Abstract:
A refrigerator tray holds containers of individual beverages for dispensing the beverages one at a time. The tray has a ventilated support panel surrounded about its periphery by a frame of sidewalls. The support panel fits in the sidewalls so that the panel slants downward toward the front to gravity feed the beverages.

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    This invention relates to a refrigerator shelf device, and, more particularly, to a tray for a refrigerator shelf for holding a beverage package having multiple individual beverage containers.  
         BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    Beverages occupy precious space in a refrigerator. To conserve space, individual beverage containers are packaged in a carton so that individual beverage containers are stacked vertically to conserve shelf space. For consumer appeal and economy, cartons typically contain 12, 18, 20 or 24 individual beverage containers. The cartons rest on a side to make maximum use of shelf space. Unfortunately, the cartons lie flat on one side thereby losing benefit of gravity feed when only one row of containers remains to be dispensed. It is desirable to retain gravity feed to ensure that containers are easily dispensed.  
           [0003]    Typically, popular upscale residential refrigerators have glass shelves wherein the glass is flat, without openings or ribs, so that there is no air circulation through the glass shelf or over the surface between the carton and shelf surface. Ventilation is essential to timely chill the beverage containers and to keep them chilled. Accordingly, it will be appreciated that it would be highly desirable to have a shelf device that not only ensures gravity feed but also facilitates ventilation of the beverage carton.  
           [0004]    A full carton rests flat on the shelf and individual beverage containers gravity feed for removal one at a time. When only one row or layer of containers remains, the gravity feed is lost. As the containers are removed, the center of gravity shifts which may cause the carton to tip forward or move about on the shelf. Also, moisture on the shelf reduces friction between the carton and shelf increasing the tendency of the carton to move about on the shelf. It is desirable to maintain the carton in a fixed position on the shelf.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0005]    The present invention is directed to overcoming one or more of the problems set forth above. Briefly summarized, according to the present invention, a tray for a refrigerator shelf has four sidewalls and a support panel. A front sidewall has a top portion and a bottom portion, and a rear sidewall has a top portion and a bottom portion with the rear sidewall spaced from the front sidewall. The bottom portion of the front sidewall is at a lower elevation than the top portion of the rear sidewall. A left sidewall has a top portion and a bottom portion, and a right sidewall has a top portion and a bottom portion. The right sidewall is spaced from the left sidewall. The bottom portions of the left and right sidewalls are at a lower elevation than the top portions of the left and right sidewalls. The support panel has front, rear, left and right edges with the front edge connected to the bottom portion of the front sidewall and with the rear edge connected to the top portion of the rear sidewall. The left edge is connected to the left sidewall and the right edge is connected to the right sidewall so that the support panel slants downward from the rear sidewall towards the front sidewall.  
           [0006]    Slanting the support panel towards the front sidewall ensures that a carton resting on the tray will have individual beverage containers inside the carton gravity feed toward the front sidewall for dispensing one at a time.  
           [0007]    The left, right and front sidewalls define a retaining lip above the support panel which retains the carton on the tray. The left, right and rear sidewalls define a retaining lip below the support panel, which, when upturned, retains the carton on the tray. When the upper retaining lip and the lower retaining lip are of different width dimensions, different sizes of cartons are easily accommodated by a single tray.  
           [0008]    The support panel defines a plurality of ventilation openings to provide for adequate ventilation. Also, the sidewalls have openings that provide effective ventilation when the tray rests on a glass shelf.  
           [0009]    According to another aspect of the invention, a tray has a bottom panel with front, rear, left and right upstanding sidewalls. A plurality of support members each have their front ends connected to the bottom portion of the front sidewall and their rear ends connected to the top portion of the rear sidewall so that the support members slant downward from the rear sidewall towards the front sidewall. The bottom panel has openings to provide ventilation.  
           [0010]    These and other aspects, objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be more clearly understood and appreciated from a review of the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments and appended claims, and by reference to the accompanying drawings 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING  
       [0011]    [0011]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of a refrigerator tray for beverage cartons according to the present invention.  
