Patent Abstract:
A foldable refrigerator shelf is provided in which a lower shelf is nested directly beneath an upper shelf in a locked position and can be moved to a plurality of positions spaced from the upper shelf by means of sliding and pivoting links. The shelf is positively locked while in a folded position and is continuously biased into a stable position when in the open position.

Full Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to refrigeration apparatus and, more particularly, to an adjustable, foldable shelf suspended from cantilevered shelf support brackets in a refrigeration apparatus. 
     2. Description of the Prior Art 
     In an effort to make the interior space of a refrigerator more usable, manufacturers have provided shelves that are either foldable to a nonuse position or removable to give maximum flexibility. Vertically adjustable cantilevered refrigerator shelves are popular because they are very versatile and attractive in appearance. While various forms of foldable shelves are known, none of them are appropriate for suspension from a glass cantilevered refrigerator shelf. 
     Another limitation of most foldable shelves is that they are usually limited in size, not being useful across the full width of the interior of the refrigerator cabinet. In addition, most foldable refrigerator shelves suffer from being difficult to employ and expensive to manufacture. 
     Pivotal suspension links for foldable shelves are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,082,672; 2,598,266; 2,808,310; and 2,146,199. However, none of these prior patents discloses a foldable shelf in which a lower shelf member can be folded up underneath an upper shelf member in a stored position and can be unfolded into a plurality of positions for various uses by means of slidable pivotal links. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention provides a multiple position refrigerator shelf that can be folded to a storage position immediately under the shelf above it, to minimize wasted space when not in use, but is readily movable to a spaced, suspended use position. The invention comprehends a foldable shelf having a third position tilted towards the rear of a refrigerator for storage of wine bottles. The suspended shelf is gravity biased against the rear wall of the refrigerator liner to add stability to the shelf. Further, the folded shelf is suspended from conventional vertically adjustable cantilevered brackets in the refrigerator and is useful with either glass or wire cantilevered shelves. 
     The present invention provides that the multiple position shelf is substantially the same size as the shelf above it, thus filling essentially the full interior width and depth of the refrigerator compartment. Further, the invention provides for a means for retaining the shelf in a folded storage position, against the force of gravity, which is very secure and avoids the use of conventional friction latching means, such that the effectiveness of the retaining means is relatively unaffected by wear over the life of the product. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the interior of a refrigerator employing the present invention. 
     FIG. 2 is a partial front view of the foldable refrigerator shelf of the present invention shown in its folded position. 
     FIG. 3 is a side sectional view taken generally along the lines III--III of FIG. 2. 
     FIG. 4 is a side sectional view, similar to FIG. 3, showing the foldable shelf in a partially opened position. 
     FIG. 5 is a side sectional view, similar to FIG. 3, showing the complete opening movement of the foldable shelf. 
     FIG. 6 is a side sectional view, similar to FIG. 3, showing the foldable shelf in a locked intermediate use position. 
     FIG. 7 is a sectional view of the link members taken generally along the lines VII--VII of FIG. 5. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     In FIG. 1, there is seen a refrigerator 10, commonly referred to as a side-by-side unit, with a refrigeration compartment 12 and a freezer compartment 14 separated by a dividing wall 15. Conventionally, the interior of refrigerator 10 is cooled by an evaporator (not shown) located in the freezer compartment and a compressor and a condenser (not shown) located in the machinery compartment 19. The refrigerator has openable doors 16 and 17 providing access to the interior of the refrigeration and freezer compartments, respectively. The refrigeration compartment is provided with a number of drawers 18 for storing food and also a plurality of vertically adjustable shelves 20. The shelves 20 are supported in cantilevered fashion by support members or ladders 22 which are secured to a rear liner wall 24 of the refrigeration compartment. A foldable shelf assembly 26 is shown in FIG. 1 and is shown in greater detail in FIGS. 2-7. 
     FIGS. 2 and 3 show the foldable shelf assembly 26 in the completely folded and locked position in which there is an upper glass or wire shelf member 28 supported on a pair of shelf support brackets 30, each having a projecting finger 32 at a rear end thereof which engages with the support ladder 22 such that the support bracket 30 is secured in a cantilevered position in a conventional manner. 
     The support brackets 30 are connected by a plurality of lateral connecting members 34 to maintain the supports in spaced parallel relationship and to add rigidity to the shelf support. A piece of front trim 36 extends across the front width of the upper shelf to provide a grasping surface for inserting the shelf and to provide a finished appearance. 
     A lower horizontal support surface, or shelf, 38 is movably carried on a support cradle 40. In the illustrated embodiment, shelf 38 is of wire construction but could also be made of glass. In the illustrated embodiment, cradle 40 is comprised of a pair of elongated arm members 41, each of which supports an opposite side edge of shelf 38. Arm members 41 are held in spaced parallel relationship by a plurality of cross-connecting members 42 transversely spanning the arm members 41. Wire members 43 attach to members 42 to support items placed on shelf 38. Each arm member 41 is suspended from, and is disposed directly below, one of the support brackets 30 (FIG. 7). 
