US2867096A - Refrigerator - Google Patents

Description

Jan. 6, 195 H. E. ROSEBROOK ET AL REFRIGERATOR 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 16, 1955 1/ ATTORNE United States Patent REFRIGERATOR Homer E. Rosebrook, Earl K. Harley, and Burton A.

. Swartzlotf, Greenville, Mich, assignors, by mesne assignments, to Hupp Corporation, Detroit, Mich, a corporation of Virginia Application June 16, 1955, Serial No. 515,922 Claims; (Cl. 62-288) This invention relates to a refrigerator, and more particularly to a refrigerator of a type in which the cooling apparatus is located in the upper portion of the refrigeratorcompartment and, in unique form, with cooperating novel shelf arrangements and features of drip control and drip disposition involving varied adaptations in the provide in a refrigerator structure large shelf space in an area in the upper portion of the refrigerator compartment whereby substantial radiant heat exchange as well as heat exchange by convection takes place between the evaporator and the food within said area and at the same time providing a freezing area in a substantially lower portion, more convenient access to the freezing area being facilitated by the use of a swinging shelf, etc. Yet another object is to provide an effective cooling means having a freezing area at a low point in the refrigerator compartment, while providing effective circulation of cooled air throughout the compartment and about the freezing area. A still further object is to provide in a refrigerator compartment a swinging shelf structure which permits ready access to a freezing area disposed at the rear of the refrigerator compartment, and provides means for the elfective control of condensate and Water drippage and the withdrawal and disposition of same in a manner that prevents any appreciable accumulation at points where it would be readily converted to undesirable accumulations of frost and/ or ice. Yet another object is to provide in such a refrigerator structure, a freezing area in a rear lower portion of the compartment, together with means for supporting food products adjacent said freezing area, said supporting means being movable to provide a ready access to the freezing area. Yet another object is to provide in a refrigerator structure an elongated freezing area with a closure therefor and means for producing a fan or siphon effect whereby cold air is directed'forwardly of the freezing area to. produce effective uniform cooling of materials in the front portion of the refrigerator compartment. A still further object is to provide an elongated freezing compartment with a closure therefor, the closure and an elongated shelf structure being swingaole laterally to expose the freezing compartment throughout its length. Other specific objects and advantages will appear as the specification proceeds.

The invention is shown, in an illustrative first embodiment, by the accompanying drawing, in which- Figure l is a broken vertical sectional view of a refrigerator constructed in accordance with our invention; ,Fig. 2, a broken perspective view of a portion of the swing shelf which may be employed; Fig. 3, a per- "ice spective developed view showing the shelf which may be employed and the side wall support thereof, the parts being shown in spaced-apart relation; Fig. 4, a top plan view of the swing shelf; Fig. 5, a broken vertical sectional view of a refrigerator showing a modified form of the invention; and Fig. 6, a perspective view of the elongated shelf and closure employed in the modification shown in Fig. 5. V

In the illustration given in Figs. 1 to 4, inclusive, A designates an insulated refrigerator casing and B an insulated door hingedly supported thereon. The door B may be provided with the usual shelves or brackets 10.

In the refrigerator compartment 11, we provide in the upper portion of the refrigerator and extending well toward the mid or lower section thereof, an evaporator 12 which is generally in the shape of the letter C. The evaporator is formed by a metal plate upon which are supported expansion coils and which is supported Within the chamber by a plurality of brackets 13. The suspended evaporator provides at its rear a cold air passage 14. The evaporator thus shown has an inclined upper leg portion 15, a rear vertical portion 16, and a bottom horizontal leg portion 17. The bottom horizontal portion 17 provides a freezing area on which may be placed a vessel 18 for containing ice or food which is to be frozen. The vessel 18 and the contents thereof thus provide a cold mass in a central portion of the refrigerator, and this cold mass is effective in producing the cooling results which will be hereinafter referred to. Over the vessel 18 is a compartment forming a shelf wall 19.

We prefer to aperture the evaporator plate at the rear' of the vessel 18 so as to cause a diverted flow of cold air both through the rear wall aperture of the evaporator and over the cold mass represented by the numeral 18.

