Refrigerator cabinet

June 9, 1959

W. M, MORRISSEY, JR., ET AL REFRIGERATOR CABINET Filed,March 12, 1958

2,889,901

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FIG. 3

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THEIR ATTORNEY

2,889,901

United States Patent Office

Patented June 9, 1959

2,889,901

REFRIGERATOR CABINET

William M. Morrissey, Jr., and John A. Dahlgren, Louisville, Ky., assignors to General Electric Company, a corporation of New York

Application March 12, 1958, Serial No. 720,846

Claims. (CI. 189—88)

The present invention relates to a refrigerator cabinet the type including a machinery compartment at the bottom thereof and has as its principal object the provision of an improved grille and grille mounting structure for closing the vent opening to the machinery compartment.

Many household refrigerators now on the market include means for automatically defrosting an evaporator provided in the food storage compartment and disposing of that moisture by evaporation into the atmosphere outside of the food storage compartment. One arrangement for so disposing of the defrost moisture includes a drain pan positioned in the machinery compartment and in heat exchange relationship with the condensing unit and a drain in the bottom of the food storage compartment. for draining the defrost moisture from the cabinet into the drain pan.

In order that the drain pan. can be periodically cleaned, some means must be provided for access to the machinery compartment from the front of the refrigerator and for this purpose there is ordinarily provided an access opening to the machinery compartment at the front of the refrigerator and a decorative grille for covering this access opening.

The present invention is particularly concerned with an improved grille and grille supporting arrangement for closing the access opening to the machinery compartment, which grille is designed for easy removal and replacement.

More specifically, there is provided in accordance with the present invention a refrigerator cabinet including a food storage compartment, a machinery compartment below the food storage compartment and an access opening to the machinery compartment extending along the front of the cabinet below the door to the fresh food storage compartment. The grille for closing this access opening includes an upwardly extending flange along the top of the grille structure which flange extends into the access opening and upwardly behind the portion of the cabinet wall defining the upper side of the opening. Grille supporting means comprise a horizontally extending cylindrical stud connected to the front wall of the cabinet at each end of the access opening and having a V-shaped circumferential groove intermediate the ends of the stud which divides the stud into front and rear shoulders. A supporting block connected to the grille includes top and bottom walls defining a rectilinear cavity in the block for receiving the stud when the grille is in position on the cabinet. In this position the wall of the block rests on the shoulders of the stud and a releasable spring member having one end secured to the block and the other end extending into the block cavity above the bottom wall and into engagement with the V-shaped slot on the stud releasably secures the grille to the cabinet.

For a better understanding of the invention, reference is made to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing and the features of novelty which characterize the invention will be particu35 larly pointed out in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this specification.

In the accompanying drawing Fig. 1 is a front elevational view of a refrigerator cabinet including the grille structure of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectional view taken along the line 2—2 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 3 is a more detailed sectional view of the grille supporting structure of Fig. 2.

With reference to the drawing there is shown a refrigerator cabinet including a door 2 for closing the access opening to a food storage compartment 3, a portion of which is shown in Fig. 2 of the drawing, and a grille 4 for closing the access opening 9 to a machinery compartment 5 provided in the lower portion of the cabinet and separated from the food storage compartment by an insulated partition 6.

Positioned within the machinery compartment 5 is a drain pan 7 which is in heating relationship with the condensing unit 10 and which is arranged to receive defrost moisture flowing from the storage compartment 3 through a drain 8 extending through the partition 6.

The grille 4 for closing the access opening 9 comprises a sheet metal member including a perforated front wall 14, integral top and bottom walls 15 and 16 and end wall 18 forming a generally box-like structure with an open rear side facing the access opening 9. The perforated front wall 14 and the open rear wall for the grille 4 permits the free circulation of air into the machinery compartment 5 for the purpose of cooling the condensing unit 10 and for the evaporation of condensate collecting in the pan 7.

For removably securing the grille 4 to the refrigerator cabinet, there is provided a stud 20 secured to the cabinet frame at each end of the access opening 9 and these studs are adapted to be engaged by and support supporting blocks 21 secured to flanges 22 provided on the end walls 18 of the grille.

In the illustrated embodiment of the invention each of the horizontally extending studs 20 are secured by means of a bolt 23 to the cabinet through a brace 24 extending across the face of the cabinet below the access opening 9. The stud 20 is of generally cylindrical shape with a circumferential V-shaped notch 26 intermediate the ends thereof, the notch 26 dividing the stud into front and rear shoulder portions 28 and 29.

The support block 21 which cooperates with the stud 20 to support the grille 12 on the front of the cabinet comprises a rectilinear cavity 31 opening onto the rear face of the block 21 for receiving the stud 20 in such a manner that the upper wall 33 of the cavity or recess 31 rests on the top of the shoulders 28 and 29 when the grille is in position on the front of the cabinet. The rear portion 36 of the lower wall 37 is spaced from the bottom of the stud 20 a sufficient distance to provide room for a spring member 39 having one end 40 secured to the bottom face of the block 21 and extending upwardly along the rear face of the block 40 and then forwardly into engagement with the notch 26 on the stud 20. For maximum support, this free end 41 of the spring 40 comprises a horizontal section 41 which is closely adjacent the rear shoulder 28 of the stud and a curved end section 42 disposed in the V-shaped notch 26. By this arrangement, the curved section 42 locks the block and hence the grille supported by the blocks on the face of the cabinet while the horizontally extending section 41 of the spring 40 is sufficiently close to the rear shoulder 28 of the stud so that any substantial forward tilting movement of the grille is opposed by this section of the spring 40.

In mounting the grille on the cabinet it is only necessary to position the grille in front of the access opening

3,889,901 and insert the inwardly and upwardly inclined flange portion extending along the top of the grille 12 through the access opening after which each of the blocks 21 is brought into mating engagement with its cooperating stud 20 so that the curved end 42 of the spring 40 drops into the V-shaped notch 26. In this position the flange 44 extends rearwardly and upwardly behind the face of the cabinet about opening 9 and blocks 21 rest on top of the studs so that the supported grille will take a large vertical load and not wobble loose under uneven load or no-load conditions. For removal of the grille, it is merely necessary to grasp the lower edge or wall 16 of the grille and with an outward motion cause the supporting blocks 21 at each end of the grille to slide off of the corresponding lugs 2® after which the grille can be moved outwardly from the cabinet until the flange 44 leaves the access opening 9. The drip or drain pan 7 is then accessible and can be removed through the access opening 9.

While there has been shown and described a specific embodiment of the invention, it is not desired that the invention be limited to the particular construction shown and described and it is intended, by the appended claims, to cover all modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention.