Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
1 ~$2~
REFRIGERATOR CABINET SUITABLE FOR USE ON RAILROAD
TRAINS _ND IN OTHER VEHICLES SUBJECT TO CONSIDERABL~ VIBRATION
BACKGROU~D OF INVENTION
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Field of Invention
Rerigerator or cooler units, cooler compartments,
chambers, or cabinet constructions which minimize space re-
quirements and in which the access door to the cooler compart-
ment is secure in closed position and not sub~ect to accidental
reopening due to vibrations or the like.
Prior Art
Innumerable refrigerator or cooler units have been
proposed, having innumerable configurations and arrangements
of refrigeration or cooler cabinets, chambers r or compartments.
The access opening to these compartments is generally closed
by a door, which is designed to provide sealing engagement with
the surface surrounding the access opening when the door is
closed. Such doors are generally secured in closed position
by a latch, which may even be magnetically activated.
Althou~h previously-available types of refrigerator or
cooler units have been generally acceptable for home and
industrial use, they suffer from serious disadvantages when
2~ it is attempted to employ them in other environments. For
example, i~ railroad trains, trucks, vans, buses and air-
planes, where considerable vibration is ordinarily and ex-
pectedly encountered, and where space is at a premium,
previously existing and proposed refrigeration or cooler
units have numerous serious shortcomings. For example t
they take too much space initially, they take even more
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space when the access door is in open position and while
it is being opened and closed, and the expected vibrations
render the normal latch securement of the door in closed
position and the concomitant sealing engagement of the door
with the surface immediately adjacent to and surrounding
the access opening at best insecure and non-positive.
It is eminently clear that a refrigerator~ or cooler unit
which does not suffer from such serious disadvantages would be
highly desirable and would fulfill a long-standing.need in the
art.
,
.SUMMARY OF THE :INVENTION
In summary r the in~ention includes t~e following:
A refrigerator or cooler unit comprising, in combination,
a cooler compartment having an access opening adapted to be
closed by a door, a door adapted to close said access opening,
door-supporting members on both sides of said access opening,
means in said door-supporting members for permitting move-
ment of said door upwardly and downwardly and inwardly and
downwardly toward said cooler compartment and the access
opening thereof for covering of said access opening by
bringing said door into close juxtaposition to said cooler .
compartment and for permitting movement of said door out-
wardly and upwardly for removal of said door from close ~
juxtaposition to said cooler compartment for uncovering of
said access opening; such unit comprising, in combination,
a cooler compartment having an access opening adapted to be
closed by a door and an outer surface surroundin~ said access
opening, means on either side of said access opening for
slidable mounting o a door, a door slidably mounted in said
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mounting means, and means for bringing said door into closed
pOSition over said access opening and into sealing engagement
with said surrounding surface by pushing said door inwardly and
downwardly and into close juxtaposition to said surrounding
surface and for opening said door and for disengaging said door
from said sealing engagement with said surrounding surface by
: pulling said door outwardly and upwardly, usually including
means for further opening said door by pushing it downwardly or
for further opening said door by pushing it furthe~ upwardly;
and a refrigerator or cooler unit comprising, in combin-
ation, a cooler compartment-having an access opening adapted
to be closed by a door, a surface surrounding said opening,
a door adapted to sealingly engage said surrounding
surface and to close said opening when said door is in close
juxtaposition to said surface, opposed facing door-supporting
members at both sldes of said opening adjacent said surrounding
surface at the sides of said opening, ~ertical track means in
: said door-supporting members and in spaced relation to said !
. surface, said door having on each side-thereof top and bottom
mounting means vertically spaced from each other for slidably
mounting said door in said track means, said track means com-
~prising track spurs in vertically-spaced relation to each other
aorresponding to the vertical spacing of said door mounting
means, said spurs being inwardly and downwardly inclined
~toward said opening so as to position said door, when pushed
. inwardly and downwardly along said spurs, over said opening~
and in sealing engagement with said surrounding surface, where~
by said door can be moved along said vertical track and into
and out of said spurs for closing said opening and for sealing
engagement with said surrounding surface and for opéning said
door and discontinuing said sealing engagement with said
surrounding surface and whereby said door, when closed, is
maintained in said sealing engagement by gravitational force t
wherein said door-supporting members are generally normal to
said surrounding surface, wherein each door-supporting member
comprises a portion of a leg supporting said unit, wherein
said door-supporting members and said tracks therein extend
vertically a distance sufficient to enable said door, when in
open position, to clear said opening, wherein said'vertical ~ '
tracks extend vertically upwardly to said extent, and wherein
said vertical tracks extend upwardly to a sufficient extent
to enable said door to clear said opening and wherein rest
spurs are provided at an upper section of said vertical tracks
for maintaining said door in open position, or wherein said
~ertical tracks extend ye~tically downwardly to said extent,
wherein said door-supporting me~bers and said tracks' therein
extend downwardly a sufflcient distance to permit the'door.
