US1868933A - Food cooler - Google Patents

Description

yzfi, 9 A. VEILLEUX 1,868,933

FOOD COOLER Filed April 25, 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 1 a. 1 3 Y 2 a, .R u no 7/ R a ai m .U f T 1 WW WI I Z1 J x 4 4% w 3 w k 5 m Patented July 26, 1932 UNITED STATES ADOLIPI-IE VEILLEUX, OF ST. MARIES, IDAHO FOOD COOLER Application filed April 25,

The object of this invention is to provide a novel form of food cooler which is especially designed and adapted for interior use such as in the kitchen of a home or in commercial eating establishments or in any capacity in which a food cooler is desired.

It is one of the primary objects of this invention to provide a food cooler which is equally adapted for use either in mild, hot i or cold weather in the absence of any conversion necessary or anything other than simple adjustment of certain parts.

In hot and mild weather, the device of my invention involves evaporation of moisture, to perform the cooling function, and it is a special feature of the invention to accelerate and stimulate evaporation by a novel form of air circulating means.

In mildly cold and extremely cold weather, it is a feature of the invention to employ the same air circulating means in the absence of evaporation, the circulating means affording ample and accurate control whereby the temperature of the food cooler can be regulated.

The invention resides in the method as well as in the apparatus and it has many other objects and features which will be more fully described in connection with the accompanying drawings and which will be more particularly pointed out in and by the appended claims.

In the drawings Fig 1 is a fragmentary sectional view of a portion of a dwelling showing the manner in which the device of my invention is installed.

Fig. 2 is a sectional view on line 2--2 of Fig. 3, showing the apparatus on an enlarged scale as compared to Fig. 1. V

Fig. 3 is a sectional view on line 3--3 of Fig. 4 is a view in front elevation with the door of the evaporating area or chamber shown in an open position to disclose the interior of said chamber.

Fig. 5 is a horizontal sectional view on line 55 of Fig.4. Fig. 6 is a View in front elevation of the food containing cabinet detached from its housing. 7

1930. Serial No. 447,232.

Fig. 7 is a plan view of the food cabinet in elevation.

Like characters of reference designate similar parts throughout the different figures of the drawings.

First referring to Fig. 1, I have generally indicated the floor 1, wall 2 and roof 3 of a dwelling and forming what may be termed a roomor kitchen 4. Disposed upon the floor 1, and preferably near oragainst the wall 2, is one form of apparatus embodying my invention and which is generally indicated at A. A relatively small and lower pipe, which will in most cases be an air ingress pipe, is indicated at 5 and extends from the device through wall 2 and opens to the outer air, or atmosphere.

A relatively larger and upper pipe 6, leads from the top of the device A, through the roof and opens to atmosphere or the outer air.

Further reference to the above parts will be made after the device A has been described in detail and during such detailed description and in the subsequent description of the operation.

The device A. in the present construction. involves a housing which may be formed of material having a low conductivity of heat and cold such as any kind of lumber or composite board material although the specific kind of material set forth is not actually essential. However. the housing as shown. comprises side walls 7. a back wall 8, a bottom wall 9 and atop wall 10. A partition, which, in the present construction, is a drip pan 11, adapted to seat on frame portions 12. horizontally divides or partitions off the interior of the housing into lower and upper chambers 13 and 14. respectively, the latter being the evaporating chamber or area. The lower chamber in this construction. merely forms a convenient enclosure at the base of the device and is not patentably important as the upper housing or part thereof might. in some constructions. be mounted on legs. However, I have shown a door 15, for closing the lower chamber 13.. and a door 16. for closing the upper or evaporating chamber 14. The door 15 is shown carried by hinges 17 and may be closed by a suitable fastening device 18 while the door 16 is shown carried by hinges 19 and may be fastened by any suitable form of lock, not shown. I have not detailed the frame work that may be necessary to strengthen the housing as it forms no essential part of this invention and the description will be confined to essential features and structures.

It may also be stated that if desired, the evaporating chamber may be internally or otherwise equipped with any suitable insulation material such as cork or the like, all of which is known to those skilled in the art.

