US2797558A - Attachment for low temperature cooling units - Google Patents

Description

July 2, 1957 -R. Y. GRAUL 2,797,558 ATTACHMENT F'OR LO UN Filed March 22. 1954 y 1957 R. Y. GRAUL 2,797,558

ATTACHMENT FOR LOW TEMPERATURE COOLING UNITS Filed March 22, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 24 I /&' 344 7a ag /f IN V EN TOR.

to Aktiebo'laget Elektrolux, Stockholm, Sweden, a corporation of'Sweden Application March 22, 1954, Serial No. 417,783

. Glaims priority, application Canada February 13, 1954 12 Claims. (Cl. 62-126) This invention relates to refrigeration and is concerned with producing ice cubes and other frozen matter with the aid of a low temperature cooling unit.

It is an object of the invention to provide for such a low temperature cooling unit an improved attachment or rack having .shelving to receive trays for. producing ice cubes and other matter to be frozen, thereby increasing the quantity of ice cubes or other frozen matter which can be made available for use at the same time.

Another object is to provide such an improved attachment or rack which may be removably secured in thermal relation with the cooling unit and detached therefrom without the use of tools.

A further object is to provide such an improved attachment 'or rack which, together with the cooling unit upon which it is mounted, occupies a minimum amount of space in the interior of a refrigerator.

A still further object is to provide such an improved attachment or rack which, when mounted upon the cooling unit, provides relatively narrow shelves at a plurality of different levels which are supported essentially in a cantilever manner at a side wall of the cooling unit.

The above and other objects and advantages of the invention will 'be more fully understood upon reference to the following description and accompanying drawings forming a part of-this specification, and of which:

I Fig. l is a fragmentary perspective view of the interior of a householdrefrigera-tor illustrating a cooling unit or evaporator Istructureem-bodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the cooling unit illustrated in Fig. -1 to show details more clearly;

Fig- 3 is a front elevation, partly broken away and in section, of the cooling unit shown in Figs. 1 and 2;

Figs. 4 and 5. are views similar to Fig. 3 illustrating other embodiments of the invention;

Fig. 6 is a perspective view similar to the left-hand section .ofFig. 2 to illustrate parts of Fig. more clearly; and

Fig. 7 is a horizontal sectional view taken 'at line 77 of Fig. 6.

Referring to Fig. 1, I have shown my invention in connection with a refrigerator cabinet10 having thermally insulated walls 11 including an inner liner 11a defining a storage compartment 12 into which access may be had by a door (not shown) hinged to the front of the cabinet. Within the storage compartment 12 is arranged a cooling unit 14 comprising a shell 15 having a space 16 for receiving trays '17 .adapted to contain water. The shell 15, which extends from the front to the rear wall of the cabinet 10 and is rectangular-shaped-in vertical planes parallel to the front cabinet wall, is spaced from the iimer liner 11a. As best shown in Fig. 2, the shell 15 is of inverted -U-shape and provided with a horizontal shelf or partition 18 defining the bottom of the space 16. A baflie 19 is fixed to the front of the shell 16 to conceal from view evaporator piping of suitable refrigeration apparatus for producing cold .in a well-known manner to freeze the water in the trays 17 and maintain the storage gompartment 12 at a desired low temperature.

nited tates Patent The evaporator piping comprises a top coil section 20 .in goodthe'rmal relation with the bottom of the shelf 18 and a bottom coil section 21 having a plurality of heat transfer members or fins 22 fixed thereto to provide a relatively extensive heat transfer surface for cooling air in the storage compartment 12. In order to promote natural circulation of air in the storage compartment 12, the bottom portion of a side wall 23 of the shell 15 is notched or cut away and the flanged vertical edges 24 of the fins 22, over which air can freely pass, are essentially in vertical alignment with the top portion of the side wall 23 and also the downwardly depending leg 25 thereof which is immediately ahead and in front of the fins 22. Shelves 26 are supported in any suitable manner (not shown) in the storage compartment 12, one of which may include a section immediately beneath the cooling unit 14 to receive a tray 27.

