US3355907A

US3355907A - Multiple compartiment refrigerator

Info

Publication number: US3355907A
Application number: US533605A
Authority: US
Inventors: Edward C Simmons
Original assignee: Motors Liquidation Co
Current assignee: Motors Liquidation Co
Priority date: 1966-03-11
Filing date: 1966-03-11
Publication date: 1967-12-05
Anticipated expiration: 1984-12-05

Description

Dec. 5, 1967 E. c. SIMMONS MULTIPLE COMPARTMENT REFRIGERATOR 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March ll, 1956 yi zz De- 5, 1967 E. c SIMMONS 3,355,907

MULTIPLE COMPARTMENT REFRIGEBATOR Filed March ll, 1966 2 SheetS-Sheet 2 IN VENTOR. Simmons lf, w

fda/ara C United States Patent O 3,355,907 MULTIPLE COMPARTMENT REFRIGERATOR Edward C. Simmons, Dayton, Ohio, assignor to General Motors Corporation, Detroit, Mich., a corporation of Delaware Filed Mar. 11, 1966, Ser. No. 533,605 Claims. (Cl. 62-229) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE In the preferred form, a single fan draws air `from large and small above freezing compartments through one evaporator section and also draws air directly from the insulated below freezing compartment. Part of the mingled air is returned directly to the two above freezing compartments while the remainder is returned through another section of the evaporator to the below freezing compartment. The below freezing compartment and the small above freezing compartments are located side by side below the large above freezing compartment and above the evaporator compartment.

This invention pertains to multiple compartment refrigerators in which no frost collects in the storage compartment.

When a single evaporating means is used to cool different storage compartments at low and high temperatures it is often difficult and uneconomical to operate the evaporating means at a sufliciently low temperature to attain and maintain the desired low temperature in the low temperature storage compartment by conventional arrangements.

It is an object of this invention to provide a single evaporator cooling arrangement for low and high temperature storage compartments which will keep cooled the low temperature storage compartment at the desired low temperature without the accumulation of :frost while the single evaporator is maintained at a relative high temperature.

It is another object of this invention to provide a cooling and air circulating arrangement for low and high temperature storage compartments in which the air circulated from and to the high storage compartment flows through circulating passages only once in heat transfer with a single evaporator while the air for the low temperature storage compartment is passed a second time in heat transfer with the second evaporator for a second cooling prior to being returned to the low temperature storage compartment.

These and other objects are attained in the form shown in the drawings in which the interior of the cabinet is divided into a bottom evaporator compartment containing a single evaporator and partitioned into two subcompartments with small low and high temperature storage compartments above the evaporator compartment and the large high temperature storage compartment above the two smaller storage compartments.

The front of one of the subcompartments of the evaporator compartment has inlet openings at the front communicating with both of the high temperature storage compartments. The rear of this subcompartment has an opening communicating with the inlet of a lcentrifugal fan mounted upon the rear wall. The air ybetween these openings passes through one section of the single evaporator to be cooled sufciently for delivery by the fan through a duct extending up the rear wall of the cabinet substantially to the top of the large storage compartment into which it discharges. This duct also has a discharge slot discharging into the smaller high temperature storage compartment. The fan is provided with a second outlet 3,355,907 Patented Dec. 5, 1967 duct which discharges into the rear of the other subcompartment. This other subcompartment also has a front outlet opening and passage discharging into the low tem4 perature storage compartment. The second section of the single evaporator is located between the inlet and outlet of this latter subcompartment for providing a second cooling of air before it is discharged into the front ofthe loW temperature storage compartment. The fan has a second inlet duct communicating with the rear of the low temperature storage compartment. The low temperature storage compartment is insulated from the remaining compartments and is provided with an insulated doo-r.

Further objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings `wherein` preferred embodiments of the present invention are clearly shown. i

inthe drawings: t i i FIGURE l is a front view of a refrigerator with the door open and illustrating one form of my invention;

FIGURE 2 is a diagrammatic view of the refrigerating system showing diagrammatically the evaporatorcompart-` ment and partitioning thereof;

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged horizontal sectional View taken along the line 3--3 of FIGURE l; f FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view taken along the line `4 4 of FIGURE 3; and FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary vertical sectionalview taken along the line 55 of FIGURE 3. i i i Referring now more particularly to FIGURE l, there is illustrated a refrigerator cabinet 20 having insulated bottom wall 22 beneath which there is provided a machinery compartment 24 which may contain the sealed motor compressor unit 26. The cabinet also hasinsulated

side walls

28 and 30, an insulated rear wall 32, an insulated top wall 34, and a large insulated `outer door 36. As illustrated in FIGURES 2, 4, and 5, the evaporator compartment extends over the larger portionof the` bottom wall Z2 and is closed at the top by a plastic wall 38 and at the front by a grill 40 and at the rear by the rear wall\32. The evaporator compartment is divided into the

subcompartments

42 and 44 by the insulated partition wall 46 eX- tending from the grille 40 at the front to the rear wall; and between the

