US421689A - Combined refrigerator-and water - Google Patents

Description

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COMBINED REFRIGERATOR'AND WATER FILTER.

No. 421,689. Patented Feb. 18, 1890'.

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G. FLEMING. COMBINED EEPRIGEEATOE AND WATER FILTER.

UNITED STATES `PATENT EEICE.

GEORGE ELEMING, or LAKE, ILLINOIS.

COMBINED REFRIGERATOR AND WATER-FILTER.

SP1?CIIEICATIONl forming part of Letters Patent No. 421,689, dated February 18, 1890.

Application led June 18, 1889. Serial No.314,7l2. (No model.)

T0 all whom, it mayconc'n:

Be it known that I, GEORGE FLEMING, of the town of Lake, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in a Combined Refrigerator and 'Water-Filter; and I do hereby declare that the following` is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference Inarked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to a novel construetion in refrigerators or cooling apparatus; and it consists in the features of construction and combination of parts hereinafter fully described, and pointed out in the appended claims.

This apparatus is designed to be used for cooling` purposes with or Without the employment of ice as a cooling medium, but is designed more particularly to be used without the. employment of ice for the purpose set forth. It has been found by experiments that the temperature of the water which is taken from lakes'or rivers to supply cities with is sufiiciently low to make it pleasant for all drinking purposes or for the purpose of refrigeration or preserva tion of articles of food. The difficulty heretofore has been that during the winter and summer, when consumers open faucets in their houses and draw water off which has been standing in the pipes for a long time, this water is warm and of an unpleasant taste; but if it is allowed to run for some time it would gradually become very cool, so that it could be utilized for refrigeration land for usual drinking purposes. The apparatus which is the subject of this invention is designed to utilize this normallydow temperature of the water supplied to cities from such reservoirs for refrigeration or other cooling purposes.

In the drawings, Figure l is a View of the apparatus in front elevation with the door open. Fig. 2 is a View in central vertical section on the line 2 2 of Fig. at. Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectional view on the line 3.3 of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a horizontal sectional `view on the indirect line i 4 of Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is a View in front elevation of the apparatus, showing a convenient manner of connecting' In said drawings, A is the outer box ofthe refrigerator or cooling apparatus, which is *provided with aninner box A and a door A2.

The inner box A is divided into an upper and lower chamber by means of a horizontal partition 0r tray a. The inner box A Is made small enough to allow a space between its -walls and they walls of the outer box, which space is divided by a horizontal partition a', of wire open-work or other reticulated material, thus dividing the space between the walls of said box into an upper chamber a2 and a lower chamber a3, as clearly shown in Fig. 2. The upper chamber a2 extends from the partition a to the top ofthe outer box and is filled with any suitable iiltering Inaterial.

B indicates a water supply pipe, which passes into the inner box A and is led to a point about the center of the partition or tray a, where it is formed into a coil B and passes out through the wall of the inner box into the upper chamber a2, where it is turned, passes downwardly, and terminates near the lower end of the lower chamber a3. b is a cock arranged in said pipe to regulate the flow of water therethrough.

The tray a, which divides the inner box, is provided with ribs a4, projecting upwardly from its surface a slight distance above the top of the coil B, and which are adapted to support an ice -tray a5, which is provided with a drip-pipe a to carry oif the water from the melted ice.

a7 a7 indicate a plurality of holes or perforations formed in the tray a, which register with the plurality of holes a8 as in the icetray a5. These holes are provided so as to permit the free circulation of air between the upper and lower chambers of the inner box a', which box isprovided with suitable shelves'or simie lar devices, upon which articles of food or other articles to be cooled are placed.

B2 indicates an overflow-pipe having one end located near the upper end of the upper chamber a2 and its opposite end passing outside of the outer box A and led to any desired point. An exhaust-pipe b is located at the bottom of the lower chamber 0.3, and by means of which the water within the chambers co2 IOO and d3 is adapted to be drawn off when the apparatus is not designed to be used.

