US3101227A - Refrigerator construction - Google Patents

Description

Aug.f20,'19 63 M. L. PUGH- 3,101,227

' REFRIGERATOR CONSTRUCTION Filed Aug. 1. 1960 5 She ets-Sheet i IN VEN T 0R.

ATTORNEYS.

7 M. PU'GH REFRIGERATOR CONSTRUCTION Aug. 20, 1963 5 Sheets-Sheet 4.

Filed Aug. 1, 1960 v ATTORNEYS.

Aug. 20, 1963 M. 1.. PUGH REFRIGERATOR CONSTRUCTION 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Aug. 1, 1960 ATTORNEYS.

United States Patent 3,101,227 REFRIGERATOR CONSTRUQ'JTION Merlin L. Pugh, Minneapolis, Minn., assignor, by ruesne assignments, to @tudebaker Corporation, South Bend, lind., a corporation of Michigan Filed Aug. 1, 191%, Ser. No. 46,793 4 Claims. (Cl. 31230t)) This invention relates to a centrally pivoted or revolving door structure particularly adapted for refrigerators, freezers, combination refrigerator-freezer units, commercial type reach-in or display cases and the like, but can also be adapted to ovens (built-in or as part of a range), dish Washers, commercial vegetable display racks and the like.

One object of the invention is to provide a refrigerator or cabinet construction featuring a pivoted, flush type door capable of opening or closing either right-hand or left-hand, the pivot being near the center of the door so that only one half normal door swing is required in front of the cabinet when the door is fully open.

Another object is to provide the door with shelves, baskets, trays or other article retainers attached to itso that the door when opened from either side will provide a maximum of accessibility to the contents of such shelves, baskets, trays or the like.

Still another object is to provide a refrigerator construction whichpresents maximum safety from the childentrapment standpoint, the center-pivoted door being capable of ready opening from within the refrigerator when either side of the door is pressed against.

A further object is to provide a cabinet with one or more doors which will be able to be opened from either side, will be able to make a complete revolution through the cabinet turning either clockwise or counter clockwise, and will be able to be stopped at any desired position of revolution.

Still a further object is to provide at least some of the shelves, baskets, trays or other article retainers pivoted to the door so that they can be swung to more greatly extended positions with respect to the cabinet when the door is open for still greater accessibility, particularly where a basket or the like is mounted directly beneath a shelf, and may be removed for display purposes when the device is a commercial refrigerator or the like.

An additional object is to provide areas in the. rear corners of the cabinet which may be used for egg baskets, corner shelves, butter and cheese keepers, juice racks, ice cube trays and/or keepers and the like.

Another additional object is a design which permits ready access to such corner shelves. 7

Still another additional object is a design which requires less room in front of the cabinetbecause the door has an effective width of only one-half which lends well to powerizing the door because it is well balanced and there is less overhang thus reducing pivot friction.

A further additional object is to provide a refrigerator construction that lends itself well to a combination of sheet metal and plastic construction for the door yet rugged construction for the door pivot and a rugged door hid-1,227 Patented Aug. 20, 1963 "Ice 2 door braces between upper and lower bearings in the cabinet, then extension to final position where they are locked.

A further additional object is to provide a gasket carried by the cabinet and surrounding the door, the gasket so coaoting with top, bottom, and side edges thereof as 'to permit the door to be swung in either direction from corner of baskets, trays or other article retainers on the door so they can be swung from beneath shelves of the door, or alternately full size baskets, trays or the like connected at both sides and thus not swingable relative to the door, and to provide in a substantially rectangular cabinet, shelves of circular outline on the door combined with triangular corner shelves permanently fixed in the cabinet to which access may be readily gained when the door is in open position, the right shelves when the door is swung to the right, and the left shelveswhen it is swung to the left.

' With these and other objects in view my invention consists in the construction arrangement and combination of the various parts of my refrigerator construction whereby panel for the attachment of shelves thereto supported entirely at one end of each shelf whereby the'slrelves may occupy a cylindrical area in the refrigerator cabinet when the door is closed and are in position for ready access for each shelf when the door is reversed and the shelves project from the open door and out of the cabinet.

