US2481616A - Refrigerator - Google Patents

Description

Sept. 13, 1949. w. E. RICHARD REFRIGERATOR 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 15, 1946 INVENTOR.

flfwv 4 w Sept. 13, 1949. w. E. RICHARD REFRIGERATOR 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 15, 1946 Patented Sept. 13, 1949 REFRIGERATOR William E. Richard, Evansville, Ind., assignor in Seeger Refrigerator Company, a corporation of Minnesota Application March 15, 1946, Serial No. 654.648

9 Claims. (01. 62-116) The present invention relates to refrigerators, and is particularly concerned with a refrierator of the household type which is not only adapted for the cooling and preserving of food products to a temperature above freezing, but is also adapted to freeze ice cubes and to freeze and store in the frozen condition food stuffs of all lginds which are adaptable for this type of preservation.

One of the objects of the present invention is the provision of an improved refrigerator of the class described which utilizes a minimum amount of mechanism, and in which the refrigeration mechanism may be embodied in a removable unit occupying a minimum amount of space and adapted to be removed from or inserted in the back of the cabinet.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a refrigerator of the class described, in which there is a separate compartment for freezing foods and maintaining them at a temperature below freezing and another compartment adapted to be maintained at a temperature above freezing and adapted to be maintained at a predetermined humidity so that the food stored in the latter compartment may not be dried out.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a refrigerator of the household type having a freezing compartment and a high humidity food storage compartment, which requires but a single evaporator, adapted to be removably mounted in the back of the cabinet so that no machine compartment is required and practically all of the cabinet may be utilized either for insulation or for food storage.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a refrigerator which is provided with refrigeration apparatus for cooling a freezing compartment, and which is so constructed that sufficient heat is abstracted through a partition wall which separates the freezing compartment from an adjacent food storage compartment so that the food storage compartment is maintained at a higher temperature and higher humidity than the freezing compartment.

Another object of the invention is the provision of an improved refrigerator construction, in which the freezing compartment is located in the lowermost part of the cabinet and the moderately cooled, food storage compartment is located in the upper part of the cabinet, each compartment having its own separate door so that only the one to which access is desired need be opened, but when both are opened for transfer of food from one to the other, there will be no tendency for the cold air in the lower compartment to spill out and pass into the upper compartment or vice versa, as the warmer air is already above and the colder air is already below.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a refrigerator construction of the class described, in which adequate provision has been made by means of a moisture and fluid tight seal between the upper warmer compartment and the lower freezing compartment so that the more humid air in the upper compartment will not find its way into the lower compartment, which would otherwise deprive it of its moisture.

Another object of the invention is the provision of an improved refrigerator construction which is simple, which may be manufactured economically, which is adapted to be serviced readily and which is adapted to maintain a uniform cooling and circulation of air in the warmer food storage compartment to prevent stratification and to utilize to the maximum efliciency the cooling effect of a lower cooling partition which separates the food storage compartment from a freezing compartment.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description and the accompanying drawings, in which similar characters of reference indicate similar parts throughout the several views.

Referring to the drawings, of which there are two sheets,

Fig. 1 is a front elevational view with the doors removed of a refrigerator cabinet embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view taken on the plane of the line 2-2 of Fig. 1 looking in the direction of the arrows showing the details of construction of the cabinet;

Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic elevational view of the mechanical refrigeration unit, showing the course of the refrigerant through the system;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view taken through a portion of the evaporator shelf, taken on the plane of the line t-Q of Fig. 2 looking in the direction of the arrows; and

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on the plane of the line 55 of Fig. 2, looking in the direction of the arrows.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2, the refrigerator preferably includes a cabinet which is substantially rectangular in front elevation, as shown in Fig. 1, and also substantially rectangular in side elevation, as shown in section in Fig. 2. The cabinet it is preferably constructed with the usual outer shell ll of sheet metal having a back wall l2, a top wall l3 and the two side walls If, it, and the bottom I6.

The cabinet also preferably includes an upper food storage compartment i'i'and a lower freezing compartment l8, these being separated by an intermediate insulating partition N, which although insulated is adapted to transmit a predetermined amount of heat from the food storage compartment H to the freezing compartment It.

