US2603548A - Refrigerator cabinet - Google Patents

Description

July 15, 1952 e. c. HARBISON REFRIGERATOR CABINET Filed Aug. 29, 1946 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 His AbbOTIlQH.

Inventor. George. C. Han-bison, b a; 12W;

July 15,1952 6. c. HARBISON REFRIGERATOR CABINET 3 SheeQs-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 29, 1946 Fig.4.

Inventor- George C. Han-bison, by 8mg 2.

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G. 'c. HARBHSON REFRIGERATOR CABINET 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 m Q'm fu a r n f b w im P. .mmgkm July 15, 1952 Filed Aug. 29, 1946 Patented July 1 5, 1952 PATENT o-FF ICE r '5 Q EFR GE C B NE J i George-C; Harbison, Erie,Pa.','assignorlto Genw na. i e -eral-Electric 1 '1 i York Company, a corporation of New ApplicationAug'ust 29, 1946,f s'eria1 No. 693,676

My'invention relates to refrigerator cabinets and particularly 'to an improved; arrangement for mounting the cover'for the machinery com- "partment.

' In many present day refrigerators the door is supported from the cabinet only by the hinges and; should the refrigerator be dropped during shipment, the entire force of the door must be takenby the hinges. It is an object of my invention to provide-"a construction'whereby the machinery compartment cover-is so mounted that the possibility of misalignment of the door during shipment is minimized."

'lt'is another object of my inventionf'to provide an arrangement for-'the adjustment of the supports of the machinery compartment cover so thatthe position of the'covermay be adjusted -to"present a uniform gap between the top of the cover and "the bottom of the refrigerator which characterize my invention will be pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and'forming a part of this specification.

For a better understanding of my invention reference may be had to the accompanying drawingin which Fig. 1 is a front elevation of a refrigerator cabinet provided with amounting arrangement embodying my invention; Fig. 2 is a view partially broken away taken along the line 2-2 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line 3--3 of Fig. 2; Fig. 4is a sectional view taken along the line 4--4 of Fig. 1; Fig.

' 5. is 'a view partially in section taken generally along the line 5 -5 of Fig.3; Fig. 6 is an eleval'tion view of a portion of the refrigerator cabinet provided with an alternative mounting arr'angement 'for the machinery compartment cover; Fig."7 is a front elevation view partly in section; showing the mounting arrangement; and Fig. 8 is a side elevation view.

Referring to the drawings, I have shown in Fig. 1 a refrigerator cabinet I having a food storage compartment closed by. a door 2 and a machinery compartment closed by a cover 3,

v 4 Claims. (Cl. 312237) composed of two parts 4 and 5. provided with a handle 6.

Referring now'to-Fig. 2, I have shown the refrigerator fcabinet; provided withyside walls I and 8-and,a back wall, shown at' 9 in Fig. 4, all constructed of sheet-metal. The bottom edges of the side walls are bent inwardly and upwardly as indicated-at lfl and H to provide The door is rigidity. Braces--12 and'l3 are provided at the rear corners." Angle members l4 and I5 at the front andrear of the cabinet respectivel'yflare provided to support the refrigerating machinery. The front opening-of-the machinery compartmerit is closed by the cover 3. To provide adequate ventilation of the refrigerating machinery I have constructed thefc'overfiwith suitable ventilating openings indicated -generally by 16. -Referring now to Fig. '3 I have shown'details of one form 'of my improved arrangementfor mountingthe "machinery compartment cover;

'an arrangement forsupportingand leveling the refrigerator cabinet is also shown. A glider support I! isbolt'ed orwelded ,to a verticalrein- .is provided with a horizontal portion 19.

forcing member [8, which inturn is secured to the refrigerator cabinet.- The. glider support I! In order to level the refrigerator cabinetv and facilitate moving of thecabinet, an adjustable glider or foot -member. 20 is screwed into a threaded opening. in the. portion 19 of. the glider support. A similar glider is provided at. the other front corner of the cabinet. Movement of these gliders allows raising or loweringfof the front of the cabinet andthereby permitsthe refrigerator cabinet torbe properly leveled.

The front support 14 for the refrigerating machinery is welded tothe glider support 11. .;The portion 4 of the machinery compartment cover 3 is provided with a reinforcing plate 2 ljtowhich is secured a channel member 22. When the machinery compartment cover is in its assembled position the channel member 22 1s supported on the upper surface of an adjustable a gle bracket or support23. This bracket is fastened tothe reinforcing member I8 by bolts 24 and 25, or any other suitable fastening devices. The bracket 23 is provided with elongated slots 26 and 21 for the purpose of permitting adjustment of the height of the bracket. A second bracket 28, which serves as a latch strike, is connected to the bracket 23 to permit initial adjustment of the position of the strike relative to the bracket 23 in a manner which will be described later. In order to provide'for simultaneous adjustment of the vertical position of bracket 23 and strike 28 a cam 29. is rotatably mounted on the reinforcable mounting device.

