Swap action arrangement mounting an electric defroster heater to a finned refrigeration unit
US4492851A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Aug 25, 1982 |
| Grant date | Jan 8, 1985 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Aug 25, 2002 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
- CPC primaryY10T29/49359
- WIPO fieldThermal processes and apparatus
- WIPO sectorMechanical engineering
Abstract
An evaporative cooling unit for a refrigeration system includes a plurality of spaced, parallel metal heat exchanging fins provided with a plurality of openings receiving successive turns of a coiled tube adapted to carry refrigerant through the unit. The fins are further provided with snap-action cutouts extending from the periphery of the fins inwardly to a location between adjacent rows of the coil turns and a rod-like electric resistance heating element for periodicaly defrosting the unit is held in the cutouts. Each cutout includes an entry slot inwardly tapered to a throat defined by deformable edges spaced apart a distance marginally less than the diameter of the heating element to present resistance to the passage of the heating element through the throat and a notch communicating with the throat and within which the heating element is held. The notch has a first dimension parallel to the entry slot which is greater than the diameter of the heating element and a second dimension transverse to the entry slot substantially equal to the heating element diameter to allow the heating element to clear the throat upon insertion into the notch but to be firmly held in the notch.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.