The front wall 20 of the cabinet is provided with a pair of door openings, such as the opening 2|, for the food storage compartment and the 3 opening 22 for the freezing compartment, and the size of these openings preferably tapers inwardly, as shown in Fig. 2, so that doors 23 and 24 for these openings, respectively, may be of similar shape and may be adapted to move in and out of the openings with suitable clearance.

The doors 23 and 24 may both be of the usual construction, comprising an inner metal shell 25 and an outer metal shell 26 joined by insulated breaker strips 21, which are secured at the four edges of the two shells to provide a hollow door shell which may be filled with suitable insulation, such as rock-wool or cork, to provide a closure of insulating characteristics similar to the walls of the cabinet compartment which they are to close. Thus the upper door 23 is of a thickness commensurate with the rear wall and side walls of this compartment l1, while the lower door 24 is relatively thicker and in proportion to the rear and side walls of the compartment I8.

The front shell of each door is preferably bordered by an outward projecting U-shaped flange 23 which overlaps the frontwall 20 around each door opening 2|, 22, and is provided with a suitable tubular rubber seal 30 which extends endlessly around the inside of the flange 29 to sealthe doors against the outer shell and to prevent the passage of air through the door openings when the doors are closed.

The doors are mounted upon suitable hinges and provided with a suitable latch, neither of which is shown. The upper compartment isprovided with a liner comprising, an inner shell 3| which has a plane top wall 32, plane back wall 33, plane side walls 34, and a plane bottom Wall 36.

The top wall 3|, side wall 35 and bottom wall 36 of the liner are provided at their forward edges with diagonally outwardly extending attaching flanges 31, which are attached by means of breaker strips 38 of insulating fibre board to the similar inwardly extending attaching flanges 39 on the outer shell The top wall 3| of the liner is provided with a round aperture 46, centrally,

located in the top wall and provided with an inwardly projecting tapered collar 4| formin a discharge opening 42 for air which is propelled by a circulating fan 43.

The fan 43 is carried by the shaft of a small electric motor 44, preferably of the induction type which does not interfere with radio reception, and the motor 44 may be suspended by a plurality of coil springs 45, preferably three, which are hooked to brackets carried by the lower outer edge of the motor, and also hooked to brackets carried by the adjacent housing 46 which surrounds the motor chamber 41.

The housing 46 may comprise a bowl-shaped sheet metal member of substantially the shape shown in Fig. 2, which has an attaching flange secured to the top wall liner 32 and which communicates at one side with an air conduit 48 that extends backwardly across the top of the compartment l1 and downwardly at 49 along the back wall to communicate with a chamber 50 immediately above the partition I!) through an aperture 5| in the rear wall 33 of the liner.

channeled conduit may comprise a rear wall 54,

a pair of edge walls 52, 53 and a pair of attaching flanges 54 that are welded to the rear wall 33 of the liner, as shown in Fig. 5.

The compartment I1 is provided at its lower side with a sheet metal baifle 55, which may conpartition I9.

The conduits 48, 43 and aperture 5| are preferably shallow but relatively wide, .as seen by the dotted lines in Fig. 1, indicating the edges 52, 53

of the conduit 49. Thus the conduits 48, 49 may extends from the aperture 5| up to the top wall 32 of the liner, and from the back of the liner over be formed by an angular channeled member which i Baffle 55 may extend into engagement with the rear liner wall 33, but the flanges 56 are preferably wide enough so that the baflle 55 is located immediately above the air circulation opening 5| in the conduit 49. Baille 55 is also preferably spaced from the upwardly projecting rib 58 and from the front liner wall 59, leaving an opening 66 of substantially rectangular form between the front of the baille 55 and the door 23 or liner 59 for the air to pass downward into the chamber 50 between baiile 55 and partition l9.

In some embodiments of the invention the bafile 55 may be entirely imperforate, but in other embodiments a multiplicity of air circulation holes may be located in the baiiie 55 near its forward edge, performing the same function as the opening 60.

The lower compartment I8 is likewise pro- I vided with a liner indicated in its entirety by the numeral 6|, and comprising a rear wall 62,

bottom wall 63, top wall 64 and the two side walls 65 and 66 of the liner. Liner 6| and the rear wall i2 of the outer shell II are provided with a tapered opening 61, which may be of substantially the same construction as the door openings 2| and 22;

Openings 61, however, is adapted to receive an insulating plug 68 similar in construction to the doors 22, 23, and provided with an inner liner shell 69, and an outer liner shell 10 joined by breaker strips in exactly the same manner as the doors and providing a hollow shell for supporting the refrigerating apparatus and closing the aperture 61 with an insulating plug.