"reinforcing member ing member l8 by a bolt 30, or any other suit- The cam 29 has several fiat surfaces at different distances from its center of rotation. Hence by presenting any one of these surfaces to the bottom of the bracket 23 the vertical position of bracket 23 and also of the strike. 28, which is secured to bracket 23, may be adjusted. In' addition to adjusting the position of the bracket 23 and strike 28 the cam also assists the bolts 24 and 25 in holding the bracket and strike in; the adjusted position.

It will be noted that Fig. 4 covers the mounting arrangement at the opposite side ofthe cabinet from that shown in Fig. 3. However, since similar mounting arrangements are used at each end, the same numerals have been applied to corresponding parts in both figures. Referring now to Fig. 4, it can be seen that the strike. 28 is mounted on the bracket 23 by a lip 3| whichfits in a hole 32in the bracket 23 and by a bolt 33 which passes through the strikev28 and the bracket 23. In order torpr'ovide for adjustment of the initial position of strike relative to bracket,

7 ber 22are shown. The channel 40, which sup-.

the strike is provided with a slot 34..through which the bolt 53 passes. The strike can be pivotedto a limited extent about its lip 3| and thenfinally be clamped in the desired position by the bolt 33. Although a strike which is ad justably mounted on the bracket 23 is shown, the strike may be fixed to this bracket.

From this figure it can be more clearly seen that the machinerycompartment cover 3 is constructed of the two separate portions 4. and 5.

Theseportions are connected together by any suitable fastening devices, such as bolts, two of" which are indicatedas 35 and 36. The front surface of theportion, 5 is recessed somewhat from the front surface of the portion 4 in order to provide suitable ventilating openings for. the passage of air to and from the machinery compartment. These ventilating openings have been v indicated generally by I6 in Fig. 2 and the'edgei of one such opening is indicated in Fig. 4 by the bent up end 31 of the portion 4 of the machinery compartment cover. Inorder to latch the cover in closed position a spring strip 38 having an upwardly extending portion 39 is provided. The spring strip 38 is fastened to a channel 40 which is secured at its ends to the inner top and bottom surfaces of the portion 4 of the cover 3. The upwardly extending portion 39 cooperates with the strike 28 to latch the cover in closed position.

The door 2 is shown in Figj imounted directly above the machinery compartment. cover '3. In order to seal the food storage compartment when the door is in the closed position, a sealing gasket 4| is provided. When the door is closed this gasket fits fiushagainst the front surface'fiZ of the cabinet. The door is supported only by its.

hinges. In order that any downward shock to shipment will then be transmitted through the forcetransmitting members or pads 53, the machinery compartment cover 3, the reinforcing plateyzlychan'nel 22, and the bracket 23 to the IS. The force is furthrough the glider support I! andthe gliderZll v to the surface on which the cabinet rests. In this way the shock is taken by the surface on which the cabinet rests, and the possibility of. misalignment of the door during shipment is -minimiZed. i 1

Fig. 5 shows a jplan view of the supporting and latching arrangement and clarifies the actual details of construction previously described in connection with Figs. 3 and 4. Referring to Fig. 5 the reinforcing plate 2| and the channel memports the spring latch 38, and the upwardly extending portion 39 of this latch are also shown in this figure. A portion of one of the ventilating openings 16 of the cover 3 is illustrated in Fig. 5.

, In Fig- 6 I have shown an alternative mounting arrangement for the machinery compartment cover. In this figure there is illustrated a re- "frigerator door 46 and amachinery compartment cover 47 mounted directly below the refrigerator door. As described in connection with the preceding construction the machinery compartment cover is composed of two sections 48 ands49,

which .are secured together as in the previous partment cover. ,Where it is ,desiredtogprovide maximum support for the door-during shipment such an arrangement ispreferred; Whileanot shown in Fig. 6 it will be apparent that forsupporting the door during shipment to'prevent misalignment in accordance with the objects'of this invention one or more hard fiber pads, similar to the pad 43 illustrated in Fig. 4, are inserted between the lower surface of the door and the upper surface of the machinery compartment cover in the form of invention disclosed in Figs.