Still a further additional object is to provide a novel bearing construction for pivoting the doors relative to the cabinet involving the use of upper and lower door'braces having pivot pin retainers carried thereby in which pivot pins are vertically adjustable to permit mounting of the the objects above contemplated are obtained as hereinafter more fully set forth, pointed out in my claims and illustrated in detail on the accompanying drawings where FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a refrigerator construction embodying my invention and showing upper and lower doors in closed position;

FIG. 2 is another perspective view thereof but showing the doors in open position and a crisper pan pivoted away from its door; 1 I

FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional view on the line'o-f 33 of FIG. 2, enlarged to show details of construction;

FIG. 4 is a similarly enlarged horizontal sectional view on the line 44 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a door panel used in any refrigerator construction;

FIG. -6 is a perspective view of the parts of a door with the exception of the door panel, and includes the pivots for the door and three shelf carriages;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view similar to a portion of FIG. 3 adjacent the lower left corner thereof showing a modification in which pivot pins and their bearings are reversed in relation to each other;

FIG. 7 is aperspective view of one corner of my refrigerator construction showing particularly the novel gasket arrangement I provide for sealing the door relative to the cabinet;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a pivotable quartercyiinder crisper pan for attachment to a door of my refrigerator construction;

FIG. 8 is an enlarged vertical sectional view on the line 8 .8 of FIG. 1 showing a door holding detent; and

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a half-cylinder basket attachable to a door of my refrigerator construction.

On the accompanying drawings 'I have used the reference numeral 10 to indicate a sheet metal shell for the cabinet of my refrigerator and 12 the liner thereof. A shell 10 and the liner 12 are spaced from each other as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, and the space is filled with suitable insulating material 14. I may also provide a partition 16 as shown in FIG. 3 of spaced sheet metal elements and filled therebetween with the insulating material 14'. The shell 10' and the liner 12 may be formed of single or as many pieces as required. To complete the insulated cabinet thus far described the front thereof between the shell 10 and the liner 12 (FIG. 3) is closed by a sheet metal channel frame 18, breaker 26 of Masonite or the like and a metal trim frame 22.

A pair of doors indicated generally at D and D are provided. Each door comprises an outer door shell of sheet metal indicated at 24, a door panel 26 inside, molded of plastic material, and a door-reinforcing frame .28 of heavier sheet metal. 26 suitable insulating material 30 such as foamed plastic is provided. The reinforcing frame 28 is spot welded or otherwise suitably secured to the door shelf 24- and the peripheral edge of the door panel 26 is snapped into a channel shaped peripheral flange 2% of the frame 28;

For supporting each door relative to the cabinet 1' provide flanged bearing sockets 34 at the top and bottom of each door and secured by screws 35 and bolts 36 tothe cabinet as shown in FIG. 3, spacers 38 being provided between'the bottom shell lit-and the liner 12 and between the upper and lower sheet metal parts of the partition 16 to prevent their collapse when the bolts are tightened.

A pair of door braces and pivot pin retainers 4-6 formed of sheet metal are provided and secured by screws 37 to spacers '41 secured to the door reinforcing frame 28. The members 40 have U-shaped central portions in which pivot pin sleeves 42 are secured by welding or the like. Screw threadedly mounted in each sleeve 42 is a pivot pin 44 adapted for its outer end to enter the sockets of the bearings 34 as shown in FIG. 3.

During assembly the pivot pins 44- may first be threaded farther into their sleeves 42 than illustrated in FIG. 3, so that the-distance between the outer ends of the pivot pinson the door is less than the distance between the facing ends of the bearings 34 whereby the door may be positioned with its pivot pins in alignment with the bearings. The pivot pins 44 may then be unscrewed with respect to their sleeves 42 and enter the bearings 34, and the lower pivot pin adjusted in its bearing with respect to a thrust washer 46 so that the door is at the proper vertical position for coactio-n with a door gasket G. Therenpon the pivot pins may be locked in their sleeves 42 by means of set screws 50.

The door panels 26-have pivot covering extensions 27 to substantially enclose the pivots and the portions of the brackets 40 that extend from the back of the door as is obvious in FIG. 3. With respect to the door pivots, FIG. 6 shows a reversal of the parts wherein pivot pins 44 are screw-threadedly mounted in pivot pin sleeves 42 but in this case the sleeves are flanged and stationarily mounted whereas bearing sockets 34 are secured to the door brake braces 40 instead of the pivot pin sleeves being secured thereto. The thrust bearing 46 48 would then be located at the upper end of the pivot pin 44 which is-at the bottom end of the door instead of at its lower end as in FIG. 3. The set screws would then be located in the stationary pivot pin sleeves 42 instead of those carried by the door as in FIG. 3. Either the arrangement of FIG. 3 or that of FIG. 6 would serve the same purpose and function in the same way as far as assembly of the door in the cabinet is concerned.

Referring to FIG. 8 a detent means is shown for normally holding the door in the closed position. This may consist of a detent ball 86 carried by a detent bracket 96 secured to the cabinet and biased toward the door by a spring 92. The door shell 24 is provided with a detent ball seat 88 to cooperate therewith in the closed position of the door. Obviously the portion of the door shown in FIG. 8 can be forced with slight pressure toward the right or toward the left for releasing the detent whereupon the door may be readily swung to any desired degree of opening.

