Refrigeration apparatus

Nov. 24, 1959

Filed July 9, 1957

P. c. KOROD1

REFRIGERATION APPARATUS

2,914,218

Sheets-Sheet 1

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attorney

P. C. KORODI

REFRIGERATION APPARATUS

Nov. 24, 1959

Filed July 9, 1957

2,914,218

Sheets-Sheet 2

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2,914,218

Patented Nov. 24, 1959

United States Patent Office refrigerator cabinet as indicated by the line III—HI in

2,914,218

REFRIGERATION APPARATUS 5

Paul C. Korodi, Columbus, Ohio, assignor to Westinghouse Electric Corporation, East Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania

Application July 9, 1957, Serial No. 670,692 io 4 Claims. (Cl. 222—131)

Fig. 1; .,

Fig. 4 is another fragmentary sectional view taken as indicated by the line IV—IV in Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the cabinet with one of the doors open; and,

Fig. 6 is an enlarged sectional view of a valve employed in the dispensing arrangement

Referring specifically to Figs. 1 and 5, the numeral 10 11 designates a domestic refrigerator cabinet having a pair of doors 12 and 13 hingedly mounted on the front thereof. Disposed between adjacent peripheral edges of the doors 12 and 13 is a dispensing center 14 from which water and soft drinks such as fruit beverages can be ob15 tained by the user of the refrigerator. The dispensing center 14 preferably projects through a notched or cleft region in the lower edge portion of the upper door 12 in a manner to blend decoratively with the front surface of the refrigerator cabinet as presented by the doors 11 20 and 12.

The dispensing center 14 is adapted to selectively deliver water and/or soft drinks, which are stored and cooled within the interior of the cabinet 11. Figs. 2 and 3 illustrate the dispensing center in greater detail. . As is 25 common in most two-door refrigerators, the cabinet 11 has a horizontal partition 15 disposed therein that divides the cabinet into upper and lower food storage chambers 16 and 17. Access to the chambers 16 and 17 is permitted by the movable doors 12 and 13. Each door 30 has a gasket 18 disposed about the periphery of the inner face thereof, which gaskets seat against and form a seal with the cabinet 11. The gasket portions disposed along the lower edge of the upper door 12 and the upper edge of the lower door 13 (the adjacent peripheral por35 tions of the doors) are adapted to seat against spaced areas on the surface of a mullion 19 mounted on the front edge of the cabinet partition 15. The mullion 19 is preferably a molded plastic part having a generally C-shaped cross section as shown in Figs. 2 and 4. The 40 mullion has formed integrally therewith an open-front box or housing 20 that forms a part of the dispensing center 14. The mullion 19 also includes a frame 21 projecting from the sides and top of housing 20 and forming a seating area for that portion of gasket 18 that ex⁴⁵ tends around the notched out portion of the upper door 12. It will be noted the space between the adjacent seating areas for the doors 12 and 13 is larger near the middle of the horizontal extent of the mullion 19 (see Fig.'2) than nearer the ends of the mullion 19 (see Fig. 4). The ⁵⁰ dispensing center 14 is disposed On the mullion 19 at the front edge of partition 15 in this enlarged space between the seating areas for the doors 12 and 13.

The dispensing center 14 includes the housing portion 20 of the mullion 19 and a decorative-cover member ⁵⁵ 22 disposed across the open front of the housing 20. The cover member 22 has a number of openings therein through which project a water dispensing nozzle 23, a water control push button 24, a pair of fruit beverage dispensing nozzles 25 and push buttons 26 for controlling 60 the flow of beverage from the nozzles 25. The water dispensing nozzle 23 is connected to a valve 27 that is actuated by push button 24. Water is supplied to the valve 27 through a conduit 28 communicating with the » interior of a T-shaped water storage tank 29 resting on 65 the upper surface of the cabinet partition 15. Water is supplied to the tank 29 under pressure by means of a pipe 30 connected to the household water supply system, i A tortuous flow path for water in the tank 29 is provided i by a plurality of transverse, vertical baffles 39 extending t 70 alternately from the top and bottom walls of the tank to prevent warm water entering through pipe 30 from 3 flowing directly into conduit 28 without being properly

This invention relates to refrigeration apparatus and 15 more particularly to an improved drink dispensing arrangement for domestic refrigerators or the like.