Referring now to Fig. 7 I have shown'a vertical reinforcing member 5! which supports the refrigerator cabinet Thelower portion of the vertical reinforcing member 5| is bent laterally to provide a horizontal portion 52. An adjustable glider 53 is-threadedinto an opening in the horizontal portion 52 to provide for leveling of the cabinetin the same manner as has been previously described. A rearwardly extending portion 54,'as shown in Fig. 8, is used as a supportfor an angle member 55 upon which the front edge of the refrigerating machinery rests. The angle member 55' is providedwith an car 56 whichis welded to the vertical reinforcing member 5| to lend additional support to the angle member 55. A channel member 51 is weldedto the underside of the top surface of the portion tSjof the machinerycompartmentcover. When the machinery compartment cover is assembled in position this channel member 51 is supported on thetop surface of an adjustable bracket'jor support 58. The bracket 58 is' secured to the vertical reinforcingmember 5| by bolts 59 'an'd'60 or by any other suitable fastening arrangement. A second bracket 6!, which serves as a latch strike, is welded or otherwise secured to the reinfo'rcing member 5! The strike cooperates'with a latch to hold the machinery compartment cover in position, as will be described more fully in connection with Fig, 8.

Referring now to Fig. 8 it can be seen that the bracket 58 is provided with inclined slots 62 and 63. These inclined slots are provided so that the height of the bracket 58 may be varied by shifting the position of the bracket relative to the reinforcing member along the slots. In order to latch the cover in closed position, a spring strip 64 having an upwardly extending portion 65 is provided. The spring strip is fastened to a channel 66 which is secured to the lower inner surface of the portion 48 of the machinery compartment cover. The upwardly extending portion 65 cooperates with an inturned portion 61 of the strike 6| to latch the cover in closed position.

While I have shown specific embodiments of my invention, I do not desire my invention to be limited to the particular construction shown and described, and I intend, in the appended claims, to cover all modifications within the spirit and scope of my invention.

-What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A cabinet for refrigerators having two vertically spaced openings therein, a door for the upper one of said openings, a cover for the lower one of said openings, said door having a horizontal lower surface, said cover having a horizontal upper surface spaced from said lower surface of said door, a vertical cabinet reinforcing member adjacent said lower opening arranged to support the weight of said cabinet, a foot member mounted on said reinforcing member for supporting said cabinet, a support for said cover, and means for mounting said support on said reinforcing member, at least one pad being inserted between said lower surface of said door and said upper surface of said cover whereby shock during shipment is transmitted from said door through said pad and said reinforcing member to said foot member.

2. A cabinet for refrigerators having two vertically spaced openings therein, a door for the upper one of said openings, a cover for the lower one of said openings, said door having a horizontal lower surface, said cover having a horizontal upper surface spaced from said lower surface of said door, a vertical cabinet reinforcing member adjacent said lower opening arranged to support the weight of said cabinet, a foot member mounted on said reinforcing member for supporting said cabinet, a support for said cover, and means for adjustably mounting said support on said reinforcing member, at least one pad being inserted between said lower surface of said door and said upper surface of said cover whereby shock during shipment is transmitted from said door through said pad and said reinforcing member to said foot member.

v3. A cabinet for refrigerators having two vertically spaced openings therein, a door for the upper one of said openings, a cover for the lower one of said openings, said door having a horizontal lower surface, said cover having a horizontal upper surface spaced from said lower surface of said door, a vertical cabinet reinforcing member adjacent said lower opening arranged to support the weight of said cabinet, a foot member mounted on said reinforcing member for supporting said cabinet, 2. support for said cover having an inclined slot therein, said support being mounted on said reinforcing member, and means extending through said inclined slot for adjusting the position of said support, at least one pad being inserted between said lower surface of said door and said upper surface of said cover whereby shock during shipment is'transmitted from said door through said pad and said reinforcing member to said foot member.

4. A cabinet for refrigerators having two vertically spaced openings therein, a door for the upper one of said openings, a cover for the lower one of said openings, said door having a horizontal lower surface, said cover having a horizontal upper surface spaced from said lower surface of said door, a plurality of supporting and adjusting assemblies for said cover, one assembly being arranged adjacent each side of said lower opening, each assembly comprising a vertical cabinet reinforcing member arranged to support the weight of said cabinet and a foot member mounted on said reinforcing member for supporting said cabinet and a support for said cover mounted on said reinforcing member, a plurality of pads being inserted between said lower surface of said door and said upper surface of said cover whereby shock during shipment is transmitted from said door through said pads and said reinforcing members to said foot members.

GEORGE C. HARBISON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS

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