To seal the doors D and D in their respective door- Between the shell 24 and the panel 4 ways, gaskets G are provided, the cross section and shape thereof being best shown in FIG. 7 and the gasket being made of polyvinyl chloride or similar resilient material. The gasket has a base portion 52 from which projects two door engaging flanges 5-4, a horizontal flange 56 and a vertical flange 58 terminating in a hooked edge 60 to coact with a flange 12 of the liner 12 or a flange 16 of the partition 16 as shown in FIG. 3. The gasket G is molded in strips and mitered at the corners as illustrated at 59 in FIG. 7. The two flanges 54 will swing in either direction depending on the direction of rotation of the door, and are thus effective as a seal in the closed position of the door as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 regardless of which way, the door closes. While I have shown the gasket G carried by the cabinet to coact with the edges of the door, the gasket arrangement may be reversed and carried by the edge of the door to coact with the cabinet.

Half-circle (actually somewhat more than 180 shelf carriages 62 are provided in the form of steel straps welded and/or riveted together and having attaching feet 64 secured to spacers 65 of the door reinforcing frame 28 by screws 63. A shelf cover plate 66 of plastic rests on each shelf carriage 62 and thus the shelves 6266 are supported on the door for movement therewith as to the open position illustrated in FIG. 2 where the contents thereon are readily accessible.

The doors D and D have U-shaped pivot brackets 68 perforated adjacent their ends and secured to'the doors by screws 67 and spacers 69 for crisper pans, baskets or other article retainers. By way of example I show in FIG. 8 a quarter-cylinder crisper pan having a pivot bracket 7 2 on one corner thereof provided with pivot studs that serve as a hanger for the pan. These studs enter the perforations in the ends of the pivot bracket 68 as shown in FIG. 3, so that the crisper pan, normally covered by the lower shelf of the door D as shown in FIG; 2, may be swung outwardly as indicated by the arrow 71 to readily gain access thereto without interference by the shelf 66.

FIG. 2 also shows a pair of quarter-cylinder baskets 76 similarly pivoted so they may be individually swung outwardly with respect to the door D to gain access to another basket 86 there below. The basket 80 is a halfcylinder basket shown in detail in FIG. 9 and provided at each of its ends with a hanger stud 82 to coact with two of the pivot brackets 68 at opposite sides of the door D for non-swinging mounting on the door. The basket 80 is provided with a pivot clearance socket 81 to clear the pivot covering extension 27 of the door panel 26; Likewise the crisper pan 70 as shown in FIG. 8 is provided with a depressed portion 73 for the same purpose.

Referring to FIG. 4 it will be noted that the door D closes the open side of a'substantially rectangular cabinet, and its vertical edge indicated at 25 is a section of a cylinder having its center at the pivot center of the door for most effective coactiou with the gasket G. The shelves 66, the pans '76 and the baskets 76 and 80 have their inner walls substantially cylindrical about the pivot axes for proper clearance in all positions of opening of the door. Thus there are vacant corners'in the rectangular cabinet suitable for triangular corner shelves 84 which are mounted therein as'shown in FIGS. 2 and 4.

Referring to FIG. 2 it is obvious how all shelves, pans and baskets carried by the doors D and D are readily accessible when the door is open. At such time the corner shelves 84 are readily accessible. The door D for instance when swung to the position'shown exposes the shelves 66 so they project out of the refrigerator cabinet for ready access to each whereas access to the crisper pan that has been pivoted outwardly is readily had and at the same time the corner shelves 84- in the left side of the cabinet are readily accessible. The door may be swung further for exposing the shelves 66 and the pan 70 entirely outside of the refrigerator if desired whereas by swinging the door oppositely from closed position access is afforded to the corner shelves 84 in the right hand side of the refrigerator. As for the door D it can likewise be swung to a position to make the contents of the baskets 76 and 80 readily accessible, and both of the baskets 76 may be pivoted outwardly so that access is had to the nonpivoted basket 80 below.

From the foregoing description it will be obvious that I have provided a refrigerator construction that accompishes the objects contemplated and is a great convenience in respect to ready accessibility to all shelves and other containers for the refrigerator while at the same time the door can be swung either right or left hand as desired and in its widest open position does not project very far from the front of the cabinet, and always less than one-half the width of the door. I

While there has been shown and described a particular embodiment of my invention, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the real spirit and purpose of my invention, and therefore it is intended in the appended claims to cover all such changes and modifications as fall within the scope of the invention.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a refrigerator construction, a cabinet having an opening in one wall thereof, a door centrally pivoted on a vertical axis in said opening, said axis being spaced inwardly from said door, half-circle shelves and article retainers carried by said door and movable therewith, said door, shelves and article retainers having extremities formed substantially on a radius from the pivotal axis of said door, brackets for said article retainers having upper and lower perforated ears, said brackets being located adjacent the outer edges of the door, said article retainers being of quarter-cylinder shape, and'having downwardly extending studs to enter said perforated ears to pivot said article retainers to said door adjacent the outer edges thereof, said article retainers being swingable to extended positions relative to said door in its open position, the spacing of said axis inwardly of said door being such that said shelves project substantially halfway from said cabinet when said door is open.

