WITHOUT FRIDGE DEFEND YOU ARE NOT PROTECTED
Dometic & Norcold reliability and fire safety, can you live without it?
WITHOUT FRIDGE DEFEND YOU ARE NOT PROTECTED
Dometic & Norcold reliability and fire safety, can you live without it?
This page shows a timeline of refrigerator advances through out history starting in 1000 BC to the present RV fridge.
The following is a timeline built from research during our patenting process of the Fridge Defend by ARP.
Click here to view an RV Refrigeration History of Patents. BC1000
The Chinese stored ice due to winter freezing - seems like a natural thing to do - great way to start
a time line!
BC500
The Egyptians use cold night time temperatures to make ice and then store it.
1700
In England, ice is collected during the winter and stored in ice houses. Seems that the English were a
little behind the Chinese, only 2700 years regarding fridge history!
1720
Dr. William Cullen uses a vacuum for evaporation of liquids – please note that there is a relationship
between the temperature a fluid freezes at and the pressure. Note that this time line starts with the
governing principles for the ARP Control and RV fridge history.
1800
Thomas Moore coined the term "refrigerator". More was an engineer from Maryland USA and his device was
truly an ice box and was simply a wood tub with rabbit fur insulation filled with ice which was designed
for the transport of butter.
1805
Oliver Evans works on compressed ether for refrigeration.
1820
Michael Faraday liquefied ammonia to cause cooling – note that Faraday was one of the fathers of
electrical power generation.
1834
Jacob Perkins makes a compression refrigeration ice making machine which is the first true refrigerator –
see 1805 above.
1844
James Harrison invents compressed ether machine – see 1805 above.
1849
Dr. John Gorrie finds that rapidly expanding gases are cooled; this would be considered the
vapor-compression method which is the current method for a typical household refrigerator where a
compressor forces gas through a restriction and then expands. Gorrie was attempting to cure the tropical
disease which was thought to be caused by hot weather - malaria.
1850
Edmond Carre invents an absorption fridge cooler that uses sulfuric acid absorbed by water - this is the
true beginning of RV fridge history because an absorbent is used for the phase change of gaseous
sulfuric acid to liquid by absorption into the water.
1852
William Thomson & James Prescott theorize that cooling increases in proportion to the pressure
difference.
1855
Dr. John Gorrie builds compression cooler using Faraday method - see 1820.
1856
James Harrison hired to build a machine that can cool beer.
1857
First refrigerated rail car introduced by Chicago meatpacking industry.
1859
Ferdinand Carre developed the first ammonia absorption refrigeration unit that uses water as the
absorbent - the next step in RV fridge history. See 1850, Ferdinand is Edmond's brother.
1866
First refrigerated railway car to carry fruit.
1871
Carl von Linde publishes an document on improved refrigeration techniques.
1873
Carl von Linde first practical and portable compressor refrigeration unit.
1874
Raoul Pictet uses a compressor system using sulfur dioxide instead of ammonia – note that sulfur dioxide
is a toxic gas.
1876
Carl von Linde used methyl ether, but changed to an ammonia cycle.
1878
Carl von Linde starts Lindes Eismaschinen AG, now Linde AG.
1881
Edmund J. Copeland and Arnold H. Gross start Leonard Refrigerator Company.
1894
Linde developed the ‘Linde technique for the liquefaction of large quantities of air.
1894
Linde AG installs refrigerator at the Guinness brewery in Dublin, Ireland.
1895
Carl von Linde produced large amounts of liquid air using the Thomson-Joule effect.
1901
US Pat. 665,814 issued January 10,
for an ice box.
1911
General Electric company unveiled a refrigerator invented by a French monk, Abbe Audiffren.
1913
Fred W. Wolf Jr. of the Domelre Company (DOMestic ELectric REfrigerator).
1914
Leonard Refrigerator Company renamed Electro-Automatic Refrigerating Company.
1915
Alfred Mellowes builds self-container refrigerator for home use.
1916
Henry Joy of Packard Motor Car Co. purchased the Fred W. Wolf refrigerator rights.
1918
Guardian Frigerato purchased by General Motors and renamed Frigidaire.
1918
Electro-Automatic Refrigerating Company renamed Kelvinator.
1920
Approximately 200 different refrigerator models on the market.
