US2172671A - Refrigerator or cooler - Google Patents

Description

Sept. l2, 1939. c. G. cARLsoN REFRIGERATOR 0R cooLEn Filed Feb. 17, 1938 ulluuhxf N f Patented Sept. l2, 1939 A.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE '2,172,671 miiiinGlinA'ron on COOLER Carl G. Carlson, Chicago, Ill.

Application February 17, 1938, Serial No. 190,901

l Claims. (Cl. 62-116) My invention belongs to that general class of View of a portion of the lower compartment illusdevices known as refrigerators or coolers, and is trated in Fig. A1, corresponding with the lower left directed more particularly to an improvement in hand corner of Fig. 1; and

the type of refrigerator generally used in domes- Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken` substantially tic service. on line 3--3 of Fig. 2. 5

The invention has among its objects the pro- Referring to the drawing, in which only one duction of a refrigerator in which I utilize what embodiment of my invention is shown, l desigis waste spaceA in certain types of refrigerators nates generally a domestic type of refrigerator now on the market. A certain lamount of usable having an upper chamber or compartment 2 for l0 space is wasted because it is not fully utilized in the storage of food or other commodities, and a 10 refrigerators with an upper cooling compartment door 3 for closing and sealing the compartment. and with a separate lower compartment ontain- At the lower portion or bottom of the refrigerator ing the refrigerating equipment or unit provided( is a compartment 4 entirely separate and insufor supplying the cooling medium to the cooling `lated from the upper compartmentabove and coil or unit in the food cooling chamber. There Which may be closed by a door 5 hinged either at l5 are types of refrigerators in which there is a the bottom or at the side so it may be Opened to comparatively large food cooling compartment display the interior- Any suitable type of evapat the top or upper portion of the refrigerator orator or cooling coil 6 is arranged in the comhavingv its own cooling coil and separate door, and partment 2, this Ordinarily being arranged in the a further uncooled chamber or compartment beupper portion and v,the Compartment provided low the main compartment in which is arranged with suitable shelves (not shown) for carrying 20 the unit for supplying the cooling medium to the the food products to be chilled or cooled. Within 'said evaporator or cooling coil in the compartthe lower compartment 4 iS arranged the refrigerment above. In most instances the equipment ating unit for supplying the Cooling Inedium'to in the lower compartment fills only a small porthe evaporator Coil, the unit aS 'a Whole being 25 o tion at the rear of the compartment and I propose generally designated by the numeral l. and aS to utilize the excess space in this compartment Shown in the drawing, consisting 0f the Compresfor auxiliary `cooling purposes, the same consti- Sor 3, motor 9, Condenser lll, receiving tank ll, tuting convenient cooling chambers for articles receiving valve l2, and the necessary Piping l5 such as bottled goods, for instance, milk and bevand I6 oonneoting the Compressor and reeiving 30 erages, or for eggs or butter, etc., which are not valve With the evaporator 5 in the upper Coniex'posed when the door to the upper food compartlnent- Generally Speaking, this is a custompertinent,` is opened and which may be readily ary refrigerator type, it being immaterial whether and conveniently removed without opening `the the evaporator 5 0r Cooling Coil iS Provided With upper door and exposing the eontehts thereof, cooling fluid from an electric, gas or other cir- 35 V rIlhe invention has among its general objects the oulating unit, nor does it matter What particular production ofarefrigerator of the kind described type of evaporator Coil iS uSed- AS a general which is simple, convenient, eflicient, and'which Practice in a domestio refrigerator of this type may be equipped with my improved auxiliary it is customary to keep milk bottles or beverage 40 cooler at avery slight expense. h bottles on the shelves and not use or cool the 40 Many other objects and advantages of the @0nv lower compartment. Bottles vary in height and struction herein shown and described will-be ob- Size, and sometimes must be laid down flat on viouel to those skilled in the art from the. disa shelf in Order t0 t in the box. If they are closure herein given, placed at the back on a shelf, it is 'necessary to T0 this end my invention consistsin the novel removefood in front before removing" the bottles construction, arrangement and combination of or Packages, While if they are Placed in front, it parts herein shown and described, and more paris necessary t'o remove them to reach articles in ticularly pointed out in the oiaims. back, and generally speaking, the arrangement In the drawing-wherein like reference charac; iS nCOnVeIliBIlt, and in lifting milk bOttl'e'S, fOl' ters indicate like or corresponding parts:Y example, back and forth, they are Often'upset. 50