walls

22 and 38. Above a horizontal wall` 38 there is provided a center vertical insulated partition wall 48 and a second horizontal insulated wall 50I which encloses a high temperature storage compartment 52 `on the left side and an insulated low temperature .storage compartment 54 having additional insulated top, bottom,` rear and side walls. The compartment 52 is provided with an uninsulated inner door 56 which is not provided with a seal, while the low temperature storage compartment is provided with an insulated inner door 58 havinga gasket seal 60. These doors are locatedside by side and match each other in appearance as shown in FIGURE l.` The large high temperature storage compartment 62eX- tends above the wall 50 to the top wall 34 and is provided with three horizontal shelves 64. This compartment also extends between the outer door 36 and the

inner doors

56 and 58 to the grille 40 beneath the

doors

56 and 58.

According to my invention I provide an air circulating system in which the grille 40 at the `front communicates` only with the front of the left evaporator subcompartment` 42. Air is drawn from the compartment 52 around the edges of the door 56 as indicated by the arrows in FIGe URE 4 and in addition, air is drawn downwardly from the compartment 62 between the outer door 36 and the` front of the

inner doors

56 and 58 through the left portion of the grille 40 at the front of the left evaporator sub compartment 42. A single refrigerant evaporator 66 having vertical ns extending between the

horizontal walls

38 and 22 and from the rear to the front within `both

evaporator subcompartments

42 and 44, is provided for cooling all of the air. However, the air entering from the

compartments

52 and 62 through the open portion of the grille 40 only passes through the portion of the evaporating means 66 on the left side of the partition wall 46 since the vertical wall 93 behind the grille 4t) at the front of the right evaporator subcompartment 44 prevents flow to the right subcompartment. This air, after passing through this portion of the evaporator 66, leaves the left evaporator subcompartment through the outlet opening 68 -communicating with the bottom of the fan inlet shroud 70 of the centrifugal fan 72 which is partially imbedded in the rear wall 32 and driven by a small electric motor 74.

The fan housing 76 has an upwardly extending discharge outlet 7 8 communicating with the upwardly extending duct 89 upon the front of the rear wall 32. This duct has a small discharge slot 82 discharging a limited amount of air directly into the small high temperature storage compartment 52 which may contain a removable container 84. This duct 80 also extends substantially to the top of the compartment 62 and is provided with a discharge outlet opening 86 discharging air into the upper portion of the compartment 62.

The fan housing 76 is also provided with a second dis- -charge outlet and duct 88 extending within the rear wall 32 to an opening 90 at the rear of the right evaporator subcompartment 44. This air iiows forwardly on the right of the partition 46 through the right section of the evaporator 66 within the right evaporator subcompartment 44 for additional cooling to bring this air to a sufficiently low ternperature to maintain the compartment 54 at a desired low temperature such as F. However, since this air has Ibeen previously cooled by its flow through the evaporator subcompartment 42 before it enters the fan housing 76, only limited additional cooling needed to bring it down to 0 F. is required to be performed by the right section of the evaporator 66. For this reason, the evaporating means 66 can operate at a temperature just slightly below the ternperature desired to be maintained within the compartment 54. Therefore, the difference in temperature between the temperature of the compartment 54 and the temperature of the evaporator means 66 need not be as great as in conventional cooling arrangements. This air, after flowing forwardly through the compartment 34 and the right section of the evaporator 66 to the vertical wall 93 passes upwardly through an opening 92 and passage 94 into the bottom front of the compartment 54. This air after flowing through the compartment 54 to freeze any liquid and to maintain frozen any food stored therein, leaves the compartment 54 through the opening 96 communicating with the second inlet duct 98 which joins the inlet shroud '70 at the inlet of the fan 72.

The sealed motor compressor unit 26 withdraws evaporated refrigerant from the single evaporator 66 and discharges the compressed refrigerant into a condenser 121 which may be located within the machinery compartment 24 or upon the outside of the rear wall 32. The refrigerant liquifed in the condenser 121 is forwarded through the capillary restrictor supply conduit 123 to the inlet of the single evaporator 66. The operation of the sealed motor -compressor unit 26 is controlled by an adjustable thermostatic bulb 127 located in the discharge outlet S6. The switch 125 will therefore maintain proper refrigerating temperatures within the

compartments

62 and 52 in accordance with the adjustment of the switch 125 by the adjusting knob 129. The below freezing temperature of the compartment 54 is assured by the additional cooling provided by the second pass of the circulating air through the compartment 44 and the right section of the evaporator 66 which cools the air sufficiently to maintain low temperatures in the Compartment 54, l

While the embodiments of the present invention as herein disclosed, constitute preferred forms, it is to be understood that other forms might be adopted.