         [0012]    [0012]FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the tray of FIG. 1 taken along line  2 - 2  of FIG. 1.  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 3 is a perspective view of another preferred embodiment of a refrigerator tray for beverage cartons according to the present invention.  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 4 is a diagrammatic perspective view of several trays connected side by side to one another.  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 5 is a somewhat enlarged exploded view of the encircled portion of FIG. 4.  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 6 is a diagrammatic sectional view of tray sidewall which has a serrated bottom edge.  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 7 is a diagrammatic sectional view of tray sidewall similar to FIG. 6 but illustrating a rubber strip attached to the bottom edge.  
         [0018]    [0018]FIG. 8 is a diagrammatic sectional view of tray sidewall similar to FIGS. 6 and 7 but illustrating a key and keyway attaching a rubber strip to the bottom edge.  
         [0019]    [0019]FIG. 9 is a diagrammatic fragmentary view of a corner of a tray with a suction cup attached. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0020]    Referring to FIGS.  1 - 2 , a tray  10  for holding a carton of individual beverage containers gravity feeds the containers for dispensing one at a time. The tray  10  has front and rear sidewalls  12 ,  14  each with a top portion and a bottom portion. Front and rear sidewalls  12 ,  14  are spaced from one another. The bottom portion of front sidewall  12  is at a lower elevation than the top portion of the rear sidewall  14 .  
         [0021]    Tray  10  also has left and right sidewalls  16 ,  18  spaced from one another with each having a top portion and a bottom portion. The bottom portions of left and right sidewalls  16 ,  18  are at a lower elevation than the top portions of the left and right sidewalls  16 ,  18 .  
         [0022]    A support panel  20  has front, rear, left and right edges. The front edge is connected to the bottom portion of front sidewall  12 , the rear edge is connected to the top portion of the rear sidewall  14 , the left edge is connected to the left sidewall  16 , and the right edge is connected to the right sidewall  18 . The support panel  20  preferably slants downward from rear sidewall  14  towards front sidewall  12 . Support panel  20  has a plurality of openings  22  to help with air circulation.  
         [0023]    Front sidewall  12  preferably has a plurality of openings  24  formed in its top portion so that the openings lie above support panel  20  as illustrated in FIG. 1, but which would lie below support panel  20  if the tray were turned over so that the top becomes the bottom and the bottom becomes the top. Similarly, rear sidewall  14  preferably has a plurality of openings  26  formed in its bottom portion so that the openings  26  lie below support panel  20  as illustrated in FIG. 1, but which would lie above support panel  20  if the tray were turned over so that the top becomes the bottom and the bottom becomes the top. Left sidewall  16  contains a first set of openings  28  near the front sidewall  12  of the tray lying above support panel  20 , and has a second set of openings  30  near the rear sidewall  14  of the tray lying below support panel  20 . Right sidewall  18  has sets of similar openings  32 ,  34 .  
         [0024]    The left, right and front sidewalls  16 ,  12 ,  18  define a retaining lip above support panel  20  at the front of the tray. The retaining lip prevents a beverage carton from sliding off the tray. The lip need not be a very pronounced lip; it only has to be sufficiently deep to prevent the carton from sliding off the tray, but not so deep as to interfere with removing individual beverage containers from the carton through an opening at the bottom front of the carton. Where the tray is dimensioned to exactly fit a particular carton, then rear sidewall  14  may be used to complete the lip forming a complete rim, as is the case with the portions of the tray below support panel  20  in FIG. 2. Where the tray is shorter than the carton, then rear sidewall  14  does not form part of the lip thereby allowing the carton to overhang the tray, as is the case with the portions of the tray above support panel  20  in FIG. 2.  
         [0025]    In similar fashion, the rear, left and right sidewalls  14 ,  16 ,  18 , define a retaining lip below support panel  20  which can be used for a carton when the tray is turned upside down. Preferably, left and right sidewalls  16 ,  18  are thicker or offset inward to make the spacing between them narrower, or, alternatively, may be offset outward to make the spacing wider, to accommodate a different carton width.  