Reverting again to the specific description, the drip pan 11 is provided with a relatively short upright flange 20 that abuts against the walls of the housing to catch the drip from evaporating strips that will later be described. Pipe 5, is shown connected with pan 11, at 21, although the connection may be of a detachable type. The pan 11, is provided with an opening 22, through which pipe 5 is adapted to deliver fresh outer air to the evaporating chamber 14, and the delivery is substantially centrally disposed with respect to the lateral edges of the pan 11. As shown in Fig. 3, the pipe 5, may be slight ly downwardly inclined toward its outer end as in most instances, pipe 5, will perform the dual function of an air ingress and a drain outlet pipe. It is desirable, as will later appear, to control airingresswithoutinterfering with drain egress, and hence I have provided pip-e 5 with a butterfly damper control 23, mounted on a spindle 24, having a handle 25, and as the damper is not air tight or liquid tight, it can be partially turned to restrict ingress of air without shutting the pipe off against egress of water.

It will be noted that egress pipe 6 is connected at 26, with top 10, and the latter has an opening 27 through which air from chamber 14 can egress through pipe 6 and be discharged to the outer air.

Reference will next be made to my improved food container and in coaction with the heretofore described housing.

As shown in Figs. 5, 6 and 7, the food cabinet is made of sheet material, preferably although not necessarily metal, and comprises aback wall 28 a top wall 29, a bottom wall 30 and side walls 31, the front being open. However, a front flange or wall 32, Fig. 3, forms with said back wall 28 and side walls 31, an inclosure about the top wall 29, which, as seen in Figs. 2 and 3, is recessed to form what I will term a moistening reservoir adapted to contain water or any othermoisteningfluid or liquid. Any suitable means may be provided for maintaining said reservoir full or substantially so of water.

One or more shelves 33 may be mounted on angle iron supports 34, and he proportions are such as to permit a. flow or circulation of air about said shelves as the latter are proportioned to afford air spaces about the edges of the same, as will be clearly seen from Figs. 2 and 3.

It will be clear that the walls 31 and 28, of the food containing cabinet, are in spaced relation to walls 7 and 8, of the housing whereby an evaporating area is afforded on three sides of the food cabinet. In order to conserve the eiiiciency of this area when the door 16 is opened, I provide the cabinet with a filler or closure frame consisting of vertical frame members 35, to which the side walls 31 may be secured, as at 36, an upper member 37 and a lower member 38. The latter abuts against a frame member 39, of the housing. This frame fits snugly against the walls 7, the top 10 and the transverse frame member 39. and hence closes off the evaporating area or chamber 14, against loss of cold air, when the door 16 is opened.

As a means of mounting the cabinet in spaced relation to the housing and the drip pan, I provide a shelf support 40, extending beneath wall 30, and secured to back wall 8. Further, I insert means which may be in the form of headed pins 41, through walls 7, near the outer edges thereof and into the vertical frame members 35, to hold the cabinet in the position shown.

Now it will be clear that the bottom wall 30, of the cabinet, spreads the incoming air laterally so that the air will ascend abreast of the walls 31 and 28 of the cabinet and between the latter and the walls 7 and 8 of the housing. As the opening 27 is substantially centrally disposed, the air will travel over the top of the cabinet and up through pipe 6 and outwardly to the atmosphere. A damper 42, mounted on a spindle 43, with a handle 44, serves as a circulation regulator for the pipe 6.

In order to afford an independent air circulation for the food cabinet, the bottom wall 30, is suitably perforated at 45 and a rotary regulator 46, suitably apertured, is rotatable on a pivot connector 47, into various positions for admitting or shutting off circulation. A like arrangement, which need not be described in detail, is generally indicated at 48, in the back wall 28, so that air can enter the cabinet from the lower part of the evaporating chamber 14, and pass upwardly through the cabinet and finally egress therefrom into said chamber 14. The spaces about the edges of the shelves permit such air passage freely.

I will next refer to the novel means for utilizing the ascending air to render evaporation effective.

Strips of suitable fabric preferably coextensive with the areas of the sides and back of the cabinet are indicated at 49 and 50 the lower ends 50 and 51, respectively, are shown extending slightly below the wall 30, and the lower edge 51 may be suitably recessed abreast of support 40. In any event, drippings from the lower edges will be caught in the drip pan 11. It will also be noted that these strips are pendent in the path of the ascending air passing upwardly in the evaporating chamber, and hence, evaporation will take place and impart a cooling action to the air. The upper edges 52 and 53, of said strips 49 and 50, respectively, overhang the upper walls 31 and 28 and dip into the liquid in the reservoir and the liquid is carried over by capillary attraction to the pendent portions of the strips. Of course the strips are generally so long, that capillary attraction will not raise the water in them and they would become saturated were it not for the evaporation caused by the ascending air, and consequently, to the best of my knowledge and belief, the strips are saturated until the excess that evaporation will not take up, discharges into the drip pan 11.