to:clear said opening and go further beyond, and wherein said
door-supporting member' comprises a portion of a tubular member
: 20 constituting a leg supporting said unit, wherein the wall of
a said tubular member opposite said vertical track has an
opening therein to permit insertion of mounting means into
said door through said opening, and wherein such opening is
present in a wall of both of said tubular members on opposite
:: sides of said door, and wherein said mounting means is a rod,
whexein said mounting means constitutes a rod extending
through said door from side to side thereof and slidably dis-
posed in said tracks, wherein said door is insulated and
wherein said rod extends through said door from side to side
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thereof and through said insulation, wherein said door-
supporting members and the tracks therein extend vertically
sufficiently far to enable insertion of a said rod through
said opening and into and through said door for constituting
both top and bottom mounting means for said door, and where-
in said door comprises a gasket for sealing engagement of
said door with said surrounding surface when said door is
in close juxtaposition to said surface, and wherein said
door comprises an outer surface having a cavity or recess
therein and a handle located in said recess.
- OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide a
noveI and unique refrigerator or cooler unit comprising a
cooler compartment, chamber, or cabinet which is not subject
to any of the forementioned disadvantages of the prior art.
It is another object of the invention to provide devices of
such type and nature which require a minimum of floor space,
whether the access door to the cooling compartment is in
closed or in open position, and which, moreover, are not sub-
ject to inadvertent opening of the access door due tov1brations or the like. It is a further object of the invention
to provide a device of such a type and nature wherein the door
~ provided for closure of the access opening of the cooler com-
;~ partment is so mounted as to provide a positive lock and a
positive sealing engagement with the surface surrounding the
access opening of the cooling compartment. It is a still further
object to provide a device of such a type and nature wherein
the door is mounted for upward and downward vertical movement
in suita~le door-supporting members. Still~an additional ob-
ject is to provide a device of such a type and nature wherein
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the door is mounted in vertical tracks having spursj whereby
the door can be moved upwardly or downwardly along said
vertical track and inwardlyand downwardly toward the access
opening of the cooling compartment for positive closure of
said access opening and for positive sealing engagement of the
door with the surface surrounding the access opening and where-
by the door, when closed, is maintained in closed pasition and
in sealing engagement with the surface surrounding the access
opening of the cooling compartment by the force of gravity.
Still other objects of the invention will become apparent
hereinafter and still additional objects of the invention will
be apparent to one skilled in the art to which this invention
pertains.
DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS OF _HE INVENTION
The invention, in several preferred embodimentsr is
- illustrated by the accompanying drawings, in which:
PIG. 1 is a perspective view of a refrigerator or ~-
cooler unit according to the invention. The dot-dash line
shows the door in closed position, and the dotted line shows
a lowered position of the door for insertion of the top
rod constituting the top mounting means. The solid lines
show the door in open position and also in position for
insertion of the bottom rod constituting the bottom mounting
means~
FIG. 2 shows a section along line 2-2 of FIG. 1.
FIG. 3 shows a section taken along line 3-3 of F~G. 2.
FIG. 4 shows a section like that shown in FIG. 3 of a
modified form of the invention~ having an upwardly-extending
track, with the door in closed ~osition.
FIG. 5 shows a section like those of FIGS. 3 and 4 but
of another form of the invention having an upwardly-extending
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track and rest spurs therein for maintaining the door in open
position, the door being shown in open position.
SPECIFIC REFERENCE TO THE ~RAWINGS
Reference is now made to the accompanying drawings for
a better understanding of the invention, wherein all the
essential parts are numbered and wherein the same numbers are
used to ~efer to corresponding parts, or wherein the same
numbers but differing by a factor of one hundred (100) are used
to refer to corresponding parts.
