US2498562A

US2498562A - Refrigerator

Info

Publication number: US2498562A
Application number: US638591A
Authority: US
Inventors: Norman O Long
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1945-12-31
Filing date: 1945-12-31
Publication date: 1950-02-21
Anticipated expiration: 1967-02-21

Description

N. 0. LONG REFRIGERATOR Feb. 21, 1950 :5 Sheets- Sheet 1.

Filed Dec. 51, 1945 FIGURE 1 FIGURE 4 NORMAN 0 LONG INVENTOR B j &7 4? I Filed Dec. 31, 1945 SLSheets-Sheet 2 FIGURE 2 FIGURES NQIFMAN LNQ ENVENTOR Feb. 21, 1950 0, LONG 2,498,552

REFRIGERATOR Filed De. 31, 1945 s Sheets-Sheet 5 FIGURE 3 FEGURE. 6

FIGURE 7 r wo'nmm 0 LONG 4) amvsmoa Patented Feb. I 21, 195i) UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Claims. 1 This invention relates to refrigerated containers and more particularly to refrigerator cabinet l construction.

In refrigerator cabinets only a single means of access is usually provided to the refrigerated por-- tion of the cabinet. This commonly comprises a door or pair of doors which when opened permits immediate access to the contents of the refrigerated portion of the cabinet. In general such doors are constructed similarly to the walls enclosing the refrigerated portion of the cabinet, that is, insulated, and are preferably sealed to prevent circulation of air in and about the closure, as, for example, by means of a gasket,

It has also previously been known to provide, in addition to the insulating outer door or doors of the refrigerated portion of the cabinet, an inner door or doors, usually transparent, as of glass or similar material, permitting inspection of the contents of the cabinet without permitting an interchange of the refrigerated air within the cabinet and the warmer air of the room. This is an advantage in avoiding loss of efllciency, increased cost of operation and in extreme cases overloading the refrigerating machinery to the point of excessively continuous operation, excessive wear and even failure.

Such secondary closures though advantageous, have in general the same defects as the outer doors, namely, that.'when opened, the same undesirable interchange of warm and refrigerated air occurs rapidly with considerable economic loss and increased cost of operation.

It is an object of the present invention to provide novel secondary closures for refrigerated cabinets.

It is a further object to provide means of accomplishing the purpose of such secondary closures more efiectively than has heretofore been possible. v

It is a still further object to provide convenient means combining the advantages of secondary closures, avoiding theprincipal defects of the devices of the prior art.

Other and further objects will be apparent from the following description.

According to the present invention the foregoing objects are accomplished by providing within the outer closure of a refrigerated cabinet a secondary closure, adjustable by sliding and capable of be-.

ing raised to a closed position and lowered to an open position. The slidable closure may be a panel of one piece or may comprise a plurality. of sections. In one piece, the secondary closure may level of the refrigerated compartment preferably through a felt or otherwise gasketed slot or into a closed well in the cabinet. Such a gasket material serves to seal the refrigerated portion of the cabinet against heat interchange through the slot. Alternatively the secondary closure of this invention may be fabricated of one piece of fiexiq ble plastic, preferably though not essentially transparent. In such case the closure may in its open position be directed downward as with a non-flexible material or, more advantageously, be directed backward and under the refrigerated compartment. It is also possible to arrange for closures of non-flexible or slightly flexible materials to be directed underneath the refrigerated compartment by sub-dividing into connected segments and providing suitable guides to direct its movement to the desired open position.

As previously indicated, my secondary closures may be fabricated advantageously of transparent material such as glass or preferably of a plastic such as polystyrene, methyl methacrylate or aliphatic vinyl resins such as vinyl chloride-vinyl acetate copolymers or any other suitable material. It may be advantageous in some cases to use flexible sheets of plastic since they may be particularly easily directed to an open position beneath the refrigerated portion of the cabinet. In using be opened by sliding downward below the bottom heavier. substantially non-flexible plates of ma- I terials it may be easier to arrange the open position of the closure immediatel below the closed or raised position of the closure. Such relatively non-flexible plates may, however, be divided into suiliciently narrow sections suitably held and spaced. Alternatively, adjoining segments of my inner closure may be completely interlocking but suitably articulated, as by a locked tongue-and-groove joint. By such means the position of such non-flexible materials when not in use may be arranged beneath the refrigerated compartment. When in use the segments are preferably arranged closely to avoid leakage of refrigerated air.

My invention may be exemplified by reference to the drawings attached to and forming a part of this specification, more particularly described as follows:

Figures 1 to 7, inclusive, show various embodiments of m invention and comprise the parts further to be described. Within the cabinet I, containing a refrigerating unit 2, the inner door 4 shown in Figure 1 is a unit piece, and is segmented in Figures 2 and 3. The inner door bears a handle or handles, slot or other suitable device 9 to permit manual operation. The inner door,

. 3 4 wheth a unit or segmented. moves in a guide It which Figure 34s snugly fitting to provide sufficient friction to support the door. In Figures l and? the guides l8 permit free motion of the inner door. In Figure-1, the inner door. is balanced by a counterweight i connected to the inner door 4 by flexible means I such as a cable, wire, chain, rope or the like arranged over a support which may be a suitable pulley 5. In operation the counterweight 6 moves in a well it and the inner door 4 descends into its recess or well 8 provided in the lower part of cabinet I. The well 8 may be advantageously totally closed except for the slot by which the inner door enters. Furthermore it should be easily raised or otherwise readily removed to provide access to the compartment behind it.

