EP3635311B1

EP3635311B1 - Refrigerator comprising two-part body shelf

Info

Publication number: EP3635311B1
Application number: EP18725487.5A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Mehmet YASAR; Eyup Tayfun INAL; Ercan Akyuz; Ibrahim Yilmaz Evren; Dilek AKKAYA
Original assignee: Arcelik AS
Current assignee: Arcelik AS
Priority date: 2017-06-06
Filing date: 2018-05-16
Publication date: 2024-01-10
Anticipated expiration: 2038-05-16
Also published as: EP3635311A1; WO2018224265A1

Description

The present invention relates to a refrigerator comprising a two-part body shelf enabling increasing in the body, the storage area for bulky containers.
In refrigerators, food items and various containers are placed on shelves. Depending on the needs of the user, modifying the distance between two shelves, i.e. adjusting the height of a shelf in the body may be necessary. In known applications, the elevation of a shelf is varied by detaching it from slots of a certain elevation and placing it to another slot pair on the desired elevation. The user divides the products such as large bottles or gallon-sized beverages which do not fit between two shelves, into two containers, or attempts to gain space by removing one of the shelves. As a solution for the problem of placing bulky containers, slidable or foldable shelves of multipart form are used, but using such shelves becomes difficult when it is desired to change their position while food products are loaded thereon.
The United States patent application no. US2010109498 (A1 ) relates to a movement system of a shelf set used in a refrigerator.
The international patent applications no. WO2016070892 (A1 ) and WO2016119861 (A1 ) relate to a cooling device comprising a shelf segmented so as to increase storage area for bulky containers. DE 10 2015 119599 A1 discloses a uniform hook-nest fastening members which can be used to fix both the movable shelf to the fixed shelf and the fixed shelf to the bearer brackets of the rear portion of the refrigerator.
The aim of the present invention is to realize a refrigerator comprising body shelves of rear side hooked type, produced in multipart form so as to increase storage area for bulky containers. The invention is defined in the independent claim. Preferred embodiments are defined in the dependent claims.
The refrigerator realized to achieve the aim of the present invention comprises a shelf group consisting of a fixed shelf, and a movable shelf placed so as to contact the front edge of the fixed shelf, and forming a planar upper surface together with the fixed shelf. The shelf group is of rear side hooked type and is mounted on the bearer brackets on the rear wall by means of the hooks provided on the rear ends of the main shelf supports. The shelf group comprises at least one auxiliary shelf support fixed separately from the main shelf supports, only at the lower surface of the movable shelf and having auxiliary hooks enabling it to be mounted on the hook seats on the bearer brackets, enabling the movable shelf to be detached from the shelf group and to be mounted on the bearer brackets, and the movable shelf to be placed at an elevation other than that of the fixed shelf in the body.
The shelf group mounted on the bearer brackets on the rear wall, has two parts, and consists of a fixed shelf provided on its rear side and a movable shelf placed in front of the fixed shelf. The main supports bear both the fixed shelf and the movable shelf, and are mounted on the bearer brackets by means of the hooks provided on their rear ends. Auxiliary shelf supports are fixed at the lower surface of the movable shelf, separately from the main supports. The auxiliary shelf supports are fixed only on the movable shelf, and they enable the movable shelf to be mounted on the bearer brackets at an elevation other than that of the fixed shelf.
The refrigerator realized to achieve the aims of the present invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a side sectional view of a refrigerator body.
Figure 2 is a side sectional view of the refrigerator body with the movable shelf mounted on the fixed shelf.
Figure 3 is a view of the detail A of Figure 2.
Figure 4 is a side sectional view of the refrigerator body with the movable shelf detached from the fixed shelf.
Figure 5 is a view of the detail B of Figure 4.
Figure 6 is a side sectional view of the refrigerator with the movable shelf placed at an elevation other than that of the fixed shelf.
Figure 7 is a view of the detail C of Figure 6.
Figure 8 is a perspective view of the shelf group with the movable shelf mounted on the fixed shelf.
Figure 9 is a perspective view of a fixed shelf and the main supports.
Figure 10 is a view of the detail D of Figure 9.
Figure 11 is a perspective view of a movable shelf.
Figure 12 is an exploded view of a movable shelf and the auxiliary shelf supports.
Figure 13 is a view of the detail E of Figure 12.

The elements in the figures are numbered individually and the correspondence of these numbers are given hereinafter.

1. Refrigerator
2. Body
3. Rear wall
4. Fixed shelf
5. Movable shelf
6. Shelf group
7. Bearer bracket
8. Main support
9. Hook
10. Auxiliary hook
11. Auxiliary shelf support
12. Slot
13. Locking tab
14. Stopper

The refrigerator (1) comprises a body (2); a rear wall (3) disposed behind the cooler/freezer compartments in the body (2); two side walls disposed opposite each other on both sides of the cooler/freezer compartments; a shelf group (6) provided in the body (2), preferably made of glass material, on which food products to be cooled or frozen are placed, consisting of a fixed shelf (4) composing its rear wall (3) side portion, and a movable shelf (5) placed so as to contact the front edge of the fixed shelf (4) parallel to the rear wall (3) and forming a planar upper surface together with the fixed shelf (4); two bearer brackets (7) on which hook seats are provided in full length in vertical direction, mounted on the rear wall (3) in direction of the right and left vertical edges of the rear wall (3), enabling the shelf group (6) to be placed on a desired elevation in the body (2); two main supports (8) fixed on the right and left edges at the lower surface of the shelf group (6); and at least one hook (9) enabling each main support (8) to be mounted on a bearer bracket (7).
At least one shelf group (6) provided in the refrigerator (1) of the invention comprises, at least one auxiliary shelf support (11)

fixed on the right and left edges at the lower surface of the movable shelf (5),
extending up to the contact line of the movable shelf (5) and the fixed shelf (4),
having at least one auxiliary hook (10) provided on its rear end and enabling it to be mounted on the bearer brackets (7), and
enabling the movable shelf (5) to be detached from the shelf group (6) and to be mounted on the bearer brackets (7) on the rear wall (3), and the movable shelf (5) to be placed in the body (2) at an elevation other than that of the fixed shelf (4).

