US2096053A - Refrigerating apparatus - Google Patents

Description

' PatentedQct. 19, 1937 un-En sTAra's Y PATENT. oFiica I anr'aronnamaarrsnams Flor an L. Meacham, Dayton, Ohio, assignor to 1 u Generat Motors Corporation. Dayton, Ohio, acorporation of Delaware Application February 23, 1935, Serial no. 1,075

' '2 jClaims. (cl. 211-153) vA further object of the invention is to provide an improved shelf for. a refrigerator cabinet 1 which will not interfere with circulation of air. in. therefrigerator and which can be manufac- 15 turedat low cost. p I

A still further object of the invention is to provide a shelf for a refrigerator cabinet which willhave a minimum of cross-pieces as compared to. conventional shelves and which will be devoid'of sharp edges to thereby render the shelf easily cleanable.

Further objects and advantages of the present 1 invention will be apparent from the following description, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, .whe'reina preferred form of .the

present inventionis clearly shown.

In the drawing:

Fig. ldiscloses a refrigeratorcabinet of the household type with the food compartment "door thereof-in open positionandshowingshelves conpresent inventionfdis structed according to the posed in the compartment:

Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary horizontal view through thecabinet shown in Fig.. 1 showing my improved shelf supported in the food storage compartment of thecabineti 3 Fig.3 is a fragmentary view ofa round baror wire employed in the construction of. my. im-

proved shelf. and showings; portion thereof as being flattened;

m. 4 is an end view of the bar orrod shown. in

having openings punched therethrough; Fig. 6 is an eievational side view of a device for holding a plurality of the rods shown in Fig. 5

I in alignment during the manufacture of my-im-' proved shelf; and Fig. 7 is a'sectionalview of Fig. 6 and is taken on the-lines 1-! thereof.-

In the construction "of refrigerators .and particularly those of the mechanically refrigeratedhousehold type difficulty hasbeen experienced in providing satisfactory" means within the cabinet 4 side view of a bar or rodafter been flattened asfishown in Figs 3 and 4 andafter the device shown in for supporting objects to be cooled. Conventional shelves heretofore employed in refrigerator cabi-. nets have been constructed of lattice work or gratings or the like of woven wire and these conventional shelves. have notbeen entirely satisfactory. One of the difliculties in the use of shelves heretofore employed consists in supporting small containers without upsetting or causing them to tilt so as to cause the contents to spill. Another difficulty encountered-in the use of food supporting shelves in refrigerators is that the conventional shelves ordinarilyconsist of entirely too many cross pieces which have sharp corners or edges thereby ren'deringthe shelves hard to clean. The plurality of cross pieces and sharp edges ordinarily found in conventional shelves interfere withthe sliding of objects or containers along: the supporting surface of the shelves dur-- ing the act of moving containers into and from the food compartment of refrigerator cabinets.

These and other difliculties are eliminated by the use of the improved type of shelf of the present invention.

Referringto' the drawing. for purposes of illustration, I have'shown in Fig. 1 thereof a refrigerator cabinet 10 of the household type. The cabinet i0 includesa plurality of vertically diszontaily disposed insulated walls I! forming and surrounding a food storage compartment I l. The compartment I! has an opening therein which permits access to the interior thereof and within compartment it and is adapted to be connected' with any suitable or conventional refrig-. erant liquefying and circulating unit (not shown).

posed and suitably insulated walls II and hori-, v

which opening is ordinarily closed bya door ll.

A cooling 'element'or evaporator ii'is mounted f Theinner surface of the insulated 'walls H and I2. 3

with a metallic lining member ID upon which horizontally aligned means or protrusions II are provided-for supporting a .plurality of vertically .spaced' apart and horizontally extending food supporting'shelvesll. The shelves l8 divide the food storage chambers and the cooling effect producedby the; evaporator ll causes circulation of air throughout compartment I 3 and-betweenthc I adaptedtobe stored" in the cabinet l0.

compartment [3 into a plurality of superimposed food chambers therein for chilling food products forming food storage compartment it are lined Having described theconstruction or the cab- 1 met it and arrangement of the shelves employed therein I-will now proceed to describe the ccn-.

.struction andmethod or making the shelves it.

- A plurality of pieces of round or round rods wire. These similarlengths of round wire 2| are 2 e 2|v of a; predetermined and similar length are cut from a roll thereof or from a long piece of rod or then flattened as at 22 (see Figs. 3 and 4) by any .suitable means to provide the flat bar 23 straight continuous rod or wire may be drawn or forced through suitable pressing rollers to'progressively flatten the rod or wire along the continuous length thereof prior to cutting the predetermined lengths or bars therefrom. It is to be understoodthat suitable provisions for maintain-.

