US2031283A - Refrigerator - Google Patents

Description

Feb. 18, 1936. T. J. scoFlELD- REFRIGERATOR Filed May 18, 1935 ASA. f

Patented Feb. 18. 1936I BEFRIGERATOR 'rnooaoro Johnson soosola, Jackson, Mich., as-

signor to The Sparks-Withington Company, Jackson, Mich., a corporation of Ohio Application May 18, 1933, Serial No. 671,687

3 Claims.

tainer in a refrigerator door and exposed to the temperature within the refrigerator cabinet in such a. manner that said container will occupy little or no space within the food chamber and which may be quickly and easily removed from the refrigerator for illllng and cleaning. and will be moved to a position where a faucet orthe like, with which the container is provided, will be positioned where it is readily accessible to vone desiring to draw off water, by the mere opening of the refrigerator door.

Other objects and advantages pertaining to th structure of the container and the manner of mounting the same within the `cabinet will more fully appear from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing in whichzv Figure l is a perspective view of the refrigerator or cooling cabinetl having incorporated therein my novel liquid container, and illustrating the door of the cabinet in the open position to more clearly show the position of the container.

Figure 2-is an enlargeddetail vertical sectional view through the front part lof the cabinet with 85 the door in the closed' position, taken in a plane passing substantially through the center of the door.

Figure 3 is a transversesectional viewl of 'the A cabinet door and adjacent portion of the cabinetn taken on line 3-3, Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a perspective view of the container.

Figure 5 is anenlarged .detail sectional View taken on line 5 5, Figure 3.

The cooling Acabinet as I, illustrated in the drawing, is of the electric refrigerator type having a'food or cooling compartment or'chamber 2 provided with the usual shelves 3 and 'a cooling unit 4. The front opening as 5 of the cabinet is closed by a door Ii which may be hinged at one -side to the cabinet in any suitable manneras indicated at 1, Figure 3.

The cabinet I may be constructed in any wellknown manner and as shown, is provided with an outer wall 8 and inner wall 9 arranged in spaced u vrelation and having suitable insulating material UNITED STATES PATENTSOFFICE i as I II interposed therebetween. 'I'he door 5, in

` this instance, consists of a, rectangular marginal frame II, preferably composed of wood or similar material, and a. front panel I2 and rear panel I3 composed of sheet metal such as steel treated 5 with porcelain or lacquer in a' manner wellknown to-those skilled in the art, 4to provide an vinner and outer surface having a smooth hard finish as is customary in articles of this nature,

said panels and frame being secured together in 10l any well-known manner to form a sturdy door structure of considerable thickness.

The space within the frame II between the panels I2 and I3 is filled with -insulation Il composed of composition of cork or other suitable' 15 insulating material. The door 5 has the inner face thereof provided with a substantially rectangular recess or chamber- I5 which is formed by pressing the central portion of the inner panel I3 inwardly. The thickness of the chamber or 20 recess I5 is considerablylessuthan that of the door Ii so that a layer as M' of insulating material of substantial thickness is vpositioned b etween the outer wall .I1 of the chamber and the outer panel I2 of the door, as clearly illustrated in 25 Figures 2' and 3.

The upper and lower end walls of the chamber I 5 are preferably formed so as to be positioned a. slight distance outwardly from the adjacent upper and lower edge respectively of the opening 30 20 leading to'the chamber` I5 so as to provide retaining walls I8 and I9 across the upper and lower ends of the chamber, as clearly .illustrat in Figure 2.

The side walls as 2I of the chamber may extend inwardly in the plane of the adjacent side edges of the opening 20, as illustrated invFigure 3. The container as 23, in this instance, is a relatively thin rectangular member which may be composed of sheet metal, glass or the like. If the containeris composed of metal, it is to be understood that the wall of the container may bey treated with porcelain, lacquer or other suitable material bothoutside and inside to produce a receptacle conforming in appearance to that of the interior of' the cabinet and which may be readily maintained in a clean sanitary condition.

