US3411312A - Refrigerator with convertible compartment - Google Patents

Description

Nov. 19, 1968 J. SIGL ETAL REFRIGERATOR WITH CONVERTIBLE COMPARTMENT Filed sept. 1, 1967 United States Patent O 3,411,312 REFRIGERATOR WITH CONVERTIBLE COMPARTMENT John Sigl and Louis H. Carl, Evansville, Ind., assgnors to Whirlpool Corporation, a corporation of Delaware Filed Sept. 1, 1967, Ser. No. 665,148 11 Claims. (Cl. 62-180) ABSTRACT F THE DISCLOSURE A combination refrigerator-freezer having three compartments, one of which has a cold air controller permitting operation selectively as a refrigerator or freezer section. The air controller is locked open when the convertible compartment is operated as freezer and is thermally responsive to modulate the cold air flow when the compartment is operated as a refrigerator.

This invention relates to refrigeration apparatus and in particular to means for controlling the temperature of a plurality of refrigerated compartments.

In the conventional refrigerator-freezer apparatus means are provided for maintaining a refrigerator compartment at an above-freezing temperature, and for maintaining the freezer compartment at a below-freezing ternperature. The needs of the user, however, may vary from time to time and thus it 'has been found desirable to provide a portion of the apparatus which may be maintained selectively as a refrigerator compartment or a freezer compartment as desired by the user. The present invention comprehends a refrigerator-freezer apparatus having new and improved means for providing such selective, convertible compartment use.

Thus, a principle feature of the present invention is the provision of a refrigeration apparatus having new and improved means for providing convertibility of a compartment thereof selectively to different temperature conditions.

Another feature of the invention is the provision of such a refrigeration apparatus including selectable means for adjustably regulating the temperature of the convertible compartment and for permitting maximum heat transfer conditions therein.

A further feature of the invention is the provision of such a refrigeration apparatus including a first refrigerator compartment, a second convertible compartment, and a third freezer compartment and means for selectively controlling the cooling of the convertible compartment to have either an adjustable above freezing temperature or a below freezing temperature as desired by the user.

Still another feature of the invention is the provision of such an apparatus including means for forced circulation of refrigerated air to effect the desired cooling of the several compartments and mea-ns for regulating the ow of the air separately to said compartments.

Other features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a diagrammatic front elevation of a refrigerator-freezer apparatus embodying the invention;

FIGURE 2 is a vertical section thereof taken substantially along the'line 2-2 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a schematic representation partially in cross section of the air flow control means thereof; and

FIGURE 4 is a circuit diagram illustrating a portion of the control for the refrigerator-freezer apparatus.

In the exemplary embodiment of the invention as disclosed in drawing, a refrigeration apparatus generally designated herein comprises a combination refrigerator- 3,411,312 Patented Nov. 19, 1968 "ice freezer having acabinet 11 defining a first,refrigerator compartment 12, a second,convertible compartment 13, and a third,freezer compartment 14.

The respective compartments are cooled by a suitable fluid in heat transfer association therewith, and in the illustrated embodiment, the fluid comprises refrigerated air which is cooled by suitable means such as a conventional refrigeration system comprising acompressor 2, acondenser 4, arestrictor 5, and anevaporator 6. The air is force-circulated to the respective compartments by a suitable air moving apparatus, herein ablower 16, through amanifold duct 17 and individualcompartment feed ducts 18, 19, and 20. Thus, a refrigerated air enterscompartment 12 fromduct 18 through an opening 21, refrigerated air enterscompartment 13 fromduct 19 through an opening 22 and refrigerated air enterscompartment 14 fromduct 20 through an opening 23.

Air is returned from the compartments for recooling byevaporator 6 by means of afirst return duct 24 and asecond return duct 25. Air fromcompartment 13 entersduct 24 through an outlet opening 26, and air fromcompartment 12 entersduct 24 adjacent the lower end thereof through an outlet opening 27. Air entersduct 25 fromcompartment 14 through an out-let opening 28. The return air enters aplenum chamber 29 which is divided by awall 30 into afirst space 31 receiving air fromduct 25, and asecond space 32 receiving air fromreturn duct 24. An evaporator header oraccumulator 33 is disposed inspace 32 whereby the relatively moist refrigerator air is firstly cooled to remove a substantial amount of moisture therefrom by contact with the low temperature header before the air is passed to the evaporator. Awall 60 dividesspace 32 from the portion ofplenum chamber 29 housing evaporator 15 and precludes short circuiting of return air directly to the evaporator.

The air delivered fromevaporator 6 tomanifold duct 17 comprises a commingling of the returned air effectively cooled to a desired low temperature by heat transfer association with the evaporator. A first portion of this low temperature air passes intochamber 12 through inlet opening 21, a second portion of this air passes intocompartment 13 through inlet opening 22, and a third portion of this air passes intocompartment 14 through inlet opening 23. As shown in FIGURE 1, the inlet 23 is unobstructed and, thus,compartment 14 receives continuous cooling to define a below-freezing chamber.

