US2647812A

US2647812A - Refrigerator shelf

Info

Publication number: US2647812A
Application number: US148988A
Authority: US
Inventors: Orson V Saunders
Original assignee: Motors Liquidation Co
Current assignee: Motors Liquidation Co
Priority date: 1950-03-10
Filing date: 1950-03-10
Publication date: 1953-08-04
Anticipated expiration: 1970-08-04

Description

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Patented Aug. 4, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE REFRIGERATOR SHELF Orson V. Saunders, Dayton, Ohio, assignor to General Motors Corporation, Dayton, Ohio, a corporation of Delaware v Application March 10, 1950, Serial No.` 148,988 2 claims. (ci. S12-294) las to increase the accessibility of food products stored in the food storage compartment thereof and supported on shelves therein.

Another object of my invention is to provide in the food storage compartment of a refrigerator cabinet a novel form of shelf which is simultaneously slidable and rotatable to dispose a part thereof exteriorlyfof the compartment.

A further object of my invention is to provide an improved shelf for a refrigerator cabinet which will occupy a maximum of the horizontal cross-sectional area of the food compartment thereof and which is both rotatably and slidably mounted to permit a part thereof to be moved out of the compartment when the door of the compartment access opening is opened.

A still further object of my invention is to provide an improved shelf arrangement for the food storage compartment'of a refrigerator cabinet wherein the shelf is supported for simultaneous sliding movement and rotation to move a part of the shelf outwardly of the compartment and is also again simultaneously slidable and rotatable to return the shelf to its normal position within the compartment with either its front or its back edge adjacent the rear wall of the compartment.

In carrying out the foregoing objects it is a still further and more specific object of the invention to provide for detaching and removing my improved shelf from the food compartment while it is in its normal position therein and to provide for locking the shelf against such removal during movement thereof.

Further objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from thev following description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, wherein a preferred form of the present invention is clearly shown.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a front view of a household refrigerator cabinet having a food supporting shelf therein constructed and arranged in accordance with my invention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged horizontal cross-section taken on the line 2--2 of Fig. 1 and showing a top view of my improved shelf within the food compartment of the refrigerator cabinet;

Fig. 3 is a vertical cross-sectional view taken on the line 3--3 of Fig. 2, showing the support of my improved shelf within the refrigerator;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged section taken on the line 4--4 of Fig. 2, showing a roller secured to the 2 shelf support and positioned in a track beneath the shelf;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged section taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 2, showing the shelf support mounted upon a peg;

Fig. 6 is an enlarged section taken on the line 6-6 of Fig. 8 showing the roller locked within its track to prevent removal of the shelf from its support;

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary sectional view similar to Fig. 2 showing the shelf rotated and partiallyslid outwardly of the food compartment;

Fig. 8 is a view like Fig. 7 and shows the shelf in a position after having been slid outwardly of the compartment and rotated degrees from its normal position therein; and

Fig. 9 is a View similar to Figs. 7 and 8 showing the shelf disposed at a 45 degree angle in a direction opposite to that shown in Fig. 7.

Referring to the drawings, for illustrating my invention, I have shown in Fig. l thereof a household refrigerator cabinet generally represented by the reference character I0 and comprising an outer metal shell II and an inner metal liner I2 (see Fig. 2) forming walls of a food storage chamber or compartment I4. Any suitable or conventional insulating material I5 is located between the shell II and liner I2. The insulated walls of cabinet I0 surrounding the compartment I4 are polygonally arranged, as distinguished from a circular walled refrigerator, to provide a rectangular-shaped refrigerator which is best suited for maximum food storage space and wherein my invention is particularly adaptable. The outer shell I I extends downwardly below the insulated bottom wall of food compartment I4 and denes walls of a machine compartment in the bottom of cabinet I0 having an access opening closed by a door I6. An opening in the cabinet front wall provides access to the food storage chamber or compartment I4 and a suitably in`- sulated hinged door I'I normally closes this access opening. Within the upper part of compartment I4 there is mounted an evaporator or cooler element 2l of a closed refrigerating system including a refrigerant translating device (not shown) normally positioned within the machine compartment behind the door or closure I6. Operation of the refrigerant translating device causes evaporator 2I to withdraw heat from compartment I4 as is common practice in the refrigerating art. The low temperature producedy by evaporator 2| cools and causes a thermosiphonie circulation of air within the compartment I4 whereby food products stored therein are properly cooled and preserved. conventional food supporting shelves 22 are mounted within compartment I4 and the food One 0I' more supporting shelf arrangement, generally represented by the reference character 25, constructed in accordance with my invention, is also mounted within compartment I4. v