The space between the shells 63 and 10 of the plug 68 and the space between the inner liner and outer shell of each compartment may be filled with suitable insulation, such as rockwool or cork. The space between the liner walls 36 and 64, forming part of the partition I9, is also filled with the same insulation, but it will be observed that these liner walls are close together, forming a relatively thin partition hav ing only a predetermined amount of insulation.

Also, there is preferably interposed between the liner walls 36 and 64 of partition I9 a suitable moisture tight and liquid tight seal 1| which may consist of a sheet of metal or of suitable tough roofing paper impregnated or covlatter chamber into the former, as such circulation would inevitably result in the freezing out of the moisture in the air of the upperchamber.

The refrigeration. apparatus is shown diagrammatically in Fig. -3, and it preferably includes a sealed motor compressor unit 12, condenser 18, a float chamber 18 and an evaporator 18. The entire apparatus is closely coupled as the mechanical units l2, l8 and I4 are located outside the plug 88, but inside the chimney I8, while the evaporator 18 is carried by the inside of the plug 88. f

The evaporator 18 is preferably constructed of an upper wall section 11 and a freezing shelf 18 spaced from upper section 11 suiilciently to receive ice cube trays and a vertical extending rear wall section 18. The vertical length of the rear wall section 18 is limited by the size'of the inner shell section 88 of plug 88 so that it may be removed with the plug through opening 81.

The front-to-back dimension of the two upper evaporator sections 11 and 18 is limited only by the space permitted between the rear liner wall 68 and the door 22.

The lateral dimensions of the three sections ll, 18, I8 is preferably substantially equal to that of the width of the lower compartment It so that one shelf I8 provides space for a multiplicity of ice trays and a maximum cooling area is provided, which substantially covers the top of the compartment l8 and rear wall of the compartment l8.

Each of the sections 11, 18, I8 is constructed in substantially the same way out of two sheets of sheet metal, as shown in fragment in Fig. 4, thus the shelf 18 includes an upper sheet 88 which may be plane and a lower sheet 8| which may have a plurality of equally spaced pressed grooves 82 separated by plane portions 88.

The shape of the grooves 82 may vary, but a maximum strength is provided in the most simple manner by providing partially circular grooves 82. The plane portions 83 may be welded at spaced points.or along a line of weld to the plane sheet 88, thus forming a multiplicity of backwardly and forwardly extending refrigerant conduits uniformly spaced over the area of the evaporator sections.

The conduits 82 may be sinuously arranged in the horizontal sections ll, I8 by impressing the grooves therein after the manner of the diagrammatic showing of the condenser 13, but the grooves 12 preferably communicate with a refrigerant distributor header 88, 85 at the front of each horizontal section I1, 18 and with another such header 86, 81 at the rear of each section ll, 18. These headers are merely transversely extending grooves 84-41 located in the lower sheet 83 of each section and communicating with the conduits formed by grooves 82.

The rear wall section I8 also preferably has a lower refrigerant distributor header 88 communicating with its upwardly extending grooves 82, and sections H and 58 are joined by a diagonal wall section 88 which communicates with the larger vapor header 88 located in the upper rear corner of the compartment id.

The header 88 may have a transverse baffle 8| located in front of the discharge opening 82, which communicates with a relatively large suction pipe 83 leading to the motor compressor inlet. The sections 18 and I8 preferably have their plane sides located upward, thus giving the shelf 18 a plane surface for engaging the fiat bottoms of the trays, while the vertical section 18 preferably has its plane side toward the back. This engagement also provides for a maximum heat absorbing area on the sides which are located toward the compartment l8, as the sheet 8| which has the grooves 82 presents a greater area than the plane sheet 88.

The discharge header 88 may be formed by making the plane sheets 88 of sections of II and 18 of one integral piece of metal formed with the transversely extending header groove 80. The lower and inner sheets of sections 11 and 18 may likewise be formed of one integral sheet of metal which is provided with header grooves 84--88 and refrigerant conduit grooves 82, and another header groove 88a forming the.

other half of the header 88a.

