US1902479A - Refrigerator cabinet - Google Patents

Description

March 21, 1933. H. s. wo'o RuFF 3 7 riwnmsnuon CABINET Filed Feb. 19, 1939 Inventor: Henng 5. wocdrmg His Attonnev g.

which has impaired their efficiency, have also been constructed so that Patented Mar. 21, 1933 UNITED STATES ;PATENT OFFICE EENBY S. WOODBUFI, OF SCHE'NECTADY, NEW YOB K, ASSIGNOB TO Gm ELECTBIG COMPANY, A CORPORATION OFNEWYOBK REFRIGERATOR OABINEI.

Application filed February 1 9 1930. Serial no. 429,781.

My invention relates to refrigerator cabinets of the type having a refrigerating system associated therewith for cooling the cabinet.

In refrigerator cabinets. of this kind, as heretofore constructed, the evaporators have generally been constructed so that the air in the cabinet flowing over-the surfaces of the evaporator comes in contact with a small portion of the surface of the evaporator and they they impeded the circulation of air in the cabinet.

The object of my invention is to provide a refrigerator cabi-net having an evaporator therein of such form as to provide for a substantially unobstructed flow of air in the cabinet over the entire surface of the evaporator. I accomplish this by arranging a plurality of vertically arranged refrigerant containing plates in the cabinet in spaced relation so that air in the cabinet can flow freely over substantially the entire surface of the lates.

y invention will be more fully set forth in the following description referring to the.

accompanying drawing, and the features of novelty which characterize my invention will be pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this specification.

Fig. lis a perspectivg/ view of a refrigerator having an evap rator therein constructed in accordance with my invention; Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the evaporator shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a side elevation in the evaporator, and Fig. 4 is a fragmentary longitudinal section of the header of the evaporator and one of the plates which are secured thereto.

As an example of one manner of carrying out my inventlon I have shown the same in connection with a refrigerator cabinet 10 having an evaporatorll therein for cooling the cabinet which is suspended from a removable top 12. In this instance the refrigerating system associated with the evaporator 11 is of the compression type including a motor and compressor unit arranged in a casing 13 and which delivers compressed gas to a condenser coil 14 supported on fins 15 secured to the case. The condenser coil 14' is connected at the lower end thereof to a float valve 16 which controls the flow of liquid refrigerant to the evaporator 11. The temperature of the evaporator is controlled by a thermostat 17 arranged in contact with the evaporator and connected. to a control mechanism 18 for stopping and starting the motor which drives the compressor of the refrigerating system. The general construction of this compression refrigeratin machine is illustrated and described in teenstrup Patent No. 1,736,635, November 19, 1929, which is assigned to the General Electrio Company, assignee of the present invention. r The evaporators employed for cooling refrigerator cabinets of the type above described have ordinarily been arranged so that the air circulated in the cabinet came in contact with only a small portion of thelsurface' of the evaporator and impeded the circulation of air in the cabinet. This is avoided in accordance with my ing the evaporator 11 of a lurality of flat plates 19 which are vertica 1y arranged in the cabinet. These plates are spaced apart in substantially parallel relation and secured together at the upper edges thereof by a refrlgerant containing header. 20 which is formed with arcuate openings 21 to afford communication between each of the refrigerant containing plates 19 and the header. The upper edges of the plates 19 are fitted over the openings 21..ai1d are welded to they header as indicated at 22 in Fig. 4, so that the header serves to support the plates 19 in spaced relation to each other. The refrigerant level in the header 20 is maintained slightly above the middle and a proximately as indicated at 23, so that the refiigerant containmg plates 19 are entirely filled with liquid refrigerant. The evaporator 11 is su ported by lugs 11' which are welded to t e plates 19 and bolted to the top 12.

