Patent Publication Number: US-6220682-B1

Title: Refrigerator shelving system

Description:
The present invention relates generally to refrigerators employed primarily as home appliances and pertains, more specifically, to a shelving system providing increased ease of access to items stored in such refrigerators. 
     Despite the many years since the refrigerator has become universally accepted as an essential kitchen appliance, little change has been made in the manner in which items are stored within a refrigerator. In particular, refrigerator shelving arrangements continue to be offered in various conventional configurations wherein the shelves span the width of the interior of the refrigerator, rendering access to the rear areas of the shelves at best inconvenient and, at worst, quite difficult. Consequently, it is not unusual for items stored toward the rear of a refrigerator to linger there, long past the expiration of freshness and usefulness. 
     The present invention provides a refrigerator shelving system which essentially eliminates hard-to-reach areas located toward the rear of the interior of a refrigerator, enabling easy access to the entire volume of the interior of the refrigerator for effective storage and retrieval of a wide variety of items. As such, the present invention attains several objects and advantages, some of which are summarized as follows: Provides a refrigerator shelving system which enables increased ease of access to items stored throughout the entire interior of a refrigerator; essentially eliminates ordinarily hard-to-reach areas located at the rear of a refrigerator interior; makes effective storage use of the full volume of a refrigerator interior; increases the availability of readily usable storage space within the interior of a refrigerator; allows increased ease in locating and accessing items stored in a refrigerator; provides a refrigerator shelving system having increased effectiveness in storage and use, with a relatively simple and economically fabricated construction; provides an easily modified arrangement which enables increased versatility for the storage of a wide variety of items in a refrigerator; avoids excessive residence time of stored items, and consequent spoilage, by affording ease of access to items stored at virtually any location within a refrigerator; provides an ergonomic arrangement which encourages effective utilization of available storage capacity of a refrigerator; enables increased ease in viewing and identifying items stored throughout the interior of a refrigerator; provides a shelving system compatible with conventional refrigerator construction for ease of incorporation into currently available refrigerator configurations; provides a relatively rugged construction capable of effective operation over a long service life. 
     The above objects and advantages, as well as further objects and advantages, are attained by the present invention which may be described briefly as a shelving system for a refrigerator having a cooled interior bounded by a top wall, an altitudinally opposite bottom wall, laterally opposite side walls, a rear wall and a longitudinally opposite front opening, the shelving system comprising: a plurality of shelf units, each shelf unit including laterally opposite sides aligned generally with the laterally opposite side walls of the interior of the refrigerator and shelves, each shelf having a longitudinal length and a lateral width, the shelves being arranged in an array of altitudinally spaced apart shelves with access to each shelf available through at least one side of a corresponding shelf unit, in lateral directions; and at least one suspension assembly mounting each shelf unit within the interior of the refrigerator for selective movement along longitudinal forward and backward directions between a retracted position, wherein the shelf unit is located fully within the interior of the refrigerator, between the front opening and the rear wall, and an extended position, wherein the shelf unit is extended longitudinally forward to expose the shelves for simultaneous access to all of the shelves of the shelf unit in lateral directions through at least one of the opposite sides of the shelf unit. 
    
    
     The invention will be understood more fully, while still further objects and advantages will become apparent, in the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment of the invention illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which: 
     FIG. 1 is a pictorial front and right side perspective view of a refrigerator opened to reveal a shelving system constructed in accordance with the present invention; 
     FIG. 2 is a lateral cross-sectional view taken along line  2 — 2  of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 3 is an altitudinal cross-sectional view taken along line  3 — 3  of FIG. 2; 
     FIG. 4 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view similar to FIG. 3, but reduced in size and showing the component parts in another position of operation; and 
     FIG. 5 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view similar to FIG. 4, and showing the component parts in still another position of operation. 