The conduits 82 in the upper section 11 communicate with header 88 as well as header 86, while the conduits 82 in the vertical section 18 communicate with header 88 below the baffle 8|. The header 86 communicates with header 81 through a tubular conduit 84, while the headers 85 and 88 communicate by means of the tubular conduit 85. Header 84 communicates with the float valve chamber 14 through the relatively small liquid conduit 88, and the float chamber 14 is connected to the lower side of the condenser 13. The upper side of condenser 13 is connected to the outlet 81 of the motor compressor, while the conduit 83 leading from the evaporator 15 is connected to the inlet 88 of the motor compressor 12.

The course of the refrigerant coming from the compressor i2 is as follows:

The compressed vapor passes out of the outlet 9! into the condenser 13 where it is cooled and condensed to liquid which passes into the float chamber 14. Float chamber 14 may also have a dehumidifier for the refrigerant in the form of silica gel located above a strainer 88. From the float chamber 14 refrigerant passes through the conduit 86 to the upper section 1'! where it is distributed uniformly through the conduits I 82 by the header 84. The refrigerant which is part liquid and part vapor is gathered by the header 88 and discharged through conduit 84 to header 87 of the shelf 18 and it passes for-" wardly through the conduits 82 to header which communicates with tubular conduit 85, carrying the refrigerant partly vapor and partly liquid to the header 88 of the rear section 18.

The refrigerant then passes through the conduits 82 of the rear section 18 into header 88 below the baflie 8!, which prevents boiling into the outlet conduit 82, but permits the refrigerant to pass about the baffle into the outlet conduit. Header 88 also serves as a kind of accumulator for liquid refrigerant, permitting the vaporized refrigerant to be drawn off above the baflle 8i through the vapor conduit 93 to the inlet 88 of the motor compressor unit 12.

Thus the coldest part of the evaporator is the upper section ll which may be in contact with the warmest air in the chamber i8, and the next coldest part of the evaporator is the shelf 18 which contacts the lower side of the ice pans and also cools the air in the upper part of chamber 18. The rear section 18 of the evaporator is of slightly higher temperature than the other two sections, but has its colder portion lowermost and all portions of the evaporator are, of course, colder than the air in the chamber l8. The motor compressor may have its motor controlled by a thermostatically actuated switch located in either chamber H or IR.

When the thermostatically controlled switch is located in the upper chamber it presents the advantage that this chamber, which is most frequently opened, will have the refrigeration apparatus operated responsive to its needs, but its needs for cooling are supplied through the partition wall l9, which maintains a suitable differential between the two chambers. It is desirable to maintain the upper chamber I! at a temperature around 50 F., while the lower chamber may be at any temperature below freezing.

When the thermostatically responsive switch is located in the lower chamber it presents the advantage that this chamber may be maintained at a suitable temperature well below freezing, which by heat transmission through the partition I9 will serve to keep the upper chamber at a suitable temperature.

In some of the embodiments of the invention I prefer to provide a thermostatically responsive switch in each compartment ll and I8, which is on open circuit in each compartment whenever the compartment is cooled to a predetermined degree, but which may be closed in either compartment to operate the motor compressor when either compartment reaches a temperature above a predetermined maximum. The latter arrangement has the advantage that when food is placed in the freezing compartment to be frozen the motor compressor will be operated sufliciently to produce a quick freeze, which depends only upon the conduction of heat through the food into the .air and the radiation into the air of compartment 10 as the food is being cooled and frozen.

The same is true when an unusual load is placed in the upper compartment which would result in the operation of the motor compressor lowering the temperature in the lower compartment in order to abstract heat from the upper compartment through the partition l9.

The partition I 9 is of such characteristics that it will not permit sumcient heat to pass through it to cool the upper compartment ll below freezing. Therefore, this compartment maintains its humidity, which is dependent only upon the amount of moisture brought into the compartment by air and by the foodstored in the compartment.

In the upper compartment the motor '44 and fan 43 may operate continuously, driving the warm air downward and drawing colder air upward through the conduits 40, 49 from the chamber 50 adjacent the partition is. The warmer air passes in at the forward slot 60 beneath the baffle 55 where it is cooled by contact with the liner wall 36 of partition it. The cooler air passes from the chamber 56 upward through discharge port into conduit 49.

The compartments l8 and I9 may be provided with a plurality of shelves preferably in the form of perforated or wire shelves so that they will not interfere with the circulation of air.