However, this is dependent upon the regulation which conditions require. In excessively hot weather, both dampers 23 and 42 would presumably be fully opened to permit a free flow of air and under such conditions, I have held a match at the intake end of pipe 5, and the inrush has been such that the flame of the match was blown out. The egress of air upwardly through pipe 6, is also very perceptible, which proves to me that I obtain an upward current of air through the device.

However, under different conditions, the dampers 23 and 42 may be differently adjusted, one being partly closed and the other fully opened or vice versa, which adjustable control is of great importance in regulating the device to different conditions of weather. Of course, in mild weather the dampers can be regulated to restrict the flow of air as not as much evaporation is required as in hot weather.

It may be stated that any suitable means may be provided for suspending the fabric strips, and as far as this disclosure is concerned, the walls of the reservoir may be provided with openings through. which suitable pins 54 may be inserted, the pins passing through the fabric, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3.

In cold weather, it is not necessary to put any water in the reservoir at all, and while the fabric strips may he removed entirely, this is not necessary. Under such conditions, I depend upon the flow of cold air inwardly through pipe 5, into the chamber 14, in which the air will be warmed to a certain extent and will then of course flow upwardly and outwardly through pipe 6. The dampers can be controlled to roughly regulate the temperature during such weather, and hence it will be seen that I have an all-year food cooler which need not in any manner be structurally converted from one weather con dition to another, but which merely requires adjustment; .This I have proven by installations that are now in actual and highly successful service.

will be clear that in any kind of weather, the regulators 47 and 48 can be opened to some extent so that there will be some circulation of air upwardly through the interior of the food containing cabinet thereby avoiding dead air which is highly objectionable in obvious respects, and more especially in cansing flavor contamination of one article of food by another. In cold and very severe cold weather when there is no water in the moistening reservoir and the usual evaporating process is not employed, and when the cooleris disposed in a hot kitchen, it is most important to open the regulators 47 and 48 to the required extent. Under such conditions, the heat in such a room might warm the walls of the housing to such an extent that a current of cold air would be most essential for passage upwardly through the food cabinet. Thus, by means of these regulators, the volume of air passing upwardly through the cabinet can be regulated irrespective of damper 23, or in conjunction therewith. The frequency with which the door 16 would be opened in a restaurant kitchen, for instance, would make the advantage of this feature obvious.

In summer, possibly a lesser volume of air would be admitted through the cabinet, although in any event and under all conditions except those of a most extreme and unusual character, the regulators would never be entirely closed, as that adjustment would involve an obvious disadvantage.

It is believed that the device of this invention will be fully understood from the foregoing description, and which I have shown only one specific form of the invention, I do not wish to be limited thereto except for such limitations as the claims may import.

I claim 1- 1. In a food cooler for interior use, a housing adapted to be disposed in a room, a drip pan partitioning off said housing into lower and upper chambers, a. relatively small diameter air ingress and drip discharge pipe opening to the outer air and extending through said housing and being connected with said drip pan and adapted to deliver outer air substantially centrally through said drip pan to said upper chamber, a food containing cabinet mounted in spaced relation to the walls of said housing in said upper chamber thereof and overhanging said drip pan and adapted to spread the incoming air laterally for ascent thereof between the walls of said cabinet and housing, said cabinet having a moistening reservoir in the top thereof, evap; orating fabric strips mounted on said cabinet and dipping into said reservoir and depending exteriorly of said cabinet and between the latter and the walls of said housing in the path of the ascending air and adapted to discharge into said drip pan, a relatively enlarged egress pipe leading from the top of said housing to the outer air whereby a continuous circulation is afforded, and said cabinet having ingress and egress openings near the bottom and top thereof, respectively, whereby circulation may be afforded in said cabinet from and to said upper chamber.

2. In a food cooler adapted for interior use, a housing adapted to be disposed in a room and forming an evaporating chamber having back, top, and side walls and an open front a drip pan forming the bottom of said chamber, a door mounted on said housing for closing said chamber, a food containing cabinet removably disposed in said chamber in spaced relation to said housing to form an evaporating area, said cabinet having back, top, bottom and side walls and an open front and said top wall being recessed to form a reservoir, air circulating regulators near the bottom and top of said cabinet, said cabinet having a closure frame snugly fitting the walls of said housing and coacting therewith to close off said evaporating area from the room air when said door is open, evaporating fabric strips dipping into said reservoir and extending downwardly in said evaporating area and adapted to discharge into said drip pan, said evaporating area having a lower air connection with the outer air and an upper connection with the outer air.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

ADOLPI-IE VEILLEUX.

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