US2257925A - Domestic refrigerator - Google Patents

Description

Ol 7, 1941. v c. G. VRETMAN 2,257,925' I DOME'STIC REFRIGERATOR one side thereof will; be

Patented Oct. 7,*194'1 UNITE-D sTTEs PATENT] OFFICE. I

DOMESTIC BEFRGERATOR v Carl G. Vretman, Atlanta, Ga. l

Application May 1s, 1939, serialL No. 273,981 'z clama (oi. 62:-95)

.This invention relates to refrigerators, and particularly to cooling elements for domestic refrigerat'ors and the arrangement of the cooling -elements in the refrigerator housing.

An object of this invention isy to provide a cooling element and arrangement thereof which will provide a freezing compartment normally out ofcommunication with the rest of the refrigerator chamber and which will cool the rest of the refrigerator chamber to the desired temperature without any part of the rest of the chamber being below, freezing or frosting temperatura' compartments is eliminated and `drying of ythe food compartments is reduced.

Another object of this invention is to provide an extremely simple arrangement of the cooling elements in' the housing which will divide the inside of the chamber or box into a pluralityv of compartments which, by reasonI of the rela.-

tive location yof the cooling elements, will tend to maintain said compartments at different relative temperatures.

Another object of the invention is to provide 'a freezing unit which will not require a drip pan to catch such small quantity of moisturet of condensation as may occur, and in which said moisture, if any, will not fall upon the contents ci the refrigerator but willA run down the side walls. 2

A further objectv of this invention is/to` pro.

vide a cooling unit of such commotion that the absorption of heat from the compartments on substantially uniform 'throughout all unit areas thereof, so as to avoid irregular freezing and accumulationl of frost.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a refrigerator box or housing divided' into several compartments which, when the door is closed, are completely and tightly sealed from each other so as to prevent interchange 4of atmcsphere and temperature exchange, butwhich, when the door is open, will be open for free access thereto.

LA furtherobiect of this invention is to pro- -vide a refrigerator having a plurality of compartments, one -of which is a freezing compart-.'

ment, in y which the food compartments are' cooled by the same cooling elements as the freezand humidity of the food compartments will not",

have access to the freezing compartment, whereby frosting of the freezing compartment and drying of the atmosphere of the food compartments are reduced.

IA still further object of the inventionis to provide a freezing unit of a type which can be cleared o f frost or ice or other .adhering matter quickly` and conveniently by scrapingv substantially plane, smooth surfaces and without the necessity of putting the rfrigerating apparatus f' out of operation.

Still another object of this invention is to combine a flat evaporator withl a flat plate or chamber containing liquid which does not freeze at `the temperature to which jected or is of a refrigerant nature, that is, a

liquid capable of circulating or movingabout y'actively due to small .temperature differences, sol

that the liquid serves .as a heat transfer or disfrosting temperature. -Y n A further object of this invention is to enlarge the cooling surfaces effecting the storage com.. partments of the refrigerator so as to increase 'the heat transfer area and to thus reduce'the intensity of coldness of saidsurfaces 'while obtaining at least equal heat transfer.

A still further object of this inventionis to4 provide for removal of condensation from the coolingsurfaces to ak collecting vessel in a sim-- ple manner requiring no drip pan.

In the accompanying drawings which illustrate' three embodimentsof the invention by way of example only,

Fig. 1 is a side sectional view of a domestic refrigerator;

Fig. 2 is an elevational sectional view on the line H-II of F18. 1;

Flg.3 is a verticalside sectional view of a vsecond embodiment.

Fig. 4 is an elevational sectional view of Fig. 3 on the line IV-IV thereof; i

Fig. 5 ls aside sectional view of a third'emy bodiment of the invention: and y, Fig.' 6 is an elevational sectional viw on line VI-VI thereof. y

IIn the drawings,`nume'ral l indicates generally an Vinsulated box having a door 2 at thef/'front and supported abovea compartment I/for the y refrigeration: mechanism'indicated generally-byl-,

ing compartment, but in which the atmosphere numeral 14.- I The refrigeration mechanism may it is to be sub.

' is .diagrammatically represented in the drawing as a conventional mechanical unit comprisinga (Fig. 2) or from the front towards the rear so that moisture of condensation or melted' frost, if any..will run to the sides or back instead of 4dropping upon' the contents of the lower compartment.

