US3046757A - Refrigerators - Google Patents

Description

July 31, 1962 A. H. BANK 3,046,757

REFRIGERATORS Filed April 18, 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 flvyavme AMA/1AM A. ADA/VK A. H. BANK REFRIGERATORS July 31, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 18, 1960 3,046,757 REFRIGERATORS Abraham H. Bank, 30 Beit St., New Doornfontein,

Johannesburg, Union of South Africa Filed Apr. 18, 1960, Ser. No. 22,811 Claims priority, application Union of South Africa Apr. 30, 195? 1 Claim. (Cl. 62251) This invention relates to refrigerators and more particularly to refrigerators adapted to accommodate beverage containers, such as mineral water bottles.

Known refrigerators of this type comprise a cooling chamber in which the bottles are stacked. In most cases the chamber is provided with a lid which either lifts off, swings open or slides open, and for eflicient operation of the refrigerator the lid is kept closed. The provision of a lid or door for the cooling chamber necessarily involves a good deal of expense and the continual opening and closing of the chamber is a nuisance. An additional drawback of the closed chamber system is that the accommodation space for bottles is not great in relation to the total volume of chamber required to be cooled.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a refrigerator of simple construction which minimises to a large extent the disadvantages outlined above.

According to the invention a refrigerator comprises a cabinet at least one of the sides of which slopes inwardly towards the top, a sloping side being provided with continuous and open hollow metal shelves sloping back- Wardly at an angle of between 7 and 9 to the horizontal plane, the shelves overlapping each other for downward precipitation of cold air from a higher to a lower shelf and being disposed apart vertically at a distance substantially equal to the diameter of beverage containers to be supported thereon, and tubes carrying a cooling fiuidlocated Within the shelves.

An embodiment of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a front view of a refrigerator according to the invention,

FIGURE 2 is a side view of the refrigerator,

FIGURE 3 is a side view of a bottle opener and bottle cap collector adapted to be incorporated into the refrigerator,

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged sectional side view of the refrigerator and FIGURE 5 is a side view of an alternative form of the refrigerator.

In one form of the invention, as illustrated in FIG- URES 1 to 4, the refrigerator comprises a cabinet having two of its opposite sides sloping inwardly and hollow metal shelves are located thereon.

It will be seen from FIGURE 4 that the shelves 10 are adapted to house cooling tubes 11 which enter a shelf at one end and run right along the shelf, leaving the shelf at its other end. Of course, the cooling tube 11 may be straight, zig-zagged or in some other shape.

It is essential that the shelves 10 be sloped inwardly so that the bottles do not fall off and also slip easily into position. Although almost any angle may be employed, it has been found that an angle of about 7 to 9 to the horizontal is the most satisfactory.

Each shelf 10 has, at either end, an opening, acting to drain the shelf of liquid. The liquid collecting on the shelves, will flow by gravity to the openings, through which it will fall to the next lower shelf and from there to the next lower shelf and so on. At the bottom of the cabinet a gutter 12 is provided to conduct all the collected liquid away from the cabinet,

FIGURE 5 illustrates such an arrangement.

3,046,757. Eatented July 31, 1962 'The shelves 10 are spaced apart a distance substantially equal to the diameter of the bottles or other objects to be supported by the shelves. Bottles 13 may be rested on the shelves 10 with their axes at right angles to the length of shelves 10.

A refrigerator motor compressor 22 is provided for distribution through the tubes 14 of the cooling fluid to all the shelves 10 of the cabinet. Before entering the hollow shelves 10, the tubes 14 pass along the face 15, against which the bases of the bottles will lie, so that this face is also cooled. A space 1 6 is provided behind the face 15 and insulation padding 17 provided to minimise heat transfer.

in a refinement of the invention a gadget 18 is provided which is adapted to fit slidably into the cabinet. The gadget 18 comprises an opener 19 for removing crown corks and the remainder serves to catch the crown corks. When full, the gadget may be emptied.

For advertising purposes a light 20 is provided above the shelves 10, but it will be realized that other lights may be provided at different positions depending upon the effect desired.

It will be appreciated that, in certain cases, it will be desirable that only one side of the cabinet be sloped and fitted with shelves, as where the cabinet is to stand against a wall. In this case, the arrangement may be regarded as being the cabinet of FIGURE 4, say, out in half.

The refrigeration motor may be included in the cabinet or else may be placed away from the cabinet. It will be appreciated that one refrigeration motor may be provided for a bank of cabinets.

In a further refinement of the invention, the cabinet may be fitted with one or more doors 21, which are preferably transparent so that customers are able to observe the bottles on the shelves 10. In the preferred form of the invention, only one door 21 is provided so that certain bottles (for example those containing warm liquids) are separated from the other bottles, not behind the door, until required for use.

I claim:

A refrigerator comprising a cabinet having at least one side thereof sloping inwardly toward the top, an additional sloping side sloping backwardly at an angle between 7 and 9 to the vertical plane of said refrigerator, a plurality of hollow, continuous and open shelf members having the same width and being disposed on said additional sloping side in substantially perpendicular relationship thereto, said shelf members overlapping each other for downward flow of cold air from a higher to a lower shelf member, said shelf members being equally disposed apart vertically at a distance to support articles thereon in an inclined and readily accessible manner, tubes carrying a cooling fluid disposed in said hollow shelf members to impart coolness thereto, pipe means disposed in a hollow portion of said additional sloping side interconnecting said tubes, and compressor means connected to said pipe means.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 777,895 Geraci Dec. 20, 1904 1,576,328 Irwin May 9, 1926 2,209,690 Fraser July 30, 1940 2,299,347 Rifkin Oct. 20, 1942 2,499,089 Brill Feb. 28, 1950 2,565,795 Amundsen Aug. 28, 1951

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