AU681899B2 - Improved side rack for ovens - Google Patents

Description

-1I- P/00/001 I Rcgulation 3.2

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1.990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION FOR A STANDARD PATENT ORIGI7NAL Name of Applicant: Actual Inventor: Address for service SOUTHCORP WHITEGOODS PTY LTR.

Mr Phillip James Hubbard in Australia: CARTER SMITH BEADLE 2 Railway Parade Camberwell Victoria 3124 Australia Invention Title: Improved Side Rack for Ovens Details of Associated Provisional Application: PM 1512 filed 29 September 1993 The following statement is a full description of this invenition, including the best method of performing it known to us -2- IMPROVED SIDE MACK FOR OVENS Field of the Invention This invention relates to side racks for ovens and other uses in which a shelf or other support is required to be supported within an oven or like enclosure.

Background of the Invention Most modem ovens have removably supported side racks constructed from shaped wire elements welded together to form a side rack which supports oven shelves at various levels within the oven. The side racks are supported by the side walls of the oven by means of projections on the side racks engaging suitably positioned holes in the side walls.

While such side racks are suitable for most oven types, a need has been determined for a more positive form of side rack securement to prevent the side racks moving and rattling when the oven shelves are loaded or moved during 0* •operation of the oven. To this end, it has been proposed that the side racks should S 15 be secured to thi side wall of the oven by means of threaded studs secured to the side wall and engaged by nuts which bear on the side racks to clamp them against the side walls. This is not only an expensive solution to the problem since a further manufacturing operation is involved in securing the threaded studs to the oven chassis, but if the threaded studs are damaged during the manufacturing operation, 20 they must either be replaced, involving further manufacturing time, or the chassis may become unusable to such an extent that it requires replacement.

In DE A 3505807 an oven side rack is disclosed. This rack is positioned by engaging the two top lugs, lifting the rack and inserting the stepped lower lugs into the base holes, then allowing the rack to drop down. Although the drawing of this document shows item 15 engaging the side wall, this engagement will not necessarily occur and is totally dependent on the dimensions and configuration of the end portion 13.

Summary of Invention and Object It is the object of the present invention to provide an improved side rack \z o ,30 construction which enables the side rack to be held securely against the side wall of tnb:dmwv#14126.n2 26 June 1997 s -3the oven without the use of additional components attached to zhe side walls of the oven and to at least ameliorate the shortcoming of the above German document.

The invention provides a rack for an oven comprising a frame including a plurality of shelf supporting elements, means projecting from said frame and positioned for engagement with supporting openings in a side wall of an oven or other supporting surtface, at least one of the projecting means being hooked to engage said side wall, and securing means on said frame for engaging said side wall or other supporting surface when said frame is engaged with said side wall to bias said frame away from said side wall or other supporting surface to cause positive engagement between said hooked projection(s) and said side wall or other supporting surface to substantially prevent movement of said frame from its engaged position with said side wall or other supporting surface, said securing means including at least one frame element which is formed to extend to a position adjacent the side •wall or other supporting surface when engaged by the side rack, said frame element o 15 including a member capable of selectively engaging the side wall to force the side rack away from the side wall until the hooked projection(s) on the side rack engage the side wall or other supporting surface to thereby hold the side rack securely in position on the side wall or other supporting surface.

Brief Description of the Drawings 20 In order that the invention may be more readily understood, several embodiments of the invention will now be described with reference to the 0 accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a front perspective view of a side rack embodying the invention; Figure 2 is a side view of the side rack attached to a wall element; and Figure 3 is a fragmentary side view of a further side rack embodiment attached to a wall element.

Description of Preferred Embodiments Referring to Figures 1 and 2, the side rack 1 comprises a shaped welded wire frame including five spaced shel' supporting elements 2 to 6 welded to end elements o 7 and 8 to define a relatively typical side rack construction. As is usual, the top and tnb:dmrwI4126.2 26June 1997 ~P I ~~~VP~IIF IIIC~ -4bottom shelf supporting elements 2 and 6 extend rearwardly beyond the end elements 7 and 8 to de"ine four supporting projections 9, 10 and 11, 12, the projections, 11, 12 being upwardly hooked in the usual manner to engage the side wall of an oven to hold the side rack 1 in place.

