US3071937A - Refrigerant condenser cooling means - Google Patents

Description

Jan. 8, 1963 R, SMITH 3,071,937

REFRIGERANT CONDENSER COOLING MEANS Filed Aug. 16, 1961 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 I INVENTOR. Robert Smith. 7

His At am y Jan. 8, 1963 R. SMITH 3,071,937

REFRIGERANT CONDENSER COOLING MEANS Filed Aug. 16, 1961. 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR.

Robert Smith 4 BY I0 His All may Unite States This invention relates to refrigerating apparatuses and particularly to a component element of a refrigerating system.

I am aware of the fact that many different refrigerant condenser element constructions for refrigerating systems and their association with household refrigerator cabinet have heretofore been proposed. These constructions and arrangements have not been entirely satisfactory. Mul tiple finned conduit refrigerant condensers collect dirt and lint thereon from air circulated thereover and an accumulation of this dirt or lint impedes air flow through such condensers and their effectiveness is reduced thus impairing the eificiency of the refrigerating system in which they are connected. Condensers of this type are difficult if not impossible to clean. Tube on sheet metal type refrigerant condensers in order to be eiiicient must, so as to have a certain or predetermined refrigerant condensing capacity, belarge and bulky thus necessitating mounting thereof outside a compartment-of a refrigerator on an exterior wall of the cabinet where they are subjected to damage during shipping and installation of refrigerator cabinets and frequently require servicing or repair by a serviceman before installation or operation'of the refrig orator. I therefore contemplate the provision of a refrigerant condenser component of a refrigerating system whichis compact, constructed to be substantially free'of collecting or accumulating dust or lint thereon, readily cleanable if'rlecessary and which is mountable in a machine compartment of a refrigerator cabinet where it is protected against damage and where a forced circulation of air thereover or therethrough may be provided to effectively cool refrigerant fluid flowing through conduits thereof;

An object of my invention is to provide a refrigerating system with an improved refrigerant condenser element for eliminating troubles and inadequacies encountered in employing former such elements in refrigerating systems.

Another object of my invention is to provide a condenser element for arefrigerating system that is compact, simple in construction, highly eflicient for its size and of low manufacturing cost.

A further object of my'invention is to provide a unitary condenser element that is bent, folded or coiled in a unique manner to form an improved condenser construction having open unobstructed air passageways there through and over convolutions of refrigerant condensing conduits extending in counterflow relationship to air circulated through the construction.

A still further object of my invention is to provide a compact tunnel-like refrigerant condenser with its interior divided by coiled portions of a unitary element with the outermost coil thereof forming a partition within .a machine'compartment of a refrigerator cabinet whereby .to eliminate use of separate or independent baffies orpartitions in the compartment for directing air toward and across a condenser mounted therein.

A more specific object of my invention is to fabricate from a unitary element composed of a flat wide metal sheet having a fluid conveying conduit convoluted along the length and width'thereof and elongated coiled box-like refrigerant condenser structure open only at its ends and provided with tiered unobstructed air passageways between adjacent spaced-apart portions of the coils to divide air enteringone end of the structure into a plurality of 3,071,937 Patented Jan. 8, 1953 streams of air which are confined within the structure and caused to contact coils thereof. in their flow through the passageways.

Further objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings wherein a preferred embodiment .of the present invention is clearly shown.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a front view of a household refrigerator having a refrigerating system provided with my improved refrigerant condenser associated therewith and showing the door to a food storage chamber within the cabinet in open position;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged sectional view taken along the. lines 22. of FIGURE 1 through the machine compartment of the refrigerator cabinet showing my improved refrigerant condenser located therein;

FIGURE 3 is a broken View of a unitary element to be fabricated or coiled into a refrigerant condenser according to my invention;

FIGURE 4 is an end view of my improved refrigerant condenser with tiered unobstructed air passageways therein;

FIGURE 5 is a vertical sectional view taken along the lines 5-5 of FIGURE 4. showing the coiled arrangement of the metal sheet and convoluted conduit thereon of the: unitary condenser element.

