Abstract:
Lighting units for refrigerator drawers and baskets are disclosed. An example refrigerator drawer assembly includes a shelf having a divider, the shelf defining at least a portion of a drawer compartment, first and second drawers disposed beneath the shelf, an elongated light source attached to a bottom surface of the divider, the elongated light source having a plurality of light-emitting diodes (LEDs) along the length of the elongated light source to provide a source of visible light for the first and second drawers.

Description:
FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE 
     This disclosure relates generally to refrigerators, and, more particularly, to lighting units for refrigerator drawers and baskets. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Most refrigerators have one or more drawers and/or baskets that facilitate the storage of items, such as food items. Refrigerator drawers and baskets have an open top face that allow a person to place items in the drawers and/or baskets, and remove items from the drawers and/or baskets. When a drawer and/or basket is in a closed position, the open top face of the drawer and/or basket may be closed by a shelf positioned above the drawer and/or basket, the bottom of another drawer and/or basket, and/or any other structure(s) of the refrigerator such as an inner liner and/or interior partition. 
     SUMMARY 
     Lighting units for refrigerator drawers and baskets are disclosed. An example refrigerator drawer assembly includes a shelf having a divider, the shelf defining at least a portion of a drawer compartment, first and second drawers disposed beneath the shelf, an elongated light source attached to a bottom surface of the divider, the elongated light source having a plurality of light-emitting diodes (LEDs) along the length of the elongated light source to provide a source of visible light for the first and second drawers. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective drawing of an example refrigerator having a drawer assembly including a lighting unit in accordance with the teachings of this disclosure. 
         FIG. 2  is a side cross-sectional view of a lower portion of the example refrigerator of  FIG. 1  taken along line  2 - 2  of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 3  is an isometric view of an example drawer assembly for the example refrigerator of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 4  is an isometric view of the top portion of the example drawer assembly of  FIG. 3  including an example elongated lighting unit to provide visible light for two drawers in accordance with the teachings of this disclosure. 
         FIG. 5  is a top view of the example top portion of  FIGS. 3 and 4 . 
         FIG. 6  is an exploded view of the example lighting unit of  FIGS. 4 and 5 . 
         FIG. 7  is a top view of the example lighting unit of  FIGS. 4 and 5 . 
         FIG. 8  is a cross-sectional view of the example lighting unit of  FIGS. 4 and 5  taken along line  8 - 8  of  FIG. 5 . 
         FIG. 9  is a cross-sectional view of the example lighting unit of  FIGS. 4 and 5  taken along line  9 - 9  of  FIG. 5 . 
         FIGS. 10-12  illustrate example methods of providing power to the disclosed elongated lighting sources. 
         FIG. 13  is an illustration of an example twisted printed circuit board that may be used to provide visible light for two drawers. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     In some prior-art refrigerators, drawers and baskets are not lighted, which may impair a user&#39;s ease of seeing items that are in the drawers and baskets. In some prior-art refrigerators, lighting inside the refrigerator is mounted high in the refrigerator to provide general illumination within the refrigerator and, thus, may not adequately illuminate the insides of drawers and/or baskets. To overcome at least these problems, lighting units that provide adequate and/or quality illumination for storage containers (e.g., crisper drawers, meat drawers, produce drawers, freezer baskets, etc.) are disclosed. 
       FIG. 1  illustrates an example refrigerator  100  having a refrigerated compartment  101  and a freezer compartment  102 . The refrigerated compartment  101  and the freezer compartment  102  each have an open face to provide access to the compartments  101  and  102 . The refrigerator  100  includes doors  103 A and  103 B, and a drawer  104  moveably mounted to the refrigerator  100  for movement between opened and closed positions to selectively open and close the open faces of the compartments  101  and  102 . 
     To allow food to be stored at different humidities and/or temperatures, the example refrigerator  100  includes a refrigerator drawer stack  105  having one or more drawers (one of which is designated at reference numeral  110 ). As discussed below in connection with  FIGS. 2-13 , the refrigerator drawer stack  105  includes at least one lighting unit to illuminate one or more of the drawers  110  thereby facilitating the better viewing of objects in the drawer stack  105  when the drawers  110  are closed. 
     To enable a person to adjust one more properties of the visible light provided by the disclosed lighting unit, the example refrigerator  100  includes a user interface  115  (not shown). The user interface  115  may be, for example, included in a control panel associated with a water and/or ice dispenser. The user interface  115  may be used to control, among other things, the color and/or intensity of the visible light provided by the lighting unit. For example, the lighting may be configured to provide mood lighting. 
     Although the example lighting units disclosed herein are described with reference to the example refrigerator  100  and the example drawer stack  105 , one of ordinary skill in the art will readily appreciate that the lighting units disclosed herein may be used to provide lighting for other storage containers in a refrigerator (e.g., in a freezer basket, a crisper drawer, a meat drawer, a produce drawer, etc.), in refrigerators having other configurations (e.g., a side-by-side refrigerators, a top-freezer refrigerators, etc.), and/or in any other appliances including, but not limited to, a freezer, a washing machine, a dryer, a stove, a microwave, a dishwasher, etc. 
       FIG. 2  illustrates a side cross-sectional view of the example drawer stack  105  of  FIG. 1  taken along line  2 - 2  of  FIG. 1 . As shown in  FIG. 2 , the drawer stack  105  includes upper drawers  205  and lower drawers  210 . In the illustrated example of  FIG. 2 , upper open surfaces of the upper and lower drawers  205  and  210  are closed by respective shelves  215  and  220 . An elongated lighting unit  225  extends downward from the shelf  220  to provide visible light for the lower drawers  210 . The lighting unit  225  will be described below in more detail in connection with  FIGS. 6-9 . While  FIG. 2  only depicts lighting in connection with the lower drawers  210 , it will be understood by persons of ordinary skilling in the art that lighting could also be provided for the upper drawers  205 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 3 , the example shelf  220  closes open top surfaces of two lower drawers  210 . The shelf  220  includes two glass, plastic or otherwise at least partially see through portions  305  and  310  for respective ones of the drawers  210 , and a divider  315  between the at least partially see through portions  305  and  310 . As shown in  FIGS. 4 and 5 , the elongated lighting unit  225  is attached beneath and extends downward from the divider  315 . The lighting unit  225  may be snapped (see  FIG. 9 ), glued, screwed, adhered and/or otherwise affixed to the divider  315 . As will be described below in connection with  FIGS. 6-9 , visible light is emitted from both sides of the lighting unit  225  into respective ones of the drawers  210 . 
       FIG. 6  is an exploded view of the example lighting unit  225 .  FIG. 7  is a top view of the example lighting unit  225 .  FIG. 8  is a side cross-sectional view of the example lighting unit  225  taken along line  8 - 8  of  FIG. 5 . To hold light emitting devices such as light emitting diodes (LEDs), the example lighting unit  225  of  FIGS. 6-8  includes two printed circuit boards (PCBs)  605  and  610 . Each of the PCBs  605  and  610  have a plurality of light emitting devices (one of which is designated at reference numeral  615 ) along a length of the PCBs  605  and  610 . 
     To hold the PCBs  605  and  610 , the example lighting unit  225  includes an enclosure  620 . The PCBs  605  and  610  are mounted in the enclosure  620  such that each of the PCBs  605  and  610  provides light for a respective side of the lighting unit  225 , i.e., for a respective drawer  210 . While the example lighting unit  225  includes two PCBs  605  and  610 , alternatively a single PCB with LEDs mounted on both sides could be used. 
     To allow visible light emitted by the LEDs  615  to pass through the example enclosure  620 , the enclosure  620  includes a plurality of openings, holes and/or light guides (one of which is designated at reference numeral  625 ) for respective ones of the LEDs  615 . In some examples, the enclosure  620  may be made of clear plastic, plastic with a diffusing coating, and/or textured plastic to allow light emitted by the LEDs  615  to pass through the enclosure  620 . 
     To direct and/or diffuse the light emitted by the LEDs  615 , the example lighting unit  225  includes a light lens and/or light guide  630 . In addition to directing and/or diffusing the light emitted by the LEDs  615 , the light lens and/or light guide  630  may protect the PCBs  605  and  610  from, for example, spills and/or damage. The light lens and/or light guide  630  may be formed from clear plastic, plastic with a diffusing coating, and/or textured plastic. In some examples, the light lens and/or light guide  630  may be omitted. In such examples, the enclosure  620  may be affixed to the divider  315 . 
     To facilitate a wiring harness, the example enclosure  620  includes a hole  705  (see  FIG. 7 ). The example hole  705  enables a wiring harness to pass into the lighting unit  225  to provide power to the PCBs  605  and  610 . 
     To hold the PCBs  605  and  610  in place, the enclosure  620  includes a protrusion  802  (see  FIG. 8 ). The example protrusion  802  extends upward from the bottom of the enclosure  620  to support the PCBs  605  and  610  vertically. In some examples, additional and/or alternative means of holding or mounting the PCBs  605  and  610  in the enclosure  620  may be used. 
     To affix the lighting unit  225  to the divider  315 , the example lighting unit  225  includes tabs  805  and  810  (see  FIG. 8 ). As shown in  FIG. 9 , the tabs  805  and  810  enable the lighting unit  225  to the snapped to a bottom surface of the divider  315 . Additionally or alternatively, the lighting unit  225  may be glued, adhered, screwed, or otherwise affixed to the divider  315 . In some examples, the tabs  805  and  810  may be omitted. 
       FIGS. 10-12  illustrate three example wiring harnesses that may be used to provide power to the example lighting unit  225 . In  FIG. 10 , a wiring harness  1005  foamed into the refrigerator lining at one end runs from the refrigerator liner to a connector  1010  in close proximity to the lighting unit  225 . In  FIG. 11 , a wiring harness  1105  runs from the lighting unit  225  to a connector  1110  foamed into the refrigerator liner. In  FIG. 12 , short wiring harness  1205  connects to a connector  1210  at a back edge of the shelf  220 . In the examples of  FIGS. 10-12 , the use of a connector enables the shelf  220  to be removed for, for example, cleaning or repositioning. 
       FIG. 13  illustrates an alternative PCB  1305  that may be used instead of the PCBs  605  and  610 . In some examples, the example PCB  1305  of  FIG. 13  is molded like a twisted part with LEDs (one of which is designated with reference numeral  1310 ) mounted on both sides of the twisted PCB  1305 . In other examples, the LEDs are mounted on only one side with other components mounted on the opposite side. 
     Although certain example methods, apparatus and articles of manufacture have been described herein, the scope of coverage of this patent is not limited thereto. On the contrary, this patent covers all methods, apparatus and articles of manufacture fairly falling within the scope of the claims of this patent.