It is the general purpose of my novel shelf arrangement 25 to combine the advantages of a rectangular refrigerator with the advantages of a rotatable shelf in a circular refrigerator andin addition to provide such an arrangement wherein the shelf will occupy all of the area of a food compartment which is rectangularly shaped in horizontal cross-section. In my improved shelf arrangement the shelf itself is slidable and simultaneously rotatable and/or is simultaneously rotatable and slidable relative to a stationary support as distinguished from shelf arrangements which are slidable outwardly of a food compartment and thereafter rotatable'.- The shelf arrangement 25 herein disclosed includesa; mounting bracket or the like, generally represented by the' reference character 25 (see Fig. 2), which is of inverted T-shape and supported in the food compartment Ill of cabinet III against horizontal movement as will bel presently described. Shelf arrangement 25 also includes a shelf 2l' in the form of a pan having an upturned. peripheral nange 2B. Such a shelf or pan 2'I is normally reticulated to permit the cool circulating air in compartment I4 to pass around foods stored thereon and to flow there- :i

through. However, shelf or pan 2? is herein disclosed as being unreticulated for sake of clearance in showing and describing the present invention.

Referring now particularly to Figs. il and 3 as.

of the drawings it will be noted that the shelf supporting bracket 26 comprises a metal channel member SI which extends across the interior of compartment I4 intermediate its side walls and is positioned substantially parallel to door II and consequently the front wall of cabinet Ill. The horizontal part of channel 3I is provided with anl opening 32 at each of its ends which opening receives an up-turned hook 33 provided on a peg 34 secured to liner I2 in any suitable or conventional manner (see Fig. 5). The mounting of channel member 3l at each of its ends as described, prevents movement of bracket 26 in a horizontal direction. The central part of the down-turned front leg portion of f' channel member ill is cut away as at 36 (see Fig. 3) to removably and interlocking-ly receive a bent hooked end part 3l of another metal chan.- nel member 38 forming a part of bracket 26. Channel member 3B extends rearwardly from member 3l to a point adjacent the back wall of compartment I4 and is provided with a downturned end part 39. This end part 39 of channel 38 is provided with a hole 4! which receives a shank part 42 on a peg or stud 43 secured to the liner I2 forming the rear wall of compartment I4 in any suitable or conventional manner This method of interlocking chanv (see Fig. 3) nel member 38 to channelmember 3l and of supporting member 38 at the rear of food compartment I4 prevents vertical tilting movement of the shelf support or bracket 26. A roller 46 is secured to chan-nel member 38 inwardly of its end 39 by a stud or rivet 4l (see Figs. 2, 4 and 6). This roller 46 has an under-'cut shouldered surface 49 for a purpose to be presently described. Preferably the roller 46 is formed from a molded plastic material, such for example, as molded synthetic acrylate resin, styrene, polyvinylacetate or polyvinyl chloride, since elements element is preferably formed of the same Ina-- molded from these compounds are now wellknown to offer little or no frictional resistance when rolling upon or sliding over metallic guides or tracks. The top horizontal part of channel member 38 is provided, forwardly of'roller 45, with an elongated opening 5I (see Fig. 2) having its walls 52 formed by turning or fianging down some of the metal thereof (see Fig. 3). This opening 5I is also for a purpose to be presently described. The mounting bracket 2S may be bodily' removed from compartment I4, by elevating' channel member 3l thereof above the support pegs 34 and moving the bracket forwardly of compartment i4 to slide the rear end 39 of channel member S8 olf of peg 43. If desired channel member 3S may be removed from channel 3l by rotating its end 33 about channel 3l tov cause the hooked end 3l thereof to become detached therefrom.. The removability of-support bracket 26 and dismantling of its parts is preferable so that it can be occasionally cleaned.