The temperature ofcompartment 14 may be controlled by a thermallyresponsive device 34 which responds to the temperature infreezer compartment 14 to control the operation of the refrigeration apparatus. Referring to FIGURE 4 it will be seen that thermallyresponsive device 34 comprises a switch in electrical circuit withcompressor 2 and blower16. When the switch closes in response to a predetermined high temperature the compressor and blower are energized and when the switch opens in response to a predetermined low temperature the compressor and blower are deenergized.

Theinlet openings 21 and 22 are provided with mechanical temperature control means 35 and 36, respectively, for adjustably regulating the rate of flow of the refrigerated air through these chambers. More specifically, thecontrols 35 and 36 herein are similar, except thatcontrol 36 is further provided with means for locking out the adjustable control and maintaining the inlet opening 22 unobstructed when desired by the user. Thus,control 36 permits the user to utilizecompartment 13 convertibly as a regulated temperature compartment in the manner ofcompartment 12 or an unregulated air flow freezer compartment in the manner :ofcompartment 14. The thermallyresponsive device 34 is effective to control the on and off operation of the refrigeration apparatus and the controls and 36 are effective to control air ow to their respective compartments when the apparatus 1s on.

Because the control point for theapparatus compressor 2 andblower 16 is in the freezer, the forced air system of the present invention is arranged to provide suflicient cold air ow tocompartments 12 and 13 to satisfy the cooling requirements of these compartments before the cooling requirement offreezer compartment 14 is satisfied. The illustrated forced air system, by proper selection of duct cross-sectional areas, duct directions, and cooperation of the respective ducts with the outlet ofblower 16 is thus arranged to favor distribution of air tocompartments 12 and 13 overfreezer compartment 14.Air leaving blower 16 moves up the right-hand side ofmanifold duct 17 as viewed in FIGURE l and entersfeed duct 18, providedcontrol 35 has not closedinlet 21. In the division of the air ow,convertible compartment 13 is next favored, andfreezer compartment 14 last favored. The stream of cold air discharged fromblower 16 is thus divided on a preferential basis betweenducts 18, 19 and 20, andcompartment 13 is favored next aftercompartment 12 becausecompartment 13 may be operated as either a refrigerator or a freezer. Ifconvertible compartment 13 was first favored, it could robcompartment 12 of cooling when operated as a freezer. Whilecompartment 13 is favored overcompartment 14 as described above, the system is arranged so thatcompartment 13 is not overly favored because when operated as a freezer,compartment 13 always receives cold air and thus reduces the amount of cold air available tocompartment 14.

Referring now to FIGURE 3, thecontrol 36 includes adamper 37 in overlying relationship to the opening 22. The damper is carried on anarm 38 which is pivotally mounted on asuitable pivot 39 to swing thedamper 37 toward and away from the opening 22. Thearm 38 is biased by aspring 40 in a counterclockwise direction as seen in FIGURE 3 to urge the damper to a closed air flow restricting position relative to the duct opening 22. The spring is connected betweenarm 38 and a cam follower 41 which is pivotally mounted on apivot 42 and which rides against acam 43 under the biasing action ofspring 40. The cam is pivotally mounted on apivot 44 to which is connected ahandle 45 for manually adjusting the position of the cam. Suitable indicia of the temperature condition selected are displayed to the user on a panel 45a beneathhandle 45.

Control 36 includes a thermally responsive fluid-filledbellows 46 with a connectedsensing element 46a exposed tocompartment 13. Bellows 46 is provided with an actuating arm 47 which engages thedamper arm 38 to pivot thearm 38 in a clockwise direction about thepivot 39 and, thus, control the relationship ofdamper 37 to the inlet opening 22 as a function of the temperature incompartment 13. An increasing temperature incompartment 13 will causebellows 46 to expand and movedamper 37 away from opening 22. Tension onspring 40 as controlled bycam 43 changes the effect ofbellows 46 ondamper 37 to alter the amount of cooling air supplied tocompartment 13 at any given compartment temperature. Increasing the tension onspring 40 raises the control point temperature of control means 36. Control means 35 is similiar to this structure of control means 36.

In operation, the above described structure ofcontrol means 36 provides a variable closure of opening 22 by the adjustable positioning of thedamper 37 under the control of thecam 43 and thebellows 46 to provide a preselected temperature range incompartment 13. In the illustrated embodiment,cam 43 is arranged so that rotation thereof in a clockwise direction (as seen in FIGURE 3) decreases the tension onspring 40 thus permitting thebellows 46 to overcome the spring and move thedamper 37 away from the opening 22 at a relatively lower temperature. Alternatively, rotation of thecam 43 in counterclockwise direction causes the spring tension to be increased, thereby requiring a higher temperature to move thedamper 37 by thebellows 46. To provide a desired operating temperature, the user need merely adjust the position ofcam 43 by manipulation ofhandle 45.