Thus the fan 43 continuously circulates the cooler air coming from the partition [9 and also dislodges the warmer air from the top of the compartment l1, preventing stratification and maintaining a nearly uniformtemperature throughout the compartment l'i. There is no frosting and no dehydration in the upper chamber. The lower chamber being opened infrequently for access to or storage of frozen food, frosting occurs, but is not excessive and may be periodically removed by defrosting at relatively long periods of time. i

The arrangement of the motor compressor, condenser and food chamber on the supporting insulating plug 68 is preferably substantially as shown in the prior application of Russell W. Ayres on refrigerator construction, Serial No. 494,600,

Suitable angle brackets I00, l0! may be 91'0- vided on each liner side wall 65, 66 for supporting the forward ends of the evaporator sections ll, 18 and the rear end of section 18 may be secured by a suitable angle bracket I02 to the vertical-section T9. The latter is secured by suitable brackets (not shown) to the inner shell 69 of the plug 68. Thus the entire refrigeration unit, including the motor compressor, condenser, evaporator, float chamber and connected conduits may be removed with the plug 58 for repair or replacement. 1 The float chamber 14, condenser 13 and motor compressor 12 are cooled by convection air currents passing through the bottom of the chimney I0 through the condenser 13, which is suitably located and finned, as shown in the aforesaid Ayres patent.

The float chamber 14 is preferably baffled from the warm air passing through the chimney 1'6 and exposed, at least in part, to separate cooler currents of air drawn up through a chimney aperture in which the float chamber is located, as shown in said Ayres patent. Thus the entire refrigeration unit is of the most simple construction, requiring no motor driven fans to circulate air for its cooling, and it may be constructed at a low cost.

It will thus be observed that I have invented an improved refrigerator construction in which there is provided a'freezing chamber for freezing I foods and storage of frozen foods, and a high filed July 14, 1943, U. S. Patent No. 2,445,988, is-

sued July 27', 1948.

humidity food storage chamber which is maintained above the freezing temperature to prevent dehydration of the foods stored in said latter chamber. Both these chambers are cooled by a single evaporator, which is located in the freezing chamber and which draws heat through an insulating partition of suitable characteristics to maintain a proper differential between the two chambers.

The migration of air from one chamber'to the other which might otherwise take place in spite of the provision of imperforate liners, is positively prevented-by a moisture tight sealing layer in the heat transmitting partition, which has. a sealing connection with all four side walls of the outer shell. v

The lower freezing chamber has the advantage that there is no tendency for cold air to spill out of it into the upper chamber nor is there any tendency for air to spill out of the upper chamber into the lower chamber when both doors are open. The air circulating fan and conduits maintain a continuous circulation of the air in the upper chamber to prevent Stratification, and to convey the heat by air driven to the cooling partition from all parts of the upper chamber.

While I have illustrated a preferred embodiment of my invention, many modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention, and I do not wish to be limited to the precise details of construction set forth, but desire to avail myself of all changes within the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is:

1. In a refrigerator, the combination of a cabinet having an upper compartment for storage of foods at above-freezing temperatures and predetermined humidity and having a lower compartment for freezing and storage of frozen foods, said lower chamber being provided with an evaporator, and said compartments being separated by a relatively thin heat insulating partition adapted to maintain a suitable heat gradient between said compartments whereby the upper compartment is maintained at a predetermined temperature by the transmission of heat through said partition, the said partition being provided in its insulation with a moisture and air tight sealing layer having moisture tight connection with the inner surface of the outer shell on all sides of the refrigerator to prevent passage of air from either chamber to the other and to prevent dehumidifying the air of upper chamber. i

2. In a refrigerator, the combination of a cabinet having an upper compartment for storage of foods at above-freezing temperatures and predetermined humidity and having a lower compartment for freezing and storage of frozen foods, said lower chamber being provided with an evaporator, and said compartments being separated by a relatively thin heat insulatin partition adapted to maintain a suitable heat gradient between said compartments whereby the upper compartment is maintained at a predetermined temperature by the transmission of heat through said partition, the said evaporator comprising an upper horizontal section closely adjacent to said partition for cooling the upper chamber through said partition, and the said evaporator also including a horizontal section spaced from the first-mentioned section in the form of a shelf for receiving ice trays, said evaporator also including a back wall vertical section adapted to cool the air and contents of said lower compartment, the said evaporator being carried by an insulating closure insertable and removable from a back wall opening in said lower compartment.