The dn'p from the evaporator 12 flows downwardly along the inclined leg 15, the vertical leg 16, and thence by the cold mass and upon a deflector plate 20 onto a trough 21 which directs the flow into a drip vessel 22. It will be understood that any number of shelves may be supported within the refrigerator chamber. In the illustration given, a shelf 23 is supported above the short shelf 19. As stated, any desired number of shelves may be located in the area above and below the freezing area 18. v

It will be understood that while a highly effective freezing area is supported by the horizontal leg 17 of the evaporator 12, so that a cold mass is maintained in the rear and lower portion of the refrigerator compartment, it is important that access be provided to this area of cold mass. We provide effective access to this area while at the same time providing shelf space forwardly thereof and in close relation to the cold mass by providing a swing shelf 24, which in the illustration given is elongated so as to extend substantially across the front portion of the refrigerator compartment and generally in line with the horizontal leg 17. By equipping the shelf 24 along the rear side edges thereof with hinge sockets 25 and supporting the hinge sockets upon hinge pins 26 carried by a side wall of the refrigerator, we find that extremely quick access can be had to the cold shelf provided by the horizontal leg 17 while at the same time providing effective shelf space Within close range and if desired in heat exchange contact with the cold mass. Further, the swinging shelf provides ready accessibility to objects supported on shelves above and below the cold mass.

The hinge structure may be of any suitable or desired construction. In the specific illustration given, the hinge pins 26 are carried by a bracket 27, which in turn is secured to a side wall of the refrigerator. I With the structure shown, not only may the shelf be swung laterally to provide full access into the interior of the compartment, but also the shelf itself may be readily lifted from 3 the hinge pins 26 and removed from the refrigerator compartment.

The shelf 24 itself may be of any desired construction. In the specific illustration given,.the shelf is providedwith a rear wall 28 and a bottom wall 29 which isformed of spaced bars to permit free circulation of air therethrough, and about the bottom grill and above extends a rail structure 30, the top portion of which is substantially horizontally alinged with the cold horizontal evaporator leg 17.

In the modification shown in Figs. and 6, there is provided a large frozen food storage compartment in the same general environment and general arrangement of the evaporator shown in Figs. 1 to 4, inclusive, and there is utilized further the combinations of said first-described embodiment.

In the embodiment of the invention-shown inFigs. 5 and 6, the evaporator 101 is modified by shortening the upper extension a thereof to project the same distance as the shelf or lower extension 17a,,and at the sides of these extensions there are provided side walls 102, whereby there is formed a compartment 103 for frozen food. The compartment may be open or it may be provided with shelves 104, as illustrated. The door for the compartment 163 is provided, in the illustration given, by a plastic panel closure 105, which is preferably formed with double walls, and the door is secured to the swinging shelf unit 106. The swingingshelf'unit106 may be substantially the same as unit 24 shown in Figs. 1 to 4, inclusive, but with a vertical elongation of the shelf. We prefer to have the shelf extended upwardly to substantially the top of the closure 105, and the extended shelf structure may be provided with a horizontal article-supporting shelf 107 or with a plurality of such shelves. We prefer to form the swinging shelf 106 so that it is of equal or greater vertical extent and cross-sectional area to the evaporator 101 or its access opening. The plastic panel or closure 102 not only serves as a door to the freezing compartment 103, but also provides a desirable insulation to restrict heat exchange between the frozen food storage compartment 103 and the general food storage compartment outside, and the closure panel also is preferably of equal or greater vertical extent and greater cross-sectional area than the access opening of the compartment 103. If desired, the door 105 may be extended beyond the side rim wires of the shelf 24 to bridge the space formed between the liner walls and the vertical walls 103 of the evaporator.

In the modification shown in Figs. 5 and 6, we prefer to eliminate the aperture which was employed in the evaporator 16 of the modification shown in Figs. 1 to 4 and thereby we restrict the heat exchange between the frozen storage compartment and the food storage compartment. We prefer also to provide a seal between the trough 108 and the drip baflle 109. The drip baffle 109 is provided with a resilient finger or ledge 110 which extends downwardly and engages the upper forward rim of the trough 108, as shown best in Fig. 5. We also provide a sealing member 111 between the swinging shelf 106 and the forward end of the drip baffie 109. With this structure, there is provided an air channel 112 through which air flows, as indicated by the arrows, forwardly and then upwardly through a vertical channel 113 provided between the forward panel of closure 105 and the vertical flange 114 carried by the swinging shelf 106. With this structure, there is a pumping or fan effect, causing a fiow of cold air downwardly about the evaporator 101 and thence forwardly and upwardly through channel 113 from which the cold air spills over in a rather uniform flow over and through the front portion of the main refrigerator space.