The circulation of the air in the cabinet over the surfaces of the plates 19 vaporizes the liquid refrigerant and, unless thisvaporized refrigerant is removed from the inner invention by construct- 75 y surface of the plates, it interferes with the conduction of heat from the walls of the plates to the liquid refrigerant. In order to I remove the vaporized refrigerant from the plates, I provade a plurality of passages forming closed paths in the plates for the circulation of liquid refrigerant which carries the vaporized refrigerant to the header 20 as'rapidly as it is formed in the passages. This is part ularly important in an evaporator having vertically arranged plates, be-

* cause in a construction of this kind it is quite difficult to obtain a satisfactory. flow of vaporized refrigerant to the header from the portions of the refrigerant containing plates remote from the header. The closed paths for the circulation of liquid refrigerant in the plates 19 may be formed in any desired manner, but in the present construction I 20 form them by making the plates 19 of two parts which are stamped out of flat metal sheets so.that a plurality of corrugations are formed terminating inside of the outer edges of the sheets, the portions 24 of the corrugations extending outwardly from theplane of the edge of the sheets to form'passages, and the portions 25 of the corrugations being formed in the plane of the edge of the sheets.

The portions of the sheets between the ends of the corrugations and the edge of the sheets are depressed at 19' from the plane of. the edges of the sheets to the same extent as the portions 24 of the corrugations. Two sheets of this form are welded together at the edges thereof and throughout the length of the portion 25 of the corrugations. The pairs of sheets which are welded together in this way to constitute the plates 19 form a hori-.

zontal passage 26 across the upper portion thereof and a plurality of downwardly extending passages 27 communicating therewith between the portions 24 of the corrugations, and open at the lower ends thereof into a horizontal passage 28 extending across the lower portions of the plates. By this construction the air circulating over the surfaces of the evaporator in the cabinet vaporize the refrigerant in the plates 19 and cause the liquid refrigerant to circulate very rapidly 59 from the lower edge to the upper edge of the plates in a plurality of closed paths as indi cated by the arrows in Fig. 2. In this way the vaporized refrigerant is carried by the liquid refrigerant from the inner surfaces of the plates 19 to the horizontal passage 26,

thence to the header 20 of the evaporator as rapidly as it is formed, and the vaporized r efrigerant does not, therefore, interfere with the transfer of heat from the walls of the 50 evaporator to the liquid refrigerant.

During the operation of the refrigerating system which is associated with .the cabinet- 10, liquid refrigerant is supplied through the float valve 16'to the header 20 of the evaporat-or through the pipe 29 and vaporized refrigerant is withdrawn from the header 20 p by the compressor of the refrigerating machine through the pipe 30 which extends into the evaporator above the level 23 of liquid refrigerant.

Modifications of the form of my invention which I have illustrated and described will occur to those skilled in the art, so that I do not desire my invention to be limited to the particular construction set forth; and I intend in the appended claims to cover all modifications which do not depart from the spirit and scope of my invention.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A refrigerator cabinet having a refrigerating system provided with an evaporator arranged in said cabinet, said evaporator ineluding a plurality of vertically arranged refrigerant containing plates, said plates being spaced apart to provide an unobstructed flow of air between them and over the entire surface of said plates, each of said plates having passages therein extending across the upper and lower portions thereof and connected by vertical passages, and a header secured directly to the upper portions of said plates for securing them together and communicating with the passages in the upper portions thereof.

- 2, An evaporator for refrigerating systems including a plurality of flat refrigerant containing plates spaced apart to provide for an unobstructed flow of air between them over the entire surface of said plates, said plates being vertically arranged and having passages therein arranged to provide for the circulation of liquid refrigerant in a plurality of closed paths, and a refrigerant header secured directly to the upper portion of said plates communicating directly with said passages.

3. An evaporator for refrigerating systems including a plurality of flat refrigerant containing plates spaced apart to provide for an unobstructed flow of air between them over the entire surface of said plates, said plates being vertically arranged and having passages therein extending across the upper and lower portions thereof and connected by vert-ical passages, and means including a header secured directly to the upper edges of said plates and communicating w1th said passages for supplying refrigerant thereto and for securing said plates together.

4. An evaporator for refrigerating systems including a plurality of vertically arranged substantially parallelflatplates spaced apart to provide for an unobstructed flow of air between them over the entire surface of said plates, said plates having a passage across the upper portions thereof and other passages arranged to form a plurality of closed paths for the circulation of liquid refrigerant, and means including a header se- 3 cured directly to the upper edges of said plates and communicating with the passages m the upper portions thereof for supplying refrigerant to said plates, said header ex- 5 tending transversely of said plates.

' In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this 18 th dafi fif Februa 1930.

Y S. W ODRUFF.

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