    
    
     Referring now to the drawing, and especially to FIGS. 1 through 3 thereof, a refrigerator  10  is seen to include an insulated cabinet  12  having a cooled compartment  14  with an interior  16  bounded by a top wall  20 , an altitudinally opposite bottom wall  22 , a left side wall  24 , a right side wall  26  laterally opposite the left side wall  24 , a rear wall  27  and a front opening  28  longitudinally opposite the rear wall  27 . In the illustrated embodiment, the cooled compartment  14  is shown divided by a central partition  30  into two sub-compartments in the form of a  20  left sub-compartment  34  and a right sub-compartment  36 ; however, the division into sub-compartments merely is illustrative of a commonly available conventional refrigerator configuration and is not an essential feature of the present invention. A left door  40  selectively opens and closes access to the left sub-compartment  34 , and a right door  42  selectively opens and closes access to the right sub-compartment  36 . Both doors  40  and  42  carry internal shelves  44 , as is known in current refrigerator configurations. A freezer compartment  50  is located below the cooled compartment  14  and includes a freezer drawer  52  mounted upon drawer slides  54  for selective opening and closing by sliding out of and into a freezer interior  56 , with the assistance of a drawer handle  58 . The freezer interior  56  is bounded by side walls  60 , a longitudinally opposite front opening  64 , a rear wall  62  and a bottom wall  66 , as well as the bottom wall  22  of the cooled compartment  14 . All of the walls surrounding both the cooled interior  16  and the freezer interior  56  include thermal insulation  70 , as is conventional in refrigerator construction. 
     The present invention provides a shelving system  80  having a plurality of shelf units  82  mounted within the interior  16  of the refrigerator  10  for enabling the storage of items, shown by way of example at  83 , within the interior  16  of the cooling compartment  14 . In the illustrated embodiment, the left sub-compartment  34  is shown to have two shelf units  82 , while the right sub-compartment incorporates one shelf unit  82  in combination with a more conventional shelving arrangement  84  in which laterally extending essentially fixed shelves  86  are stacked above a storage drawer  88 . The combination allows for the storage of extra large items, such as items  87 , on shelves  86  and certain loose items, such as meats and vegetables, as illustrated at  89 , in drawer  88 , in a conventional manner. 
     Shelf units  82  are constructed in accordance with the present invention, each shelf unit  82  being mounted within the interior  16  of the refrigerator  10  by suspension assemblies  90  placed along a unit top  92  and a unit bottom  94 , the suspension assemblies  90  being located and secured between the top wall  20  and a corresponding unit top  92 , and between the bottom wall  22  and a corresponding unit bottom  94 . In the illustrated embodiment, two shelf units  82  are located in side-by-side arrangement in the left sub-compartment  34 , essentially filling the volume of the interior of the left sub-compartment  34 , while one shelf unit  82  essentially fills the space in the right sub-compartment  36 , adjacent the conventional shelving arrangement  84 . 
     As best seen in FIGS. 2 and 3, as well as in FIG. 1, each shelf unit  82  includes laterally opposite sides  100  and  102  aligned generally with the laterally opposite side walls  24  and  26  of the interior  16  of the refrigerator  10 , a rear  104  aligned generally with the rear wall  27 , and a longitudinally opposite front  106  adjacent the front opening  28 . Columns  110  extend altitudinally between the unit top  92  and the unit bottom  94  and carry a plurality of shelves  112  supported on the columns  110  by support pins  114  placed at selected altitudinal positions along the columns  110  for locating the shelves  112  at selected locations in an array  116  of spaced apart shelves  112 . In this manner, the altitudinal positions of shelves  112  can be adjusted to accommodate items of various height. 