Each end element 7, 8 of the side rack 1 has an extended portion 19, 20 in the form of a U-shaped hook each having an end portion 21 which extends perpendicular to the side wall and is threaded to receive a cantilevering nut 22 which can be screwed into engagement with the side wall to cantilever the side rack 1 away from the side wall, as indicated by the arrow, to cause engagement between the hooked projections 11, 12, the abutments 17, 18 and the side wall W. The projections 9 and 10 are straight, and with the exception of the extensions 19, the side rack is substantially standard in construction. While this embodiment involves the additional cost of the threading operations and the fitting of the cantilevering nuts 22, it is nevertheless still economically viable when compared with the captive stud arrangement previously proposed.

Referring now to Figure 3 of the drawings, the embodiment of the invention *d shown in this figure is similar to the preceding embodiment with the exception that the extensions 19a and 20a are differently shaped to enable the formation of a shorter threaded portion for engagement with the cantilevering nuts 22a. Otherwise, 20 the construction and method of operation of this embodiment is identical to the previous embodiment, and it also can be used in the inverted orientation.

above embodiment of the invention provides a particularly simple means of causing the side rack to securely engage the side wall of the oven without any additional modification of the side wall apart from the usually formed side rack supporting holes in the side wall. No modification of the side wall holes, is required and the side wall of the oven can therefore support a standard side rao1c as well as a side rack modified in accordance with the present invention. The additional cost of modifying the side rack construction as described above is likely to be less than the cost of fixing captive threaded studs to the oven side wall and offers the S nb:dm 14126jn 2 26 u s^.

additional advantage of not requiring any repair or replacement as can occur when captive studs are fitted to the side wall.

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S tnb:dmw.#14126.r$2 26 June 1997

Claims (4)

1. A rack for an oven comprising a frame including a plurality of shelf supporting elements, means projecting from said frame and positioned for engagement with supporting openings in a side wall of an oven or other supporting surface, at least one of the projecting means being hooked to engage said side wall, and securing means on said frame for engaging said side wall or other supporting surface when said frame is engaged with said side wall to bias said frame away from said side wall or other supporting surface to cause posit ie engagement between said hooked projection(s) and said side wall or other supporting surface to substantially prevent movement of said frame from its engaged position with said side wall or other supporting surface, said securing means including at least one frame element which is formed to extend to a position adjacent the side wall or other supporting surface when engaged by the side rack, said frame element including a member capable of selectively engaging the side wall to force the side rack away from the 15 side wall until the hooked projection(s) on the side rack engage the side wall or other supporting surface to thereby hold the side rack securely in position on the side wall or other supporting surface.

2. The rack of claim 1, wherein said member capable of selectively engaging the side wall or other supporting surface includes a threaded member threadably .0 engaging said frame element.

3. The rack of claim 1 or 2, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figures 1 and 2 or 3 of the accompanying drawings.

4. A rack for an oven substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figures 1 and 2 or 3 of the accompanying drawings. DATED: 26 June 1997 CARTER SMITH BEADLE Patent Attorneys for the Applicant: CHEF AUSTRALIA PTY LTD tnb:dmw#14126.n2 26 June 1997 I lsl~ ABSTRACT A side rack for an oven includes a frame having a plurality of shelf supporting elements Hooked projections (11,12) engage the side wall of the oven to hold the side rack in place. Securing means on the frame selectively engage ide wall to cause positive engagement between the hooked projections and the side wall to secure the frame in its engaged position with the side wall. In one embodiment, the securing means includes an additional frame element (13) having an extending abutment (14) which extends beyond the plane of end elements 7 and 8 of frame 1. Further projections 9 and 10 have camming elements 15 and 16 which engage holes in the side wall of the oven to force abutment 14 into engagement with the side wall to cantilever the frame 1 outwardly with respect to the side wall to thereby cause secure engagement between hooked projections 11 and 12 and the side wall. S tnbAlmw:14126 29 September 1994 M iP-