     Hereinafter, the invention will be described in relation to one arm member 41, and associated structure, it being understood that in the preferred embodiment duplicate structure is provided to support an opposite side of shelf 38, as illustrated in FIG. 1. 
     Each arm member 41 has a front upstanding tab 44 and a rear upstanding tab 46. As shown in FIG. 7, the front tab 44 has a guide or pivot pin 48 extending perpendicularly therethrough at a top end thereof, the guide pin having an enlarged head 50. The guide pin is received within a slot 52 in a link member 54 which is pivotally secured at pivot pin 56 to the shelf support bracket 30. The enlarged head 50 ensures that the guide pin 48 will remain engaged within the slot 52. The slot 52 has a distal portion 58 which extends away from the pivot pin 56 toward the opposite end of the link 54. A step 60, sized to receive and retain the guide pin 48, is provided centrally along a bottom edge of the slot 52. 
     The rear upstanding tab 46 has a pivot pin 62 near a top end thereof to which is pivotally connected a rear link member 64. The shelf support bracket 30 has a guide or pivot pin 66 projecting therefrom which extends into a slot 68 in the rear link member 64. The guide pin 66 has an enlarged head 70 to ensure that the guide pin 66 remains engaged within the slot 68. The slot 68 is of a uniform width throughout its length. 
     The rear link 64 has a shoe member 72 affixed to a distal end 65 from pin 62 of the link 64. Shoe member 72 engages a fixed stop 73, which is attached to shelf support bracket 30, when the lower shelf 38 is in the folded position, shown in FIG. 3. The engagement of the shoe member 72 with fixed stop 73 prevents rotation of link member 64 about guide pin 66, thereby securely retaining or locking the lower shelf 38 in the folded storage position. 
     To move the lower shelf 38 to the open use position, the first step is to pull the lower shelf forwardly toward the user (or to the left as seen in FIGS. 3 and 4) until the shelf is pulled all the way out as seen in FIG. 4. During this operation, the guide pin 48 on tab 44 slides along slot 52, while link member 54 remains essentially stationary, and the link member 64 is pulled forwardly through its pivot pin 62 at tab 46 such that the link member 64 slides relative to guide pin 66. When the lower shelf 38 is pulled all of the way forward, as seen in FIG. 4, link member 64 may be pivoted about pin 66 which has moved relative to slot 68 such that it is near the distal end 65 of link member 64, and pivoting movement of link member 64 can occur without the shoe member 72 engaging stop 73. 
     Once the lower shelf 38 has been pulled completely forward, then it can swing downwardly as seen in FIG. 5. At this point, the link members 54, 64 pivot at each end around pins 48, 56 and 62, 66 respectively. The lower shelf 38 continues to swing downwardly until a bumper member 74 engages the rear liner wall 24 of the refrigeration compartment. The distance 76 from the rear liner wall 24 to the rear guide pin 66 attached to the shelf support bracket 30 is less than the distance 78 from the rear liner wall 24 to the pivot pin 62 secured to the rear upstanding tab 46 on the arm member 41 such that there is a continuing gravity bias downwardly and rearwardly to hold the lower shelf member 38 securely against the liner wall 24 of the refrigeration compartment, thereby stabilizing the lower shelf 38. The pins 56 and 48 have a similar relationship to the rear liner wall 24 to further aid in stabilizing the shelf member 38 against wall 24. Thus, in the use position shown in FIG. 5, the lower shelf 38 is securely held in a spaced, parallel position relative to the upper shelf 28. 
     In FIG. 6, the lower shelf 38 is shown in an alternative use position relative to the upper shelf member 28. In this position, the lower shelf 38 is angled upwardly toward the front of the refrigerator by means of guide pin 48 being captured within step 60 in slot 52. This angled position is convenient for storing wine bottles and other similar containers. Again, in this position, the lower shelf 38 is stably held against the rear liner wall 24 by gravity bias produced by the positioning of pins 66 and 56 on the shelf support bracket relative to pivot pins 62 and 48 on the arm member. 
     To refold the lower shelf 38 up to the storage position adjacent upper shelf 28, a reverse procedure of that described above is conducted. That is, the bottom shelf 38 is pivoted forwardly and upwardly to the position shown in FIG. 4 and then is slid directly back under the upper shelf to the folded and locked position of FIG. 3. 
     It is thus seen that a fold-down refrigerator shelf is provided which is suspended by a set of slidable pivotal link members 54, 64 in which each link member is allowed to slide along its longitudinal axis with respect to one of its pivots. The rearward link member 64 is slidable with respect to the fixed upper guide pin 66 to selectively interact with a fixed stop member 73 and the forward link member 54 is slidable with respect to the lower guide pin 48 attached to arm member 41. 
     As is apparent from the foregoing specification, the invention is susceptible of being embodied with various alterations and modifications which may differ particularly from those that have been described in the preceeding specification and description. It should be understood that I wish to embody within the scope of the patent warrented hereon all such modifications as reasonably and properly come within the scope of my contribution to the art.

Technology Classification (CPC): 5