Referring now to the drawings, I show in FIGURE 1 thereof a household refrigerator cabinet 10 having. an outer metal shellor walls 11 and an inner metal lining 12 with suitable insulating material disposed therebetween defining a food storage chamber 13 within the cabinet. Outer shell or Walls 11 depend below chamber 13 and define walls of a machine compartment 14 (see PIGUR'E'Z) beneath or beyond the food chamber which is covered at its front by a perforated or louvered panel 15, the perfo-' rations of which provide an opening in a wall of the compartnientfor circulating air 'thereinto. The access opening of foodchamber 13 is normally closed by an insulated door 16 shown in open position. The general construction of refrigerator cabinets such as cabinet 10 is conventional and well known to those skilledin the. art and for purposes of this invention the refrigerator cabinet may be constructed as shown and fully described in the patents to O. V. Saunders et al., No. 3,006,708 dated October 31, 1961 entitled Refrigerator Cabinet, and R..C. Brown et al., No. 3,006,159 dated October 31, 1961 entitled Refrigerating Apparatus Mounting Means, both assigned to the assignee of this application. A refrigerating system is as usual associated with cabinet 19 and this system hasor includes a refrigerant evaporator 21, preferably oftheroll forged metal plate type, mounted on the interiorxback' wall of chamber 13 behind a protective cover or baffle 22. The refrigerating system also has a refrigerant translating device in the-form of a motor and'compressor" enclosed in-a casing 23 and is provided with an air cooledrefriger ant condenser 24 '(see FIGUREZ). Device 23 and condenser 24 are mounted by supporting brackets or the like: secured thereon upon suitable cross bars or tie rods in any desirable or. conventional manner within the machine compartment 14-of cabinet 10. Evaporator 21, device 23 and condenser 24-are all connected together or to one" an; other by conduits or pipes (not shown) in closed refri -i erant circulating relationship as is conventional of component. elements of a refrigerating system. A shroud-or housingzd is sealed to one open end of condenser 24 and afan or blower 27 located in the air outlet portion of the shroudis-driven by an electric motor Zrrfor circulating air. ambientcabinet 10 intocompartment 14 across or through condenser, 24 to cool same. Ametal sheet,;to

which a continuous length'of refrigerant conduit of condenser 24 is secured, is bent or coiled into a box-like structure to provide a tier of vertically spaced-apart fiat wide horizontally disposed air passages extending therethrough as will be described more in detail hereinafter. The boxlike condenser structure 24 is disposed in a horizontal plane within compartment 14 with the flat wide air passages through same lying in and horizontally paralleling this plane in a direction from front to rear of refrigerator cabinet 10. Fan or blower 27 is spaced, by shroud 26, from the rear open end of condenser structure 24 and the front open end of the condenser is adjacent to and faces the louvered machine compartment forward wall or panel 15. Suitable controls may be provided for starting and stopping operation of the motor and compressor of the refrigerant translating device and for simultaneously energizing and de-energizing motor 28 driving fan or blower 27 in response to refrigeration demands placed on evaporator 21. Refrigerant evaporated or vaporized in evap orator 21, in the process of chilling the interior of food chamber 13, is withdrawn therefrom into the casing 23 Where it is compressed by the compressor of the refrigerant translating device and this compressed refrigerant is directed into condenser 24 where it is cooled and liquefied thence circulated or caused to flow back into the evaporator as in conventional and well known in the art.

In accordance with my invention condenser 24 includes a unitary element comprised of a metal sheet having a fluid or refrigerant conveying conduit convoluted along the length and width of the sheet. Such a unitary element is illustrated in FIGURE 3 of the drawings wherein a flat wide steel sheet 31 has a steel or the like tube or conduit 32 secured in metal-to-metal contact with the sheet. Tube or conduit 32 is wound or is convoluted sinuously from its inlet end 29 to its outlet end 3% back and forth along the length and width of sheet 31 before being secured thereto. Both sheet and conduit 32 of this long flat unitary element are, or have portions thereof, bent on a plurality of differently spaced-apart predetermined straight lines, such, for example, as along the dot-dash lines illustrated in FIGURE 3, at right angles relative to each other and these bent angled portions are wrapped or folded in one or the same direction over one another into an elongated boX-like coiled structure (see FIGURE 4). The box-like structure is open at its ends and the outermost coil thereof encircles the inner or coils within the structure therethroughout 360 about the axis of elongation of the structure. One end edge of metal sheet 31 on the outer coil of the coiled element is secured upon itself as at 33 along the elongation thereof to close the structure intermediate its open ends. By virtue of the differently spaced, right angled bent portions of the unitary element, adjacent coils or portions thereof are spaced apart a suitable distance to provide a vertical tier of long unobstructed air passageways 34 through the box-like condenser structure. In other words, the interior of element 24 is devoid of bridging means between convolutions of tube or conduit 32 in the coils thereof. However, ends of the element 24- have rods or wires 36 spanning the air passageways therethrough and which are brazed or welded, in any suitable cutouts provided therefor in front and rear edges of metal sheet 31, to a portion of conduit 32 of the various coils of the structure or element (see FIGURES 4 and for reinforcing same, to prevent vibrations of the coils and to prevent collapse of the coiled structure. The spacing apart of coils of structure 24 to provide the unobstructed air passageways 34 is important since the spaces must be of a dimension to prevent particles of dust, dirt or lint from accumulating therebetween and imbedding or blocking circulation of air through passageways of the structure. This spacing is predetermined by the velocity of air circulated through the unitary condenser element 24 during operation of fan or blower 27 and the required distance between coils of the element to insure contact of the circulating air with the refrigerant fluid conduit or tube convolutions 32 along sheet 31 disposed in counterfiow relationship to the forced divided air streams passing from end to end of the structure and in heat exchange contact with the metal sheet 31 itself. By virtue of the condenser construction being devoid of bridging members, such as fins or the like, between refrigerant conduit portions thereof, particles of dust or lint cannot become trapped and compacted within air passageways thereof to impede air circulation therethrough and the velocity of the circulated air is great enough to insure that such particles will be caused to travel with the air entirely through the condenser structure.

