US2139536A - Refrigerator car ice basket - Google Patents

Description

Dec. 6, 1938. E AN E 2,139,536

REFRIGERATOR CAR ICE BASKET Filed Nov. 6, 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Dec. 6, 1938. E. ZANE 2,139, 36

REFRIGERATOR CAR ICE BASKET Filed Nov. 6, 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 & @J

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Patented Dec. 6, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE REFRIGERATOR CAR ICE BASKET Application November 6, 1936, Serial No. 109,450

4 Claims.

The ice basket of the present invention is designed as an improvement on the invention described and claimed in the O'Connor Patent, No. 1,826,814, of October 13, 1931, and has particular reference to a shelf hinged at an intermediate position within the ice basket, whereby when desired the ice capacity of the basket may be reduced to accommodate a lesser charge of ice than is ordinarily required.

In the transportation of some perishables such as fresh meat, it is ordinarily necessary to use the full capacity of the ice basket and salt, but in the handling of certain fruits and vegetables, only a limited amount of refrigeration is required, and in such circumstances the means provided by the present invention make it possible to reduce the ice capacity and at the same time retain the ice in the most desirable position to secure its refrigerating effect.

Further objects and details will be apparent from a description of the invention in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein,

Figure 1 is a cross sectional elevation of a refrigerator car showing the arrangement of the ice bunker at one end of the car and with ice baskets located therein having embodied the features of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of one of the ice baskets;

Fig. 3 is a fragmental sectional elevation showing in detail the hinged shelf which more particularly forms the subject matter of the present invention;

Fig. 4 is a cross sectional View of the basket showing the shelf in lowered position; and

Fig. 5 is an enlarged detail of the same.

The ice basket is of foraminous construction, and as shown is in the form of a vertically elongated rectangular structure composed of a multiplicity of vertical wires and surrounding horizontally extending wires II. The wires are united at the points of intersection by welding, soldering, or in any other suitable manner. This gives to the basket as a whole a mesh construction of sufiicient strength and rigidity to afford a foraminous container for a charge of ice, and when the basket is employed to full capacity the ice charge will fill the basket from the bottom to the top. As shown in Fig. 4, the floor of the basket is likewise afforded by cross wires l2 and I3 which traverse one another.

The basket is supported a short distance above the floor of the car in any suitable manner which permits the air to circulate freely around the sides and bottom of the basket and to flow therefrom beyond the confines of the bunker and into the interior of the car in a manner well understood in the art.

The basket of the present invention, at a point at or near its middle, is provided with a shelf or partition which as shown comprises a rectangular outer wire frame l4 having dimensions slightly less than the interior cross dimensions of the basket to permit the shelf to fit freely therein, and to the frame [4 are secured the ends of a multiplicity of traversing cross wires l5 and [6, which are suitably connected to one another at their points of contact, and to the frame itself by welding, soldering, or any other suitable means of attachment. This gives to the shelf the same foraminous construction as that of the basket, and permits the shelf when lowered into horizontal transverse relation to the walls of the basket to serve as an elevated fioor for confining the ice charge to the upper portion only of the basket, thereby reducing the capacity of the basket to the requirements of a partial icing of the car. The shelf when lowered is supported on its four sides by angle bars l1, l8, I9 and 20, the vertical flanges of which are rigidly secured to the adjacent wall of the basket with the horizontal flanges inwardly projecting to afiord the necessary support.

The frame of the shelf adjacent the angle bar I8 is hinged by the provision of L-shaped bolts 2|, the heads 22 of which engage with notches 23 cut in the inner edges of the angle bar l8, the bolts at their outer ends being entered through exterior fiat plates 24 which abut against the vertical wires of the basket, with nuts 25 on the outer ends of the bolts to hold the same in the intended position. By this arrangement the bolts are hooked over the edge of the frame and serve to hold the same in confined relation between the angle bar l8 and the bolts, thereby affording a hinge which permits upswinging of the shelf into vertical relation to the side wall of the frame, as indicated in dotted lines at the left of Fig. 3.

