US2613123A - Frozen food drawer for refrigerators - Google Patents

Description

, Executor,

Attorne g.

2- SI-EETS--SHEE' l Inventor:

d. e s a e c e D n eu mo. 8 0 Rr 6 C R. E. PATTEN FROZEN FOOD DRAWER FOR REFRIGERATORS l l m Oct. 7, 1952 Filed April 16. 1949 Oct. 7, 1952 PATTEN 2,613,123

FROZEN FOOD DRAWER FOR REFRIGERATORS Filed April 16, 1949 2 SHEETS-SHEET F/gi 7 F726. 5

am H! 1 32 L Rag attemDeceased, Carl L. De Dueixecutor;

non will became apparent as'the ren wing deranged in regiohs where the tfh'be partly brokr'i awiaiz, of a. person 6L 1101 embodyin this ifivntiafi; Fig

Patented Oct. 7, 1952 rationof NewYol-k hiiiiiiiiiitioh fibril 16, 19%, '5??? "This nventmn relates we iiigeratorcaoffiet and more particularly to arrrigerater eabifiet ihciuding'a drawer rprrrezenr ed. k H I For convenience of access, it is sometimes Hesirahle to store froze: 'foo'd in a 'u'ia'wer wh en may b'emoved min and "off a p'ar m 'whieh' i's inaihta'ined'aboiit o F. Hewe er-,-' s\ih an arrangement inve the difficulty that frost Accordingl 1 it *is object 5: this fiii'ijriition to 'pfdvide drawer fer rre'znfeo'o incoming an arrangement for positioning the-slidingsiiiraees so as tominimize {nest-i0 w o A Further obj ects and advantages of sdri'iation pra eeds "ar' idfthe res-wrest: meat which charaio 'ri'zethisinvehtionwillbepoifited an with particiilarity the time 'ai'meked to ans raming-earmark ificatioh H I In tiarrying out thisinventioh the siidingstirfaces of a frozen food storage rawer are arabove the temperature maintained "iii the (if reference may he had to the accohiiianf'yifig drewings in which Fig. 1 is a frontelevatio'n elevation View tak'ehalon'g t-he li 'n '2-2 1; Fig. 3 is an emerged sectioi'ial "View or a tion of Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is; a "sewer-meet 't' en along theline's i=4 or 3; Fig. 5 is -"a f ht elevation view, l ai'tly broke awayor a po tioh of a refrigerator showing a modified "form of this invention; Fig, 6 is a sectional elevation view taken along the lines 66 of Fig. 5; Fig. 7 is a sectional plan View taken along the lines T 1 of Fig. 5; Fig. 8 is an enlarged iew; partly broken away, showing a detail of the construction; and Fig. 9 is a setional Viewtakerialohgflieline 9-9 of Fig. 8.

Referring now to Figs. 1' and 2, there is shown a refrigerator cabinet I including an outermetal wall or case 2 and a plurality of spaced'inner walls or liners 3 and]. Thefsiaace betwenthe outer wall and the liners filled with a; suitable heateiri'si lating materials. The liners forms a com artment 3 f6! receivifiga sliding drawer I 6 for the storage of frozen foods. The liner 4 forms a, compartment 'l-for the storage of fresh m e esees'sotema'g of the compartment T-is oiose'd 'by sober 8 anathema-ass "openin or the compartment 3' is closed-by the front wertieaipdrtion 9 of fliedr'airiri. A'gasket 10 is -15fot "-'ded 'n'thebortion of the drawer for enga the :iaeen or "the cabinet, and a latch Y ended at each-s ne bf'the portion a of he orawer. The-1aterresi2are actuated by a handle l a mi each ensa s a'stiike one or which is indicated "hy M. Ihe handle is also utilized 'iii g the'cbndf-is'in t of the refrigerating sy tern. erdertorerngerate the compartment 3' "1 1 e'th'e "contents fif'the drawer B an'evapoi6 the ram "or a ms-rainy of turns of se urea to the exterior of the liner 3. 'Coridefisihg apparatus including a hermetically seared' irioter-eqmpressdrunit n and a condenser Io a's-houses withir'i the iriachinery eompart-- rh'e'nt 15. L

ref'rige'i'aht is suppl e from thendensih 1'1" tto --theeva15nraier l6 through a cafiill'ji'y tu'h'e is, mi"vaporizedjrerri rant is- Withdrawn frdr'n "tioh'liriefl. The errreshreed'm y'hereiri'gerat'ed many desired manneipeimer by separate apparatus or 'by an evaporator sunpliea item the same condensing one asis u'sedto refrigerate the frozen food comevaporator th'lbliig h a slicmii'ait'r'nfit I for the storage momenta. I

In order to bro'perly preserve the frozen food the compartment 3 i's norinally maintained at a temperature in th'e' neighborhood of zero degrees F. .At 'such a teihperatureirost forms on the interi'or of the liner 3 and, should the drawer 'libe-supported forsliding motion on rails located within the-compartment 3'-, the frost would ultimately render movement of the drawer exceedingly difficuit io'r impossible. In order to overcome this diffioulty -an arrangement has been proyided whereby the drawer is supported for slidingmovement on railspositioned Within the ,rnachin'ery compartment l5, As shown in Fig.