In the refrigerator (1) of the invention, the shelf group (6) mounted on the bearer brackets (7) adjacent to the rear wall (3) in the body (2) and provided on the rear wall (3), has two parts, and consists of a fixed shelf (4) provided on its rear side and a movable shelf (5) placed in front of the fixed shelf (4). The main supports (8) bear both the fixed shelf (4) and the movable shelf (5) composing the shelf group (6), and enable the shelf group (6) to be mounted on the bearer brackets (7) at a desired elevation by means of the hooks (9) provided on their rear ends. Separately from the main supports (8), auxiliary shelf supports (11) are fixed at the lower surface of the movable shelf (5) disposed on the front of the shelf group (6). The auxiliary shelf supports (11) don't serve a function when the movable shelf (5) is mounted in front of the fixed shelf (4). The auxiliary shelf supports (11) are fixed only on the movable shelf (5), and they enable the movable shelf (5) to be mounted on the bearer brackets (7) at an elevation other than that of the fixed shelf (4) when the movable shelf is detached from the shelf group (6).
The shelf group (6) comprises a slot (12) provided on the front ends of each main support (8), enabling the movable shelf (5) to be detachably mounted to the fixed shelf (4), and at least one locking tab (13) extending outwards from the sides of each auxiliary shelf support (11), and seating into the slot (12) when the movable shelf (5) is mounted to the fixed shelf (4).
In an embodiment of the invention, the shelf group (6) comprises a stopper (14) provided in each one of the slots (12), inhibiting the locking tab (13) from being released from the slot (12) and therefore the movable shelf (5) from being released from the fixed shelf (4) without user intervention.
When it is desired to release the movable shelf (5) from the fixed shelf (4), the movable shelf (5) is rotated about the horizontal axis formed by the contact line with the fixed shelf (4), is lifted slightly upwards almost 5 mm from its front, and is released from the fixed shelf (4) by being pulled to the front. The locking tab (13) which is moved upwards inside the slot (12) in the meanwhile, climbs over the stopper (14) level and thus can move inside the slot (12), thereby enabling the movable shelf (5) to be released from the fixed shelf (4).
In the refrigerator (1) of the invention, the user is able to place the movable shelf (5) in the body (2) on elevations other than that of the fixed shelf (4) by releasing it from the shelf group (6). Storage area in front of the fixed shelf (4) is obtained particularly for placing bulky containers without removing the movable shelf (5) out of the refrigerator (1). Various options for the user to place items in the refrigerator (1), and ease of use is thus provided.

Claims

- A refrigerator (1) comprising, a body (2), a rear wall (3) disposed behind cooler/freezer compartments in the body (2), a shelf group (6) consisting of a fixed shelf (4) composing its rear wall (3) side portion, and a movable shelf (5) placed so as to contact the front edge of the fixed shelf (4) parallel to the rear wall (3) and forming a planar upper surface together with the fixed shelf (4), two bearer brackets (7) on which hook seats are provided, mounted on the rear wall (3) in direction of the right and left vertical edges of the rear wall (3), two main supports (8) fixed on the right and left edges at the lower surface of the fixed shelf (4), and at least one hook (9) enabling the main support (8) to be mounted on a bearer bracket (7), the shelf group (6) comprising auxiliary shelf supports (11), fixed on the right and left edges at the lower surface of the movable shelf (5), extending up to the contact line of the movable shelf (5) and the fixed shelf (4), having at least one auxiliary hook (10) provided on its rear end, and enabling the movable shelf (5) to be detached from the shelf group (6) and to be mounted on the bearer brackets (7) on the rear wall (3) at an elevation other than that of the fixed shelf (4) wherein
- the shelf group (6) comprising a slot (12) provided on the front end of each one of the main supports (8), enabling the movable shelf (5) to be detachably mounted to the fixed shelf (4) characterized by

- the shelf group (6) comprising at least one locking tab (13) extending outwards from the side of each one of the auxiliary shelf supports (11), and seating into the slot (12) when the movable shelf (5) is mounted to the fixed shelf (4) wherein the main supports (8) extending further from the front edge of the fixed shelf (4) such that, when the movable shelf (5) is placed so as to contact the front edge of the fixed shelf (4) parallel to the rear wall (3) and forming a planar upper surface together with the fixed shelf (4), the main supports (8) support the movable shelf (5) from below.
- A refrigerator (1) according to claim 1, characterized by the shelf group (6) comprising a stopper (14) provided in each one of the slots (12), inhibiting the locking tab (13) from being released from the slot (12).
- A refrigerator (1) according to any one of preceding claims, characterized by the at least one locking tab (13) being provided on the front end of each auxiliary shelf support (11).