In Figure 2, the segmented inner door 4 moves downwardlyand winds onto a roller I2 which is actuated by an internal spring or other suitable device. In Figure 3, the extensions H of the guides I3 are arranged horizontally, the inner door or portions thereof not in use being arranged beneath the refrigerated compartment. Where the length of the inner door is greater than the depth of the cabinet, the excess may be allowed to hang vertically from the rear ends of the horizontal extensions l4; may be returned around a bend to a second horizontal extension under the refrigerated compartment, or may be folded at the rear of the cabinet.

Figures 4, 5 and 6 illustrate side views of Figures 1, 2 and 3, respectively, Figure '7 shows a horizontal cross section view through the inner closure and guides of any of the other figures.

Various alternatives may be used within the scope and spirit of my invention. Thus, the segmented forms of my inner closure in an opened position may be draped below its closed position by fixing the lower end segment to the underside of the refrigerated compartment near the front. It may be advantageous in some cases for the inner closure to cover the refrigeration unit 2 and the uppermost shelf, rising in its closed position to the top of the cabinet I. I

In the figures, the opened outer doors 3 are shown end-on, revealing shelves ii. The doors are supported by suitable hinges.

llL'sub-combinations of my invention may be pracinner and outer air, is the significantly decreased introduction of moisture and the resultant less frequent need for the economically costly and inconvenient defrosting operation to obfyin satisfactory operation, particularly in the maintenance of adequately low temperatures for the protection of the contents of the refrigerated compartment.

It is to be understood that various features and ticed without reference to other features and subcombinations within the spirit of my invention. I do not wish to be limited to the specific details shown and described but only by the appended claims interpreted as broadly as the art permits.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. In a refrigerator, a cabinet comprising a storage compartment having an access opening,

' an outer closure and a transparent inner closure It is an advantage of my secondaryclosures for refrigerated cabinets that easy inspection of the contents of said cabinet is provided when the outer door or doors are opened. However, it is possible with my secondary closure \to obtain access to the upper portion of the refrigerated compartment without opening the-entire compartment which would permit undesirable heat exchange between refrigerated air and warmer outside air to occur. In this way, the containers and other contents most frequently used, removed and/or introduced into the refrigerated compartment may be made available without warming the entire compartment and contents. Because the heavier, colder air will occupy the lowermost portion of the compartment, it is possible, using the secondary closure of my invention, to provide lower storage temperatures than can otherwise be obtained with the same refrigerating unit. Furthermore, more constant storage temperatures are maintained and losses of perishable contents are reduced or avoided. When necessary, access to the lower portions of the refrigerated compartment is easy, but unnecessary opening and exposure of such lower portions is usually avoided. A further advantage of my improved therefor, said inner closure in its closed position being adjacent the inner side of said outer closure when said outer closure is in its closed position, said inner closure in its open position being below the storage compartment, sealing guides for said inner closure extending vertically at each side of said access opening adjacent the inner side of said outer closure when said outer closure is in its closed position, said guides extending below the level of the bottom of the storage compartment, and means for refrigerating said storage compartment.

2. In a refrigerator, a cabinet comprising a storage compartment having an access opening, an outer closure and a transparent inner closure therefor, said inner closure in its closed position being adjacent the inner side of said outer closure when said outer closure is in its closed position, said inner closure in its open position being below the level of the bottom of the storage compartment, sealing channel guides for said inner closure extending vertically at each side of said access opening adjacent the inner side of said outer closure when said outer closure is in its closed position, said guides extending below the level of the bottom of the storage compartment, and means for refrigerating said storage compartment.

3. In a refrigerator, a cabinet comprising a storage compartment having an access opening, an outer closure and a transparent, segmented inner closure therefor, said inner closure in its closed position being adjacent the inner side of said outer closure when said outer closure is in its closed position, said inner closure in its open position being below the level of the bottom of the storage compartment, sealing channel guides for said inner closure extending vertically at each side of said access opening adjacent the inner side of said outer closure when said outer closure is in its closed position, said guides extending below the level of the bottom of the storage compartment, and means for refrigerating said storage compartment.

4. In a refrigerator, a cabinet comprising a storage compartment having an access opening, an outer closure and a transparent, segmented inner closure therefor, said inner closure in its closed position being adjacent the inner side of said outer closure when said outer closure is in its closed position, said inner closure in its open position being below the level of the bottom of the storage compartment. sealing channel guides for said inner closure extending vertically at each side of said access opening adjacent the inner closure, resulting from decreased interchange of 76 side of said outer closure when said outer closure is in its closed position, said guides extending below the level of the bottom of the storage compartment, a spring actuated roller below the level of the bottom of the storage. compartment, said roller having attached thereto the lower edge of said inner closure, and means for refrigerating said storage compartment.

5. In a refrigerator, a cabinet comprising a storage compartment having an access opening. an outer closure and a transparent inner closure therefor, said inner closure in its closed position being adjacent the inner side of said outer closure when said outer closure is in its closed position, said inner closure in its open position being below the level of the bottom of the storage compartment, sealing channel guides for said inner ,closure extending vertically at each side of said access opening adjacent the inner side of said outer closure when said outer closure is in its g 6 closed position, said guides extending below the REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,127,379 Adams Aug. 16, 1938 2,136,145 Miner- Nov. 8, 1938 2,139,779

Stratton Dec. 13, 1938