2. in a refrigerator construction, a cabinet having an opening in one wall thereof, a door centrally pivoted on a vertical axis in said opening, shelves and article retainers carried by said door and movable therewith, said door, shelves and article retainers having extremities formed substantially on a radius from the pivotal axis of said door, at least some of said article retainers being of quarter-cylinder shape, pivoted to said door adjacent the outer edges thereof and swingable to extended positions relative to said door in its open position, pivot brackets on said door to support said article retainers, said article retainers having hanger studs projecting therefrom to pivotally coact with said pivot brackets, one of said article retainers being half-cylindrical in shape and provided with two sets of hanger studs to coact with two of said pivot brackets and being thereby supported on said door against pivotal relationship thereto.

3. In a refrigerator construction, a five-walled rectangular cabinet, an openable door centrally pivoted on a vertical axis and forming the sixth wall thereof, said axis being inward of said door whereby the door is substantially halfway in said cabinet when opened shelves and article retainers carried by said door and movable therewith, said door, shelves and article retainers having extremities formed substantially on a radius from the pivotal axis of said door, at least some of said article retainers being of quarter-cylinder shape, pivoted to said door adjacent the outer edges thereof and swingable to extended positions relative to said door in its open position and from under said shelves for access to articles therein, U-shaped pivot brackets on said door having perforated ears to support said article retainers, said article retainers having hanger studs projecting downwardly therefrom to pivotally coact with said perforated ears of said pivot brackets.

4. A refrigerator construction comprising a cabinet having an opening in one wall thereof, a door in said opening, door brackets attached to said door adjacent the upper and lower ends thereof and having pivot pin extensions inwardly from said door, pivot pins pivoted in the inner ends of said extensions and carried by said cabinet, and shelves and article retainers carried by said door and movable therewith, said door, shelves and article retainers having extremities formed substantially on a radius from the pivotal axis, two of said article retainers being of quarter-cylinder shape, being covered by one of said shelves and pivoted to said door adjacent the outer edges thereof to swing to extended position from under said one of said shelves to gain access to articles therein.

' References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS D. 157,362 Francis Feb. 21, 1950 1,024,366 Schiefer Apr. 23, 1912 1,666,646 Gomrne Apr. 17, 1928 1,575,807 Mack May 6, 1930 2,414,929 Civkin Ian. 28, 1947 2,859,081 Welch c- Nov. 4, 1958 2,877,077 Robinson Mar. 10, 1959 2,905,518 =Doesken Sept. 22, 1959 FOREIGN PATENTS 437,310 France Feb. 14, 1912 482,569 Canada Apr. 15, 1952

Claims (1)

1. IN A REFRIGERATOR CONSTRUCTION, A CABINET HAVING AN OPENING IN ONE WALL THEREOF, A DOOR CENTRALLY PIVOTED ON A VERTICAL AXIS IN SAID OPENING, SAID AXIS BEING SPACED INWARDLY FROM SAID DOOR, HALF-CIRCLE SHELVES AND ARTICLE RETAINERS CARRIED BY SAID DOOR AND MOVABLE THEREWITH, SAID DOOR, SHELVES AND ARTICLE RETAINERS HAVING EXTREMITIES FORMED SUBSTANTIALLY ON A RADIUS FROM THE PIVOTAL AXIS OF SAID DOOR, BRACKETS FOR SAID ARTICLE RETAINERS HAVING UPPER AND LOWER PERFORATED EARS, SAID BRACKETS BEING LOCATED ADJACENT THE OUTER EDGES OF THE DOOR, SAID ARTICLE RETAINERS BEING OF QUATER-CYLINDER SHAPE, AND HAVING DOWNWARDLY EXTENDING STUDS TO ENTER SAID PERFORATED EARS TO PIVOT SAID ARTICLE RETAINERS TO SAID DOOR ADJACENT THE OUTER EDGES THEREOF, SAID ARTICLE RETAINERS BEING SWINGABLE TO EXTENDED POSITIONS RELATIVE TO SAID DOOR IN ITS OPEN POSITION, THE SPACING OF SAID AXIS INWARDLY OF SAID DOOR BEING SUCH THAT SAID SHELVES PROJECT SUBSTANTIALLY HALFWAY FROM SAID CA

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