General Electric Company

William M Webb

Julius B Horvay

Gerhard K Losert

Stephen G Boughton

William F Hester

Gehard K Losert

A support assembly for an inside corner formed by a vertical rear wall and a vertical side wall intersecting each other at a right angle. The support assembly includes an elongated vertical track secured to one of the walls in close proximity to the inside corner. A shelf assembly is secured to the track and includes a bracket having a forward portion and a rearward portion, said rearward portion having means for removable securement to the track. The shelf assembly also includes a support member having a forward portion and a rearward portion and horizontally spaced from the bracket and a planer shelf is supported by the bracket and support member. The shelf assembly has a torsion member extending between and at right angles to both the bracket and support member and secured to each. By this support assembly, the shelf assembly may be supported on a single track.

Support assembly

An improved storage assembly for use in apparatus for preserving and rejuvenating items such as vegetables and the like in a refrigerator maintained at a temperature of between 33.degree. F. and 58.degree. F. by surrounding the items with a fog composed of water particles having a diameter of between 1 and 20 microns generated by means of an ultrasonic wave nebulizer with a transducer element. The storage assembly includes a cover and a pan in sealing arrangement with the cover and movable relative thereto. A water reservoir is located in close proximity to the pan and has the transducer element of the ultrasonic wave nebulizer in communication with water in the reservoir for generating the water particle fog. A passageway is provided for delivering the fog from the interior of the reservoir to the interior of the pan. Electrical connection means for enabling the nebulizer is provided along with timer means to periodically energize and deenergize the nebulizer during the time the electrical connection means would enable the nebulizer.

Apparatus to preserve vegetables

An ice maker for use in a freezer compartment of a refrigerator including a flexible tray having cavities for forming ice pieces. The front of the ice tray has a handle and the rear has a first and second spaced guide element projecting therefrom. There is provided a support structure having a front wall with a triangular-shaped opening with all three sides of the opening being outwardly curved and dimensioned to receive therein the ice tray handle in guiding rotation thereof. There is also provided a rear wall having a track with a vertical inwardly curved portion with a terminal end at the top thereof and a horizontal downwardly curved portion joining the bottom of the vertical curved portion, said track being dimensioned to receive in guiding movement said first and second spaced guide elements on the ice tray. Upon rotation of the ice tray handle in the triangular-shaped opening, the first guide element moves in the vertical curved portion of the track and abuts the terminal end thereof and the second guide element moves in the horizontal curved portion and abuts the vertical curved portion. The guide elements and track cooperate to prevent further rotational movement of the rear of the ice tray while the front of the ice tray may continue to be rotated thus twisting the tray about its longitudinal axis to effect harvesting of the ice pieces formed in the cavities of the ice tray.

Flexible tray type ice maker

A refrigerator, including a freezer compartment and a door for closing the access opening to said compartment. There is an opening through the door and an ice piece receptacle on the inner surface of the freezer door. A closure member is pivotally mounted at the bottom thereof to the door and movable outwardly therefrom and the closure member has side panels secured to the inner surface and extending rearwardly of the closure member. The ice storage receptacle supported on the inner surface of the door has the interior thereof accessible through the opening in the door and the receptacle has a floor movable from a first position when the closure member is closed to a second elevated position when the closure member is opened to permit manual removal of ice pieces from the ice receptacle without opening the door.

Refrigerator including through-the-door ice service

An ice maker in a freezer compartment and the method of controlling the ejection of ice pieces made by the ice maker, including a mold containing a plurality of spaced cavities for forming ice pieces, a water conduit for introducing water into the mold, a water valve, and an arrangement for signaling when the water in the mold is frozen, including a temperature sensor. A thermal mass is located in the freezer compartment spaced from the mold and in heat transfer relationship with the incoming water flowing through the conduit from the water valve to the mold. The temperature sensor is located in temperature sensing relationship with the thermal mass and is calibrated to actuate the signal arrangement when the water in the mold reaches a preselected temperature below 32.degree. F.

Ice making apparatus and method

A method and coupling for severing and rejoining sealed tubing without the loss of the seal especially adapted to the installation of charged refrigerant lines into the refrigerator cabinetry. The method includes the crimping of the tubing wall at the point to be severed, sealing of the crimped tube walls, as by welding, and severing of the tube through the crimp. To rejoin the ends, a rejoinder coupling is utilized having end sections receiving and sealed to the crimped tube ends. The coupling also includes an axially compressible body section within which is disposed a piercing tool having a pair of penetrating ends adapted to pierce each of the crimped tube ends upon pushing the tube ends together, the compressible body section accommodating the axial tube movement toward each other in carrying out the piercing. The piercing tool is adapted to accommodate fluid flow through the pierced opening either by one or more flow passages provided in the tool itself or by withdrawal of the piercing tool from the pierced opening in each crimped tube end. Several embodiments of the piercing tool configuration are disclosed, each of which provides a locating arrangement adapted to assure penetration of both crimped tube ends when the tube ends are pushed together. The crimp configuration produces a relatively large transverse area for penetration by the piercing tool.

