Claims:We Claim:

1. A base assembly (10) for a household appliance (11), said base assembly (10) comprising :
- a first component (12) having multiple cut-sections (14) positioned at a bottom portion (16) of said appliance (10);
- a second component (20) enclosing said first component (12);
characterized in that:
said first component (12) comprises a lining (22) made of an expandable polystyrene, In-molded to said second component (20).

2. The base assembly (10) as claimed in claim 1, wherein said second component (20) is made of a thermo plastic polymer and has dimensions corresponding to dimensions of said first component (12).

3. The base assembly (10) as claimed in claim 1, wherein said second component (20) comprises multiple cut-sections (21) corresponding to said multiple cut-sections of said first component (12).

4. The base assembly (10) as claimed in claim 2, wherein said second component (20) is vacuum formed and trimmed corresponding to said dimensions of said first component (12), before In-molding onto said second component (20).

5. The base assembly (10) as claimed in claim 3, wherein said vacuum formed and trimmed second component (20) is placed in a pre-determined position in a mold (24).

6. The base assembly (10) as claimed in claim 4, wherein said vacuum formed and trimmed second component (20) placed in said mold (24), is IN-molded with said lining of said first component (12) to form said base assembly (10).

7. The base assembly (10) as claimed in claim 5, wherein due to In-molding of said first component (12) with said second component (20), a thickness of said base assembly is reduced.

8. The base assembly (10) as claimed in claim 1, wherein second component (20) and said first component (12) is made as a single part in said appliance (11), by In-molding said first component (12) with said second component (20).

9. The base assembly (10) as claimed in claim 1, wherein said In-molded base assembly (10) is fitted at a bottom portion of said appliance for restricting a movement of said appliance during said appliance shifting process.
, Description:The following specification describes and ascertains the nature of this invention and the manner in which it is to be performed:

Field of the invention
[0001]This disclosure relates to a household appliance. More particularly, the invention is related to a base assembly for the household appliance.

Background of the invention
[0002]During the shifting process of the household appliances like refrigerators, the conventional base assembly used is made of multiple components. The shifting of the appliance without any damage with the conventional base assembly is challenging. Currently the base assembly in the appliance (positioned below the bottom portion of the appliance) is assembled using the injection-molded process. In which, the base carton is assembled to lining of Expandable polystyrene (EPS) base part by using a tape. The wear and tear of the tape makes the arrangement ineffective.

[0003]A CN201960740 patent application discloses a molding mold for a protecting plate of a refrigerator compressor. The molding mold comprises a base, a mold main body and a cutter assembly, wherein the mold main body is fixed on the base; the mold main body and the base are provided with vacuum channels; a deck plate is arranged on the base, is used for accommodating a polystyrene protecting plate material, and is provided with a short compression strip for fixing the protecting plate material; and the cutter assembly is positioned right above the mold main body to cut residual leftover materials after molding of the protecting plate.

Brief description of the invention:

[0004] It is an object of the invention to provide a base assembly for a household appliance.

[0005] The objects are solved by the base assembly for the household appliance having the features according to claim 1.

[0006]The invention relates to a base assembly for a household appliance. The base assembly comprises a first component having multiple cut-sections positioned at a bottom portion of the appliance. The base assembly comprises a second component enclosing the first component. The first component comprises a lining made of an expandable polystyrene, In-molded to the second component.

[0007]A feature of this invention is that, the second component is made of a thermo plastic polymer and has dimensions corresponding to dimensions of the first component.

[0008]Another feature of this invention is that, the second component comprises multiple cut-sections corresponding to the multiple cut-sections of the first component.

[0009] Another feature of this invention is that, the second component is vacuum formed and trimmed corresponding to the dimensions of the first component, before In-molding onto the second component.

[0010] Another feature of this invention is that, the vacuum formed and trimmed second component is placed in a pre-determined position in a mold.

[0011]Another feature of this invention is that, the vacuum formed and trimmed second component placed in the mold, is IN-molded with the lining of the first component to form the base assembly.

[0012]Another feature of this invention is that, due to In-molding of the first component with the second component, a thickness of the base assembly is reduced.

[0013]Another feature of this invention is that, wherein the second component and the first component is made as a single part in the appliance, by In-molding the first component with the second component.

