US2101465A

US2101465A - Storage cabinet

Info

Publication number: US2101465A
Application number: US12424A
Authority: US
Inventors: Harry F Beers
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1935-03-22
Filing date: 1935-03-22
Publication date: 1937-12-07
Anticipated expiration: 1954-12-07

Description

Dec. 7, 1937. H. F. BEERS 2,101,465

STORAGE CABINET Filed March 22, 1935 In Z INVENTOR fifleex f7 171F563 A BY I ATTORN? Patented eel:o 7,, E

n ts

application ct! 22, 1935, Serial No. 12,424

This invention relates to storage cabinets and particularly to the provision of means for sealing the door or doors of such cabinets to render the interior of the cabinet air-tightj and the object of the invention is to provide a cabinet, the door opening of which is provided with a continuous channel in which is supported a strip of sealing material preferably in the form of sponge rubber which is exposed through the channel to be engaged by the peripheral edges of a door or doors controlling access to the cabinet, the strip having beveled edges which form a neat and finished boundary corner or edge to the opening of the cabinet, facilitating cleaning thereof;

a further object being to provide means in the form of wedge or cam-shaped bolts for forcing the door or doors inwardly into engagement with sealing strips of the cabinet to insure a positive seal and closure together with a similar locking 0 means for securing the doors in closed position; a further object being to provide a cabinet of the class described having a double wall structure principally at the top, bottom and side walls and on the door or doors employed; a further object being to provide means for sealing adjacent edges of a double door structure to provide an airtight compartment within the cabinet; and with these and other objects in view, the invention consists in a device of the class and for the purpose specified, which is simple in construction,

efiicient in use and which is constructed as hereinafter described and claimed.

The invention is fully disclosed in the following. specification, of which the accompanying drawing forms a part, in which the separate parts of my improvement are designated by suitable reference characters in each of the views, and in which:

Fig. l is a face view of a cabinet made according to my invention showing one door thereof in open position and with part of the construction broken away.

Fig. 2 is a horizontal section through the cabinet on an enlarged scale with parts of the construction broken away.

Fig. 3 is a partial section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1 with parts of the structure broken away; and,

Fig. 4 is a sectional detail view of a part of the cabinet with the door in open position.

My invention, while applicable to cabinets or containersof various kinds and classes where it is desired to provide an air-tight or substantially air-tight compartment therewithin, deals primarily with the construction of cabinets used in the storage of birds and other animal life as well as matter or products subject to decomposition unless maintained in a hermetically sealed cabinet or container, and wherein the animal life or the like have been treated for preserve. 5 tion, and wherein, in some cases, preservative chemicals or the like are employed in the cabinets to maintain the preservation.

- To illustrate one method of carrying my invention into effect, I have shown in the accoml0 panying drawing a cabinet b, the open side of which is closed by two doors 3 and l. The cabinet 5 is constructed from substantially similar top, bottom and side walls 8, 9, lb and ii respectively. These walls are composed of inner and 1 outer sheet metal parts with an air space i2 therebetween. The rear end portions of said walls include reinforcing. strips 53 forming supplemental corner pockets or chambers id. The

back wall l5 of the cabinet consists of a single 20 1 sheet secured to the other wall portions in the manner clearly seen in Fig. 2 of the drawing, it being understood that all of the sheet metal wall portions are riveted, welded or otherwise secured together in such manner as to form air-tight 25 connections therebetween.

At the front ends of the walls 8, 9, iii and ii are secured angle iron strips l6, which in conjunction with inturned flanges ill and I8 of the .separate sheets of the wall portions 8, 9, l0 and 30 H form channels in which are arranged sealing strips l9 having beveled exposed surfaces 20 extending outwardly through the opening of the cabinet. These beveled surfaces present smooth and clean boundary walls to the opening of the 35 cabinet and at the same time form relatively thick central body portions to said strips facilitating greater compression thereof.

Angle iron strips l6 are reinforced by other angle iron strips iGa to give strength and rigidity 4 to the front edge portions of. the cabinet. The arrangement of the angle iron strip I6 is such as to form a chamber or clearance space 2i between it and the outer wall to receive one of the butts 22 of a number of hinges 23. The other 45 butts 24 of said hinges are attached to the outer walls 811, 1a of the doors 8 and I and these attachments are reinforced by channeled reinforcing strips 24a disposed within the chambers of the doors 6 and l or between the outer plates 50 6a, Ia and the inner plates 8b, 1b thereof.

