US2319878A

US2319878A - Refrigerating apparatus

Info

Publication number: US2319878A
Application number: US365965A
Authority: US
Inventors: Lawrence A Philipp
Original assignee: Nash Kelvinator Corp
Current assignee: American Motors Corp
Priority date: 1940-11-16
Filing date: 1940-11-16
Publication date: 1943-05-25
Anticipated expiration: 1960-05-25

Description

May 25, 1943. 1.. A. PHILIPP REFRIGERATING APPARATUS Filed Nov. 16, 1940 3 Sheets-Sheetl INVENTOR. 26 LQWfE/(Cfi ,7, PI-(lL/PP a I ATTORNEY.-

May 25,1943. L. A. PHILIPP REFRIGERATING APPARATUS Filed Nov. 16', 1940 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. Lqmrzqcz l7. P/(ILIPP 41.1 lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll ub fi t/b1 C, [14 4/ ATTORNEY.

May 25, 1943.

L A. PHILIPP BEFRIGERATING APPARATUS Filed Nov. 16, 1940 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR. Lewes/ c1: P/fILIPP BY 2 a ATTORNEY.

Patented May 25, 1943 i REFRIGERATIN G APPARATUS Lawrence A. 'PhiliDlI, Detroit, Micln, assignor to Nash-Kelvinator Corporation, Detroit, Mich, a

corporation of Maryland Application November 16, 1940, Serial No. 365,965 9 2 Claims. (C1

The present invention relates to refrigerating apparatus and more particularly to such apparatus as is employed for maintaining multiple temperatures.

It is an object of the present invention to provide in a refrigerator a compartment for forced circulation of air through a cooling zone including a finned cooling unit and a motor driven fan for circulating the air over the cooling unit, and a refrigerated freezing section formed as a unitary structure adjacent to the cooling zone.

It is another object of the present invention to provide such a structure in a refrigerator having a freezing chamber and a cooling chamber formed with the top wall of the food storage compartment, the structure being spaced from the front and rear wall of the compartment, and a motor driven fan for circulating the air upwardly along the front wall of the food storage compartment across the cooling coils in the cooling chamber to be deflected and diffused by the rear wall throughout the food storage compartment.

The invention itself, however, both as to its organization and its method of operation, together with additional objects and advantages thereof, will best be understood from the following description of specific embodiments when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which;

Fig. 1 is a front elevational view of the invention with parts broken away and parts shown in section, and attached to a refrigerator shown in fragmentary cross-section:

Fig. 2 is a side elevatlonal view of the invention embodied in a refrigerator shown in fragmentary cross-section;

Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 3-3 of Fig, 1; I

Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 4-4 of Fig. 1 arranged in a refrigerator system shown schematically;

Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along l line 5-5 of Fig. 4; and

Fig. 6 is afragmentary cross-sectional view taken along line 6-6 of Fig. 2:

Shown in the drawings is a refrigerator cabinet 20 with a food storage compartment having an opening 22 closed by a swingably mounted 462-102) bottom wall as, end walls '31, and a front wall as secured b bolts and nuts to the end walls. The

. end walls 3'! are secured by bolts and nuts 40 to the underside of the top wall 42 of liner 2| which forms the top wall of the chamber 30. The casing 29 has no rear wall so that the chamber 30 i is in open communication with the food storage door 23. The cabinet 20 comprises an inner liner 24 spaced from the outer wall or shell 25 between which is placed suitable heat insulation material 26. The liner 24 forms the walls of the compartment 2|. The cabinet 20may also be provided with a machine compartment (not shown) wherein would be mounted compressor-condenser unit 28 of a refrigerator system connected to the cooling unit 21 secured in compartment 90, The unit 21 comprises casing 29 forming cooling chamber 30, and a casing 32 forming a freeztube 12.

compartment 22-. a

The casing 32 is formed with bottom, end, front and rear wall, and is attached by screws 45 passing through the inwardly turned flange 46 of end wall "to the bottom wall 36 of casing 29. The front wall of casing 32 is provided with an opening 49 closed by door 50 which is hingedly supportedon pin 5| carried by bracket arms 52 in heat exchange relation to the underside of shelf 54.

The front wall 39 has an opening .58 formed by flaring outwardly the metal to provide a circular shell within which is set a fan 59 operated by an electric motor 60. The motor 60 is supported by the stand 62 adjustably secured on a base 63 welded to the bottom wall 36.

Extending longitudinally across the chamber 39 is a cooling coil assembly 65 which includes a refrigerant coil 66 supported between channel shaped frame members 61. The frame members 61 extend. vertically in' the'chamber 30 and are bolted to a respective end wall 31. Fins 19 are thermally bonded to the conduits 66.

The outlet end of cooling coil 66 is connected to the inlet end of the coiled conduit 59 under freezer shelf 54 by a small diameter or restrictor The outlet end of conduit 56 is connected to conduit 13 whose ,opposite end terminates within a tank or accumulator I4. The accumulator 14 is secured by bracket I5 ,to an end.

of compressor-condenser unit 29. The outlet end of the motor-compressor unit is connected to condenser 9| which in turn is connected at its bottom outlet to the inlet end of coil 99 by a small diameter capillary conduit ,92.