2 :the drawer'fiis snpportedin spaced relationship. to the '1'iner 3 and hence a substantial amount of frost can form on the interior of the 1iiier without interference with the movement of the drawer.

"Referrinanow also to Figs; 3 and 4, a plurality of fbraclfets 'il re; se'oii'rd, as by welding, to the bottonisfiffa oith oi'ite'r' wen of the refrigeratar iii the 'ifiiibr reio'nof the'machinery compartment I5. Two such brackets are located near each side of the refrigerator, one in the forward portion and the other in the rearward portion of the machinery compartment. A rail or channel 22 is mounted on each pair of supporting brackets 2| and extends from the front to the rear of the machinery compartment. In order to mount the drawer for sliding movement along the channels 22 the drawer is provided with two L-shaped members 23. Each of the members 23 is secured to a metal wall 24 of the front portion 9 of the drawer. The memhers 23 may be secured to the wall 24 in any suitable manner, as by welding, at the points 25, 26, and 27. In order to facilitate freeqmovement of the drawer each of the members .23 is provided at the rear of its horizontalleg 28 with a roller 29. These rollers are adapted to ride within the channels 22. A second roller-36 is mounted on each of the channels 22 near the front edge thereof and the lower surfaces of the members 23 are adapted to ride on the rollers 36. The rear end of each of the channels 22 is inclined, as indicated at 3|, to assist in moving the drawer to its closed position.

It can be seen that the surfaces where the relative motion. between the drawer and its stationary supports takes place are located within the machinery compartment [5 where the temperature is well above freezing, and hence there is no tendency for frost to form on these surfaces and to hamper the operation of the drawer.

A modified form of this invention showing a different arrangement for slidably supporting the drawer is illustrated in Figs. 5 through 9. The construction is, similar to that shown in Figs. 1

through 4, and correspondingparts have been designated by the same numerals. In the form shown in Figs. 5 through 9 the drawer is mounted for sliding movement along two rails or channels 22. These channels extend horizontally from the front to the rear of the cabinet, one of the 24 of the portion 9 of the drawer in any suitable manner, as by welding at the points indicated by 33 and 34 in Fig. 7. A roller 29 is mounted at therear end. of each arm 35 of the U-shaped member 32, and these rollers are adapted to be received within the channels .22. A roller 36' is mounted at the forward end of each of the channels 22 to further facilitate easy movement of the drawer to and from its closed position. Each of the channels 22 is inclined at its rear end, as indicated by 3|, to assist in moving the drawer to its closed position.

Each sliding assembly including a channel 22', rollers 29' and 39', and an arm 35 of the member 32 is enclosed within aspace formed by an eniongated member 36 of U-shaped cross section. As shown most clearly in Fig. 9 this member 36 includes flanged portions 31 and 38 which are secured in any suitable manner, as by welding, to the interior of the outer wall 2 of the.

of the outer wall 2 of the refrigerator in any 4 suitable manner, as by welding, along a line indicated by 40 in Fig. 7. If desired, the member 36 may also be flanged adjacent the rear wall portion 39 to facilitate welding it to the rear wall. The forward end of the member 36 is similarly secured to a portion 4| of the outer wall of the refrigerator, as indicated by 42. The member 36 forms an enclosure for the various parts of the sliding assembly and prevents the heat-insulating material 5 from finding its way into the mechansim. Further, since this member is sealed to the outer'wall 2 of the cabinet it minimizes the entrance into the insulation of moisture which might otherwise pass through the opening provided in the front of the refrigerator for receiving the sliding member 32.

It can be seen that the compartment 43 formed by the elongated member 36 is spaced from the liner 3 of the frozen food compartment and this space is filled with heat-insulating material 5. Furthermore, the coils which make up the evaporator It are arranged along the top, back and bottom of the exterior of the liner 3 and do not extend along the sides into the space between the liner 3 and the compartment 43. Moreover, this compartment is immediately adjacent the outer wall of the refrigerator. Thus the temperature within the compartment 43 is normally above 32 degrees F. and any tendency toward the formation of frost on the relatively movable portions of the mechanism arranged therein is minimized. The rails or channels 22 are secured directly to the outer wall of the refrigerator, and this further minimizes any tendency for frost to form on the surfaces of the rails.

Whilespecific embodiments of this invention as applied to a frozen food drawer of a combination refrigerator have been shown and described, it is not desired that this invention be limited to'the particular constructions shown and described, and it isintended, by the appended claim, to cover all modifications within the spirit and scope of this invention.

What this invention claims as new and desires to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is: V I

A refrigerator cabinet including an outer case, a spaced inner wall formed to provide a compartment, means for refrigerating said compartment, a machinery compartment, a drawer adapted to move, horizontally within said first-named compartment in spaced relationship thereto, horizontal supports mounted in said machinery com- Executor of the Estate of Ray E. Patten, Deceased.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 916,069 Wadsworth Mar. 23, 1909 2,487,259 Morrison Nov. 8, 1949 2,490,694 Leutheuser Dec. 6, 1949 McMahon I Aug. 8, 1950

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