US2101702A - Cabinet for mechanical refrigerators and appurtenances thereof - Google Patents

Description

Deg. 7, 1937. L. M; CROSLEY CABINET FOR MECHANICAL REFRIGERA'IORS AND APPURTENANGES THEREOF Filed N v/14, 1934 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. Lewis M Cros'le ATTORNEYS;

9 1937- I M. @ROSLEY I ,1 ,702

CABINET FOR MECHANICALBEFRIGERATORS AND APPUR'IENAIICES THEREOF Filed Nov. 14, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

Lewis M Crqshy dm aww ATTORNEY-3.

Patented Dec. 7, 1931 PATENT orrica CABINET FOR MECHANICAL REFRIGERA- TORS AND APPURTENANCES THEREOF Lewis M. Crosley, Cincinnati, Ohio, assignor to The Crosley Radio Corporation, Cincinnati,

Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application November 14, 1934, Serial No. 753,012

5 Claims.

My invention relates to refrigerator cabinets and parts, and is of especial utility in connection with refrigerators of a type having a lid opening upwardly on horizontal pivots and giving access to the refrigerated compartment,'as

distinguished. from the ordinary door or doors, which open outwardly upon vertical pivots. Rofrigerators of this type, and which are usually of relatively small size, are coming into considerable favor for use in apartments or under other conditions of restricted space, and'for use by families of limited. means. An exemplary refrigerator of this type, to which, however, my invention is not limited, is a refrigerator having a lower compartment containing the motor, compressor and condenser, and an upper refrigerated compartment of relatively small capacity, say, of two cubic feet, or thereabouts. It will be clear that with such relatively limited storage space, the problem of utilizing all of the available space to the utmost advantage is a problem of considerable importance.

provision of a cabinet with means, as will be hereinafter set forth, for utilizing substantially all of the" available space, as aforesaid, and this and other objects of my invention which will be se forth hereinafteror which will be apparent to one skilled in the art upon reading these specifications, I accomplish by that certain construction and arrangement of parts of which I shall now describe an exemplary embodiment.

This exemplary embodiment is a small sized cabinet of the type to which Iha-ve referred, it being understood, however, that my invention is not limited thereto.

, In the drawings:

. Figure 1 is a sectional view of a cabinet of this type.

Fig. 2 is a partial sectional view thereof with the lid raised.

' brackets l2 upon the base 6., A control or adjustrnent unit I! is mounted upon the front wall and has an operating handle it, together with a face plate bearing suitable indicia, and a switch, if desired, lying outside of the front wall I in a position of convenient access. I have not particularly described the mechanical apparatus in the machine compartment, since this does not form a limitation upon. my invention, and since the various mechanism, tubing connections and electrical connections may be those which are well known in the art.

I have shown inihe refrigerated compartment an evaporator l5, which is preferably, though not necessarily, of a type shown in a copending application of Crosley and Money, Ser. No. 740,554 filed Aug. 20, 1934. A return tubing connection from the evaporator to the compressor is indicated at It. The evaporator is fed with liquefied refrigerant from the condenser I, through a restricted flow tube ii, in this particular embodiment of my invention. The tubing connections may run through a protecting sleeve Hi to the top of the refrigerated compartment, and .may thencepass through the upper My invention has for its primary object the a box-like structure is open at the top. Be-

tween the compartment l9 and the outer walls I and the partition 3 there is positioned insulating material indicated at 20. The top edges of the refrigerated compartment may be finished by wooden or other rail members 2| contacting the outer walls, and to which the food compartment I9 is attached, as by screws 22. The ma-' chine compartment is open in the rear to provide for ventilation, and in particular for the cooling of the condenser I by a blast of air from the fan 23.

The food or refrigerated compartment 5 is closed and insulated upon the bottom and all four lateral sides. It is closed at the top by a lid indicated generally at 2|, which is hinged to the back' rail 2|, as at 25. or bearing members 26 form an air-tight joint between the lid and the refrigerated compart-' ment, thereby reinforcing the efiect of the insulation. The lid is, of course, insulated as at 21.

The lid may take a variety of forms. In my exemplary embodiment I have shown a form in which the lid has a peripheral projection formed by members 28 extending into the refrigerated compartment'and finished within by a-metal plate 29, which thereby forms a recess in which shelf members may be placed, as I have herein after described. It would equally be possible, however, to bulge the lid outwardly and to form Parting strips on the top of the evaporator l5.