It has heretofore been recognized that a water or soft drink chilling and dispensing system is a desirable accessory for a domestic refrigerator. This invention relates 20 to accessories of this type and envisions a drink dispensing arrangement that may be easily incorporated into the refrigerator and gives improved performance over prior arrangements from the standpoint of accessibility and ease of maintenance. In accordance with the invention, a 25 storage container or containers, disposed within the insulated and refrigerated cabinet, supply water or fruit beverages and the like to a dispensing center stationarily mounted on the front of the refrigerator cabinet in a readily accessible position. The dispensing center, which 30 includes discharge nozzles and appropriate valves for controlling the discharge of fluid from the nozzles, is carried by the forward edge of one of the insulated walls of the refrigerator cabinet in a region closely adjacent, but not covered by a movable door closing the front of 35 the cabinet. In the preferred embodiment, the dispensing center occupies a frontal region of the cabinet between adjacent edges of two cabinet doors, which region is in a cut-out area of one of the doors. The adjacent peripheral portions of the two doors seat and seal against an insulated wall that provides a mullion for the doors as well as a support for the dispensing center.

A feature of the invention is the arrangement of the dispensing center in a region of the cabinet which is accessible to the user for obtaining a drink without the necessity of opening the cabinet door. Furthermore, because the dispensing center is stationarily mounted with respect to the refrigerator cabinet, simple fluid connections can be provided between the center and the storage containers inside the cabinet. The invention eliminates the need for flexible conduits or connections between door carried dispensing nozzles and cabinet mounted storage and cooling containers such as are required with some prior art arrangements. Moreover, the invention con- gg stitutes an improvement over prior dispensing arrangements employing manually refillable, door-mounted containers, in that the storage and cooling containers, being stationarily mounted in the cabinet, can be plumbed directly into the household water supply system, using only go conventional conduits and connectors.

Other features, advantages and objects of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention, of which the attached drawings form a part and wherein: 65

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a refrigerator cabinet embodying the dispensing arrangement of this invention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken through the refrigerator cabinet as indicated by the line II—II in Fig. 1, and showing the dispensing arrangement 70 in greater detail;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional view taken through the

2,914,218 operatively connected to said valve means and extending through said cover between adjacent edges of said doors for access by a user of the refrigerator.

2. In a refrigerator, an insulated cabinet, a horizontal insulated partition dividing said cabinet into upper and lower food storage chambers, said partition forming the bottom wall of the upper chamber, a door for each of said chambers, said doors being movably carried by said cabinet and having substantially co-planar front faces when closed, a mullion mounted on the front edge of said partition and having an upwardly extending portion against which the lower edge of said upper door is adapted to seat, a beverage container disposed in said upper chamber on said partition, valve means in communication with said container for controlling the discharge of beverage from said container, said valve means being carried by said upwardly extending portion of the mullion, a cover for said valve means, said cover having a front surface substantially flush with said faces of said doors, a discharge nozzle and a valve actuating member, said nozzle and said actuating member being operatively connected to said valve means and extending through said cover between adjacent edges of said doors for access by a user of the refrigerator.

3. In a refrigerator, an insulated cabinet, a horizontal insulated partition dividing said cabinet into upper and lower food storage chambers, said partition forming the bottom wall of the upper chamber, a door for each of said chambers, said doors being movably carried by said cabinet, said upper door having a cut-out area at the lower edge thereof, a mullion mounted on the front edge of said partition and having an upwardly extending portion in the region of the cut-out area of said upper door, a beverage container disposed in said upper chamber on said partition, valve means in communication with said container for controlling the discharge of beverage from said container, said valve means being disposed behind the cut-out area of said upper door and carried by said upwardly extending portion of the mullion, a cover for said valve means, a discharge nozzle and a valve actuating member, said nozzle and said actuating member being operatively connected to said valve means and extending through said cover for access by a user of the refrigerator.