The operation of the apparatusis as follows: When it is desired to use this apparatus, the water is turned on by means of the cock l) and allowed to pass through the coiled pipe B', from whence it passes through the continuation of the pipe B into the chamber a3 between the boxes A and A. As the flow continues the water will rise within said chamber, and also through filtering material in the chamber a, until it reaches the upper end of the overflow-pipe B2, which is arranged near the upper end of said chamber a3. The' water will then iiow into said pipe and will be carried off to be used for drinking and other purposes, as will be more clearly described hereinafter.

Upon using the device,in the first instance it is preferable to place a piece of ice upon the ice-tray, so as to thoroughly effect the cooling operation, although this is not necessary, as the same end can be attained by permitting the water to iiow through the pipe B, the coil B', and the chambers as and a2 a sufficient length of time, the normally-low temperature of the water having the desired cooling efTect and keeping the interior of the inner box at a temperature sufficiently low for the purpose of refrigeration or preservation.

I have found it desirable to pack saltpeter and common salt around the coil B between the partition a and ice-tray a5, as said ingredients tend to absorb the heat, and hence assist in keeping the said coil cool. It will also be noted that the water, after passing through the upper chamber a2, is filtered, so that it forms a bet-ter article for drinking purposes.

In Fig. 5 I have shown the manner in which said cooling apparatus or refrigerator will commonly be connected with the source of water-supply and with'the drain-pipe, al-

though it is obvious that other forms can be employed equally as well.

C indicates a pipe which supplies water to a house, and which is provided with a stop-cock c. The pipe B of the cooling apparatus communicates with the pipe C, preferably at the opposite side of the stop-cock c from which the faucets of the .house are placed, and the overflow-pipe B2 communicates with the pipe C at the opposite side of said stop-cock c to which the pipe B communicates therewith. b2 indicates a stopcock arranged in said overflow-pipe B2. The exhaust-pipe D' in this instance communi- Cates with the drain-pipe C' of the building, and is also provided with a stop-cock h3. c' c' indicate, faucets arranged within the building and communicating with the pipe C.

In the construction above described when the apparatus is in use the stop-cock cV is closed, the cocks b and b2 are open, and the stop-cock L3 in the exhaust-pipe, which communicates with the drain pipe, is closed. Thus it will be seen that the water iiowing through the pipe C will pass into the pipe B through the coil and filtering-chamber, and then outwardly through the overflow-pipe B2 into the main pipe C, from whence it will pass through the pipes in the house and be used for ordinary purposes; but when it is desired to discontinue the use of the apparatus the stop-cocks b and Z22 are closed and the cocks c and b3 opened. The water will then pass into the house directly without passing through the. pipes B and B2 and the water remaining within the chambers c2 and a3 between the outer and inner boxes of the apparatus will drain off through the exhaustpipe b'.

It will be noted thatI provide a refrigerator having a greater capacity than an ordinary refrigerator that would occupy the same space, owing to the fact that t-he ice-box can be utilized as a receptacle for storing articles.

I claim as my inventionl. A refrigerator comprising an outer box and an inner box, a water-space between said boxes, a perforated partition arranged within said water-space and adapted to divide the same into an upper and a lower chamber, said upper chamber having a lling of filtering material, a pipe leading from a source of water-supply and terminating near the lower part of said lower chamber, and an overflowpipe having its upper end arranged near the upper part of said upper chamber, substantially as described.

2. A refrigerator comprising an outer box and an inner box, a water-space between said boxes, a pipe leading from a source of watersupply into the inner box and provided with a coil B', which is suitably supported within said inner box, a pipe leading from said coil and terminating near the lower part of the water-space, and an overflow-pipe arranged within said water-space and having its upper end near the upper end thereof, substantially as described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

GEORGE FLEMING.

lVitncsses:

TAYLOR E. Bnown, HARRY COBB KENNEDY.

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