The walls of the freezing compartment are located in the refrigerator at anydesired locacompressorracondenser, a receiver, and com nections for conducting the refrigerant to an' expansion valve 5 located in close proximity to the evaporator. In Figs. l and 2 thecooling elements, 1 .and Lmay comprise evaporators l and Il in the form of flat coils or else vacuum plates of more or less conventional character per se and liquid rheat transfer plates Il and `i4 located on the top and bottomv of theupper and lower evaporators 9, Il respectively. The evaporators are preferably connected in series. and one of said evaporators. f or instance, the

lower evaporator 9, receives the expanding re frigerant from' the expansion valve 5, and from saig'lower evaporator l the refrigerant through Il to the upper evaporator IL from `which 'it then passes through return pipe-l1 'back to the compressor or the like.

The compartment 23 between the cooling elements 'I and l constitutes the coldest compart ment of the refrigerator, which is used for making, ice or frozen desserts. for keeping meat, or

for other purposes where low temperatures, are

tion depen temperatures desired to be maintained 'inithe upper and lower compartments. If it is desired that the upper compartment be colder than-the lower compartment, the division walls constituted by the cooling elements and liquid plates should be located considerably closer to the'top than to the bottom. The uppercompartment thus being the smallerrequires less cooling to attain the lower temperature but, due to the fact that heat tends to rise,l the eiiiciencyv of heat transfer from the lower compartment to the lower liquid plate is higher than from the upper ent to the upper liquid plate. This ds to make the lower compartment the colder ment .be made even smaller than would othersov required. Freezing trays 'Il are shown-in the freezing compartment 23 in broken lines.

The liquid heat transfer plateseor vchambers are entirely closed `and fit closely against4 the side and back walls of the refrigerator box and may be soldered'orN otherwise integrally connected with the walls or may have rubber sealing strips between the edges and'walls in such manner as to prevent airor liquid `frompassing betvveen'their edg'esand the walls, and may be soldered.. welded, cemented -or otherwise intewise be the case, in order that it shall have the lower temperature of the two. It will be observed that in the illustrated embodiment the upperl compartment is shown as beingv only about half thesize of the lower compartment.

This relation of sizes can be varied at will 'and if it is desired that the lower compartment be the colder, it is only necessary. to arrange the cooling elements at a lower pomtion.

cIn operation. the freezing compartment, being located directly between the two evaporators land il, is maintained at a low tempera- `ture for freezing its contents. The upper compartment 2| being comparatively small isthe grally'connected to the evaporator-sto prevent moisture from getting therebetween. The liquid plates are filled with allquid which will not freeze' at the temperature' to which it is to be subjected, or-which may be of a refrigerant nature. At the front edges of the liquid plates, re'- silient packings, such as rubber strips Il and i9, are secured for seallng'against the inside of the door when the door is closed, thus preventing passage of air or liquid.

The purpose of the liquid plates is to make the temperature on their sides opposite the cooling elements uniform, and possibly may retard heat transfer to'such e'i'ttent that said opposite sides may remain above freezing at all times. 'It is apparent that alongthe suriaces of the vacuum plates the portions closely adjacent an interior pipe Will be colder than the portions adjacent the spaces or gaps between the interior pipes.

This is undesirable, as it would cause freezing. 'of ice orfrost in ridges along the/colder portions.

However, this unevenness of temperature cannot penetrate through the liquid plates but, due

` to the action .or local movement withinthe liquid, is made uniform the onsoste snrfaces.

The division walls' forming the coldest compartment are thus constituted by the cooling elements which include the evaporators, which may be Vacuum plates, and liquid plates which are smooth and substantially piane on their suriaces.

'liquid piste -is preferably next coldest compartment.

The floor of this compartment which is constituted by the liquid plate I4 in contact with vacuum plate' I0, serves to cool the compartment, and the liquid plate 'serves to make the temperature-uniform .over

the entire area of the iloor. As the upper surface ofthe liquid plate is smooth. accumulations of frost, if any, may be scraped'oi the plate so that it will hardly ever be necessary to turn ci! ,the refrigeration apparatus for defrosting. In

a similar way' the lower compartment 22 is cooled by liquid plate n, but thwcompartment 'z2 being larger than the upper compartment is maintained at a. higher temperature. However. the relative temperature can be changed by changing the position of the cooling elements so that the relative sizes ofthe compartments is changed. If moisture should ever be present on the lower face of liquid heat transfer platev I3, it will run to thesides or back and down the side Walls or back wall instead of .dropping upon the contents of the compartment, this action being due to the lateral or rearward downward slope ci the lower face of said plate.

lIn the embodiment illustrated in Figs. l and 2 two evaporators connected in series have been disclosedbut, if desired, one of these may-be omitted, in which case a liquid heat transfer 'plate or a plain sheet metal plate will serve as However, i slower surface of the lower "cpe slightly ein the sides the partition for the freezing-compartment.

