US1151321A - Refrigerator. - Google Patents

Description

F. M. WOODWARD.

REFRIGERATOR. APPucAnoN man JULY 6, 1914.

1,151,321. I Patented Aug. 24,1915.

FRANKLIN M. WOODWARD, OF ROCKFORD, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO AMOS W. WOODWARD, OF ROCKFORD, ILLINOIS.

REFRIGERATOR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 24, 19315.

Application filed July 6, 1914. Serial No. 849,055.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANKLIN M. Woon- WARD, a citizen of the United States, residing at Rockford, in the county of Winnebago and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Refrigerators, of which the following is a specification.

The object of this invention, generally speaking, is to provide a refrigerator of improved construction in which a vacuum chamber is utilized as heat insulation in the walls of the refrigerator.

In many heat insulating receptacles in which a vacuum chamber in the walls is provided, the receptacle is made of circular or cylindrical shape which is depended upon to resist the pressure of the air tending to collapse the walls of the vacuum chamber. A cylindrical refrigerator is objectionable because it is wasteful of space in a room, since it does not fit into corners and requires a large amount of floor and wall space in proportion to the amount of storage space it affords. It has also been proposed to construct vacuum insulated refrigerators'of rectangular shape, but so far as I am aware, all of these prior constructions have been impracticable, due to the fact that the walls could not be prevented from collapsing without either making them of very intricate and expensive construction, such as a large number of separate small vacuum cells, or making the walls so heavy as to render the refrigerator unfit for many purposes, as for example, domestic use.

It is an object of my invention to produce a refrigerator of rectangular shape, the walls of which embody continuous thin flat vacuum chambers as distinguished from the small cells above mentioned, the vacuum chambers being provided with bracing means of sufiicient strength to effectively prevent collapse of the walls, and the walls and bracing means being at the same time of light weight.

A special object of the invention is to provide a r frigerator with a vacuum chamber, the walls of which may be composed of sheet metal, and to provide bracing or spacing means between the walls and sepa rate therefrom, which spacing means consists of suitably spaced strips or lattice work carrying cross pins adapted to bear at 0pposite ends against the chamber walls, the pins being spaced apart a sufficient distance to effectively brace the walls against collapse by atmospheric pressure.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a vertical central sectional view through a refrigerator embodying the features of my invention, one of the walls of the vacuum chamber being partially broken out to illustrate the wall bracing means. Fig. 2 is a perspective view illustrating the lattice work employed for spacing apart the walls of the vacuum chamber. I

The refrigerator which I have shown in the drawings, by way of example, comprises a suitable bottom or base 5, back wall 6, top wall 7, side walls 8 and a front Wall 9 in which are mounted one, or more doors 10 and 11. The parts 6, 7, 8, 9, 1O and ll may be made of wood or any other suitable material. In the preferred construction, the vacuum chamber is located at the inner face of the refrigerator walls, and between this chamber and the outside wall is preferably placed s itable heat-insulating material 12 as, for example, cork or charcoal arranged in any desired form. The position of the partition or shelf which supports the ice is indicated in dotted lines.

The vacuum chamber itself is herein shown as being continuous, that is to say, a single chamber extends along all of the sides of the refrigerator except, of course, the doors 10 and 11 which are provided with separate vacuum chambers. It is obvious, however, that if desired the refrigerator Walls may each be provided with. one or more separate vacuum chamber sections. The chamber comprises an inner wall 13 and an outer wall 14. These walls are preferably formed of sheet metal with the abutting edges at the corners of the refriger- ()bviously the preclse arrangement of the strips and pins may be varied.

" The vacuum chamber for the body of the refrigerator terminates at the edges of the openlngs for the doors 10 and 11, the chamber having suitable transverse edge walls 18 of sheet metal around the door openings. Separate chambers 19 and 20, which may be formed the same as the chamber for the body of the refrigerator, are suitably se cured to the'inner side of the doors and the insulating material 12, said vacuum chambers 19 and 20 fitting snugly within the openings provided in the body chamber around the doors. It will be seen that when the doors are closed, a substantially continuous vacuum chamber on all sides of .the refrigerator is provided, which afi'ords the maximum amount of heat insulation to .the interior of the refrigerator.

The object in making the pressure-resisters 17 of small cross-sectional area, as shown, is

to minimize the conduction of heat through the vacuum space. By reason of the small cross-sectional area of the pressure-resisters 17, it is necessary'to hold them'against turning movement or other displacement. This latter object is accomplished by the lattice work 15, 16.

I claim as my invention:

1. A refrigerator comprising a body of rectangular form and a vacuum chamber in the Walls of the refrigerator comprising a pair of flat walls providing a space between them from which the air may be exhausted, a plurality of spacers or bracers positioned between and separate from said walls and acting to prevent collapse of the walls by atmospheric pressure, and a plurality of strips supporting said spacers and acting to space them the desired distance apart.

2. A refrigerator comprising a body of rectangular shape, and means providing a vacuum chamber for the walls of the refrigerator, said means comprising pairs of flat plates, each being substantially coextensive with one of the walls of the refrigerator, and a series of crossing strips positioned between said plates and carrying transverse pins adapted to engage at their ends with said pairs of plates to prevent collapse of said plates by atmospheric pressure.

3. A vacuum chamber for refrigerators or the like comprising a pair of walls, a lattice work positioned between said walls and spacing members of relatively small cross-sectional area to brace said walls apart and ,prevent collapse thereof, said lattice work holding said spacing members against displacement.

4. A vacuum chamber for refrigerators or the like having a pair of flat Walls, a, plurality of spacer members positioned between and separate from said walls and acting to prevent collapse thereof, and rigid means between the walls and separate therefrom for supporting said spacers and spacing the latter apart.

5. A vacuum chamber for refrigerators or the like having a pair of parallel walls formed of sheet metal spaced apart a short distance, a plurality of pins positioned between and separate from said plates, and a plurality of crossing strips supporting sai pins and spacing the pins apart.

In testimony whereof, I hereunto set my hand in the presence of two witnesses.

FRANKLIN M. VVOODWARD.

v In the presence of J. T. ATKINSON, H. S. BURPEE.

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