Circulating air refrigerator with removable divider shelf

Claim 1

A refrigerating apparatus which utilizes circulating refrigerated air to cool food stuffs or the like which comprises: (a) a first thermostatically temperature controlled compartment for the storage of perishable food stuffs, said first compartment being provided with at least one front door for selective access to the first compartment; (b) a second compartment adjacent to and insulatable from the first compartment; (c) a wall separating the first compartment from the second compartment, said wall having first and second openings therein which openings define first and second passageways interconnecting the first and second compartments; (d) a refrigeration system mounted within the second compartment comprising: (i) a compressor and condenser coil; (ii) a freezer coil; and (iii) a blower adjacent the freezer coil circulating refrigerated air through the passageways between the first and second compartments to cool the first compartment during the refrigeration cycle; and (iv) means for collecting and exhausting the melted frost from the second compartment into the ambient temperature environment; and (v) thermostatic temperature control means for controlling the temperature of the refrigerated air from said second compartment at a pre-selected, refrigerated temperature; (e) a divider shelf formed at least in part of at least one insulating material and dimensioned and configured to be positioned at any of a plurality of selectable locations within said first compartment, said shelf having sealing means positioned along peripheral portions thereof to engage corresponding inner wall portions of said first compartment in sealed relation to prevent the flow of air thereby when said shelf is positioned in any of said selectable locations, said sealing means extending at least over a sufficient portion of the periphery of said shelf such that when said shelf is positioned in one of said selectable locations, said shelf divides said first compartment into at least two sub-sections and alters the flow of refrigerated air in said first compartment, said shelf having an aperture which permits passage of refrigerated air therethrough, said shelf defining a space with the front door when in any of said selectable locations for return of spent refrigerated air from the sub-section of said first compartment distant from said second compartment to the sub-section closest to said second compartment, so that the spent refrigerated air may be returned to said second compartment through at least one of said first defined openings and corresponding passageways, said shelf being provided with aperture and temperature sensing control means to vary the size of the aperture in response to temperatures sensed by said control means in the sub-section of said first compartment distant from said second compartment so as to selectively permit the flow of refrigerated air therethrough to thermostatically maintain the temperature of said sub-section of said first compartment distant from said second compartment under the control of the temperature sensing and control means of said shelf, and the sub-section of said first compartment closest to said second compartment is thermostatically maintained at below-freezing temperatures under the thermostatic control means of said refrigeration system in said second compartment.