Referring again tov Figs.'2 and 3 it will be noted that shelf 2l has a relatively long straight front edge' 56, a similar parallel back edge 5l' and i curved or semi-cylindrical side edges 58 and 59.A

Centrally of these edges shelf 21 is provided an aperture'd depression 6I which receives the head of a round stud 62 having a shank portion B3 extending through the aperture (see Fig. 3). This stud 62 is welded or otherwise suitably secured to the pan-like shelf 27 and its shank portion .63 extends downwardly through the elon-v.

gated opening or slot 5I in channel member 38 to a point below walls 52 of opening-5I.v lAl combined bearing and thrust washerelementv 64 nts over the shank part B3 of stud 62 and this terial hereinbefore described `and employed to form the roller 4B. The stud G2 forms a pivot about which shelf 2l rotates and .the bearing part of element t4 engages walls 52 of slot 5I and permits sliding of shelf 2l' relative to its supporting bracket 26 as will 4hereinafter be described. In order to render shelf 21 rotatable simultaneouslywith `sliding thereof I weld or otherwise suitably secure a cam means on the underside of the shelf. In the present disclosure this came-means is in the form of a track il having spaced apart parallel inner and outer depending legs 12 and-'I3 which straddle the roller 46. The track 'II has a plan geometric -form (see Fig. 2) of overlapping ellipses wherein the overlapping portion of each ellipse is Fig. 6) extending into the shouldered undercut .part49 of roller 45. This foot portion 'I4 extends (see Fig. 2) from points spaced a short distancefrom the two intersecting parts of the two ellipses of the track-ll and prevents tilting of the shelf 2l relative to its support 26 during movement of the shelf. However, the break in the extension of foot portion 14 at the points described permit detachment ofshelf Z'I from bracket 2S and removal thereof from compartment I4 for inspection or cleaning. It is to be understood that such removal of shelf 2T can be carried out only whilethe shelf is in its normal position within compartment I4.'

Having described the construction of my novel shelf arrangement and its mounting Within the food compartment I4 of cabinet I0 I will now proceed to describe the method of simultaneously sliding and rotating the shelf. Assume'that the shelf 2l is in its normal position within food storage compartment I4 as shown in Fig. 2 of the drawing and it is desired to move a part thereof outwardly of the compartment I4. Door I1 is opened, as shown in Fig. 1 of the drawing. and the front edge 56 of shelfI 21 vis grasped by the hand. Either side of the front edge of shelf 21 may be grasped in accordance with the side thereof desired to be moved outwardly. In the illustration shown in the' drawings and herein described the front edge 56 of shelf 21 to the right of the center thereof is grasped and a pulling force applied thereto.V This pulling force slides shelf 21 forwardly toward the compartment access opening and at the same time moves that portion of track 1I located to the left of channel member 38 along and in contact with roller 46 to cause the shelf to also rotate. The result of this simultaneous sliding and rotating movement of shelf 21 is indicated in Fig. '1 of the drawing wherein I show` a part of the shelf slid outwardly of compartment I4 andthe shelf rotated through an arc of 45 degrees relative to cabinet I Il. During this clockwise rotation of shelf 21 the shouldered undercut part 49 of roller 46 rides under the foot portion 14 on leg 13 of track 1I to prevent any unbalanced load on the shelf from tilting the same and prevents detachment and removal of the shelf 21 from its support 26. Shelf 21, after having been simultaneously slid and rotated into the position shown in Fig. 7 may thereupon be further rotated in a clockwise direction another 45 degrees to complete a rotary movement thereof throughout an arc of 90 degrees as shown in Fig. 8 of the drawings to thereby dispose a greater portion thereof outwardly of compartment I4 through the access opening normally `closed by door I1. While I have described the shelf 21 as first being pulled outwardly to cause the cam or track 1I to engage and slide along roller 46 it is to be understood that a rotary force first applied to the shelf 21 will also cause the track 1I to engage and slide along roller '46 whereupon the track causes a camming force to be exerted against the pivot stud 62 to thereby slide the lsame within the slot 5I and consequently slide shelf 21 toward the front cabinet wall. Thus it should be apparent that the construction and arrangement of supporting my shelf upon the mounting bracket`26 is such that either of the two forces, a pulling force or a rotating force applied to shelf 21 will initially cause simultaneous sliding and rotating movements thereof.