By the operation of the fan 59 the air in the food storage compartment is drawn at a high velocity upwardly along the forward section of the compartment adjacent the door 29, through the opening 58, and into the cooling chamber 30 passing across the cooling coil 85. The cooled air is forced, from the chamber 96, through the rear opening of casing 29 into the compartment 2| to flow along the rear-wall to be evenly diffused throughout the food storage compartment.

The partially'vaporized refrigerant in coil 56 is metered through restrictor tube 12 into the coil 56 so as to maintain a relatively lower pressure in coil 56 than coil 66. The coil 66 is maintained at 'a relatively high pressure to provide a correspondingly high temperature so as .to cool the circulating air and avoid freezing the moisture which tends to condense from the circulating air upon the fins of the coil 66. The pressure in coil into condenser 9| to be condensed. The con-' densed liquid refrigerant is conveyed and metered through the capillary tube 92 to coil 66. The flow of the refrigerant is solely regulated to the

coils

66 and 56 by the capillary tube 92 and restrictor tube 12. The capillary tube '92 is in heat exchange relation with the retum vapor conduit 11 for further cooling of the refrigerant; flowing to a coil 06.

A heat responsive device is provided for con trolling the intermittent operation of the motorcompressor unit 90, and comprises a bulb I connected by tube I02 to a pressure responsive switch mechanism I04. The bulb I00 is clamped in thermal relation to the frame 61 of cooling coil 66. The switch mechanism I04 is interposed in an electrical circuit (not shown) supplying electrical current for the operation of the motorcompressor unit 90. The bulb I00 is filled with fluid whose pressure varies correspondingly to temperature change effected to operate the opening and closing of the switch mechanism I04 to start 'or stop the operation of the motor-compressor unit 00 for supplying refrigerant to the cooling unit to maintain the circulating air at a desired temperature value.

A manually operated electrical switch III! is mounted on the front panel 39 to control the operatlon of the motor and fan 59. Preferably, the fan is of continuous operation, though, if desired, it may be controlled to operate intermittently with the motor-compressor unit 00 by the switch I04.

A drain pan I20 extends beneath the cooling coil 88 and is supportinglysecured to the end walls 31. Moisture from the .circulating air, which has condensed on the coil 00, is collected is circulated at a high velocity over the cooling coil 50 to drain from the freezing chamber into the pan I35. The water is drained from pan I through conduit I81 into conduit I22.

By this arrangement there is thus provided an evaporator coil operatedat; relatively low temperature for freezing substances, and a second evaporator coil maintained at a relatively high temperature for cooling the air of a food storage compartment. The desired degree of refrigeration is obtained'from the cooling unit operated at a sufiicientiy high temperature in that the al r unit so that the temperature of the air in the food storage compartment is maintained sub-' stantially uniform in all positions in the compartment. Further, it avoids freezing moisture condensed from the circulating air. As the moisture is not frozen out of the air as frost, a portion .of it returns to the circulating air and its humidity is substantially maintained. The optimum c'ondition is thus substantially maintained for preserving foodin the storage compartment and the severe dehydration of the food products avoided.

While I have described the preferred forms of my invention, I do not wish to limit myself to the precise details as shown and described, but wish to avail myself of such variations and modifications as may come within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim: v1. Refrigerating apparatus comprising in combination'a cabinet having a food storage comin the'pan I20 from which it is drained through 65, washers or spacers I30 of heat insulation material are interposed between the frame members 61- and end walls \31 to prevent cooling of the casing ,29 by heat conduction. Similarly, the freezing shelf 54 is spaced and insulated-from the side walls of casing 32 by spacers I32 of heat insulation material. By this arrangement sweating of the side walls of unit 21 is reduced to a minimum. Should some sweating occur, the moisture is collected in a drain pan I35 suspended beneath the bottom of casing 32. The drain pan I35 extends beyond the side walls of the unit 21 and is supportingly secured to the casing 32. An opening I30 in the bottom wall of casing 32 permits the drainage of the moisture defrosted from partment, an enclosure member secured within said compartment in spacial relation to front and rear well thereof enclosing an air cooling zone and a low temperature zone, heat absorbing means including a portion positioned in said low temperature zone for maintaining low temperatures in said low temperature zone, and a portion in said air cooling zone for cooling the circulating air as it passes throughsaid air cooling zone, means interconnecting said portions to control the flow of refrigerant therethrough to maintain a relatively low temperature in the first mentioned portion for freezing substances and a relatively high temperature in the second mentioned portion for cooling circulating air, and a fan for directing the flow of air from adjacent the front wall of said compartment through said air cooling zone and along the rear wall of said food storage comparment.

2. Refrigerating apparatus comprising, in combination, a cabinet having a food storage compartment, a sheet metal housing within said compartment having an air cooling compartment and a low temperature compartment separated by a horizontal sheet metal partition, heat absorbing.

interconnecting said portions to control the flow of refrigerant therethrou'gh to maintain a relatively low temperature in the first mentioned portion for freezing substances and a relatively high temperature in the second mentioned portion for cooling circulating air.

LAWRENCE A. PHILIPP.