         [0026]    Referring to FIG. 3, a tray  36  for holding articles, such as a carton of beverages for example, has a front sidewall  38  with a top portion and a bottom portion and a rear sidewall  40  with a top portion and a bottom portion. The rear sidewall  40  is spaced from the front sidewall  38  and the bottom portion of the front sidewall lies at a lower elevation than the top portion of the rear sidewall. A left sidewall  42  has top and a bottom portions, and a right sidewall  44  has top and bottom portions. Right sidewall  44  is spaced from left sidewall  42 , and the bottom portions of the left and right sidewalls lie at lower elevations than the top portions. A bottom wall  46  is connected to the front, rear, left and right sidewalls.  
         [0027]    A plurality of support members  48  each have front and rear ends. The front ends are connected to the bottom portion of the front sidewall  38 , and the rear ends are connected to the top portion of the rear sidewall  40 . The support members  48  slant downward from the rear sidewall  40  towards the front sidewall  38 . Each support member  48  may be a simple elongated member such as a rod, or may be a panel. Where rods are employed, the bottom panel may be omitted so that the tray can be turned upside down to accommodate a different size carton so that a single tray can accommodate different sizes of cartons. Where panels instead of rods are employed, the bottom panel  46  may have a plurality of openings  50  to promote air circulation.  
         [0028]    Preferably, the left, right and front sidewalls  42 ,  44 ,  38  define a retaining lip above the support members  48 . Where rods are used without a bottom panel, the left, right and rear sidewalls  42 ,  44 ,  40  define a retaining lip below the support members  48  for use when the tray is turned upside down.  
         [0029]    Referring to FIGS.  4 - 5 , adjacent trays  52 ,  54 , may be connected side by side using connecting means such as, for example, a key  56  on tray  52  to interlock with a keyway  58  on tray  54 .  
         [0030]    FIGS.  6 - 9  illustrate fastening means for preventing movement of a tray on a shelf. In FIG. 6, a sidewall  60  of a tray  62  is equipped with a grooved or serrated bottom edge  64 . A series of horizontal and transverse grooves produce a pattern of feet for contacting the surface of the shelf to thereby increase friction to resist movement of the tray on the shelf. The grooves provide an escape path for moisture so that the feet can have fiction producing contact with the shelf.  
         [0031]    [0031]FIG. 7 illustrates another means for fastening a sidewall  66  of a tray  68  to a shelf. The fastening means includes an elastomeric strip  70 , preferably rubber or the like, attached to the bottom edge of the sidewall  66  with an adhesive or the like. A mechanical fastener could be used, but an adhesive is preferred because it is simple and easy to use. In FIG. 8 the bottom edge of a sidewall  72  of tray  76  has a groove or keyway which accepts a tongue or key of an elastomeric strip  74 . Elastomeric strips  70  and  72  may extend continuously about the entire bottom edge of a tray, or may be a series of pieces of material.  
         [0032]    [0032]FIG. 9 illustrates a corner of a tray formed by sidewalls  78  and  80 . A suction cup  82  is attached to the bottom of the tray at the corner to prevent the tray from moving about on the shelf. The corner may have a protrusion extending downward for attaching the suction cup or may have bore to receive a pin for attaching the suction cup. Suction cups can be used at locations other than the corners.  
         [0033]    While the invention has been described with particular reference to the preferred embodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes may be made and equivalents may be substituted for elements of the preferred embodiments without departing from invention. For example, while the tray can be molded of plastic, metal could also be used. Also, upstanding ribs can be added to the support panel to further foster air circulation.  
         [0034]    As is evident from the foregoing description, certain aspects of the invention are not limited to the particular details of the examples illustrated, and it is therefore contemplated that other modifications and applications will occur to those skilled in the art. For instance, because the upper and lower lips accept a carton, the lips can reinforce the front of the carton. Cartons can be stood on end and two cartons used on a single tray. Also, trays can be placed between cartons on a transportation pallet and shipped with the carton. It is accordingly intended that the claims shall cover all such modifications and applications as do not depart from the true spirit and scope of the invention.