US2161713A - Electric refrigerator - Google Patents

Description

. Patented June 6, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE waitsta f; Appllcationl HGT/Ill? GSJZLNO. 208,897

The invention, relates to an electric refrigerator and more especially to that class of refrigerators having a built-in hydrator. v

The primary object of the invention is the pro- 5 vision ofa refrigerator of this character, wherein there is built a hydrator separated from the cooling chamber in which is located the chilling or cooling unit so that vegetables placed within the refrigerator, that is to say, within the chamber 10 effective as a hydrator, will be kept fresh and cool without liability of having the moisture removed and thus maintaining the same crisp and in a state'of natural moist condition, this being particularly true with respect to lettuce, celery, snap ll beans, squash carrots, beets, citrus fruits and other products of a perishable kind, the hydrator characteristic of the refrigerator being novel-in its 'make-up.

Another object of the invention is the provision go of a refrigerator of this character, wherein the hydrating compartment is readily accessible from without and is a built-in part of such refrigerator so that fruits and vegetablescan be stored conveniently and maintainedin their natural moist 5 state and in a fresh condition during storage of the same.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a refrigerator of this character, wherein the hydrating chamber therein is insulated simiso larly to the insulating of the body of such re.-

frigerator and is separated from the cooling chamber within the latter by a separator partition which allows the transferring of cooled air from "such cooling chamber into the hydrating chamber as for maintenance of the products held therein moist and fresh, the products being properly held within said hydrating chamber to eliminate con-'- tamination and also to have the same readily accessible and to be subjected to hydrating activity I 40 and without closely confining such product wit closed containers.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a refrigerator of this character, which is simple in-its construction, thoroughly reliable 45 and efhcient forlfy'drating purposes andifor re-s frigeration and inexpensive to manufacture.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists in the features of construction,

accordance generally a refrigerator constructed in accordance 10 with'the invention and comprises an outer casing 6' built interiorly thereof with a lining 5 effecting inner walling about a cooling chamber or compartment 1 and a hydrator s ace-or chamber 8, respectively, while between su h lining 6 and the ll outer casing 5 is the usual insulating material 8 commonly employed for the insulation of refrigerator bodies of the electric type.

As is usual, within the chamber 1 is a receiver in for a cooling unitinot shown) being of the electric type, a drain ii being extended downwardly from the enclosure II for the delivery of water into the chamber 8 particularly when defrosting is restorted to in the use of the refrigerator while leading from the chamber 8 is a drain 2 [2 which opens into an accessible space II in the lowermost portion of the casing 5 and this drain relieves the chamber 8 of excessive water supply as may be delivered thereto from the drain il during defrosting of the refrigerator.

The compartments 1 and 8 are separated from each other by means of a horizontal partition l which constitutes a bottom for the chamber 1 and a ceiling for the chamber 8, respectively.

As usual, the front of the refrigerator has built therein a door, a portion of the same being indicated at It, giving access to the interior of the chamber 1, which is the cooling or chilling chamber of the refrigerator. I

, This front of the refrigerator has built there with a door It, which gives access to the chamber 8, while removably racked within thelatter is a plurality of superposed trays or drawers l1, each having a reticulated or foraminous bottom it and these drawers 0; trays II are susceptible of being removed from the rack mounting thereof from within the compartment 8. The reticulated or foramlnous bottom ll of the drawers or trays l1 allows'drippings to pass from the upper most of these trays or drawers to and through the lowermost thereof onto the bottom of the compartment 8 and any excess drippings will be drained off through the drain II. The trays or drawers I! are for accommodating products such.

beets, citrus-fruits and vegetables carrying mois- 7 fresh as well as properly cooled for rendering the same" crisp and in a fresh condition. The chambet I through the construction thereof and the arrangement of the trays or drawers l1 therein efl'ects the hydrating activity for the maintenance of stored substances or products in a naturally moist, fresh and crisp condition.

The partition i4 is devoid of insulation so that the compartment 8 will be maintained cool but at a less degree than the'coolnesaor chill within the chamber 1 of the refrigerator and thus the said compartment 8 through condensation activity and the deliverey of water from the enclosure hydrating activity.

What is claimed is: p v.

In' a refrigerating apparatus, the combin tion of a food storage compartment, .a coolingelement in the food storage compartment, a partition arranged within said compartment considerably below the cooling eiement for dividing said compartment into upper and lower chambers, a drain tube leading from. the cooling element into the lower chamber, the said lower chamber being formed with a trap at its bottom, a drain leading from said. trap to without the lower chamher, a pluralityof superposed trays arranged in the lower chamber, removable therefrom and having reticulated bottoms and open at their tops, and means built with the refrigerating apparatus for giving access to the upper and lower chambers.

ROBERT M. LEWIS.

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