1922
Baltzar von Platen and Carl Munters introduce absorption process refrigerator while they were still
students at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden, enhanced the principle with a
3-fluid configuration. This is the process used for RV fridges, the true beginning of the modern RV
fridge history.
1923
Baltzar von Platen and Carl Munters granted patent March 8.
1923
Kelvinator introduces first refrigerator control with automatic temperature control. Kelvinator held 80
percent of the market for electric refrigerators.
1923
AB Arctic begins production of refrigerators based on Platen-Munter's invention - see 1922.
1925
Electrolux purchases Pleaten and Munter patent. AB Arctic and launches the first absorption fridge,
"D-fridge" on the world market – note that Electrolux goes on to form the Dometic company to supply
RV refrigerators.
1926
Albert Einstein and his former student Leó Szilárd proposed an alternative design known as the Einstein
refrigerator – Einstein’s motivation is deaths caused by the toxic refrigerants used at the time.
1927
General Electric "Monitor-Top" refrigerator – a commercial success with over 1,000,000 units sold.
1930
First built-in refrigerator is launched by Electrolux.
1931
Dupont produced commercial quantities of R-12, trademarked as Freon.
1931
The first air-cooled refrigerator introduced by Electrolux.
1932
Frank Gibson, manufactured a line of refrigerators.
1933
Non refrigeration fact, see 1926, Leó Szilard conceived the "nuclear chain reaction" in this year.
These guys developing refrigeration where not slackers!
1934
The Shelvador refrigerator is introduced by the Crosley Radio Corporation.
1936
Albert Henne synthesizes refrigerant R-134a.
1936
10 million absorption refrigerators sold!
1937
Approximately 2 million Americans owned refrigerators.
1939
General Electric (GE) introduces two section refrigerator, one section for frozen food and a second for
chilled food.
1946
Mass production of modern refrigerators is now started. The troops coming home from WW-II have money to
spend!
1947
GE two-door refrigerator-freezer combination.
1955
Approximately 80% of American homes have refrigerators.
1956
Electrolux sells the Dometic fridge for the new RV market. This is RV fridge history; the photo above is
one of these classic cooling units.
1955
Refrigerator Safety Act passed, this act mandates that a pressure of 15 pounds of force shall open the
fridge door. This act was passed to protect children from entrapment within discarded fridges that had
latching doors. This brought on the magnetic door seal.
1959
Norcold is formed as a family business. We bought our first Dometic fridge that lasted 35 years and
served us well in the deserts of Baja California!
2001
Electrolux sells Leisure Products line to venture capital company EQT and Dometic Group is formed.
2003
Norcold is awarded patent 7,050,888 titled CONTROL SYSTEM AND METHOD OF CONTROLLING AMMONIUM ABSORPTION
REFRIGERATORS. This control used the cabinet thermistor to control the cooling unit. If the heat source
was turned on, a timing period started counting for 45 minutes. If after 45 minutes the temperature
inside the fridge cabinet did not lower, it is assumed the cooling unit was not functioning. Thus, the
fridge was turned off and a code of NO CO was flashed on the display. This was a very good first step,
but the fridge can destroy itself in around 15 minutes if the boiler overheats. See following link:
Patent 7,050,888
2005
Approximately 99.5% of American homes have refrigerators.
2006
10 million refrigerators produced in Dometic factory in Motala.
2006
Paul Unmack instruments absorption refrigerators and finds that the process can be controlled by limiting
the boiler temperature. Thus, the first Absorption Refrigeration Protection Control (ARP) is reduced to
practice.
2008
ARP Control patent application publication is published, see
US20080115513 A1.
2011
US Patent 8,056,360
– After rigorous prosecution, ARPrv Control patent is granted.
2011
Norcold recognizes that the ARP Control solves a long felt need and files a patent application 13/279,361
titled ABSORPTION REFRIGERATOR UNIT WITH TEMPERATURE AND LEVEL MONITORING. Sound anything like an ARP
Control? Click on following link and decide for yourself:
Norcold Patent Application Publication.
2013
ARP Control is introduced to the public at Good Sam/Camping World Rally. Good Sam makes RV fridge
history?
2015
Norcold patent application filed in 2011 is rejected by the US Patent Office citing that the ARP Control
already solved the issues associated with temperature and level monitoring. By attempting to re-patent
the ARP Control Norcold confirms the need and usefulness of the ARP Control.
If you have information you would like added to our time line, please contact us using the Contact Us button below.