US2297631A - Refrigerator - Google Patents

Description

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G. C. MITCHELL REFRIGERATOR Filed May 20, 1940 Sept., 29, 1942. IG. c. MITCHELL REFRIGERATOR 2 sheets-sheet 2 Filed May 20, 1940 Patented Sept. 2 9, 1942 `lEs rr trice l1 Claims This invention relates to refrigerators and more particularly to refrigerators designed for domestic use, the principal objects of the invention being to provide a convenient relatively economical and highly efficient refrigerator of such acharacter.

Other objects of the invention are to so arrange the refrigerator as to conserve space in a kitchen or other room of a home; to provide a plurali-ty cf cooling compartments and for cooll ing the same to different temperatures depending upon the character of articles to be refrigerated; to provide for sealing certain of the compartments relative to outside air when another compartment is exposed; to facilitate exposure of a compartment as and when desired; to facilitate the handling and storage of relatively large articles to be refrigerated; and to provide improved elements and arrangements thereof in a refrigerator of the character and for the purpose noted. f

In accomplishing these and other objects of the present invention, I have provided improved details of structure, the preferred forms of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Fig. l is a perspective view of a refrigerator embodying the present invention, part of the top therof being cut away to more clearly illustrate its construction.

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view through the refrigerator illustrated in Fig. l showing the relation between a plurality of refrigerator ccmpartrnents.

Fig. 3 is a horizontal section through my lmproved refrigerator substantially onv the line 3 3, Fig. 1. v

Fig. 4 is a horizontal section through the refrigerator substantially on the line l-IIL Fig. 1, and showing the door open, with one of the compartments exposed.

Fig. 5 is a detail perspective view of the compartment forming unit or frame in disassembled relation to its supporting shell or cabinet.

Fig. 6 is a detail perspective view, partly in horizontal section, of an end of a compartment wall showing an arrangement for forming a seal between the compartment walls and refrigerator.

Fig. 7 is horizontal section through a modified form of refrigerator embodying this invention and showing a particular arrangement of cabinet wall structure relative to a movable compartment forming frame therein.

Referring more in detail to the drawings:

. `(ci. aref-ssi I designates a refrigerator embodying the features of the present invention which preferably consists of a cabinet adapted to be mounted in a corner of a room, the cabinet having a vertical rear' wa'll 2 from the side edges of which Walls 3 and t diverge, the walls 3 .and 4 being con-- ne'cted at their forward edges with the rear edges of converging walls 5 and t. The walls 5 and 6 terminate at the side edges of a front wall l. As shown in Fig. 2, the cabinet is also provided with a bottom Wall S'mounted on suitable standards 9 and a top wall I0 connecting the edges of the front, side and rear walls of the cabinet.

II, Fig. 2, designates a transversely arranged support, preferably secured at its ends, as at I2, to the inner faces of the front and rear Walls of the cabinet. The support II cooperates with the bottom wall ofthe cabinet in defining a lower compartment I3 that may be used for desirable purposes, such as storage, and a door I t is provided to normally close an opening I5 in the cabinet front wall leading to the compartment i3.

Mounted on the support II is a plate or the like I6 and an insulating bed Il of suitable material is mounted on the plate. The bed I'I preferably has a plan of approximately two-thirds of a circle, a chord, approximating the width of the cabinet front wall l, defining the forwardly arranged edgev of the bed. An arcuately shaped wall I8 projects upwardly from the bed il, the

` wall being of a suitable material and thickness I9, Fig. 4, through a portion thereof and a relatively greater thickness 20 throughout the remainder thereof. The said Wall portions are preferably distorted, as at 2| and 22, to provide spaces 23 and 2t for cooling or like devices or coils 25 and 26, the coils 26 preferably being greater in number or effectiveness than the coils 25, to the end that the temperature'in one portion of the refrigerator may be reduced to a greater degree than other portions thereof, the greater wall thickness noted aiding in maintaining such difference in temperatures.

An inner, preferably porcelain covered metallic wall 2l bounds the inner surface of the wall I8 in surrounding relation to the cooling coils. The wall 2 preferably joins the outer cabinet walls after being oset, as at 28, Fig. 4, to cover a shoulder 29 of the wall I8 and being extended outwardly as at 3l! and 3I to define an opening 32 leading to .the compartment enclosed within the wall 2l. A door 33, insulated as at 34, is preferably hinged, as at 35, to a wall of the cabinet in such a mannerv as to close the opening 32, the door being controlled by a latch 36 thereon and a cooperative latch 31. on the cabinetfproper. The wall I8 is of a height suiilcient to extend above the door opening and is provided with a set-back 38, Fig. 2, extending horizontally to the bottom edge 38 of a frusto-conical upwardly extending projection 40 the hollow interior of which forms a compartment 4I. The upper end of the compartment 4I is provided with a bolt 42 or the like the upper end of which is secured at thel tures for the passage of a tie-bolt 58, Fig. 2,

which also passes through apertures in preferably circular bearing plates 5I and 52 that preferably have ball bearings 53 therebetween.

