US1997793A - Refrigerating apparatus - Google Patents

Description

H. B. HULL El AL REFRIGERATING APPARATUS April 16, 1935.

3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Sept. 20, 1950 ATTORNEY April 16, 1935. H. B. HULL Er AL REFRIGERATING APPARATUS Filed Sept. 20, 1930 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 n I, NVENTOR u ATTORN EY H, B. HULL ET AL REFRIGERATING APPARATUS April 16,4 1935.

Filed sept. 2o. 1930 5 Sheets-Sheetl 3 INVENTOR MM 2.41249 ATTORNEY Patented Apr. 16, 1935 UNITED STATES 1,997,793 REFRIGERATING APPARATUS Harry B. Hull and Curtis E.

Kampman, Dayton,

Ohio, assgnors, by mesne assignments, to General Motors Corporation, a corporation of D ela- Ware Application September 20, 1930, Serial No. 483,177 (c1. .zii-153) Z Claims.

This invention relates to refrigerating apparatus and more particularly to the shelf arrangement in such apparatus.l

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide improved means for supporting shelves in refrigerator cabinets.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved shelf for a refrigerator cabinet and to provide means on opposed inner side walls of said cabinet for supporting said shelf, said shelf being readily removable from the cabinet and when removed therefrom the inneriwalls of said cabinet present substantially flat surfaces which may be readily cleaned.

Another object is to provide an improved sliding shelf arrangement in refrigerator cabinets, in which the shelf and its support are readily removable from the cabinet.

Further objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, wherein a preferred form of the present invention is clearly shown. In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a view partly in cross section and partly in elevation of a refrigerating apparatus embodying features of the present invention;

vFig. 2 is a View in cross section taken along the line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2 and showing a modified form of shelf arrangement;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary view of a portion of the apparatus shown in Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a view of a modified form of shelf arrangement embodying features of the invention;

Fig. 6 is a View in cross section taken along the line 6--6 of Fig. 5;

Fig. '7 is a view of amodiiied form of shelf arrangement embodying featuresof this invention;

Fig. 8 is a view in cross section taken along the line 8--8 of Fig. '1; and

Fig. v9 is a View of a modified formof shelf arrangement embodying features of the invention.

I-Ieretofore it has been the practice to support shelves in refrigerator cabinets on pegs carried by the lining member of the cabinet, or by other devices which permitted rattling of the shelves when food articles were placed upon or removed from said shelves, or by the motion of the machine in the cabinet. In an arrangement of this type the shelves were loosely supported by the lining member of the cabinet and in many instances it was necessary to provide additional clamps for securing the shelves to the cabinet during transportation thereof.

This invention is concerned with an improved shelf arrangement in refrigerator cabinets, in

lof the present invention.

,45 and 45.

which the shelves are rigidly secured to the inner walls of the cabinet but readily removed therefrom andwhen removed therefrom'A the inner walls of said cabinet. present a substantially smooth and at surface `which may be easily cleaned.

Referring to the drawings and particularly Figs. 1 and 2, the numeral 20 designates in general a refrigerator cabinet embodying features The cabinet 20 comprises in general side walls 22, front wall 23 and rear wall 24. The walls 22, 23 and 24 are provided with insulation 21 interposed between an inner metal lining 30 and an outer casing 32. The front wall 23 is provided with an opening closed by a door 36. An expansible shelf 40 is provided for supporting articles to be refrigerated.

The shelf is of the open work type having an outer wire member 42 providing sides 43, 44,

A plurality of wire strands 41 extend across the sides 44 and 46 and are secured to said sides of the wire member 42 preferably by solder. The side 43 of the shelf 40 isformed to provide a plurality of spaced apart projections 50. The side 45 of the shelf 40 is provided with a, plurality of threaded lugs or projections 52. Preferably the projections 52 include adjustable members 54 provided with arcuate portions 55. The projections and 52 are adapted to cooperate with the inner metal lining member 30 to thus support the shelf member 40 by said lining member in a manner about to be described. In order to provide'means for supporting the shelf member 4B by the lining member 3U there is provided in opposed side walls of the lining a plurality of spaced apart slight indentations or dimples 51 and 59. The projections 50 and 52 are adapted to be received in the dimples 51 and 59 respectively. The projections and dimples preferably have the shape of spherical segments. Since the shelf is expansible due to the adjustable member 54, the projections 50 can rst be inserted into the dimples 51 and the projections 52 aligned with the dimples 59 and then the adjustable members 54 may be turned until the arcuate portions 55 tightly engage the dimples 59 of the lining member 30. By this arrangement the shelves may be readily removed from or inserted into-the cabinet. Also, this arrangement prevents rattling of the shelves since the shelves are rigidly secured to the lining member.