Furthermore, as a further alteration, one or both of the evaporators may extend only partially' across the cham-berfbut in'this case the liquid or metal heat transfer plates should extend the entire width and serve as the partitions. En the 'embodiment illustrated in Figs. 3 to 5 incinsive the outer shell elf-the refrreralfor'.

' principally Vupon the relative I this condensation, the plate downwardly rearwardly and at the rear a drain housing and the refrigeration mechanism lov cated in the lower part of from Fig, 4; the upper and lower 'plates 21 and 23 respectively Aof evaporator '26 are joined together at one edge by a vertical plate portion 29. 'I'he upper surface of lower plate portion 23 is v' vpreferably level and mayserve forY supporting the refrigerator may be similar to .that described in connection with ordinary ice trays 30. For the purpose of uniformly distributing the cooling effect of 'the evaporator 26, particularly thatof the vertical portion 29 thereof, and for dividing the interior of the housing into compartments, liquid lates 32, 33 ,and'34 are provided. Liquid plate 32 may 'extend' vertically the entireextent of the chamfelastic sealing strip its .upper surface, and its lower surface is in contact with or soldered to the flat upper face of a liquid plate 34 which .per liquid plate 33 in that it divides the .chamber horizontally and is sealed against the door by an I4 and against the side and rear vwalls by soldering or rubber packing 3|, but, 'instead of th upper surface being corrugated. the lower surf e is corrugated. The lower surface of this plate slopesdownwardly rearwardly so that any moisture that may accumulate will run to the 4rear and down the rear wall to agutter '45 which collects the moisture and conducts it to the collecting vessel tioned.

Instead ofthe liquid corrugated surfaces, the thereof may be increased fins.

In the embodiment of the invention illustrated in Figs. 5 and 6 the liquid plates are not used fory dividing` the chamber transversely, but in this v42 previously menplates 33 and 34 having area of heaty transfer by providing a series of I case the evaporator is made so that the pipes exber and entirely from front to rear. The top,` bottom and rearedges are preferably air-tightly joined to the walls of the chamber by rubber packing strips 3i or by soldering or the like and the front edge is provided with an elastic strip 35 which seals against the door when closed. The vertical liquid plate serves as a partition dividing a conpartnuent 31 from the chamber and also, as mentioned above, serves to spread out the cooling effect of the vertical part 29 of the evaporator so that nopart of the surface of the vertical liquid' plate adjacent compartmentl 31 will be below freezing temperature and frosting will not occur on this surface. Liquid plate 33 extends over the upper part 2l of the evaporator/and is preferably'tightly joined to this part of the evaporator, for'instance'kby i soldering, to improve the heat transmission and tend around a freezing chamber and are enclosed -by inner and outer box-like platesl 52 and 53 and the evaporator is surrounded by a box-like liquid plate 54 which may extend forwardly and rearwardly. 'Ihe outer walls may be corrugatedv or provided with fins to increase the heat transfer and,l if necessary, the rear may have a liquid heat transfer plate secured thereto to increase the area of transfer to ensure that no part of the outer surface is below freezing in orderv thatlnc frosting -shall occur. If desired, the front end may be provided with a hinged do'or to close off l the interior and prevent circulation of air.

I claim:

i' l. In a domestic refrigerator, walls forming a chamber, a cooling element in said chamber dividing off a part of said chamber as a' freezing; ycompartment while the remainder" serves as a y cold storage compartment, said cooling element to prevent moisture. or ice getting .between the adjacent surfaces thereof. The liquid plate 33 preferably extends entirely from front to rear of the chamber and entirely across the chamber.y

from the liquid plate 32 to the opposite wall and thus divides off an upper compartment 33 in the chamber. The front edge is preferably' providedwith an elastic-.strip9 for sealing against the door and the side and rear edges may be soldered or sealed by rubber strips 3i to the adjacent'walls. The upper surface of liquid plate 33 is corrugated for yincreasing the area of heat exchange to the air in compartment 33. The liquid plate will distribute the cooling effect s o that no part of its upper surface will collect frost, but being generally cooler than the air Iincompartment 3,3, there may be a certain amount ofv con' densation on the surface. In order to drain off is 'made to slope pipe lll extends downwardly to a collecting vessei l2 in the lower portion of the refrigerator or `to a gutter which leads to the collecting vessel. Since it is undesirable for dishes or the like con- \taining liquid to rest on a sloping surface; a level grlllfllk is placed in the upper compartmentclose to the liquid plate 33 for supporting the contents of the compartment. f