When it is desired to return the shelf 21 to its normal position within compartment I4, as shown in Fig. 2, it may be rotated either in a counterclockwise direction or further in a clockwise direction depending upon which of the edges 56 or V51 of the shelf is desired to .be located adjacent the rear wall of food compartment I4. For example if the back edge 51 is again desired to be located adjacent the rear compartment wall then the shelf is rotated counterclockwise to the position thereof shown in Fig. 7 and thereafter slid back and further rotated into its normal position within the food compartment as shown in Fig. 2. However, if it should be desired to locate the front edge 56 of shelf 21 adjacent the compartment back wall then the shelf should be rotated in a further clockwise direction from the position thereof shown in Fig. 8 into the 45 degree position shown in Fig. 9 and thereafter simultaneously slid and rotated back into its normal posit-ion within compartment I4 as shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings. While I have illustrated anddescribed the shelf 21 as being first rotatable in a clockwise direction it is to be understood that its first rotatable movement may be in a counterclockwise direction, if desired. By providing means whereby the shelf 21 may be rotated throughout an arc of degrees in either a clockwise or counterclockwise direction turning of the shelf a full 360 degrees is made possible. Shelf 21 being rotatable 360 degrees, without detaching the same from cabinet I0, is simultaneously slid outwardly of compartment I4 during at least a part of the rotary motion thereof.

It should be apparent from the foregoing that I have provided a novel and improved shelf arrangement in a refrigerator cabinet. My novel shelf arrangement provides for maximum food storage space within a cabinet of minimum external dimensions and increases the accessibility of food products supported on the shelf. My arrangement furthermore permits quick and easy detachment of the shelf from its supporting structure and removal thereof from the compartment while at the same time providing for locking of the shelf to its supporting structure while. sliding and rotating the same. The novel arrangement is also such as to permit the shelf together with its supporting structure to be detached from vthe refrigerator cabinet and removed frorn the food storage compartment. The novel shelf arrangement is simple in construction and inexpensive due to parts thereof being formed of sheet metal.

While the form of embodiment of the invention as herein disclosed, constitutes a preferred form, it is to be understood that other forms might Ibe adopted, as may come within the scope of the claims which follow.

What is claimed is as follows:

1. In combination, a cabinet having Walls forming a compartment therein, said compartment having an access opening in one of said walls, a door` normally closing said compartment access opening, an article supporting member, a slotted member for mounting said article supporting member within said compartment, said mounting member being secured against horizontal movement relative to said compartment, said supporting member having a part thereof depending into the slot in said mounting member to directly connect the same to said mounting member for horizontal sliding movement relative thereto, a continuously curved endless track associated with one of said members and permitting said supporting member to be rotated 360 relative to said mounting member, an element on the other of said members cooperating with said track, said element being located at a point spaced rearwardly from said depending part of said article supporting member and adapted to coact therewith, said article supporting member being, when a horizontal force is applied thereto, slidable part way out of said compartment through its access opening while said door is open, and the coaction between said element and said depending part of said article supporting member together with the cooperation of said element with said track being such as to rotate said article supporting member in either one of two directions simultaneously with the sliding movement thereof.

2. In combination, a cabinet` having walls forming a compartment therein, said compartment having an access opening in one of said walls, a door normally closing said compartment access opening, an article supporting member, a slotted member for mounting said article supporting member within saidv compartment, said mounting member being secured against horizontal movement relative to said compartment, said supporting member having a part thereof depending into the slot in said mountingl member to directly connect the same to said mounting member for horizontal sliding move ment relative thereto, a continuously curved endless track associated with one of said members and permitting said. supporting member to be rotated 360 relative to said mounting mem-v ber, an element on the other of said members cooperating with said track, said element being located at a point spaced rearwardly from said depending part of said article supporting member and adapted to coact therewith, said article supporting member being, when a horizontal force is applied thereto, slidable part way out of said compartment through its access opening While said door is open, the coaction between said element and said depending part of said article supporting member together with the cooperation of said element with said track being such as to rotate said article supporting member in either one of two directions simultaneously with the sliding movement thereof, means associated with said track and engaging said element during movement of said article supporting member for locking the same against removal from said mounting member, and said means being out of engagement with-said element While the article supporting member is in a normal position Within said compartment to permit detachment of said article supporting member from said mounting member.

ORSON V. SAUNDERS.`

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 535,886 Brand Mar. 19, 1895 608,130 Kandle July 26, 1898 890,861 Hogg June 1-6', 1908 898,153 Stromgren Sept. 8, 1908 1,102,230 Vanderveld July 14, 1914 1,341,512 Miller May 25, 1920 1,367,051 James Feb. 1, 1921 1,803,063 Hultgren Apr. 28, 1931 2,002,339 Copernan May 21, 1935 2,029,718 Hobson et al Feb. 4, 1936 2,030,621 Beck et al. Feb. 11, 1936 2,035,226 Forsthoefel Mar. 24, 1936 2,105,418 Hoistetter et al. Jan. 11, 1938 2,171,110 Fecht Aug. 29, 1939 2,571,903 Loewi Oct. 16, 1951