All plastic refrigerator door with integral bump stop handle

Claim 1

A refrigerator door adapted to be pivotally mounted on a refrigerator cabinet for closing an access opening therein comprising: an inner panel having side edges thereon, an integrally molded one-piece outer panel including channel-shaped sides, each of said channel-shaped sides including an inside leg and a front leg joined by a side surface, means for connecting each of said inside legs to the side edges of said inner panel, said outer panel including a front face integrally connected to each of said front legs at a point located forwardly of each of said inside legs, said inner and outer panels having a space formed therebetween, rigid foamed-in-place insulation material filling said space and the inside of each of said channel-shaped sides, an inside corner formed by one of said inside legs and said side surfaces reinforced by said insulation material, a front corner formed by one of said front legs and said side surfaces reinforced by said insulation material, a combination energy absorber and handle member formed integrally with said outer panel, said member including a flange having a root portion joined at the juncture between said one of said front legs and said front face of said outer panel, said flange extending outwardly and perpendicularly with respect to said front face, a bent end on said member connected to an end of said flange at a point located in front of the front face, said bent end extending from said flange in parallel spaced relationship to said one of said front legs to locate the free end of said bent end at a point terminating in front of the front corner of said channelshaped side, said flange and said bent end being resiliently yieldable when said member hits an object to cause said flange and bent end to deflect from the root portion toward the front corner to protect it against impact.