may be shaped having angles, such as the cross-section of one or more walls is formed in a square, rectangular or other polygon shape.

As shown in FIG. 5, an improvement to the cooling unit may be made by increasing the efficiency of the seal between two doors 20, 25 by the first side 45 having one or more endcaps 80 between a first wall end 85 and a second wall end 90 to close off the ends of the first wall 55, the second wall 60 and the flat-surface-channel bottom 35. The end caps 80 are placed in-between the first wall end and the second wall end. One end cap 80 is shown in FIG. 5, but a second end cap 80, if any, would be placed at the opposite ends of the first wall 55 and the second wall 60 (at the bottom of the first door 20). Alternately, as shown in FIG. 7, in contrast to having endcaps 80, an adjacent side 95 of the first door 20, adjacent to the first side 45, has an adjacent sidewall 100 that extends over a first wall end 85 and a second wall end 90 to cap over and enclose the first wall end 85 and the second wall end 90 and the flat-surface-channel bottom 35.

As shown in FIGS. 4, 6 and 8, The elastic surface 41 of the gasket 40 may have a preformed flat-engaging surface 105 that directly engages the flat-surface-channel bottom 35 between the first wall 55 and the second wall 60 when the first door 20 and the second door 25 are in the closed configuration. As shown in FIG. 6, the preformed flat-engaging surface 105 may have the form that is the matching shape (albeit, a mirror image) designed to fit into the channel formed by the first wall 55, the second wall 60 and the flat-surface-channel bottom 35. See, FIG. 8.

The elastic surface 41 of the gasket 40 may be an elastically flexible surface and/or pliable without a preformed flat-engaging surface 105. The elastically flexible surface pliably forms a flat-engaging surface 105 to match the contour (or the flatness and the contour of the first wall 55 and the second wall 60) when the elastically flexible surface engages the flat-surface-channel bottom 35 between the first wall 55 and the second wall 60 when the first door 20 and the second door 25 are in the closed configuration.

FIG. 8 shows the preformed flat-engaging surface 105 having the form matching that of the flat-surface-channel bottom 35, as well as the transitions between the first wall and the flat-surface-channel bottom 35 and between the second wall and the flat-surface-channel bottom 35. Because the gasket is made of elastic, flexible and/or pliable material, the preformed flat-engaging surface 105 deforms to glide over one of the first wall 55 or the second wall 60 to fit into and engages the flat-surface-channel bottom 35 between the first wall 55 and the second wall 60 when the first door 20 and the second door 25 are in the closed configuration.

The material for the gasket 40 may be silicon, rubber, combination thereof, or any material used for the sealing gasket used for cooling units, such as a refrigerator or a freezer. The material used for the first wall 55 and the second wall 60 may be a stiffer material than that of the gasket, such as plastic, metal, stiffened silicon, stiffened rubber, or any combination or hybrid thereof, or any material used for the sealing plane used for cooling units. The material used for the flat-surface-channel bottom may be a material chosen from various materials used for the first wall 55, the second wall, or the gasket, but the scope of claims includes using the surface of the first side 45. There is no need for a separate material or piece added to the surface of the first side 45. See, FIG. 5.

As seen in FIGS. 11-14, as an alternative embodiment, the elastic surface of the gasket 40 has a groove 110 so that the groove 110 is directly over the flat-surface-channel bottom 35 when the first door 20 and the second door 25 are in the closed configuration. The groove 110 forms an air pocket 115 between the elastic surface 41 and the flat-surface-channel bottom 35 when the first door 20 and the second door 25 are in the closed configuration. The air pocket 115 may increase the efficiency of the seal, because a pocket of air trapped within the groove 110 acts as an effective insulation.

As an alternative embodiment, also as seen in FIGS. 11-14, more than one groove 110 may be formed on the elastic surface 41 of the gasket 40. In this configuration, one or more grooves 110 maybe directly over the flat-surface-channel bottom 35 when the first door 20 and the second door 25 are in the closed configuration.

Also, as an alternative embodiment, the elastic surface 41 may have a pair of grooves 110 but none of the grooves 110 is directly over the flat-surface-channel bottom 35 when the first door 20 and the second door 25 are in the closed configuration. Whether one or more grooves 110 is directly over the flat-surface-channel bottom 35 or not when the first door 20 and the second door 25 are in the closed configuration, having multiple grooves 110 would improve the flexibility and the pliability of the gasket 40 when engaging the flat-surface-channel bottom 35 of the first side 45.

While the description, drawings and references have presented, shown, and described with reference to different embodiments thereof, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that variations in form, detail, compositions and operation may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure.