The width of the container is preferably slightly less than that o f the chamber or recess I5 in the door 6, while the height of the container is preferably slightly lgreater than that between the-bottom of the chamber and vthe upper edge I8 of the opening I2, as illustrated in Figure 2, so that the container ,will be maintained within the'chamber I5 by the engagement of the re- 55 i taining walls I8 and I8 with the upper and lower ends of said containerV and at the same time, permit the ready removal of the container from the chamber by merely vlifting the container until the upper end thereof contacts with the upper end of the chamber il, whereupon the lower end of .the container may be swung outwardly over the lower retaining wall I8.

In order to freely permit this outward swing# ing movement of the lower end of the container, the upper end of the recess I8 is made, as shown in Figure 2, slightly deeper than the container while the depth of the recess at the lower end thereof is substantially equal to that of the container for maintaining the container in close proximity to the retaining walls I8 and I8 so that the opening 20 of the recess is maintained substantially closed by the container which thus assists in preventing the conductivity of cold and heat through that portion of the door where there is provided the least amount of insulating material.

The container 28 preferably has the upper end thereof open to permit the ready illling of the container and the cleaning of the interior thereof. 'Ihe container is also provided with an aperture 22' in one of the side walls adjacent the lower end thereof for the reception of a suitable faucet as 24. This faucet may be of any suitable construction and, as illustrated in the drawing, consists of a tubular body portion 28 having one end reduced in diameter and externally threaded and extended into the opening 28' and clamped to the container by means of a nut 26 screw-threaded on said threaded end of the body and a pair of packing washers 21 positioned on said threaded end at opposite sides of the wall of thecontainer.

The inner end of the body 28 is provided with a tapered valve seat 28 in communication with the inner chamber of the body 25. A valve 29 is mounted upon the inner end of the valve stem which extends outwardly through the chamber of the body 25. The valve is yleldingly maintained in contact with the valve seat 28 by means of a spring ll positioned on the outer end of the valve stem l0 between a shoulder provided on the body 28 and a push button 32 ksecured to the outer end of the stem I0.

From a consideration of the above. it will be 'apparent that while the container or receptacle 28 is located outside of the cooling chamber 2 of the cabinet, the contents of the container will be as readily maintained in a cool sanitary condition as though the container were positioned wholly within the cooling chamber and without the disadvantage of occupying space in or limitdisturb the contents of the cooling chamber. and

although I` have shown and described specific constructions of cooling cabinet and container as constituting illustrative embodiments oi my invention, I do not wish to restrict myself tothe details oi' the form of the construction or arrangement, as various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A device of the class described including a cabinet provided with a cooling chamber, a door for the chamber hingedly connected to the cabinet, said door having a recess in the inner face thereof, a liquid vcontainer having an inlet opening mounted in said recess, a faucet connected withvthe container whereby the contents of the container may be readily withdrawn when the door is in an open position, and means associated with said door for removably securing the container in the recess, a wall of said recess and said latter means forming a closure for said inlet opening. I

2. A refrigerator cabinet having a cooling chamber provided with insulated walls defining a door opening, an imperforate door for said opening having insulated walls, said door being provided with a recess therein having one side open and in communication with the chamber and the remaining sides thereof surrounded by insulating material, a liquid container mounted wholly within the recess, said recess being of greater length than the liquid container and having the open side thereof of less length than said container for releasably maintaining the container in said recess.

3. A device of the class described including a cabinet provided with a cooling chamber, a door for thechamber having a recess in the inner face thereof in communication with the cooling cham- 4ber, and a liquid container mounted in the recess,

said recess being of greater dimensions than the container and having opposite walls at the open side thereof extended beyond the corresponding side of the recess toward each other for engage ment with the adjacent side of the container whereby said container is releasably maintained in the recess.

THEODORE JOHNSON SCOFIELD.

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