In the embodiment shown in Figs. 5 and o, the-controls would be set at different temperatures from those employed in the first embodiment (Figs. 1 to 4, inclusive), and different media of control may also be used. In the defrosting operation in the second embodiment, it is 4 preferred to use timed defrosting control in contrast with the defrosting method of the first embodiment (Figs. 1 to 4), in which the defrosting occurs with every cycle of the compressor. It will be understood that such control arrangements may, however, be modified widely in the employment of the different embodiments.

Operation In the operation of the apparatus shown in Figs. 1 to 4, inclusive, cold air passes downwardly along the evaporator 12 and along the rear panel 14 and thence below the leg 17 and other cold air falls through openings in the evaporator 12 while other cold air dropping from leg 15 passes outwardly acrossthe cold mass represented by the vessel 18 and thence on downwardly generally to the bottom of the compartment, the warmer air moving upwardly in the area toward the door B and thence into the upper front portion of the compartment. in the foregoing operation, cold air passing over the cold mass spills downwardly through the swinging shelf 24 so that the shelf'is brought under the influence of the cold mass. At the same time, the imperforate panel 28 at the front of the shelf tends to shield the shelf against the influence of the rising warmer air at the front of the compartment.

By the arrangement of parts above described, We find that an effective cold mass is maintained at a critical area well down in the refrigerator compartment and at the rear thereof, so that efiective drainage of condensate is effected and the cool currents are channeled within the rear portion of the compartment, while at the same time ready access is obtained to the cold mass area through the swinging shelf construction generally aligned with the cold evaporator leg or shelf17. Food within the shelf 24 is effectively brought under the influence of the cold mass whenthe shelf is swung to the transverse position illustrated in Fig. 1, while at the same time the contents of the shelf are disposed in a forward position when the door B is opened and such operation also provides direct access to the freezing area above the horizontal leg 17.

In the operation of the apparatus shown inFigs. 5 and 6, the air flow in general is similar to that described for the operation of the structure shown in Figs. 1 to 4, except that there is a concentrated and forceful flow of cold air out of the channel 115 at the rear of the evaporator 101 provided by the spaced relation ofthe front surface of the door and the back surface of baffle 114 supported on the vertical wires of the swinging shelf unit 106. In the latter operation, the maintenance of a low temperature, say near zero in the freezer compartment 103,and a temperature of about 37 F. in the forward portion of the refrigerator, brings about-a siphoning or blower effect whereby cold air is passed through the channels 112 and 113 and spilled into the front portion of the refrigerator and over the swinging shelf 106 to maintain a highly uniform cold condition in the front portion of the refrigerator.

While, in the foregoing specification, we have set forth specific structures in considerable detail for the purpose of illustrating embodiments of the invention, it will be understood that such details of structure may be varied widely by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of our invention.

We claim:

1. In a refrigerator providing a refrigerating compartment having an open front side, a door closing said front side, an evaporator supported within said compartment and extending downwardly along the rear side thereof in spaced relation to the rearwall of the compartment, said evaporator having a generally horizontal leg at its lower end and a forwardly-extending leg at its-upper end and side walls connecting said legs to provide. an.

evaporator compartment, and a shelf supported. within said refrigerating compartment, and equipped with a closure for closing said evaporator compartment when the shelf is swung inwardly.

2. In a refrigerator providing a refrigerating compartment open at its front, a door closing the front of said compartment, an evaporator generally in the shape of the letter C and providing at its lower margin a generally horizontal shelf adapted to receive a vessel thereon, said evaporator being suspended within said compartment at a spaced distance from the rear thereof to provide a channel for the flow of cold air downwardly through the compartment, a drip vessel, baflle means for directing drip from the evaporator into said vessel, and a swing shelf hingedly supported within said compartment above said drip vessel and in general horizontal alignment with said freezing shelf, said shelf being swingable to a position in front of said freezing shelf and to a lateral position providing direct access to said freezing shelf.