In accordance with my invention, in order to increase the quantity of ice cubes or other frozen matter which can be made available for use at the same time, I provide an attachment or rack 28 which is removably mounted on the cooling unit 14 in good thermal relation therewith and capable of holding a plurality of auxiliary trays 29 for producing ice cubes in addition to those produced in the trays 17 normally positioned in the cooling unit 14. The rack 28 comprises a vertical wall 30 from one side or face of which extend a plurality of shelves 31 upon which the ice trays 29 are adapted to be supported, and from the opposite side or face of which extend a pair of spaced apart horizontal arms 32 and 33 which are employed for clamping the rack on the cooling unit 14 without the use of tools.

Each of the shelves 31, the outer edges of which are inclined upwardly at 34, forms the horizontal arm of an L-shaped member having a vertical leg or arm forming a part of the 'vertical wall 30. The vertical arm of the L-shaped member providing the bottom shelf 31 extends from such bottom shelf to the top horizontal arm 32. Accordingly, the L-shaped member providing the bottom shelf 31 is formed with a vertical arm co-extensive with the overall height of the rack '28. The vertical arms of the L-shaped members providing the 4 top and middle shelves 31 are relatively short and firmly secured in any suitable manner, as by brazing or riveting, for example, to one faceor side of the vertical arm of the L-shaped member providing the bottom shelf 31.

The spaced apart horizontal arms 32 and 33, having a relatively extensive heat transfer surface, form part of a one-piece U-shaped clamp, the base of which is secured in any suitable manner, as by brazing or riveting, to the opposite side or face of the 'L-shaped member providing the bottom shelf 31. Hence, a good thermal conductive path is provided between all parts or regions of the attachment or rack 28 to promote transfer of cooling effect from the cooling unit 14 to the shelves 31 upon which the auxiliary'trays 29 are adapted to rest.

When the rack 28 is mounted on the cooling unit 14, the top horizontal arm 32 snugly fits over the top wall of'the shell 15 and the bottom horizontal arm 33 snugly fits against the bottom of the top coil section 20 in the gap 35 between the latter and the top edges of the fins 22. The top arm or plate 32 of the U-shaped clamp, which is resilient in character, is bent at its outer edge at 36 and fits snugly against the curved or round top corner of the shell 15. The bottom arm or plate 33 is shorter than the top arm or plate 32 by a distance which is slightly greater than the width of the downwardly depending leg 25 at the side wall 23 of the shell 15. Hence, when the rack 28 is being positioned on the cooling unit 14 in the manner diagrammatically illustrated in Fig. 2, the top arm or late 32 of the holder slides over the top horizon:

tal wall of the shell and the bottom arm or plate 33 of shorter length moves over the top edges of the fins 22 within the gap 35.

The U-shaped clamphaving the spaced- apart arms 32 and 33 is of such size that, when the rack 28 is in the position shown in Fig. 3, the arms 32 and 33 are under tension and in good frictional contact with the top of the shell 15 and bottom of the looped coil section 20. Under these conditions, the cooling effect produced by the top coil section is effectively transmitted from the arms or plates 32 and 33 through the vertical wall 30 to the several shelves 31 upon which the auxiliary ice trays 29 are adapted to rest.

Fig. 4 illustrates another embodiment of the invention which differs from the embodiment just described in that a rack 28a is removably secured to the cooling unit 14 by a clamp having a top horizontal arm or plate 320: and a shorter arm 33a whichis frictionally held in place at the bottom corners of the heat transfer members or fins 22 and the bottom edge of the leg 25 at the side wall 23 of the shell 15. As in the embodiment first described and illustrated in Figs. 1 to 3 inclusive, the rack 28a of Fig. 4 comprises a vertical wall 30a and shelves 31a having inclined outer edge portions 34a.

When cooling units 14 of the type shown in Figs. 3 and 4 are fabricated, a heat transfer member or fin 22 sometimes may be positioned on the bottom coil section 21 in such a way that the top edge thereof will interfere with the insertion of the bottom arm or plate 33 of the rack 28 into the gap 35. When this occurs the ice tray holder 28a of Fig. 4 can be used more readily, because the bottom arm 33a of the clamp is not inserted within the gap 35 but instead frictionally grips the bottom corners of the heat transfer members fixed to the bottom coil section 21, as just explained. As in the embodiment of Figs. 1 to 3, the arms 32a and 33a of the rack 28a of Fig. 4 are under tension and resiliently spread apart a slight distance to anchor the rack firmly in position on the shell 15 when the rack is mounted on the cooling unit 14.

Figs. 5 to 7 illustrate another embodiment of the invention which is generally like the embodiment first described and illustrated in Figs. 1 to 3 in that a rack 28b includes spaced apart horizontal clamping arms 32b and 33b similar to the arms 32 and 33, respectively, in Fig. 3. However, the embodiment of Figs. 5 to 7 inclusive differs from the embodiments previously described in that the vertical wall 30b of the ice tray holder does not fit snugly against the side wall 23 of the shell 15 when the holder is mounted on the cooling unit. In Figs. 5 to 7the top 0 and bottom arms 32b and 33b forming the clamp and all of the shelves 31b extend from the same side or face of the vertical wall 30b. While the racks 28 and 28a of Figs. 3 and 4 are formed of four parts united to one another to form a unitary structure, the rack of Figs. 5 to 7 is formed of three parts. One part provides the vertical wall 30b, the top horizontal arm 32b and the bottom shelf 31b. A second U-shapcd part provides the top and middle shelves 31b, the vertical wall 30b being apertured to receive tabs 37 at the edges of the shelves which are bent to anchor the second U-shaped part in position. The closed end 38 of the U-shaped part providing the top and middle shelves 31b bears against the side wall 23 of the shell 15 when the rack 28b is mounted on the cooling unit 14.

The third part of the rack 28b is secured to the underside of the middle shelf 31b, as by riveting or brazing,

for example, and provides the bottom horizontal arm or plate 33b of the clamp. The embodiment of Figs. 5 to 7 provides spaces 39 to receive the trays 29 which are closed by the vertical wall 30b, so that the trays 29 at different levels essentially are positioned in independent chambers separated from one another. a

In view of the foregoing, it will now be understood that I have provided an improved rack or holder for ice trays or other matter to be frozen which can readily be mounted on a cooling unit and removed therefrom without the use of tools, thereby increasing the total number of ice cubes or quantity of other frozen matter which can be made available for use at the same time. The racks described above and illustrated in the drawings possess the advantage that a large number of ice cubes or other frozen matter can be conveniently produced in the auxiliary trays 29 during periods of low load on the cooling unit 14 which will then be available for use when the demand for ice cubes or other frozen matter is greater than that produced by the trays 17 normally positioned in the cooling unit 14. Further, when there is no demand for a large supply of ice cubes and it is desired to make additional space available in the storage compartment 12 for food preservation and other purposes, the racks can be conveniently removed from the cooling unit 14 without the use of tools.

In each of the embodiments illustrated and described above, the rack or attachment is supported in a cantilever manner on the cooling unit 14. The shelves for the auxiliary trays 29 are relatively narrow and disposed one above another at the immediate vicinity of and closely adjacent to the side wall 23 of the cooling unit. In this way the rack or attachment, together with the cooling unit upon which it is mounted will occupy a minimum amount of space in the storage compartment 12.

Although several embodiments of the invention have been shown and described, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that modifications and changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Therefore, I intend in the following claims to cover all modifications and changes which do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. For use with a cooling unit which is disposed in a thermally insulated space of a refrigerator cabinet having an inner liner and formed with a compartment therein for receiving at least one ice tray adapted to contain water to be frozen, said cooling unit, which is accessible through an opening in a front wall of the cabinet and spaced from the inner liner and extends from the front to the rear walls of the cabinet, being rectangulanshaped in vertical planes parallel to the front wall of the cabinet and formed with upright sides and horizontally extending anchoring surfaces at different levels, an attachment for increasing the shelf area of said cooling unit comprising a clamp including a first wall member and a pair of spaced apart arms substantially at right angles to said first wall member and extending in the same direction therefrom, said clamp being out of physical contact with the inner liner of said space and essentially U-shaped and effective to embrace at least a portion of one upright side and the horizontally extending anchoring surfaces of said cooling unit with said first wall member in physical contact with said one upright side and said arms in physical contact with the anchoring surfaces and acting downwardly and upwardly, respectively, thereon, said arms having a relatively extensive heat transfer surface and projecting horizontally in one direction from said first wall member when the latter is in physical contact with said one upright side, and said clamp including wall structure which forms a unitary part thereof and provides additional shelving extending horizontally from said first wall member in the opposite direction from said arms when said first wall member is in physical contact with said one upright side of said cooling unit. I

2. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1 inwhich said arms resiliently hold said clamp in position on the cooling unit when said first wall member is in physical contact with the one upright side and said arms are in physical contact with said anchoring surfaces of the cooling unit.

3. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1 in which said attachment comprises a plurality of parts secured to one,

another to form said clamp and shelving which provides a number of shelves, said first wall member including one of said parts having a shelf integral therewith.

. 4. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1 in which said attachment comprises a plurality of parts secured to one another, said first wall member comprising one of said parts, and said arms being integral with said one part.

5. Apparatus as set forth in claim 3 in which said shelving includes a plurality of shelves at different levels which are one above the other and project from said first wall member.

6. Apparatus as set forth in claim 4 in which said parts include at least one angle member forming one of said shelves, one side of said angle member being secured to said first wall member.

7. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1 in which the shelving provides a number of shelves and said attachment includes a plurality of angle members having one side thereof forming such shelves, and said first wall member comprising the other side of said angle members which overlap and are secured to one another.

8. Apparatus as set forth in claim 7 which includes a U-shaped part having the closed end thereof forming a unitary part of said first wall member, the opposing sides of said U-shaped part forming the spaced apart arms of said clamp.

9. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1 in which the shelving provides a number of shelves one above another and said attachment comprises at least three parts; one of said parts defining one arm of said clamp and the bottom shelf; another of said parts being secured to said first part and defining at least a part of said first wall member and another of the shelves; and another of said parts being secured to said second-mentioned part and defining the other arm of said clamp.

10. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1 in which said attachment includes a second wall member essentially parallel to and spaced from said first wall member, said shelving including a plurality of shelves which are located between said first and second wall members and define a plurality of compartments one above another.

11. Apparatus as set forth in claim 10 in which at least one of said shelves is formed integrally with said first wall member.

12. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1 in which the shelving provides a number of shelves one above another and said attachment comprises a plurality of parts, one of said parts being U-shaped with the opposing sides thereof forming said spaced apart arms, and other of said parts being in the form of angle members having one side thereof forming said shelves, said first wall member comprising the other sides of said angle members and the closed end of said U-shaped part.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,787,474 Davenport Ian. 6, 1931 2,059,840 Atchison Nov. 3, 1936 2,107,285 Constantine Feb. 8, 1938 2,356,780 Morrison Aug. 29, 1944 2,488,197 Jensky Nov. 15, 1949 2,488,198 Jensky Nov. 15, 1949 2,522,318 Swanson Sept. 12, 1950 FOREIGN PATENTS 223,617 Switzerland Dec. 16,, 1942 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No 2,797,558 July 2, 1957 Russell Yoder Graul It is hereby certified that error appears in the printed specification of the above numbered patent requiring correction and that the said Letters Patent should read as corrected below.

Column 5, line 8, for the claim reference numeral "3" read 4 line 12, for the claim reference numeral "4" read 5 Signed and sealed this 13th day of August 1957.

(SEAL) Atteet:

KARL H, AXLINE ROBERT C. WATSON Attesting Officer Comnissionex' of Patents

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