US1773460A - Combined refrigerating and freight car - Google Patents

Description

Aug. 19; 1930. P. J. KELLY 1,713,460

COMBINED REFRIGERATING AND FREIGHT. CAR

Filed June 21, 1928 and for food stufls and other Patented Aug. 19, 1930 res . mama .KELLY," or emcaeo; ILLINOIS .eoMBInEnnEFnIeERATInG ANYIDV can A Application filed as 21 The main object of my invention is todesign the refrigerating unit for compact installation in each end of the car, whereby to "leave a maximum'amountof room for the goods. 7 P

I A further object of the invention is to construct the refrigerating unit with peculiar means to induce a circulation of cold and warm air in the car, with the effect of maintaining the I at all times.

' A still further, object of the invention is to provide a simple means for shielding the regoods under a cold temperature a 2 frigerating units in thecar in case the latter is to be used for freightor nonperishable goods, such asgrain. y V i Another object of the invention is to provide a purifying agent in'connect ion with the refrigerating units, whereby impurities in the atmosphere within the car may be ab sorbed without necessitating the ventilation of the carwith air from the, outside.

' A final, but nevertheless important object 7 of the invention is to 'constructfthe novel refrigerating means with utmost simplicity, sothat the equipment may not add materially to the cost or maintenance of the car.

WVith the above'objects in View and'any 40 othersthat may suggest themselves in the specification and claim to follow, a better under'st'anding' of the invention may be gained by reference to the accompanying drawing in which 7 i Figure 1 is a cross sectionofthe car, show- -ingi the refrigerating unit in one'end thereof;

an e

Fig. 2 is a vertical section of such end, taken-on the line 22 of Figure 1.

Referring specifically to the drawing, 5

1928. Serial No. 287,290;

' denotes the sidewalls, the 7 the floor and8 the end walls of "atypi calfreight car. 'For the useof the latteralso as a" refrigerating car, I double the walls thereof as in-. dicated at .9 as well as in other necessary places to receive vacuumunits, so as to retain the temperature 111 13116 car for long per1ods.

I do not'claim'i'nventionfor this expedient;

nor for other means for sealing the car to a retain its temperature, such as doors, fittings andthelike.

n each end of the: 051 1 mean a refrigerating unit in the, formof a box 10, which extendsjthefull width ofthe car. The box is constructed preferably of heavy galvanized sheet metal and is provided at the top with a'lojading-neck 11,'flttedwithfa lid 12. On the fronta-nd rear'are wood gratings 12 and at the bottom is installed a drain board 13,

the bottom 'being sunkfto formv a gutter 1&1

into which the Water draining from theice mayf mcumulate. 'Whenithis occurs to agiven height, a trapi15 comes into play to lead the excess into a discharge pipe '16 ;while; creating aseal against therise of atmospheric orwarm air through the discharge pipe into 7 the refrigerating unit} Thus, water to a certain-level is "always present in the gutterll and this makes for the purification of-the atmospherewithinthe car. j It isan'estabsorbs atmospheric impurities. g g

-Th e in'ner-wa'll oftherefrigeratingunit is formed with several horizontal series ofper forations'16; One of these 'seriesisfnearthe top, while the balance of-the" series. commences about'one-third way down, continulished fact-that. an open .vesselofwaterabing to the'bottom. Infront of the perforated wall afset; of deflector platesl'? is" applied opposite the several series of'perforations 16; The top-deflector plate opens in an upward direction, while the balance of the. deflector plates'op'en downwardly. No deflector plate is provided or considered necessaryfor the lowermosts'eriesof perforations.

In-front of thefrefrigerating unit and spaced therefromis an assemblyijof gates 18,

which are hinged to the car at theouterl ends I A as indicatedwat319. :The" gates close at :the

middle and are secured by a a latch; 20 from one gate closing into a keeper 21 carried by the other gate. The gates are shown closed, and when in this position, the car may receive a load of grain or other freight without interfering with the refrigerating units in its ends. Ordinarily, grain is piled only to a partial extent, so that the gates need not be high to. shieldthe refrigerating units; however, in case the height of the freight is greater, the gates can be made higher, this being merely a matter of circumstance under one or another condition. a

When the car is to be used for refrigerating purposes, the gates -18.are opened wide and the refrigerating units filled with ice.

The air. chilled by the ice will naturally seek escape from the units at low levels through the series of perforations 16. The downward passage of air as it emerges from the refrigerating unit will be aided by the downwardly deflected plates 17, so that this chilled air emerges from the unit at each end of the refrigerator and courses through the area in which the food stuffs or other perishable freight are located. Conversely, the warm airusually in the upper part of the car will be forced to seek escape laterally, and will enter the refrigerating chambers through the top serieslof perforations 16 by way of the upwardly deflected plates 17. As the warm air from the food stuffs keeps rising from the effect of its being displaced, the process just described will continue, so that a circulation will be maintained within the car at all times. As stated before, the'water gutters- 14: will serve to absorb impurities from the atmosphere of the car and the trap 15 will prevent warm air from rising into the same, thus making it unnecessary for external air'to be admitted into the car in order that the atmosphere in the latter may be'kept clean and fresh. It will be obvious that the admission of such air is detrimental to the cooling effect of therefrigerator units and makes the operations thereof wasteful in two ways, that is,-the food stuffs are not apt to be maintained at a sufficiently coldtemperature-,-.and'the supply of ice will require more frequent renewal.

'The structure described above typifiesa V self-contained refrigerating car, -which is .however readily changeable into a freight ear and vice versa, As noted, no moving parts or delicate mechanism are involved to prejudice the action .of the equipment or cause it to get out of order. The parts used are few and simple, and the'cost to build the units andinstall them should be low. I have thought it unnecessaryto-design or illustrate any additional equipment which-Would be advisable togc'omple'te-the installation for the in'ost' efficient operation, since additional fiequipment is 'easily within the skillrof therefrigerating engineer whoi's specialized in the :field of refrigerating cars.

I claim: A combined refrigeratmg and fre1ght car comprising a refrigerating chamber in said car characterized by a wall having passages for permitting air in the'car to circulate through the refrigerating chamber, means forwardly of the wall for deflecting air issuing from the refrigerating chamber, ice

supporting means mounted substantially in the plane of the bottom of the car, a shallow drainage receptacle below said ice supportmg means correspondlng in size to the bottom of the refrigerating chamber and adapted to contain water and expose a relatively large surface of the same for the absorption of nnpurities from the refrigerating chamber,

and means for controlling the quantity of

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