Refrigerant is circulated in a closed series path through the convolutions of conduit 32 from the inlet end 29 to the outlet end 30 thereof. By virtue of the plurality of conduit convolutions 32 paralleling the length of sheet 31 and of the ceiling of these elements of unit 24, the refrigerant flows across each coil thereof several times so as to give up heat uniformly over all portions of the metal sheet whereby air circulated through the passageways 34 more effectively and efficiently absorbs this heat. Air drawn into one side of machine compartment 14 of cabinet 10, through the opening, reticulated or louvered panel 15, by fan or blower 27 and into the front open-end of the unitary tunnel-like condenser element or structure 24 is forced horizontally toward the back wall of compartment 14, through the unobstructed tiered passageways 34 thereof out of its open rear end and through housing or shroud 26 common thereto. This forced circulated air is discharged out of shroud 26 near the rear of machine compartment 14 whereafter it may circulate laterally over casing 23 of the refrigerant translating device to also cool this device and thence horizontally out of the other side of the compartment front opening or louvered panel 15 as indicated by the arrows in FIGURE 2 of the drawings. Some of this warm discharged air may flow downwardly out of compartment 14 between feet on side walls of cabinet 10 and the floor upon which the cabinet rests or is supported and thence up around the cabinet sides and back depending upon the character of installation of the refrigerator cabinet and cupboards or the like adjacent thereto. This latter escape of air from machine compartment 14 lessens a concentrated blast of warm air out of the forward side of cabinet 10 onto legs and ankles of a person standing in front of same.

It should from the foregoing be apparent that I have provided an improved, substantially lint-free refrigerant condenser which remains highly effective over a long period of time to thereby prevent a decrease in efiiciency of a refrigerating system associated with a refrigerator cabinet after installation of the cabinet in a room of a home or residence of its purchaser. The improved unitary condenser element is simplified in construction, is of low manufacturing cost, compact for its capacity, capable of being mounted within a refrigerator cabinet machine compartment and in this respect the mounting of a condenser on an exterior wall of a refrigerator cabinet is eliminated. Outer walls of the enclosed tiered air passageway tunnel-like condenser structure form its own partition or batlle means within a machine compartment of a refrigerator cabinet for directing air therethrough and thereby renders additional partitions for cooperation with walls of such a compartment unnecessary. By virtue of the coiled condenser structure being devoid of bridging means such, for example, as a plurality of fins intermediate the coils, the air passageways through the structure will not become clogged to impede its flow therethrough.

While the embodiment of the present invention as herein disclosed constitutes a preferred form, it is to be understood that other forms might be adopted.

What is claimed is as follows:

In combination:

(a) a refrigerator having walls defining a cabinet provided with a food storage chamber and a machine compartment beyond and isolated from said chamber,

(b) a refrigerating system associated with said cabinet having a refrigerant evaporator chilling the interior of said chamber and a refrigerant translating device provided With a refrigerant condenser located Within said machine compartment opposite an opening in a wall thereof,

(0) means for circulating air ambient said cabinet into said machine compartment for cooling refrigerant received in the condenser,

(d) said condenser including a unitary element comprised of a fiat wide metal sheet and a separate metal fluid conveying tube secured in metal-to-metal contact with one side of said sheet and convoluted along the length and width thereof,

(e) portions of said element being bent on a plurality of differently spaced predetermined lines at right angles relative to each other and into an elongated four-cornered compacted box-like coiled structure open at its ends,

(1) the outer coil of said element encircling inner coils thereof throughout substantially 360 about the axis of elongation of said box-like structure and having said metal sheet secured upon itself therealong to close all four corners of the structure intermediate its said open ends,

(g) adjacent portions of said coiled structure being spaced apart to provide a vertical tier of horizontally disposed unobstructed air passageways therethrough to which the tube convolutions of each coil thereof are exposed,

(h) the air passageways of said tier extending in said unobstructed fashion continuously from end to end of said box-like structure and around corners of its inner coils inwardly of said four outermost corners thereof closed by said encircling coil,

(i) A shroud substantially sealed against said encircling outer coil at one open end of the box-like structure communicating with the vertically tiered air passageways in said condenser element and together therewith forming a horizontal tunnel within said machine compartment, and

(j) said air circulating means cooperating with said shroud to force air drawn into said compartment by way of the opening in its Wall through said tunnel, said air passageways and over tube convolutions of coils of said condenser disposed in the passageways.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,859,840 Phelps May 24, 1932 2,297,219 Hintze Sept. 29, 1942 2,386,889 Furry Oct. 16, 1945 2,779,173 Wurtz Jan. 29', 1957

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