In Fig. 5 a compartment forming frame or the like 54 is'illustrated which is arranged for enclosure within the cabinet I and wall 21, the frame preferably consisting of a base or bottom Wall 55 having a centering pin 56 or the like engageable with the tie-bolt 50, Fig. 2, to rotatably mount the frame in the cabinet on the ballbearing plates. The base 55 is of the general shape of the horizontal cross section of the interior of the wall 2l, i. e., of generally circular shape and having a front face defined by a chord 51 that cuts oil' approximately one-third of the arc of the circle.

A vertically arranged partition wall 58, Figs. 3 and 4, projects upwardly from the base of the frame in such a manner as to cooperate with the cabinet wall 21 in forming compartments 59 and 68 in the refrigerator. The preferable arrangement for the wall 58 is that a portion BI thereof is positioned substantially midway between the outer ends of the chord 51 relative to the periphery of the base 55, such portion extending inwardly toward the center of the base a distance, as at 62, short of such center and sulciently to dene a shelf area in the compartment 59. 'I'he wall 58 follows an arc of approximately onethird of a circle from the point 62 to the point 53, in concentric relation to the center of the base .55, where it branches, one portion 64 of the wall projecting to one end of the chord 51 and the other portion 65 projecting on a tangent of the circle to the other end of the chord, as shown in Fig. 3. The wall 58 and its branches are preferably of insulating material covered by enameled or similarly coated metal .58 that is suitof which is provided with a weight 13 depending into the space 18 and the other end of which is run under a pulley 14 that is suitably mounted in the cabinet. The rope is secured at its extremity 15 to a substantially circular channel 18 that is secured in concentric relation to the bottom face of the base 55 of the compartment forming frame 54.

It is believed apparentthat the channel and rope may be arranged to normally present the branches of the wall toward the door opening of the cabinet and that the normal action of the weight is to swing the compartment 58 toward the door opening.

Swinging movement of the frame is preferably controlled by a latch 11, Figs. 3 and 4, that is engageable with the edges of the partition, as shown for example in Fig. 3, to hold the frame in desired position, the latch being supported on a rod 18 extending through the cabinet front wall to a point adjacent the door latch 81. A handle 19 may be provided to latch or unlatch the partition- 4as desired.

Arranged in the fork between the branches 83 and 85 of the partition 58 is a recess 88 for reciprocably receiving weights 8I mounted on a tiller rope 82 that extends over a pulley 88 on the top wall 84 of the frame 54 and passes over a hollow frusta-conically shaped portion 85 of able for supporting brackets 51 or the like and shelves B8 on one side thereof and brackets 69 on the other side thereof in the respective compartments. The end edges of partition 58, as shown in Fig. 6, are preferably concave in crosssection, and are provided with a sealing strip S provided with a felt or like filler F secured to said edges by suitable fastening devices and arranged for wiping contact with the wall 21 to create an effective, seal and obviate heat transfer between the compartments 58 and 88.

Mounted in the space 18, Figs. 3 and 4, between the wall 21 and frame 54 adjacent the shoulder 28 near the cabinet dor opening is a pulley 1I, Fig. 5, over which runs a tiller rope 12, one end the top wall, that fits within the projection 48 of the cabinet, to and over a pulley 88 that is swivelly mounted on the bolt 42. From the pulley 42, the rop 82 dependsV through the top portion 85 of the frame into the interior of the compartment 88 of the refrigerator where the lower end of the rope may be provided with a suitable hook 81 for supporting articles of food, such as a quarter of beef. It will be noted that the portion 85 may substantially cover the hook and that the -effective space to be refrigerated is reduced to a minimum.

Assuming a refrigerator to be constructed as described, its operation is as follows:

The refrigerator door 33 is opened and the latch 11 operated to allow the weight 13 to move the frame 54 to present the compartment 58 to the door opening, as shown in Fig. 4. Articles to be refrigerated may be applied to the shelves 88, whereupon the frame may be returned to the position shown in Fig. 8 and beyond, against the Weight 63, to present the compartment 88 to the door opening, where it may be held in position by the latch 11. Larger articles of food such as meats, fowl, fish and the like due to the additional space provided by the curvature of the partition 58 and cone-shaped hollow projection 85 may then be suitably applied to the hooks and brackets in the compartment 88, the weights 8| suspending the articles on the hook 81 and facilitating their handling. The frame then returns to the position shown in Fig. 3 under action of the weight 13 where it may be held by operating the latch 11, so that the cabinet door may be closed.