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a refrigerator 4show- I propose to utilize, the front Portion 0f the ing certain portions in dotted lines and the side lower Compartment 4 Whioh` is otherwise Waste wall ofthe lower portion broken away to show the space asan auxiliary cooling space, and provide interior; y 4 a coil extending transversely across the compart- Fig. 2 is substantially an enlarged sectional ment from side to side and forming, as it were, 5i,

the partition between the front portion and the rear portion of the compartment at the bottom of the refrigerator. I also provide on the door 5 of the lower compartment a container for milk bottles, beverage bottles, packaged butter, eggs or the like, which are readily accessible and removable by merely opening the door a slight distance without in any way opening or exposing the top compartment, which is the normal food compartment, to warm room air. In the drawing I have illustrated the door 5 hinged or pivotally supported at the bottom, so that it may be tilted outwardly a short distance. It is, of course, immaterial whether the door 5 is hinged at the bottom or the side. Within this lower compartment is arranged an evaporator or cooling coil I9 which is preferably of a ilat type and of a length to extend substantially across the compartment from side to side and the desired depth from the top. This coil .is shown connected by the piping and 2| to the compressor and receiving tank, respectively, or to the piping I5 and I6, the same constituting an auxiliary or supplemental cooling coil which may be oper,- ated rfrom theunit supplying the cooling iluid to the evaporator i without, to any appreciable extent, affecting the eiliciencyof the evaporator i .or overlapping the unit 1. This coil is shown supported by brackets 22 from the top wall 23 oi the lower compartment. I have not considered it necessary to illustrate the coil I9 in detail, since the narrow or iln type of evaporator coil may be employed, suitable means well known in the art being provided for regulating the flow of x cooling fluid to or from the coil.

AAs shown, a wall of insulating material 25 extends adjacent the evaporator coil but slightly spaced therefrom at the rear side thereof and this wall may, if desired, extend down to the bottom. As illustrated, hoyever, it extends part way and only to slightly below the coil,. there being a cooperating wall 3| of insulating material mounted on the door. As shown, mounted on the door is a receptacle consisting of a bottom 28 which is insulated, side walls 29 and a rear wall 30 which carries the insulation 3|. A basket or wire type container may be employed if desired. When the door 5 is closed the rear wall ofthe receptacle forms a continuation of Ithe evaporator insulated wall at the rear of the coil. It will be noted by referring to Fig. 2 that when the door 5 is closed, the coil I9 substantially forms a rear wall for the container but is carried by the Itop23 of the compartment and stationary rather than movable with the door 5. When the door is closed, chilled air may descend from the coil lI9 to the lower part of the receptacle and thence travel upwardly irom the bottom of the receptacle to the top, whence it circulates over the coil and again descends to the bottom, etc. chilling or cooling the contents of the receptacle. It is -.customary to provide a control for the cooling pi' the upper compartment, as for example, a float (not shown) in the evaporator coil 6 which controls the discharge of liquid back to thereceiver tank, as well as thermostatically controlled means that will shut off the power to the unit in the lower compartment when the upper compartment reaches a predetermined low level and start the unit operation when the temperature increases. Generally it is not necessary to provide a control for the auxiliary .compartment below, but such may be employed if desired, but rather than controlling operation of the compressor, etc., it is preferred to provide some means the door, provides an auxiliary cooling space forv certain' articles without in anyway interfering with the installation, operation or control of the refrigerating unit in the rear part of the lower compartment or operation of the evaporator coil 6. The space is so small between the door and the evaporator or cooling coil that the unit ordinarily employed for cooling the upper compartment is suircient to take on the` extra load ofv cooling the lower space. Brackets or shelf 40 for carrying a -pan 4I during defrosting maysbe provided. The convenience and utility of this improvement is readily obvious. Access may be had to the main compartment 'fr to` auxiliary compartment without exposing the other one.

