Patent Publication Number: US-11384979-B2

Title: Refrigerated storage system

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     Not Applicable 
     STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT 
     Not Applicable 
     THE NAMES OF THE PARTIES TO A JOINT RESEARCH AGREEMENT 
     Not Applicable 
     INCORPORATION-BY-REFERENCE OF MATERIAL SUBMITTED ON A COMPACT DISC OR AS A TEXT FILE VIA THE OFFICE ELECTRONIC FILING SYSTEM 
     Not Applicable 
     STATEMENT REGARDING PRIOR DISCLOSURES BY THE INVENTOR OR JOINT INVENTOR 
     Not Applicable 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     (1) Field of the Invention 
     (2) Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98 
     The disclosure and prior art relates to refrigeration devices and more particularly pertains to a new refrigeration device incorporating rotatable shelves into a refrigerator. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above by generally comprising a refrigerator that has a door. A first shelving unit is rotatably positioned within the refrigerator to support food items. The first shelving unit is selectively rotated to facilitate selected food items to be retrieved from the refrigerator. A second shelving unit is coupled to the door to support food items. The second shelving unit is movably positioned at a selected point along the door. 
     There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the disclosure in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the disclosure that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto. 
     The objects of the disclosure, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the disclosure, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING(S) 
       The disclosure will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein: 
         FIG. 1  is a front perspective view of a refrigerated storage system according to an embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 2  is a front view of an embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 3  is a cross sectional view taken along line  3 - 3  of  FIG. 2  of an embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 4  is a cross sectional view taken along line  4 - 4  of  FIG. 2  of an embodiment of the disclosure. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to  FIGS. 1 through 4  thereof, a new refrigeration device embodying the principles and concepts of an embodiment of the disclosure and generally designated by the reference numeral  10  will be described. 
     As best illustrated in  FIGS. 1 through 4 , the refrigerated storage system  10  generally comprises a refrigerator  12  that has a door  14 , a bottom wall  16 , a freezer  18  and a bounding wall  20  between the freezer  18  and the refrigerator  12 . The bounding wall  20  has a first surface  22  that faces the bottom wall  16  and the door  14  has a first surface  24  that engages the refrigerator  12  when the door  14  is closed. The refrigerator  12  may be an electric refrigerator of any conventional design such as a kitchen appliance or the like. 
     A first shelving unit  26  is rotatably positioned within the refrigerator  12  to support food items  28 . The first shelving unit  26  is selectively rotated, in the convention of a lazy susan or the like, to facilitate selected food items  28  to be retrieved from the refrigerator  12 . The first shelving unit  26  comprises a first shelf  30  that has an upper surface  32 . The first shelf  30  is positioned within the refrigerator  12  and food items  28  are selectively positioned thereon. The first shelf  30  is spaced from the bottom wall  16  of the refrigerator  12 . 
     A plurality of flanges  34  is provided and each of the flanges has a disk  36  and a receiver  38  extending away from the disk  36 . The disk  36  has a primary surface  40  and the plurality of flanges  34  includes a first flange  42 , a second flange  44 , a third flange  46  and a fourth flange  48 . The primary surface  40  corresponding to the first flange  42  is coupled to the first surface  22  of the bounding wall  20 . Moreover, the first flange  42  is centrally positioned on the bounding wall  20 . The disk  36  corresponding to the fourth flange  48  is coupled to the upper surface  32  of the first shelf  30  and the fourth flange  48  is centrally positioned on the first shelf  30 . Each of the second  44  and third  46  flanges has a hole  50  extending therethrough. The hole  50  corresponding to each of the second  44  and third  46  flanges is aligned with the receiver  38  corresponding to the second  44  and third  46  flanges. 
     A rod  52  is provided that has a first end  54  and a second end  56  and the rod  52  has a plurality of apertures  58  extending therethrough. The apertures  58  are spaced apart from each other and are distributed between the first  54  and second  56  ends. The receiver  38  corresponding to the first flange  42  fixedly receives the first end  54 . The receiver  38  corresponding to the fourth flange  48  fixedly receives the second end  56  and the rod  52  extends through the hole  50  in each of the second  44  and third  46  flanges. 
     A pair of pins  60  is provided and each of the pins  60  is extended through the receiver  38  in an associated one of the second  44  and third  46  flanges and engages a selected one of the apertures  58  in the rod  52 . In this way each of the first  44  and second  46  flanges is retained at a selected point along the rod  52 . A pair of bearings  62  is provided and each of the bearings  62  is positioned on the disk  36  of an associated one of the second  44  and third  46  flanges. Each of the bearings  62  may be ball bearings and any other type of friction reducing bearing. 
     A plurality of second shelves  64  is provided and each of the second shelves  64  has a top surface  66 , a bottom surface  68  and a perimeter edge  70  extending therebetween. The perimeter edge  70  corresponding to each of the second shelves  64  is continuous such that each of the second shelves  64  has a disk shape. The food items  28  are positioned on the top surface  66  corresponding to each of the second shelves  64 . 
     Each of the second shelves  64  has an opening  72  extending through the top 66 and bottom  68  surfaces and the opening  72  is centrally positioned on the corresponding shelf. The rod  52  extends through the opening  72  on each of the second shelves  64 . Moreover, the bottom surface  68  corresponding to each of the second shelves  64  is positioned on an associated one of the bearings  62  such that each of the second shelves  64  is rotatable about the rod  52 . 
     A second shelving unit  74  is provided and the second shelving unit  74  is coupled to the door  14  to support food items  28 . The second shelving unit  74  is movably positioned at a selected point along the door  14 . The second shelving unit  74  comprises a plurality of tracks  76  that is each coupled to the first surface of the door  14 . Each of the tracks  76  is vertically oriented on the door  14  and each of the tracks  76  has a plurality of connection points  78 . The connection points  78  corresponding to each of the tracks  76  are spaced apart from each other and are distributed along the corresponding track  76 . The connection points  78  may comprise openings extending into the tracks  76  or the like. 
     A plurality of third shelves  80  is provided and each of the third shelves  80  has a lower wall  82  and a perimeter wall  84  extending upwardly therefrom. The perimeter wall  84  corresponding to each of the shelves has a first lateral side  86 , a second lateral side  88 , a front side  90  and a back side  92 . The back side  92  corresponding to each of the third shelves  80  engages a selected one of the connection points  78  on the tracks  76 . In this way each of the third shelves  80  is positioned at a selected point along the tracks  76 . The front side  90  corresponding to each of the third shelves  80  is concavely arcuate between the first  86  and second  88  lateral side of the corresponding third shelves  80 . Thus, the front side  90  corresponding to each of the third shelves  80  is inhibited from frictionally engaging the perimeter edge  70  corresponding to the second shelves  64  when the door  14  is closed. 
     In use, each of the second  44  and third  46  flanges is positioned at a selected point along the rod  52 . Each of the pins  60  is extended through the receiver  38  of an associated of the second  44  and third  46  flanges to engage a selected one the apertures  58 . Thus, each of the second shelves  64  is retained at a selected point along the rod  52 . The food items  28  are positioned on the second shelves  64  and each of the second shelves  64  is selectively rotated about the rod  52  to access selected food items  28 . Each of the third shelves  80  is positioned at selected points along the tracks  76  and food items  28  are positioned on each of the third shelves  80 . 
     With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of an embodiment enabled by the disclosure, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, system and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by an embodiment of the disclosure. 
     Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the disclosure. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the disclosure to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the disclosure. In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used in its non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to an element by the indefinite article “a” does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearly requires that there be only one of the elements.