In the practice of my invention, I provide means for retaining materials or articles to be stored in the lid, and for this purpose shelves are provided in connection with the lid. Since the lid swings on horizontal pivots from a horizontal to a vertical position, or therebeyond, means must be provided to make the shelves operative in either position, and to cause the shelves to retain the articles or materials aforesaid in all positions and during the swinging operation. It will be understood that the articles or materials, which for the most part will be placed in the shelves on the lid, are such articles as eggs, fruit,*small bottles or small packages, which articles if spread out upon shelf therein, would occupy an effective space very much larger than their actual bulk, for the reason that it might be impracticable to place other articles upon them. Moreover, the arrangement which I shall hereinafter describe makes for convenience, inasmuch as it partially eliminates the necessity for stacking articles in the refrigerator, so that to all intents and purposes all articles therein are immediately and easily accessible.

Preferably I form my shelves of wire or bar material, although they may otherwise be formed if desired. Reference to Fig. 3 will show main side rail members 32 formed of wire or bar stock. These main rails have U -shaped bends 33 at their upper ends, and at their lower ends are bent as at 34 so as to provide at either end tongue mem-,

bers extending in the same direction. These tongue members are adapted to engage in bracket members 35 fastened upon the lid. These bracket members may conveniently be in the form of half hinges, or any other suitable form may be employed. It will be clear that, as looked at in Fig- 3, the whole shelf construction, which is mounted to the side rails 32, may be removed as a unit from the lid by an upward motion which disengages the tongues from the brackets. The shelf construction comprises, in my preferred form, frame members 36, 31, and 38, one side of the main rails 32. The other side is projected inwardly of the recess in the door, so that the frame members lie aslantof the rail members 3-2, as clearly shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The other sides of the frame members 36 to 38 are connected by means of supplementary rail members 39. The

.sides of the frame members are connected at intervals by bow-shaped rods or wires 40, 4| and the bottom of the food compartment, or upon a each of these frame members being attached to 42, which may vary as to shape, but which proing the wires or bars forming the various parts at their meeting and crossing points. Afterward the wall shelf construction, which is thus unitary, may be tinned or otherwise treated for protection or appearance, as may be found desirable. While I prefer to make my shelf removable as a unit for cleaning or the liire, still my invention is not so limited, and the several shelf members may be separate and separably movable or permanently fastened into place, as desired.

The lid may have a bracket member 43 to limit its upward motion. I have shown in the various views such articles as eggs ll, oranges 45, bottles 46, and have indicated how these will be retained in all positions of the lid.

Modifications may be made in my invention without departing from the spirit thereof.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. A shelf construction for hinged upwardly opening refrigerator lids, said shelf construction comprising at least one frame member angularly disposed to the plane of said. lid, and a plurality of arcuately shaped retaining members attached to said frame members, said retaining members providing a recess into which articles may be placed, which recess will retain said articles in all operative positions of said lid.

2. A shelf construction for refrigerators having hinged upwardly opening 11dS, sald shelf construction comprising a plurality of frame members, and means for holding said frame members at an angle to the plane of said lid, each of said frame members having means extending thereacross and of a sh'ape such as will provide a recess extending below said frame members in all operative positions of said lid. 3. A shelf construction for refrigerators having hinged upwardly opening lids, said shelf construction comprising side rail members, supplementary rail members, frame members each hav: ing one of its sides attached to said side rail members, and the other of its sides attached to said supplementary rail members so that said frame members lie at an angle tosaid rail members, and open work members connecting the respective sides of said frame members extending below said frame members so as to provide a basketlike recess, a substantial portion of which will lie below said frame members in all operative positions of said door.

4. In combination, a hinged upwardly openi refrigerator door, a shelf member in operative connection therewith, said shelf member having D n erlying and acting as a support for articles thereon when said door is open, and another part underlying and acting as a support for articles thereon when said door is closed, said last mentioned part having a reentrant portion preventing accidental dislodgment of said articles when said door is closed.

5. Ashelf construction for refrigerators having hinged upwardly opening lids, said shelf construction comprising frame members disposed at an angle to said lid, and open-work members connecting the respective sides of said frame members and extending below said frame members so as to provide a basket-like recess, a substantial Portion of which will lie below said frame members in all operative positions of said door.

' LEWIS M. CROBLEY.

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