In the modification shown in Figs. 5 and 6 a lining member 10 fora refrigerator cabinet is adapted to support a shelf member 12 by means of an expansible shelf supporting member 14. In this particular embodiment the shelf supporting member is provided with a plurality of lugs or substantially of the form of spherical segments and a plurality of adjustable projections 19 provided with arcuate portions 19a also of the form of spherical segments'. The shelf supporting member 14 is provided with curled edges 80 and- 8| which are adapted to provide slide-ways for the shelf 12. The shelf supporting member 14 is also provided with longitudinally extending tie members 84 preferably formed. integrally with the curled edges and 8| for maintaining the curled edges 80 and 8| in spaced relation. The tie members "84 are provided with beaded portions for strengthening said tie members. Preferably the projections 'l1 and the. adjustable projections 19 are welded to the shelf supporting member. In order to support the shelf by the lining member 'I0 there is provided a plurality of slight indentations or dimples and 92. The dimples 90 are adapted to receive the projections 'l1 while the dimples S2`are adapted to receive the adjustable projections 19. These dimples preferably take the form of hollow sphericalsegments. Sincethe shelf l2 is' slidably supported by the shelf supporting member the wire strands are provided with vupwardly directed portions 91 which serve to prevent dishes or the like from sliding 01T the shelf when said shelf is being pulled toward the front of the cabinet. Also the upturned portions 91 serve as bumpers to prevent the heavy wire portion 98 of said shelf from engaging the rear wall of the lining member. By this particular arrangement the shelf member '|2 may be slid along the slideways 80 and 8| until the entire shelf member is removed from the cabinet through the front door opening, or said shelf may be removed sufficiently from the cabinet to give ready access to articles placed on the rear portion-of said shelf member. Preferably the shelf member and the selfsupporting members including projections 11 and '|'9 are coated with a non-corroding plating.

If desired, the shelf 12 may be provided with means which limits the outward'movement there- 0f to thus prevent the rear portion of said shelf from tipping downwardly bythe unexpected removal of the rear portion of said shelf from its support. This means comprises a wire member |00 carried by the wire strands 95 and a movable stop |0| which may be secured to the curled edge 80 in any suitable manner and at any desired place along said curled edge. The stop |0| includes a movable finger |03 pivotally mounted at y |05. Since the pivot point |05 of finger |03 is oil' -center and the side |08 thereof is the heaviest, the finger will remain in the position shown in the drawings to serve as a stop until said finger is manually actuated to a vertical position. When the finger |03 is in a vertical position the wire member |00 will clear the stop to thus permit the shelf to be entirely removed from the cabinet.

ReferringtoFigs. 'I and 8 there is shown amodified form of shelf construction and shelf arrangement in a refrigerator cabinet. In this particular embodiment a. lining member 0 is adapted to support an expansible shelf member ||2. The shelf member I2 is similar to the shelf member 40 with the exception that a plurality of lugs or projections ||5 are secured to the outer wire member I9 instead of said outer wire member being formed to provide projections as shown in Fig. 1 at 50. Thus the projections ||5 and a plurality of adjustable projections |20 are adapted to cooperate with a plurality of slight indentations or dimples I2 provided in the lining member ||0 for supporting the shelf member ||2 by the lining member H0.

In the modification shown in Fig. 9 the shelf members |23 may be supported by slight indentations or dimples provided in opposite walls of the cabinet |25 in a similar manner as shown in Figs. 1 to 5, 6, 7 and 8. However, the opposite walls in this modification may be one or more partition walls |30 which may be provided with a plurality of dimples for receiving the projecting lugs carried by said shelf. In this embodiment the partition wall |30 is used to form a housing for a cooling element (not shown) 'I'he dimples in the partition wall may be the same as the dimples in the lining members 30, 10 and ||0.

Referring nowto Figs. 3 and 4 there is shown a modified form of shelf arrangement for a refrigerator cabinet. As shown the lining member |35 is adapted to support a shelf member |31. In this particular embodiment the lining member 40 and 40a substantially of the form of spherical segments and the shelf member is provided with one or more dimples |42 and one or more adjustable dimples 43, all of which have a portion of'their surface of spherical contour. In this particular arrangement the wire member |50 of the shelf |31 is looped to provide a threaded eye portion |52 adapted to receive a set screw |45. The set screw |45 is adapted to carry the dimple portion |43 with said dimple portion rotatably mounted on the one end thereof. In order to insert or remove the Vshelf from the cabinet all that is necessary is to place the dimple portion |42 over the projection |40 and then turn the adjustable screw threaded member for causing the dimple |43 to engage or disengage the projection 40a.

While the form of embodiment of the invention as herein disclosed, constitutes a preferred form, it is to be understood that other forms might be adopted, all coming within the scope of the claims which follow.

What is claimed is as follows:

41. A refrigerator cabinet having an inner sheet metal lining member, said lining member having deformed portions on opposite wall sections, a shelf structure including a rectangular member having a supporting surface and a bounding member extending around its perimeter, said bounding member having deformed portions on one side provided with means for engaging some of the deformed portions of the lining member ,to support the shelf structure at one side and projections onthe opposite side of the bounding frame provided with adjustable means for engaging other deformed portions of the lining member to support the shelf on the opposite side.

2. A refrigerator cabinet having an inner sheet metal lining member, said lining member having deformed portions upon opposite wall sections, a shelf structure including a rectangular member having a supporting surface and a bounding member extending along its perimeter, said bounding member having arms extending therefrom on one side provided with means for engaging some of the deformed portions of the lining member to support the shelf structure at one v side, and projections on the opposite-side of the

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