3. In a refrigerator, the combination of a cabinet having an upper compartment for storage of foods at above-freezing temperatures and predetermined humidity and having a lower compartment for freezing and storage of frozen foods, said lower chamber being provided with an evaporator, and said compartments being separated by a relatively thin heat insulating partition adapted to maintain a suitable heat gradient between said compartments whereby the upper compartment is maintained at a predetermined temperature by the transmission of heat through said partition, the said evaporator comprising an upper horizontal section closely adjacent to said partition for cooling the upper chamber through said partition, and the said evaporator also including a horizontal section spaced from the first-mentioned section in the form of a shelf for receiving ice trays, said evaporator also including a back wall vertical section adapted to cool the air and contents of said lower compartment, the said evaporator being carried by an insulating closure insertable and removable from a back wall opening in said lower compartment, and carrying a motor compressor unit, condenser unit and means, for metering refrigerant to said evaporator.

4. A refrigerator cooling unit comprising, an insulating plug adapted to be inserted in a complementary opening in the back of an insulated cabinet, said plug supporting on its front side an evaporator comprising, an upper horizontal section, a spaced shelf section and a vertical back wall section and supporting on its rear side a suitable chimney open at the top and bottom, and provided at the bottom with a condenser, and at an intermediate upper point with a motor compressor unit cooled by convection air currents passing from said condenser, said evaporator having a multiplicity of forwardly and backwardly extending conduits in its horizontal portions and 5. vA refrigerator cooling unit comprising, an

insulating plug adapted to be inserted in a complementary opening in the back of an insulated cabinet, said plug supporting on its front side an evaporator comprising, an upper horizontal section, a spaced shelf section and a vertical back wall section and supporting on its rear side a suitable chimney open at the top and bottom, and provided at the bottom with a condenser, and at an intermediate upper point with a motor compressor unit cooled by convection air currents passing from said condenser, said evaporator having a multiplicity of forwardly and backwardly extending conduits in its horizontal portions and upwardly and downwardly extending conduits in its back wall portion, each of said sections having headers at the ends of their conduits and the course of the refrigerant being first to the top section, second to the shelf and third to the bottom of the back wall section.

6. In a refrigerator construction, the combination of an outer shell having a substantially rectangular top, rectangular bottom, rectangular rear wall and two, rectangular side walls, the top, bottom and side walls being provided at their forward edges with facing flanges extending from these walls for engagement with door seals, a lower inner liner of substantially rectangular shape in plan and elevation and substantially smaller than the outer shell to form a freezing chamber having relatively thick walls filled with insulation betwen said inner liner and the outer shell at the bottom, back and two sides, said liner being secured at the forward edge of its bottom wall and its two side walls to the outer shell by means of breaker strips, an upper inner liner of substantially larger size than the lower inner liner for forming a high-humidity compartment, said upper liner being rectangular in plan and elevation and having its open forward edges secured by breaker strips to the outer shell at the top and two sides of said upper liner, the upper and lower liner being secured at the forward edges of the lower wall of the upper liner and the upper wall of the lower liner to breaker strips which are connected to a transverse facing member extending from one side of the outer shell to the other side and forming a facing flange for engaging a door seal, the said liners having their adjacent walls forming a partition between the two compartments and the space between these adjacent walls filled with a thin layer of insulation, and an evaporator having a flat plate-like section located uppermost in the lower freezing compartment adjacent said partition whereby the transmission of heat through said partition to said evaporator maintains the upper chamber at a low food storage temperature and at a predetermined humidity, while the lower compartment is cooled to a freezing temperature.