As indicated briey above,control 36 further includes means for locking the damper in the fully opened position when desired. As shown in FIGURE 3, the locking means, generally designated 48, includes alever 49 pivotally mounted on apivot 50 and having connected thereto anarm 51 adapted t0 engage thedamper arm 38. Asecond arm 52 is provided at the other end oflever 49 and is arranged to be engaged by ashoulder 53 on thecam 43 by extreme clockwise movement of the cam. Thelever 49 is pivoted in a counterclockwise direction as seen in FIGURE 3 whenshoulder 53contacts arm 52, wherebyarm 51 urgesarm 38 to the fully opened position. Thus, thearm 38 is locked against pivotal movement toward inlet opening 22, which permits continuous air flow intocompartment 13 notwithstanding a retraction of the bellows actuating arm 47 due to lower temperatures incompartment 13. To reinstate the regulated damper control, the user merely rotatescam 43 by means ofhandle 45 to disengageshoulder 53 fromarm 52 and permit control ofdamper 37 by bellows 46.

Thus,apparatus 10 provides a refrigerator compartment, a freezer compartment, and a convertible compartment which may be utilized either as a regulated temperature refrigerator compartment or as a full air ow freezer compartment. When thecompartment 13 is utilized as a refrigerator compartment wherein the air is relatively moist, the moisture is effectively dehumidied by the flow of the return air over theheader 33 together with the return air fromcompartment 12. The individual regulated control ofcompartment 13 provided by control means 36 permits thecompartment 13 to be regulated at a different temperature from that ofcompartment 12 hereby providing further improved utility ofapparatus 10.

While we have shown and described one embodiment of our invention, it is to be understood that it is capable of many modifications. Changes, therefore, in the construction and arrangement may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. A forced air refrigerator-freezer apparatus comprising:

an insulated cabinet defining an'above freezing refrigerator compartment, a below freezing freezer compartment, and a convertible compartment selectively operable in above and below freezing temperature ranges;

air cooling means;

duct means interconnecting said air cooling means and said compartments;

air moving means associated with said duct means for circulating air from said air cooling means through said duct means and said compartments; and means for controlling the cooling of said convertible compartment by said air selectively in above and below freezing temperature ranges, including selectively adjustable temperature responsive control means in said convertible compartment.

2. The refrigerator-freezer apparatus of claim 1 wherein said control means includes means for locking said control means in a position permitting continuous air ow to said convertible compartment.

3. The refrigerator-freezer apparatus of claim 1 wherein said duct means includes a common portion for commingling air returned from said convertible and refrigerator compartments before recirculating it thereto.

4. The refrigerator-freezer apparatus of claim 1 including a second temperature responsive control means for controlling the temperature of said refrigerator compartment.

5. The refrigerator-freeze apparatus of claim 1 including thermally responsive means in said freezer compartment for controlling operation of said air cooling means to maintain said freezer compartment in a preselected temperature range.

6. The refrigerator-freezer apparatus of claim 1 wherein said temperature responsive control means comprises:

a bellows controlled damper for regulating air ow to said convertible compartment;

a spring for biasing said damper toward an air flow restrict-ing position;

cam means for altering the biasing effect of said spring;

manually adjustable means associated with said cam means for moving said cam means to any of a plurality of positions wherein the biasing eect of said spring is changed; and

means for locking said damper in a fully open, nonair ow restricting position, said means including a portion of said cam means, whereby said control means is adjustable to provide a plurality of above freezing temperature selections by changing the biasing effect of said spring'and to provide a single below freezing temperature selection by locking said damper in a fully open position.

7. The refrigerator-freezer apparatus of claim 1 wherein said air moving means and said duct means are cooperatively arranged t0 supply air to said refrigerator and convertible compartments in preference to said freezer compartment.

8. The refrigerator-freezer apparatus of claim 7 including a thermally responsive device in said freezer compartment for controlling operation of said air cooling means.

9. The refrigerator-freezer apparatus of claim 8 wherein said thermally responsive device further controls operation of said air moving means.

10. The refrigerator-freezer apparatus of claim 9 wherein said temperature responsive control means in said convertible compartment is a bellows controlled damper for regulating air ow to said convertible comment.

11. The refrigerator-freezer apparatus ofclaim 10 including a bellows controlled damper in said refrigerator compartment for regulating air ow thereto.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,462,279 2/1949 Passman 62-187 X 3,048,024 8/l962 Jacobs 62-187 X 3,048,985 8/1962 Long 62-187 X 3,149,781 9/1964 Coming 62-180 X WILLIAM J. WYE, Primary Examiner.

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