Coupling for rejoining sealed tubing

The partition between fresh food and freezer compartments of, for example, a 'top mount' refrigerator is movably mounted to vary the volume split between the two compartments. A lever actuated reciprocal drive mechanism is provided to translate the partition to its desired partition without the need to remove the partition or the food in the refrigerator to accomplish the change. The thermal break between the two compartments is maintained by an extensible section mounted between the movable partition and the fixed front mullion of the refrigerator.

Adjustable volume-split refrigerator

A refrigerator cabinet having a chamber divided by a mullion into a freezer and fresh food compartment, each having a front door open. Arranged in the mullion and front door opening of the freezer is auxiliary liquid line loop arrangement whichprevents condensation from forming on the freezer front door openings. A valve is provided in the auxiliary line arrangement for controlling flow through the auxiliary liquid line in response to the ambient relative humidity conditions.

Post condenser loop case heater controlled by ambient humidity

A fluid supply system wherein a first valve is controlled to deliver a predetermined amount of fluid in series flow arrangement with a second flow valve which is automatically actuated by said fluid flow to terminate the flow of fluid after a predetermined quantity of fluid flow in the event the first valve does not terminate the flow of fluid after the preselected amount of fluid is delivered.

Fluid supply system for a domestic appliance

Method and coupling for severing and rejoining sealed tubing

A rear support structure for a cabinet is disclosed. The support structure includes provision for automatically adjusting the level of the rear of a cabinet to compensate for a supporting surface which slopes from side to side. The support structure comprises a shaft mounted to the rear, underside of the cabinet and extending transversely of the cabinet. Levelling elements associated with each end of the shaft are rotatable with respect to the axis of the shaft. The levelling elements are formed so that rotation of one of the elements, upon engagement with the supporting surface, will reduce the distance between the underside of the cabinet and the supporting surface and will cause the other element to rotate in a direction to increase the distance between the underside of the cabinet and the supporting surface.

Support structure for a cabinet

A rear support structure for a cabinet is disclosed. The support structure includes provision for automatically adjusting the level of the rear of a cabinet to compensate for a supporting surface which slopes from side to side. The support structure comprises mounting means affixed to the rear, underside of the cabinet and extending transversely of the cabinet. In a preferred embodiment, a cylindrical roller having an axial bore therein encircles an axle and is rotatable on the axle to facilitate movement of the cabinet. Either the axle or the bore of the roller or both are arcuate in shape lengthwise of the roller to permit tilting of the roller relative to the axle which in turn permits tilting of the rear of the cabinet with respect to the supporting surface while insuring that the full length of the roller contacts the supporting surface. In another embodiment, the rear support structure comprises an ellipsoidal member mounted to a channel member affixed to the rear of the cabinet. A flexible track surrounds the ellipsoidal member and has an arcuate internal surface in engagement with the arcuate outer surface of the ellipsoidal member. The track is permitted to tilt relative to the channel member and the ellipsoidal member by the arcuate engaging surfaces to compensate for the side-to-side slope of the supporting surface. The flexible track is movable around the ellipsoidal member to facilitate movement of the cabinet over the supporting surface.

Rear support structure for a cabinet

A single evaporator, single fan combination refrigerator includes a temperature control system which thermostatically maintains the fresh food compartment at a desired temperature by cycling the refrigerator system on and off as required, and which controls freezer compartment temperature by varying airfow through a pair of ducts conducting refrigerated air from the evaporator chamber to the fresh food compartment. The freezer control operates a pair of main dampers disposed in the ducts. In order to compensate for variations in freezer compartment temperature which would otherwise result when the setting of the thermostatic fresh food control is changed, a pair of compensating dampers are also disposed in the ducts and operatively connected to the fresh food control for ganged operation with the thermostatic control. The dampers are constructed to only partially block airflow when in the fully closed position. In certain embodiments, selection of damper characteristics is easier than in other embodiments, and a method of selection is described.

Single evaporator, single fan combination refrigerator with independent

A single evaporator, single fan combination refrigerator includes a temperature control system which thermostatically maintains the fresh food compartment at a desired temperature by cycling the refrigeration system on and off as required, and which controls freezer compartment temperature by varying the airflow through a duct conducting refrigerated air from the evaporator chamber to the fresh food compartment. In order to compensate for variations in freezer compartment temperature which would otherwise result when the setting of the fresh food control is changed, the airflow through the duct is varied as a funtion of the setting of the fresh food control, as well as of the freezer control.

Growing community of inventors

Louisville, KY, United States of America

William M Webb