In a preferred form, the refrigerator or cooler unit of
the invention is shown in FIG. 1. Modifications of theinvention
shown in FIG. 1 are pres'ented in FIGS. 4 and~5 and will be
further descrîbed in detail hereinafter. '
The refrigerator or cooler unit is shown generally at
10. The'refrigerator or cooler compartment or chamber is
shown at 12~ 'The'door 14 to the cooler compartment is shown
in dot-dash lines at 14a in closed position, in solid lines
at 14 in open position, and in dotted lines at 14b in lowered
position for mounting of the said door within vertical track
20, as shown bei'ng located in door-supporting members 11 con-'
stituting the inner face of tubular, e.g., rectangular or
square, front legs 16. Trac]c 20 has downwardly and inwardly
inclined spurs 28 for bringing the door into close proximity
with the'access opening 13 of cooler compartment 12, for
purposes of closlng the same'by bringing said door-into seal-
ing engagement with generally flat surface 15 in front panel
21 surrounding the'access opening 13 to cooler compartment 12.
Gasket 34 is provided for assisting with said sealing en-
gagement of said door 14 with the surface of front panel 21
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surrounding the access opening 13 of cooler compartment 12.
A suitable recess or cavity 30 is provided in the front or
outward ~surface of door 14, along with rod-type handle 32
within said recess or cavity, for purposes of opening and
closing said door and moving the same along track 20 and
into spurs 28. As shown, the door recess or ca~ity is hori-
zontally disposed, but it will be understood that the same
may equally well be vertically disposed or have any other con-
iguration, e.g., circular, and that the handle ma~ likewise
have any suitable configuration which, advantageously and
preferably, does not involve waste of space or protrude out-
wardly beyond the recess in which located. Internal of hollow
door 14 is disposed insulation 29. As shown, the door is
slidably disposed in door-supporting members 11 and comprises
holes or openings 26,26, rod 22 extending through door 14
from side to side thereof and being supported internally of
said door by insulation 29 and at the sides of said door by
said holes or openings 26,26. External of the door r rods
22,22 are supported in tracks 20,20 and/or spurs 28,28.
At the top of refrigerator or cooler unit 10 is located
top plate or cover 19 and at the top of each of front legs 16
and rear legs 18 are located caps 17. Alternatively, the top
of the refrigerator or cooler unit may be closed by a single
cover plate and the caps 17 dispensed with. The materials of
construction of front panel 21 and cover or top plate 19,
caps 17 and front and rear legs 16 and 18 may be of any con-
venient material, such as stainless steel, fiberglass, plastic,
aluminum or other metal, or the like, so long as such material
is characterized by sufficient structural strength, with
stainless steel being preferred for outer panels or surfaces
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of all elements and for the door-supporting members and
tubular legs of which they' may be a part. At the'sides of
said refrigerator or cooler unit 10 may conveniently be
located framed gratings 23, which may also be present on the
rear of the refrigerator or cooler unit (not shown).
The cooling compartment 12 as shown is surrounded by
insulation 27 which, as shown in FIG. 3, usually entirely
surrounds the'cooling compartment on five (5) sides. As
shown in FIG. 3, for example, insulation 27 is present between
bottom plate 25 and the lower wall of cooling compartment 12,
as well as above the cooling compartment. This insulation is
preferably but not necessarily foamed in place and is gener-
ally a polyurethane foam formed either by prepolymer or
one-shot procedure and in any event has a low K factor,
generally about 2.2 or thereabouts, according to usual skill
in the art. The exact manner of insulation of the refriger-
ator or cooling compartment, as well as its exact configur- '
ation, its means of support within the refrigerator or cooling
unit, and the particular means of effecting refrigeration or
cooling therein, are immaterial to the present invention so
long as the said refrigerator or cooling unit functions as
such. '
As shown in the drawings~ top and bottom door-mounting
means~ constituting rods 22,22, are vertically spaced from
each other for slldably mounting door 14 in track means 20,20
and said track means 20,20 comprises track spurs 28,28 in
vertically-spaced relation corresponding to the vertical
spacing of door-mounting means 22,22. As shown, vertical
tracks 20,20 are located in opposing door-supporting members 11,
11 constituting the inner walls of rectangular front legs 16,16,
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and said''tracks are 'located in outwardly spaced relationship
to said cooler compartment 12 and its front panel 21. Spurs
28,28 are'inwardly and downwardly inclined toward the access
opening 13 of cooler compartment 12, so that door 14 can be
moved along vertical track 20 and into and out of spurs 28,28
and into and out of sealing engagement with the surface 15
of front panel 21 surrounding the access opening of cooler
compartment 12. In this manner, door 14 can be readily
; pushed into closed position by aligning mounting means.there-
:-- 10 for constituting rods 22,22 with track spurs 28,28 and then.,~. ., .;
pushing door 14 inwardly and downwardly along said spurs, so
that it rests in close juxtaposition at the end of spurs
28,28 with the surface 15 of front panel 21 surrounding the
access opening 13 of cooler compartment 12. In this position,
door 14 is in place covering said access opening 13 and in
sealing engagement with the surface 15 of front panel 21
~~ surrounding said access opening of cooler compartment 12.. ~ As ~ r~-,
previously stated, said sealing engagement is assisted by
gasket 34,located around the periphery of door 14, which is of':
20~ such dimensions as to surround the access opening 13 of
cooler compartment 12 and lie in sealing engagment against
the surface 15 of front panel 21 when dodr.l4 and its mounting
means, rods 22,22, are brought inwardly and downwardly along
; track spurs 28,28 to the ends thereof. When door 14 is in
closed position and in close juxtaposition to front panel
. 21, it is not subject to be readily disengaged or opened by
vibrations, inasmuch as the closure is a positive one due to
inward and downward incline of track spurs 28,28 assisted
by the force of gravity.