ing the curved smooth edges 24 of the bars 23 in v v a flat plane and parallel with one another must be provided during the act of flattening the wires or rods 2|. After obtaining a plurality of the flattened bars 23 as shown in Fig. 5 of the drawing in the manner described an opening or hole 26 is punched or cut through the bar 23 at or near each end thereof. Each of the holes 26 in rod 23 are of an elongated formation and the elongation extends in a direction parallel with the longitudinal extension of the rod 23. It is to be understood that the holes or openings 26 in the flat bar '23 are equally spaced apart and are equally spaced from the ends of the bar. A plu-, rality of the flat bars 23 shown in Fig. 5 of the drawing are then 'placedina rack or aligning device 28. The device 28 includes a base portion 29 and raised end portions 3|. Device 28 is also provided with a plurality of parallelly extending grooves or slots 32 cut in the upper face of the base portion 29 thereof. Each of the grooves 32 is adapted to receive one of the flattened bars or rods 23 and it will be noted that the ends. of

rods or bars 23 abut the inner wall surface of- 23 and the rods or bars are in horizontal alignment with one another, a rod 34 is adapted to be forced through each of the aligned set of holes or openings 26. The rods '34 adapted to be forced through the elongated holes 26 in bars 23 are substantially oval or elongated in cross-section and are formed by flattening a round shaft in the same-manner that the flattening of bars 23 is carried out. The oval or elongated in cross-sec-. tion rods 34 are positioned transversely to the bars 23 and are'adapted 'to be forced, by any suitable forcing means, into each of the elongated holes ,26 in the aligned sets thereof in bars 23. Rods 34 tightly engage walls of the openings 26 in bars 23, and this tight flt prevents movement of the bars 23 along the length of rods 34 and also eliminates the necessity ofsoldering or welding the bars and rods together.

It will be seen that the elongated shape of the holes 26 in bars 23 and the oval or elongated cross-sectional contour of rods 34 prevents rotation of the rods 34 in the holes 26. Thus the rods 34 and holes 26 in bars 23 maintain the plurality of bars 23 in horizontal alignment and the bars 23 provide'a flat food supporting surface. The rigid structure prevents one end of theshelf ill from being twisted out of. alignment with theother end thereof. After the rods 34 are assembled in the bars 23 to provide a unitary shelf structure the ends of rods 34 may be bent at 9,696,053 I a right angles to the main portion thereof as'indicated at 35. In other words the ends of rods 34 may be bent to extend in the same directionas the extensions of the longitudinal bars 23 so as to. provide a wide supporting leg-on the shelffor resting on or for attachment to the shelf supports I! formed on the lining member l6 of .cabinet HI. v

A shelf' is constructed as disclosed eliminates the necessity of soldering or welding the joints between the longitudinal bars 23 and the cross rods 34 by virtue of the cooperation of the oval rods 34 with the elongated openings 26 in bars 23 to thereby provide a rigid structure. A shelf constructed according to myinvention provides a flat food supporting surface and is adapted to be mounted in a refrigerator cabinetso that-the longitudinal bars 23 thereof extend in a direction parallel with the side wallsof the cabinet. The extension of the bars 23 of shelf I6 permits articles to'be freely slid along the surface of the shelf without striking cross rods since only two cross rods are employed in the con.- struction of the improved shelf, and since these cross rods 34 are positioned below the plane of the round top supporting surface 24 of bars 23.

It will be seen from the foregoing that I have provided an improved shelf construction for use in refrigerator cabinets and that the novel meth- 0d of making the shelf as disclosed reduces manufacturing costs to a minimum while at the same I time provides a strong rigid shelf which will not twist out of a horizontal plane or become cleformed. My improved shelf construction greatly reduces the number of cross bars ordinarilyemployed in conventional shelf structures and thereby facilitates cleaning of the shelf and permits a free air circulation within a refrigerator cabinet.- My improved shelf structure also elim-v inates sharp edges or corners and thereby prevents cutting of the hands during cleaning of the in the food storage compartment or removing same therefrom. In addition my improved shelf provides a flat food Supporting surface for sup: porting small articles or dishes thereon without causing tilting thereof. x

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. I

What is claimed is as follows: v

1. 'A shelf for refrigerators comprising, a plurality of spacedapart members extending longitudinally in the same direction, each of said members having spaced apart openings extendshelf or during the act *of placing food products ing horizontally therethrough in a direction transverse to the length thereof, a pair of spaced apart rods extending transversely to said members throughthe openings therein and constituting the sole means of supporting said pluwalls of the openings in said members for rigidly securing the plurality of members in said common horizontal plane to provide a flat surface adapted for the support andready sliding of objects thereon, and the ends of said rods beingextended outwardly from said members to supporting legs for said shelf.

2. A shelf for refrigerators comprising,a pluform rality of flat members-spaced apart and arranged to I said members extending longitudinally in the" s eep es so that their-flat faces are vertically disposed,

same direction, each of said flat members having spaced .apart' openings extending horizontally therethrough in a direction transverse to the length thereof, a pair of spaced apart rods extending transigzrsely to said flat members through the openings therein and constituting the sole means of supporting said plurality of flat members in a, common horizontal plane, the crossv section of 'said rods, at least at their point of interseotion with said flat members, being oi a special contour relative'to thecontour of the walls oi! the openings in said flat members tor rigidly securing the plurality of flat members in said common horizontal plane to provide a flat surface adapted for the support and ready sliding 01 objects thereon, and the ends of said rods being extended outwardly 0! said members to to supporting legs for said sheli. FLORAN L. MEACHAM.

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