3. In a refrigerator providing a refrigerating compartment open at its front, an insulated door closing said front portion of the compartment, an evaporator supported within said compartment and extending downwardly along the rear side thereof in spaced relation to the rear wall of the compartment, said evaporator having a generally horizontal leg at its lower end, a shelf supported within said refrigerating compartment for movement into a position adjacent said horizontal leg, and a baffie below said horizontal leg and between the rear wall of the compartment and said shelf for directing cold air forwardly over said shelf.

4. The structure of claim 3, in which said baflie includes a drip pan, a drip trough below said leg, and ,a vertical baffle plate connected in sealing relation with said drip pan.

5. The structure of claim 4, in which a door extends in front of and above said horizontal leg and said baflie is spaced forwardly of said door to provide an air channel therebetween for directing air upwardly and over said shelf.

6. In a refrigerator providing a refrigerating compartment open at its front side and equipped with a door for closing said side, an evaporator supported within said compartment and extending downwardly along the rear side thereof opposite said door and in spaced relation to the rear wall of the compartment, said evaporator having an upwardly and forwardly-inclined top portion and a horizontally-extending bottom portion, said horizontallyextending bottom portion providing a leg adapted to receive a vessel thereon, a bafile spaced below said horizontal leg and consisting of a drip pan, a baffle extending above said drip pan and above said horizontal leg and spaced forwardly of said evaporator, and sealing connections between said last-mentioned baffle and said drip pan.

7. In a refrigerator having a body casing providing a compartment and a door casing hinged to the forward side of said compartment, an evaporator supported within said compartment and having a forwardly and upwardly-extending top portion, a downwardly-extending rear portion spaced from the rear side of said compartment and opposite said door and having its lower marginal portion turned forward to provide a freezing compartment, and a food shelf hingedly mounted within the front portion of said compartment and in general horizontal alignment with said freezing shelf, said food shelf being swingable to a position in front of the freezing shelf and across said compartment and being also movable to a position laterally of said compartment to provide direct access to said freezing shelf.

8. In a refrigerator providing a refrigerating compartment open at its front, an insulated door for closing the front of said compartment, an evaporator supported within said compartment and extending downwardly along the rear side thereof in spaced relation to the rear wall of the compartment, said evaporator having a generally horizontal leg at its lower end, a swingable shelf supported within said refrigerating compartment for movement into a position adjacent said horizontal leg, an evaporator door being interposed between said shelf and said evaporator and being swingable with said shelf away from the evaporator, and a bafile below said horizontal leg and between the rear wall of the compartment and said shelf for directing cold air forwardly over said shelf and in front of said evaporator door.

9. In a refrigerator providing a refrigerating compartment open at its front side, a door closing said front side, and an evaporator supported within said compartment and extending downwardly along the rear side thereof but spaced inwardly from said rear side to provide an air channel therebetween, said evaporator providing a substantially horizontal leg at its lower end and having an upwardly and forwardly inclined top leg, and a shelf mounted within said compartment between said evaporator and said door for swinging movement in the horizontal plane between a first position adjacent said horizontal leg and a second position providing direct access to said horizontal leg.

10. In a refrigerator providing a refrigerating compartment open at its front side, a door closing said front side, an evaporator supported within said compartment and extending downwardly along the rear side thereof in spaced relation to the rear wall of said compartment, said evaporator having a generally horizontal lower leg and a forwardly inclined upper leg and side walls joining said legs, a closure mounted within said compartment be tween said door and said evaporator for movement between a first position closing said evaporator compartment and a second position in which the interior of the evapo rator compartment is exposed, and a shelf carried by the side of said closure remote from said evaporator compartment.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,734,127 Hamilton Nov. 5, 1929 2,129,923 Frankel Sept. 13, 1938 2,149,114 Constantine Feb. 28, 1939 2,658,811 Eck Nov. 10, 1953 2,713,776 Smith July 26, 1955 2,728,203 King Dec. 27, 1955

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