Having thus described my invention, it is obvious that various immaterial modifications may be made in the same without departing from the spirit of my invention; hence I do not wish to beA understood as limiting myself to the exact form, construction, arrangement and combination of parts herein'shown and described, or uses mentioned.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by l Letters Patent is:

1. In a` refrigerator of the kind described, having a plurality of associated compartments each having a door for access to the compartment, a refrigerating unit including an evaporator coil arranged in each compartment and a compressor, condenser, 'receiver and associated parts arranged in one of the compartments, the evaporator in said last mentioned compartment extending transversely across the compartment proximate the door thereto but spaced inwardly from the door, partition means separating said last mentioned evaporator 'from the remainder of the cooling mechanism to form a second cooling compartment, and a receptacle mounted`on said door of a size to extend`between the door and evaporator but having the inner side wall cut away at the evaporator, whereby the evaporator substantially constitutes a rear wall for the receptacle.

2. The combination in a refrigerator having two associated compartments of a refrigerating unit arranged in one compartment of the refrigerator and including a cooling coil in each compartment, a door for each compartment, the door of the compartment containing said unit provided with an inner. wall spaced from the body of the door and constituting a receptacle, the cooling coil in said compartment extending transversely across the compartment proximate the door but spaced back therefrom substan ly in the plane of the said spaced inner wall a d constituting an extended wall of the receptacle when the door is closed.

3. In a refrigerator of the kind described having a plurality of associated compartments and in combination, a refrigerating unit having a' compressor, driving means therefor, receiving tank and condenser arranged in one compartment, and including a cooling coil arranged in each compartment, a vdoor for each compartment,

the door of the compartment containing said unit having a receptacle mounted on the inner side.' the evaporator coil in said compartment extending' transversely across ,the compartment proximate the door but spaced back therefrom a distance substantially equal to the thickness of the receptacle and mounted with its front face substantially in the plane of the wall of the receptacle, and insulating means interposed between the evaporator coil and receptacle and the refrigerating unit.

4. In a refrigerator of the kind described having two associated compartments arranged one above the other and in combination, a refrigerating unit including a cooling coil in' each compartment and a compressor, driving means for the compressor, a condenser, receiving tank and associated Vparts arranged in the lower compartm'ent at the rear thereof, a door for each compartment, the door of the lower compartment having a receptacle mounted at the inner side thereof,`the cooling coil in said lower compartment depending from the top wall thereof .and

extending transversely across tthe compartment and -substantially constituting a side therefor when the door is closed, and insulation interposed between said receptacle and said compressor and associated parts in the compartment.

5. A refrigerator of the kind described having upper and lower compartments, a -cooling coil arranged in each compartment, a door for each compartment arranged one -above the other, a cooling coil in the lower compartment spaced back from the door thereof and extending transversely across the compartment substantially from side to side, and a wall of insulating material positioned in the compartment at the rear of said cooling coil and extending between the top and bottom and side walls of the compartments to provide a cooling chamber, said rear wall having a recessed portion therein, the respective cooling coil being positioned therein with the outer face of the coil substantially flush with the remainder of the wall.

6. A refrigerator of the kind described having separate upper and lower compartments insulated from each other, a separate cooling coil arranged in each compartment, means for connecting said coils to a common source of vcooling iluid, a separate door for each compartment arranged one above the other, the cooling coil in the lower compartment spaced back from the door thereof and extending transversely across the compartment, and a wall of insulating material positioned in the compartment at the rear of said cooling coil and extending between the top and bottom and side walls of the compartments to provide an auxiliary cooling chamber, the lower portion of said wall being removable and the upper portion of said wall having a coil receiving recess therein to position the respective cooling coil substantially in the plane of the removable lower portion, and means on the inner face of the said lower door for carrying articles to be cooled.

7. The combination in a refrigerator having two associated but separate independent compartments, of a refrigerating unit arranged in one compartment of the refrigerator and including a cooling coil in each compartment connected to a common source of cooling fluid, an independent door for each compartment, the door of the compartment containing said unit provided with an inner wall spaced back and carried from the body of the door at the inner side thereof and constituting a receptacle, the cooling coil in said last mentioned compartment extending transversely across the compartment proximate the door but spaced back therefrom and lying substantially in the plane of the said spaced receptacle inner wall and constituting an extended wall of the receptacle when the door is closed.

CARL G. CARLSON.

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