As previously stated, the upper surface o the lower portion 23 of the evaporator 26, is lev on toward said cold storage compartment being cor- `rugated to increase theA area of heat transfer.

l3. In a refrigerate walls and-fa door forming.A

plate'toward the freezing container closed with respect to the refrigerant,

comprising an evaporator in the form of' a at. plate toward the freezing chamber'l and a dat i container, filled with liquid which will not freeze at the temperature to which it is to be subjected, said dat liquid container being located on the side of said evaporatorfplate toward. the cold storage compartment for distributing the cooling effect of the evaporator over the urface of .the liquid container opposite the e a orator, said container being entirely closed to the refrigerant, the surface of said liquid-containing chamber toward said cold storage compartment being 'extended beyond the limits of the evaporator to increase the area of heat transfer.

2. In a domestic refrigerator, walls forming a chamber, a cooling element in said chamber dividing oif a part of said chamber as-a freezing compartrmni". while the remainder serves as a coldstorage compartment, said cooling element comprising an evaporator in the-form of a fiat chamber and a flat said container being* filled with liquid which will not freeze at the temperature to which it is to be subjected, said' container being located on the side of the evaporator plate toward the, cold storh; age compartment for uniformly distributing the coolingeffect of the evaporator over the surface of the liquid container opposite the evaporator, the surface of.` saidliquid-containing chamber may be similar to the uptermediate part a chamber, a pair of nat cooling elements extending horizontally entirely across the chamber and spaced apart from each other so as to form a freezing compartment therebetween and -upper and lower storage compartments above and below respectively, said cooling elements including flat evaporators and flat liquid-containing chambers adjacent said evaporators on the sides thereof adjacent the upper and lower compartments respectivelyfor eliminating temperature diil'erences in the cooling surfaces of the cooling elevmerits, the upper surface of the upper liquid chamber sloping downwardly rearwardly, and a drain pipe leading from the rear edge of said 'upper surf ce for carrying away condensation liquid.

4. In a refrigerator, walls and a door forming a chamber, a pair of fiat cooling elements extending horizontally entirelyv across the chamber and spaced apart -from each other vso as to form a freezing compartment therebetween andupper and lower storage compartments above and below respectively, said cooling elements including flat evaporators and nat liquid-containing chambers adjacent said evaporators'bn the sides thereof adjacent the upper` and lower compartments respectively for eliminating temperature difler Aences inthe cooling surfaces of the cooling elements, the lower surface of the lower liquid chamber sloping downwardly rearwardly, and a sloping gutter. extending across the rear wall of the lower compartment near the lbottom thereof for collecting condensation water running down said rear wall.

5. In a refrigerator, insulated walls 'and a -door forming a refrigeration chamber, a vertically extending flat chamber containing liquid extending v containing plates adjacent and below said upper and lower evaporator plates respectively and in close contact therewith'said horizontally extending liquid-containing cham-l bers extending entirely.` across the refrigeration chamber laterally and forwardly and rearwardly between the vertically extending liquid-containing chambersand the insulated walls of the refrigeration chamber except inthe compartment divided of! by said vertical liquid-containing chambers, whereby said evaporator and liquidcontaining chambers form a freezing compartment and'food storage compartments, the walls of which storage compartments are maintained at a uniform temperature by the heat distributing effect of the liquid-containing chambers.

6. In a domestic refrigerator, wallsforming a chamber, a cooling element in said chamber dividing on' a part vor member as a freezing' compartment while the remainder serves as a cold storage comp ment, said cooling element comprising an evaporator in the form of a fiat. plate toward the freezing chamber, and also a flat' container, filled with liquid which will not freeze at the temperature to which it is to bey subjected,

said flat liquid container .being located on vthe side of the evaporator plate toward the cold storage compartment, said liquid container having a portion extending beyond the evaporator liquid container toincrease the aresv of heat exchange so. as to distribute the cooling effect ofthe evaporator over the surface of the liquid container opposite the evaporator plate.

,7. In a domestic refrigerator, walls and a door forming a chamber, a cooling element located in said chamber and comprising horizontal and vertical evaporator pla'tes forming a box-"like freezing, compartment, horizontal and outside said evaporator plates foxl distributing' the` 'cooling horizontally extendeffect ofu the evaporator plates evenly over the outer surface of the liquid plates so as to maintain the surfaces in contact with the atmosphere of the chamber outside of the freezing compartment at a uniform temperature.

CARL G. VRII'I'MAN.l

and vertical liquid-

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