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For mounting door 14 in track 20, it is only necessary
to insert door 14 between front legs 16,16 and to insert
mounting means in the form of rods 22,22 through hole or
opening 24 in the opposite wall of one tubular leg 16, through
track 20 in the inside and door-supporting member 11 consti-
tuting the inner wall of tubular leg 16, through insulation
29 within.door 14, out hole or opening 26 at the opposite side
thereof, and again into track 20 in the opposite door-support-
ing member. For ready removal, a second hole~or opening 24
may be located in the opposite wall of the second tubular
leg directly across from the first opening 24 so that, when
it is desired to remove mounting means in the form of rod 22,
it is only necessary -to drive it lnwardly through one opening
24 and so that it protrudes out of second opening 24, where-
upon it can be readily grasped and pulled outwardly for
removal.
With the one mounting means 22 in place through door 14
and in track 20 at both sides of the door, it is a simple
matter to align the second door-mounting means and complete
the~procedure. Thus, if the top door-mounting means was
first inserted, the door may simply be raised so that hole or
opening 26 near the bottom of door 14 aligns with hole or
opening 24, whereupon the second rod may be inserted in
precisely the samé manner. Alternatively, if the lower door-
mounting means was first inserted, it is a simple matter to
drop the door to a lower position along track 20, so that
upper hole 26 aligns with hole or opening 24, whereupon the
rod-insertion procedure may be repeated. Of course, in the
modification of FIGS. 4 or 5, the rod-insertion openings
24,24 could equally well be located vertically upwardly from
the cooler compartment in upwardly-extending tracks 120.
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For operation of the refrigerator or cooler unit accord-
ing to the invention, it is most convenient, for gaining
access to cooler compartment 12 through the access opening 13
thereof, to grasp handle 32 in recess 30 and exert a sharp
outward and upward pull, thereby to disengage door 14 from
its sealing engagement with front panel 21 and the surface
15 thereof surrounding the access opening 13 of cooler com-
partment 12. When door 14 and its mounting vertical tracks
20,20 are outwardly spaced from front panel 21, rods 22,22 ~:
will be slidably moveable in tracks 20,20 to the open and
downwardly located position 14 shown in solid ].ines in FIG. 1.
After inserting or removing contents from cooler compartment
12, the procedure may simply be reversed.by moving door 14
upwardly until rods 22,22 are aligned with track spurs 28,28
and then pushing or pulling the door by means of handle 32
in recess 30 inwardly and downwardly into position 14a,
shown in dot-dash lines in FIG. 1, for return of the door to
closed.position in sealing engagement with the surface 15 of
front panel 21 surrounding the access opening 13 of cooler
~ 20 compartment 12.
:~: In FIG 1, door 14 is shown in lowered position 14b in
: dotted lines, after insertion of top or upper mounting means
: in the form of upper rod 22 and before raising said door to
an upwardly-disposed position for insertion of lower mounting
: . - .
means in the form of lower rod 22 in the same manner.
In FIG. 4 is shown a modification of the refrigerator
: or cooler unit of the invention, wherein track 120 extends up-
wardly for upward opening of door 114a, as shown in closed
positionj by grasping handle 132 in recess 130 (not shown)
and pushing upwardly along track 120. As shown in FIG. 4,
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door-supporting member 111 is a portion of a tubular leg
member and as usual extends generally normal to the'front
panel 121,and track 120 above the access opening 113 of cooler
compartment 112 is simply a straight vertical track.
