US2048892A - Refrigerator - Google Patents

Description

July 28, 1936. a. J. REICHE RT 2,048,392

REFRIGERATOR Filed July 15, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Inventor 60196 J 1762 erZ .tlomey y 8, 1936 e. .1. REICHERT 2,048,892

REFRIGERATOR Filed July 13, 1934 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Inventor 680 8 JBem/L 6,;

flllomey v Patented July 28, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT- oFFicE "2Claims.

My invention relates generally to refrigerators, and particularly to means usable with electrical and similarly operated mechanical or chemical refrigerators for retaining and enhancing the moisture content of foods and the like refrigerated therein, and an important object of the invention is to provide means of the character indi' It is also an important object of my invention to provide a device of the character indicated which includes means separating and isolating portions of the interior of the refrigerator so as to produce, for instance, an upper compartment containing the refrigerating coils, and a lower compartment containing the storage space for the articles to be refrigerated, in this way providing for a much smaller compartment immediately surrounding the refrigerating coils or the like so that the time required for producing a sufficient degree of cold therein is reduced and loss of cold therefrom minimized.

It is also an important object of my invention to provide means in a refrigerator of the character indicated for producing and maintaining a wet or humid cold condition in the provision receiving compartment of the refrigerator which will not dry out vegetables and the like, so that these may be kept in the refrigerating compartment for many hours longer than usual and without covering of any kind.

Other objects and advantages of my invention 40 will be apparent from a reading of the following description in connection with the drawings, wherein for purposes of illustration I have shown a preferred embodiment of my invention.

In the drawings:-

Figure 1 is an elevational transverse sectional view through a refrigerator showing the invention installed therein.

gifgure 2 is a top plan view of the humidifying sh Figure 3 is an elevational view of the back of the shelf.

Figure 4 is a transverse vertical sectional view through the shelf.

Referring in detail to the drawings, the numeral 5 refers generally to a mechanical or chemical refrigerator such as an electrical or gas refrigerator which has the main door 6 in its front closing a corresponding opening therein exposing the cooling coil I in the upper part .of the interior of the refrigerator which is usually exposed to the 5 remainder of the interior of the refrigerator which contains shelves 8 on which the articles to be refrigerated are placed and stored. The structure thus far described is conventional and forms no inventive contribution on my part, but I use 10 and combine this conventional structure and arrangement and the equivalents thereof into a new and more advantageously productive unit as will appear below.

According to my invention I place relatively it slightly spaced below the cooling coil I the'humidifying shelf which is generally designated 9. This shelf isso arranged that it engages the back and the opposite sides of the interior of the refrigerator and engages also the door'ii when the 20 door is closed so as to hermetically seal the resultant upper compartment in from the resultant lower compartment ll.

The shelf comprises a fiat preferably copper sheet metal tank l2 which has on its peripheral 25 edges relatively spongy and resilient insulating and sealing material i3 which engages the back and the sides of the interior of the refrigerator sufliciently closely and tightly to prevent any circulation .of air from the compartment l0 into 30 the compartment Ii or vice versa. The rubber' or similar material l3 on the front end of the tank I2 is arranged to be engaged by the door -6 when the door is in the closed position to similarly seal this end of the tank so as to prevent 35 exchange of air-between the compartments l0 and II.

Near the back of the bottom of the tank I2, I provide a series of longitudinally and transversely aligned or otherwise suitably arranged tubes i4 40 which communicate-at their upper ends as indicated at IS with the interior of the tank I 2 and communicate at their lower ends through the top of a header i6. Radiating fins II are provided on the tubes ii to enhance the cold radiating effect of the tubes. I

Erom each end of the header l6 leads a circulating pipe l8, l9, respectively, which inclines toward the front of the tank and is connected a filling opening 2| is provided in the top of the front part of the tank which is normally closed by a screw plug 22, thereby affording easy access thereto'for fllling or replacing the fluid in the shelf.

The fluid contained in and circulated in the humidlfying shelf is preferably alcohol, an approximately suitable amount of alcohol for an ordinary domestic refrigerator being five quarts, although this quantity may be varied for different makes and types and sizes of refrigerators.

It is obvious that the intense coldness more quickly reached in the upper compartment III directly affects the fluid in the humidifying shelf so as to cool the same and cause a circulation thereof, so that the radiator composed of the tubes ll and the header I6 is caused to radiate and'produce in the lower compartment ll air which is humidified, of a more even temperature, and otherwise better suited to the refrigeration of and preservation of articles such as food articles placed for refrigeration and storage in the lower compartment ll. Because of the more ready and efficient transfer of cold from the refrigerating coil 1 to the articles in the compartment ll achieved by reason of the arrangement of the invention, less current or other refrigeration actuating medium is required for operating the refrigerator equipped according to the invention, and a shorter time is required for bringing the refrigerator to efficient temperature.

Although I have shown and described herein a preferred embodiment of my invention, it is'to be definitely understood that I do not desire to limit the application of the invention thereto, and any change or changes may be made in materials and in structure and arrangement of parts, within the spirit of the invention and the scope of the subjoined claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In combination with a refrigerator having a cooling coil, a partition below said coil and dividing the interior of the refrigerator into an upper coil compartment and a lower refrigerating compartment, said compartments being hermetically sealed from each other, said partition comprising a hollow metallic body containing a quantity of heat carrying circulatory fluid, a radiator depending from said partition into the interior of the lower refrigerating compartment, said radiator having fluid passages communicating with the interior of said partition at one end of the partition, conduits each connected at one end to separated points of the lower part of said radiator, the opposite ends of the last mentioned conduits communicating with spaced points of said partition remote from said one end of the partition, said last-mentioned conduits being inclined from said radiator to said partition.

2. A refrigerator comprising a closed'casing having a cooling coil in the upper part of its interior, a hollow metallic supported shelf across the interior of said casing below said coil and dividing the same into sealed upper and lower compartments, said hollow metallic shelf being in heat exchange relation to the upper compartment and to the lower compartment and containing a quantity of heat carrying fluid capable of circulating therein as heat is absorbed by a portion thereof from the lower compartment, and means for increasing the rate of absorption by said fluid of heat from the lower compartment, said means comprising a radiator on and communicating with the interior of one end of said shelf, said radiator depending into said lower compartment and having fluid circulating conduits communicating with separated points of the interior of said shelf.

GEORGE J. REICHERT.

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