At this time it is well to point out that the purpose of the double wall structure is not only to give strength and rigidity to the resulting cabinet, especially in using a light sheet metal 55 projecting beads 25 which also form the means for joining the walls 8a, 8b; In, lb together as will appear upon a consideration of Figs. 2 and 3 of the drawing.

The hinged side walls of the doors Ii and 1 are also provided with V-shaped extensions 28,

note Fig. 2 of the drawing, which provide a double seal of the doors in connection with the sealing strip l8 and at the same time, reinforce and strengthen said edges of the doors. The strip 18, which may be one continuous strip or a series of strips adhered together at the-intersections thereof, is preferably composed of rubber or sponge rubber but may be composed of any suitable yielding material suitable for the intended It is also desirable to seal the adjacent edges of the doors 8 and 1. For this purpose, I mount on the inner surface of one door, the door 6 in the construction shown, an elongated channeled strip 21, the channel of which is directed outwardly and in which a thin sealing strip 28 is mounted. The channel terminates within the boundaries of the inner surfaces of the top and bottom walls 8 and 8, whereas the ends of the strip 28 are allowed to overlie the sealing strip l8 as indicated at zaa in Fig. 1 of the drawing to insure a seal at the upper and lower corner portions bf the doors where they intersect at adjacent edges. The strip 28 is adapted to be compressed by' the bead or flange 25 of the door 5 when placed in the channel 21, whereas the bead or flange 25 of the door I engages this strip to effect a seal in the manner indicated in Fig. 2 of the drawing.

Pivotally mounted on the outer plates or walls 8a, la of the doors 8,1 are handles Hand 88, each carryingwithin the chambers of the doors plates 8! and 32. Coupled with these plates are upwardly directed links 88, 88a which are pivoted to upper cam or wedge-shaped latch bolts 84, one of which is shown in detail in Fig. 3 of the drawing. Pivoted to the plates 81 and 82 are similar downwardly extending links 85, 85a which are pivoted to other cam or wedge-shaped latch bolts 84a. The bolts 84 and 8411 are guided in channel-shaped brackets 88 arranged within the chamber of the doors 6 and 1, and said bolts extend through the upper and lower surfaces of the doors and enter apertures formed in adjacent portions of the upper and lower walls 8 and 8 of thecabinet, one of the apertures being indicated at 81 in Fig. 3 of the drawing. The wall portionsof the cabinet where the latch bolts 84, 84a pass therethrough, are reinforced by L- shaped bolts 88. Pivoted to the plate 82 is a short link 88 to which is pivoted a latch bolt 48 similar to the bolts 84, 84a, the bolt 48 passing through a U-shaped guide within the chamber of the door I and entering an aperture in the adjacent wall of the door 6.

The plates 8| and 82 arerotatable with the handles 28 and 88, and in opening the doors 8 and I, the plates are moved into the position shown at the right of Fig. ,1, in which position. the bolts 84, 84a of the door I are drawn into the chamber of the door, whereas in closing the doors, the plates assume the position shown at the left of Fig. 1, in which position, the bolts 84, 84a

* net,

are projected and engage the apertures of the top and bottom walls 8 and 8.

The cam surfaces or wedge-shaped ends of the bolts serve to force the doors 8 and I inwardly to tensionally engage the sealing strip i8 and strip 28. The bolt 48 also aids in this respect to draw the adjacent edges of the doors 8 and I together or to force the bead 25 of the door 1 into flrm engagement with the strip 28.

With the foregoing construction, the doors 8 and i may be positively sealed within the cabinet and with their adjacent edges sealed to form an air-tight closure for the compartment in order to maintain the desired preservative conditions or characteristics of the compartment. In this connection it will be apparent that the design of cabinet disclosed is intended for storage of a number of cabinets back to back, with the flush rear surfaces of the cabinet in abutting re-' lation, thus eliminating the necessity of a double wall structure, but in other types of cabinets, the double wall structure may be carried through out the back wall, as will be apparent. If desired, suitable insulating material may be placed in the chambers of the hollow wall structure of the cabinets and doors, especially in adapting the cabinets for use in preserving articles placed therein from a standpoint of temperature.