Contrastingly, FIG. 5 shows a further embodiment of
the modification shown in FIG. 4 FIG 5 shows door 114 in
open position above cooler compartment 112 and above track
spurs 128, with upper mounting means in the form of rod 122
in place 'in lock-open or rest spur 36. Such rest'spur assists
in maintaining door 114 in open position when upwardly- ~-
' extending vertical track 120 is present in the door-supporting
member 111. As shown, only one set of rest spurs 136,136 is
present, although it will immediately be apparent that an
additional (e.g~, lower) set of rest spurs may be present in
vertical tracks 120,120. 'The'only disadvantage of the up-
wardly-opening device as contrasted to the 'downwardly-
opening device is the'necessity for upwardly-extending door-
supporting members 111 which generally must extend beyond the
top of the refrigerator or cooler cahinet proper, e.g.,
20` upwardly beyond cover or top plate 119.
As shown in FIGS. 3 and 5, when the door 14 or 114 is
riding in track 20 or 120 in spaced relationship outwardly
from front panel 21 or 121, the inner or back surface of door
I4, 114 and gasket 34, 134 thereon are out of contact with
front panel 21, 121 whereas, as shown in FIG. 4, when door
114a is pushed inwardly along track spurs 128,128, the inner
surface'thereof and especially gasket 134 thereon is in
,
sealing en'gagement with the surface of front panel 21,121
; surrounding access opeming 13,113 of cooler or refrigerator
~30 compartment 12,112.
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It should be understood that, instead of xectangular
or square front legs 16, other tubular legs could be employed,
such as round, oval, pentagonal, hexagonal, or like cross-
sectional legs, in which case the door-supporting members 11
would in each case be constituted by the inner surface of
the tubular leg on either side of the door 14 and adjacent
the surrounding surface 15 of front panel 21 surrounding the
access opening 13 of the cooler compartment 12. Moreover, it
should be clear that the door-supporting membèr could take
other forms, such as angle iron, an elongated flat plate, or
the'like.' However, in its preferred form, the door-supporting
members do constitute a surface or portion of preferably
rectangular, especially square, tubular legs. Such construction
is considered safer since mounting means in the form of rods
22,22 can then have their ends located within said tubular '~ `-
legs so that they are not readily removed in the absence of
' specific intent and design, and certainly not by accident.
Moreover, 'although the refrigerator or cooler unit of !
the present invention is uniquely and especially designed
for use in association with Peltier-type refrigeration means,
especially of the type disclosed in U.S. Patents 4,107,934
and 4,143,711, the refrigeration or cooler unit according
to the invention is in no way to be considered limited to
use with such type refrigeration or cooler means, since any
:
suitable type of refrigeration means may be employed to
effect cooling within the cooler or refrigeration compartment
and it is quite immaterial whether such refrigeration means
or a part or all of it is located within or without the
refrigerator or cooler unit according to the invention, so
long as it is operative to effect cooling within the cooler
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or refrigeration compartment
Due to the positi~e lock effected according to the
present invention, by means of inwardly and downwardly in-
clined track spurs 28,28 and 128,128, refrigerator or cooler
units according to the invention are able to resist strong
vibrations and even shocks without opening, at least
partially due to the assistance of the force of gravity in
maintaining the'door in secureIy closed position. The
refrigerator or cooler uni-t of the invention requires a
minimum of space, whether in open or closed position or in
between, and access to the cooling compartment thereof is
attained in a simple and facile manner. By raising or lower-
; ing the'door thereof either upwardly or'downwardly, as the
case may be, clearing of the cooler compartment by the door
is readily effected. Closure is simply effected by bringing
the door into alignment with the inwardly and downwardly-
inclined track spurs provided for positive closure and then
pushing downwardly and inwardly to bring the door and its
gasket into closed or covering position and into sealing en-
gagement with the surface surrounding the access openlng of
the'cooler' compartment. 'A simple reverse movement, e.g~,
.
outward and upward, lS of course employed for disengagement
and opening or uncovering of the opening to provide access
to the cooling compartment. '
It will accordingly be seen from the foregoing and from
the accompanying drawings that all of the stated objects of
the present invention have been attained by the provision
of the refrigerator or cooler unit o~ the present invention~
whereas the disadvantages and shortcomings of similar prior
art apparatus have been overcome thereby.
OB6
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It is to be understood that the invention is not to be
limited to the exact details of construction, operation, or
exact materials or embodiments shown ana described r as ob-
vious modifications and equivalents wiLl be apparent to one
skilled in the art, and the invention is therefore to be
limited only by the full scope of the appended claims.
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