Claims

1. A cooling unit comprising a chamber with a first door and a second door, wherein the first door has a first side and the second door has a second side, wherein the first side of the first door faces the second side of the second door when the first door and the second door are in closed configuration to close the chamber and wherein the first side of the first door and the second side of the second door moves away from each other to open the chamber, wherein the first side of the first door has a first wall and a second wall forming a flat-surface-channel bottom between the first wall and the second wall, wherein the second side of the second door has a gasket having an elastic surface, and wherein the elastic surface directly engages the flat-surface-channel bottom between the first wall and the second wall.

2. The cooling unit of claim 1, wherein an outer surface of the first wall is a curved surface.

3. The cooling unit of claim 2, wherein an outer surface of the second wall is a curved surface.

4. The cooling unit of claim 1, wherein the first side has an endcap between a first wall end and a second wall end.

5. The cooling unit of claim 1, wherein the first door has an adjacent side to the first side, wherein the adjacent side has an adjacent sidewall that extends over a first wall end and a second wall end.

6. The cooling unit of claim 1, wherein the elastic surface has a preformed flat-engaging surface that directly engages the flat-surface-channel bottom between the first wall and the second wall when the first door and the second door are in the closed configuration.

7. The cooling unit of claim 1, wherein the elastic surface is an elastically flexible surface without a preformed flat-engaging surface, wherein the elastically flexible surface pliably forms a flat-engaging surface when the elastically flexible surface engages the flat-surface-channel bottom between the first wall and the second wall when the first door and the second door are in the closed configuration.

8. The cooling unit of claim 7, the distance from the flat-surface-channel bottom to a top surface of the second side when the first door and the second door are closed, d1, is shorter than the distance from a tip of the gasket to the top surface of the second side when the second door is opened, d2.

9. The cooling unit of claim 1, wherein the elastic surface has a groove wherein the groove is directly over the flat-surface-channel bottom when the first door and the second door are in the closed configuration.

10. The cooling unit of claim 9, wherein the groove forms an air pocket between the elastic surface and the flat-surface-channel bottom when the first door and the second door are in the closed configuration.

11. The cooling unit of claim 9, wherein the elastic surface has a plurality of grooves wherein at least one of the grooves is directly over the flat-surface-channel bottom when the first door and the second door are in the closed configuration.

12. The cooling unit of claim 11, wherein at least one of the grooves forms an air pocket between the elastic surface and the flat-surface-channel bottom when the first door and the second door are in the closed configuration.

13. The cooling unit of claim 1, wherein the elastic surface has a groove wherein the groove is not directly over the flat-surface-channel bottom when the first door and the second door are in the closed configuration.

14. The cooling unit of claim 1, wherein the elastic surface has a pair of grooves wherein the pair of grooves are not directly over the flat-surface-channel bottom when the first door and the second door are in the closed configuration.

15. A cooling unit comprising a chamber with a first door and a second door, wherein the first door is hinged to the cooling unit away from the second door and the second door is hinged to the cooling unit away from the first door so that the first door and the second door rotatably open way from one another to access the chamber, wherein the first door has a first side and the second door has a second side, wherein the first side of the first door faces the second side of the second door when the first door and the second door are in closed configuration to close the chamber, wherein the first side of the first door has a first wall and a second wall forming a flat-surface-channel bottom between the first wall and the second wall, wherein the second side of the second door has a gasket having an elastic surface, and wherein the elastic surface directly engages the flat-surface-channel bottom between the first wall and the second wall.

16. The cooling unit of claim 15, wherein each of an outer surface of the first wall and an outer surface of the second wall is a curved surface.

17. The cooling unit of claim 15, wherein the first side has an endcap between a first wall end and a second wall end.

18. The cooling unit of claim 15, wherein the first door has an adjacent side to the first side, wherein the adjacent side has an adjacent sidewall that extends over a first wall end and a second wall end.

19. The cooling unit of claim 15, wherein the elastic surface has a preformed flat-engaging surface that directly engages the flat-surface-channel bottom between the first wall and the second wall when the first door and the second door are in the closed configuration.

20. The cooling unit of claim 15, wherein the elastic surface is an elastically flexible surface without a preformed flat-engaging surface, wherein the elastically flexible surface pliably forms a flat-engaging surface when the elastically flexible surface engages the flat-surface-channel bottom between the first wall and the second wall when the first door and the second door are in the closed configuration, and wherein the distance from the flat-surface-channel bottom to a top surface of the second side when the first door and the second door are closed, d1, is shorter than the distance from a tip of the gasket to the top surface of the second side when the second door is opened, d2.