'7. In a refrigerator construction, the combination of an outer shell having a substantially rectangular top, rectangular bottom, rectangular rear wall and two rectangular side walls, the top, bottom and side Walls being provided at their forward edges with facing flanges extending from these walls for engagement with door seals, a lower inner liner of substantially rectangular shape in plan and elevation and substantially smaller than the outer shell to form a freezing 11 chamber having relatively thick walls filled with insulation between said inner liner and the outer shell at the bottom, back and two sides, said liner being secured at the forward edge of \its bottom wall and its two side walls to the outer shell by means of breaker strips, an upper inner liner of substantially larger size than the flower inner liner for forming a high-humidity compartment, said upper liner being rectangular in plan and elevation and having its open forward edges secured by breaker strips to the outer shell at the top and two sides of said upper liner, the upper and lower liner being secured at the forward edges of the lower wall of the upper liner and the upper wall of the lower liner to breaker strips which are connected to a transverse facing member extending from one side of the outer shell to the other side and forming a facing flange for engaging a door seal, the said liners having their adjacent Walls forming a partition between the two compartments and the space between these adjacent walls filled with a thin layer of insulation, and an evaporator having a flatplate-like section located uppermost in the lower freezingcompartment adjacent said partition whereby the transmission of heat through said partition to said evaporator maintains the upper chamber at a low food storage temperature and at a predetermined humidity, while the lower compartment is cooled to a freezing temperature' said partition having a substantially waterproof layer located in the insulation of the partition, and extending from front to back of the outer shell and from side to side of the outer shell in watertight engagement at its edges, whereby moisture in the upper compartment does not find its way through unsealed breaker strips into the lower freezing compartment to prevent dehydration of the upper compartment.

8. In a refrigerator construction, the combination of an outer shell having a substantially rectangular top, rectangular bottom, rectangular rear wall and two rectangular side walls, the top, bottom and side walls being provided at their forward edges with facing flanges extending from these walls for engagement with door seals, a

-lower inner liner of substantially rectangular shape in plan and elevation and substantially smaller than the outer shell to form a freezing chamber having relatively thick walls filled with insulation between said inner liner and the outer shell at the bottom, back and two sides, said,

liner being secured at "the forward edge of its bottom wall and its two side walls to the outer shell by means of breaker strips, an upper inner liner of substantially larger size than the lower inner liner for forming a high-humidity compartment, said upper liner being rectangular in plan and elevation and having its open forward edges secured by breaker strips to the outer shell at the top and two sides of said upper liner, the upper and lower liner being secured at the forward edges of the lower wall of the upper liner and the upper wall of the lower liner to breaker strips which are connected to a transverse facing member extending from one side of the outer shell to the other side and forming a facing flange for engaging a door seal, the said liners having their adjacent walls forming a partition between the two compartments and the space between these adjacent walls filled with a thin layer of I to said evaporator maintains the upperchamber at a low food storage temperatur'ihd at a predetermined humidity, while the lower compartment is cooled to a freezing temperature, said upper compartment having its liner formed at the top with a fan receiving recess communicating with a rearwardly and downwardly extending conduit leading to the bottom of theupper liner, and bafilc means forming the top of a communieating conduit and extending across the bottom of said liner, whereby the fan may impel warmer air downward to pass under said baiiie and upwardly in said conduit to the fan to prevent Stratification.

' insulation between said inner liner and the outer shell at the bottom, back and two sides, said liner being secured at the forward edge of its bottom wall and its two side walls to the outer shell by means of breaker strips, an upper inner liner of substantially larger size than the lower inner liner for forming a high-humidity-compartment, said upper liner being rectangular in plan and elevation and having its open forward edges secured by breaker strips to the outer shell at the top and two sides of said upper liner, the upper and lower liner being secured at the forward edges of the lower wall of the upper liner and the upper wall of the lower liner to breaker strips which are connected to a transverse facing member extending from one side of the outer shell-to the other side and forming a facingflange for engaging a door seal, the said liners having their adjacent walls forming a partition between the two compartments and the space between these adjacent walls filled with a thin layer of insulation, and an evaporator having a fiat plate-like section located uppermost in the lower freezing compartment adjacent said partition whereby the transmission of heat through said partition to said evaporator maintains the upper chamber at a low food storage temperature and at a predetermined humidity, while the lower compartment is cooled to a freezing temperature, said outer shell and lower liner being formed at their rear walls with aligned apertures, and said evaporator being supported by an insulating plug fittinglin said aligned apertures. and a condenser and motor compressor carried by said plug and located in a chimney rearwardly of said plug.

WILLIAM E. RICHARD.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the Number Name Date 2,017,152 Hull Oct. 15, 1935 2,165,505 Philipp July 11, 1939 2 171,'712 Potter Sept. 5, 1939 2,318,532 Scott May 4, 1943 2,363,530 Iwashita Nov. 28, 1944 2,416,354 Shoemaker Feb. 25, 1947

Images