     Each shelf  112  extends longitudinally between the rear  104  and the front  106  of shelf unit  82  and includes a length L extending longitudinally between ends  120  and  122 , corresponding generally to the longitudinal length of the shelf unit  82 , and a relatively narrow width W extending laterally between edges  124  and  126 , corresponding generally to the relatively narrow lateral width of the shelf unit  82 . A plurality of bars  130  are affixed to columns  110  at the side  100  of each shelf unit  82  and extend longitudinally along the shelf unit  82 , adjacent the edges  124  of shelves  112 , to establish a barrier for confining stored items  83  to placement on a shelf  112 . The bars  130  are spaced apart from one another to at least partially open the barrier for facilitating the circulation of air throughout the cooled compartment  14  in order to maintain cooling efficiency. A further barrier is established at the rear  104  of each shelf unit  82  by altitudinally extending bars  132 . Optionally, further bars (not shown) may be affixed at the front  106  of each shelf unit  82 , in a manner similar to bars  130  or  132 , to establish a still further barrier for confining stored items  83  to the shelves  112 . A retention lip  134  extends along the edge  126  of each shelf  112  to assist in retaining items  83  on the shelf  112 , while allowing access for selective placement and removal of items  83 . The longitudinal length of shelf unit  82  matches the depth of the interior  16  of the cooled compartment  14 , between the rear wall  27  and the front opening  28 ; however, shelf units  82  may be constructed in various widths to accommodate items of different widths while still essentially filling the volume available in the cooled compartment  14 . 
     Turning now to FIGS. 4 and 5, as well as to FIGS. 1,  2  and  3 , the suspension assemblies  90  are shown in the form of full suspension devices  140  which enable each shelf unit  82  to be selectively moved along longitudinal forward and backward directions between a fully retracted position, as illustrated in FIG. 4, and a fully extended position, as illustrated in FIG.  5 . In the fully retracted position, each shelf unit  82  is located fully within the interior  16  of the cooled compartment  14 , and the refrigerator doors  40  and  42  can be closed. In the fully extended position, all of the shelves  112  of a shelf unit  82  are exposed along essentially the entire length L of the shelves and are thereby rendered accessible simultaneously, along directions extending laterally from edge  126  toward edge  124 , for ease of placement of items to be stored and for ease of reaching items already stored on the shelves  112 , for facilitating retrieval. Because the shelves  112  are relatively narrow, laterally from edge  124  to edge  126 , as opposed to the depth of conventional shelves, such as shelves  86 , maximum use is made of the full volume of the cooled compartment  14  for the storage of items  83 , with maximum accessibility to the stored items  83  for retrieval. The placement of full suspension devices  140  at both the top  92  and the bottom  94  of each shelf unit  82  allows simplicity of construction with maximum effectiveness in providing the desired fully retracted and fully extended positions, while providing a rugged construction for long term reliability. Movement of each shelf unit  82  from one to the other of the retracted and extended positions is facilitated by the use of a handle  150  placed at the front of each shelf unit  82 . 
     It will be seen that the present invention attains all of the objects and advantages summarized above, namely: Provides a refrigerator shelving system which enables increased ease of access to items stored throughout the entire interior of a refrigerator; essentially eliminates ordinarily hard-to-reach areas located at the rear of a refrigerator interior; makes effective storage use of the full volume of a refrigerator interior; increases the availability of readily usable storage space within the interior of a refrigerator; allows increased ease in locating and accessing items stored in a refrigerator; provides a refrigerator shelving system having increased effectiveness in storage and use, with a relatively simple and economically fabricated construction; provides an easily modified arrangement which enables increased versatility for the storage of a wide variety of items in a refrigerator; avoids excessive residence time of stored items, and consequent spoilage, by affording ease of access to items stored at virtually any location within a refrigerator; provides an ergonomic arrangement which encourages effective utilization of available storage capacity of a refrigerator; enables increased ease in viewing and identifying items stored throughout the interior of a refrigerator; provides a shelving system compatible with conventional refrigerator construction for ease of incorporation into currently available refrigerator configurations; provides a relatively rugged construction capable of effective operation over a long service life. 
     It is to be understood that the above detailed description of a preferred embodiment of the invention is provided by way of example only. Various details of design and construction may be modified without departing from the true spirit and scope of the invention, as set forth in the appended claims.