The frame of the shelf upon its opposite edge is provided with a latch 26 which, when the shelf is lifted, is adapted to hook over a lock plate 21 at the proper level on the frame, as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 3. In order to better accommodate the latch, which is pivoted upon the shelf frame, the angle bar I! is divided at its center into two sections, which affords the necessary clearance and thus allows the shelf frame when lowered to rest evenly and firmly upon the angle bars on all sides of the basket.

The top of the wire basket is open for the reception of the ice which is delivered through a hatchway 28, and from this position it is easy to secure access to the interior of the basket or baskets located below said hatchway, which enables the man in charge of the icing to easily raise or lower the shelf as occasion may require. The latch shown is a gravity latch, so that by lifting the shelf to vertical position it will easily latch itself and remain in that position until the latch is released and the shelf allowed to fall into the horizontal position where it is supported with sufficient rigidity to afford a floor or support for the limited quantity of ice required in the partial icing of the car.

The angle bars upon which the shelf is supported serve an additional function in reinforcing the walls of the basket at the base of the upper compartment afforded by the shelf when lowered, and the structure as a whole is one which may be easily employed in connection with haskets of standard construction and without any alteration in the interior arrangement of the ice bunkers of the car. By locating the shelf in the manner stated, the partial charge of ice will be maintained .at a high level, so that the refrigerating effect of the downflowing cold air will be most advantageously realized under conditions where partial icing only is required.

I claim:

1. A removable ice basket for refrigerator cars or the like, of rectangular form and having foraminous walls on each of its four sides, and hav-' ing at an intermediate position an inwardly projecting supporting member secured to each of said walls, and a rectangular foraminous shelf hinged at one edge to the adjacent wall of the basket and adapted when lowered to horizontal position to rest upon said supporting members along each of its four edges and adapted when elevated to stand in parallel adjacent relation to the basket wall to which the shelf is hinged.

2. A removable ice basket for refrigerator cars or the like, of rectangular form and having foraminous walls, and having at an intermediate position inwardly projecting supporting members secured to said walls, a foraminous shelf hinged at one edge to the adjacent wall of the basket and adapted when lowered to horizontal position to rest upon said supporting members and adapted when elevated to stand in parallel adjacent relation to the basket wall to which the shelf is hinged, a gravity latch pivoted to ,the free edge of the shelf and means on the wall adapted when the shelf is elevated to be engaged by the latch to hold the shelf in elevated relation.

3. A removable ice basket of rectangular shape for refrigerator cars, having four rectangular side walls and a floor, the side walls and floor being formed by vertical and horizontal wires traversing one another and the basket as a whole being adapted to be inserted into and stand vertically within the ice bunker of a refrigerator car and above the floor of the car, a ledge of angle iron formation, the vertical flanges of which bear against and are se 'ured to the wire side walls of the basket near the vertical center thereof and the horizontal flanges of which project inwardly from each of the side walls, a shelf comprising a rectangular surrounding frame and cross wires secured thereto, the shelf being of proper dimensions when lowered to horizontal position to afford a partition extending transversely across the medial portion of the basket and being adapted when lowered to rest upon the angle flanges constituting the ledge, means for hinging one edge of the shelf to one side of the ledge, a gravity latch pivoted to the free edge of the shelf and means on the wall adapted when the shelf is swung upwardly to be engaged by the latch to hold the shelf in elevated relation.

4. A removable ice basket of rectangular shape for refrigerator cars, having four rectangular side walls and a floor, the side walls and floor being formed by vertical and horizontal wires traversing one another and the basket as a whole being adapted to be inserted into and stand vertically within the ice bunker of a refrigerator car and above the floor of the car, a ledge of angle iron formation, the vertical flanges of which bear against and are secured to the wire side walls of the basket near the vertical center thereof and the horizontal flanges of which project inwardly from each of the side walls, a shelf comprising a rectangular surrounding frame and cross wires secured thereto, the shelf being of proper dimensions when lowered to horizontal position to afford a partition extending transversely across the medial position of the basket and being adapted when lowered to rest upon the angle flanges constituting the ledge, means for hinging one edge of the shelf to one side of the ledge, a gravity latch pivoted to the free edge of the shelf, and a lock plate secured to the wire wall of the basket above the ledge and in position to be engaged by the latch when the shelf is swung upwardly.

EDWARD ZANE.

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