[0014]Another feature of this invention is that, wherein the In-molded base assembly is fitted at a bottom portion of the appliance for restricting a movement of the appliance during the appliance shifting process.

[0015]With the above-disclosed in-molding process in the base assembly, the usage of an adhesive material (tape) is eliminated making it a cost effective solution. The use of the adhesive material in conventional base assembly not only makes the system inefficient (due to movement of the supporting part/second component during the shifting process, when the adhesive material is not properly used in the base assembly), but also wear and tear of the adhesive material increases the maintenance cost. The above-disclosed molding process does not require an additional tool /component and merely uses the vacuum forming manufacturing process instead of injection molding, making it a less investment option.

[0016]With the In-molding of the second component onto the first component in the base assembly, a thickness of the plastic part (outer component) is reduced compared to the conventional cover available in the market. This reduction in the thickness can be achieved using the vacuum forming method. The above process further reduces an overall weight of the household appliance due to the elimination of the adhesive material between the first component and the second component and also by making the first component and the second component a single part. It is to be understood that, the above-disclosed In-molding process can be applied to any other component of the refrigerator that are made of plastic or expanded polystyrene material.

Brief description of the accompanying drawings
An embodiment of the disclosure is described with reference to the following accompanying drawings;
[0017] Figure 1 illustrates a household appliance having a base assembly in accordance with an embodiment of this invention; and
[0018] Figure 2 illustrates the base assembly for the household appliance, according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed description of the embodiments
[0019]Figure 1 illustrates a base assembly for a household appliance in accordance to an embodiment of the invention. The base assembly 10 comprises a first component 12 having multiple cut-sections 14 positioned at a bottom portion 16 of the appliance. The base assembly 10 comprises a second component 20 enclosing the first component. The first component 12 comprises a lining 22 made of an expandable polystyrene, In-molded to the second component 20.

[0020]Further, the construction of the base assembly 10 for the household appliance 11 is explained in detail. According to one embodiment of the invention, the household appliance 10 is chosen from a group of appliances comprising a single door refrigerator, a multi-door refrigerator and the like. The appliance 10 comprises two types of compartments (18(a), 18(b)), one being the freezer compartment 18(a) and other being the fresh-food/refrigerator compartment 18(b). The air from the freezer compartment 18(a) is directed into the fresh-food compartment 18(b), to keep the food fresh in the later compartment 18(b). The bottom portion 16 of the appliance 10 comprises plurality of cut-sections (not shown).

[0021]The base assembly 10 is positioned in the bottom portion 16 in the refrigerator /fresh-food compartment 18(b) i.e., the appliance 10 is positioned or fitted on the base assembly 10 during the appliance shifting process. The base assembly 10 comprises a base part and a supporting part. The base part is referred as the first component 12 and the supporting part is referred as the second component 20. The first component 12 comprising the multiple cut-sections 14 are made in corresponding to the plurality of cut-sections (not shown) that are present at the bottom portion 14 of the appliance 10. Due to this, the first component/base part 12 of the base assembly 10 along with the second component /supporting part 20 can be easily positioned/fitted at the bottom portion 14 during the appliance shifting process. The base assembly 10 is positioned at the bottom portion of the appliance as shown in the figure 1.

[0022]The second component 20 of the base assembly 10 is made of a thermo plastic polymer and has dimensions corresponding to dimensions of the first component 12. The second component 20 comprises multiple cut-sections 21 corresponding to the multiple cut-sections 14 of the first component 12. According to one embodiment of the invention, if the first component 12 comprises at least one depression, then a corresponding projection is made in the second component 20 of the base assembly 10. The first and the second components (12, 20) comprising similar cut-sections (14, 21) provides required support to the appliance 11 during the shifting process. However, the material with which the second component 20 is made of is not limited to thermo plastic polymer as mentioned above, but can be of any other flexible plastic polymer that is known to a person skilled in the art. According to one embodiment of the invention, the first component 12 and the second component 20 are made of same material, wherein one such material (but not limited to) is plastic.

[0023]The lining 22 of the first component 12 is fabricated from expanded polystyrene (EPS), since it is a highly versatile closed-cell bead material or a foam form of polystyrene that provides a unique range of properties, including outstanding energy absorption, multiple impact resistance, thermal insulation, buoyancy, water and chemical resistance, exceptionally high strength to weight ratio and 100% recyclability. The lining 22 of the first component 12 (EPS) has very good impact characteristics due to its low stiffness, this allows EPS to resume its shape after impacts.

