This invention relates generally to mechanical joining structures and constructs that are both adjustable and separable and, in particular, to adjustable and separable mechanical joints that can be used to adjustably and separably join an enclosure to a door at an opening in the enclosure, such as in the case where the door functions to close the opening of a freezer compartment in a bottom-mount household refrigerator.
Typical bottom-mount household refrigerators include a fresh food compartment located at the upper portion of the refrigerator, where food items can be stored at temperatures above 32° Fahrenheit, and a freezer compartment located at the lower portion of the refrigerator, where food items can be maintained at temperatures substantially below 32° Fahrenheit. Various door or closure constructs are provided for closing the fresh food compartment and freezer compartment. For example, a single door hinged to the refrigerator cabinet can be employed to close off and provide access to the interior of the fresh food compartment. In addition, French-style doors hinged to the refrigerator cabinet can be used for the same purpose. In the case of the freezer compartments, doors can be provided that allow the opening to the interior of the freezer compartment to be opened and closed by movement of the doors substantially translationally to the freezer door opening. In other words, the doors slide outwardly from and inwardly toward the freezer compartment opening to provide access to the interior of the freezer compartment and to close the freezer compartment respectively. The doors can have attached to them bins, baskets and the like that travel with the doors as the doors are pulled outwardly from the freezer compartment opening and pushed inwardly toward the opening to close the freezer compartment. Bins, baskets and the like also can be provided in the freezer compartment that do not travel with the doors but must be separately brought outwardly from the interior of the fresh food compartment for access.
For a variety of reasons, such as, for example, the proper alignment of the freezer compartment door and the maintenance of a good sealing relationship between the sealing surface on the freezer compartment door and the complementary sealing surface at the freezer compartment opening, it is desirable to be able to adjust the positioning of the door in relation to the freezer compartment opening and the enclosing cabinet structure. This adjustment can be accomplished when the refrigerator is finally assembled so as to compensate for any misalignment that may have occurred during the manufacture of the refrigerator. It also can be desirable to free the freezer compartment doors from the structure that supports the doors at the freezer compartment openings and remove the doors in connection with the installation and servicing of the refrigerator. When the doors are returned to the supporting structure after having been removed, it is desirable that they be re-secured so as to assume essentially the same spatial relationship they had with relation to the freezer compartment opening and cabinet structure before they were removed.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds