Refrigerating apparatus

Dec. 3, 1940. h. e. blood etal 2,223,947

REFRIGERATING APPARATUS Filed March 2, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet 1

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Dec. 3, 1940. h. e. blood etal 2,223,947

REFRIGERATING APPARATUS Filed March 2, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet 2

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Patented Dec. 3,1940

2,223,947

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE

2,223,947

REFRIGERATING APPARATUS

Howard E. Blood, Detroit, and Oscar E. Norberg, Ferndale, Mich., assignors to Borg-Warner Corporation, Chicago, ΙΠ., a corporation of Illinois Application March. 2,1939, Serial No. 259,414 (Cl. 62—103) trated a part of a heat insulated cabinet 10 providing a provision compartment 12, the opening to which is normally closed by a door 14. The provision compartment may, as illustrated, be of rectangular form and has arranged therein an evaporator i6 of a refrigerating system, said evaporator being suspended from the top wall of the provision compartment and spaced from the side walls thereof. 'Immediately below the evaporator there is arranged a shelf 18 of approxi- 10 mately the same shape as the horizontal cross section of the provision compartment. Said shelf may be fixedly supported by the cabinet or from the evaporator thereof, but in the illustrated em- ? bodiment of the invention, it preferably is ar- 15 ranged so as to be slidably supported by a set of pins or shelf supports 20 suitably carried by the side walls of the provision compartment. The shelf 18 consists of an upper frame 24, which defines the outline of the shelf, and lower frame 26, 20 suitably secured to the upper frame by a series of posts 28. The lower frame 26, at the sides and back, has generally the same configuration as the upper frame 24. In the front, the lower frame 26 extends inwardly from each side thereof toward 25 the center, but before reaching the center, turns and extends toward the back so as to provide a guide or track which consists of spaced substantially parallel portions or rails 30, the rear ends of which may be fastened to that portion of the 30 lower frame 26 which extends across the back of the shelf. Each of the rails or portions 30 maybe formed at 32 so as to provide, a stop. The area lying between each of the rails 30 and the adjacent side of the lower frame 26 is covered by a 35 series of relatively small spaced bars 34 which define shelf surface, but which offers substantially no restriction to the circulation of air within the provision compartment 12. The upper frame 24, it will be observed, provides a guard rail for the 40 surface of the shelf 18. It wifi further be observed that the shelf 18 includes two spaced supporting surfaces one of which is arranged upon each side of the evaporator 16, the space between the rails 30 being approximately the same 45 as the width of the evaporator 16. The side portions of the upper frame 24 are adapted to slide upon the shelf supports 20. The shelf i 8 is an integral rigid unit and is adapted to slide as such upon the supports 20 from the position in which 50 it is illustrated in Fig. 3 forwardly to a position where the shelf stops 36 wifi engage the rear pair of the upper set of shelf supports 20. The stop 36 consists of an arm pivoted to one of the bars 34 and the path of which, upon movement of the 55

Claims.

This invention relates to the art of refrigeration and has particular reference to a new and improved form and arrangement of parts, sUch as, shelves, receptacles and bottles within a pro⁵ vision compartment and relative to a heat absorbing element therein.

More specifically the invention contemplates a new and more useful form of shelf, drip collector and storage receptacle and the arrangemeni ¹⁰ thereof relative to the evaporator and within a provision compartment of the type provided within domestic refrigerators.

A principal object of this invention is to provide a new and improved interior arrangement 15 for the provision compartment of a household refrigerator.

Another object of the invention is to provide a new and improved method of and apparatus for collecting and storing the drip from an evapora20 tor and within the provision compartment of a refrigerator.

Another object of the invention is to provide a new and improved form of cold storage compartment within a larger refrigerated compartment 25 and immediately below the evaporator therein.

Another object of the invention is to provide new and improved forms of receptacles for more efficiently utilizing the space within the provision compartment of a refrigerator.

Another object of the invention is to provide a new and improved means for effecting the loosening of ice cubes from the grid and the tray.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from a consideration of the fol35 lowing specification taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings of which there are two (2) sheets and wherein:

Fig. 1 is a front elevational view of a provision compartment of a refrigerator embodying 40 this invention;

Fig. 2 is a vertical section taken generally in the plane along the line 2—2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a horizontal section taken on the plane of the line 3—3 of Fig. 1, certain of the 45 parts being broken away to clarify the details;

Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional view taken along the line 4—4 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a detail of the stop for limiting the forward movement of the shelf;

Fig. 6 is a view illustrating the means by which loosening of ice cubes from the grid and tray may be effected; and

Fig. 7 is a view taken along the line 7—i of Fig. 6.

Referring now to Figs. 1 and 2, there is illus2,223,947 shelf 18 forwardly, is obstructed by the rear pair of upper shelf supports 20. By flipping the stops 36 from the position shown in full lines in Fig, 5, to the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 5* 5 the shelf (8 may be withdrawn completely from the provision compartment by pulling such shelf forwardly.

The rails §8 provide a slidable support or guide . for a pan 3? beneath the evaporator 16, the upper 10 edges of said pan being flanged outwardly so as to overlie the rails 38 and thereby support the pan 3T therefrom. The width of the pan, it will be observed, is'just slightly less than the space between the rails 30, while the length of the pan 15 37 is such as to extend from the stop 32 to approximately the forward end of the shelf ί 8. The cover of the pan 31 is provided by a shallow tray 38, said cover or tray being of a width sufficient to cover the pan 37, but being greater in length 20 than the pan 37 so as to extend between and be sppported by the front and rear portions of the upper frame member 2® and in slightly spaced relation to the upper edges of the pan 37 so as to permit a more or less restricted air circulation 25 between the space in the pan 37 and the space externally thereof. The tray or cover 38 is of sufficient extent to underlie the evaporator 16 so as to receive and collect .the drip therefrom, said tray being provided with an aperture ¢0 by means 30 of which the liquid drip from the evaporator may escape into the receptacle 42, the mouth of whinh is immediately below the aperture 48, said receptacle being illustrated as being supported by a lower shelf 44, immediately adjacent the rear 35 wall 46 of the cabinet and within the space between the rear edge of the pan 37 and the back wall of the provision compartment. The receptacle 42 may be of a capacity sufficient to store the liquid drip from one or more defrostings of 40 the evaporator JO. The receptacle 42 may be removed periodically, say, once a week, by shifting· the same laterally upon its supporting surface and then removing the same through the open door of the provision compartment. It will be 43 observed that the receptacle ¢2, which may be of glass, occupies a relatively inaccessible portion of the provision compartment and hence one which is less generally useful for the storage of foods. The upper surface of the tray or cover may be 50 Provided with a channel 48, and a part of the upper surface of said cover 83 may be sloped so as to direct liquid received thereby toward the aperture 40.

The pan 37 is slidably supported by the side 55 rails 38 so as to permit forward movement thereof independently of the shelf ί 8 and of the cover 38, while forward movement of the shelf 18 will also carry along with it the cover 88 as well as the pan 37. Due to its location immediately be60 low the evaporator, the space within the pan 37 is particularly useful for the storage of meats although its use is not limited thereto.

The space between the upper and lower frame members 24 and 26 and at one side of the shelf 65 18 may be formed to provide a slot 50 the vertical dimension of which is just slightly Greater than the thickness of a flange 52 provided on one end of an ice tray 54, said tray being normally arranged within the evaporator for freeing ϋ_α_ ^{70 md conta}?°^ed “ such tray and being provided with a grid 56 which serves to divide the liquid ?^{hen irozen}> ^tat0 suitable cubes.

After the freezing of the liquid in the tray 54 and within th^ evaporator J8, the tray 54 may be re75 moved from *he evaporator and arranged so that the rear edge 52 is located within the slot 50, and, thence, by holding the front end of the tray and applying an upward force on one side thereof, at the front, and a downward force on the other side thereof, at the front, the tray 54 may be 5 distorted or flexed so as to effect a separation of the ice cubes and the grid from the tray. Pref erably, the surface of the tray, which may be of metal such as anodized aluminum, may be waxed so as to expedite the separation of the ice cubes io therefrom.· After twisting the tray, the samp may be removed from engagement with the slot 5® and the grid 54, with the cubes therein, may be removed from the tray. If the grid 54 is constructed of flexible material, such as stainless 15 steel, rubber or some other flexible material, the ready separation of the ice cubes therefrom will be effected.

While the invention has been described with some detail, it is to be understood that the descrip- 20 tion is for the purpose of illustration only and is not definitive of the limits of the inventive idea. The right is reserved to make such changes in the details of construction and arrangement of parts as will fall within the purview of the 25 attached claims.