It will be noted that when one compartment is presented to the cabinet door opening, the

compartment forming frame 90 is preferably substantially similar to the frame 54 previously described, as is the door 9| of the cabinet 92. In the present instance, the walls 93, 94, 95, 96 and 91 take the place of the insulating walls I1 in the preferred form of invention and consist of suitable insulation enclosed in preferably enameled metal sheathing outer walls.

Cooling devices 98 and 99 are mounted in the spaces and 10| between the cabinet Walls and compartment forming frame, the cooling device 99 being adapted to cool the compartment l02 to a. lower temperature than the compartment |03 is cooled by the cooling device 98, whereby meats and other edibles requiring more Vsevere refrigeration for preservation than vegetables, for example, may be vproperly kept over long periods of time.

The operation of the modied form of inven- .tion is substantially the same as the preferred lform of invention.

It is apparent, therefore, that the present invention provides' a convenient, relatively'economical and highly efcient refrigerator for the purposes above noted. y

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A refrigerator of the character described including a refrigerator cabinet having a door opening, a frame rotatably mounted in the cabinet adaptedto carry articles to be refrigerated, means dividing said frame into compartments, and means in the compartments respectively for cooling said compartments to different temperatures respectively.

2. A refrigerator of the character described including a cabinet having a door opening, a frame rotatably mounted in the cabinet adapted to carry articles to be refrigerated, said frame being rotatable `in opposite directions, means di-. viding said frame into vertically arranged .laterally spaced compartments, one of said compartments extending substantially from the top to the bottom of said cabinet and means for presenting said compartments respectively to said door opening.

3. A refrigerator of the character described including a cabinet having a door opening, a door for said opening, a frame rotatably mounted in the cabinet adapted to carry articles to be refrigerated, means dividing said frame into compartments, means operable in opposite directions for presenting said compartments respectively to said door opening, and means formoving said presenting means in one direction in response to opening of said door. y

4. A refrigerator of the character described including a cabinet having a door opening, a' frame rotatably mounted in said cabinet, a partition on said frame dividing said cabinet into compartments, said partition being adapted to close said door opening, means for moving said frame to present one of said compartment at said door opening and allowing presentation of another compartment at said opening upon ro tating saidframe, and means'for cooling said compartments. v

5. A refrigerator of the character described including a cabinet having a door opening, a

compartments, said partition being adapted to close said door opening, means .for moving said frame to present one of said compartment at said door opening and allowing presentation of another compartment at said opening upon rotating said frame, and means for cooling said compartments to different degrees of temperature.

6. 'A refrigerator of the character described including a cabinet having a door opening. a frame rotatably mounted in said cabinet, a partition on said frame dividing said cabinet into compartments, said partition being adapted to close said door opening, means for moving said frame to present one of said compartment at said door opening and allowing presentation of another compartment at said opening upon rotating said frame, means for cooling said compartments to different degrees of temperature,

. and sealing means on edges of said partition cabinet for facilitating handling o`f articles within one of the compartments of said cabinet.

8. A refrigerator of the character described including a cabinet, means for cooling said cabinet, means in said cabinet-depending from an elevated portion thereof for supporting articles to be cooled, and means in the .cabinet for substantially enclosing a portion of said supporting vmeans to reduce the effective space to be refrigerated.

9. A refrigerator of the character described including a cabinet, means for cooling said cabinet, means in said cabinet for supporting articles to be cooled, said supporting means including -a partition having a portion extendingI inwardly relative to said cabinet and a portion following an arc of a circle substantially concentric lwith the axis of said supporting means to increase the space on one side of said supporting means relative to the other side thereof, and a portion extending voutwardly relative to said arc for defining a plurality of compartments relativeto said supporting means.

10. A refrigerator of thel character described including a cabinet, means for cooling said cabinet, means dividing the cabinet into refrigerated compartments, abalancing device in the cabinet for facilitating handling of articles within a compartment. of said cabinet, and a recess in said cabinet for receiving a portion of the balancing device to reduce the amount of ineffective retrigerated space in said refrigerator.

11. A refrigerator of the character described including an insulated cabinet, means for cooling said cabinet, a frame mounted in said cabframe rotatably mounted in'said cabinet, a par- 70 tition on said frame dividing said cabinet into inet, said cabinet and frame being arranged relative; to each other to provide a space therebetween, and an article supporting device podtioned interiorly relative to said frame and supported exteriorly relative tothe frame within the cabinet, said .device having means connected therewith and arranged in said space for balancing an article supported by said device.

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