[0024]The second component 20 is vacuum formed and trimmed corresponding to the dimensions of the first component 12, before In-molding onto the first component 12. In the process of vacuum forming, the second component 20 (which is a sheet of plastic) is heated to a forming temperature, stretched onto a mold 24 (for instance, a single-surface mold), and forced against the mold 24 by a vacuum. Through this vacuum process, the plastic component (i.e. the second component 20 according to present invention) is converted into permanent objects such as protective covers. The process of vacuum forming is not explained in detail, as it is a state of art technology. The heated second component 20 is trimmed according to the size and shape of the first component 12 and is in a pre-determined position in the single-surface mold 24. The vacuum formed and trimmed second component 20 that is placed in the mold 24, is IN-molded onto the lining 22 of the first component 12 to form the base assembly 10.

[0025]Figure 2 illustrates the base assembly 10 of the household appliance 11 according to the present invention. Due to In-molding of the first component 12 to the second component 20, a movement of the air, flowing in between of the first component 12 and the second component 20 is sealed. The base assembly 10 is fitted at the bottom portion 16 of the appliance 10, after the second component 20 is In-molded onto the first component 12.

[0026]According to one embodiment of the invention, the second component 20 and the first component 12 is made as a single component, by In-molding the first component 12 with the second component 20.

[0027]A method of manufacturing the base assembly 10 is explained below. The second component 20 vacuum processed i.e., the sheet of the plastic of which the second component 20 is made is heated to a predefined temperature. The heated sheet of plastic/second component 20 is trimmed according to the first component 12 shape and size. In a normal mold or single-surface mold 14, which has the similar dimensions and cut-sections as the first component 12, the vacuum formed and trimmed first component 12 is placed in a pre-determined position.

[0028]Now, the second component 20 is molded onto the first component 12 using In-molding process. Thus, the In-molded second component 20 and the first component 12 makes a single part of the appliance 11 providing the required support and restricting the movement of the appliance 10 during the shifting process. The In-mold process not only provides the less manufacturing cost, but also provides the efficient support for the appliance 10 during the appliance shifting process.

[0030]With the above-disclosed in-molding process in the base assembly 10, the usage of an adhesive material (tape) is eliminated making it a cost effective solution. The use of the adhesive material in conventional base assembly not only makes the system inefficient (due to movement of the supporting part/second component 20 during the shifting process, when the adhesive material is not properly used in the base assembly 10 ), but also wear and tear of the adhesive material increases the maintenance cost.

[0031]The above-disclosed molding process does not require an additional tool /component and merely uses the vacuum forming manufacturing process instead of injection molding, making it a less investment option. Due to insert molding process of the first component 12 and the second component 20 (EPS part and plastic part respectively), the assembly 10 is made easy. The above disclosed process also reduces time and efforts during assembly on production line. The above method provides a cost saving solution because of using less thickness of plastic part, optimizing EPS height and without any adhesive material. Due to plastic at bottom of EPS, the moisture absorption during rainy season can be avoided.

[0032]With the In-molding of the second component 20 onto the first component 12 in the base assembly 10, a thickness of the plastic part (outer component) is reduced compared to the conventional cover available in the market. This reduction in the thickness can be achieved using the vacuum forming method. The above process further reduces an overall weight of the household appliance 11 due to the elimination of the adhesive material between the first component 12 and the second component 20 and also by making the first component 12 and the second component 20 a single part. It is to be understood that, the above-disclosed In-molding process can be applied to any other component of the refrigerator that are made of plastic or expanded polystyrene material.

[0033] It should be understood that embodiments explained in the description above are only illustrative and do not limit the scope of this disclosure. Many such embodiments and other modifications and changes in the embodiment explained in the description are envisaged. The scope of the invention is only limited by the scope of the claims.

List of Reference Signs
10 base assembly
11 house hold appliance
12 first component
14 multiple cut-sections of the first component
16 bottom portion of the appliance
18(a) a freezer compartment of the appliance
18(b) a fresh food/refrigerator compartment of the appliance
20 second component
21 multiple cut-sections of the second component
22 lining of the first component
24 mold