What is claimed is as follows:

1. A refrigerator including insulating means enclosing and separating an upper above freezing compartment and a lower below freezing compartment to be cooled and having a rear wall, a refrigerant evaporating means, first duct means extending from said upper compartment into heat transfer with said evaporating means, fan means having an inlet connected to said duct means for drawing air from said first compartment into heat transfer relation with said evaporating means, second duct means connecting the outlet of said fan means with said upper compartment for delivering cold air to said rst compartment, wherein the improvement comprises third duct means extending within said rear wall from said lower compartment without passing in heat transfer with said evaporating means directly to the inlet of said fan means, and fourth duct means having a portion extending through said rear wall from the outlet of said fan means and in heat transfer with said evaporating means and to said lower compartment to reduce the temperature of the air delivered to said lower compartment below the temperature of the air delivered to the upper compartment, said first and fourth duct means comprising an evaporating chamber beneath said compartments containing said evaporating means and a dividing wall separating said chamber into portions of said first and fourth duct means, said evaporating means extending on opposite sides of said dividing wall.

2. A refrigerator as defined in claim 1 in which the evaporating means includes a unitary structure containing refrigerant passages extending substantially in a single horizontal plane having one portion in heat transfer relation with the first duct means and a second portion in heat transfer relation with the fourth duct means.

3. A refrigerator as defined in claim 1 in which the insulating means also includes a third compartment, said second duct means extending from the outlet of said fan means to said first compartment being also provided with discharge means for discharging cold air into said third compartment, said third compartment being provided with means for communicating with the first compartment.

4. A refrigerator as defined in claim 1 in which the insulating means also inc-ludes a third compartment, said second duct means extending from the outlet of said fan means to said first compartment being also provided with discharge means for discharging cold air into said third compartment, said third compartment being provided with means for communicating with the first compartment, said third compartment being located at the side of said lower compartment.

5. A refrigerator as `defined in claim 1 in which a liquefying means is provided for supplying liquid refrigerant to and for withdrawing evaporated refrigerant from the evaporating means, and thermostatic control means having a therrnosensitive element located adjacent the outlet of said second duct means for controlling said liquefying means.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,050,956 8/1962 Mann 62-419 3,116,615 1/1964 Harle 62-419 3,164,970 1/1965 Hubacker 62--419 3,212,285 10/1965 Wilson 62-419 3,243,972 4/1966 Wiese 62-419 WILLIAM J. WYE, Primary Examiner.

Claims

1. A REFRIGERATOR INCLUDING INSULATING MEANS ENCLOSING AND SEPARATING AN UPPER ABOVE FREEZING COMPARTMENT AND A LOWER BELOW FREEZING COMPARTMENT TO BE COOLED AND HAVING A REAR WALL, A REFRIGERANT EVAPORATING MEANS, FIRST DUCT MEANS EXTENDING FROM SAID UPPER COMPARTMENT INTO HEAT TRANSFER WITH SAID EVAPORATING MEANS, FAN MEANS HAVING AN INLET CONNECTED TO SAID DUCT MEANS FOR DRAWING AIR FROM SAID FIRST COMPARTMENT INTO HEAT TRANSFER RELATION WITH SAID EVAPORATING MEANS, SECOND DUCT MEANS CONNECTING THE OUTLET OF SAID FAN MEANS WITH SAID UPPER COMPARTMENT FOR DELIVERING COLD AIR TO SAID FIRST COMPARTMENT, WHEREIN THE IMPROVEMENT COMPRISES THIRD DUCT MEANS EXTENDING WITHIN SAID REAR WALL FROM SAID LOWER COMPARTMENT WITHOUT PASSING IN HEAT TRANSFER WITH SAID EVAPORATING MEANS DIRECTLY TO THE INLET OF SAID FAN MEANS, AND FOURTH DUCT MEANS HAVING A PORTION EXTENDING THROUGH SAID REAR WALL FROM THE OUTLET OF SAID FAN MEANS AND IN HEAT TRANSFER WITH SAID EVAPORATING MEANS AND TO SAID LOWER COMPARTMENT TO REDUCE THE TEMPARATURE OF THE AIR DELIVERED TO SAID LOWER COMPARTMENT BELOW THE TEMPERATURE OF THE AIR DELIVERED TO THE UPPER COMPARTMENT, SAID FIRST AND FOURTH DUCT MEANS COMPRISING AN EVAPORATING CHAMBER BENEATH SAID COMPARTMENTS CONTAINING SAID EVAPORATING MEANS AND A DIVIDING WALL SEPARATING SAID CHAMBER INTO PORTIONS OF SAID FIRST AND FOURTH DUCT MEANS, SAID EVAPORATING MEANS EXTENDING ON OPPOSITE SIDES OF SAID DIVIDING WALL.

5. A REFRIGERATOR AS DEFINED IN CLAIM 1 IN WHICH IN LIQUEFYING MEANS IS PROVIDED FOR SUPPLYING LIQUID REFRIGERANT TO AND FOR WITHDRAWING EVAPORATED REFRIGERANT FROM THE EVAPORATING MEANS, AND THERMOSTATIC CONTROL MEANS HAVING A THERMOSENSITIVE ELEMENT LOCATED ADJACENT THE OUTLET OF SAID SECOND DUCT MEANS FOR CONTROLLING SAID LIQUEFYING MEANS.