In the construction shown, the opposed side walls I8 and Ii are provided on the inner surfaces thereof with a plurality of vertically spaced cleats 42 formed from a corrugated sheet of metal, only part of the cleats being shown in Fig. I of the drawing for purposes of simplification.

A number of box-shaped trays 48 may be supported on the cleats 42, three of which trays are shown in Fig. 1 of the drawing. The trays have at their lower edges outwardly extending flanges 44 which are adapted to seat upon the cleats 42. However, the arrangement of trays or shelvings within the cabinet may be modified to suit the particular use of the cabinet and to adapt it for storage of articles, products or animal life of various kinds and classes.

In certain uses of the cabinets, the same will be placed one upon the other. To facilitate alinement thereof, the upper surfaces will be provided with two or more upwardly extending disc-like beads 45 adapted to enter corresponding recesses 46 formed in the lower wall of an adjacent cabinet. The side, top and bottom walls of the cabinet may also be reinforced by a 'number of U-shaped reinforcing strips 41 such as indicated in the side walls in Fig. 2 of the 1 drawing, especially when the sheet metal employed on the cabinet is comparatively thin.

Having fully described my invention, what I.

. surface of the cabinet, a strip of sponge rubber arranged in and extending throughout the length of said channel, said strip being substantially triangular in cross sectional form with the thick part of said strip arranged centrally of the channel, a closure for the opening of said cabisaid closure having projecting flanges adapted to engage said strip throughout the peripheral edges of the closure to form an airtight connection between the closure and said cabinet, and means movably mounted in connection with the closure and engaging the cabinet to forcibly move the projecting flanges oi the closure into firm engagement with said strip.

2. A cabinet of the class described having sealed top, bottom, side and back walls, the front of the cabinet being open, the peripheral edges of the top, bottom and side walls of the cabinet adjacent the'iront opening having a continuous channel arranged within the front surface of the cabinet, a strip of sponge rubber arranged in and extending throughout the length of said channel, said strip being substantially triangular in cross sectional form with the thick part of said strip arranged centrally oi the channel, a closure for the opening of said cabinet, said closure having projecting flanges adapted to engage said strip throughout the peripheral edges of the closure to form an air-tight connection between the closure and said cabinet, means movably mounted in connection with the closure and engaging the cabinet to forcibly move the projecting flanges of the closure into flrm en.- gagement with said strip, and the boundary walls of said channels having inturned flanges engaging side edges of saidrubber strip to retain the same against displacement.

. side edges of said strip terminating in mounting portions having substantially parallel opposed surfaces and means on the walls of the cabinet engaging the mounting portions of said strip m supporting the strip in connection with the cabinet.

4. The combination with a cabinet and a closure for an opening in said cabinet, of means for forming a seal between the cabinet and closure,

said cabinet and closure being provided one with a continuous channel and the other with a projecting flange adapted to enter said channel, said channel consisting of wall portions arranged at right angles to each other, the free edges of the wall portions having hook-shaped strip retaining flanges and a sealing strip of cushioning material having walls disposed at right angles to each other to flt snugly upon the right angle walls of said channel, the free side edges of the strip terminating in projecting parts engaged by the hook-shaped sides of said channel to retain the strip against displacement therefrom, and the exposed surface of said strip extending between the hook-shaped flanges being arranged at approximately 45 to the walls of said channel to provide a thick freely yieldable central portion to said sealing strip adapted to be engaged by the first named flange.

5. The combination with a cabinet and a closure for an opening in said cabinet, of means for forming a seal between the cabinet and closure, said cabinet and. closure being provided one with 'a continuous channel and the other with a projecting flange adapted to enter said channel, said channel consisting of wall portions arranged at. right angles to each other, the free edges of the wall portions having hook-shaped strip retaining flanges and a sealing strip of cushioning material having walls disposed at right angles to each other to flt snugly upon the right angle walls of said channel, the free side edges of the strip terminating in projecting parts engaged by the hook-shaped sides oi said channel to retain the strip against displacement therefrom, the exposed surface of said strip extending between the hook-shaped flanges being arranged at approximately 45 to the walls of said channel to provide a thick, freely yieldable central portion to said sealing strip adapted to be engaged by the first named flange, and said cabinet and closure being provided with interengaging means for retaining the closure in closed position and for forcibly moving the first named flange into engagement with said sealing strip.

HARRY F. 'BEERS.