4. In a refrigerator, an insulated cabinet, a horizontal insulated partition dividing said cabinet into upper and lower food storage chambers, said partition forming the bottom wall of the upper chamber, a door for each of said chambers, said doors being movably carried by said cabinet and having substantially co-planar front faces when closed, said upper door having a cut-out area at the lower edge thereof, a mullion mounted on the front edge of said partition and having an upwardly extending portion against which the lower edge of said upper door is adapted to seat, a beverage container disposed in said upper chamber on said partition, valve means in communication with said container for controlling the discharge of beverage from said container, said valve means being disposed behind the cut-out area of said upper door and carried by said upwardly extending portion of the mullion, a cover for said valve means, said cover having a front surface substantially flush with said faces of said doors, a discharge nozzle and a valve actuating member, said nozzle and said actuating member being operatively connected to said valve means and extending through said cover for access by a user of the refrigerator.

References Cited in the file of this patent chilled. Chilled water is dispensed from the tank 29 through the nozzle 23 under the control of valve 27 which is actuated by the push button 24.

The dispensing. arrangement of this invention also provides for the mixing and dispensing of fruit beverages 5 or other soft drinks through the nozzles 25, which drinks are mixed from concentrate solutions stored in containers 31 disposed on either side of the leg portion of the Tshaped water storage container 29. The concentrate containers 31 also rest on the upper surface of the cabinet io partition 15 and are equipped with hinged lids 32 in their tops to permit the supply of· concentrate to be replenished. Each concentrate container 31 has an L-shaped discharge pipe 33 communicating with the lower portion thereof and projecting forward from the container. Each dis- 15 charge pipe 33 is joined by means of a disconnectible coupling 34 to a combination eductor and shut-off valve 35 which, in turn, is connected to one of the beverage nozzles 25.

Chilled water from the container 29 is tapped from 20 water conduit 28 and passes through conduits 36 to valves 35. As shown in Fig. 6, the eductor valves 35 include a venturi passage 37 that is capable of creating a negative pressure in couplings 34 and concentrate discharge pipes 33 when water is permitted to flow through the valves. 25 In Fig. 6 the water flow is indicated by the solid line arrows and concentrate flow is indicated by the dotted line arrows. Thus, when one of the valves 35 is Opened by means of its push button 26, concentrate is withdrawn from the concentrate storage container 31 connected 30 thereto, the concentrate is mixed with the water flowing through the valve 35, and a mixed beverage is dispensed through the nozzle 25 connected to that valve.

The concentrate discharge pipe 33 for each storage container 31 is readily separated from its coupling 34 (a 35 tapered friction joint is illustrated in the drawings) to enable the concentrate containers 31 to be disconnected from the dispensing arrangement and removed from the cabinet 11 for cleaning. The dispensing center cover 22 is preferably secured to the housing 20 by detachable fasteners 40 (not shown) and is therefore removable to permit access to the valves 27 and 35 for service purposes.

From the foregoing it will be apparent this invention increases the usefulness of a domestic refrigerator by providing a novel dispensing arrangement which enables the user of the refrigerator to obtain a chilled drink of water or other beverage from the refrigerator without opening the cabinet doors. This renders the refrigerator economical to operate in that the interior of the refrigerator and the contents thereof are not exposed to warm ambient ₅θ air in obtaining a drink of water or beverage therefrom.

It will also be apparent that the dispensing arrangement constructed in accordance with this invention blends into the front surface of the cabinet 11 and adds to, rather than detracts from, the appearance of the refrigerator. ₅₅While the invention has been shown in but one form, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that it is not so limited, but is susceptible of various changes and modifications without departing from the spirit thereof.